Injured AEW star Leila Grey confirmed via her Instagram stories on Wednesday that she has successfully undergone surgery for a torn ACL. Grey penned a note to her fans in her stories after undergoing the operation following the injury she sustained at the beginning of December.
“Hey guys. I finally had my knee surgery yesterday,” she wrote. “Everything went well. I’m home recovering and starting therapy tomorrow. Thank you all for the support during this time.”
Grey suffered the injury during her match with Mercedes Mone for the TBS Championship on the December 6 edition of “AEW Collision.” The match ended abruptly with Mone getting the pin after it became apparent Grey had been injured. She revealed the exact point in the match the injury occurred, saying it happened when she took a wrong step while being driven into the corner by Mone. Grey revealed she felt a pop in her knee and minutes later, felt another pop after hitting the champion with a knee.
She revealed in January that she didn’t have full range of motion in her knee at the time, which she said delayed surgery for at least another month. Despite the injury, Grey competed in the World Beauty Fitness & Fashion competition the week following her loss to the then-TBS Champion, where she scored first place in the Diva Fitness Model 35+ category. The AEW talent wore a bedazzled knee brace for the competition, which she said people expected her to drop out of following the injury, but she was a “boss a** baddie” who “got the job done.”
Professional boxing’s Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, Oleksandr Usyk, is said to be considering UFC two-weight champion Jon Jones as a potential opponent.
Usyk has been Undisputed Champion twice at heavyweight and once as cruiserweight with an unblemished record of 24-0 in professional boxing, having beaten Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Daniel Dubois in recent years.
But his next fight will be in May against former GLORY Kickboxing Heavyweight Champion Rico Verhoeven, himself fighting just his second pro boxing bout, as his career looks to enter its exhibition stage. Seen also with the likes of Fury and Joshua fighting former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou.
Jake Paul called Usyk out for an MMA fight as his Most Valuable Promotions enters the sport with its first event also in May, pitting Ronda Rousey against Gina Carano. But Usyk is not said to be considering Paul as an opponent, rather feeling another UFC Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones, would be a better and more lucrative option.
“A fight with Jake Paul in MMA at this stage is not being considered,” Team Usyk’s Sergey Lapin told Casinostugan (via The Mirror). “But we are always open to creative and interesting collaborations in the future. If we are talking about crossover fights, a very interesting matchup could be against Jon Jones in the United States. The best heavyweight in MMA against one of the best boxers of his generation could become a very big event if organized properly. Who is the baddest man on the planet?”
Jones had, for all intents and purposes, retired from MMA last year as his Heavyweight title was vacated. However, he recently said he was in negotiations for a return, asking for his release after that first statement had been dismissed by Dana White as “bulls***.” Usyk would be the latest in a line of stars interested in fighting Jones should he put on the gloves again.
Show: Wrestling Epicenter Guest: Jameson Date: 03/18/2026 Your Host: James Walsh”Yeah, Vince McMahon saw me do this improv show and he thought I would be a good counter-part to Bobby Heenan as Vince was working out the framework of the Bobby Heenan Show. He wanted someone to be like the Ed McMahon to Johnny Carson like almost all the late-night TV shows have.””He was a pro’s pro. I mean, he was so quick and he was so funny! He would have been able to go anywhere and be successful. He could have gone to Hollywood and been a successful comedian. He was fantastic.””Yeah, Vince McMahon, I didn’t know that. They didn’t want you to know that the WWF was his show. You know? Like, this was his show or he was in charge of the show for some reason. So, after that, they still used the footage but they came out in a commercial break and they explained to me, “Don’t mention Vince!” I was like, “Okay…” To this day, I don’t understand the logic behind why they didn’t want “Vince” said like it was his show, you know?””I loved Vince. I totally get why some of the guys were not fans of Vince. But, Vince always showed me love!””Probably the Heather Hunter belly dance. Yeah, that was probably it. I had not seen it in a long time. I have it on a VHS tape. But, someone posted it on Facebook and I laughed watching it back. It was funny. I was proud of myself. That was probably it.””Yeah, I remember having a lot of fun with the Rosati sisters, the Oinkettes. They would always come out and hey brought the guests in and at the end of the show every episode, if I’m not mistaken, ended up we were all dancing and I would be, you know, trying to do my best sexy dance with One of the Oinkettes. Well, not my best but Jameson’s best (laughs) Sexy dance. Yeah, it’s such a great time!””You know what? I don’t know. I don’t know who’s responsible for that. I was coming in there like I said Vince saw me in the show and my character was named Jameson Baldacourt