WWE

Paul Heyman swears he had no idea Brock Lesnar was gonna retire at WrestleMania ... but he tells TMZ Sports the future of WWE is in good hands nonetheless ... 'cause he's now focused on The Vision!!

For those who don't remember, the Hall of Famer told us The Beast Incarnate had no plans to retire prior to last month's festivities in Las Vegas ... and went as far as to say Lesnar still had another 15 years in him.

Fast forward a week and a half, and his guy took off his gloves and boots and called it a career after falling to Oba Femi ... and Heyman was a puddle of emotions in the ring as they hugged it out.

Eric Bischoff, one of the most successful and influential figures in pro wrestling history, wouldn't be who he is without the late, great Ted Turner ... EB himself tells TMZ Sports.

"When I first heard the news this morning," Eric explained, "I was talking to my wife, and I live in a beautiful home here in Wyoming. I look out over the mountains, up the valley into Yellowstone National Park. I live in a postcard. And I wouldn't be living here had it not been for the opportunity that Ted gave me."

That opportunity was running Turner's wrestling promotion, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) ... as Executive Producer, starting in 1993, following an internal shakeup in the company.

CM Punk was lucky he wasn't arrested last week at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Vegas ... a second fan has accused the WWE legend of shoving him in his chest, according to new 911 audio. 

TMZ just obtained the audio recording from the April 20 incident in the MGM lobby, where Punk lost his s*** at a couple fans who got too close to him and his WWE pal Bayley ... this 911 call is from a separate person on that day ... we showed you video of a different WWE fan who snapped a photo of Bayley, pissing off Punk ... and Punk went ballistic, slapping a cell phone out of his hand and shooting him a killer look. Well apparently, there was another dust-up.  

In this new audio, you hear a fan who was waiting to see the WWE stars ... the caller is speaking Spanish to a female dispatcher with the help of an interpreter -- and he clearly identifies "CM Punk" as the aggressor. He says he was hoping for an autograph ... the alleged victim claims in Spanish that CM Punk put his hands on him and "violently assaulted" him when he got close to the wrestler.

Dwayne Johnson's day out supporting his pal Emily Blunt at the Hollywood Walk of Fame turned into a full-on walk of shame after he got pulled over right afterward.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... it was a traffic stop Thursday for tinted windows ... yeah, it’s the kind of moment most people would want to disappear from.

He stepped out in a crisp shirt and cream trousers, physique on full display ... casually turning a routine traffic stop into a red carpet moment.

Cool, calm, and fully compliant ... Dwayne handled it like a pro. No word on whether the officer clocked who he was dealing with but let's be real, when The Rock steps out of a car, you know it’s not your average stop.

The Miz has officially tapped out of his luxury Los Angeles-area home ... and while he walked away with a buyer, he also caught a hilarious stray from John Cena in the process.

Jordan Cohen of RE/MAX revealed the wrestler and his wife, Maryse, officially sold their massive estate for $7.4M after what he admitted was a lengthy process. The couple listed their contemporary English manor in Westlake Village, California, back in 2024 as they were taking their business ventures to Las Vegas.

Cohen shouted out his "awesome friends and longtime clients" on Instagram, saying the sale "took a minute" ... but the "perfect buyers" swooped in and closed in less than a week. He also praised the couple's renovations and noted the estate was featured several times on their USA Network reality show, "Miz & Mrs."

WrestleMania has become a pressing matter on Capitol Hill ... 'cause one senator asked WWE exec Nick Khan when the Grandest Stage of Them All would make its way to Ohio -- right in the middle of a hearing on Wednesday.

The silly moment went down as a Senate Subcommittee met with the WWE president and other big names in the combat sports business -- including Oscar De La Hoya and Nico Ali-Walsh -- to discuss proposed changes to the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.

While they, of course, discussed the topic at hand ... Sen. Bernie Moreno from Ohio had to take advantage of his opportunity to pitch WM to his turf in the future.

WrestleMania 42 didn’t just deliver inside the ring -- it shattered records, making it one of the biggest events in WWE history!

WWE says the two-night spectacle at Allegiant Stadium was a hit across the board ... in ticket sales, sponsorship, merchandise, and even VIP experiences.

