Tom Brady is once again stirring the pot with WWE, taking fresh shots at the company as speculation continues about a potential WrestleMania 42 appearance.
The NFL icon has been trading barbs with Logan Paul while promoting the upcoming Fanatics Flag Football event, with the two debating WWE’s scripted nature and the athleticism of its performers.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Brady didn’t hold back when asked how many WWE Superstars it would take to sack him.
“All their stuff is so cute and scripted and they know what’s going on. In a football game, you don’t know it, so they wouldn’t even get near me,” Brady said. “Plus, if I had a good offensive line, they’d punch those guys right in the throat and they’d be probably crying. You know, there’s no fake BS we do in American football. So for those guys, it’d be a whole different story for them.”
His comments quickly drew a reaction from WWE’s Charlotte Flair, who fired back by pointing out that Brady would still need an offensive line to keep him protected.
Despite the back and forth, there is still no official confirmation that Brady will appear at WrestleMania 42. However, reports earlier this month indicated WWE has internally discussed bringing him in, even exploring Brady themed merchandise ahead of the event.
Brady’s ties to Las Vegas only add to the intrigue, as he is a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, whose home venue, Allegiant Stadium, will host WrestleMania 42 across two nights on April 18 and April 19.
Meanwhile, the Fanatics Flag Football event, which was originally set for Saudi Arabia, has been relocated to Los Angeles and is scheduled to air on FOX this Saturday.
A lot of words to say “if I had five guys to protect me, I might be ok” 🫶🏻 https://t.co/g0jvEkDgtW
, Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) March 19, 2026
AEW taped two episodes of Collision Slam Dunk on Wednesday following Dynamite at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The episodes will air Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22 on TNT.
The Saturday episode saw Kyle Fletcher retain the AEW TNT Championship against Robbie Eagles. The Brawling Birds, Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter, defeated The Sisters of Sin, Julia Hart and Skye Blue. LFI, consisting of Dralistico, RUSH, and The Beast Mortos, defeated Alpha Zo, Lucas Raleigh, and Don Kubrick.
The Sunday episode featured a Trios Championship bout with JetSpeed and Mistico defeating The Don Callis Family of Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, and El Clon to retain the AEW World Trios Championships. Roderick Strong officially announced himself as a member of The Conglomeration following a tag team victory alongside Orange Cassidy over Jay Lethal and Lee Johnson. The Dogs then challenged The Conglomeration to a match the following week. Tommaso Ciampa defeated Lio Rush, and The Divine Dominion, Megan Bayne and Lena Kross, defeated Alex Gracia and Vipress.
AEW Collision Slam Dunk Spoilers | Saturday, March 21 | Save Mart Center | Fresno, California
The Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter) defeated The Sisters of Sin (Julia Hart and Skye Blue)
LFI (Dralistico, RUSH, and The Beast Mortos) defeated Alpha Zo, Lucas Raleigh, and Don Kubrick
AEW Collision Slam Dunk Spoilers | Sunday, March 22 | Save Mart Center | Fresno, California
Tommaso Ciampa defeated Lio Rush
Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong defeated Jay Lethal and Lee Johnson. After the match, Strong announced himself as an official member of The Conglomeration. The Dogs challenged them to a match next week.
The Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne and Lena Kross) defeated Alex Gracia and Vipress
AEW World Trios Championship match: JetSpeed and Mistico (c) defeated The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, and El Clon)
Wrestling fans love many things. Great matches matter. Strong promos matter too. Long stories keep people invested. But a few moments hit as hard as a surprise return. The music starts. The crowd knows who it is. The whole arena changes in seconds.
The Shock Is Real, Even in a Spoiler Era
People often say modern fans know too much. News leaks. Rumors spread. Social media never stops. Even so, surprise returns still work. When the timing is right, the reaction can be massive.
Wrestling is not just about facts. It’s about feelings. A fan might guess a return is coming, but seeing it happen is completely different. Rumors are one thing, the real entrance is something else. One is talk. The other is energy, sound, motion, and crowd noise all at once.
The Return Creates Instant Emotion
A normal entrance can get applause. A surprise return can get something bigger. A wrestler’s return can make fans feel happy, surprised, or even shocked. That feeling matters more than the moves in the match. Fans remember the emotion. A return gives a strong emotional moment that lasts for years at https://blog.playamo.com/best-thunderkick-slots/.
Music Does Half the Work
Entrance music matters more than people admit. The first note can be enough. The crowd hears it, recognizes it, and reacts before the wrestler even appears. That is part of why returns work so well in wrestling compared with many other forms of entertainment. The sound cue is immediate.