and you know next thing I know when We were shooting it became Jameson Winger and I swear to you, I Would love to know the answer to that but at the time it didn’t really matter to me.””That was one thing that was not Vince McMahon’s decision. The Bobby Heenan Show was cancelled by the USA Network. They said to Vince that they had a contract for 3 hours of wrestling and instead, they were getting 2 and a half hours of wrestling and the Bobby Heenan Show and that wasn’t what they wanted.””So sad, so sad. To silence someone that quick, it was so sad to see. He was such a funny guy. That was terrible.””Well, Vince hired me to do the Bobby Heenan Show but he wanted me to stick around and use my comedy to enhance storylines and stuff. So, with Prime Time Wrestling, I was brought in to the studio and they would use me in that way.””The Berzerker, one show, threw me off the roof! (laughs) They made a whole story out of it that they followed for a few weeks. Sean Mooney followed me on the way into the hospital and I was screaming. It was great. I loved that. A few years ago, I did a signing and I was there with the guy who was the Berzerker, John Nord. He was so nice. It was so great seeing him again.””(laughs) Oh, I was so hoping you would say that one. That was one of the most fun times we had. They did a thing where the mental institution had a breakout and they were in studio. There was one thing we shot that we had to shoot a few times because I kept breaking BObby Heenan. I would do something and he would break out laughing. It was the most fun!””Curt Hennig, Mr. Perfect was great. I’ll never forget, I was in the shower and Curt Hennig looked over at me and was like, “Jameson?” (laughs) A lot of people don’t know but I was working out like a maniac at that time. I had abs! Under my Jameson nerdy clothes, I had abs! Oh my God, what a great guy Mr. Perfect was.””Sherri and I were friends. After the show, in those days especially, the guys would go down to the bar or party. Well, I was more the type to go back to my room and go to sleep with the TV on. So was Sherri! Plus, we were probably the only two pot heads on the road. (laughs)””Hulk Hogan and I didn’t work together that much. But, I will never forget when I did the Royal Rumble, Hulk came up to me and was like, “So, Jameson. You’re coming to Japan with me, right?” He wanted me to do the tour. But, I wasn’t going on that tour. Hulk was always good to me. I kind of wish I would have gone on that tour.””I kind of felt bad for them that they had to have me with them. But, it was a lot of fun! I enjoyed it. And, that is when I was in the Royal Rumble which was great. A few years ago, I did a show with Luke Williams, Cousin Luke. I thanked him for back then and he was like, “Don’t worry about it.” He was so gracious.””They did! They offered me a job! But, it was the case of travel. I don’t like to fly. I don’t. I’m like John Madden. You know John Madden? He was the Raiders coach and he hated to fly so he would take his bus everywhere. I would rather go by ground wherever I go. Anyway, WCW was based in Atlanta and I was in New York. I didn’t want to fly all the time. And, wrestling was, to me, an acting job.””I heard that there were stories about what happened to Jameson. I didn’t know anybody was looking for me! One was that Jameson was another New York based comedian that and it even showed up on his IMDB credits. But, it was me. He didn’t put that on there himself. But, no, I didn’t know that people were looking for me or wanted to know more about me.””A few years ago, someone gave me an action figure, a custom, of Jameson. I was so impressed with the care that went into this thing. The toy, the packaging. It was really well done. I offered the fan the chance to produce some more of them, just a small number to sell. But, he said he just wanted me to have the figure which was nice of him. Well, another company reached out to me, KWK. And, it looks like we will have some Jameson action figures out there.””My son got that himself. My son is a successful actor. He was Kevin James’ son on a CBS show. And, he booked this appearance for the WWE where he would play a big role in the finish of the match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena. I went with him to the show and Vince McMahon got down on one knee and was telling my son what he wanted him to do. He looked up at me and said, “And this must be your dad.” I was like, “Don’t you recognize me?” And, I scrunched up my face like Jameson would and Vince got up, put me in a bear hug, and spun around. He took me around to see some of the guys who were still there from the time I was there and introduced me to everyone. It was great. He re-introduced me to Miek Rotunda, who is Bray’s father! He is a super nice guy too.””Now, I work overnights as a manager at Shop Rite. I still do things. I have a show coming up with my son in a few months. But, I live the normal life of a 67 year old man. Yes, I still have to work. (laughs)”
Since joining AEW in the summer of 2024, Ricochet has become even more outspoken on social media, whether it’s discussing his career or going at it with fans criticizing everything his work or his move from WWE to AEW. But Ricochet’s behavior took a controversial turn this week, when an exchange with a fan led to Ricochet mocking the fan for having MS, drawing straw criticism across social media and elsewhere.
