With WrestleMania being WWE’s showpiece event and having so much history behind it, being in the main event is a huge career achievement and many wrestlers’ goal. While WWE often tries to sell the show as having multiple main events, the match that goes on last is the actual main event. Now though, with WrestleMania being over two nights, it allows twice the chance of a performer headlining. The main event of night 2 seems pretty straight forward with Roman Reigns vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Universal Championship looking likely to close the show, but night 1 wasn’t as clear-cut. It was a choice between either Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship, or SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair. Online there has been much debate over this very topic, and Stephanie McMahon has revealed in an interview with Bill Simmons that it is The Boss and the EST of WWE who will be closing out night 1.
Sasha and Bianca are going to headline night one of WrestleMania 37. That’s going to be special and spectacular. I cannot wait to see their match. I’ve always known Sasha could be at the top. She has that it factor. She shines. In the end, it’s not my decision. I am certainly excited for Sasha to have this moment. Stephanie McMahon
This will be only the second women’s match to headline WrestleMania, with Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair holding the honor of being first. However, this will be the first WrestleMania main evented by full-time female performers without an outside mainstream star such as Rousey needed.
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Becky Lynch has been gone from WWE television since announcing her pregnancy publicly on Raw back in May 2020. In a heartfelt segment, she would relinquish the Raw Women’s Championship she had held for 398 days to Asuka. She would then disappear from the spotlight and give birth to a baby daughter on December 4, 2020.

Since then, fans have been clamoring for her return, without much news. That was until WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan would give an update on The Colin Cowherd Podcast, revealing Lynch would be resuming her wrestling career in “the not too distant future.”

It now seems this could be as soon as this weekend, as Dave Meltzer has reported in his Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources informed him WWE was considering having Lynch return at WrestleMania in a semi-trailer truck like she did last years event and participate in a “Ding Dong, Hello!” interview segment with Bayley. This would also explain why Bayley hasn’t a match booked despite being one of SmackDown’s biggest stars.

We’ll have to wait and see if this is how Lynch returns, as with it now in the open, WWE may decide to change plans. However, regardless of the exact details, it seems certain Lynch will be returning to WWE shorty and perhaps as part of SmackDown to work with Bayley.

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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 had significant views on YouTube, with both official and unofficial uploads doing millions of views combined. 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 been leaked, mainly due to wrestlers letting slip. These include The Plane Ride From Hell, Brian Pillman, the Collision In Korea event, Nick Gage, Chris Kanyon, Grizzly Smith and his family, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, Xtreme Pro Wrestling, Bruiser Bedlam, and The Dynamite Kid. However, today it was officially announced that not there will also be an episode on The Ultimate Warrior, with his first wife Shari Tyree interviewed.

In addition, the official trailer, containing footage showing Jon Moxley, Eric Bischoff, David Arquette, Jim Cornette, and our very own Chris Jericho being interviewed, has been released. This can be watched below.

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”cWe40Fgw” upload-date=”2021-04-08T20:06:10.000Z” name=”Dark Side of the Ring Season 3 Trailer” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

As stated in the trailer, season 3 will premiere on Vice TV on May 6 at 9 p.m. EST. The belief is episode one is set to be about Brian Pillman’s career and sad passing and will include an interview with his former tag partner and friend Steve Austin. Having Austin participate was quite a coup by the show’s producers as talents affiliated with WWE are not usually allowed to contribute due to the series making pro wrestling, and often WWE looks bad.

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WWE introduced the Legacy Wing to their Hall of Fame in 2016. The majority of inductees are from the late 1800s to the 1990s and inducted posthumously. It’s great these people get to be acknowledged, although there is some criticism about why some of the names included didn’t receive a full induction based on how significant their careers were, such as Jim Londos, Lou Thesz, and El Santo.

This past Tuesday, WWE induced another ten names, and among them was Ethel Johnson, who at just 16-years-old became the first African-American women wrestler. Her career began in 1952 and lasted twenty-three years, and she’d win the NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship with June Byers. WWE would feature her in an induction video and noted her dropkick. However, it’s now been brought to light that the footage shown wasn’t actually her.

This was first called out by unhappy Twitter user @missezrenee, who says she is Johnson’s niece and was verified by Dave Meltzer on his Wrestling Observer Radio show. You can watch the excerpt of her induction video below, and upon further inspection, it appears they’ve used footage of Sandy Parker, who debuted 15 years after Johnson.

