Vince McMahon

WWE offered a firsthand look at what happened backstage before and after WrestleMania 35, and the results were as touching as you'd expect.

From John Cena joking about the noise level, to preparations for the first-ever women's main event, to the fallout from Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship victory, the WWE video offers fans a look at the making of sports entertainment's biggest event.

If you don't feel like watching a 12-minute video, do yourself a favor and scroll to the 7:15 mark. Anyone who is still somehow a holdout on becoming New Day fans will have their skepticism wash away as Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E all break down following Kofi's WWE title win over Daniel Bryan.

The three men hug in the backstage area following the match, with Woods in particular being overcome by the moment. Kingston is the first Africa-born WWE champion in history.

Also overcome with emotion was Vince McMahon following Kurt Angle's retirement match against Baron Corbin. The WWE chairman looked on the verge of tears himself as he and Angle shared a hug following the MetLife Stadium crowd serenading the Hall of Famer out of the ring.

Kofi Kingston is WWE champion.

Big E is out of action with a knee injury.

Xavier Woods has a million non-wrestling interests.

With all of these individual factors pointing to a natural breakup point, could this be the end of The New Day? Nope—at least according to Kingston.

The new WWE champ spoke to TMZ Sports and assuaged all concerns about a New Day breakup, saying the faction will stay together heading into this week's Superstar Shake-up.

"I don't understand that; I don't understand why people say that," Kingston said of a potential breakup. "We've said it since the beginning of time: The philosophy of The New Day has always been to lift your brother up."

Kingston went on to note that the "stereotypical path" would be to have New Day break up because of his individual success. However, he correctly noted it is an "atypical" faction, and the trio have no plans of breaking up at any point.

"Everything we do, we do together," he said. "Like you saw on our vignettes we talked about together. Together, together, together. The New Day is all about the group, and that's the way it's gonna be...We ain't going nowhere but to the top. And if we going to the top, we're going together."

Of course, Kingston doesn't necessarily have a say in the matter. There's a 73-year-old man in Connecticut right now who may see the writing on the wall and pull the trigger on a Woods turn because of Big E's injury.

That would rob WWE of its most joyous faction, but Kingston needs a foil unless they're going to run things back with Daniel Bryan. The impending shake-up puts a cloud over everything; hopefully he gets his wish and The New Day keep their run going for as long as they want.

That said, we once said the same thing about The Shield.

Sean "X-Pac" Waltman shed some light Wednesday on how WWE Chairman Vince McMahon reacted to his name being mentioned in multiple speeches during last week's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.

On his X-Pac 12360 podcast, Waltman discussed what McMahon did after having his name mentioned in speeches by both Bret Hart and D-Generation X (Warning: Some language NSFW):

"I think Bret mentioned Vince a bunch of times and Vince got really hot," Waltman said. "I think someone might have gotten fired. Then we went out and said it a million times and no one got fired ... I'm not kidding! Vince was pissed!"

PWInsider's Mike Johnson reported Thursday that WWE creative team member Robert Evans (former independent wrestler RD Evans) was fired by McMahon on the spot at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony when Hart mentioned his name since Evans produced Hart's speech.

Evans later tweeted that he had quit WWE:

X-Pac was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of DX later in the night along with Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and the late Chyna.

In their speech, DX did a funny bit in which they mentioned McMahon's name over and over again after telling the audience that Vince had rules in place to prevent people from doing so during their speeches.

Waltman said that DX's speech was produced by NXT head writer Joe Belcastro, who was nervous about the McMahon mentions. Because of that, Waltman said he sent Michaels to essentially ask for Vince's approval:

"I said, 'Shawn, you go ask (Vince),'" Waltman said. "Shawn went and asked him and Vince just said, 'Have fun.'"

As a result, DX put on one of the most memorable and entertaining Hall of Fame speeches in years, and the McMahon bit played a significant role in it.  

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Five months after tearing his pectoral muscle, Triple H will step inside the ring at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 35.

