Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn said his agency deal with UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall had given him new insight into contracts the promotion holds with its fighters. 

Hearn announced Aspinall as the inaugural signing of his Matchroom Talent Agency in March, inking a multi-year deal to represent the UFC star moving forward. It stirred up media speculation at the time given Hearn and Dana White’s back-and-forth over Zuffa Boxing’s entry into the market; Zuffa signed Matchroom boxer Conor Benn for $15 million to stamp the first marked shift in the jibes. 

Speaking during “Cigar Talk,” Hearn said that the Aspinall deal came together after his dad reached out and asked about representation. He said it allowed him to look at UFC’s business, contracts, and generate noise in a public profile perspective. But he also believes he could do a good job of representing Aspinall, and feels he has been doing so already. 

“It’s frightening what I see when I open up those contracts,” he continued. “I mean we live in a world in boxing where, and good luck to them, but fighters are drastically overpaid in terms of the revenue in the pot. In UFC, they’re drastically underpaid in terms of the revenue in the pot.”

Hearn said that in the case of Aspinall, he is “one of the biggest names in UFC” and the reigning Heavyweight Champion, yet there are fighters that have never been heard of opening broadcasts on more money. 

Last month, Nikki Bella suffered an ankle injury during the March 27 episode of “WWE SmackDown” when she fought alongside her twin sister Brie Bella in tag team action against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. This upcoming weekend, The Bella Twins are planned to compete at WrestleMania 42 for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, but whether the 42-year-old will be healthy enough to step back in the ring for the event could be a game time decision according to Dave Meltzer on the “Wrestling Observer Radio.”

“It’s touch and go. I mean, we’ll see, I mean, the last I heard was it could go either way … on commentary they told you, it’s not like they’re pretending which usually they would do. I mean, they basically said she’s trying to rehab and we’ll see.”

Coming into this weekend, three others teams along with The Bella Twins will fight for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, with Flair and Bliss, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, and current champions Nia Jax and Lash Legend all involved in the match. At this time, many reports have indicated that Asuka and Kairi Sane of the Kabuki Warriors would replace The Bella Twins if Nikki is unable to compete. However, Asuka has also been tied up in a feud with IYO SKY and was originally slated to face her at WrestleMania, but recent reports have suggested that WWE will potentially push the singles bout to Backlash in May.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Throughout AEW’s long partnership with Warner Brothers Discovery, the promotion has had several cross-promotional events, including working with “Shark Week,” “House of the Dragon,” and DC Comics properties. And at times, AEW has even crossed over with Cartoon Network’s programming block Adult Swim, most notably shortly after the promotion launched in 2019 when Orange Cassidy, Trent Berreta, and Chuck Taylor dressed as characters from “Rick and Morty.”

Seven years later, another AEW/Adult Swim collaboration is happening, this time involving AEW entering into the world of animation. In a now deleted tweet posted Tuesday morning, AEW revealed the trailer for their upcoming series “Tales From the Top Rope.” Despite the deleted tweet, a post regarding the series remains up on Instagram. 

“There is more to pro wrestling that what happens inside the ring,” the narrator said. “It’s in the shadows where things get weird. Moments that break and bend wrestlers into something else, leaving behind scars that can never fade. These are ‘The Tales From the Top Rope.'”

Details were kept vague about the series aside from the trailer, though it did reveal that AEW stars such as “Timeless” Toni Storm, Darby Allin, and The Young Bucks will be featured. The tone of trailer would suggest these series would be a spoof on both the famous science fiction TV series “The Twilight Zone,” and the 80s/90s anthology series “Tales From the Crypt.”

While the series is being done in conjunction with Adult Swim, it does not appear that “Tales From the Top Rope” will air on the animation block, instead being made available on AEW’s YouTube channel. The first episode will debut this Thursday, April 16, at noon.

Last year, Drew McIntyre put out a public service announcement ahead of WrestleMania 41 about wrestler boundaries during the hottest week in the sport, ordering fans to not “f**k it up” and requesting that the audience is respectful during the hours they are away from the ring.. After some fans didn’t seem to get the memo last year, McIntyre has once again taken to social media to deliver another PSA regarding WrestleMania 42 this upcoming Saturday and Sunday, but took a different approach this time around. 

On Tuesday morning, McIntyre sarcastically educated fans on how they should act during WrestleMania 42 weekend, including interrupting WWE stars when they are at dinner with friends and family, shoving cameras in their face without asking, waiting at hotels or the airport for them, and asking to sign all autographs among many other suggestions.

“I’m trying a new approach for this WrestleMania week PSA. This will probably resonate more…”

In the past, many WWE stars have voiced their frustrations with fan harassment, with Rhea Ripley having complained about people sending fan mail to her personal home address, and Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer recently claiming that a fan made her feel uncomfortable and verbally attacked her after declining an autograph. Additionally, World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk has been vocal in years past about fan etiquette, where he politely asked the WWE Universe to respect the roster’s “boundaries and privacy.”  This upcoming weekend at WrestleMania 42, McIntyre will fight Jacob Fatu in an Unsanctioned match, which is rumored to open night one of the event on Saturday.