NEWS

It’s a living. Wrestlers are like any other athletes in that eventually their career is going to come to an end. At some point they are going to have to hang up their boots and move on to something else. Some wrestlers are going to be around longer than others, but there are some who leave wrestling early and need another career. Now we know what a former WWE star is doing after his in-ring career is over.
Miranda Gordy was a guest on a recent edition of the Wilde On podcast and discussed her brother Ray Gordy, who wrestled as Jesse and Slam Master J in WWE. Miranda revealed that Ray is retired from wrestling and is now a police officer and SWAT team member in Georgia. Ray’s most recent match took place on the WrestleMania 26 Kickoff Show in 2010. He did appear at the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony for his father, Terry Gordy’s, induction as part of the Fabulous Freebirds.
Opinion: While Ray might not have been the biggest star in WWE, there is something interesting about s..

He’s up next. The main event of this weekend’s WrestleMania 38 will feature one of the most important matches in recent WWE history. Both the WWE and Universal Titles will be on the line as Brock Lesnar faces Roman Reigns in a winner take all showdown. That is going to leave one champion above everyone else, but that champion is going to need a challenger. Someone has already thrown his hat into the ring.
In an interview with the Hindustan Times, former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre said that he wants to be the first challenger to whoever comes out of WrestleMania with the title. McIntyre said that he needs to work his way up the ladder to become the new #1 contender. McIntyre defeated Lesnar at WrestleMania 36 to win the WWE Title and faced Roman Reigns at Survivor Series 2020.
Opinion: I don’t see anything wrong with this as McIntyre getting back into the title picture is not exactly the biggest stretch. I could go for seeing McIntyre against either of these guys, if nothing else for ..

That’s the first step. WrestleMania 38 takes place this weekend and that means the finishing touches should have already been made for the card. Whether WWE is ready or not, the show is in less than two days and the fans are already in Texas for the event. WWE needs to have everything ready, and now they have covered one of the biggest things they have left.
WWE has released a video, officially revealing the WrestleMania 38 set. The video features WWE broadcasters Pat McAfee and Michael Cole, plus sports comedy team Dude Perfect. The set has a large WRESTLEMANIA logo in the middle in front of a large blue star. WrestleMania 38 will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday April 2 and Sunday April 3.
That’s pretty cool. Check out the set reveal:
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Opinion: This is one of those things that will never get old as WWE knows how to make WrestleMania feel like the most important event of the year. Just getting to see the whole thi..

Welcome back to not quite Takeover and we have an especially big card. Rather than having the usual five match card, this one already has seven, plus some mixed tag thing that doesn’t seem to be an official match. NXT is starting to get somewhere in recent weeks and now they need to translate that to a big show. Granted that might be easier said than done but you never can tell around here. Let’s get to it.
Kickoff Show: Women’s Tag Team Titles: Toxic Attraction(c) vs. Dakota Kai/Raquel Gonzalez This was added to the show on Tuesday as Kai and Gonzalez reunited in a moment that might not have been as emotional as WWE was hoping it to be. That being said, they are a team with some history and that is more than almost anyone else in the division (assuming there is one) at this point. It isn’t like there are any other challengers so maybe this will work out.
I’ll go with new champions here, as Toxic Attraction aren’t exactly awash in challengers and it would be weird to do the big reuni..

So that’s where he has been. When a wrestling promotion has a lot of wrestlers on its roster, it can be difficult to keep track of where everyone is. It can be even more difficult when someone misses a bit of time for one reason or another, as fans will forget them even more quickly. If someone is gone for a significant amount of time, it makes things far worse. Now we know where one missing star has been.
AEW star Miro has revealed that he is currently living in Brooklyn filming a pilot of some sort but without elaborating on what it is. There is no word on when Miro is expected back on AEW television. He has not wrestled since the Full Gear pay per view in November 2021 due to a hamstring injury, though he has reportedly been ready to return to the ring for a while now.
Super excited about this upcoming pilot. Living in Brooklyn has definitely opened my eyes about living in a city, walking to a gym and groceries. #Dushkin pic.twitter.com/cqByK9UURV
— Miro (@ToBeMiro) March 28, 202..

You might want to get him. There are very few stars in the history of professional wrestling as the Rock. Despite not being around for very long compared to other top names, the Rock was regularly on top of WWE for a few years before moving on to Hollywood and conquering it as well. Even as a top movie star, the Rock continues to pop in to WWE from time to time though, and that might be the case again.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the current plan is still to have the Rock face Roman Reigns in a match at WrestleMania 39 next year in Los Angeles. The theory at the moment is that the Rock wants to have the match but his schedule could get in the way. Age is a factor as well, as Rock will be turning fifty years old later this year. Rock has not wrestled a match since 2016, when he defeated Erick Rowan in six seconds at WrestleMania 32.
Opinion: This is firmly in the “I’ll believe it when I see it” category, but if WWE can pull this off, and have Reigns face the Rock after a tw..