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”vMPKl1fQ” upload-date=”2021-04-08T16:52:54.000Z” name=”Ethel Johnson WWE Hall of Fame Legacy Wing Induction” description=”” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

WWE have now deleted the tweet and made the video private on YouTube, so are aware of their mistake. Although as of writing, the incorrect footage remains on the WWE Network. Perhaps WWE will begin speaking with inductee’s families to help avoid issues like this in the future. As Bruiser Brody’s widow has previously stated, she wasn’t made aware of his induction until the day of the ceremony.

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WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan was recently a guest on The Colin Cowherd Podcast. He was on promoting WrestleMania 37 and discussed numerous topics about his past as a sports agent and his current WWE role. During the conversation, he would confirm that Becky Lynch would be resuming her wrestling career in “the not too distant future” and that Ronda Rousey is set to return at a “certain period of time.”

Lynch has been gone from WWE television since announcing her pregnancy publicly on Raw back in May 2020. In a heartfelt segment, she would relinquish the Raw Women’s Championship she had held for 398 days to Asuka, who had won the previous night’s Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. On December 4, 2020, she gave birth to her and Seth Rollins’ baby daughter, who they named Roux.

Former UFC star Rousey last competed for WWE in April 2019 at WrestleMania 35, afterward stating she was stepping away from wrestling to start a family. However, she would later say on the podcast of Jackass star Steve-O that she was unhappy with how many shows she had to attend. She’d also state she’d never wrestle a full-time schedule again and called WWE fans ungrateful. Her initial WWE contract was set to expire this month, so it appears a new deal has been agreed.

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Last year AEW announced the postponement of their War Games-inspired Blood & Guts match due to being unable to have fans in attendance. The name was a shot at Vince McMahon, who referred to All Elite Wrestling as “Blood and Guts,” a term the AEW would joyfully go on to trademark.

The match was going to be between Cody Rhodes, Matt Jackson, Adam Page, Kenny Omega, and Matt Hardy going against Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle. With there being no date known at the time for fans returning, AEW would instead hold the now-famous Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing on May 23, 2020, with the only change in lineups being Nick Jackson replacing Rhodes.

It’s now known the match concept is set to première on the May 5th episode of Dynamite as on last night’s Dynamite, Chris Jericho of The Inner Circle challenged MJF and The Pinnacle to a Blood & Guts match. The match is set to take place on the May 5th edition of Dynamite. The match’s rules are two men entering the cage for one five-minute round, with another participant entering every two minutes. The match doesn’t officially start until all the participants have entered, and the winning team is then determined by submission or surrender.

The two factions began feuding when MJF and Wardlow left The Inner Circle, forming The Pinnacle, along with Shawn Spears, Wardlow, Tully Blanchard, and FTR. The name comes from Blanchard saying that during his in The Four Horsemen, he felt he was at “the pinnacle” of wrestling.

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Randy Orton set The Fiend alight at the conclusion of their Firefly Inferno match at WWE’s TLC pay-per-view in December. For three months, the character would be absent from WWE television but returned at Fastlane last month, coming through the ring during a match between Orton and Alexa Bliss. The Fiend would be wearing a new outfit based on the original but now burnt and melted. It’s a freakish look, and WWE is now taking pre-orders for what they are describing as “The Fiend Returns Limited Edition Deluxe Mask.” Only 500 are available to purchase and are available for $249.99.

The Fiend has been a massive success for WWE as far as merchandising goes and one of the promotions top merchandise sellers. His figures and t-shirts are always in demand, and WWE even attempted to cash in by selling a replica of The Fiend’s Universal Championship belt for a whopping $6,499.99. While it was hand-made by the studio of horror, make-up, and special effect legend Tom Savini, WWE did struggle to sell them at that price. In the end, WWE would reduce the price dramatically to a more reasonable $429.99.

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WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett has had a very successful career that saw him compete for the world’s most prominent wrestling organizations, hold multiple championships, and found his own promotions. Now the third-generation wrestler and promoter has shared the news on social media that today is the 35th anniversary of his in-ring career, as he had his first match on April 6th, 1986.

That match took place in Memphis, Tennessee, for Continental Wrestling Association, a promotion run by his father, Jerry Jarrett. Young Jeff would wrestle Tony Falk, who had challenged the then referee in an attempt to end his losing streak. The match would end in a ten-minute draw and would lead to more than 2000 career matches.

35 years ago today, April 6 of 1986, I started the official journey of my in-ring career. My grandmother, Christine Jarrett, started our family in the industry in 1946… Very grateful for all the opportunities past, present and future this business has provided me! ✌🏽🎸🙏Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett now works for WWE as a producer, after overcoming his previous addictions thanks to in-patient rehab funded by the company, and is said to be in a great place with his life. While he is no longer a regular performer, he hasn’t officially retired and last competed in April 2019 when he wrestled Dr. Wagner Jr. at an indie show in California.

