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  • No Flips, Just Fists: A Tribute to Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler

    No Flips, Just Fists: A Tribute to Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler

    By Mark O’Brien (@WrestleMobs)

    There is a car park outside the Curtis Culwell ntre in Garland, Texas, that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

    I sat there for an hour after Supercard of Honor XV on Friday, 1 April 2022. I had just watched FTR beat The Briscoes in twenty-seven minutes and twenty-five seconds to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship. And something inside me, something I had been dragging around for five years, had just broken open.

    I want to write about FTR — Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler — because they are, without qualification or hedging, the greatest tag team of their generation, and one of the greatest tag teams ever to lace boots. That is the tribute I owe them as a fan and writer. But I cannot write that piece honestly without telling you what they did for me personally one night in Garland, because it is the reason I am here to write anything at all.

    This is a piece about craft. It is also a piece about being met at the right moment by the right thing.

    Case on Its Merits

    Before anything personal, the case on its own terms.

    FTR’s claim to tag team greatness is not a vibe or a marketing line. It is quantified and qualified in a ledger. In WWE as The Revival, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler — then Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder — became the first team in company history to hold the NXT, Raw, and SmackDown tag titles. First ever Triple Crown tag team champions. They did that while the company was actively trying to bury the division, while creative kept workshopping gimmicks nobody wanted, while a main roster run that should have been a coronation became an exercise in institutional indifference. They won anyway. They won because they were better than what they were being asked to do.

    They left. They spent two months on Dynamite in the summer of 2020 wrestling without a contract, because Tony Khan asked them to and they believed him. When they eventually signed, they were babyfaces because they had saved The Young Bucks from an attack — a bit of writing that is almost too neat when you consider how long those two teams would go on to define each other. They won the AEW World Tag Team Championships at All Out 2020 from Hangman Page and Kenny Omega. They lost them. They got them back. They got them back again. They are now three-time AEW World Tag Team Champions, tied for the record.

    They won the IWGP Tag Team Championships at Forbidden Door. They won the AAA World Tag Team Championships. They won the ROH World Tag Team Championships — twice — and the first of those reigns is the one I am going to come back to, because it happened in Garland.

    They did all of this while wrestling a style that, on paper, was a commercial suicide pact. “No flips, just fists.” A throwback to an era most of their audience was not alive for. Southern tag wrestling. Brainbusters. Midnight Express. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. In an era where tag matches were increasingly sprints — dive festivals, four-way tornado spot-fests, every sequence trying to outdo the last — FTR went the other way. They slowed it down. They sold limbs. They built heat. They made you care about an arm bar in the year 2023.

    That is the craft argument. You can find a dozen versions of it written by better-credentialed people than me. What I want to add, because I am one of those who can, is what happens on the other side of the camera when two men are that good at what they do. What happens to the people who watch.

    Backstory

    Garland does not make sense without this section, so here it is, briefly.

    My mother died in 2017 after a long illness. In 2021 I broke my neck playing rugby, which ended a career I had been building since 2010 at various levels.

    So by the early months of 2022 I was grieving, without a sport, and without the particular outlet that a decade in rugby gives you for managing what is happening inside you. I had a professional career. I had the apparatus of a functional adult life. I had plenty to be getting on with.

    I flew to the United States that March with a friend to complete a bucket list activity, attending WrestleMania. However that weekend in Dallas had a separate card I could not look away from. FTR versus The Briscoes had been teased since Final Battle 2021, when Dax and Cash had shown up after The Briscoes’ twelfth ROH tag title win and sparked a pull-apart brawl. For anyone who had grown up on this stuff, this was the match.

    The show was on 1 April 2022. My mother’s anniversary was 4 days later. I did not plan it that way, purely coincidental.

    Garland

    The Curtis Culwell Center is not a cathedral. It is a multi-purpose arena in a Dallas suburb, the kind of building that hosts high school graduations and regional volleyball tournaments. Nine thousand seats. Low ceiling. It did not need to be a cathedral.

    The match itself is a twenty-seven-minute argument for professional wrestling as a serious art form. Two teams who had spent years being told they were the best of what was left of a dying form, finally in the same ring, with a belt on the line, on the first show of ROH’s new Tony Khan era. If you have not watched it, stop reading this and go watch it. I will wait.

    Back? Good.

    What FTR and The Briscoes did in Garland is the thing that, when it is done this well, cannot be done anywhere else. It is not film. It is not theatre. It is not sport. It is its own thing, and when it works, there is nothing else like it. They built the crowd from the first lockup. They told a story with bodies. The split crowd that became a unanimous one. The near falls that made grown men shriek. The moment in the final third when it stopped feeling like a match and started feeling like a vigil for a form of wrestling everyone in the room had been told was dead. FTR hit the Big Rig, Cash dove onto Jay, and Dax covered Mark for the pin. The referee’s hand came down. New champions.

