Ryback recently tweeted that wrestling is fake and the championships are just props. While this is an accurate, if simplistic statement, some people, especially those in the business, find it extremely offensive to say this. One of those people is former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry, who on the Busted Open radio show he co-hosts addressed Ryback’s tweet and called him a “bitter ass” and an “assh*le.” Henry would also refer to Ryback’s reputation as a dangerous worker who only speaks the way he does because he failed to become a world champion. He’d finish saying he owes the wrestling world an apology. You can listen to Henry’s comments in full below.

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Following Henry’s condemnation, Ryback again took to Twitter and posted multiple tweets claiming he was being sarcastic and loves the wrestling business. He’d then return a few hours later, saying that Henry is a liar and he has now blocked him on Twitter. Mark Henry and Ryback shared a ring several times, with their most famous match coming at WrestleMania XXIX in 2013. Based on some of Ryback’s tweets, it seems the pair had a positive relationship at one time. However, with Mark Henry, a WWE legend, and Ryback being very outspoken about the company, it seems unlikely the pair will be exchanging Christmas cards anytime soon.

Ethan Page began working for Impact Wrestling in 2017 and would twice hold the Impact World Tag Team Championship with Josh Alexander. He’d finish up with the company in November 2020, but at last night’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view, a pre-recorded match of him vs. his alter-ego Karate Man would be broadcast. The match took place in front of a green screen and ended with Karate Man ripping out Page’s heart and saying, “I guess you’re not hard to kill.” It was done for pure comedy, and you can watch an excerpt below.

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After the match aired, Page would criticize the presentation by calling it “dog sh*t” on Twitter but would delete the tweets shortly afterward. Now he has written in a wrestling action figure group that he wasn’t happy with the finished product and will be taking a break away from social media. He’d reveal he asked Impact not to have the Karate Man character on television and that he was lied to and disrespected by them.

What the future holds for Ethan Page now he is no longer with Impact Wrestling remains to be seen. The belief is he has spoken to both WWE and AEW, so perhaps he’ll be returning to television shortly. However, it’s unlikely it will be as Karate Man.

WWE previously announced they were heading back to Los Angeles for WrestleMania 37, and it was going to take place at the SoFi Stadium. The Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers home cost $5 billion to build and can hold over 100,000 for specific events. However, worldwide events wrecked those plans, and it’s now officially been confirmed that it will take place over two nights on Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ home was meant to be the venue for WrestleMania 36 and is also set to host Super Bowl LV, on February 7, 2021, with around a 20% capacity. This same capacity for WrestleMania 37 would mean the 15,000 fans each night to watch WWE’s Showcase of the Immortals in person.

WWE has also announced the WrestleMania 38 will take place on Sunday, April 3, 2022, at AT&T Stadium in Texas, where WrestrleManai 32 took place. They’d also confirm that SoFi Stadium would still get to host WWE’s flagship event, with WrestleMania 39 taking place there on Sunday, April 2, 2023.

To announce the changes, WWE produced a WrestleMania Report video announcing the changes that includes Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, Sasha Banks and John Cena. You can watch this below.

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In December, 6-foot-8 former UFC fighter Paul Varelans shared on Facebook that he was unwell. His health would quickly deteriorate, and he placed on mechanical ventilation and eventually induced in a medical coma. Sadly it has now been confirmed that he passed away on Saturday night aged just 51.

Paul Varelans made his UFC debut on July 14, 1995, at UFC 6 when the vents were one night tournaments and defeated Cal Worsham by knockout before losing to Tank Abbott in the semi-finals. His nickname was The Polar Bear as he fought out of Fairbanks, Alaska. He’d only fight between 1995 and 1998 but is regarded a pioneer of the MMA and had a 9-9 record. During the prime of his career, he’d wrestle in ECW three times, twice against Jason Helton, a Canadian wrestler that Chris Jericho helped get booked, and once against Taz in what was billed as a shoot fight.