In an interview with ESPN.com's Tim Fiorvanti, Triple H discussed his boss and father-in-law, Vince McMahon, talking him into competing at WrestleMania after such a significant injury:

"Vince came to me and told me, 'I need you to be in WrestleMania this year.' I was like, 'Really? Because I haven't been cleared to train yet even—I don't know that I'm going to make that.' Batista and I had this conversation a while ago about trying to do this ... then I had to call him and go, 'Dude, I tore my pec and I don't know what's going to happen. I'll see.' To this day, I'm still ... I'm going to get in the ring next Sunday, and you and I will both find out at the same time whether my pec will hold on.

"I got cleared up to perform, and my training is good and I feel good. But until you get in there, lifting dumbbells and getting hit by Batista are two totally different things. So I'll see how it goes, but I feel good and I'm excited to get in there. And at this point in my career, I don't ever want to make it sound like it's not as big as it is, but at this point in my career, it's all gravy."

The 49-year-old Triple H suffered the pec injury during a tag team match at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia in November. The Game teamed with Shawn Michaels against The Undertaker and Kane, but he went down early on and wasn't much of a factor in that match.

When The King of Kings tweeted a graphic photo of his chest after the match, it was difficult to envision him taking part in WrestleMania as an active competitor:

Triple H himself said he was expecting a much less hectic WrestleMania week, but that changed when he was asked to wrestle and go into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of D-Generation X:

"I went from a month ago thinking, 'Oh, this is great—I'm going to have an easy year this year, I just go watch the Hall of Fame and then I get to work behind the scenes at [Wrestle]Manias. It will be easy. Then, Vince tells me I'm in the Hall of Fame ... and then next thing [I know], I'm working at WrestleMania. So I got busy quick."

The Cerebral Assassin is used to being in the spotlight, especially at WrestleMania, as his 22 career WrestleMania matches are second only to The Undertaker's 26.

Sunday's bout against Batista will involve Triple H's in-ring career being put on the line. Also, it is possible that it could represent the 50-year-old Batista's last match ever.

While it can be argued that the match is being overlooked to some degree due to the presence of Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair and Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston, Triple H vs. Batista is a match for the longtime fans who enjoy nostalgia, and it figures to deliver in that regard.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).  

HBO's John Oliver called WWE's labor practices "morally subterranean" in a piece on the company's independent contractor employment structure during Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight.

"While the character Vince is an assh--e, it's important to know that the real Vince is also an assh--e," Oliver said in the at-times NSFW video. "Many fans legitimately hate him, because while the WWE has made him a billionaire, many wrestlers say he's treated them terribly."

Oliver went on to highlight WWE's borderline illegal skirting of laws regarding independent contractors. The wrestlers' status as "independent contractors" allows WWE to avoid providing them with health insurance, paid retirement or leave. WWE is also not legally required to follow "most discrimination and occupational safety laws," according to the segment.

WWE wrestlers sign full-time contracts with the promotion, are not allowed to take outside bookings and are restricted in the types of endorsements and outside endeavors they can promote. Oliver called it a "complete joke" that wrestlers are forced to work as independent contractors because the IRS states independent contractors are supposed to work "when and for whom he or she chooses."

"Maybe when wrestlers might work years ago for multiple different organizations, it made sense to call them contractors," Oliver said. "But now that WWE has a choke hold on this industry, it makes just as much sense to call them that as it does to call Jimmy Carter a 'panty-dropping f--k machine.' It’s just clearly not true...anymore."

WWE workers are forced to perform year-round, and their contracts state they can be terminated if they suffer an injury that keeps them out of action for more than six weeks. Oliver posits that those conditions essentially force wrestlers to continue performing even when they are unhealthy, highlighting the death of Lance McNaught (who performed as Lance Cade in WWE) at age 29 and CM Punk's battle with WWE. 

Oliver's piece began with highlighting the recent trend of wrestlers dying at a young age. He noted wrestlers have a significantly higher mortality rate than the national average and unfavorably compared WWE to the NFL on multiple occasions. 

"Even the NFL, for all its massive faults, now offers players health reimbursement accounts and has established a legacy fund for older players who may be dealing with health issues," Oliver said. "And when you've lost the moral high ground to the f--king NFL, you are morally subterranean."

