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It was a great week in professional wrestling.
WWE Raw and SmackDown are ready for their next storylines after WrestleMania 42, they saw some call ups and approached some official matches for Backlash, which is scheduled for May 9.
All Elite Wrestling continued to move towards its Double or Nothing PPV, which will take place on May 24. Darby Allin was in action as some championships were on the line during the week.
In case you missed anything, read the cliff notes below.
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Darby Allin defends the AEW World Championship for the first time
Darby Allin competes in the ring during AEW Collision on October 3, 2024 at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. (Frank Jansky/Sportswire Icon)
Darby Allin shocked the professional wrestling world almost two weeks ago when he defeated Maxwell Jacob Friedman to win the AEW World Championship. There were only a few days of celebration before Allin had to defend his title on “AEW Dynamite” on Wednesday.
Allin faced Tommaso Ciampa for the title. It was a brutal match in which Ciampa was opened up and delivered a hard drop to Allin from the middle rope to the floor. Allin used multiple submission maneuvers to finally get Ciampa to tap.
“Last night I met my soulmate in wrestling,” Ciampa wrote on Instagram on Thursday. “I have a feeling we’ll be doing this a lot more times over the next decade.
“Mark my words: it may not be this month… it may not be this year… hell, it may not even be 2027… but there will come a time when I will have that AEW World Title.”
Allin didn’t have much time to celebrate when another challenger emerged: Brody King.
King said AEW co-founder Tony Khan signed off on it and if it was okay with him, he’d like to be the next man up. Allin accepted and the two will fight for the championship on this week’s edition of “Dynamite.”
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Jacob Fatu faces the challenge.
Fresh off a victory over Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 42, Jacob Fatu was the first person to face world heavyweight champion Roman Reigns on “Monday Night Raw.” The show, in that place, is used to create new stories or shocking comebacks and Fatu helped the cause.
Reigns, flanked by Jey and Jimmy Uso, told Fatu that he would think about the challenge because he didn’t think Fatu was necessarily ready to face it. Fatu did more than enough to prove himself on “Friday Night SmackDown” when he defeated Solo Sikoa and single-handedly managed the MFT faction.
Fatu’s effort left the Usos stunned as they watched him destroy Tama Tonga, JC Mateo and Tonga Loa.
If Reigns accepts Fatu’s challenge, the World Heavyweight Championship match would be scheduled for Backlash in a few weeks.
Cody Rhodes destroys “external forces” in scathing promo
WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes speaks during SmackDown at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on April 24, 2026. (Michael Marqués/WWE)
Cody Rhodes’ promos amid Pat McAfee’s insertion into his WrestleMania match with Randy Orton blurred the line between what was real and what was kayfabe.
During the last three WrestleManias, Rhodes had to deal with The Rock, Travis Scott and McAfee while trying to win or retain the WWE Undisputed Championship. He was able to beat Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42, but he didn’t finish sending direct messages.
He said Friday on SmackDown that he wanted to “send a message” at WrestleMania.
“And the most important message I wanted to send is to those outside forces that kept interceding and intervening in my WrestleMania plans, that want to get involved in this nightmare family party, I’ll keep it simple, you guys are 0-3. Send as best you can or count your money and mind your own damn business,” he said.
It is unclear who will take the Rhodes title. But CM Punk apparently had eyes on the belt on Monday.
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Other notes of the week in wrestling
Tiffany Stratton celebrates her victory as the new WWE United States Women’s Champion during SmackDown at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on April 24, 2026. (Rich Wade/WWE)
Tiffany Stratton defeated Giulia to win the United States Women’s Championship. It is Stratton’s first American title reign. Giulia held the belt for 111 days. Stratton is the sixth winner of the US title since the championship made its debut in December 2024.
The WWE NXT stars received the call during the last week. Ethan Page, Sol Ruca, Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid all appeared on the main roster last week. Ricky Saints, Joe Hendry and Blake Monroe were mocked this week.
Several WWE stars announced their departure this week.
Damian Priest and R-Truth retained their tag team titles on “SmackDown.” They beat JC Mateo and Tama Tonga.
Seth Rollins made a surprise appearance at AAW Wrestling’s final show at the historic Berwyn Eagles Club in Illinois.
The son of WWE Hall of Famer Scott Steiner signed with the Tennessee Titans after going undrafted.
Kevin Knight will defend the AEW TNT Championship on Wednesday against MJF. While MJF is still angry about losing the AEW World Championship, Knight and MJF traded barbs and the match was made for this week on “Dynamite.”
Two title defenses were made at “Collision”. Jack Perry defeated El Clon to retain the AEW National Championship, while Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong retained the AEW Trios Championship over Andrade El Idolo, Hechicero and Lance Archer.
FTR raised the stakes of Cope and Christian Cage’s challenge. Cope and Cage said they wanted to challenge FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Double or Nothing in a street fight in New York, and if they lost, they would split as a team forever. FTR said on Collision that they would only do it if they accepted an I Quit match. The ball is now in Cope and Cage’s court.
In TNA, Mike Santana and Rich Swaan put on a show for the TNA World Championship. Santana hit Swaan with Spin the Block and pinned him for the win. The two shook hands after the game.
Sayaka Kurara shocked pro wrestling fans on Sunday when she defeated Saya Kamitani for the World Stardom Championship at the All Star Grand Queendom. Kamitani’s reign lasted 483 days and he made nine title defenses.
Pro Wrestling REVOLVER held its first YouTube show after parting ways with Triller TV. At Revolver STRONG, Mance Warner defeated Krule to become the new world champion.
AAA announced that a new general manager will be announced next month.
The third season of “WWE Legends and Future Greats” premiered Sunday night. WWE Hall of Famer Booker T previewed what’s to come on the show with Pak Gazette Digital.