    Something afterwards came loose in me.

    I do not fully understand, even now, the mechanism. I know there is a whole literature about catharsis, and I know that wrestling has always been a place where people who do not know how to process things go to process them by proxy. I know that watching two people do something with absolute competence and absolute love for the thing they are doing can reach parts of you that the conventional tools cannot. I know the timing mattered. I walked into that building 4 days before an anniversary I had been carrying quietly for years, and the building was ready for me in a way I had not been ready for it.

    I made it to the car park to call for an Uber. I sat there for an hour. And for the first time in a long time, I could breathe.

    I went to WrestleMania the next two nights. I could not tell you much about it, not a huge amount registered or landed in comparison with what I had seen the night prior. I was still in Garland.

    What Followed

    I want to be careful here, because stories about wrestling saving lives are stories wrestling tells itself, and some of them are true and some of them are nice myths, and the honest version of this one has to include the part the myth leaves out.

    Attending SuperCard of Honor, and seeing FTR vs Briscoes did not directly save my life, but it certainly opened a door. What I did after walking through it is what saved my life. That work was mine and most of it is not for a wrestling essay, but it was real and it took years and it is the reason the rest of this paragraph exists.

    I started writing about wrestling. I had never written about wrestling before. By the end of 2022 I had bylines at Bodyslam, then Wrestling Inc, Wrestlezone, Wrestle Inn, PW Musings and Voices of Wrestling. I started the WrestleMobs interview series with friends from the Irish Wrestling scene (Irish Wrestling Entertainment). I trained in a number of schools across Ireland and the UK. I wrestled on a handful of shows. I got invited to events and media junkets by WWE and AEW as credentialed media.

    In early 2023 I met Dax and Cash for the first time at a For the Love of Wrestling event in Manchester. I met them again the night before All In 2023 at Wembley — they invited me to spend time with them and colleagues, the night before the biggest wrestling show of all time. Same again the night before All In 2024. Same again before Forbidden Door 2025. Four separate occasions now where two men who owe me absolutely nothing have given me their time. I have not, in any of those meetings, told them the full version of the story in this essay, but I have certainly expressed parts of it, largely because there is no need. Men like Dax and Cash have met enough of us with similar stories to my night in Garland to understand the impact they have had on people’s lives, directly and indirectly.

    I applied to an MBA programme. I got into the top-ranked course in Europe, on a scholarship, which I still cannot quite believe when I write it out. I completed it. I graduated. I got consulting job I could only dream of, while coaching rugby at a semi professional level. I have a new relationship. There is a new life.

    I have bought, at last count, every piece of merchandise FTR have released since their WWE days. Every one. I have nearly every action figure. I scour eBay, Pro Wrestling Tees and the AEW shop at weekends looking for old drops. This is not a flex. This is how fans like me say thank you when we do not know how else to say it.

    What They Do, and Why It Matters

    I want to circle back to the craft, because I have buried the lead on purpose and now I want to dig it up.

    The thing FTR do, at their best, is the oldest thing in professional wrestling. They make you believe. Not in them — anyone charismatic can do that — but in the match. In the stakes. In the idea that an arm bar applied by a man who genuinely wants to hurt the other man is the most interesting thing in the world for the eight seconds it is happening.

    In a form that increasingly prizes the exceptional — the dive, the flip, the table spot, the shock — FTR prize the connective tissue. The transitions. The reason one thing leads to another. There is a structural intelligence to their work that I think is going to be studied by wrestlers fifty years from now the way good tag teams now study The Midnight Express tapes. They are teaching a style that was, on all reasonable forecasts, going to die with the men who invented it. It is not going to die. They have students now, whether they asked for them or not. The floor of tag team wrestling in AEW, ROH, and on the independent scene is higher because of them.

    And there is something else, which is harder to articulate and I will try anyway. There is a moral quality to what FTR do. Not moral in the puritan sense. Moral in the sense that there is a philosophy of labour underneath it. They show up. They do the work. They sell. They make the other team look good because the other team looking good is how the match looks good. They are pros in a sense that has been getting quietly vandalised in our culture for about thirty years. Watching them is, among other things, a reminder that there is dignity in being very, very good at a thing and caring about it more than you care about being seen caring about it.

