From being a marquee tag team star in The Acclaimed to the “5-Tool Player,” and now one of Samoa Joe’s boys in The Opps, Anthony Bowens has had quite the character transformation in the singles division. When speaking with “Studio 1 Sports,” the former AEW World Tag Team and Trios Champion described how he’s weathered the storms of these character changes, and what led for them to never take off the way he envisioned them to.

“If you were actually watching the show, and not just, like, picking things up randomly, we were moving in a specific direction, where my character was starting to…it was losing a lot of matches and he was getting frustrated…The love was going to Max Caster and not to me. And then slowly, people weren’t buying into this ‘corny’ ‘Five-Tool Player’ thing, which was by design,” he said. “You know, think Rocky Maivia [in] 1996, where it’s like this hokey version of him slowly descends into The Rock, slowly descending into this character, this ‘Pride of Pro Wrestling’ guy, who goes, ‘do all of this stuff for the industry and for the company. You should love me. You shouldn’t love Max Caster…’ How do I descend and fall off a cliff, and where do I get that adulation from? Never got to get to that point, creative changed.”

Keeping realism in the forefront of his newly chosen path, Bowens is excited to sink his teeth into this new opportunity with the Opps. Since joining the stable, he has gained one victory with Joe against The Lethal Twist (Jay Lethal and Lee Johnson), and one loss at the hands of The Death Riders. Since his return last April, Bowens has had his eye on the TNT Championship, currently held by Kevin Knight.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Studio 1 Sports Channel” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Before WWE WrestleMania 40, Seth Rollins didn’t have many opportunities to interact with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson both inside the ring and behind the scenes, with “The Great One” having shifted most of his focus to Hollywood by the time Rollins joined the promotion. However, since the night one main event between Rollins and Cody Rhodes against The Rock and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, “The Architect” has grown closer to the WWE Hall Of Famer, and during a recent interview with “Prince St. Pizza,” he praised Johnson for his mentorship. 

“I got to know him on a bit of a personal level as well, and that was extremely beneficial for me. He’s just such a good guy. I consider him a bit of a mentor now. He was kind enough to have my family and I to his Moana 2 premiere out in Hawaii. Brought us to the resort there and we were able to hang out and see the thing on the lawn. My daughter, she’s five, she loved it,” he explained. “He doesn’t have to come back to WWE and wrestle. He doesn’t have to offer these types of things to you and your family, but he does … people in his position get a bad rap sometimes and he himself gets a bad rap. It’s all bulls**t. He’s a good dude.”

Rollins also explained that the most fascinating part about getting to know The Rock was understanding his process, as he watched his rise to being the biggest movie star in the world and becoming one of the most recognizable public figures today, but still had the passion to return to professional wrestling.

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

As previously confirmed, “WWE SmackDown” will continue to air for three hours through the end of this month, with the final three-hour show of the year on June 26. From July until December, it will revert to a two-hour format, and it seems that will become a familiar pattern, according to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“The current plan is to be three hours every year from January until the end of June, and two hours from July to the end of the year,” Meltzer wrote. That would mean WWE would follow the same schedule in 2027 that it did this year, though it’s not clear how long this will continue, or if it’s part of WWE’s current agreement with USA Network parent company NBCUniversal.

It was previously speculated that the three-hour “SmackDown” run could end sooner, as Braun Strowman’s “Everything on the Menu” has returned for its second season. For now, “SmackDown” will end at 11 p.m. ET and Strowman’s show will air immediately after. When “SmackDown’s” schedule changes in July, Strowman’s show will move to 10 p.m. ET.

Throughout his in-ring career, Foley has prided himself on standing out from the rest and highlighting the things that make him different. Following Foley’s famously violent Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker in 1998, those things included a kinder, gentler spirit, purposely meant to separate himself from the tougher, more outspoken on-screen characters, such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, at the time. Nowadays, Foley sees the likes of Tony Khan and former AEW World Champion Darby Allin embracing their own unique qualities, which in turn, has formed a natural bond between them.

“I do connect with a guy like Tony who’s a little bit different. I gave the promo about Darby because I knew he was a guy who was different,” Foley said, referring to his complimentary speech about Allin on the Buy In. “A lot of people find comfort in professional wrestling because they may not be as comfortable with themselves outside of that world. I think the best move I ever made in wrestling was having the confidence to believe that I could speak to fans who were outside of the fans we were marketing to. I remember thinking not everybody’s hip and slick and cool. I knew for a fact I’m not hip and slick and cool. I remember thinking to myself, there’s a lot more of me out there than there is of them.”

In assessing the current landscape of AEW, Foley said that he’s identified a handful of talents, such Allin, that don’t look or act like traditional pro wrestlers. It’s those talents, though, that Foley particularly wants to help, potentially by uniting them in a stable under his managerial guidance.

“I just think there’s room for everyone in AEW. I really do,” he added.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “The Ariel Helwani Show” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

WWE have announced its latest strategic partnership, and following the recent WWE Clash In Italy 2026 Premium Live Event, the company is looking to leave its mark on the country by teaming up with Italian football giants Juventus.

In an official press release issued by both WWE and Juventus, the two parties intend to design original fan experiences, content, and activations that will look to bring the worlds of professional wrestling, sports entertainment, and football together in Italy. With the partnership, co-branded merchandise and cross-promotional activations will be introduced to bring fans from both worlds closer together, as well as introducing Juventus and WWE to newer fans who aren’t familiar with the two brands. The statement closed out with the message of intent from both Juventus and WWE that this partnership has a long-term vision focused connecting with current fans, and the next generation of football supporters who also occupy the WWE Universe.

The first signs of this partnership were revealed over the weekend of the Clash In Italy event in Turin, the city that Juventus is based in. These signs included the Juventus mascot, Jay, creating content with former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso. Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes being given a custom-made Juventus jersey, and exclusive merchandise being sold at the arena, such as the WWE x Juventus Championship title belt.

For many people, Juventus are to football in Italy what WWE is to professional wrestling in the United States. They are the most successful team in Italian football, amassing a staggering 60 major domestic trophies in the 128 year history of the club. Juventus have also had success in continental competitions as well, winning the UEFA Champions League (formerly known as the European Cup) on two occasions, and the continent’s secondary competition, the UEFA Europa League (formerly known as the UEFA Cup) three times.