A decade ago, WWE held a press conference revealing they had signed Luis Ignacio Urive Alvirde, a massive star in Mexico as Místico. Under the name Sin Cara he was expected to become a worldwide star, but this obviously never transpired. One of the reasons for this was just over three months after debuting, he received a 30-day suspension for a wellness violation. While suspended, Jose Jorge Arriaga Rodriguez, who competed as Hunico, would wrestle under the mask in his place. Arriaga would later take over the role full-time in 2014, and his run as the character lasted until late 2019, when he was granted his release. Now in an interview with Wrestling Inc, the former Sin Cara has opened upon requesting his release and how he felt he wasn’t worth anything to Vince McMahon. Following his WWE departure, Arriaga would appear at AAA’s annual Guerra de Titanes show, wearing his Sin Cara mask and using the name. However, he would quickly change his name and mask to that of “Cinta de Oro,” which was the name of the luchador that trained him but had sadly passed away in 2016. Unfortunately, since then, worldwide events have limited his in-ring appearances, although he is booked to wrestle on the same show where Alberto Del Rio is scheduled to face Andrade on July 31st in Texas.

Alberto Del Rio recently returned to wrestling after going on hiatus since assault and kidnapping allegations were made against him by an ex-girlfriend. It was even claimed he threatened to leave her young son stranded in the street, which shocked and appalled everyone. However, in an interview with Lucha Libre Online, he has revealed that she officially dropped the charges against him. Additionally, he stated her son was not even at the house when the scandal occurred.

Del Rio also spoke about another former girlfriend, Paige, who he began dating in 2016 but would separate with in 2017. The pair had a tumultuous relationship, and following the accusations mentioned above, she claimed that Del Rio kept her confined for hours during their relationship. Del Rio has stated that due to a confidentiality agreement the pair signed that he would take legal action against her if she spoke out against him again.

Del Rio is obviously trying to repair his reputation and rebuild his career due to the court of public opinion already having found him guilty despite the fact he will likely face no legal consequences. In July, he is set to face Andrade in one of his first matches since departing WWE himself, which has already caused controversy online. Therefore it will be interesting to see if any major promotions give him further opportunities due to the potential backlash.

Billie Kay was among ten wrestlers released by WWE on April 15th, 2021, concluding her six years with the company. It came as a surprise as, while not one of the top female workers in the company, she was popular with fans and had just competed at WrestleMania teaming with Carmella. It was subsequently reported by Fightful Select that she wasn’t highly regarded by one of the WWE’s most powerful men, Executive Producer Kevin Dunn. Apparently, he didn’t see much in her, and while it isn’t known if this directly played into her release, having someone as influential as Dunn against her progression would always hold her back.

Despite her WWE run being over, the Australian has wasted no time planning for her future by updating her Twitter handle to her real name @JessicaMcKay. This is the name she used on the US and Australian independent circuit before signing with WWE, and it’s now been confirmed she applied for the trademark on “Jessie McCay” on April 15th, 2021, for both performing and merchandise.

What lies ahead for Kay remains to be seen, but considering her longtime IIconics tag team partner and friend Petyon Royce was also cut, it’s possible they reunite on the independent scene. Additionally, with Royce being married to Shawn Spears, there will be speculation the duo could make their way to AEW when their non-compete clauses expire.

The recent news that Alberto Del Rio has returned to the ring and is taking the future has generated a lot of criticism on social media. This is due to him being in court on May 3rd, having been accused by his now ex-girlfriend of kidnap and assault. With the alleged crime having taken place in Texas if found guilty, he faces a lengthy prison sentence and even possibly life.

Seemingly though, he feels that isn’t going to happen as he was getting rid of the ring rust this past weekend at a private show on Saturday, followed by an indie event on Sunday. Plus, in a new interview, the former WWE star has revealed he will be facing Andrade on July 31st in a singles match in McAllen, Texas.

This is Andrade’s first known wrestling booking since being granted his release on March 21st, 2021, without the standard 90 days non-compete clause. Although with the booking being three months away, he will likely wrestle before then.

In addition to Andrade, also on the card will be Primo, Epico, Cinta de Oro, who previously wrestled as Sin Cara, and the recently released Kalisto. Many fans have criticized those who work with Del Rio, so it will be interesting to see how shows with Del Rio do in terms of ticket sales as Twitter outrage may not line up with paying fans who are less aware of the allegations.

Pro wrestling documentary series Dark Side of the Ring has been a big success since it premiered on Viceland in April 2019. The second season’s finale on Owen Hart’s death even gave Vice its highest ever-rated program with 626,000 viewers. On top of that, the show has significant views on YouTube, with both official and unofficial uploads doing millions of combined views. So given that, and with so many fascinating topics still to cover, Vice commissioned a 14 episode third season in 2020.