    This is what was underneath my night of clarity in that Garland car park, I think. I had spent a decade in rugby, a sport that teaches you a particular relationship with your body and with effort, and I had lost that sport, and I had not replaced what it gave me. FTR, in Garland, for twenty-seven minutes, reminded me what it looks like when people love a craft enough to suffer for it in public. That is not nothing. In the right moment, on the right weekend, it is everything.

    What I Believe

    I have said versions of this to other fans in other rooms, and I believe it: there are people walking around alive today who would not be, if not for Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler.

    I do not say it as hyperbole and I do not say it for effect. I have been in rooms with fans who have told me variations of similar stories. Wrestling as a form has a peculiar power to reach people who cannot be reached by the conventional apparatus of help. It finds men who will not go to therapy and women who have tried everything else, and it sneaks up on them through a form they were told as adults they were too smart to love, and it does its quiet work. FTR, because of the specific style they wrestle and the specific story they tell with their bodies, do this as well as anyone in the business right now.

    What FTR gave me, in the end, was not a distraction, cure or escape – it was a door — a specific door, opened on a specific night, at a specific moment, in a specific car park, far away from home — and a glimpse through it of what the next version of my life might look like. That glimpse was enough. The rest of it I managed with an awful lot of help, But I managed it because, for one night in Garland, Texas, two men who had once been told their style of wrestling was obsolete reminded me that sometimes the old forms are the ones that still work.

    I do not know how to end a piece like this, because the truth is that it has not ended. I will be at more FTR matches this year at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium on August 30th,  and RevPro 14th Anniversary show the night prior in Wembley Arena, and the year after, for however long Dax and Cash choose to keep doing this. I will buy the next t-shirt. I will chase down the next figure. I will write the next thing.

    But if you have read this far, and you have ever wondered what any of this is for — the wrestling, the fandom, the absurd devotion some of us bring to a form that much of the culture does not take seriously — I would offer, as my one piece of evidence, a car park in Garland, Texas, on a Friday night in April 2022. A person who had living in a dense fog for too long, sat on a kerb, finally able to breathe.

    That is what FTR did for me. That is the craft of Professional Wrestling.

    People walking around and thriving in life today is their legacy, and this is my tribute.

    No flips. Just fists. Thank you, Dax. Thank you, Cash.

  • WWE’s Future Runs Through Oba Femi

    WWE’s Future Runs Through Oba Femi

    From NXT standout to WrestleMania moment, Oba Femi’s rise signals WWE’s next dominant force.

    Oba Femi looks every bit like WWE’s next breakout star. The question is not whether he will become a main-event fixture, and future World Champion, but how quickly he will get there.

    The rise of Oba Femi is not built on hype alone. It is rooted in a background that mirrors many of the company’s most successful crossover athletes. Before stepping into the ring, Femi was a standout collegiate track and field athlete, specializing in the shot put. That foundation shows up immediately in his in-ring style. His power is not manufactured. It is real, explosive, and controlled. A once in a life time talent.

    Femi’s upbringing adds a layer of authenticity that cannot be taught. Born in Nigeria and later moving to the United Stares, he developed a blend of cultural discipline and adaptability that shows up every time he is on screen. There is a calm intensity in how he carries himself, rooted in lived experience rather than performance, and it translates into a presence that feels deliberate and controlled. He does not rely on over the top theatrics to sell dominance. Instead, his demeanor, pacing and body language project it naturally, giving him a credibility that many performers spend years trying to build.

    His journey to WWE came through the company’s NIL program, a pipeline designed to recruit elite athletes and mold them into performers. While many prospects take years to find their footing, Femi accelerated through the system. By the time he arrived in WWE NXT, he already looked comfortable under the bright lights.

    Femi’s NXT résume speaks for itself. He quickly established dominance, capturing gold and positioning himself as one of the brand’s most credible threats. More importantly, he did it with consistency. His matches told a clear story. His presence demanded attention. In a developmental system filled with potential, he separated himself as someone ready now. One would think he had 10 years of experience under his belt.

    That readiness led to his call-up, and WWE wasted little time placing him in a meaningful situation… Brock Lesnar. The defining moment came on the grandest stage of them all, at this past weekends WrestleMania 42. In a result that signaled a clear shift in direction, Femi defeated and surprisingly retired the living legend of Brock  Lesnar. If that’s not a new direction, then I don’t know what is.

    Moments like that are not handed out lightly. Lesnar has long been positioned as an attraction, a measuring stick reserved for only the most trusted talent. He is the most powerful and accomplished man in combat sports history. For Femi to be placed in that role, and to deliver, speaks volumes about how WWE views his ceiling.

