WWE WrestleMania is well known as “Grandest Stage Of Them All.” Is it the funnest, though?

According to Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, also known as “Mr. WrestleMania,” another one of WWE’s other premium live events is more enjoyable than it, namely the Royal Rumble. “From a pure fun standpoint, the Rumble is more fun because it’s not as pressure and 100% focused on you,” Michaels told the “Club 520 Podcast.” “It’s more about the entire match and just the idea. I’m very happy. I feel like the Rumble has gotten bigger than it was in our day. I think it’s become so much more special over time. People have really began to appreciate the Rumble and everything that goes on with it. But at that time, I think from a guy working in the ring, you look at it and you go, that’s an easier thing to have to do because you’re part of a much bigger segment so to speak. When it’s 100% on you like it is at WrestleMania, that’s when you have the stress, the anxiety, the pressure of making sure you go out there and deliver.”

In the case of Michaels, the pressure surrounding his WrestleMania performances were often heightened due to his synonymousness with the big event. In turn, the element of fun sometimes lost its luster. Still, Michaels felt that, nine times out of ten, he lived up to his lofty nickname.

Regarding the Royal Rumble match, Michaels conquered it on two occasions, first in 1995, then in 1996. The former famously saw him enter from the number one spot and outlast the other 29 competitors. The following year, he came out from the 18 position and last eliminated Diesel to secure the victory.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Club 520 Podcast” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Paige said that then the videos were leaked, and that pushed her over the edge. She said she left her home and ran as far as she could, and came to the decision to call her father with the idea that if he could not accept it, then there was truly no way forward.

“I’m sick. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh. People can see me,’ and made mistakes in these videos and stuff I would never do. It’s my private life. And I was young, I was like 19 years old,” she said. “I was like, ‘If my dad doesn’t accept me for this, I’m gonna kill myself.’ That was it, you know, I was like, ‘I can’t be here anymore.'”

Paige reasoned that she and her father share a close bond and he is her life, so if he couldn’t accept the videos being out there then she had come to terms with suicide. 

“I was ready to do it. I was done,” she said. “And so… I called him. He was f***ing fantastic. He goes to me, ‘It’s alright princess.’ He was like, ‘Everyone has a sex life. Yours just happened to be on the internet.’ And he goes, ‘You know what, you could be famous like Kim Kardashian. It could work in your favor.'”

Paige laughed and said she asked “How the f*** do you know Kim Kardsahian?” before saying he had saved her life that day, at the lowest point she had ever been in her life. She said she never thought she’d ever reach the point of wanting or considering harming herself, but she had, and it was her father who brought her back from it.

This past Saturday, Utami Hayashishita announced that her time with Dream Star Fighting Marigold will be coming to an end, with her final match set for Saturday, May 23.

On Saturday, at Korakuen Hall, Marigold held an event, where Hayashishita challenged for her former piece of gold, the Marigold World Championship, against current champion Miku Aono. Aono retained successfully. After the match, Hayashishita addressed the crowd and informed them of her upcoming departure.

Utami announced that her final Marigold match will be on May 23 at Ota Ward Gym. Maddy Morgan challenged Miku Aono to a World title match next month at Korakuen Hall. pic.twitter.com/5w7mOQE5Hw

— Marigold Joshi (@Marigold_Joshi) April 25, 2026

After this weekend’s show, Marigold owner Rossy Ogawa was interviewed on the matter by Tokyo Sports. Ogawa mentioned that he was aware of her decision to leave since January of this year, and while saddened to hear she will no longer work for his company, he’s not going to convince her to say, as her mind is already made up.

“I didn’t try to convince her to stay. Because if she wants to quit, it means she doesn’t want to work here anymore. There’s no point in trying to convince her to stay,” he said. “We don’t chase after those who leave. But there’s no point in dwelling only on the negatives. This is precisely the time to turn a crisis into an opportunity. All we can do is hope the wrestlers do their best.”

A standout in Ogawa’s formerly owned and operated promotion, World Wonder Ring STARDOM, Hayashishita was one of several big names who chose to leave STARDOM and take part in Marigold in 2024. The 27-year-old sensation was the second-ever Marigold World Champion, after winning the title from inaugural champ Sareee on January 3, 2025, at First Dream in Tokyo. As of this report, Hayashishita remains the former and longest-reigning champion of that title at 296 days.

There are various paths to becoming a wrestler from growing up a fan and joining a wrestling school, being born into the business, or becoming an athlete in another sport and finding your way to the squared circle. WWE created its NIL (Name, Image, & Likeness) program in 2021 to recruit high school and collegiate athletes.

Brand new “NXT” Superstar, Kali Armstrong is a former track and field star at the University of Southern California. During an appearance on Rosenberg Wrestling, Armstrong revealed that a surprising name inspired her wrestling path: Wale. After her track and field career ended, she was working a 9-5, but missed sports. She’s good friends with rapper Wale and he was doing “WaleMania” at the time. He kept contacting her and saying, “you’re beautiful, you have this charisma, the physique. I think you’d be a really good WWE wrestler.” When she first heard it, she thought, “that’s not something you could be” and she laughed it off. Armstrong wasn’t even watching wrestling at the time, although she watched when she was younger. After Wale mentioned it a couple more times, she decided to look into it. She was impressed that they were working with athletes, so she connected with a recruiter. That led to a tryout and “that was all she wrote.”

Armstrong signed with WWE in 2023 and became the inaugural Evolve Women’s Champion in 2025. Earlier this month, she debuted in “NXT” during  Week One of “NXT Revenge” and picked up a victory over Skylar Raye.

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER has wrestled some of the biggest names in the wrestling business over the past few years, and has become something of a “career killer” having retired Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles over the past year. However, there is one man who helped elevate GUNTHER’s career to the next level in one of the most brutal matches in WWE’s recent history, that being Sheamus in their WWE Intercontinental Championship match at WWE Clash at the Castle 2022. 

“The Ring General” was a recent guest on “WWE Retrospective” where he gave some insight into some of his biggest WWE matches, and when it came to talking about Sheamus, GUNTHER feels like he is a great gatekeeper for younger talent.

“For a while, Sheamus was like a little bit–like the gatekeeper to wrestle a lot of the newer guys, and I think he was perfect. You should match that guy when it comes to the bell rings, and how you do you approach the match? What kind of performance you want to put on? Stuff like that, and I think Sheamus is a good example for everybody where it doesn’t matter how long you do this, or how popular you are, once you get out there, you just leave it all in the ring. He’s a very pale guy I’ve got to be honest, so with a skin type like that, I would say they bruise quite easy, which is good, it’s a great visual.”

GUNTHER rounded off by saying that Clash at the Castle 2022 was a great weekend for him as he not only defeated Sheamus, but Imperium also reunited, and he got to have a nice dinner with his wife over the weekend as well.

Please credit “WWE Retrospective” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.