WWE sent Bleacher Report a statement in response to the story, saying Oliver "ignored the facts" and inviting him to WrestleMania:

"John Oliver is clearly a clever and humorous entertainer, however the subject matter covered in his WWE segment is no laughing matter.  Prior to airing, WWE responded to his producers refuting every point in his one-sided presentation. John Oliver simply ignored the facts. 

"The health and wellness of our performers is the single most important aspect of our business, and we have a comprehensive, longstanding Talent Wellness program.  

"We invite John Oliver to attend WrestleMania this Sunday to learn more about our company."

A botched, last-second decision on Asuka isn't something WWE can recover from—and she might not be able to, either.

It didn't have to happen. Excuses will fly. Justifications are bound to come up short.

On Tuesday's edition of SmackDown, an impromptu SmackDown Women's Championship match between Charlotte Flair and Asuka saw the champion lose unexpectedly—and for no good reason.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Daniel Yanofsky of WrestlingInc.com), CEO Vince McMahon made this decision the day of the show. Considering advertisements hyped a Fatal 4-Way between Carmella, Naomi, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, this seems to have some legs.

In other words, it wasn't some elaborate plan. It didn't have any long-term meaning. It was a throwaway episode, not some crowning achievement for Flair. The company simply ripped a belt off one of its top performers weeks before WrestleMania, which is unfair to her, unfair to Flair and unfair to the division.

Oh, and fans.

Having another title in the main event at WrestleMania doesn't add anything to it. Ronda Rousey is still the Raw champ. Becky Lynch is the obvious choice to win. Flair, whether fans felt she was shoehorned in for no reason or not, didn't need a belt to make her look worthwhile. It's not even clear why the belt is on her.

But this is what happens with silly, on-the-fly booking. Terrible decisions get made, and the performers and fans have to pick up the pieces.

The argument can be made nobody on the SmackDown roster looked like a viable threat to Asuka and the match wouldn't be interesting. But it's a sorry defense. This is WWE, where stars can be made overnight and fan investment is created with the snap of a finger. Look at Batista's attack on Ric Flair.

And it doesn't do much for the women's movement that this WrestleMania is themed around to strip Asuka of the title in such a manner, robbing her of a match and maybe having that belt go undefended at the event. If the goal is to trim down some supposedly "uninteresting" matches from the 'Mania card, let's talk about cutting something like Samoa Joe against Rey Mysterio or Shane McMahon versus The Miz.

There is fluff on the card WWE can move around—Asuka isn't one of those.

This isn't exactly the first time the promotion has handled her terribly, though. She had the dominant streak coming out of NXT, which was fed to Flair at WrestleMania almost right away. She's had some good moments, but now she's going to be casually tossed into other stuff and out of the title scene moving forward.

Whether red brand or blue, she's getting shoved aside and into ho-hum feuds that do nothing to elevate, say, SmackDown's roster. Having a worthy opponent to her on the WrestleMania card would have helped the division.

Not that another random, on-the-fly decision that hurts matters is any surprise. The Lynch-Rousey-Flair build has been mostly terrible and confusing because it had to stretch from the Royal Rumble all the way to 'Mania. Another straightforward story—Kofi Kingston's organic rise to the top to face Daniel Bryan—was a layup WWE managed to make convoluted and stretch on far too long.

Asuka, by extension, is collateral damage of the terrible build surrounding the main event. It was as chaotic as possible before throwing another belt into the equation for no discernible reason.

And yes, this is leaning into the character, but it hits home:

It isn't lost on anyone that WWE might have done this to have the Four Horsewomen close out the show. Lynch raises the Raw belt. Flair raises the SmackDown belt. Sasha Banks and Bayley keep the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships.

Cool. Deserved. But do it in a better way. Why rob Asuka of a moment to get here? Give Flair the belt plenty in advance. Treat that title better. Or scrap the cheesy idea to have the four close the show. Do something that isn't another kneejerk reaction that harms Asuka, if not others.

