Backstage Report On Ronda Rousey Appearing At AEW Revolution 2026

It’s not hard to top “Hangman” Adam Page losing the opportunity to challenge for the AEW Men’s World Championship ever again, but Ronda Rousey’s surprise appearance at AEW Revolution may have done the trick. And with AEW owner Tony Khan playing it coy about Rousey after the show, many are still left wondering what the future holds, if anything, for Rousey in AEW.

Reviewing Revolution on “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer attempted to answer some of those questions, including when people first got word Rousey would be on the PPV.

“I heard on Friday from people who had heard she was going to be there, but didn’t know for sure,” Alvarez said. “And she was. There were some people in WWE who knew, but many, many did not. I would presume most in AEW did not. But, I mean obviously she’s there to plug the fight…

“I presume they’re going to do a tag match. I mean, she did a physical angle with Toni Storm. Marina Shafir got involved…So I think she’s probably going to be, I presume, a television character, and have that fight plugged every single time she’s on television. And I don’t know from there.”

Meltzer was also unsure of what the next move between Rousey and AEW would be, but he does believe that a potential Rousey match will have to wait till after May 16, where she’s set to make her return to MMA by fighting Gina Carano.

“I can’t see her doing anything before May 16,” Meltzer said. “Maybe she’ll show up at a TV. But she’s got to be serious about her training. I don’t think showing up every week on TV’s a smart move. I mean, will she show up in Fresno on Wednesday? I don’t know, I didn’t get any impression that she would…but I can’t see her ever being a weekly character. I don’t think she’s going to want to go back on the road.”

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

Ax & Smash Recall Demolition Origins Ahead Of WWE Hall Of Fame Induction

WrestleMania season is upon us, and with that comes the traditional WWE Hall of Fame ceremony that opens the weekend of festivities. Familiar with each other for nearly 40 years, Bill “Ax” Eadie and Barry “Smash” Darsow never thought their smash mouth, post-apocalyptic getup would turn them into soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductees. Just weeks away from receiving their long-awaited recognition, both Smash and Ax retell how they first met and carved their path of destruction as Demolition.

“Well, Randy Colley [Moondog Rex] came up with the basic concept,” Ax told legendary journalist Bill Apter. “If you remember, he was the original Smash, but it just didn’t work out because people recognized him as one of the Moondogs. So, he was gracious enough to step aside after the second day. And I was going to Japan, and in the meantime, we needed a replacement.”

Looking for a career change after leaving Jim Crockett Promotions, Darsow described how he replaced Colley as the new Smash, all thanks to his friends and now Hall of Famers Earl Hebner and Ricky Steamboat, who initiated a meeting between Darsow and former CEO and Chairman, Vince McMahon.

“They flew me up to New York. Limo picked me up…I was in the office and Pat Patterson was there, Vince was there, and they showed me a book, and it had all these different pictures of what the Demolition would look like. And he says, ‘What do you think of it?’ And I says, ‘I’m in. I definitely want to do it,'” Smash recalled.

To Darsow, it was a dream come true working with Eadie, as he knew his partner was a top worker that could offer the both of them a top spot in the company. And they did it, together. All it took was a good lunch and a case of fine Canadian beer for them to cement their legacies and become the three-time WWE World Tag Team Champions, with their first run setting the tone as the fourth longest reigning champions in WWE tag team history at 478 days. This year will mark the first time both men have appeared on WWE programming since the 1990s, even after signing a Legends deal last year. 

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

MJF Doesn’t Intend To Depart AEW For WWE: ‘If I Leave, This Company’s F***ing Done’

Despite MJF not being closed off to the idea of one day becoming a WWE star, he also claimed that he would need to be compensated accordingly before leaving AEW. In addition to being satisfied with his position in the promotion, he told Salcedo that it’s important wrestlers are paid what they deserve, and isn’t going to take less money for a chance at creating a bigger public legacy.

“This is where the best wrestle. We’re real premier athletes. We’re not models … we have honed our crafts to the best of our absolute abilities which has made us so incredible, which is precisely why we are getting compensated the way we should be compensated,” he explained. “People will jump to the other place to get booked the same and or worse to be compensated for less. Why? I don’t know. If the answer is legacy, you know what I want my legacy to be? I want my legacy to be that my children are going to be able to afford to go to any school they want. They’re going to be able to afford to go to any restaurant they want … I’m not going to settle for less compensation so I get to have a WrestleMania moment.”

MJF also touched on AEW President Tony Khan and his treatment of the company’s roster, stating that he is caring and genuine, but knows the least he can do is compensate his talent generously after they put their bodies on the line to earn him more revenue.

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

Danhausen Explains Why He Wants The Miz To Serve As His WWE Mentor

New WWE star Danhausen has explained why he wants The Miz to mentor him, following his recent WWE debut. 

The Miz, in recent years, has gotten his flowers, and it seems that even newer WWE stars like Danhausen are recognizing the talent and important status he has in WWE. The former AEW star, in a recent appearance on “Raw Recap,” stated that The Miz’s numerous title reigns, wins over big-name stars, and his celebrity status prompted him to seek his help. 

“Well, yeah, speaking of reality, he had a reality television show and Danhausen needs his own reality television show or a cartoon or something, but I think the Miz can help Danhausen. I don’t know if you know this, he’s very famous. He has won about 47 championships in this company, I think all of them, he’s main-evented WrestleMania. He’s defeated the tip-top of superstars. So who better to learn from? Who’s arguing with Danhausen about this?” he asked. “He’s done it all. Who better to teach Danhausen how to become — I already said I was a legend — but even more legendary.”

Danhausen made a big splash in WWE after a slow start, featuring in backstage segments on both “WWE Raw” and “WWE SmackDown.” In one of his backstage segments, he encountered The Miz and requested that he mentor him, but The Miz was reluctant to do. Danhausen and The Miz’s on-screen relationship hasn’t gotten off to a good start, as the former angered the latter after asking if he would like to replace his “Miz TV” chat show with Danhausen’s own version of a late-night show. The rebuke resulted in Danhausen cursing his mentor, and the curse seemed to work, as The Miz was knocked out later in the show.

AEW’s Billy Gunn Talks Continued Relationship With Ex-WWE Writer Road Dogg

AEW’s Billy Gunn has named his former tag team partner, Road Dogg, as his favorite wrestler of all time.

The duo, who went by the tag team name The New Age Outlaws and were part of D-Generation X, played an important role during the Attitude Era, when their popularity skyrocketed. Gunn recently explained in an interview with “Monopoly Events” that their close personal relationship is why Road Dogg is his favorite of all time. 

“So, this pains me more than I [can imagine] [my favorite] it has to be Road Dogg. He is my favorite. He is my favorite of all time because he was part of one of the best times in wrestling and he is my true partner because I talk to him all the time and it’s just to say, ‘hello’ and that you can’t beat,” said Gunn.

The veteran star also named Road Dogg as his favorite member of the D-Generation X faction, a group which also included Triple H, Chyna, Shawn Michaels, and X-Pac. Gunn has previously credited Road Dogg, aka Brian James, for helping him become a popular star in WWE, saying that James motivated him to become better and helped him believe in himself. 

The tag team had a short time together in WWE, teaming together between 1997 and 2000, before they reunited in TNA a few years down the line. They featured together in the 2010s, eventually leading them to return to WWE, where they had yet another run before they wrestled their final match together in 2015, after which Road Dogg retired from in-ring action. While Road Dogg transitioned to a backstage role, which he recently quit, Billy Gunn continues to wrestle well into his 60s and features sporadically on AEW as well as the indies.