    There is still work to be done. Charisma must continue to evolve. Storytelling will need to deepen. Those things will be fine tuned. But the foundation is already stronger than most at this stage.

    WWE has spent years searching for its next dominant force. In Oba Femi, it may have already found him.

  • EXCLUSIVE: New Details Revealed For TNA & QPW Co-Promoted SuperSlam 4 Event

    EXCLUSIVE: New Details Revealed For TNA & QPW Co-Promoted SuperSlam 4 Event

    Back in February, Bodyslam had exclusively reported that TNA Wrestling would be teaming up with Q Pro Wrestling (Formerly Qatar Pro Wrestling) for their annual SuperSlam 4 event in May, as a co-branded show.

    The event was to be held in Doha, Qatar, but this was before Qatar was involved of the United States and Iran turmoil back in March. However, the situation in the Middle East caused a postponement in the event.

    Sources close to the situation exclusively indicate to Bodyslam that the event will now take place on Saturday, October 24th, 2026 in Doha, Qatar.

    Top TNA star and current TNA International Champion Mustafa Ali is also the current QPW World Champion.

    Which talent TNA will be sending over for the event, and other possible events in the region have yet to be revealed. The event will air on TNA + and Triller.

    Bodyslam will continue to update as more information becomes available.

    (Please credit Bodyslam.net when using this news.)

  • EXCLUSIVE: WWE WrestleMania 42 Saturday Producers And Writers

    EXCLUSIVE: WWE WrestleMania 42 Saturday Producers And Writers

    EXCLUSIVE: Bodyslam learned of the writers, producers, and referees prior to WWE WrestleMania 42 Saturday. Below are the listed producers, writers, and referees.

    WWE WrestleMania 42 Producers:

    John Cena Promo/6 Man Tag: Producers- Michael Hayes and Shane Helms, Referee- Ryan Tran.

    Jacob Fatu vs Drew McIntyre: Producers- Chris Park and Nick Aldis, Referee- Dan Engler.

    Fatal 4 Way WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Producers- TJ Wilson and Kenn Doane, Referee- Daphanie LaShaunn.

    AJ Lee vs Becky Lynch for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Producers- Pete Williams and Shawn Daivari, Referee- Jessika Carr.

    Seth Rollins vs Gunther: Producers- Adam Pearce and Jamie Noble, Writer- Ben Saccoccio, Referee- Chad Patton.

    Stephanie Vaquer vs Liv Morgan for the WWE Women’s World Championship: Producers- Jason Jordan and Nora Greenwald, Writer- Cristian Scovell (w/ Ryan Ward), Referee- Eddie Orengo.

    Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton for the Undisputed WWE Championship: Producers- Michael Hayes and Bobby Roode, Referee- Charles Robinson.

    This news was first posted on Bodyslam+ ahead of WrestleMania 42 night one. Subscribe to Bodyslam+ for exclusive news, interviews, and more. Bodyslam will continue to provide updates and coverage on WrestleMania night two on Sunday night. It will be headlined by a WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match between CM Punk and Roman Reigns.

    The first hour of WrestleMania 42 Night Two will air live on ESPN and will kick off with Oba Femi versus Brock Lesnar in what will be a clash of giants. Be sure to stay tuned to Bodyslam socials for immediate updates and again, subscribe to BodyslamPlus.Net for immediate backstage news and tidbits.

  • Jon Lajoie on Hulk Hogan Slamming Andre the Giant and the Power of Nostalgia

    Jon Lajoie on Hulk Hogan Slamming Andre the Giant and the Power of Nostalgia

    You had to be there. The 80s were…a special time. The innocence of the 50s were long gone. The civil unrest of the 60s had just reached a boiling point. The less said about the 70s, the better. For so many people, the 1980s were a decade that defined a generation. The music, the movies, the…erm…fashion – it was a decade of taking chances, of making art, of creating memories. 

    And for musician-cum-actor-cum-comedian Jon Lajoie, one of his most important memories happened in the World Wrestling Federation. 

    The date was March 29, 1987. The location was Pontiac, Michigan, at the Pontiac Silverdome. The event was WrestleMania III and in the world of professional wrestling, this was the event that defined the WWF. 

    Depending on to whom you speak, WrestleMania III took place in front of 85,000 or 93,0000, or maybe even 100,000 fans – it doesn’t really matter to wrestling fans who, for the most part, came for one reason and one reason only. 

    They wanted to see Hulk Hogan slam Andre the Giant. 

