Regarding his upcoming trip to the WWE Performance Center, Styles noted that he’s visited it in the past. This go-around, though, it’s driven by professional assessment and possibilities, rather than physical recovery.

“I’m excited about going down there, hanging, and experiencing the whole day for myself,” Styles said. “I never really spent the whole day there unless I was trying to get back on my feet from being injured. I never went there as a guest coach or anything like that because I was [working on the] main roster. The idea of going there and just going taking it all in, see how it all works, see if there’s anything there that maybe I can provide. I don’t know what that is. Maybe a little inside [coaching]. I don’t know. They got great coaches down there who’s been there, done that.”

According to WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Styles initially toyed with the idea of joining the company’s creative or production team following his in-ring retirement. Upon getting a taste of the departments’ meetings, he later changed his mind, opting to instead help WWE from recruitment and development standpoints.

Styles hung up wrestling boots at the 2026 Royal Rumble when he lost to “The Career Killer” GUNTHER by submission. Shortly after that, WWE announced his immediate induction into its Hall of Fame. “The Phenomenal One” made his pro wrestling debut in 1998, with stints in WCW, TNA, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and WWE coming in the years following.

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

Ireland would love nothing more than to have its citizens shout from the floor to the rafters “Fáilte go WrestleMania Éireann” (welcome to WrestleMania Ireland). After Kilkenny Councillor Maurice Shortall told Irish Mirror last week how the country is in a good position to place a competitive bid to bring WrestleMania and its festivities to the “Land of a Thousand Welcomes,” how realistic is that proposal?

According to Fightful Select, those close to the situation view WWE bringing its annual springtime premium live event to the “Emerald Isle” as a “long-term project” that’s possible, so long as the Irish government views the country as a global sporting hub. Additionally, the publication noted that Ireland would be expected to match the $6 million site fee put forth by Las Vegas, who hosted WrestleMania 41 and 42 last year and this, respectively.

If they were to get the stamp of approval, the likely location of where WrestleMania would take place would be at Croke Park in Dublin. This stadium/headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association can hold up to 80,000 fans. Those close to the project dismissed any concerns of having the event at Croke Park, despite past protests from Croke Park residents, who were unenthused at the NFL holding a game at Croke Park last September.

No one wants anything to rain on this parade. However, there are some things WWE might want to consider if it goes through with this idea. Starting with the lack of a roof at Croke Park. As many know, the Irish weather and its rain showers are a year-round event, which could put a damper on things. If things do work out, it’s estimated that Ireland could bring in €300 million to the economy. 

While things get sorted out between Ireland and the WWE, the company remains dedicated on having WrestleMania 43 emulate live from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of the Riyadh Season in 2027. As for WrestleMania 44 in 2028, the “Super Bowl of Professional Wrestling” might return to the United States, with active negotiations with the city of Nashville, Tennessee, at the Nissan Stadium.

The May 7 edition of “TNA iMPACT” saw a big title change in the main event, and an exciting no disqualification match between the newly-returned EC3 and Eric Young to open the show. Despite all the action on the episode, the show drew its lowest viewership since its debut on AMC on January 15, falling below its previous low of 171,000 viewers. The hit could be due to yet another change in how Nielsen is once again undergoing changes, impacting viewership for all televised professional wrestling shows, something Dave Meltzer explained at the beginning of May.

According to Wrestlenomics, with data from Programming Insider, the May 7 episode of “iMPACT” drew 164,000 viewers, down 22 percent from the previous week’s 209,000. The show earned a 0.02 in the ever-important ages 18-49 demographic, which was a 33 percent drop from the previous episode’s 0.03 rating.

The May 7 show was down 23 percent from the trailing four weeks average viewership of 213,000. It was down a full 50 percent from the trailing four weeks rating of 0.04. According to Wrestlenomics, viewership for “iMPACT” in 2026 is average 220,000 viewers, as the show had a stretch of episodes with 200,00 viewers or over from January 29 through April 16.

The main event of “iMPACT” last week saw Léi Yǐng Lee capture the TNA Knockouts Championship from “WWE NXT” star Arianna Grace, despite Grace’s fiancee, Channing “Stacking” Lorenzo at ringside. Elsewhere on the show, Young defeated EC3 with a piledriver to win their no DQ match, and The System retained their TNA World Tag Team Championships over Nic Nemeth and KC Navarro.