Ric Flair and Mark Madden’s relationship goes back to the 90s with the pair working together in WCW. Madden would also be instrumental in the writing of Flair’s book, so when Flair needed a co-host for his Ric Flair Wooooo Nation Uncensored podcast, Madden seemed a good choice. Yet, after just 19 episodes, Flair has fired the former WCW commentator and is relacing him with his son-in-law Conrad Thompson. Although it appears Madden tried to save face by saying he was leaving through his own choice and a Twitter argument ensued.

Likely much more will come out in the coming days regarding the circumstances of Madden’s firing. Nonetheless, Twitter drama is never a good look, and it appears that Flair has lost another long-term friend. Flair has previously hosted a podcast alongside Thompson, but that would abruptly end when Flair quit podcasting. However, seemingly following the now-infamous Dark Side of the Ring episode, which tarnished his reputation, Flair has fewer options to make money.

On Sunday night Will Smith would slap Chris Rock at the Oscars after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife’s lack of hair. This would immediately become the top talking point on social media, with some people siding with Smith for defending his wife. In contrast, others would say a joke, even if ill-advised, shouldn’t result in violence.

Among those to weigh in with their opinion was WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley, who would condemn Smith’s actions and questioned whether he’d have done the same had it been The Rock making the joke. However, he would also see the lighter side of the situation, likening Rock’s reaction to the slap to that of Billy Gunn selling during a match he was going to lose.

It’s been reported that while the police are aware of the incident, Rock doesn’t intend to press charges. Therefore Smith is unlikely to face any criminal penalty for his actions. Although the New York Post has reported that Smith may have to give back the Oscar he would later win due to breaking The Academy’s code of conduct. Of course, in pro wrestling, the big question is which promotion will be the first to parody the incident, and with Raw being live tonight, it is likely Vince McMahon will have his writers working on a skit to be included in the show.

Bo Dallas’ 13-year tenure with WWE ended in April 2021 when he was released due to budgetary cuts. He had last wrestled for the company in November 2019, and his absence was thought to be simply down to WWE not having anything creatively for him. However, he would later reveal he’d actually suffered a broken neck and had been out recovering. Still, he wasn’t planning on returning to the ring imminently.

Now though, during a virtual autograph signing, he has revealed he is planning on returning to the ring in the next few months. Although, he wouldn’t give any specific details regarding who he’ll be working for.

It’s known MLW previously reached out to 31-year-old Dallas wanting him to join the promotion, but the time wasn’t right for him. Therefore it’s possible his upcoming return could be with them. Then based on his own name and that of his family, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him appearing for AEW or Impact Wrestling in the future. Possibly even with his former tag partner Curtis Axel, who is also a free agent.

Bret Hart was recently part of a virtual autograph signing put on by Signed By Superstars and would chitchat throughout. During this, the topic of Brock Lesnar recently revealing that wrestling Bret Hart was his dream match came up, and Hart would put over the current WWE Champion in return. He was though sure to take a shot at Golberg in the process.

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Hart’s contempt for Golberg is well known after the WCW star kicked him in the head during their match at Starrcade in 1999, giving him a concussion which eventually ended his career. Sadly this incident means there was never an opportunity for Lesnar and Hart to share a ring. Goldberg has since expressed his remorse over this, but seemingly this has had little effect on how Bret Hart feels about him.

Recently Cody Rhodes’ sister Teil shared a photo of her brother standing alongside their father Dusty captioned, “I knew my old man best and I know he would be beaming with pride if he could see what’s next.” Initially, it was assumed this was due to Cody being WWE-bound and set for a big push. However, Fightful Select has now confirmed she was referring to a documentary WWE is working on regarding Dusty’s legacy, which Cody will produce.

The fact that Cody is working with WWE on the documentary only further demonstrates he is headed back to WWE. And it would be interesting to know whether the documentary played a part in Cody’s negotiations with the company. Still, when you consider WWE owns most of the footage available of Dusty, it is certainly possible part of his decision to rejoin WWE stems from wanting to keep his father’s legendary career alive.

Hulk Hogan is a very polarising character in the wrestling business; however, his popularity in the 80s is unquestionable, and in many ways, he ushered in sports entertainment. Now in an Instagram post, Hogan has revealed he believes current SmackDown wrestler Jinder Mahal could follow in his footsteps. Claiming the former WWE champion has got it all and just needs the right push.

While 35-year-old Mahal is a talented performer, WWE has previously pushed him as a main eventer without success. When the promotion was going after fans in India, they put the WWE Championship on the Canadian wrestler due to his Indian heritage. However, it didn’t result in a significant increase in revenue, and his reign ended when Brock Lesnar didn’t want to work with him at Survivor Series. Since then, Mahal stock has dropped considerably, with injuries playing a part. And at present, he is a part of a mid-card double-act with Shanky on SmackDown, and it seems highly unlikely he’ll fulfill the potential Hogan sees in him.

One of Paul Wight’s earliest movie roles came in The Waterboy, which starred Adam Sandler and Henry Winkler, with him played professional wrestler Captain Insano. While only in the film for a short period, it was memorable, and fans enjoyed the character. Now it seems the character is set to make a return, not in a movie sequel but in an AEW ring. This is because Paul Wight has revealed on The Rob Brown Show that after AEW had applied for the “Captain Insano” trademark for use in video games, he is getting a costume made so Captain Insano will be “running wild in AEW.”