    Hulk Hogan  was the star of the 1980’s. Andre the Giant, for all intents and purposes, was the star of the 1970’s. They were the two biggest attractions in the WWF, so it only seemed natural that the two would meet in a matchup at the biggest wrestling event of the year. Story-wise, Andre was jealous that Hulk Hogan was more popular than him, and he was mad that Hogan never gave him a championship title match. So instead of asking for a match, Andre demanded one – ripping off Hogan’s iconic t-shirt and his cross necklace (Hulk Hogan – big Jesus fan, don’t ya know). 

    The table was set for the “The Irresistible Force vs The Immovable Object.” The matchup itself was nothing special, in terms of athleticism. Hulk and Andre had to follow “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, which is still talked about as one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time. But Hulk vs Andre was never about athleticism. It was about spectacle. And oh, what a spectacle it was. The majority of the match was plodding, albeit entertaining. The 150,000 people in attendance cheered every punch, every clothesline, every headbutt. But everybody knew what was coming. They waited, with bated breath. There was the shoulder block. There was the Hulking Up. And then. Finally.  

    Hulk Hogan slammed Andre the Giant. 

    For hundreds of thousands of professional wrestling fans, this was the moment. It was the moment that really, truly made Hulk Hogan a megastar. It was the moment that launched professional wrestling into the pop culture pantheon. And, for many fans, it was the first moment in pro wrestling that actually made them feel.

    Jon Lajoie was one of those fans. 

    Lajoie, known for his role as “Nacho” in the FX television series The League, is also an incredible musician. At first, he performed various comedic rap and hip hop songs, several of which went viral before “going viral” was even a thing; but eventually, he ventured into more “serious” music under the moniker of Wolfie’s Just Fine (a reference to T2: Judgment Day). Wolfie’s Just Fine has released three albums, all of which feature songs that refer to and revel in various pop culture figures and moments. There’s A New Beginning, which details Lajoie’s first time watching Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning. There’s Pigeon Lady which, as the title suggests, refers to the Pigeon Lady in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.   

    And then, there’s his most recent wrestling-related song: Hulk Hogan Slammed Andre the Giant. It’s a song that, like A New Beginning, encapsulates a time for Lajoie and people his age when they were children, just on the verge of adolescence. While A New Beginning is about growing up – it’s about death and sex and fear (of death and sex), Hulk Hogan Slammed Andre the Giant is about holding onto childhood as long as we can and, as adults, remembering those moments and remembering how we felt when those moments happened. Both songs are nostalgic and bittersweet, and they cause the listener to feel something, deep in their hearts. And isn’t that what great art is supposed to do? 

    “You’ve said it better than I’ve said it,” Lajoie said in an hour-and-a-half long interview with Bodyslam. “It’s something of a companion piece. I’ve only, in hindsight, after I wrote Hulk Hogan and we were recording it, did I go ‘Oh, this is like the lighter sibling to the darker A New Beginning. Because to me, A New Beginning is like, about the loss of innocence. And the Hulk Hogan one is celebrating that innocence and that little moment where the world is just still kind of simple.” 

    The song itself, and the music video that accompanies it, retells the story of the match between Hogan and Andre, from the perspective of a child. In the music video, LJN action figures are used to recreate the match, which is extremely poetic in and of itself because how many children of the ‘80s recreated that very match with their action figures? How many still do?

    “The superhero defeated the villain,” Lajoie said. “It’s this perfect moment of, like, ‘Yes, everything that was supposed to happen, happened.’” 

    For one night, for one match, for one moment, everything was perfect. Good triumphed over evil. Batman beat The Joker. Superman defeated Lex Luthor. Hulk Hogan slammed Andre the Giant. 

    Things wouldn’t stay perfect, however. Kids grew up. They got bigger. They fell in love and got their hearts broken. Mistakes were made; lessons were learned. Hulk Hogan would go on to have an incredible career; one matched only by one or two other people throughout the history of professional wrestling. But people also found out that Hulk Hogan wasn’t, exactly, the vitamin-taking, shirt-ripping, prayer-saying superhero that he claimed to be. Hulk Hogan was eventually humanized and, in that humanization, people realized that maybe, just maybe, Hulk Hogan wasn’t that great of a human being. 

    But that part would come later. On March 29, 1987, Hogan was still the guy. 

    He was certainly still Lajoie’s guy. Jon Lajoie, in 1987, was like many kids of his generation. He had the Ninja Turtle bedsheets, the Batman pajamas, the Transformers pillow cases. And he had the WWF LJN Action Figures. 