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Mike Tyson was in attendance at last year’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view to present the TNT Title to Cody Rhodes after he defeated Lance Archer. Subsequently, he would make an appearance on Dynamite along with his entourage crashing an Inner Circle pep rally on Dynamite. This was meant to begin the build for a match between Tyson and Chris Jericho, although when Tyson signed a massive money contract to fight in an exhibition boxing match against Roy Jones Jr., it blocked AEW’s plans. Now though, AEW has announced that the former undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion will be on this Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.

AEW hasn’t revealed the purpose of Tyson’s appearance, although it will undoubtedly aid them in the ratings battle with NXT, which is airing the first night of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver opposite Dynamite. Also scheduled for Dynamite is Darby Allin defending the TNT Championship and Jon Moxley teaming with AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks against AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers.

Since childhood, Tyson has been a wrestling fan, and Vince McMahon brought him into the business in 1998 to serve as a special guest enforcer for the WrestleMania 14 main event of Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin. Tyson would return to the promotion in 2010 as a guest host of Raw, where he would also team with our very own Chris Jericho against DX. He would turn on Jericho by revealing a DX shirt and knocking out Jericho so Michaels could get the victory. In 2012 WWE honored Tyson by having DX induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame celebrity wing. However, despite his previous affiliation with WWE, he is now All Elite.

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This past weekend Bea Priestley wrestled her final match in Japan at World Wonder Ring Stardom at their Dream Cinderella In Spring event. She’d unsuccessfully challenge their champion Utami Hayashishita and afterward said on the mic that it had been her final match for the promotion. It’s understood she had turned down the opportunity to re-sign Stardom, as well as rejected a contract offer from New Japan where she had featured alongside her boyfriend, Will Ospreay.

It’s believed Priestley is now set to return to the United Kingdom and sign with WWE and wrestle for their NXT UK brand. She had previously turned down a similar offer from WWE in favor of signing with AEW in 2019 due to them allowing her to continue wrestling in Japan. At the time, it was thought to have been a good decision. However, due to travel restrictions stopping her from getting to the United States, AEW released her on 13 August 2020. Thankfully, she could still continue her career in Japan, where she has lived with Ospreay since 2019.

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WWE introduced the Warrior Award to their Hall of Fame following the death of Ultimate Warrior. He had wanted an award for WWE’s behind-the-scenes employees, but it was decided fans would also be eligible. Connor Michalek, who died from cancer aged just eight, would be posthumously awarded the inaugural award. Daniel Bryan and the Ultimate Warrior’s widow Dana would go on to present his father and brother at the 2015 Hall of Fame ceremony.

Since then, Joan Lunden, Eric LeGrand, Jarrius Robertson, and longtime WWE employee Sue Aitchison have also been honored. Now WWE has issued a press release announcing that Titus O’Neil is the first active wrestler to be awarded the honor in recognition of his charity work. Over the years, O’Neil has helped students get accepted into college, read in after-school programs, accompanied children in at-risk neighborhoods, handed out toys, and visited sick children in hospital.

The actual WWE Hall of Fame ceremony took place last week, and it was believed O’Neil had been acknowledged due to photos of the event circulating online, which included him. Fans can watch the event for themselves on April 6 at 8 PM ET on Peacock in the United States and WWE Network throughout the rest of the world.

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WWE released a video of the top ten loudest reactions in WrestleMania history on Sunday. Included were The Undertaker’s WrestleMania XX return, The Rock and Hulk Hogan facing off, and Daniel Bryan winning the WWE Championship. However, noticeable by its absence was the Hardy Boyz surprise return at WrestleMania 33, and seemingly fans have been tagging Matt Hardy, making him aware of the omission. He would take to Twitter and acknowledge the exclusion which you can read below.

For everyone who’s tweeted me, our WM33 return isn’t included because I’m now at @AEW. I’ve always felt it’s a damaging practice to selectively revise history with diehard fans. You tell me, should our WM33 return be on this list?
Matt Hardy

It is sad WWE feels the need to play down their own history just because a talent who made them a lot of money is now wrestling for a rival. Of course, this is nothing new, and WWE even removed Deam Ambrose’s name from a Shield debut video due to him being with AEW.

The Hardy Boyz return at WrestleMania was a special moment that few people expected, with even their opponents not knowing until two days before the match. The Hardy Boyz would go from wrestling the Lucha Brothers on Friday to wrestling the Young Bucks in a ladder match on Saturday night to winning the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania on Sunday.

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