Former WWE EVOLVE star Eli Knight is now known as EK Prosper on “WWE NXT” shortly after his jump between brands, and a report revealed just why WWE wanted to change the star’s name. The name change for Prosper, whose real name is in fact Eli Knight, is official on WWE’s roster page ahead of his appearance at Stand & Deliver on Saturday.

According to WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, the belief internally for the name change is because “Eli Knight” is too similar to “LA Knight,” who also went by Eli Drake in TNA. WWE filed for the trademark on “EK Prosper” earlier in the week.

Prosper wrestled multiple matches under his real name on “NXT,” including his involvement in the recent WWE Speed tournament that culminated in a triple threat match involving Elio LeFleur and Jasper Troy, ultimately won by LeFleur. The new Speed Champion was recently injured, however, and yet another tournament was announced for the title, possibly giving Prosper a new shot at the gold. His first match on “NXT” came in December, when he lost a Speed Championship number one contender’s match to Tavion Heights.

Prosper will be involved in his first-ever Stand & Deliver premium live event in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday. On Tuesday’s edition of “NXT,” it was revealed that he will be teaming with Hank and Tank, Shiloh Hill, and Wren Sinclair in a 10-person mixed tag team match on the pre-show against Birth Right’s Lexis King, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, Charlie Dempsey, Uriah Connors, and TNA Knockouts Champion Arianna Grace.

When debating who deserves to be placed on the Mount Rushmore of women’s professional wrestlers, it’s hard to not give Charlotte Flair one of the four spots, as she arguably has the best resume out of any female star to ever step foot in a WWE ring. However, in a recent interview with “Complex,” Flair revealed if she would consider herself for an all-women’s Mount Rushmore, and listed the other performers that she would put in the top four.

“I always say the Four Horsewomen just because they’re who and why I fell in love with wrestling. And I mean, not that I didn’t respect or love or look up to the women before me, but I mean, we all have kind of gone our separate paths, but had I not been with that core when I started, I don’t know where I’d be today. Like they’re the reason why I fell in love with wrestling, got good at wrestling, and we all took it to the next level together.”

Since coming up through “WWE NXT” together, Flair still has the most WWE championships out of Mercedes Mone, formerly known as Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Bayley. That said, “The CEO” has won the most career titles out of the four, while Bayley and Lynch have two of the longest WWE women’s championship reigns of all-time, with both eclipsing 380 days. 

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

The person advising Randy Orton on the phone during his backstage calls ahead of WrestleMania 42 was revealed in the opening segment of “WWE SmackDown” from Orton’s hometown of St. Louis, and it was a returning Pat McAfee to assist “The Viper.” McAfee, now playing a heel, hit a low blow to Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and cut a lengthy promo on him and WWE as a whole.

Orton opened the show after a video recap of Rhodes and Stephanie McMahon’s segment from Monday’s edition of “WWE Raw” from Madison Square Garden. Orton said, while he was home in St. Louis, he was doing it all for the six people, his wife and kids, at ringside. He started directly talking to Rhodes and said he saw the segment, but there was “no putting me back to bed.” Rhodes then came out and took off his jacket and got ready for a fight, and he and Orton started to brawl. That’s when McAfee got in the ring (wearing a Randy Orton shirt) and delivered a low blow to Rhodes.

McAfee got on the microphone and ran down the sports teams of St. Louis as Orton retrieved a chair to continue to beat down Rhodes. McAfee questioned why he was watching certain things on WWE television while Orton was around, and also questioned why WrestleMania tickets were somehow still available when Orton is around. He told Rhodes he was the one on the phone telling Orton he needs to “kill everything.”

McAfee said he wasn’t just advising Orton because of his journey to his 15th world title. He said it was because the business Rhodes is leading is “terrible” and Orton is “going to save the f****** business.” In a short backstage segment that showed the new allies leaving, McAfee once again brought up “the business” and said he needed to remind Orton of his “GOAT” status.

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s live coverage for “WWE SmackDown” on April 3, 2026, coming to you live from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri!

After brawling with Drew McIntyre throughout much of the duration on the March 20 episode of “SmackDown”, Jacob Fatu appeared on last Friday’s edition of the show and sent a message to McIntyre. This prompted McIntyre to make his way to the ring to send a message of his own directly to Fatu himself, but just moments before things could become physical between the two men, “SmackDown” General Manager Nick Aldis appeared to make an Unsanctioned Match between McIntyre and Fatu official for WWE WrestleMania 42 on April 18 and 19. Following such, both McIntyre and Fatu are advertised to appear on tonight’s show.

2026 Women’s Elimination Chamber winner Rhea Ripley will be in action as she goes head-to-head with Michin. With Ripley preparing to challenge Michin’s ally Jade Cargill for the Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 42, Cargill, Michin, and their ally B-Fab found themselves involved in a verbal confrontation with Ripley last Friday. This led to a match between Ripley and B-Fab, which Ripley quickly won via disqualification when Cargill became involved and attacked Ripley.

Before he defends his Undisputed WWE Championship against 2026 Men’s Elimination Chamber winner and former mentor Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42, Cody Rhodes will be making an appearance on tonight’s show with something on his mind to share. After Orton said that he couldn’t be held accountable for what the voices in his head told him to do last Friday, Rhodes confronted him later that same night after Orton had scored a win against former friend turned foe Matt Cardona. Rhodes and Orton proceeded to have a brawl with one another that lasted for several minutes, with security and country singer Jelly Roll eventually managing to get things calmed down.

Sami Zayn became a two time United States Champion last Friday when he dethroned Carmelo Hayes and put an end to his 98 day reign. Now that he’s preparing to defend his newly won title against Trick Williams at WrestleMania 42, Zayn will be making an appearance on tonight’s show with something on his mind to share.

Additionally, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss will be going head-to-head with Bayley and Lyra Valkyria before both teams and The Bella Twins challenge The Irresistible Forces’ Nia Jax and Lash Legend for the Women’s Tag Team Championship in a Fatal Four-Way Match at WrestleMania 42.