WWE:
The Beast’s On Hold: Brock Lesnar, in the throes of a career resurgence and fresh off being the overall No. 1 pick in the 2025 World of Wrestling Draft, has been benched just weeks into his WWE return. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced during a Wednesday press conference that, after back to back losses to the WWE Champion, Lesnar is now barred from the title picture until October.
This announcement came alongside two major developments regarding the SummerSlam main event (more on the second in a moment). First, The Rock revealed he will name his SummerSlam opponent Friday night on SmackDown. (At the time of this column, it’s Friday afternoon — SmackDown hasn’t aired yet.)
Smart money says it’ll be the AEW/WWE Dual Dominion Champion, The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes. If so, it’ll mark Cody’s first one on one crack at a world title. That’s not to say I think Cody’s going to unseat The Rock, but I wouldn’t rule out some sort of dusty finish that lets him “win” without actually winning — just enough to keep his post-Starrcade momentum intact while continuing to establish the importance of the Dual Dominion Championship.
Women’s World Championship: Remember when I said there’d be more on the second SummerSlam announcement momentarily? I sure hope so — because that was literally moments ago. Seriously, if you already forgot, get yourself to the hospital and get tested. I get tested regularly, but not for memory issues — if you catch my drift. (I’m talking about STIs, which, as any responsible sexually active adult knows, is part of doing your part to stop spreading the clap… but I digress.)
Anyway, the second big SummerSlam reveal from the press conference involved the Women’s World Championship, which will headline SummerSlam Night One. My counterpart, Johnathon Quest of WPW fame (as he’ll aggressively remind you anytime someone jokes about him being a keyboard analyst), was scratching his head when Naomi ended Asuka’s historic title reign. He didn’t see the logic and worried the belt would end up back on the shelf.
I’d argue the opposite. The move has been the best thing for the division in a long time. With recent additions like Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill, and a hungry Tiffany Stratton on the rise, the division is deeper than it’s ever been. Throw those ingredients in a pot, and you’ve got yourself a stew, baby.
I’m genuinely excited to see who walks out of SummerSlam with the title. Smart money says Naomi or Jade, but don’t sleep on Stratton — she’s a live dark horse. Either way, the WWE Women’s Division is headlining a PPV for the first time — and that wasn’t going to happen with Asuka still holding the gold.
The Cast Expands: Something I’ve been chewing on since the July 4 season premiere: WWE is actually using more of its roster — and that’s a welcome shift.
In years past, the company would spotlight maybe eight top-tier guys with active storylines while cycling through challengers who, once they failed, often vanished into thin air. Not this year. WWE is giving meaningful screen time and storylines to a broader cast, including newer faces like the APA, HBP, the D’Angelo Family, Carmelo Hayes, and Chase U.
The tag team division is healthier than ever, and the wild Doc Brown universe has expanded to include legends like Goldberg and Bret Hart. If WWE’s top-of-the-card writing remains strong, this deeper bench could be key to the company finally emerging as a serious ratings threat. With the addition of Evolve, WWE now has more weekly real estate to showcase its depth than anyone else in the World of Wrestling.
So far, The Rock is making good on the promise he was overheard making on a hot mic at the draft: more of the roster, more of the time.
The Revitalization of NXT: Both myself and Quest have noticed it — WWE’s best weekly shows for the past three weeks haven’t been Raw or SmackDown, but NXT and Evolve.
NXT, which had stagnated under Lexis King’s leadership before Karrion Kross took the belt, is suddenly hot again — and I’m here for it. HBK has done a solid job fleshing out the brand with top-tier talents like All Ego Ethan Page, Carmelo Hayes, Kross, and (to a lesser degree) Trick Williams.
Hayes now holds the North American Title, and Kross is on the run of his career as NXT Champion — single-handedly carrying the top program, without much help from Trick Williams. If this is the future of WWE, then the future is looking a hell of a lot brighter than it did this time last year.
ULW:
BroDown ShowDown: As I said earlier this week in my review of last week (yes, I know how that sounds), Vince Russo might be the single biggest draft pickup for ULW. The new ULW Commissioner absolutely stole the show on Awesome Aggression, and he’s arguably the reason the brand managed to squeak out a win over Dynamite on Monday night. He’s been a surprise ratings hit, injecting new life into everyone orbiting his so-called shadow cabinet, including Scott Nash, William Regal, and CJ Perry.
