Ric Flair’s son-in-law is one of the most prominent people involved in the wrestling podcasting world, with his AdFreeShows network featuring Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, Jim Ross, Kurt Angle, and others. However, his hosts do receive a significant amount of criticism for using the platform to settle scores and re-write history. Now though, Thompson has addressed this criticism during a media scrum, saying he doesn’t feel anyone ever intentionally lies and states it comes down to perspective.

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The majority of Thompson’s wrestling podcasts are done for entertainment, and if you take that into account when listening, they are usually enjoyable, although how historically accurate remains up for debate. However, how successful he has become isn’t disputed, with him set to add Mick Foley, Road Dogg, and Ric Flair to his network. Therefore ensuring there’ll never be a shortage of contact for the thousands of fans happy to pay hundreds of dollars a year to hear wrestling stories.

Former UFC star Ronda Rousey made her WWE return at the Royal Rumble, winning the women’s Rumble match. This was meant to set up her headling against Charlotte Flair, but anyone who watched the show will know that didn’t happen. Instead, Steve Austin’s impromptu match with Kevin Owens took that honor. And this made perfect sense, as there was no way Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair could follow Austin’s first match in a decade. However, there was a report by Bryan Alverez of Wrestling Observer Radio that she was unhappy at the perceived slight.

Now though, Rousey has taken to social media to dispute this report, which claimed she walked out before the Hall of Fame ceremony. Insisting she was honored to wrestle on the show under Austin’s match and simply missed the ceremony because she was putting her young daughter to bed.

I don’t know where these “reports” come from but it was an absolute honor to perform under Steve Austin at Wrestlemania in Texas-I wasn’t a hall of fame because I have a six month old baby I had to put to sleep early. People are literally creating drama out of thin air

— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) April 3, 2022

Whether Alvarez will provide specifics on who he got his information from remains to be seen. Although he is known for establishing good sources over the years. Yet, in this instance, Rousey is adamant he is mistaken, and she was okay with how things were planned out. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be the first time a wrestler tried to take control of a negative story that came out.

During his initial WWE run, Cody Rhodes was regarded as a midcard talent capable of having a good match but not much more. He would try to force opportunities, but the writers weren’t interested, so he opted to ask for his release. Since then, though, he has worked hard to build up his brand in multiple companies and, thanks to his time in AEW, established himself as a genuine main event talent.

Now, following his triumphant return to WWE at WrestleMania 38, Cody has spoken to The Ringer Wrestling Show, giving an insight into the WWE’s approach to re-signing him. First, revealing Vince McMahon and both of his right-hand men, Nick Khan and Bruce Prichard, personally visiting him to negotiate. Then adding that McMahon validated his time away by telling him, “you went out and did it.” Seemingly in reference to making himself a star.

Based on how he was presented at WrestleMania, McMahon now sees Cody as a star worthy of investment. And as a result, the coming weeks will likely be meaningful ones in his WWE career. However, the big test for Cody will be long-term, as WWE history is littered with stars who were initially treated as a big deal before falling down the card. Cody does, though, appear to have immense fan backing, and that can go a long way.

Ronda Rousey won the women’s Rumble Match on her WWE return, and it was announced following the match that she’d headline WrestleMania. Nevertheless, while the company will often bill the Royal Rumble match as an opportunity to main event WrestleMania, this isn’t always delivered. Seemingly though, Rousey took this literally as Bryan Alvarez has reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that the former UFC star walked out before the Hall of Fame on Friday when she found out her match wasn’t going on last.

Considering Steve Austin’s reaction, nobody could seriously argue anything other than his impromptu match with Kevin Owens should close the show. However, since Rousey has only been involved in the wrestling business for a few years, she may not have comprehended how monumental Austin’s return would always be, especially in Texas. How this now affects Rousey’s relationship with WWE management remains to be seen. Although it is known, she does have another year on her deal, with it speculated she’ll face Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 39.

The worst kept secret in wrestling was revealed on Saturday night’s WrestleMania show when Cody Rhodes was announced as Seth Rollins’ mystery opponent. Cody would enter with the same music, gear, and trademarked nicknames used in AEW, and he and Rollins would put on an all-time classic WrestleMania match. Ultimately the contest would be won by Cody following multiple near falls.

Subsequently, Rhodes would trend on social media, and after the match, he shared some heartfelt comments backstage where he expressed that he’d been running from his father’s shadow his entire career. Additionally, he acknowledged his last WrestleMania match was as Stardust and added that he was ready to play the game, possibly in tribute to Triple H.

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Fans had been speculating when Cody would return to WWE as soon as news broke he and his wife Brandi were departing AEW. However, some doubt had been cast in recent days, with wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer saying some people close to Cody believed he’d pull out. Now though, it looks like Cody is set to become the WWE star he always dreamed of being, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him headline one of next year’s WrestleMania shows. 

On Monday, Impact Wrestling’s Kimber Lee posted a series of now-deleted tweets accusing her husband and fellow wrestler Nash Carter of abuse. While she wouldn’t provide any specific details, she would say the NXT talent had 24 hours to disclose the facts himself, or she would. Then later, she’d say she was being harassed on the phone and was taking a break to focus on herself. Since then, things have been quiet, however, on Saturday, she took to Twitter again and revealed that they are continuing their marriage and undergoing therapy.

Following her initial tweets, apart from Lee’s own safety, a concern raised by fans was what would happen to Carter’s wrestling career. Seemingly though, WWE was unconcerned by the allegations as they continued to promote Carter for their NXT: Stand & Deliver show this weekend. And subsequently, he, along with his partner West Lee would win the NXT Tag Team Championships on the show when Carter pinned Marcel Barthel of Imperium. Nevertheless, more importantly than Carter’s title victory is the fact Lee and Carter are addressing whatever issues they have, and hopefully, she’ll no longer have cause to post such worrying tweets in the future.