Once again, WWE's refusal to do anything but prop up its chosen stars leaves performers like Asuka as collateral damage. Maybe this gets corrected out of the blue via another last-second decision before 'Mania, but that might be giving WWE too much credit.

Barring something unforeseen, Asuka's topsy-turvy past year or so continues, this time on a whim with no future direction worth talking about, let alone a spot at 'Mania that's anywhere near as prominent as what was just ripped from her.

Vince McMahon continues to make financial moves in anticipation of the XFL's relaunch next year.  

Per WWE's official filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (h/t PW Insider's Mike Johnson), McMahon sold 3,204,427 shares of his stock in the wrestling promotion worth approximately $270 million:

"The shares sold by Mr. McMahon represent approximately 4.1 percent of the Company’s total outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock. After the sale, Mr. McMahon beneficially owns 28,682,94 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, which represents approximately 80.1 percent of the Company’s total voting power and approximately 36.8 percent of the Company’s total outstanding shares of common stock."

McMahon has been selling off shares of his WWE stock over the past two years when he started Alpha Entertainment, the organization that owns the XFL. 

Wednesday represents the largest sale amount in terms of dollars by the WWE chairman. He previously sold 3.34 million shares of his stock worth around $100 million in December 2017. 

McMahon also sold off 306,000 shares last November to net more than $23 million. 

Darren Rovell reported for ESPN.com last June that McMahon is expecting to spend around $500 million in the XFL's first three seasons. 

Even though that is a large chunk of change, McMahon has a lot of room to maneuver. Forbes estimates the 73-year-old has a net worth of $3.3 billion. 

The original XFL was one of the biggest financial disasters in sports history, costing NBC and WWE an estimated $70 million for its lone season in 2001. 

The rebooted XFL will return in February 2020 with Oliver Luck serving as league commissioner. Four of the league's eight teams have already hired head coaches, including former Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops coming out of retirement to take over the Dallas organization. 

Kofi Kingston isn't ready to give up despite his loss to Daniel Bryan on Tuesday's episode of SmackDown Live preventing him from competing for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35. 

In a WWE YouTube video featuring Kingston and New Day partners Big E and Xavier Woods in the locker room following Kingston's loss on Tuesday, the 37-year-old veteran cautioned against making a rash decision:

Despite beating five Superstars in a gauntlet match on SmackDown, Kingston was still denied the opportunity to face Bryan at WrestleMania when WWE Chairman Vince McMahon forced an exhausted Kingston to face the WWE champion on Tuesday.

Big E and Woods urged Kingston to quit due to the injustice, but Kingston suggested that quitting wouldn't accomplish anything:

"Trust me when I tell you, man, I've been doing this for 11 years, man," Kingston said. "I understand. I feel like I've done everything the right way. I've done everything by the book. ... I get it. But if we quit, then Vince wins, then Daniel Bryan wins, man. We can't quit. Not like this."

Kingston has become one of WWE's most popular and beloved Superstars over the past couple of months ever since replacing the injured Mustafa Ali in an Elimination Chamber match. Kingston lasted an hour in a gauntlet match prior to Elimination Chamber and was then the final participant in the Chamber match against Bryan.

Despite falling short in his bid at Elimination Chamber, Kingston was initially installed as Bryan's opponent at Fastlane before McMahon removed him and replaced him with Kevin Owens.

McMahon said last week that Kingston didn't deserve to compete for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, but he gave him the opportunity provided he could beat Sheamus, Cesaro, Rowan, Samoa Joe and Randy Orton in a gauntlet match.

Kingston did precisely that, but McMahon put another obstacle in his path in the form of Bryan, and Kingston simply couldn't overcome it.

While Kingston is currently not scheduled to face Bryan for the WWE Championship on The Grandest Stage of Them All, there are less than three weeks until WrestleMania, and it is difficult to envision Kingston not finding some way to be part of that match given the momentum he has generated.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

WWE's annual WrestleMania pay-per-view is always the longest event of the year, and with nine confirmed matches and several more on the way, this year's 'Mania on April 7 could be the longest of all time. 

