This past Tuesday, March 10, former WWE talent Shotzi Blackheart took to social media to share information about her brother, Dean Urbanski, being missing. In a now-deleted post, Shotzi explained that Urbanski had crashed his car near Fort Mason, California, and according to CCTV footage was seen leaving the scene of the crash on foot and might be confused or disoriented.

In a follow up post since then, Shotzi revealed that her brother has since been found and was taken to a hospital. “We are incredibly grateful to everyone who shared the post, reached out, and helped spread the word. The support and kindness from so many people truly means the world to our family. Thank you all so much,” Shotzi posted.

In the past, Shotzi spoke about her brother’s involvement in her pro wrestling career, recalling how she was never a huge fan of wrestling but her brother was, and she’d often watch it with him or play the video games with him. Years later, she began watching WWE with her sister, who would joke about going into pro wrestling to be a valet, while Shotzi was the one who later seriously pursued it instead.

Back in 2021, Shotzi unfortunately lost her father, and penned an emotional post detailing her relationship with him. She expressed how lucky she was to have a great relationship with not just her biological father but her step-father. She also recalled how her father was the life of the party and often the organizer for holidays and getaways. Shotzi went on to recall how her father taught her many things across her life and expressed how she’ll miss many moments with him. 

This has been a pretty grim and dour read, if I’m being completely honest. It can be easy to forget that, at the end of the day, wrestling –like movies– is for the dreamers. You can get jaded and cynical, but sometimes the right combination of earnestness, sincerity, and passion will remind you exactly why you started watching this ridiculous thing in the first place.

Wrestling is a lot like a Neil Diamond tribute band. You might hate “Sweet Caroline” deep in your bones, and think that the lead singer looks ridiculous trying to conjure the ghost of a man who is still alive, but you can’t deny the artistry or the passion.

Yes, “Song Sung Blue” is a kind of ridiculous, manipulative movie, but damned if it doesn’t scratch that same corny, high-fructose itch that good wrestling usually does. Carny dreamers in ridiculous outfits, fighting backstage over time and gimmicks. 

If Marty Mauser is who most wrestlers are behind the scenes, Lightning & Thunder are what every wrestler aspires to be when the lights are on: Someone who can make even an ardent Neil Diamond hater like me sing along to “Soolaimon.”

Next month, Aleister Black will mark the one-year anniversary of his WWE return, where he blasted The Miz with a Black Mass on the WrestleMania 41 fallout episode of “WWE SmackDown.” Since then, he’s notably challenged for the United States Championship, headlined WWE’s blue brand with veteran Randy Orton, and survived a heated rivalry with Damian Priest. All together, Black says it equals a “massive success” for him.

“A lot more work, a lot more things that I have done inside the ring and outside the ring,” Black told The Stunner when asked for his personal evaluation of his WWE return. “I like being busy; once I feel like I am not busy, I feel like I am not doing something right. The amount of work I have had within WWE has been a lot, which is good. Several main events, headlining several Smackdown episodes, merchandise sales, commercials, various interviews, and then obviously as of recently, working the main event with Randy Orton and beating him. I cannot really complain when it comes to that.”

While considering his second run an overall success so far, Black also acknowledges that there will always be room for improvement, whether it be from a character or in-ring perspective. In the latter department, Black has brought his “Dark Father” gimmick over to WWE, with its aim being to corrupt other talents on the roster. 

Most recently, Black approached Sami Zayn backstage on “SmackDown” amidst his ongoing frustrations with the now-three-time Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Black specifically told Zayn not to worry about Rhodes, as it was “just the nature of the beast.”