Since signing with AEW, Paul Wight has only competed in three matches spending less than 10 minutes in total wrestling. However, this could be set to change with Captain Insano in the future. Although how well the character will get over to a modern audience will be interesting to see, but has the potential to offer some comedy relief.

This past Wednesday, Dustin Rhodes and Lance Archer wrestled a match taped for Friday’s edition of Rampage. However, things didn’t go according to plan, as in the early stages of the match, it was evident Rhodes was bleeding from the ear. Now, in a video shared on Twitter, he has revealed he suffered a reported eardrum.

Typically this heals on its own over a few weeks, so hopefully, the second-generation wrestler won’t be away from the ring for too long. As despite being in his 50s, Rhodes is still considered a phenomenal worker, and while the frequency of his matches is becoming less, he remains a valuable in-ring asset for AEW. 

This past Friday, Triple H disclosed he had officially retired from in-ring competition after having a heart defibrillator implanted last year. This prompted countless wrestlers he shared a ring with and others he influenced to praise his career on social media. However, Ryback would instead use this as an opportunity to take a shot at the 14-time world champion, initially saying he was personally disappointed in him and followed up by saying he was a liar. This would result in Ryback trending, with fans calling his tweets insensitive and inappropriate.

WWE did tease a match between Ryback and Triple H at one point, but it never materialized. Ryback would later reveal on his podcast that he was subsequently told by Triple H there was never any intention of the pair wrestling. This is possibly where his hostility towards Triple H comes from. Nevertheless, expressing this on a day when the rest of the wrestling world was paying tribute showed Ryback still hasn’t grasped how to read the room.

Shortly before the news broke Triple H was officially retired, former WWE wrestler Fandango would reveal he was stepping away from the ring. He would announce his upcoming retirement via Twitter but has since deactivated his entire account, perhaps indicating he is having second thoughts. The 40-year-old had most recently been wrestling for Billy Corgan’s NWA under the name Dirty Dango and teaming with JTG.

Fandango began wrestling in 1999 and joined WWE’s developmental territory Deep South in 2006 and then Florida Championship Wrestling in 2007. After receiving a few opportunities on WWE television, his big break came when he was repacked as a ballroom dancer in 2013 and received a big push by defeating Chris Jericho at WrestleMania. He was at one time meant to win the Intercontinental Championship. However, after suffering a concussion working with The Great Khali, he needed to take time off, and Curtis Axel would instead take his spot.

Upon returning, Fandango never regained the momentum he once had and wouldn’t see any further success until forming the tag team Breezango with Tyler Breeze. The duo would win the NXT Tag Team Championships in 2020, which would be Fandango’s only championship victory in WWE. Then in June 2021, his 15 years run with the company ended when he was released as part of ongoing budget cuts.

On September 8th, 2021, WWE revealed that Triple H had undergone a heart procedure after suffering what was described as a cardiac event. This is typically another way to say heart attack, and WWE’s official statement stated a genetic issue caused it. While any heart-related problem is always serious, it was portrayed as not severe; nonetheless, pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer would later report he’d been told it was “very, very, very serious.” Seemingly implying that it was potentially life-threatening.

Now, during an interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Triple H has gone into details surrounding the circumstances of his procedure,  revealing he now has a defibrillator in his chest. Therefore, confirming he is officially retired from in-ring competition.

Triple H is only 52 years of age and appeared to be in good health at the time of his heart failure, so the news did come as a surprise. However, it should be noted he had similar bodybuilding passions as The Ultimate Warrior, who was just two years older when he died from a heart attack in 2014.

Thankfully, Triple H appears to be doing much better now, and it’s believed he is slowly resuming working for WWE in an executive role. While it is clearly regrettable the 14-time world champion now won’t get to have a proper retirement match, his fans do have countless exceptional in-ring performances to reminisce over to celebrate his legendary career.

Shad Gaspard died a hero on May 17, 2020, after he and his ten-year-old son Aryeh were caught in a riptide while swimming at Venice Beach, California. Instead of accepting the help of lifeguards, he directed them to save his son first. Tragically, when they came back for him, he had disappeared underwater. The U.S. Coast Guard searched 70 square nautical miles over 17 hours but could not him, and he would end up washing ashore three days later.

His widow Siliana would go on to commence legal action against the state of California, Los Angeles County, and the city of Los Angeles. Her claim is there were not the appropriate amount of signs warning of danger, there were not enough trained lifeguards, and those who were there didn’t have the correct equipment.

Now, almost two years on from the terrible event, Gaspard, who had two runs on the main WWE roster, initially between 2006 and 2007, and again between 2008 and 2010, is set to be posthumously honored by the company. This was revealed during the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, with Dave Meltzer reporting he is set to receive the Warrior Award.

For those unaware, this is an award named after the Ultimate Warrior and is awarded at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony to those who lived a life of courage and comparison. Previously winners have been Connor Michalek, Joan Lunden, Eric LeGrand, Jarrius “JJ” Robertson, Titus O’Neil, as well as longtime WWE employees Sue Aitchison and Rich Hering.