The match took place at Hardcore Heaven in 96 and is famous amongst ECW fans as many believed it would be a shoot. The idea of the match was to build Taz as a legitimate fighter. Varelans agreed to put over his much smaller opponent in exchange for Missy Hyatt performing a sexual favor. They would have a short match with Taz, which ended after outside interference from Perry Saturn and Taz locking in the Tazmission. Fans were not happy with the much-hyped match and changed “U F Shit.” Varelans would also not get to spend time with Hyatt after the match, as according to her autobiography, she reneged, saying she wasn’t interested in jobbers. Following this, Varelans never worked with ECW again and would wrestle one last match in Japan the following year.

Matt Cardona, who made his name wrestling as Zack Ryder in WWE, debuted for Impact Wrestling at last night’s pay-per-view. He’d wrestle in an unannounced match against Ace Austin, which lasted less than three minutes after Madman Fulton interfered and caused Austin to be disqualified. While it is not confirmed if Cardona has signed with Impact Wrestling, he did take to Twitter after the match, thanking Scott D’Amore for the opportunity and declared he isn’t done with Austin and Fulton.

This is Cardona’s third promotion in nine months, as after he was let go by WWE in April 2020, he’d debut for AEW on the July 29 episode of Dynamite and saved Cody Rhodes from an attack bt Alex Reynolds and John Silver. The following week teamed with Cody against the Dark Order members for his in-ring debut. His final match with Tony Khan’s promotion came at All Out on September 5, 2020, when he was part of an eight-man tag.

Main eventing a pay-per-view is a big deal for any wrestler, and tonight Alex Shelley was meant to be part of the six-man tag match headlining Hard To Kill. He was scheduled to team with Chris Sabin and Rich Swann against Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows in the opening match of the Impact Wrestling/All Elite Wrestling working relationship. However, one day before the show, Impact stated that Shelley couldn’t travel to Nashville. His replacement was announced to be former New England Patriots, St. Louis Rams, and Indianapolis Colt’s player Moose.

Shelley has now recorded a video, which was shared earlier today by Impact Wrestling, where he addresses his absence. He didn’t go into detail why he couldn’t be at the show but explained he isn’t ill or injured, but did say, “in the interest in safety, my situation is a very complex one.” He added that he would return to Impact Wrestling in the future. You can watch the full video below.

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Shelley hasn’t had the best of luck during his career. Injuries, including broken teeth, issues with the C6 and C5 nerve roots in his neck, a paralyzed vocal cord, and a fractured skull that resulted in spinal fluid leaking out his nose, have caused his career to stall at times. His family wanted him to quit wrestling, and he did retire in 2018, but after a year away would return. Thankfully the reason for him not being able to wrestle tonight isn’t injury-related, and hopefully, whatever situation he is dealing with can be overcome.

During last night’s episode of SmackDown, WWE began using the filming technology on entrances, focusing on shots without much foreground. This cinematic effect looks to be something out of a video game and was first used by FOX during the Washington and Seattle NFL game on December 20th during end zone and pregame shots. Football fans highly praised it at the time, and it has now been adopted by WWE, as you can see below.

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The 8K camera, known as a “Megalodon,” is a Sony a7R IV paired with a FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM lens and includes a wireless transmitter to immediately send the 1080p signal to the production truck. Somewhat surprising, the camera only costs $10,000, which is a small change to both WWE and FOX. It has also been reported there are plans to use it for the next month’s Daytona 500, possibly for start and finish line shots.

One of the very few benefits of running shows in the same location and without fans is that it’s possible to make changes to your schedule at short notice. It now looks like WWE is taking advantage of this by moving their upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. The annual event was set to take place at Tropicana Field on Sunday, February 28, but is now being listed internally a week earlier and will take place on Sunday, February 21. Also, WrestleMania 37, which was meant to take place on Sunday, March 27, will now take place on Sunday, April 11. However, there does remain the possibility that WWE’s flagship show could go back a further week if it means there is a chance more fans could be in attendance.