Over the last few months, multiple planned topics have revealed, including Brian Pillman, The Plane Ride From Hell, the Collision In Korea event, Nick Gage, Chris Kanyon, Grizzly Smith and his family, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, Xtreme Pro Wrestling, Bruiser Bedlam, The Dynamite Kid, and The Ultimate Warrior. However, today it was officially announced that there will also be episodes on the 90s steroid trial and the late Luna Vachon.

With season 3 premiering on Vice TV on May 6 at 9 p.m. EST with a two part Brian Pillman episode, a trailer featuring Steve Austin has been released, which you can watch below. For those unaware, Pillman and Austin were close friends and teamed together as the Hollywood Blondes in WCW.

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The inclusion of Austin is a big deal as WWE affiliated talents are not usually allowed to contribute to the show due to the series making pro wrestling, and often WWE look bad. However, Vince McMahon seemingly doesn’t like to say no to Austin, as he was able to get permission from WWE’s head-honcho for Chris Jericho to appear and his Broken Skull Sessions show.

British wrestler Sadie Gibbs made her debut in 2017 and quickly became a name in women’s wrestling, appearing for Japan’s World Wonder Ring Stardom just over a year later. A few months later, she was signed by All Elite Wrestling and debuted at All Out 2019 during the Women’s Casino Battle Royale. She’d go on to wrestle a couple of times on AEW Dark, sharing the ring with names like Big Swole and Allie before the promotion released her due to travel restrictions preventing her from traveling to the US.

Having not wrestled since October 2019, Gibbs has taken to her Instagram and revealed she has officially retired as a professional wrestler. She states she now intends to focus on coaching, speaking, and teaching and is looking to inspire and impact as many people as she can. The news was surprising, as Gibbs is only 29 years of age, and the world should be opening up over the next few months, meaning she can travel again. However, being a wrestler is a demanding profession, and there isn’t big money for independent talents unless they have an established name. So if someone’s heart isn’t in, it makes sense to pursue other options.

Qatar Pro Wrestling has run a total of 13 since launching in 2013 and hopes to become a player in the wrestling industry, having formed a working relationship with OVW and are looking at getting a television deal. Their last show took place back in February 2020 in front of almost 6,000 fans who got to see RVD, Alberto Del Rio, Enzo Amore, Michael Elgin, and Chris Masters live.

No other shows have taken place since due to worldwide events, but the promotion is running again at the Lausail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar, with a capacity for over 20,000 people on February 26, 2022. To fill a venue that size, the promoter Ali Al-Marafi needs big names and seemingly has deep pockets because he has already booked Bret Hart, Jon Moxley, Booker T, Sting, Sammy Guevara, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Will Ospreay.

Additionally, it has now been announced that the event will feature a Nation of Domination reunion with Faarooq, The Godfather, Mark Henry, and D’Lo Brown confirmed. WWE last used the famous 90s faction over 22 years ago, with the first version of the group starting in the USWA back in 1996. The group would then make its way to WWE under Faarooq’s leadership. Over the group’s lifespan, in addition to the wrestlers announced for the show, wrestlers such as Crush, Savio Vega, Ahmed Johnson, Owen Hart, and most famously, The Rock were members.

It will be interesting to see if WWE reacts to QPW using the Nation of Domination name, as previously QPW has aired past events internationally on FITE. This may attract WWE’s attention, who likely could take ownership of the trademark based on prior usage. Vince McMahon had considered rebooting the stable last year with The Hurt Business. He even brought in Mark Henry and Faarooq to be involved, but MVP was against this. Plus, many people backstage expressed the view that establishing a group based on race would be contentious and tone-deaf with what is happening in the world.

During Impact Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view, longtime tag partners and podcast co-hosts Matt Cardona and Brian Myers squared off. Myers would be victorious, but not before a worrying moment in the match which saw the referee throw up the dreaded “X” sign, meaning a legitimate injury had occurred. The injury happened when Cardona was thrown into the air, and his knee buckled upon landing. Multiple referees would check on him, and shortly afterward, the wrestlers improvised a finish with Myers helping his prone opponent to his feet before clotheslining him and following up with the Roster Cut Lariat.

Cardona seemed to be in a lot of pain and has since taken to Twitter and confirmed that his knee cap had to be put back in place. However, he did later follow up by saying it is hopefully just a scare. Suppose he cannot immediately return to the ring, though. In that case, it could cause him to miss several weeks of television, and Impact is now taping multiple weeks of television at once.

