Former WWE and ROH star EC3 returned to TNA Wrestling at the weekend’s Rebellion pay-per-view, which was held in his hometown of Cleveland, and challenged Eric Young to a match.

EC3 confronted Young, and the two went face-to-face before Young tried to land a cheapshot. The returning star ducked it and then cleared Young from the ring. He then went on to cut a promo, challenging Young to a match on this week’s “TNA Impact.”

“Top one-percenter, two-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, EC3 is back. Now, pursuant to the standards and logic of professional wrestling, I am forced to announce that Eric Young, I challenge you to one-on-one combat this Thursday on AMC. AMC becomes ECM3. That makes sense,” he began. “But pursuant to who I am, Eric, pursuant to why I’m here, pursuant to my mind, my body, my soul, my every being, the exile, the crusade, the trouble, trouble, trouble, I only have one thing to say — I’m from Cleveland, bi*ch.”

.@TherealEC3 is BACK in TNA Wrestling!

WATCH #TNARebellion on TNA+: https://t.co/3qD3MC6gEn pic.twitter.com/hvMAI5ihVw

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 12, 2026

EC3 had last wrestled in TNA in 2020 at Bound of Glory, when he faced off against Moose in a singles match. At the time, though, he wasn’t a member of the roster. His last full-time run with the company — which was then called Impact Wrestling — came to an end in 2018, just a few months after his run as Impact Grand Champion. EC3, who was a key player in NWA over the last few years, left the company at the start of the year, stating that his decision to leave was down to him not trusting NWA to tell his story. The match between EC3 and Young will be taped later this week in Syracuse, New York, and the card will also feature a singles match between KC Navarro and AJ Francis.

Rhea Ripley has addressed a viral AI-generated story that falsely claimed she had landed a huge endorsement deal with basketball icon Michael Jordan, and while she quickly shut it down, she admitted she would not have minded if it were true.

During a recent interview with Complex, Ripley was shown the fabricated post, which not only pushed the false claim but also included made-up quotes that managed to fool plenty of fans online.

“Another thing, we’re in the era, unfortunately, of fake news and AI. There was, I was doing research, and a post comes up. I want to show you, just so you see it, and then I’m going to read it to you, okay? You and Michael Jordan. ‘Breaking: basketball legend Michael Jordan has just announced a massive million endorsement deal with young WWE star Rhea Ripley.’ It’s like this whole thing, they even gave a fake quote. It’s obviously fake.”

Despite recognizing immediately that the story was not legitimate, Ripley could not help but react to the scale of what was being claimed.

“I mean, I wish it wasn’t.”

The situation became even more bizarre when it was pointed out that many people in the comments had taken the story at face value, with some even saying they would buy Jordans for the first time because of her supposed involvement.

“But the interesting thing is there’s so many comments on that Facebook post like, ‘Oh man, I’m going to finally buy my first pair of Jordans,’ and things like that.”

Ripley found that reaction especially surreal, considering how globally established the brand already is.

“Dude, that’s wild that people were commenting that. Like, Jordans is a massive brand, they’ve been around for so long, and they have so many different styles. To say that it might be the first pair you buy because it’s a ‘Mommy Ripley’ pair is insane.”

Rather than dismissing the idea entirely, she even used the moment to jokingly call out Jordan himself, hinting that she would be open to turning fiction into reality.

“So… Michael Jordan, come on, see, come through.”

The conversation then shifted toward real-world opportunities, with Ripley revealing she would actually be more interested in working with a different brand altogether.

“Yeah, I mean, I’d love to do a Vans deal for sure, since they are the shoe that I wear every single day. I would love to do a Vans deal.”

She also shared that she previously attempted to make that collaboration happen early in her WWE run, but never heard back.

“And I remember when I first started in WWE, my name started getting a little bit bigger, and I messaged them ages ago. They never got back to me. Yeah, I slid into their DMs and they didn’t respond.”