Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Joe Hendry addresses the idiotic critics who say he was “buried” at WrestleMania 41: “If this is being buried, keep it coming. We understood the assignment at WrestleMania, we were the fun and the surprise. You saw Randy’s promo after the match had taken place; that’s what he talked about: the match being fun. This is Randy Orton’s 20th WrestleMania. This was a featured match. As Triple H put it in the post-event press conference, this was about giving Randy a fun moment for his 20th WrestleMania appearance.”
In this interview Jeff Jarrett pays tribute to the late Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael: “I’ll tell you, man, Steve was raw, green as far as inside of a wrestling ring, but it stood above everything else, the passion that guy had for our industry. He just loved it. He obviously loved life. And me being a sports junkie, football junkie, and knowing all that, through the years I look back on and mentally go through a gratitude list. Being in the locker room at the same time, Reggie White, Kevin Greene and Mongo are three not just NFL football players or greats, but Hall of Famers. Mongo loved it. Mongo is the strongest guy and he knew how to, from his line of work being a defensive lineman, how to move offensive, just toss guys aside. Steve had incredible strength. So, a man’s man who lived life just with an unbelievable amount of passion.”
Here’s the updated Collision card for Saturday on TNT after the NBA Playoffs. (AEW)
- ROH World Championship Match Bandido vs. Dralistico
- Tornado Tag Team Match: Top Flight vs. CRU
- AEW Women’s Championship Eliminator Match: Toni Storm vs. Queen Aminata
- FTR vs. Paragon
- Swerve Strickland vs. Blake Christian
- Rush vs. AR Fox
Michael Oku is the final entrant in the PROGRESS Super Strong Style 16.
Bishop Dyer (f/k/a Baron Corbin) is pissed Bayley was pulled from WrestleMania: “I’ve had a few days to kind of calm down because it made me extremely angry. Fuck you, that’s my sentiment. I mean, to do it to Bayley of all people. Someone who’s been there through COVID… has made lemonade out of dogshit repeatedly… is a model fucking employee. I don’t give a shit if she knew the storyline. Please, do all this, take all these bumps, work your ass off, and two days before we’re gonna replace you… And I know Bayley’s going to be fine… but that is a moment and it is bullshit all the way through. She didn’t get to be on WrestleMania. She went down to NXT, elevated talent… does everything you’ve asked of her. Bayley deserved to be on WrestleMania… It is insane to me that you take that moment away.”
Kenny Omega announced he’ll be at PAX East on May 10th.
Chad Gable pretends he was robbed of his spot at WrestleMania: “I got robbed again, man. This year, by this new guy (El Grande Americano), comes out of nowhere. Two matches, and he’s on WrestleMania. Can you imagine how I feel? Twelve years in, thirteen years in? I wish him the best of luck, I like that guy.”
This week Dynamite will need a bump from MAX to bring up their numbers, because the televised broadcast did 521,000 viewers and a 0.14 18-49 demo. That’s down from 624,000 and a 0.17 last week, and it’s also the second lowest 18-49 that the show has ever done in its normal timeslot. (Wrestlenomics)
Both Steve Austin and Dominik Mysterio had vehicle related accidents last Sunday — two of which were never seen on television. Before Austin drove his ATV down to the ring and rammed into the barricade, knocking a fan backward (who he checked on before getting into the ring), he also managed to get jammed up trying to drive the ATV out onto the stage. According to the linked report he “crash(ed) the rear of the vehicle into the side of the ramp, sending WWE officials and stagehands scrambling to help. As many as half a dozen people are seen tussling with the vehicle to unstick it, with Austin eventually able to reverse all the way back and – with direction that might have aided him to begin with – is shown the right way up to the ramp and on to the stage.” As for the fan he nearly plowed through, Nick Khan was already there talking to her to make sure she was okay before Austin finished his segment, at which point he went over to talk to her again. WWE officials are said to be concerned about the potential for a lawsuit even though it seemed by all appearances that she was okay. (WO) As for Dominik I’ll refer you again to TalkSport’s report: “Newly crowned Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio was being whisked across the premises on a transport buggee and is seen in fan footage waving to fans, showing off his fresh gold when, taking a steady route on the outside of perimeter barriers, the vehicle clips a fan in full view of the crowds. While the speed at which the vehicle was traveling would suggest no serious injury or damage, the impact was enough to knock the fan from view. All being well the fan was able to dust themselves off and enjoy the rest of their evening (and) Mysterio went on to successfully defend his gold against Penta on Raw the next right.”
Here are last night’s Honor Club results for ROH. (FF)
- The Righteous & Premier Athletes def. The Kingdom & SAP
- Lance Archer def. Crowbar.
- A vignette aired for Nick Wayne after winning the ROH World Television Championship on last week’s Collision
- ROH Women’s World Television Championship Proving Ground Match: Red Velvet def. Ashley Vox. La Catalina confronted Red Velvet after.
- Deonna Purrazzo, Leila Grey & Taya Valkyrie were announced for the ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament.
- Mark Briscoe, AR Fox & Top Flight def. Carlie Bravo, Shawn Dean, Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty
Billie Starkz had to replace Taya Valkyrie for a CMLL match due to injury.
WWE got $4.2 million in tax credits from Nevada for WrestleMania 41.
My condolences to Julius Smokes on the passing of his wife. The link in this paragraph is to a GoFundMe for her funeral costs.
Here’s the current lineup for Northeast Wrestling’s “Wrestlefest” on May 10th. (PWI)
- Matt and Jeff Hardy vs. Breezango
- Matt Taven vs. Mustafa Ali
- Shelton Benjamin vs. KC Navarro
- MVP vs. Mike Bennett
- Retirement Match: Romeo Roselli vs. Mike Mondo
