This past Friday, WWE executed its annual post-WrestleMania talent cuts, with both main roster and developmental stars being released. While some talent had been cut before returning to the ring and others were let go after struggling to earn TV time, neither was the case for Kairi Sane, who was released despite being featured on “WWE Raw” on a weekly basis and being involved in a storyline with Asuka and IYO SKY.

Over the weekend, fans started a movement online in an attempt to get Sane re-hired, leading #WeWantKairi to trend on X for several days. On Wednesday, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque took to X to share a clip of himself helping CM Punk rehearse his WrestleMania entrance, but the responses were flooded with people asking for him to bring “The Pirate Princess” back, with many comments including images of Sane and numerous instances of the #WeWantKairi hashtag.

Earlier this week it was reported that Sane had informed WWE that she wanted to return to her home country of Japan and that her release was not necessarily a financial decision. However, a statement from Sane herself seemed to refute this notion.

This past Monday on “Raw,” WWE announced that SKY will face Asuka at Backlash next month, which is a one-one-one match that was originally rumored to take place at WrestleMania. Sane had played an integral role in the feud, with SKY questioning Asuka’s seemingly abusive treatment of her partner in the Kabuki Warriors.

Former UFC middleweight Yoel Romero was scheduled to take on Hector Lombard at Jorge Masvidal’s Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 10 on May 1 in Miami, Florida, but Lombard has since withdrawn from the fight that was set to headline the card. However, Romero will still be in action on May 1 as Masvidal has announced a new opponent.

In a new post on Instagram, Masvidal revealed that Romero will headline the event against former UFC fighter Alex Nicholson in a light heavyweight clash. Nicholson has fought on five Bareknuckle cards for GFC in the past few years, amassing a record of three wins and two losses, which is an improvement on when he fought for the UFC. In his four fights for the UFC, Nicholson earned just one win in four fights, that win coming against Devin Clark at UFC Fight Night 91 in July 2016, but after his loss to Jack Hermansson in May 2017, he was cut from the promotion. Since leaving the UFC, Nicholson has fought for the PFL, LFA, and won the Titan FC Heavyweight Championship.

As for Romero, he hasn’t fought in MMA since defeating Thiago Santos at PFL vs. Bellator in February 2024. With that said, Romero has been active in combat sports as he has wrestled for Real American Freestyle, earning a 1-1 record by defeating Pat Downey but losing to Stephen Buchanan. Romero has also competed in dirty boxing over the past two years, and is experienced in the bare knuckle world having fought for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships in September 2025.

On Tuesday, “WWE NXT” seemed to find a home for their PLEs, agreeing to a multi-year deal with The CW Network, home of “NXT” TV, to air “NXT” PLEs going forward. As it turns out, however, that won’t be the only place that fans can watch major “NXT” events, thanks to another deal between The CW and another of WWE’s broadcasting partners.

In a press release unveiled Wednesday morning, The CW and ESPN announced that the two sides had agreed to a deal that will see all CW Sports events stream on ESPN Unlimited. As a result, this means that “WWE NXT” PLEs will be made available on ESPN Unlimited when the deal between ESPN and The CW begins later this summer, though an exact date for when CW Sports content will be available is unknown.

“Joining forces with ESPN is a monumental next step in the evolution of CW Sports,” CW President Brad Schwartz said in a statement. “The CW now offers more than 800 hours of premium live sports per year. This agreement extends the reach of CW Sports and enables us to capture audiences across the best of broadcast and the best of streaming, ensuring fans can access live CW Sports wherever they are and on whatever device they prefer.

“This new partnership will allow us to connect seamlessly with our audiences everywhere…from football and basketball to motorsports, professional wrestling, bowling, bull riding, and much more to come as CW Sports continues its exciting march forward.”

While “NXT’s” PLE deal is still with The CW, this ESPN agreement means that all WWE PLEs, “NXT” and main roster, will be airing on ESPN Unlimited for the foreseeable future. WWE and ESPN had previously agreed to a deal to air all WWE PLEs on Unlimited back in August 2025, with the first PLE, WrestlePalooza, airing on the streaming service one month later.

Next year, WWE is set to host WrestleMania 43 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the first time in history, but it seems like the company is planning on holding the 44th edition of the event in a major location. During a TKO Town Hall on Monday, WWE President Nick Khan reportedly teased, “Wait until you hear the announcement on where we’re going to be for WrestleMania in 2028.”

Khan provided no further clues as the location he was talking about. The audio from the meeting was acquired and published by POST Wrestling.

The location of WrestleMania has been the subject of some contention in recent years, and not just because of the announcement that the event will head to Riyadh in 2027. Originally, New Orleans was going to be the host city for WrestleMania 42, but the location was changed to Las Vegas because of the revenue that WrestleMania 41 brought in the year prior. As for WWE’s plans for WrestleMania 44, fans from Canada and England have wanted their country to host the show for decades, but it remains to be seen if WWE would consider presenting WrestleMania internationally in back-to-back years.