Eric Bischoff Praises Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes WrestleMania 42 Storyline

Eric Bischoff Praises Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes WrestleMania 42 Storyline

Eric Bischoff has shared strong praise for the WrestleMania 42 main event between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes, highlighting the depth of the story and the history behind both competitors.

Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff said he has been following the developing angle and is impressed with how the rivalry has been presented so far. “I think that the match between him and Cody is going to be a great match,” Bischoff said. “Really looking forward to it.”

Bischoff went on to praise Orton’s all-around ability, describing him as one of the most complete performers in the business today. “Randy Orton, to me, is one of the best examples of someone who is so old school in many respects, but he is such a great performer on every level,” Bischoff said. “His promos are great, the way he sells is fantastic, he is so fluid, he is so smooth.”

He also framed the matchup as a symbolic clash between generations, noting Orton’s longevity and Rhodes’ position as a leading figure of the current era. “Randy is like the last of what I would consider my generation of performers,” Bischoff said. “Randy started in WWE just as I came on board there. I’ve had a chance to watch him develop and grow as a performer. I have a lot of respect for his dad, Bob Orton Jr.. Cody is like the star of the next generation behind Randy. It is a cool matchup.”

Bischoff also touched on the intrigue surrounding the storyline, particularly the unanswered questions tied to Orton’s recent actions. “I am just glad it is happening,” he said. “It is a great story, and there is so much to work with. I cannot wait to see this thing play out.”

With WrestleMania 42 approaching, the Orton vs. Rhodes program continues to build as one of the most personal and layered rivalries on WWE television, drawing attention from veterans like Bischoff who recognize the storytelling foundation behind it.

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Hologram Teases AEW Return With Cryptic Message Following Knee Surgery

Hologram Teases AEW Return With Cryptic Message Following Knee Surgery

Hologram has signaled that his return to All Elite Wrestling may be approaching, posting a cryptic in-character update on social media after months away due to injury.

Writing in the same glitch-based style that defines his on-screen persona, Hologram shared the following message on X: “Injury detected. Source: clone. Surgical process complete. Recovery protocol active. Countdown initiated. I’m coming back to finish this.”

The post marks his first public update since undergoing knee surgery in October 2025 and strongly suggests that a comeback is now on the horizon. The line about “finishing this” appears to directly reference Kyle Fletcher, who was responsible for the attack that led to Hologram being written off television.

That angle took place on the September 27 episode of AEW Collision, where Fletcher assaulted Hologram following an “El Clon” glitch during a backstage segment. The moment tied into the broader storyline surrounding Hologram’s mysterious character and the shadowy presence of El Clon.

Later that night, during a match involving Komander and Fletcher, Tony Schiavone informed viewers on commentary that Hologram had suffered a serious injury. Tony Khan would go on to confirm that the injury was expected to sideline him for the remainder of 2025. Surgery followed in October, beginning a lengthy rehabilitation process.

At the time of his absence, Hologram had quickly emerged as one of AEW’s most talked-about new stars, building an undefeated streak that generated significant attention. The attack by Fletcher allowed AEW to preserve that momentum while setting up a clear storyline for his eventual return.

While no official timetable has been announced, the “countdown” teased in Hologram’s message points toward a return in the near future. With several months already passed since surgery, his recovery appears to be progressing within a typical timeframe, leaving the door open for his reappearance on AEW programming soon.

Hologram Teases AEW Return With Cryptic Message Following Knee Surgery

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Backstage Report On WWE Discounting Tickets, Including WrestleMania 42

If there’s one criticism that has been lobbied at WWE in recent years that all fans can agree on, it’s that ticket prices have reached an obscenely high level. It has reached the point where WrestleMania 42 is just a few weeks away, and despite taking place in the same city and venue as last year, ticket sales for WWE’s biggest show of the year have been 18% lower than WrestleMania 41. The company did hold a brief discount sale in February, but there was little to no movement as far as tickets were concerned. This all led to a much bigger discount sale on March 16, with Dave Meltzer breaking down all the numbers in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The sale that took place on March 16 wasn’t just for WrestleMania 42 tickets, it was for all events through to June 9 including non-televised house shows. All tickets were discounted by 31.6% to commemorate the date, which many wrestling fans jokingly refer to as “Stone Cold Steve Austin Day” given his “Austin 3:16” promo and best selling t-shirt, which itself is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

The real question was very simple, did the sale actually work? The answer, is yes. Meltzer noted that a large number of house shows shifted over 1,000 tickets for each show, and as far as WrestleMania 42 is concerned, around 2,000 tickets were sold for each individual night. At the time of writing, that puts night one of WrestleMania to 39,425 tickets sold, while night two finally passed the 40,000 mark as 40,687 tickets are currently out. This year’s “Showcase of the Immortals” is still behind the pace of WrestleMania 41, but instead of consistently being around 18% behind, WrestleMania 42 is now around 11.2% behind the pace of last year.

For the fans who don’t to outright buy the tickets from WWE and would rather pick them up on the secondary market, they might be in luck. Meltzer reported that the secondary market is much lower than this time last year, 33.8% to be exact. The current lowest price to get a seat for night one on the secondary market is $237 and $221 for night two, which Meltzer did say is still very expensive, but compared to WrestleMania 41, it’s significantly down.

WWE’s Bayley Shares Her Initial Reaction To Hugger Theme Music: ‘I Hated It’

Throughout her WWE career, Bayley has used multiple theme songs to accompany the different types of characters she’s played on-screen, with her most iconic entrance track being “Turn It Up,” which originated in “WWE NXT” for her “Hugger” persona. Although the theme was popular amongst fans, Bayley revealed in a recent interview with “IGN” that she initially despised the Hugger song, and reflected on all the entrance music she’s used during her time with WWE.

“They’d sent me like, ‘Hey, this is what we’re thinking for music.’ I hated it. And then the next text was ‘Hunter loves it.’ And I said, ‘All right, sounds good.’ Like that’s my song and then grew to love it, you know? Like people just got really excited when it came on, and then when I turned heel, it was the song that I ended up keeping they were like, ‘Hey, this is just for tonight. We don’t have to keep it.’ But then I really liked it, you know? I like the little guitar solo in it. So we kept that and then when Damage Control came about, we kind of collabed on that.”

Bayley also shared that the theme song she uses today was only supposed to be used for her match against IYO SKY at WrestleMania 40, but it’s continued to be her entrance music for the past two years, despite it not being her favorite theme from her career.

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

Chelsea Green Reflects On Her Two WWE Women’s US Championship Runs

After regaining the Women’s US Title with a win over Giulia on November 7, Green recalled wanting to make her second reign stand apart from her first one. Given its sizable decrease in length, though, Green never got an opportunity to implement many changes.

“Then on the second run, I wanted to figure out how to make it different,” she said. “But honestly, it was so short lived that I didn’t really have a chance to make it any different. I just tried to kind of build on what I already had before while being a double champion with Ethan [Page]. I think that’s how it was different was including Ethan in the moment and having us kind of go for all of North America.”

As Green alluded to, this Women’s US Title run intersected with her reign as AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion alongside “WWE NXT” star Ethan Page. Both she and Page leaned into their Canadian roots during this time, with Page notably remodeling the NXT North American Championship into the Canada flag. Meanwhile, Green displayed patriotic spirit for both the USA and Canada. This stint as Women’s United States Champion concluded on the January 2 edition of “SmackDown” at the hands of Giulia.

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