It’s worth a listen. WWE has been around for a very long time now and has quite the history. There have been all kinds of looks back at that history, oftentimes through the official WWE lens. That can lead to some interesting takes o what the company has done over the years and now we might be seeing something similar, albeit with someone else giving their take.
The Ringer will be releasing a new 25 part podcast series called The Book of WWE, looking at a variety of catchphrases from the Attitude Era. The podcast will be hosted by David Shoemaker and is based off a book by Bill Simmons. It will debut on April 4 with a new episode being released every weekday for the next five weeks. There is no word on any possible subjects being covered in the series.
Opinion: This is something that could be interesting, though that is a rather specific topic and time frame to look at. I know the Attitude Era has a certain special feeling for a lot of wrestling fans, but there is so much else out th..

It could work for him. Wrestlers have a weird reputation when it comes to action, because they are considered people who are always acting but only able to do one thing. That is not entirely true though and some wrestlers have had quite the success in the acting world. Now someone else is trying their hand in the same world, and it might be something that works out well for him.
During an interview with Ariel Helwani, AEW’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman announced that he has filmed a voiceover for an animated movie that is set to be released at some point in 2023. Friedman said that he could not give any more details on the project. He went on to say that he wanted to see how he could do in acting, comparing himself to John Cena, the Rock and Batista.
Opinion: This is something that could work, but at the same time Friedman is the latest name on a long list of wrestlers who have dabbled in acting. Some of them have done rather well, but those are the minority compared to those who have not ..

Call them guest stars. WrestleMania has been around for the better part of forty years now and there are certain traditions that have continued throughout its history. One of the longest running has been the inclusion of celebrities, who have been around since the beginning and will be there again this year. It turns out that we might be seeing even more of them than advertised.
One of the announced matches for WrestleMania 38 is an Anything Goes match between Jackass star Johnny Knoxville and Sami Zayn. During an interview with Bleacher Report, Knoxville announced that he will be bringing some of his Jackass co-stars with him, though he is hoping to keep them out of the ring. Knoxville has wrestled once before, appearing in this year’s men’s Royal Rumble, where he was eliminated by Zayn.
Opinion: This is something that had to be expected, as it makes all the sense in the world to have Knoxville bring in his friends to try and even the odds a bit. While Knoxville is the most famous o..

He deserves the attention. We are well on our way to WrestleMania weekend and that means it is time to wrap up all of the preparations. In addition to WrestleMania itself, WWE presents the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony. This includes a variety of wrestlers getting their recognition, including one special inductee each year. Now one of them is receiving some extra attention.
WWE has released a tribute video to Shad Gaspard, who will posthumously receive the Warrior Award at this Friday’s Hall of Fame induction. Gaspard passed away via drowning after telling lifeguards to save his son instead. During his WWE career, Gaspard primarily wrestled in a tag team with JTG as part of Cryme Tyme, though he did compete as a singles wrestler as well.
It’s a touching tribute. Check out WWE’s special look at Gaspard, narrated by ESPN’s Mark Krigel:
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Opinion: This is one of those tributes that gets more emotional the more I think about it, as Gasp..

There is a market for it. Wrestling fans love what they get to watch anytime a wrestling show is on. They have their favorites and get to cheer one wrestler after another, many of whom have their own signature looks. It would make sense for fans to want to not only support those wrestlers but also show their support for them. Now that is going to be easier in WWE.
WWE has announced that they have entered into a long term agreement with Fanatics for merchandise, NFT’s, trading cards and e-commerce. WWE’s online merchandise store will be replaced by a Fanatics store at some point over the summer. There is no word on what kind of changes this could mean for the amount of merchandise available or how long the partnership is originally set to last.
Opinion: This is the kind of thing that WWE does as they love to outsource their stuff. If nothing else, this is one less in-house thing that they have to worry about and Fanatics is already associated with almost every major American sports le..

It’s one of the senses. WrestleMania 38 is less than a week away as WWE will reach its biggest show of the year. That is something that WWE has been doing for a long time now and that means there is quite a history built up. If there is one thing WWE knows how to do, it is hype up their own history, which is what they are doing again, albeit in a very specific way.
WWE and BT Sports have released the Ultimate Wrestlemania Playlist on Spotify in honor of WrestleMania 38. The playlist features fifty songs, including various WrestleMania theme songs as well as other songs that have been used for WWE promotional videos over the years, along with theme songs for Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. This year’s WrestleMania theme song, Sacrifice by The Weeknd, is the first song on the list.
Opinion: There is something about hearing these songs again that make them feel special. You don’t get something like this every day and it is cool to have that many songs included in one place. Music is suc..