On Tuesday evening, Ricochet took to X to address his comments, and attempted to make things right by apologizing to the fan.
“I took out my hatred for the IWC on Sandi, and inadvertently others who are affected by MS,” Ricochet tweeted. “She didn’t deserve it and for that, I sincerely apologize. Moving forward I’ll do better.”
Despite the apology, speculation has continued to run rampant that Ricochet could face repercussions from AEW or their media partner, Warner Brothers Discovery, for his comments. In the past, WBD was reported as being behind the Briscoes’ ban from AEW programming until Jay Briscoe’s death, as well as blocking Trey Miguel from being signed alongside his Rascalz stablemates due to controversial remarks he had made in the past. AEW has also stepped in on certain situations, including suspending Sammy Guevara and sending him to sensitivity training following podcast remarks he made about now co-worker Mercedes Mone.
Regardless of punishment, it’s unclear what plans are in place for Ricochet on AEW TV following Revolution, where he dropped the AEW National Championship to Jack Perry in the Blackjack Battle Royal. The loss ended Ricochet’s inaugural National Championship reign at 113 days and seven title successful title defenses.
While it should be safe to say that AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla is moving on from former champ Kris Statlander after three definitive wins over her, one including when she initially won the title, we’re seeing quite a few feuds, like Toni Storm and Marina Shafir, as well as Darby Allin and Gabe Kidd, continue on to this week’s “Dynamite.” While Statlander very well could say she and Thekla were tied one fall to one during their two-out-of-three falls match, as Thekla cheated and held the ropes to get her first fall, we hope that AEW is going to go in a different direction for the women’s top title.
However, that different direction is a difficult one to figure out, and we likely won’t see any new challengers emerge for Thekla on “Dynamite,” and we probably won’t even hear from the champion until “AEW Collision” on Saturday. The main issue, however, is that many of the women on AEW’s roster are currently tied up in the tag team division. Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter are now the Brawling Birds and seem set for a title victory at All In, despite that event not being until August. Megan Bayne and Lena Kross won the AEW Women’s Tag Team Championships at Revolution, so it doesn’t look like Bayne is stepping up anytime soon.
AEW is currently seeing quite a few exciting returns, and it’s possible that could continue. While Britt Baker has confirmed it’s “not up to her” when she’s back, likely signaling that a return isn’t imminent, Hikaru Shida has been back in the United States following visa issues, and was even backstage at “Dynamite” at one point, as revealed in a January update on her status. Queen Aminata is another possible challenger and AEW return, though she’s still recovering from a neck injury and hasn’t provided a timeline on when she’s getting back in the ring. Of course, there’s Mercedes Mone, who is currently on a hiatus from AEW as she continues to drop titles around the world, but it doesn’t seem likely that she’ll be back until at least Dynasty next month, as AEW would likely want her showing up at a big event.
For now, Thekla’s next major challenger is unknown, but she could fight off challengers like Mina Shirakawa, Harley Cameron, Hyan, Maya World, and others on “Collision” until Mone’s return, or even possibly when Storm is free of her feud with Shafir in the coming weeks. As for Statlander, things are even more unclear, though there is always her feud with frenemy Willow Nightingale and the TBS Championship to go back to, if AEW wants her in contention for any title at all right now.
