Following his loss to Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42, Brock Lesnar seemed to indicate that he’s retiring from WWE after leaving his boots and gloves in the ring, and now the former world champion has been moved to the alumni section on WWE’s website.

Lesnar’s name is no longer in the active roster page, which is usually done when wrestlers retire or their contract with the company has come to an end. “The Beast Incarnate” took everyone by surprise at the Allegiant Stadium with his actions after the match, as many expected him to retire later this year at SummerSlam, which takes place in his hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It could be that WWE is playing out the retirement angle so that Lesnar is goaded into coming back for one last match, which many believe could be against GUNTHER, who has already retired John Cena and AJ Styles.

Reports after the match reinforced the point that Lesnar’s supposed retirement was an angle, but another report contradicted that one, with many backstage believing that he has actually retired. Not many are buying the retirement angle, including former WWE stars Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray, who believe this could be an angle leading to someone like GUNTHER demanding a match. They also think TKO would be leaving a lot of money on the table by not booking a Lesnar retirement match.

While a Lesnar retirement match could bring in a huge payday, WWE legend Booker T thinks that the multi-time champion has made enough money and wouldn’t be looking for another big payday. There are a few others in the fight game, like Chael Sonnen, who think Netflix could try to convince Lesnar to get back in an MMA ring for another match. We’ll have to wait and see if Lesnar is truly retired, something he seemingly decided in the moment in the ring, or if this is all a work.

We’re not expecting Roman Reigns to go on another 1,316-day run as world champion, but we’re also not expecting him to have one with a length of three weeks. That means it will lie somewhere in the middle — not too long, and not too short.

With this in mind, the overwhelming majority of Wrestling Inc. staff (93%) are confident that Reigns will retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship over his cousin, Jacob Fatu, at WWE Backlash on May 9. Given that Reigns just captured the title on April 19 in the main event of WrestleMania 42, most of us find the idea of him losing it so quickly to be outright absurd. It’s also not often that you hear the words “Roman Reigns” and “transitional champion” in the same sentence, and considering his status as a needle-mover for the company, we don’t believe WWE would even entertain that thought.

We’re not knocking Jacob Fatu’s potential. Most of us believe he will be a world champion in WWE someday. That “someday” is just not right now. After all, WWE loves a good chase, especially when Reigns is the obstacle in one’s path (example: Cody Rhodes from January 2023 until April 2024).

It’s also hard to overlook the fact that Fatu has gotten the better of Reigns in not one, but two straight episodes of “WWE Raw.” The first time, Fatu took down “The OTC” with the Tongan Death Grip. This week, Fatu then sent him crashing through a table.

In terms of physicality, Fatu has dominated his program with Reigns, which further leads us to believe that Reigns will even the score by pinning Fatu at Backlash. Or in the event that Fatu’s domination continues, there’s a chance that he refuses to release his Tongan Death Grip, and thus disqualifies himself. Either way, Reigns walks out of the premium live event with the World Heavyweight Championship still in his grasp.

Written by Ella Jay

In addition to his status as a full-time AEW star, Will Ospreay has returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, recently winning the company’s NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship alongside The Great O’Khan and Henare. Speaking to NJPW ahead of that match, Ospreay discussed some of the differences he’s noticed between wrestling in the United States and Japan.

“Well, people can understand me when I speak now,” Ospreay said with a laugh. “My Japanese was so-so at best. I always felt such a struggle to convey to the fans just how much NJPW meant to me, so the only way I could show it was through my matches.”

It is fair to say that promo work has become a bigger part of Ospreay’s presentation since he made the move to AEW, and he admitted that he finds communicating easier in his new home promotion. However, that’s not the only change he’s noted, as he also works more singles matches now than he did before.

“In Japan, it would be a long tour with a singles match in the end, and even though the damage can add up, that’s when you can lean on your teammates,” Ospreay continued. “Right now, it’s a lot of singles matches every week.”

Ospreay also touched on the working relationship between the two promotions, which has allowed him to pull double-duty to some extent. The wrestler honed in on the perception that NJPW has lost many of its top stars to AEW despite the relationship, and Ospreay shared his belief that more AEW stars should go on excursion to NJPW, especially with such a big roster.

Before “TNA Impact” goes live once again next week, the last batch of tapings was capped off with a title change, as Lei Ying Lee recaptured the Knockouts Championship. Beyond that, it was a fairly routine edition of the show, though there were definitely some things that caught the attention of our staff, for better and for worse. TNA Wrestling/X

So part of me understands the psuedo-business rivalry between Daria Rae and Santino Marella to an extent, and therefore why she does some of the pettiest nonsense purely to undermine him. Only to a certain extent but there is something of an understanding.

What I do not understand is why week in and week out she does her very best to make the show she is responsible for just that little bit worse. Bordering on terrible at best and boring as paint drying at best.

The World Champion tries to get the ball rolling on defenses, she vetoes that because why not? It just doesn’t really make sense, in storyline, for a general manager to actively want to plummet the show they are responsible for. And since Carlos Silva has appeared on TV multiple times, it also doesn’t make sense why he just sits by and lets her do it. Neither does it really make sense, pulling at that thread, for him to sit by and watch her screw Santino over time and time again. Does no one on the show watch the show?

It’s especially frustrating that she does this at a time when the product from a real life perspective is mundane and sometimes a chore to get through. Again there are moments of glimmering hope in the shape of Leon Slater, Mike Santana, and then tonight with Lei Ying Lee. But they’re nestled between the System, Moose, Alisha Edwards’ screaming, and Daria Rae being the worst manager even this writer, a former retail worker, has ever seen.

There is a potential to be better if she actually does something to explain her motive, the method behind the madness. Even when the Authority were making the show worse during their run in WWE, there was some explanation – maybe too much explanation, but nonetheless. It’s just frustrating that her role is that of disruptor without there being any reasoning, at least with that there would be a feeling of progress. At the moment she just does things to mess with the flow of the night on a whim, which leaves the product promising something better, only to pull the rug and do nothing to supplant that disappointment.

Written by Max Everett

Tonight’s main event between Lei Ying Lee and Arianna Grace was a solid conclusion to the show, ending things on a high note with Lee winning the TNA Knockouts World Championship for the second time. If one didn’t pay attention to any spoilers floating around, it likely served as a pleasant surprise, as Lee was even outnumbered due to the presence of Stacks at ringside. In the end, though, Lee won nonetheless.

Grace did a fair job as champion, but now was the right time to make a change. Not only is she contracted to WWE instead of TNA, but it also felt as though there was a limited number of directions to take her title reign beyond what they’d already been doing. Lee has a ready-made title feud lined up with Xia Brookside, which has potential to give TNA something it’s been sorely lacking: a storyline with the smallest amount of depth. The two faced each other last year for the title, but a lot has happened since then.

Lee’s previous reign ran from the tail end of 2025 into February of this year, but she faced almost no one on the TNA roster (apart from Brookside). Now that the championship is back in her hands, there’s plenty of opportunity to further establish Lee as a more prominent wrestler in TNA. Let’s just hope for plenty of title defenses to come.

Written by Nick Miller