On June 24, 2007, Chris Benoit no-showed WWE’s Vengeance: Night of Champions pay-per-view, where he’d been scheduled to wrestle CM Punk and win the ECW World Championship. Benoit was replaced that night by Johnny Nitro – now known as Johnny TV, who real name is John Hennigan – before the world later heard that Benoit was not only dead, but had murdered his wife and son before ending his own life.

Now, 19 years later, Johnny TV opened up about that night, his success following the PPV, and the guilt that came after during an interview on “Insight with Chris Van Vliet.” “Around 3, I hear Chris Benoit hasn’t shown up, and if he doesn’t show up, I might need to fill in or something,” Hennigan recalled. 

At the time, Hennigan thought it was unlikely that Benoit would miss a show, let alone a PPV, but by 5 p.m., he and fellow WWE star Mordecai were told to be ready as possible replacements, and that one of them would be winning the title. “I spend the next two hours pacing, hoping that Chris Benoit does not show up.”

As history notes, Hennigan wound up beating Punk and winning the title. Though it was a milestone moment for him, it also led to deep feelings of guilt. “The next day, we get the news about Benoit and what happened,” Hennigan said. “I felt like crap. I felt so guilty just for being happy with something that came to be because of the tragedy.” Even today, it’s a difficult moment for Hennigan to look back on, and something he still feels confused about benefiting from.

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After a negative response to his initial debut at WWE Elimination Chamber 2026, Danhausen seems to be winning over the company’s audience after all, with appearances on both “WWE Raw” and “WWE SmackDown.” Sitting down with Sam Roberts and Megan Morant on “Raw Recap,” Danhausen laid out some of his future goals with WWE now that he’s getting settled in.

“I need to be on ‘Wrestling Mania,'” Danhausen started. “I hear about this Money in the Bank briefcase, and I think that’s a nice little bonus, ’cause you open it up, it’s full of cash, I presume.”

Danhausen then stated that he’d use the money to buy a PT Cruiser. However, not all of his ambitions are as attainable.

“I think I’d like to team with Roddy Piper,” Danhausen said, after being asked who he’d choose to ally with from the upcoming WWE 2K video game. “‘Cold’ Steve Austin versus Danhausen, in a hair versus hair match. I’ll make him even balder. Shave his goatee, too. … We’ve got ‘Rock The Dwayne Johnson.’ I could beat him, I think. … You’ve got ‘Pepsi Phil,’ good old CM Punk. I think I could beat him and take back my finishing maneuver.”

Danhausen and Punk have a friendship that was sparked years ago, even before Punk came out of retirement, with Punk evidently appreciating Danhausen’s sense of humor and approach to the business. The two wrestlers had some overlap in their time with AEW, as Danhausen debuted months after Punk arrived. Following Punk’s AEW departure, Danhausen remained with the company but was rarely used, and he joined WWE almost immediately after the expiration of his contract last month.

Before moving on to another topic, Danhausen added one more to his list of desired bouts: a Hell in a Cell match against Andre the Giant.

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In the 1990s, ECW (or Extreme Championship Wrestling) earned a reputation for hard-hitting and boundary-pushing pro wrestling, attracting a devoted fanbase that has revered the promotion since its closure. While not a 1:1 comparison, there are some similarities between today’s AEW and the ECW of yore, with Rob Van Dam acknowledging in an interview with Monopoly Events that some of its modern stars would do well in the hardcore promotion.

“I think Jon Moxley,” Van Dam said. “ECW had some people that liked to do gory stuff, and bleeding a lot, but not all of us. I didn’t like that s**t, you know? So I wasn’t in those matches and I still don’t like it … but it was a melting pot of a lot of different styles. … Swerve [Strickland] would do really well there, as well. He’d fit in.”

RVD also nodded his head along with the interviewer when it was suggested that Darby Allin would be a strong ECW performer. The WWE Hall of Famer said that the AEW stars could have ready-made rivals in opponents like Balls Mahoney and the Gangstas tag team, featuring New Jack and Mustafa Saed.

This is far from the first time AEW has drawn certain comparisons to ECW. In the past, Tony Khan has paid tribute to ECW by hosting some of its most memorable performers, including Van Dam. Last year, AEW also held a TV special called September to Remember, making reference to ECW’s recurring November to Remember pay-per-view.

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Next month, Ax and Smash of Demolition will receive their long-awaited inductions into the WWE Hall of Fame. The news came very recently, courtesy of The Undertaker, and according to the legendary tag team, as a genuine surprise to them.

During an interview with Bill Apter, Bill “Ax” Eadie and Barry “Smash” Darsow revealed how and when they learned of their upcoming induction. “We were called last weekend,” Ax said, referring to the same weekend as WWE Elimination Chamber. “They were showing us some new merchandise that they’re going to be producing. Undertaker butted in on the call and made the announcement. It was almost overwhelming because the response from yesterday to today, it’s nice, because there’s so many good fans and our friends. But it’s been non-stop since about 9:00 yesterday, which is good.”

Much like Demolition’s, The Undertaker has also formally announced the 2026 Hall of Fame inductions of former WWE Champion AJ Styles and former WWE executive Stephanie McMahon. For Smash, this added layer was extra sweet as “The Phenom” has remained friends with him and Ax for decades.

“What was so good about it was when Undertaker got on there, it was really nice that we’re friends. We’ve known each other, all of us, for so long and he was the one that did that. That was pretty neat,” Smash said.

Under the WWE banner, Demolition enjoyed three reigns as WWE World Tag Team Champions. It was their first reign that cemented them in the history books, though, as it spanned a whopping 478 days.

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Elsewhere at Revolution, a number of Don Callis Family members will be in action. Fresh off their title win on “AEW Dynamite,” newly-crowned AEW World Trios Champions Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis will defend the titles against two of their predecessors, Kevin Knight and “Speedball Mike Bailey, who have found a new ally in Mistico to fill out their team. DCF’s Konosuke Takeshita has his respective locked eyes on AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley, whom he will challenge in a match with no time limit. For Andrade, the stable’s newest member, his focus will be on former AEW Tag Team Champion Bandido as they meet in a singles bout.

In non-title action, Swerve Strickland will battle Brody King to prove who the true most dangerous man in AEW is. Meanwhile, The Dogs (David Finlay, Clark Connors, and Gabe Kidd) look to make a statement in their group PPV debut in a tornado trios bout against Roderick Strong, Darby Allin, and Orange Cassidy.

Rounding out the PPV title matches, Kris Statlander will challenge Thekla for the AEW Women’s World Championship in a two-out-of-three falls contest. This comes just weeks after “The Cosmic Killer” initially defeated Thekla on “Dynamite,” then lost the title to her in a strap match.

Also in the AEW women’s division, the feud between “Timeless” Toni Storm and Marina Shafir continues. For months, members of The Death Riders and The Conglomeration have involved themselves in the Storm-Shafir rivalry. At Revolution, though, everyone is banned from ringside as Storm and Shafir go one-on-one.

Finally, social media sensation Big Boom AJ will make his in-ring return on the Revolution Zero Hero alongside QT Marshall. Together, they’ll take on The Infantry. Wrestling fans last saw AJ compete on “ROH on HonorClub” in December.