    “Because I was so young, I remember not knowing what wrestling was,” he said. “And then I remember, at some point, it immediately became the most important thing in the world. I’m old, so we had like three channels on tv. And I’m Canadian, so it’s CBC, CFDF 12, and the French Language Channel. I don’t know how we discovered it, but at noon on Saturdays, WWF Maple Leaf Wrestling would come on. And we were right in front of the television, every single week.” 

    Lajoie said that WWF Maple Leaf Wrestling was a show specifically catered to Canadian WWF viewers.

    “They were kind of the shittier matches,” he laughed. “But Saturday at noon was the most important time of our lives. It was always an hour. And right before, there was a lottery thing. So it just became ingrained in us, just sitting there during their stupid lottery numbers and people would call in the lottery numbers and we were just like, ‘Get over it already and let’s get to the fuckin’ wrestling!’” 

    Eventually, the lottery numbers would end and WWF Maple Leaf Wrestling would begin. For Lajoie, those Saturday afternoons were just as important as Saturday morning cartoons. They defined his generation and they made him fall in love with what would eventually be called Sports Entertainment. But for a while, it was just pro wrestling. It was WWF Maple Leaf Wrestling and it was the most important thing in the world to Jon Lajoie. 

    Like most fans at that time, and still like many fans, now, it wasn’t enough to just watch the wrestling. Lajoie and his brother wanted to live it. They wanted to re-create it. And that’s exactly what they did with the WWF LJN Action Figures, which were so real, it felt like being in the ring. 

    “We immediately got the LJN toys and immediately, of course, they became our favorite toys in the world,” he shared. “And the other thing that LJN provided us was, because we only had three channels, we didn’t have cable tv, so you couldn’t actually see the matches you wanted to see. Like, King Kong Bundy never wrestled Hulk Hogan on our tv. You never had the British Bulldogs vs the Killer Bees. Junkyard Dog doesn’t fight Jake the Snake. So we were actually allowed to create those matches with our figures.”

    For kids, being able to create, or re-create matches with their action figures was the height of pro wrestling fandom. It’s the exact same thing as playing with your Ninja Turtles as they squared off against The Shredder (and maybe some GI Joes if you didn’t have any of the Foot Clan). It was a chance to use your imagination and it was the best of times. 

    “It was a special time, man,” Lajoie said. “And then they started doing Saturday Night Main Event on NBC, and we begged our parents to let us watch it. Our grandparents had cable tv, so we’d go have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We called them Nanny and Granddad. And we’d stay there and they would get us snacks that we couldn’t afford at home, like name-brand Doritos. It was a very special occasion, and then you’re seeing these matches that you’ve fantasized about.” 

    It was during those special nights at Granddad and Nanny’s house that Lajoie first fell in love with Hulk Hogan. He was a superhero on par with Superman himself, for millions of kids. 

    “Nobody can be Hulk Hogan,” he said. “But also, no one can be Andre the Giant. So when WrestleMania III came along, we had no idea what was going to happen. I remember at the beginning of the match going like, ‘Oh, yeah. We’re just going to sit here and watch Hulk Hogan get the shit kicked out of him, because it’s Andre the Giant.’ I don’t know that there’s been a wrestler since that has such a mythology about him, that is so undefeated or undefeatable as Andre the Giant. He was our favorite wrestler until our hearts were broken on the Piper’s Pit.”

    It was during that infamous Piper’s Pit segment that Andre fully “turned heel” on Hogan, ripping his shirt and cross necklace off and ending years of friendship. That’s when both of their fates were sealed. And millions of fans tuned in to see if Hulk Hogan could actually defeat the man, the myth, the legend that was Andre the Giant. 

    “I feel like the only thing that’s true about it is the emotion of it,” Lajoie said. “I don’t remember exactly how the match unfolded, but I do remember him trying to slam Andre and, of course, not being able to. But then he knocks Andre down and Hulks Up. And even that, we were like, ‘Oh my God, we don’t understand what we’re watching because Andre the Giant just fell down.’” 

    It’s hard to describe that match to people that didn’t watch it live. No, it was nothing special in terms of athleticism. Better matches from better wrestlers would happen in abundance at future WrestleMania’s. But it was that moment, that match, that slam that changed the wrestling business forever. So much so, that WWE is honoring the match at the 2026 Hall of Fame Ceremony on Friday, April 17.  

    “I don’t know that there’s been more awe, excitement, joy, exhilaration in my life condensed into one moment more so than that moment,” LaJoie said. “It’s just such a unique combination of factors, including my age and including the storyline between Hogan and Andre, including it being the last match, the lead up, and it just being a moment of history. The reason I wrote about it was, I joked all the time that, as an adult, in order to feel the kind of joy I felt watching Hulk Hogan slam Andre the Giant, I’d probably have to do truckloads of drugs, drink countless amounts of alcohol, swallow an insane amount of magic mushrooms and run through the forest naked. And even then, it wouldn’t be close.” 

