Table of contents for June 2025 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

FROM ITS GRITTY, intense matchups to heroic showings at the Hammerstein Ballroom, Game Changer Wrestling has drawn more than a few comparisons to the late ECW. In 2025, GCW invites yet another parallel between itself and the erstwhile “Land Of Extreme”: its symbiotic relationship with the WWE. Like Paul Heyman before him, promoter Brett Lauderdale has earned a reputation for producing raucous wrestling shows featuring no-holds-barred battles, heated mat exchanges, and fantastic high-flying action. From hardcore fan favorites such as Nick Gage, Matt Tremont, and Jimmy Lloyd to colorful personalities including Mance Warner, Allie Katch, and EFFY, GCW went from rugged upstart to legitimate touring phenomenon, packing venues all over the U.S. and on international soil (including the U.K. and Japan). Given the company’s popularity, it should be completely unsurprising…

HER FIRST CAREER SINGLES match took place against Britt Baker on an episode of AEW Dark. From that point, it was evident big things were in store for Brooke Havok, the popular independent wrestler known for her love of emo and pop-punk music. “When I was a kid, I always answered the question ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ with either ‘a rockstar’ or ‘WWE superstar.’ So, I like to think I’m doing my younger self justice by who I am as a performer now,” Havok says with a laugh. “I grew up around emo/punk culture—concerts, festivals, mosh pits, crowd surfing, chaos, expressing yourself through what you wear. And I like to bring this energy into wrestling, whether it be in or out of the ring.” Like…

THE GIGANTIC PRO WRESTLING monolith that today we know as WWE has gone through several name changes over its more than 70-year history. Old-school fans certainly know that when it first rose to prominence as a national powerhouse back in the ’80s, it was called the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF. In fact, it had been known by that name going back to the spring of 1979. And when the changeover happened to “World Wrestling Entertainment” back in May 2002, it took a lot of getting used to. Yet, incredible as it may seem to long-time fans, June 2025 marks a significant milestone: The company has been known as WWE for a longer period of time than it was ever called the WWF. Let that sink in. Looking back over…

PITCH PERFECT, THE 2012 cult classic moviethatspawned pop culture interest in a cappella singing, stars multi-hyphenate Hollywood star Anna Kendrick as a character named “Beca.” Although their names might appeartobehomonyms, B3CCA—the wrestling pop star and self-professed “Celebrity Fighter”—would prefer you pronounce her name differently. “It’s B-3-c-c-a,” she told PWI during our interview in March 2025. “You can say ‘Becca,’ but that is the correct spelling. Or ‘B-three-a,’ or, really, ‘B-3-cc-a,’ I think is what I’m going by right now.” With that early admonition, B3CCA showed a sense of pride and assertiveness. And, as time went on in our conversation, those traits turned out to be an emergent theme for the performer—a young woman who has spent a considerable period of her postcollegiate life as both a professional wrestler and musician. B3CCA…

IN EARLY-MARCH 2025, MMA fighter and pro wrestler Josh Barnett announced on social media that Nattie Neidhart, known as Natalya to WWE fans, would compete in his GCW event, Bloodsport, over WrestleMania Weekend. More than a few fans expressed surprise that the WWE women’s stalwart would be stepping out to fight on a show that one could consider raw wrestling. Given her family legacy, they shouldn’t act so shocked. Now a staple of the Game Changer Wrestling calendar, Bloodsport features worked-shoot matches that are both bare-bones and hard-hitting, employing elements of MMA and catch wrestling. The rules are simple but brutal: Every match must end in a knockout or submission. The fighters compete without the benefit of ropes or turnbuckles. Savagery and strength win the fight. Since Bloodsport’s inception in 2018,…

IN A TIME WHEN professional wrestling was gaining momentum, yet women were banned from competing against one another, Mildred Burke set her sights on the spotlight, center ring, and marquees across the United States. Directed by Ash Avildsen, Queen of the Ring stars Emily Bett Rickards as the great Ms. Burke. The new film chronicles the legendary wrestler’s journey from single mother, working in her mom’s diner, to the first million-dollar women’s professional athlete. Against the backdrop of the 1930s midwest, Rickards breathes life into one of the most notable journeys in women’s professional wrestling history. With Josh Lucas as Billy Wolfe, the pair paint a dizzying dream of carnival lights and sparkling diamonds that devastatingly descends into adversarial business dealings and a bitterly lopsided divorce. Avildsen adapted the film from…