In a hilarious segment on Aggression, Russo led a “planning sesh” with his crew on how to topple the ratings juggernaut that is BWM Inc. And — perhaps to his own surprise — it worked. I can’t help but wonder how Lenny Mouse is feeling right now. The guy’s gotta be torn. On one hand, he’s finally getting results. On the other, those results are coming via Vince Russo and not from Lenny’s own two increasingly irrelevant hands.
As Lenny continues to transform into the skin of his dead brother Mickey (RIP, but also yikes), some jealousy feels inevitable — especially if Russo keeps being the guy driving the company’s success.
Tonight on Intensity, Russo’s promised a “State of the Bros” address, which I fully expect will include some gloating about Monday’s first-place finish. The real question is whether Russo can maintain the momentum — or if we’re heading for a repeat of last season, when Lenny picked up a fluke win, bragged about it on air, and promptly kicked off another multi-week skid.
Either way, Russo’s presence is fresh, fun, and oddly compelling. And I, for one, am on the edge of my proverbial seat — which is actually a standing desk, because unlike most wrestling pundits, I’m in great shape.
The ULW Magazine: Let me be clear: I’ve dragged ULW in the past for carrying the old MMouse Enterprises curse of promoting absolutely nothing ahead of time. Matches would be booked on the fly, weekly cards were treated like classified intel, and fans were expected to just tune in blind. ULW’s been much better about the latter, but still leaves room for improvement.
That’s not the case with the ULW Magazine, set to debut this weekend. I honestly expected it to be hyped exclusively through Quest’s online ramblings, but it’s actually gotten legitimate TV time, which, frankly, caught me off guard.
I don’t know what the magazine will look like or what kind of content it’ll include, but color me intrigued. If nothing else, it gives ULW a chance to stand out. And from what I’ve heard, neither The Rock nor AEW brass plan to launch a competing publication, so it may just be ULW’s lane to own.
Metal Head’s Mystery: You know what we’ve learned since AEW first teased in 2024 that Splinter might spill a major Benny Mouse secret? That long-term Mouse family lore draws.
The Benny/Splinter/Sami Zayn “dementia” storyline was a driving force behind BWM Inc.’s sixth-era ratings dominance, and continues to be a major success for the company. ULW responded with Splidder threatening to drop another Mouse family bombshell. That cliffhanger — Benny’s secret second daughter, Abigail Wyatt — paid off big last season.
Now Splidder’s back in BWM Inc. again teasing even more secrets, while ULW is continuing their own thread through Metal Head, arguably one of BWM Inc.’s biggest legacy stars.
On Aggression, Metal Head opened the show talking about a gap in his memory as he prepped for WOW Week. There’s been no direct reference to Abigail, but look, I’m choosing to believe it’s all connected. Abigail. Benny. Metal Head. The Mouse family saga never ends.
Is Benny Mouse the biggest ratings draw in modern pro wrestling? Jury’s still out. But he’s certainly one of the few names driving storylines across multiple companies simultaneously. Whatever’s going on with Metal Head, I’m into it… let’s just hope we don’t have to wait until May for the big reveal this time.
Lexis Is King: In a spectacular vignette, Lexis King delivered big ratings for Aggression in his ULW debut. The former NXT Champion — who stalled out in WWE — looks like he’s finally found his moment, and I am very here for it.
He’s clearly been putting in the work, physically and presentation-wise, and the man is giving off Big Star Energy. I’m eager to see where he lands when he joins the active roster, especially since the main event scene is already stacked with established names like Chris Jericho, Giant Gonzales, Slammu (who I’d be praising more if I had space), and Kevin Owens.
The question is whether ULW will actually capitalize. They’ve had a bad habit of getting talent over only to shove them in the backseat.
COUGH LA KNIGHT HACK TED DIBIASE JR COUGH MATT CARDONA HACK.
Jesus, I’ve got to quit smoking.
That’s all for now. I’ll be back soon with more to Mop-Up!
World Of Wrestling: Murrey Universe 