Heel Turn: New Day leave WWE, Death Riders’ influence on Will Ospreay grows, hottest storyline and more

It’s a New Day in WWE.

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods departed the company on Saturday after etching their names into the tag team history books in WWE for several years. The duo were four-time tag team champions as a team and eight times when Big E is included in the group.

The New Day were fan favorites and held the tag team championship for a record 483 days.

But Woods’ injury threw a wrench in the New Day storyline after the team turned heel following their tag title win at WrestleMania 41. Kingston had teamed up with Grayson Waller, but the two hadn’t earned gold.

The news of their departure sent shockwaves throughout the pro wrestling world with stars from companies across the sport reacting. It’s unclear where Kingston and Woods will land next, but there will definitely be two of the hottest free agents on the open market.

WWE also parted ways with Tonga Loa and JC Mateo in the company’s recent departures.

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Hottest storyline in pro wrestling

WWE and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) have been hot over the last month, but the most interesting storyline going over the last few weeks has been at Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) where El Grande Americano and Original El Grande Americano are a few weeks away from an epic mask vs. mask clash.

On Saturday night, the two wrestlers had a contract signing but there was an even bigger twist in which El Grande Americano’s girlfriend, Andrea Bazarte, had her contract suspended in order for her to be sidelined from the upcoming match.

Original El Grande Americano received support from the Creed Brothers. Brutus and Julius Creed put El Grande American through a table and celebrated as they seemed to have given Original El Grande Americano some support.

Their rivalry will come to a head at Rey de Reyes on May 30. It will be a no disqualification match and the loser has to remove their mask. Both competitors have battled it out wherever they have been showcased.

The Original El Grande Americano returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble in January with El Grande Americano already in the men’s Royal Rumble match. Original El Grande Americano eliminated El Grande Americano before being eliminated himself. The rivalry has been scorching hot ever since.

Darby Allin makes title defense, gets new challenge

It was one of the best matches of the week as Darby Allin defeated Brody King for the AEW World Championship. The two ripped each other apart as King sent himself through the barrier looking to do maximum damage to Allin.

Allin avoided the colossal attack, threw King back into the ring and hit him with two Coffin Drops and pinned King for the win. Allin is 2-0 after winning the AEW title from Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) last month. He dispatched Tomasso Ciampa the week prior.

Allin may have his hands full with his next challenger.

Kevin Knight climbed to the top of the world title ladder after he defended the TNT Championship against MJF. Allin and King both said that Knight would be next in line for the AEW title if either of them won the match. So, Knight gets Allin on Wednesday.

Knight was watching very closely in the stands as Allin pulled out the win.

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Interesting changes come to NXT

Blake Monroe, Ethan Page, Fallon Henley, Je’Von Evans, Joe Hendry, Lainey Reid, Oba Femi, Ricky Saints, Sol Ruca, Trick Williams have all been promoted to the main roster since the start of the new year.

As the new wave of talent hits WWE’s main roster, the CW Network and WWE announced a few new changes coming to the brand. The company said that NXT’s premium live events, like Stand & Deliver, The Great American Bash and Deadline, would be featured on the CW.

“The CW has played an integral role in raising the profile of our up-and-coming Superstars, and we are excited to bring NXT Premium Live Events to broadcast television for the first time ever,” WWE’s senior vice president of talent development and creative Shawn Michaels said in a news release.

ESPN later announced that it will be teaming up with the CW Network to stream NXT events through its ESPN Unlimited App.

“Joining forces with ESPN is a monumental next step in the evolution of CW Sports,” CW President Brad Schwartz said in a news release. “The CW now offers more than 800 hours of premium live sports per year. This agreement extends the reach of CW Sports and enables us to capture audiences across the best of broadcast and the best of streaming, ensuring fans can access live CW Sports wherever they are and on whatever device they prefer.

“This new partnership will allow us to connect seamlessly with our audiences everywhere—from football and basketball to motorsports, professional wrestling, bowling, bull riding, and much more to come as CW Sports continues its exciting march forward.”