• In June 2023, Nikki Cross of WWE earned her master’s degree in history from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She is now working on her PhD, which she hopes to achieve in 2029.• Former WWE champion Kofi Kingston and his mother launched a charity organization in Africa in 2023. The Click For Quality Education Foundation builds libraries and computer labs in undeveloped areas in Kingston’s home country of Ghana.• In November 2024, legendary luchador Rey Mysterio granted his 100th Make-A-Wish, visiting a fan in Phoenix, Arizona.• In March 2025, AEW star Leila Grey married OVW standout Luke Kurtis. The pair were engaged in 2022 when Kurtis proposed during an OVW event.• From an early age, TNA champ Joe Hendry was a budding musician. As teenagers, Hendry and his…

I’M NOT GOING TO LIE: “Ricky Saints” will take some getting used to. But what I have no problem getting used to again is seeing the man still known to his family as Ricky Starks on my television screen on a regular basis. I’ve been in his corner for a while now. I first took notice of him back in the hopeful days of the relaunched NWA in 2018, when he burst on the scene and soon became the first holder of the first independently established NWA World Television championship. He had a natural charisma, was dynamic in the ring, and was one hell of a promo. It was one of those moments when you think, This guy is going places. And so he did. He first popped up in…

TWO YEARS AGO THIS month, PWI Contributing Writer Scott Fishman expounded on a pressing issue within All Elite Wrestling—namely, that the promotion’s rulebreakers had become too numerous and powerful (“AEW’s Good Guys Have A Bad-Guy Problem,” June 2023). Given the myriad ruthless, villainous stables and a lack of strong, heroic types to take them on, Fishman argued, episodes of Dynamite and Rampage (R.I.P.) had descended into chaos. By early-2025, the problem had gotten even worse. With the likes of the Death Riders, The Hurt Syndicate, and The Don Callis Family claiming most of the company’s championships, episodes of Dynamite and Collision became veritable playgrounds for antagonistic, lawless grapplers. And, frankly, too much of that sort of thing can make any wrestling show painful to watch. In this regard, Revolution 2025…

WWE’S GLOBAL REACH AS MENTIONED LAST issue, the closest metric to viewer numbers that is available for Raw can be found at Netflix’s Tudum website, which lists the streaming service’s top 10 shows each week. As long as Raw continues to make the top 10, we’ll have reliable numbers. And those numbers have been great. The PLE effect (formerly known as the PPV effect) is back, as the post-Royal Rumble edition earned 3,100,000 global views. This figure is determined by dividing the time all subscribers spend watching a program by its duration. Men’s Royal Rumble winner Jey Uso addressed the fans before World champion Gunther interrupted him, Women’s World champ Rhea Ripley confronted Women’s Rumble winner Charlotte Flair, and Kevin Owens heinously attacked best friend Sami Zayn, finishing him off…

THE 22-YEAR CAREER of Ricochet has been a rollercoaster of moments, moves, and matches that have dazzled fans all across the world. The man has taken on many forms, debuting in little gyms across the Southern U.S. against Chuck Taylor. He delivered double-moonsaults in Japan for Dragongate, and generation-defining matches against Will Ospreay. Later, he donned a mask and became the luchador “Prince Puma” in Lucha Underground. And, of course, he defied gravity on the biggest wrestling stage on the planet. Ricochet spent many years in WWE trying to find his footing and place within the massive company. He had the opportunity to showcase himself in some ways during his time there—specifically, in Money in the Bank ladder matches, othermulti-menscramble matches, and, toward the end, as the three-minute match SPEED…

LIST 1 Galeno Del Mal Charlie Dempsey Carmella Jacob Fatu Sexy Star II Zilla Fatu Lexis King Raquel Rodriguez List 2 Tonga Kid Paul Van Dale Dr. Wagner Jr. Brian Pillman Rick Gonzalez Umaga William Regal La Gatubela ANSWER KEY: Galeno Del Mal & Dr. Wagner Jr.; Charlie Dempsey & William Regal; Carmella & Paul Van Dale; Jacob Fatu & Tonga Kid; Sexy Star II & La Gatubela; Zilla Fatu & Umaga; Lexis King & Brian Pillman; Raquel Rodriguez & Rick Gonzalez…

