Throughout his time in WWE, AJ Styles had WrestleMania matches against the likes of Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Edge, and more. However, it’s another match that Styles counts as his favorite among all the times he stepped up on “The Grandest Stage of Them All.”

“The best WrestleMania match I had was against Shane McMahon,” Styles said on “Phenomenally Retro.” “It was. You’ve got Shane, who is a perfectionist. He wants it perfect and, man, I get that. We just so happened to be able to place things where they should, and the storyline going into it made it a perfect match.”

The match was Styles’ second-ever WrestleMania bout, taking place in 2017. At the time, McMahon was the onscreen authority figure for “WWE SmackDown” alongside Bryan. The storyline saw Styles growing frustrated with decisions made by McMahon, which led to a violent attack at the hands of Styles. McMahon then challenged the full-time wrestler to a match at WrestleMania 33.

Opening up that year’s WrestleMania, the bout is regarded on Cagematch.net as the best match on the show, though at just a 7.78 rating. Even at the age of 47, McMahon showed that he was capable of a surprising amount of high-flying offense, and Styles was still arguably in his prime during that time. As a result, Styles now looks back on it as the highlight of his WrestleMania run.

The recently-retired star also made sure to mention his various matches with Roman Reigns over the years, as Styles doesn’t believe they receive enough love from fans.

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

Trick Williams has spent the last few months establishing his presence on the WWE main roster, building to his United States Championship win against Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 42. Before that, Williams spent years as one of NXT’s top performers, sticking around on the brand for a while after many (including Williams himself) believed he was ready for the main roster.

According to a new sit-down conversation between Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Shawn Michaels, courtesy of Variety, it seems the WWE executives thought Williams needed a little bit more time to develop his skills.

“I just said it to Trick the other night,” Levesque said. “He was being thankful for all the positioning and I said, ‘Look, I’m thankful that you’re ready to get there.’ I said, ‘So now look back on the frustration that you had of being in a time where you knew you were ready, in your mind. We were screwing you over by keeping you in developmental. … But we were getting you ready for this. We believed you weren’t quite ready yet and that you could benefit more, even if it was just slightly, from baking a little bit longer, and that time will pass.'”

Williams has been a member of the “WWE SmackDown” roster since January, picking up wins against Jacob Fatu, Matt Cardona, Rey Fenix, and more. It’s clear WWE officials had plenty of faith in Williams even prior to his main roster call-up, as he was a two-time WWE NXT Champion and held the TNA World Championship for 140 days.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Variety and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

One week removed from the festivities that were WWE WrestleMania 42 from Las Vegas this year, the thrill and joy that came soon after came to screeching halt this past Friday, after headlines surfaced that cuts were made to both the main and “WWE NXT” rosters. Of the 24 Superstars who were released, 10 were from the “NXT” locker room. One of those names was Luca Crusifino.

Processing his release like many are as of today, the former Crusifino (real name Roman Macek) had this to say about his WWE tenure on X [formerly known as Twitter]: “What an amazing 4 years! Thank you so much to all of my coaches and friends that I have made along the way! Onwards and upwards! onlyfans here I come [with two crying face emojis].”

What an amazing 4 years! Thank you so much to all of my coaches and friends that I have made along the way!

Onwards and upwards!

onlyfans here I come 😭😭

— Roman Macek (@realromanmacek) April 25, 2026

Starting his professional wrestling career as an on-screen attorney in early 2023, Crusifino went from being a better call lawyer to the “consigliere” of The D’Angelo Family stable. Ultimately, his actions couldn’t be trusted, and after siding with Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, he would officially separate himself from both Lorenzo and Tony D’Angelo last July. Sadly, he never won any gold during his four year career in “NXT.”

Other stars who were released from their developmental spots this past Friday, include Andre Chase, Olympic Gold Medalist Tyra Mae Steele, Tyson Dupont, Tyriek Igwe, Malik Blade, Trill London, Sirena Linton, and Chris Island.

From its origins as part of the traveling carnival industry, all the way up into the modern era, pro wrestling has endured a reputation for being a cutthroat business. That reputation has started to soften in recent years, however. During a recent interview with SHAK Wrestling, WWE star Rhea Ripley explained that it simply makes more sense for the locker room to cooperate for everyone’s benefit.

“I feel like we’ve gotten to a point within this industry where – yeah, it is kind of about working together,” Ripley stated. “Back in the day, I see why there were so many arguments and so many people not getting along and fights, because everyone was pretty much out there for themselves, trying to succeed by themselves. But this business – it’s not really somewhere where you can be super selfish, because it’s a team effort.”

According to Ripley, she goes into every match thinking about what she can do to help her opponent, rather than just thinking about what she has to gain from the encounter. After working incredibly hard to earn the position as one of the top women in WWE, Ripley sees it as her responsibility to help lift up the people around her.

“I’m gonna need some competitors that I step in the ring with and it looks like a real fight,” Ripley continued.

Ripley cited current WWE Women’s United States Champion Giulia as someone she’s tried to help elevate. The two had a match on “WWE SmackDown” in February, which ended after nearly 10 minutes with interference from Nia Jax and Lash Legend. It sounds as though Ripley sees Giulia as a future contender for the WWE Women’s Championship, especially since the two have unfinished business.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit SHAK Wrestling and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.