Last night was Impact Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view from the Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The show was built a Winner Takes All match between Impact Wrestling World Champion Rich Swann and the AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, with Impact bringing in Mauro Ranallo to call the match. With Omega being the more prominent star and currently having a belt collector gimmick, many considered the outcome a forgone conclusion, and they were correct, with Omega winning the 23-minute match. Swann’s 184 days reign as champion ended after Omega hit him with his One-Winged Angel finisher, and he celebrated in the ring with Don Callis, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows to close the show.

In addition to now holding both the Impact Wrestling and TNA Championship belts, Omega also has the AEW Championship, which he won from Jon Moxley in December 2020, and AAA Mega Championship he won from Rey Fenix in October 2019. Interestingly, he didn’t wear the AAA Mega Championship belt on the show.

With Impact now taping their next set of television shows, it’s expected Omega will be involved due to being the promotion’s champion. However, his next actual match is not yet known. It was though announced during the pay-per-view that Impact will hold a show titled Under Siege on May 15th on Impact Plus, plus Against All Odds returns to PPV on June 12th, and Slammiversary will take place in July, but no date was given. So it is likely Omega will at least compete on the pay-per-views.

Scheduled for last night’s Rebellion pay-per-view was Violent By Design (Cody Deaner, Joe Doering, Rhino, and Eric Young) against Chris Sabin, Willie Mack, Eddie Edwards, James Storm in an eight-man tag tea match. However, with Young unable to compete for the next 6-9 months due to a torn ACL, a substitute was required. Before the match, in a backstage segment, Young and the rest of the group were shown talking to a mystery man. Then during the ring introductions of the other Violent By Design members, Young would come out shortly, followed by Big Cass.

Cass, who had been wrestling as Caz XL, is now going by the name W. Morrissey and would win the match for his team after hitting Mack with the East River Crossing. After the match, he would continue to beat on Mack and was clearly booked to look dominant. It isn’t known how long the former Cass has signed with Impact, but he is expected to become a regular.

Cass had been suffering from mental health issues and an alcohol addiction following his WWE release in June 2018 but returned to wrestling after almost 18 months away in February 2021 on an independent show. He’d be the surprise tag partner for Hernandez facing Luke and Perry Hawx, but beforehand he’d make the save for his former WWE tag partner Enzo Amore. Since then, he has competed in several singles matches in the indies and is believed to be in good health, both mentally and physically.

Alberto Del Rio is due in court on May 3rd due to being accused by his now ex-girlfriend of assaulting her over a prolonged period of time. With the alleged crimes taking place in Texas, Del Rio could be imprisoned for life if found guilty. The case, though, is complicated as Del Rio’s accuser took to Instagram in November 2020 and, in a now-deleted post, wrote, “An apology to the Rodriguez del Rio family for the damages caused by my mistakes.” This looks like she may have been withdrawing her accusations, although only the State can drop the case, and they are clearly proceeding.

With this hanging over Del Rio, he hasn’t wrestled since his arrest, and the belief was many promotions were concerned that booking him would bring negative attention to them. However, it has now been reported that Del Rio returned to the ring on Saturday night, where he wrestled Daga at a private event in California. Additionally, he is booked for an independent Lucha Libra promotion in Laguna Hills, CA, where he will face Carlito in a tag match today (Sunday).

While Del Rio’s return to pro wrestling has caused controversy on social media, he has yet to be found guilty, so he is free to continue to perform. The belief if Del Rio is accepting bookings in the future, so he seemingly feels he will remain a free man. Although, if any major promotions will use him regardless of the outcome of his trial remains to be seen.

Big Cass was set for a big push in WWE, but due to behavioral issues and not following the script during an angle on SmackDown, he was released on June 19, 2018. He would go on to wrestle on the independent circuit using the name Caz XL, but due to alcohol and mental health issues, this didn’t go well. The lowlight came at WrestlePro show, where he tried to fight Joey Janela backstage, got punched by Pat Buck, and the police had to be called when he refused to leave the building.

However, after almost 18 months out of the spotlight, Cass returned in February 2021 for a Lariato Pro Wrestling show held at Toombs County Middle School in Lyons, Georgia. He’d be the surprise tag partner for Hernandez facing Luke and Perry Hawx, but beforehand he’d make the save for his former WWE tag partner Enzo Amore. Since then, he has competed in several singles matches on the indies and is believed to be in good health, both mentally and physically.

Now according to Inside The Ropes, he is set to debut for Impact Wrestling shortly. It is not known precisely when Cass will debut for Impact, but the promotion is holding their Rebellion pay-per-view tonight. The show is built a Winner Takes All match between Impact World Champion Rich Swann and the AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, so there are expected to be many extra viewers tonight, making it a good time for Cass to debut.