Before we get into predictions and rumors, here is a rundown of the WrestleMania 35 card as it stands, according to WWE.com:

• Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
• The Miz vs. Shane McMahon
• Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles
• Triple H vs. Batista
• Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio (U.S. Championship)
• Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese (Cruiserweight Championship)
• Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin
• Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins (Universal Championship)
• Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte (Raw Women's Championship)

Predictions

While WrestleMania can often be filled with surprise cameos, returns and NXT call-ups, the results to most of the matches on the card are usually obvious ahead of time.

Take The Miz vs. McMahon for instance. Unless the plan is for this feud to go past WrestleMania for a couple of PPVs, The A-Lister is obviously going to win so he can have his big WrestleMania moment with his dad.

When it comes to the Raw women's title match, anything other than Lynch leaving with the title would cause a riot after how much WWE has done to build her up since SummerSlam of last year.

Unless Lesnar signs a new deal at the last minute, Rollins is going to bring the universal title home to Monday Night Raw, possibly with a little help from Dean Ambrose before he departs the company.

Samoa Joe has only been the United States champion for a couple of weeks, and R-Truth only had it for a short time before him, so the odds of another title change so soon are slim.

Murphy has been an outstanding cruiserweight champion, but it feels like the right time to give someone else a run with the belt. The Premier Athlete has been overlooked for a long time and will likely leave WrestleMania with the title around his waist.

The rest of the card is a little trickier. You would think Angle defeating Corbin would be a guarantee, but the Olympian seems like he wants to put The Lone Wolf over on his way out.

Orton and Styles are both between major feuds right now, so WWE stuck them together for what is sure to be a great match. The problem is neither man really gains much from a win, so the outcome is a lot less obvious.

The same thing can be said about Triple H and Batista. The Animal is playing the heel in this feud, so the most likely outcome is Triple H winning at the end of the night, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Batista get one more win over The Game. 

Rumored Matches

With less than three weeks to go until the big day, WWE still has several champions without challengers for their titles and has yet to confirm if the women's Battle Royal will take place.

Drew McIntyre challenging Roman Reigns to a WrestleMania showdown is as good as the match being made official. All we have to do is wait for The Big Dog's response next week.

Vince McMahon threw another curve ball at Kofi Kingston on SmackDown and seemingly screwed him out of a WWE Championship opportunity, but at this point, it's obvious we will get Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan for the title at 'Mania. 

This will be the first time the women's tag titles will be defended at WrestleMania, so WWE has gone with what appears to be a multi-team bout featuring Sasha Banks and Bayley defending against Natalya and Beth Phoenix, Nia Jax and Tamina and The IIconics.

The Revival, The Usos, Bobby Lashley and Asuka don't have clear challengers for their titles yet, but those plans should become more obvious in the coming weeks.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Robert Gunier of WrestlingInc.com), the Women's Battle Royal is still going to take place, so we should start seeing people declare their spots in the match soon.

If everything plays out accordingly, here are the possible additions to the card WWE will book for 'Mania:

• Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
• Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE Championship)
• Bayley and Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax and Tamina vs. The IIconics vs. Natalya and Beth Phoenix (Women's Tag Team Championships)
• Asuka vs. TBD (SmackDowm Women's Championship)
• Bobby Lashley vs. TBD (Intercontinental Championship)
• The Revival vs. TBD (Raw Tag Team Championships)
• The Usos vs. TBD (SmackDown Tag Team Championships)
• Women's Battle Royal

This would put the card at 17 matches, which would be the most in WrestleMania history after WrestleMania 4 set the record at 16.

Management might choose to have one or two titles go undefended by having those competitors compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal as a way of freeing up some space.

Whatever WWE decides to do, the fans are in store for a long show. This is the one time of year when watching from home has a lot of advantages over attending the show live, like being able to take breaks, no lines for the bathroom, unlimited free trips to the fridge and being able to sit on a comfy couch instead of a hard stadium seat.

Then again, there's nothing quite like the live experience, especially when it comes to WWE PPVs.

WrestleMania will feature live music, fireworks and other fun segments, so it will be entertaining no matter where you are watching from.