Where WrestleMania 37 will take place is still up in the air, as WWE previously announced they were heading back to Los Angeles for the first time since WrestleMania 21. It was going to take place at the SoFi Stadium, which cost $5 billion to build and with potentially 100,000 in attendance. However world wide events have wrecked those plans, and the show now looks destined to take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ home was meant to be the venue for WrestleMania 36 and is set to host Super Bowl LV, on February 7, 2021, with around a 20% capacity. This same capacity for WrestleMania 37 would mean the feasibility of 15,000 fans being there to watch WWE’s Showcase of the Immortals in person.

Yesterday Ricochet commented on the rumor that his WWE contract was about to expire and that he would shortly be a free agent. The belief was as he signed a three-year deal when he joined WWE in January 2018, he could return to New Japan or debut in AEW as soon as next week. However, the wrestler would say on Twitter that this was fake news, and now Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has confirmed when his contract will actually expire.

It turns out that, Ricochet signed a lucrative extension in 2019 when he was called up to the main roster, which lasts until 2024. As AEW had officially been announced, WWE was desperate to avoid any talents jumping ship to the new promotion, and the timing worked out great for Ricochet in negotiating a new deal.

Now that AEW is established and was renewed by TNT last year, the days WWE offering big-money deals are sadly no more for the wrestlers who aren’t already big stars like Rey Mysterio. Fightful Select recently reported that Reckoning, T-Bar, Mace, and Slapjack only saw their pay increased to $250,000 per year when they got called up to Raw. Although given how WWE has portrayed Retribution as one of the most ineffective groups in company history, they are likely overpaid compared to their value.

On Saturday night Impact Wrestling’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view, named because of the number of obstacles overcome to still exist, takes place at Skyway Studios in Nashville. The show has the potential to be one of the most successful events the promotion has put on since rebranding from TNA, and the reason for that is the down to Kenny Omega wrestling in the main event.

Omega became available to Impact after the promotion began a working relationship with AEW, and this played out on television when Omega aligned with Impact’s Don Callis. This led to Omega appearing on Impact on AXS, and an angle would take where Impact’s World Champion Rich Swann, Alex Shelley, and Chris Sabin were beaten down backstage by Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, and Omega. With the babyfaces down, Don Callis made the six-man tag match official for Hard To Kill.

However, one day before the big show, Impact has now announced that Alex Shelley cannot travel to Nashville. His replacement will be former New England Patriots, St. Louis Rams, and Indianapolis Colt’s player Moose. The former NFL player is currently the (self-declared) TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

Hard To Kill is available to watch globally on through FITE.tv on Saturday, January 16 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. The show also features Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan in a Barbed Wire Massacre match, and Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defending the title against Taya Valkyrie.

It took him 15 years, but in January 2018, Ricochet signed for WWE. Along the way, he worked Lucha Underground and New Japan and was, and still is, regarded as one of the best high flyers in the world. His time WWE has had highlights as he excelled in NXT, winning the North American Championship, and also had a brief reign as United States Champion on the main roster. However, the general consensus amongst fans and industry experts is that his talent is being wasted in WWE with him regularly wrestling on Main Event, and his 90-second defeat to Brock Lesnar at Super ShowDown 2020 was an insult to his ability.

Therefore when rumors started to be spread across wrestling sites that Ricochet hadn’t re-signed with WWE, it seemed plausible he could soon be a free agent. Especially when you consider, he has recently been losing matches to RETRIBUTION members over recent weeks. However, Ricochet has now taken to social media and disputed he is departing the company, as you can see below.

Of course, Ricochet could be swerving fans, although he hasn’t got a track record of that. Were Ricochet to leave WWE, it would be expected that AEW would make him an offer. Our own Chris Jericho included him in a list of the five talents he’d most like to join him in Jacksonville. Another interested party would likely be New Japan, who he worked for between 2013 and 2017. During this time, his matches with Will Ospreay made both men stars and are still lauded today.