TORONTO WAS PRO WRESTLING’S center stage recently, with WWE coming to town for a Smackdown taping at Scotiabank Arena and Elimination Chamber at Rogers Centre. Well, located in between those two venues, across the street from where John Cena made his now-famous heel turn, is the Toronto Rec Room. And on the afternoon before Elimination Chamber, Smash Wrestling presented a jam-packed show, featuring some of the best indie talents. One of them was Cassie Lee, formerly WWE’s Peyton Royce. It was Lee’s first match since October 2023, following the birth of her second child with her husband, Ontario native Shawn Spears. At the Rec Room, Lee defeated Alexia Nicole. After her win, she challenged Jody Threat for the Smash Women’s title. The title match was supposed to happen on April…

HEAVYWEIGHT 1 HIROOKI GOTO (-) IWGP World champion Mie, Japan 2 GUNTHER (2) WWE World heavyweight champion Vienna, Austria 3 CODY RHODES (1) WWE Undisputed Universal champion Atlanta, GA 4 JON MOXLEY (4) AEW World champion Cincinnati, OH 5 JOE HENDRY (6) TNA World champion Edinburgh, Scotland 6 JOHN CENA (-) Men’s Elimination Chamber winner West Newbury, MA 7 OZAWA (7) GHC heavyweight champion Shizuoka, Japan 8 LA KNIGHT (-) WWE United States champion Las Vegas, NV 9 OBA FEMI (-) NXT champion Lagos, Nigeria 10 CHRIS JERICHO (-) ROH World champion Winnipeg, MB WOMEN 1 TONI STORM (-) AEW Women’s World champion Auckland, New Zealand 2 TIFFANY STRATTON (2) WWE Women’s champion Prior Lake, MN 3 IYO SKY (-) WWE Women’s World champion Kanagawa, Japan 4 MASHA SLAMOVICH (4) TNA…

“THE NOTORIOUS 187” Homicide—an integral player during Ring of Honor’s earlyyears, one-half of TNA’s ground-breaking Latin American Xchange, and a prolific competitor on the indie circuit—wrestled his retirement match at an OutlawWrestling show in Brooklyn on March 21, one day after his 48th birthday. Those in attendance expressed an outpouring of emotion, marking Homicide’s last stand. Shortly before the event, Homicide was diagnosed with a cyst on his brain. Three decades of ring warfare were thought to be a contributing factor. “Can’t believe I’m saying goodbye—not just to a job, but to my passion, the sport of prowrestling… I’ve had it formonths and it’s getting worse,” Homicide posted on Facebook. “My vision, speech are bad [due to] hard hits, getting knocked out, and then hopping on a plane to travel ……

“I AM NOT A babyface. I am not a heel. I am a human being.” That declaration, made by John Cena on the March 17 edition of Raw, is bound to go down as one of the most notorious quotes in wrestling history. “And each and every one of you has been awful to me!” Okay, what started out as the wrestling equivalent of “December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy” quickly degenerated into what a sniveling little brother would say in a crying fit in the family kitchen. I’m not buying this heel turn. I saw the motivation 10 to 15 years ago, when preteens were keeping Cena on top in terms of merchandise sales and fans over age 20 were blasting him with “Cena Sucks” chants.…

The Mountain Goats’ Wrestling Opus Turns 10 “THIS RIGHT HERE IS AN album about professional wrestling,” John Darnielle declares in the opening sentence of the liner notes of Beat the Champ, the 2015 album by his band, the Mountain Goats. It is loudly, proudly so: 13 songs that are ferocious in their love for wrestling, wrestlers, and wrestling fans, approaching the subject from angles as intimate as a pencil jabbed into an eye and as remote as reading about the matches in Ontario in a magazine swiped off the rack of a Los Angeles drugstore. In an era where fans were beginning to reach for theorists and podcasters to explain why they were drawn to wrestling, Beat the Champ drank deep from its well—enthralled by its heroes, piteous of…

ONE THING MAXXINE DUPRI isn’t ashamed of is rebranding. We first met the WWE superstar as Von Wagner’s valet, Sofia Cromwell, in NXT before she served as Maximum Male Models’ “Director Of Talent” on Smackdown and Raw. Eventually, she joined Alpha Academy’s stable—and made the transition from villain to fan favorite. Through it all, Dupri’s hard work has been undeniable to wrestling fans. The Arizona native has been walking an entrepreneurial path since her early-20s, when she founded her fashion brand, JAUNTY. Now an activewear line of “luxe” and “attainable” clothing and accessories, Dupri’s company began life as a boutique clothing shop where she licensed and sold other brands. “Both of my parents were entrepreneurs,” she told me. “I grew up kind of knowing that I wanted my own brand. When…