Will Ospreay’s Death Riders angle takes new twist

Will Ospreay entered the Death Riders’ dojo after Jon Moxley gave him the opportunity to smash him in the head with a chair. Ospreay entered Moxley’s corner of the universe and began training with the faction that has been trying to add damage to his injured neck.

Ospreay made it clear to the Death Riders leader that he needed to support his brothers in arms, the United Empire, as they were featured in New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Dontaku event over the weekend. Ospreay was there to team with Henare and Great-O-Khan as they picked up the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship in a win over Bishamon-in (Botlin Oleg, Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi).

Callum Newman challenged Ospreay to attack Shingo Takagi following Newman’s win to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, calling him “Death Rider Billy.” Ospreay obliged and hit Takahi with a Hidden Blade.

The fallout is sure to be palpable once Ospreay returns to “Dynamite” later in the week.

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Other notes from a week in pro wrestling

• Becky Lynch defeated Iyo Sky to retain the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship as Asuka interfered in the match on “Monday Night Raw.”
• Damian Priest and R-Truth defeated Axiom and Nathan Frazer to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship on “Friday Night SmackDown.”
• Brie Bella and Paige defeated Lash Legend and Nia Jax to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship on “Friday Night SmackDown.”
• Four matches are set for WWE Backlash, including a match between Danhausen and a mystery partner against The Miz and Kit Wilson. The Miz and Wilson levied an assault on Danhausen on “Friday Night SmackDown.”
• Myles Borne defeated Shaquon Shugars to retain the NXT North American Championship.

• Lizzie Rain, the niece of Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, made her NXT debut.
• Kazuchika Okada defeated Ace Austin to retain the AEW International Championship on “Dynamite.”
• Megan Bayne and Lena Kross defeated Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida to retain the Women’s World Tag Team Championship on “Dynamite.”
• Jack Perry defeated Mascara Dorada to retain the AEW National Championship on “Collision.”
• Willow Nightingale defeated a returning Anna Jay to retain the AEW TBS Championship on “Collision.”
• Kevin Knight defeated Hook to retain the AEW TNT Championship on “Collision.”
• HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. congratulated his niece Zoe Hines on joining WWE.

• “Broken” Matt Hardy returned to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and attacked Vincent of The Righteous. Vincent was about to finish off Jeff Hardy before Matt Hardy returned. It had been a few weeks since The Righteous brutalized Matt Hardy.
• AEW’s Rebel revealed she was diagnosed with “terminal ALS” at just 47 years old. “Please continue to pray for a peaceful journey and a peaceful passing. I love you,” she said in a video posted to her Instagram account.
• JBL vowed to make some changes should he become the new AAA general manager. He wrote on X, “When I become GM of Triple A I’m going to make the world better, I will 1. Build a wall, to keep Okies out. 2. Make it legal to hit leprechauns with trash cans or anything else you can grab and throw. 3. Make Ron Simmons head of the treasury. 4. Make cerveza free.”

• Trevor Murdoch announced his retirement from pro wrestling on the latest episode of the National Wrestling Alliance’s (NWA) “Powerrr.” The three-time NWA worlds champion and former WWE star thanked fans for their support.
• Meanwhile, on the same NWA show, Gisele Shaw defeated Tiffany Nieveas to become the women’s TV champion.
• Andrade El Idolo defeated Yota Tsuji to become the new IWGP global heavyweight champion at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestling Dontaku in Japan.
• Templario defeated Kushida at CMLL vs MLW to win the Major League Wrestling World Middleweight Championship.
• Zamaya signed a deal with Major League Wrestling.

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• CMLL women’s champion Persephone is out of action indefinitely, according to AEW co-founder Tony Khan. Persephone received black mist to the face from Julia Hart during a tag team match last week. Persephone was set to compete in Ring of Honor’s Survival of the Fittest tournament for a shot at the Ring of Honor Women’s Championship at Supercard of Honor.
• Miu Watanabe and Riku Tatsumi defeated The IInspiration to become Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s new Princess tag team champions.