    Lajoie is not alone. Millions of kids across the world would agree with him, whether they were kids cheering on Hulk Hogan in the 1980s or they’re kids now, cheering on Roman Reigns or John Cena or CM Punk or Cody Rhodes. Granted, none of those legends will ever be on the same level as Hulk Hogan, but they’re still superheroes in the eyes of an entire generation. 

    That’s what Hulk Hogan was to Jon Lajoie and his brother. A superhero. Later, time would reveal Hogan to be a fallible man; one who made mistakes, one who hurt people. But on March 29, 1987 he was Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones or The Terminator but specifically The Terminator from T2: Judgment Day. He was a walking, talking, real-life superhero and when he told you to train, say your prayers, and take your vitamins, you listened to him on the off-chance that you might one day become a hero like Hulk Hogan, yourself (albeit one with far fewer racist tendencies).  

    “It’s that feeling of safety,” Lajoie said. “It’s like being cradled by the universe, who is holding you and for just a minute, you’re okay. And not only are you okay, but we’re gonna have fun tonight and we’re gonna watch this thing that we love.  And specifically, that thing is professional wrestling. And it’s snacks. And my grandparents, which was so special for me to be there to begin with. They both have since passed. And so, in hindsight, those are the memories that we hold onto. It’s the simplicity of the world in that moment. It’s really a simple view of the world. Hulk Hogan wins. Everything’s gonna be okay, forever and ever.”

  • Paige (Saraya) Reportedly Signs Multi-Year Deal With WWE

    Paige (Saraya) Reportedly Signs Multi-Year Deal With WWE

    The former WWE Divas Champion is reportedly back.

    First reported by PW Insider and confirmed to BodySlam, Paige (Saraya) has reportedly signed a multi-year contract to return to the WWE.

    This is her first contract with the company since her release on June, 2022 where she departed after a decade with the WWE.

    https://x.com/BodyslamNet/status/2045187831765590301?s=20

    Under the name Saraya, she would make her arrival in All Elite Wrestling on September, 2022 where she would go on to win the AEW Women’s World Championship, she took a hiatus in November, 2024 and has been working on different projects during her break from professional wrestling.

    She would announce her departure from AEW in March, 2025 before reportedly signing a multi-year deal to return to the WWE on April 17, 2026.

  • EXCLUSIVE: WWE NXT Name Change

    EXCLUSIVE: WWE NXT Name Change

    WWE signed Rayne Leverkusen earlier this year.

    Sources indicate to Bodyslam that Rayne Leverkusen will now be going by Lizzy Rain in WWE. It was implied to Bodyslam that the name change included Rayne’s love for metal music.

    This report was available earlier in the week on Bodyslam+. Subscribe to BodyslamPlus.Net for more. Please credit Bodyslam+ for aggregations.

  • EXCLUSIVE: WWE NXT Update

    EXCLUSIVE: WWE NXT Update

    Sources indicate to Bodyslam that Jacy Jayne, Ethan Page, Joe Hendry, and Sol Ruca have all been heavily discussed for main roster call ups recently.

    WWE NXT Revenge is expected to be the ending to multiple stories.

    This report was available earlier in the week on Bodyslam+. Subscribe to BodyslamPlus.Net for more. Please credit Bodyslam+ for aggregations.

  • EXCLUSIVE: Mickie James Talks TNA’s Move to AMC: “So Many More Eyeballs” on the Product

    EXCLUSIVE: Mickie James Talks TNA’s Move to AMC: “So Many More Eyeballs” on the Product

    TNA Wrestling’s continued evolution into a more visible and widely accessible brand has not gone unnoticed by one of its most accomplished stars. Knockouts legend Mickie James recently spoke about the company’s move to AMC, emphasizing the significance of the platform shift and what it means for the promotion’s future.

    While attending Astronomicon 9, Bodyslam.net’s Kyle Collison asked James about TNA’s growing presence and what it means for a company with a long history across multiple networks to now land on a mainstream channel like AMC.

    James, who has seen TNA through multiple eras, from its Spike TV heyday to its rebuilding years, offered a grounded but optimistic perspective on the transition.

    “I’ve seen TNA through so many waves of different networks and all the things in the Spike TV and that,” James said. “But to be now on AMC… the amount of eyeballs that can be on it—TNA has a wonderful product.”

    James pointed to the strength of the current roster as a key reason why the expanded exposure could be a turning point.