The Undertaker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on Friday, and he would cut an emotional speech that was incredibly popular with those in attendance. However, once it was over, fans on social media would voice their displeasure that The Undertaker failed to mention Mick Foley, with who he famously feuded within the 90s. This would result in Foley trending on Twitter under the sports topic, and his daughter Noelle would also address the snub.

That was a great speech, but I’m very surprised there was not one single mention of my dad and their legendary matches together.

— Noelle Foley (@NoelleFoley) April 2, 2022

Between April 1996 and September 1999, under his Mankind gimmick, Mick Foley shared a ring over 160 times with The Undertaker. And many feel Foley reinvigorated The Undertaker’s career as before their feud, he’d been working with the likes of Irwin R. Schyster, Kama, and King Kony Bundy in programs that weren’t selling out arenas.

Why The Undertaker didn’t mention Foley still remains unknown, and he simply could have genuinely forgotten or had his time cut. It will, though, be interesting to see if The Undertaker chooses to address this at a later date and potentially offer Foley an apology either publicly or in private.

Bray Wyatt was unexpectantly released by WWE on July 31, 2021, just eight days before he was set to return to television. The reported reason was budgetary cuts, but knowledgeable people have said it was due to him being unhappy going along with what he considered bad creative. Since then, fans have been eagerly awaiting his return to wrestling, but so, though his own choice hasn’t signed elsewhere. Now though, during a Q&A session on social media, the former WWE Champion has revealed he intends to wrestle again but stated the timing has to be right.

Not long after his WWE non-compete expired, Wyatt would begin pursuing a career in movies and has already filmed one movie. However, based on comments, it certainly sounds like Wyatt will wrestle again, and given the pay he would seemingly command, AEW would likely be his only realistic option. So that could potentially be what Wyatt is referring to when he mentions the right time. Because, at present, AEW is still benefiting from the signings of CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole, meaning if Wyatt did sign, he could easily get lost in the shuffle.

Friday night’s Supercard of Honor event was the first ROH show run by Tony Khan and featured the return to the company of Samoa Joe, who appeared following the main event to save Lee Moriarty and Jonathan Gresham from Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt. On commentary, it was stated Joe would appear on Dynamite, and subsequently, Khan announced on Twitter that the former NXT Champion was officially All Elite. Now, during a post-show media scrum, Joe has addressed the health and concussion issues that played a part in his WWE career being cut short.

It’s been a crazy year for Joe as he went from commentating at WrestleMania to being released just days later. However, he was re-hired at the behest of Triple H, put into an angle with Karrion Kross, won the NXT Championship, abruptly vacated the title, and then re-released. However, he now has a fresh start in both AEW and ROH ahead of him, and with him in good health, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him wearing gold soon.

WHAT A RETURN TO #ROH WE ARE WITNESSING RIGHT NOW! @SamoaJoe just arrived and business has picked up! What an incredible night it has been at #SupercardofHonor! pic.twitter.com/P5ssPlI333

— ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) April 2, 2022

Ever since Cody Rhodes departed AEW earlier this year, fans have been speculating when he would make his return to WWE. And while it hasn’t been announced, everyone is anticipating it being at this weekend’s WrestleMania. This is because WWE has made a big deal of Seth Rollins not having an opponent for the event, and Vince McMahon has personally stepped in to arrange someone for him in the storyline. Therefore only a big name will now be able to meet fans’ expectations, so everyone presumes it must be Cody.

Now, during a recent interview by Denise Salcedo with Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the wrestling journalist revealed that Cody is the intended mystery opponent. However, he’d add that some people close to the former AEW star think he’ll back out before the match.

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Last month it was reported Cody had signed with WWE, so if he was to pull out, he would find himself in a complicated legal situation for breaching his contract. Therefore it seems incredibly doubtful he’d do that. Nevertheless, stranger things have happened in wrestling, and just a year ago, the idea of Cody returning to WWE would have been considered laughable. Now, if Cody does renege, it would put WWE in a terrible position with them clamoring to find a suitable replacement because if it is anyone currently on the roster, there will be a lot of disappointed fans in Dallas.

With WrestleMania 38 set to take place this weekend, Paul Heyman is busy doing media appearances to promote the event. However, he is open to talking about more than just the show, and while appearing as a guest on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour, he would discuss Cody Rhodes’ unexpected AEW departure. With the former ECW head honcho saying he wasn’t surprised, feeling that Cody knew he wouldn’t be able to fill his father Dusty Rhodes’ boots due to no longer working decision-making ability under Tony Khan.

Cody is anticipated to be making his WWE return as Seth Rollins’ surprise opponent at WrestleMania. However, the recent news that Shane McMahon will be at the event has cast some doubt on this as he was Rollins’ initially planned opponent back in January. Of course, it wouldn’t be beyond WWE to purposely leak the news of Shane’s attendance to add to the mystery of Rollins’ opponent artificially.

Before this week’s episode of Dynamite, AEW taped next week’s Dark: Elevation, and while we won’t give away any spoilers, Paul Wight would wrestle on the show. It was unusual for him to compete because since joining AEW, he has only wrestled three times in total, and the last time was back in October. However, Dave Meltzer has revealed on Wrestling Observer Radio the reason was that the show was close to Wight’s hometown, and he’d been doing local promotion to sell tickets.

If the reaction was as big as Meltzer says, Tony Khan may regret not having the former WWE star wrestle on Dynamite or Rampage, as it would have looked and sounded great on television. Nevertheless, Khan is likely more than happy with the extra 1000 fans in attendance, which would have been added significantly to the show’s profitability. Additionally, just having a match would have been good for Wight’s ring rust with his Captain Insano character from The Waterboy being expected to debut soon.