“Timeless” Toni Storm’s reported extended absence from AEW programming impacted big storyline plans, according to a new report. Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Storm was meant for a major program following her AEW Revolution win over Marina Shafir.

According to Meltzer, Storm was set to feud with AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla following her victory, and subsequent one-off face-to-face with former UFC and WWE star Ronda Rousey, over Shafir. Storm was meant to beat Shafir again in a no holds barred match on the following episode of “AEW Dynamite,” and would then kick off her story with Thekla, but the “Timeless” one was attacked backstage and written off TV ahead of the bout. Her “Timeless Love Bombs” tag team partner Mina Shirakawa took her place in the no holds barred match and defeated Shafir.

Meltzer confirmed that when AEW found out Storm couldn’t wrestle, they laid out the backstage attack angle. He wrote that AEW will be doing a tease like “Who Shot JR?” and multiple clues as to who Storm’s attacker could be were left in her dressing room where she was found lying.

He also reported he was told before even asking that AEW President Tony Khan would not be talking about Storm. The former AEW Women’s World Champion did an autograph signing over the weekend, but was not selling the backstage attack. It had previously been reported that while Storm is out of action for the entirety of 2026, she did not suffer an actual injury.

Earlier this year, it was reported that ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas were lower than expected. Whether it was because of expensive ticket prices or the event taking place in the same venue as last year, ticket sales were down by 18% from WrestleMania 41. Therefore, in an attempt get more fans to purchase tickets for the two-night event at Allegiant Stadium, WWE offered seats at a discounted price last week, and to celebrate “Austin 3:16 Day,” tickets were 31.6 percent off. However, this week, WWE held another sale for WrestleMania 42, but the company is still falling behind last year’s totals.

According to Dave Meltzer in the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter,” WWE’s latest sale was 25 percent off for both nights of WrestleMania, the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony that precedes the event, and both episodes of “WWE Raw,” and “WWE SmackDown” that week. Following the sale, WWE managed to increase their ticket sales for night one of WrestleMania to 39,866, and 41,330 for night two, which is 13.3 percent behind last year’s show. Despite both nights being far from sold out, Meltzer is confident that Allegiant Stadium will be packed by the time WrestleMania 42 arrives, claiming WWE will sell over 50,000 tickets each for Saturday and Sunday.

Meltzer also provided an update on the ticket sales for WWE’s other events during WrestleMania week, as “SmackDown” currently sits at 5,810 tickets sold, while “Raw” has distributed 7,305 seats thus far. Additionally, the WWE Hall Of Fame has sold 2,183 tickets, but is being held in a smaller venue, not an arena. At this time, he secondary market get in prices for WrestleMania 42 is $205 for night one, and $211 for night two, which is 23.8 percent down from this time last year.

CEO of TKO Group Holdings, Ari Emanuel, a former Live Nation board member, reportedly asked President Donald Trump to call off the investigation during an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and its parent company, Ticketmaster, according to reports. Dave Meltzer highlighted the report by the Wall Street Journal in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

An antitrust lawsuit was brought to the US Department of Justice against Live Nation and Ticketmaster in May 2024, alleging that Live Nation has a monopoly on the live events business The lawsuit was filed following criticism over issues with ticket purchases for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in 2022. The case went to trial on March 2 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, and was settled a week later. The settlement was reportedly a surprise to prosecuting attorneys and the state Attorneys General.

According to the Wall Street Journal, and highlighted by Meltzer, Emanuel was reportedly the person behind the settlement after calling Trump. Emanuel reportedly called Trump, and “suddenly, the government called off the case,” Meltzer wrote. After the trial began, Trump reportedly began making calls to ask why the case had not been settled, according to the WSJ, and the settlement was signed after the sides met at the White House, but announced publicly four days later.

Live Nation will pay $280 million in the settlement, according to a report from the Associated Press. In addition to other various terms put forth, Live Nation also agreed to let venues reach deals that would allow for a portion of tickets for events to be sold by entities other than Ticketmaster.

Two dozen states will continue to fight the companies in court following the settlement, however. The trial resumed in New York, following the DOJ’s withdrawal, on March 16.

In the late 1990s, the New World Order stable absolutely dominated WCW, with the faction responsible for much of the promotion’s success at the time. Eventually, WCW began to bring in celebrities like NBA legend Dennis Rodman, who became a member of the nWo in 1997.

Speaking on his “Hall of Fame” podcast, Booker T looked back at Rodman’s time in WCW and had only good things to say about spending time with the basketball player backstage. “Rodman was off the chain, man, back in the day. I loved it!” he said. “It was major, man, and I was a fly on the wall just watching it go down and it was a spectacle.”

“It was a highlight for me to watch Dennis go out and just be Dennis,” he added, explaining that unlike some of the other members of the locker room, he had no issue with Rodman being in pro wrestling, and actually loved what he brought to the product. “It was the wild, wild west. Hogan and those guys, they were just… Man, it was a party, dog! It was a party with those guys! Cocaine and strippers? That’s the least of the party.”

The NBA Hall of Famer is now set to join the WWE Hall of Fame as well, as he was recently announced to be inducted into the celebrity wing this year. That ceremony will take place next month ahead of WWE WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the “Hall of Fame” podcast, and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

NFL legend Tom Brady has been teasing an appearance in WWE with the numerous shots he’s taken at WWE, and veteran star Tommy Dreamer is uncertain about the angle WWE and Brady are going for heading into Wrestlemania.

Brady has had arguments with Paul about WWE wrestlers being “cute and scripted,” which ruffled many feathers in WWE. The comments have stirred a hornet’s nest, with Seth Rollins stating that Brady doesn’t have the guts to step in the ring with him. With WrestleMania just a few weeks away, fans have been wondering how Brady fits into the scheme of things, a question that Dreamer doesn’t have an answer for.

“He’s an owner or he’s involved with the [Las Vegas] Raiders, so if you put him out there in a wrestling crowd, I think he might get booed because it’s not like a lot of Raiders fans are gonna be going to this thing called WrestleMania. If you put Gunther at a Raiders game and he sh*t on football and he sh*t on the Raiders, he’d be the heel. So Brady is kind of being this heel role, so I don’t know what they’re [WWE] doing. Because, again, you got to think of the payoff. If it’s Logan Paul-Tom Brady in a match, I don’t know if that’s happening,” he said on “Busted Open.” “And then the other part, like when we were talking about like dealing with celebrities and a celebrity of the magnitude of a Tom Brady, if Tom Brady’s secretly training, if Tom Brady’s doing all this stuff, do you think Tom Brady’s gonna want to lose in Allegiant Stadium in a match?”

While Dreamer isn’t sure how Brady fits into the scheme of things heading into WrestleMania 42, he is sure that one other celebrity deserves a WrestleMania match — Jelly Roll. The ECW Original believes that the Grammy winner has done enough with his promos and his ability to draw fans to get himself a spot on the card at “The Show of Shows.”