    “They have a strong division. They have some amazing superstars. They have some amazing Knockouts—the division is strong creatively. It’s just such a great show.”

    With AMC offering a broader audience reach, James believes the potential upside is significant not just for TNA as a brand, but for the performers themselves.

    “But now on AMC, you know, there’s going to be so many more eyeballs on it.”

    The added visibility also opens the door for crossover opportunities, something James highlighted as an exciting byproduct of the partnership.

    “You’ve seen with the collaboration with the network and having some stars from other shows, from other genres kind of crossover and come to a wrestling show and kind of be there and hang out.” 

    And in classic Mickie James fashion, she even teased a potential celebrity crossover she’d like to see happen.

    “Yeah… Jelly Roll. Still waiting for that collab.” 

    TNA’s move to AMC represents another step in the company’s ongoing resurgence, pairing an already solid in-ring product with the potential for increased mainstream exposure. If James’ assessment holds true, the Knockouts division, and TNA as a whole, may be poised to reach its largest audience in years.

    You can check out the entire interview with Mickie James below.

    (please credit Bodyslam.net for the news and the transcriptions.)

  • WWE Superstar Bayley is Molding the Future of Women’s Wrestling

    WWE Superstar Bayley is Molding the Future of Women’s Wrestling

    The future of women’s wrestling is in good hands. For most veterans of professional wrestling, it is easy to coast, collect a paycheck, soak in the fame, and live off past accomplishments while watching the new generation make its way. Not with WWE superstar Bayley. Bayley’s impact on women’s wrestling is best understood not just through championships or moments, but through evolution. From her early days in NXT to her current role as a mentor shaping the next generation, her career mirrors the growth of women’s wrestling itself.

    From NXT standout to cornerstone of a revolution

    Bayley emerged in NXT as a unique presence. At a time when women’s wrestling in WWE was still fighting for consistent respect, her underdog persona and emotional storytelling connected deeply with audiences. Alongside Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch she became part of the “Four Horsewomen,” a group widely credited with changing perceptions of what women’s wrestling could be.

    Their matches in NXT were not treated as sideshows but as main events. Bayley herself acknowledged during that era that the group was revolutionizing women’s wrestling. Rivalries, particularly her series with Banks, helped establish a standard built on athleticism, storytelling, and emotional investment.

    Championship success and sustained excellence

    Bayley’s transition to WWE’s main roster solidified her place among the most accomplished performers of her generation. A multiple-time women’s world champion, she became the first Grand Slam Champion in WWE women’s history and consistently delivered across different roles, from fan-favorite babyface “Hugger” to the calculating “Role Model.”

    Her success, however, has often been less about spotlight dominance and more about reliability. Bayley has been central to elevating others, contributing to a deeper and more competitive division. That consistency has made her a respected locker room leader, someone trusted to guide newer talent while maintaining high in-ring standards.

    Leadership beyond the spotlight

    In recent years, Bayley’s influence has expanded beyond television. Her Lodestone Women’s Wrestling seminar represents perhaps her most direct investment in the future of the industry. It is helping mold the future for women’s wrestling as we know it.

    Launched in late 2025, Lodestone is a free seminar designed for experienced women wrestlers, with Bayley covering expenses to remove financial barriers. Some performers have all the talent in the world, but like most in this economy, financial hardships are holding them back. Bayley is eliminating that road block. The camp blends in-ring training with mentorship, leadership development, and real-world insight. It has featured appearances from top names like John Cena, Bianca Belair, and Rhea Ripley giving attendees access to a wide range of perspectives. These attendees are able to pick the brains of some of the greatest performers of all time.

    Participants are selected from applicants and brought together for intensive sessions that include workouts, discussions, and hands-on coaching. More than just a training camp, Lodestone functions as a bridge between generations, reinforcing the collaborative culture that helped define the Four Horsewomen era.

    Bayley has described the project as a passion initiative, one rooted in her desire to give back and ensure women’s wrestling continues to grow beyond the foundation her generation built.

    Building the future while honoring the past

    What separates Bayley from many of her peers is how seamlessly she has transitioned from revolutionary figure to architect of the future. While still active at a high level, she has embraced a dual role, competing while actively preparing others to succeed.

    Her career reflects the broader arc of women’s wrestling in WWE. From fighting for time in NXT to headlining major events and now mentoring the next wave, Bayley has been present at every key stage of that transformation.

    In many ways, her legacy is still being written. Not just in title reigns or accolades, but in the wrestlers who will emerge from Lodestone and carry forward the standard she helped create, ensuring the division’s momentum never slows.