Here’s what matters today in wrestling
Image Credit: WWE
We’ve been hearing a bit of smack talk between Tom Brady & Logan Paul to build up their flag football event that took place this past weekend. Brady took some shots at WWE & pro wrestling in general, which led to a number of WWE Superstars firing back at Brady in an attempt to get attention. You can’t blame them, they’re trying to get paid. Brady has been in talks with WWE to appear at WrestleMania 42, and while a deal has apparently not come together yet, things seem to be moving in the right direction.
Monday’s Raw episode featured some clips from Sunday’s event, with some discussion of the issues between Brady & Paul. The fact they mentioned it on Raw the way they did tells me that WWE feels the deal will be done and Tom Brady will be appearing at WrestleMania. While Brady’s retired from football and is most seen these days as an announcer, he obviously has huge star power and would help bring in some of those casual wrestling fans that tune in when they see something interesting. Even if it's Tom coming down to hit Logan Paul with brass knuckles or something, it'll get a huge pop and all the mainstream media coverage one would want.
WRESTLING HEADLINES 👊🏽
Image Credit: AEW
Toni was replaced by Mina Shirikawa in her scheduled No Holds Barred match with Marina Shafir on last week’s Dynamite, for the purposes of TV she was shown laid out in her locker room due to a mystery attacker. The mystery attacker could be a rival like Shafir or Ronda Rousey, it could be a friend that’s had a change of personality, or we might never hear about it again since it’s pro wrestling and that happens sometimes. I’ve heard some speculation surrounding Toni’s status, and it’s a tricky thing for writers that have a conscience to navigate. You don’t want to put certain things out there in case they end up being false, and on a basic human level you want to protect the person’s privacy and let them tell their story if & when they want to. We wish Toni the best and await her return whenever it might be.
Image Credit: OVW
As somebody that spent time in Louisville during the high point of OVW’s existence, it’s been tough to follow the situation involving Dallas Edwards. What happened to Edwards was tragic, and it’s also sad to see how far OVW’s fallen over the years. Earlier in this century when Kentucky had strict rules around wrestling thanks to IWA Mid-South running crazy deathmatches and generating disgust amongst regular people, something like what happened to Edwards would have been handled much better than how OVW handled it in 2026. Medical attention would have been immediate, the show would have ended on the spot before wrestlers could get their stuff in, and the video going viral wouldn’t have been as embarrassing to the wrestling business. OVW does seem to have learned something from the situation, and hopefully these new protocols will make things better the next time something bad happens.
MORE MUST-READ LINKS FROM 411MANIA
→Remembering Dennis Condrey
→The Great Eight: The Top 8 WrestleManias
→Hall's WWE Raw Review 3.23.26
Before closing this edition, I’d like to send my condolences to the family & friends of “Loverboy” Dennis Condrey, who passed away last Friday. Condrey’s Midnight Express team with Bobby Eaton influenced a ton of the wrestlers you’ve seen on television since the late 1980s. I know most of our readers were around for Condrey’s heyday, but if you’re a younger person and haven’t seen much of Condrey & Eaton’s work with the Rock & Roll Express, Fantastics & other teams, I suggest you take some time and watch some good ol’ fashioned tag team wrestling from back in the day and see just how good Dennis Condrey was in his role. Few have ever done it better.
Thanks for reading,
– Steve Cook