Recognition Feels Personal
A surprise return can feel personal to fans in a strange way. Someone they missed is suddenly back. A favorite from another era steps into the present. A broken story can start moving again. That makes the moment feel bigger than a simple booking decision. It feels like the show is giving fans something back.
Returns Refresh Stories Fast
Wrestling storytelling can be slow. That is often good. Long feuds and slow builds can make the payoff stronger. Still, there are times when a story needs a jolt.
A surprise comeback can do that better than almost anything else. One return can create a feud, save a segment, change a title picture, or open a path to a major event. ESPN’s coverage of WrestleMania 40 showed how The Rock’s return changed the direction of WWE’s top story and pushed the company into a major creative pivot after strong fan reaction online and in arenas.
Social Media Loves the Clean Clip
Surprise returns are perfect for short-form sharing. The music hits. The crowd explodes. Cameras cut to shocked faces. Then the wrestler appears. In one short clip, you have confusion, noise, recognition, and payoff. That is exactly the kind of moment that spreads fast online.
A long technical match may be better wrestling, but a return is easier to post, easier to understand, and easier to react to. Even people who do not follow every week can connect with it right away. That helps the moment travel far beyond the live crowd.
Nostalgia Still Works, but It Is Not the Only Reason
People sometimes reduce returns to nostalgia. That is only half true.
Yes, memory plays a role. Fans love seeing someone they missed. But returns also work because they promise change. A comeback says the story is moving. It says something new may happen now. Even if the returning name is familiar, the effect is forward-looking. That is why returns are strongest when they do more than remind people of the past.
Timing Is Everything
A surprise return can fail if it happens at the wrong moment.
If the crowd is tired, the story is weak, or the wrestler does not fit the current direction, the reaction can feel smaller than expected. But when the timing is right, the effect is huge. The company gets a reset button without fully starting over.
This is why promotions save some returns for major events. Big shows already have more energy, more attention, and more online traffic. A surprise return placed there can feel even larger. WWE’s Royal Rumble has a long history of using returns well, partly because the match format naturally creates room for shocks.
Thanks to another tweak in Nielsen’s ratings formula and an overall uptick in interest to start the year, AEW has enjoyed decent viewership so far for both “Dynamite” and “Collision” in 2026. But with stiff competition facing them last Saturday, and AEW Revolution set to occur a day later, some felt as though “Collision” could suffer a bit of a lull.
That wasn’t the case, however. Wrestlenomics and Programming Insider report that the March 14 “Collision” episode drew 458K total viewers, and 0.07 in the 18-49 demographic. Both numbers were up from March 7, with total viewership climbing 24% from 370K, while 18-49 was up 40% from 0.04. The increases were less against the four week average, with total viewership rising only 4% from 442K while there was no change in 18-49.
AEW will likely still look at that as good news in terms of total viewership, which is up 11% and 19% year over year from Q1 2025 and March 2025. The picture isn’t as rosy year over year in 18-49, however, which is down 33% in both categories, though how much that is related to the new ratings system is unclear. “Collision’s” numbers came despite the aforementioned strong competition, which included the NBA, college basketball, and the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic.
Despite being only a day before Revolution, “Collision” featured a major lucha style main event in the former of Andrade El Idolo taking on dual AEW/CMLL star Mascara Dorada. Despite a spirited effort from Dorada, Andrade emerged victorious, and would go on to carry that momentum to Revolution the next day, where he defeated another fellow luchador in Bandido.
During Royal Rumble season, it seemed all but assured that Bron Breakker would find himself in a marquee match come WrestleMania 42. But the aftermath of Royal Rumble weekend changed all of that, when it was revealed Breakker would need surgery to recover from a serious hernia. Since then, there’s been very little word regarding Breakker’s status, leaving many to believe the chances of him working WrestleMania were unlikely.
But a new report suggests WWE is still hoping that Breakker could make his way back. Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select reports that at least one WWE source expressed “optimism” regarding Breakker being cleared to compete before WrestleMania. No update was provided on how Breakker’s rehab was going, but it was suggested that WWE has their T’s crossed in the event he can wrestle, as the promotion has put together a plan for Breakker at WrestleMania.
Prior to his injury, many expected Breakker to be in contention for one of WWE’s two World Championships, or to be put in a program with Seth Rollins, who he forcefully removed from The Vision back in October. Rollins himself had been out recovering from an injury since that time, but returned at Elimination Chamber, attacking Breakker’s stablemate Logan Paul.
Rollins has yet to wrestle since his return, but has continued to appear on TV, using an endless amount of masked men to play mindgames with Paul, Austin Theory, and Paul Heyman. Despite that, a match has yet to be made between Rollins and either Paul or Theory for WrestleMania, leaving open the possibility that a Breakker-Rollins match could happen should Breaker get cleared in time.
