De La Hoya continued to say that it seems the bill will be passed anyway and TKO’s Zuffa Boxing will be able to create its own league – or as the bill frames it, a Unified Boxing Organization – and set its own rules, rankings, with its own belts.

“It will be UFC 2.0,” he said. “We all know how awful that is for fighters.”

He said there is a choice now for boxers whether to join the new “dictatorship” or remain with the system that has “worked for 100+ years.”

“They will dictate who you fight, when, where, and how much you receive,” he said. “Say goodbye to fair market value.”

“Oh, and this lunatic is your boss,” he said about Dana White. “This guy, who thinks public shootings are fun. What a sick f***.”

De La Hoya went further and said he had heard from a fighter that already regrets signing for Zuffa, calling the situation horrific. He said they make fighters pay for their own medical bills, and if the fighter loses, they determine the payment based on that and the fighter does not know until after the fact.

“The contracts are garbage, so beware buyer,” he concluded.

Although “SmackDown” started the year on a high note under the three-hour format, the program’s overall quality has significantly diminished over the past couple of months. In January, Drew McIntyre had become Undisputed WWE Champion, the United States Title Open Challenge was arguably producing the best matches on TV each week, and “WWE NXT” stars like Trick Williams and Jordynne Grace made their debut, which kept the programming fresh coming into the new year. However, as WWE started to inch closer towards WrestleMania 42, the blue brand struggled to excel with a three-hour runtime, with poor booking decisions and lack of effort put into storylines hurting the product.

Whether it was the celebrity involvement in the brand’s main event storyline, fans being disappointed with Cody Rhodes dethroning McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship, or the overall match quality, “SmackDown” presented stories the audience didn’t want to see and inserted filler content to have enough material for a three-hour program. The WWE Universe also didn’t shy away from voicing their frustration with “SmackDown,” with some of the episodes in the lead up to WrestleMania recording some of the lowest ratings on both IMDB and Cagematch in the show’s history.

When “SmackDown” returns to a two-hour format this June, WWE will be forced to remove any filler and focus on its most essential storylines for the remainder of the year, which should lead to a better product. Additionally, following WWE’s recent round of releases, the company has no excuse but to utilize its current roster to prove the show can succeed despite the talent cuts.

There’s a joke in here about it being clobberin’ time or in this case, shovin’ time. Punk has a recent history of putting his hands on others, including former coworkers and allegedly making his former boss feel unsafe. This fact makes it easy for some people to jump to conclusions regarding his alleged behavior towards fans. TMZ Sports painted both recent incidents with fans as scandalous and sensational. After TMZ’s initial report of the first incident, other witnesses came forward to say Punk was protecting his wife along with their good friend from a grown man who had been harassing them. As of now, we only have the fan and interpreter’s version of events since no police report was filed in relation to the second incident. It’s unclear if the second fan incident happened before or after Punk, Lee, and Bayley were being harassed by another fan.

Punk is just one wrestler who has been vocal about aggressive fan behavior. During WrestleMania weekend, Booker T says a fan was filming him in the bathroom. Drew McIntyre tweeted about fans using their kids to guilt them into autographs and pictures. Rhea Ripley and Asuka are among women wrestlers who have publicly spoken about being harassed and stalked by fans. In one of the most extreme cases, a “fan” broke into Daria Rae’s home. 

Social media has created parasocial relationships, especially with wrestlers who use it to connect with fans and further storylines. Combined with a lack of security during WrestleMania weekend, it creates the perfect storm for things to escalate between talent and fans. If you’re following someone into the bathroom, you need a reality check. Boundaries and safe guards need to be put into place and talent need better protection, especially at events like meet and greets. No one owes you access to them, especially if they’re not working.

After a two-year medical journey of twists and turns, AEW star Tanea Brooks (also known as Rebel) finally has the answer she’s been looking for. Unfortunately, its outcome is far from promising.

In a series of videos posted to X, Brooks confirmed that while she was awaiting surgery for her previously diagnosed lung cancer, doctors at the Mayo Clinic revealed that her other ongoing health concerns, such as difficulties talking and walking, were attributed to Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as ALS. In Rebel’s case, her ALS has reached the terminal stage.

“First, I want to say thank you for all of your prayers because for those who know, it’s been a two-year medical journey trying to find out what is wrong. Finally, our prayers have been answered,” she said. “The thing is, sometimes, we don’t want to hear that answer to our prayers. And so, while I was waiting to have lung surgery for the masses on my lungs, the doctors at Mayo finally found what’s going on. The doctors have diagnosed me with terminal ALS. There is not a lot of research behind ALS, and we don’t know how long I have, but it explains why I have trouble walking and talking. All of my functions will soon decline. But now we can prepare for the future and what is to come.”

Visibly emotional, Brooks went on to thank AEW CEO Tony Khan and colleagues for supporting her throughout her health troubles. She also thanked her fans and friends for the flood of prayers they extended her across social media along the way. Fans last saw Brooks in an AEW ring in August 2022 for a dark match.

“Please continue to pray for a peaceful journey and a peaceful passing,” the 47-year-old added. “I love you.”

We at Wrestling Inc. would like to send our best wishes to Brooks and her family during this difficult time.

After the big lights faded from WrestleMania 42, WWE executed its annual springtime reset last Friday, by eliminating 24 wrestlers from their positions within the company (14 main roster stars and 10 developmental). With so many questions on why, who was behind the releases, and other, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed new information, and also refuted any false rumors that made its rounds online.

While there’s a lot to unpack, the first question answered in this week’s reports was what were the reasons behind these releases? Of course, budgeting and saving money were key aspects of those decisions; however, age also played a big factor, and whether their storylines ran its course. Most of those who were released on the main roster were between their mid-30s and early 40s. It was said that the Stamford-based promotion is trying to recruit and showcase more younger talents on the main roster.

As for who was behind it, while many believed TKO were pulling the strings, that was not the case. WON noted that WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque was heavily behind those difficult decisions, along with input from WWE President Nick Khan. Others involved in these discussions included Ed Koskey and Bruce Prichard.

Speaking of TKO, rumblings turned into rumored wildfires when it was expressed that all five members of the Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy, Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, Joe Gacy, and Nikki Cross), as well as Aleister Black, were all let go because the parent company of WWE did not like their “dark characters.” Today’s reports confirm that the announcement was entirely false. In fact, when reached for comment, WON were told that was “bulls***,” and that it was all a matter of not having anything more to work with, with them.

One name that certainly turned heads last week was the former three-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Kairi Sane. Despite the pleas from fans to Triple through their “#WeWantKairi” posts online and live chants featured on “WWE Raw” this past Monday, the belief is that Sane’s release stemmed from the desire of wanting to move back to Japan at some point.