Now over two months into his reign as WWE Intercontinental Champion, Penta is set for another big defense in ten days at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, where he’ll defend the championship against former AEW co-worker and recent main roster callup Ethan Page. And should Penta successfully defend the championship, he’ll have another potential challenger waiting in the wings; his brother, Rey Fenix.

On X Tuesday evening, Fenix responded to a post from WWE’s official account promoting the upcoming Penta vs. Page match. He offered no thoughts regarding the match itself, instead stating that he loved his brother, but was hoping that he would have his own chance to challenge Penta for the IC title in the future.

I love my brother, but i will like to have my chance. 🙌🏻 #AN1M0 https://t.co/GsaCy9oZSV

— REY FENIX WWE (@ReyFenixMx) May 13, 2026

While Fenix and Penta are mostly known by fans for their highly successful tag team The Lucha Brothers, the duo have crossed paths as opponents many times before, including wrestling one on one in Lucha Underground and AEW. Should a singles match between them take place in WWE, it would be the first time they’ve wrestled against each other in six years, after they traded victories on “AEW Dynamite” in late 2020.

In contrast to Penta’s successful WWE tenure, which has seen him heavily featured even prior to winning the Intercontinental Championship, Fenix has struggled to find his footing on his own. His last singles match on “SmackDown” was back in February, when he was defeated by Trick Williams, with his most recent matches occurring on AAA or “WWE Main Event.” He recently appeared on “SmackDown” in a non-wrestling capacity, attending the funeral of the Gingerbread Man.

The period of time where Ronda Rousey was on top of the UFC is considered by many as one of the most star-studded eras in the history of the sport. She was defending her UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship at the same time as Conor McGregor’s rise to fame, Jon Jones’ domination of the light heavyweight division, and the UFC becoming a mainstream sport, but these days the star power in the UFC is a lot more scarce. Rousey was asked about this and she believes that the UFC doesn’t want people to be as big as they were a few years ago.

“I think that they don’t want that star power anymore, they want the brand to be the star,” Rousey said. “That’s why they stopped naming the fights cards and started giving them numbers. That’s why they started putting everybody in a uniform and trying to stamp out their individuality, they want people to watch the brand. That’s why when you have big stars like Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou knowing their worth and demanding more money, they’re telling them to go kick rocks instead of paying them what they’re worth because they think that they’re too big to fail, and that there’s nowhere else to go.”

Rousey believes that the powers that be in the UFC don’t want any fighter eclipsing the company in terms of popularity ever again as it would give that fighter leverage over the UFC. This is why Rousey is such a big fan of what Jake Paul and MVP have been doing with things like the Mike Tyson fight in 2025, bringing combat sports back to people getting attached to the fighters, and paying to see the individuals rather than the letters that are attached to the event.

Please credit “Complex” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Yesterday wasn’t just a day where everyone’s troubles seemed so far away, but was the day that TKO Holdings Group announced several of their properties, including WWE and UFC, would be holding upcoming events in Arizona, as part of a multi-year deal with the state. The only catch was that no details were provided on when, or where in Arizona, these events would be taking place, beyond a brief statement in the press release suggesting the information would be forthcoming.

One day later, a strong hint over what WWE shows Arizona will get has been unearthed. F4WON’s Bryan Alvarez reports that the TKO/Arizona agreement will see WWE hold their Survivor Series and Royal Rumble PLE’s, as well as a “Saturday Night’s Main Event” special in the state. However, Alvarez was unable to provide any details regarding when the events would take place.

As neither the dates nor locations for the 2026 Survivor Series and 2027 Royal Rumble PLEs have been announced, speculation will turn to Arizona hosting one of those two events within the next year. Given the multi-year nature of the deal, however, it’s possible Arizona could be waiting until 2027 or 2028 before these events are held within the state. 

With both Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble now being held in stadiums, Phoenix’s Chase Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks, will be seen as a likely venue for either PLE. The stadium had previously served as the host for the Royal Rumble back in 2019, the first WWE event to take place in a baseball stadium since WrestleMania 19 in 2003.

Since WrestleMania 42, “WWE SmackDown’s” ratings have steadily declined, with the program losing nearly 400,000 viewers in just two weeks. However, last Friday’s episode marked the first sign of improvement for the blue brand with it being the go-home show for Backlash. 

According to Wrestlenomics and Programming Insider, “SmackDown” averaged 1,279,000 viewers and posted a 0.29 in the key 18-49 demographic. When comparing both categories to the previous week, total viewership increased by 11%, while the 18-49 demo was up by 16%. Additionally, SmackDown ranked second for the night on cable in P18-49, with the NHL playoffs on TNT finishing at the top of the chart. Another contributor to “SmackDown’s” success last week was the absence of the NBA playoffs, with game 3 between the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers, and game 3 between the San Antonio Spurs and the Minnesota Timberwolves both being featured on Amazon Prime Video.

Although “SmackDown” bounced back for last Friday’s episode, the program’s total viewership has fallen by 12% since this time last year. However, what’s more concerning is “SmackDown’s” performance in the 18-49 demo, with the category being down by 25% since May 2025. In addition to WWE’s ratings for “SmackDown” being lower than the year prior, the show’s ticket sales have continued to suffer. Last Friday’s episode sold 7,299 tickets from the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, which is a 28% decrease compared to the last time “SmackDown” was held in the city in 2024. Overall, WWE’s ticket sales for “SmackDown” are down by 19% compared to last year’s second-quarter average.

In three weeks, “SmackDown” will return to being a two-hour program, which could lead viewership to improve heading into the summer, as the show hovered around the 1.5 million viewer mark when it dropped the third hour last year. However, it remains to be seen if the two-hour format will move the needle with “SmackDown’s” overall quality being heavily criticized as of late.

Bully Ray has discussed the issues he feels exist in Oba Femi’s booking in WWE since his WrestleMania 42 match.

Ray noticed that the commentators on “WWE Raw” were laughing and joking around during Oba Femi’s match, and wondered if something was wrong. He feels that Femi’s demeanor in the ring also suggested that things weren’t right, while also questioning how a star who beats him in his Open Challenge would benefit.

“When I saw the look on Oba Femi’s face, when he got in the ring, and he was walking around the ring, I said, something’s up. Something’s not right with the look on his face. And lo and behold, we got the segment that we did. So last night could have been a wonky night,” he said on “Busted Open.” “You have the Oba Femi Open Challenge, right? What is my incentive as a wrestler in the back to come out and face the guy that just retired Brock Lesnar? Oba’s a big man, a strong man. He can shot put men like Otis across the ring. He’s got a devastating sit-out powerbomb. He’s a strong mother trucker. What’s my incentive to go beat, to go face Oba? So if I go out there and I beat Oba, I can just say, ‘I’ve beaten Oba?’ Like I would love to see them tie something.”

The WWE Hall of Famer pointed out that Oba Femi’s challengers following his win against Brock Lesnar haven’t been particularly notable, which could diminish the value of the Open Challenge.

“He beats Brock Lesnar. Great. And then what? What are we doing the Monday night after? And the Monday night after that, the Monday night after that, we’re going to do an open challenge. Okay. Who are his opponents?” he said. “And you told me this list of guys, I tell you, you’re fu**ing crazy.”

Since initiating the Open Challenge, Femi has so far defeated Otis and Los Garza, with him dragging the latter to the ring and beating the duo in a handicap match.