Mania drew 106,072 fans from all 50 states and nearly 70 countries, making Las Vegas the center of the wrestling world for the weekend, attracting a ton of big celebrities, who showed up for the action.

The action matched the hype, too. Roman Reigns defeated CM Punk in Sunday night’s main event to win the World Heavyweight Championship, while Cody Rhodes retained his Undisputed WWE title against Randy Orton on Saturday -- despite early interference from Pat McAfee.

CM Punk dodged a bullet ... 'cause the guy whose phone was smacked out of his hand by the WWE Superstar in a Las Vegas hotel early this morning tells TMZ Sports he is NOT looking to sue, or involve the cops.

But, he does want something ... and it's not money.

He wants to hear the words, "I'm sorry."

The fan, who wants to remain anonymous, says he understands the 47-year-old wrestling legend wasn't having the greatest weekend after losing to Roman Reigns in the main event of night two of WrestleMania 42 ... so he's trying to show Punk some grace.

Safe to say CM Punk is no happy camper this morning ... after going down in flames to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42, the WWE star got into an altercation with a fan, delivering a major smackdown to the man's phone!

Punk was captured on video just after midnight Monday, getting into it with the fan, who was filming Punk's WWE friend, Bayley, as she was hugging his wife in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the Vegas Strip.

Check out the footage ... Punk steps right up into the face of the fan before slapping down his phone. Security promptly jumps in between Punk and the other dude to prevent things from really going awry. Punk then coldly stares at the man, who is so terrified that he runs off while apologizing profusely.

Jelly Roll just proved there is nothing soft about him as he just smashed Pat McAfee through the announcer’s table during the main event of WrestleMania 42. 

Jelly Roll came out at the start of the main event between WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and challenger Randy Orton, who had Pat McAfee in his corner, and Jelly Roll had Cody’s back immediately, going after McAfee before the match even started. 

McAfee is thrown on top of the table by Rhodes -- who lines him for Jelly Roll to run from the neighboring table -- dropping an elbow through McAfee’s chest, smashing the table right out from under them, pieces flying everywhere!

Think you can identify the stars of WrestleMania 42 just by their physiques? These WWE superstars are in peak condition -- now it’s your turn to match each face to the body and see if you’ve got what it takes to go head-to-head!

Keep an eye out for Finn Bálor, Jade Cargill, and more shredded stars ...

Hulk Hogan, just months before his death, convinced his good friend, President Donald Trump, to sit down for an interview for an upcoming Netflix doc, the director revealed to TMZ Sports.

"Hulk Hogan: Real American" hits the streaming giant next week, and the man behind the highly anticipated four-part series, Bryan Storkel, shared the story of locking down POTUS.

"There's a nice little surprise interview with Donald Trump, which [Hulk] helped me set up. We went to the White House and interviewed Trump and he talked all about Hulk Hogan," Storkel told Babcock.

Bryan says it took a few calls for Hulk to convince the president to do the interview -- he's a busy man -- but DJT eventually came around and agreed to sit down in the spring.

IShowSpeed opened up the WrestleMania 42 with tag team partners Logan Paul and Austin Theory … and, he learned an important WWE lesson -- trust no one!

Speed, Paul and Theory, faced off against The Usos and LA Knight in a tag team match ... built on weeks of pretty scary moments for Speed.

ICYMI ... Knight interrupted IShowSpeed’s live stream a few weeks back, throwing the streamer through his monitors like a rag doll. 

WrestleMania 42 is underway, and TMZ’s "Inside The Ring" podcast is on the ground in Las Vegas ... catching up with all of the WWE superstars, including the G.O.A.T. John Cena! 

Yes, that’s right, we could ACTUALLY see him, and we heard him too ... because he boldly declared that he was “the first wrestler to actually retire.”

He was complimenting 2026 Hall of Fame inductee AJ Styles when he said he hoped Styles would be the second to retire for good, though he also said if Styles ever had a chance to wrestle his son Avery, who he previously mentioned he was training to follow in his footsteps, he should take it. 

Nikki Bella ain't letting an ankle injury get in the way of her and twin sister Brie's big WWE comeback at WrestleMania 42 this weekend -- she even walked the red carpet in a boot!

The WWE Hall of Famers were all smiles, chatting it up with each other on the Las Vegas red carpet Friday night ... looking strong and sexy in their respective ensembles. But, there was no hiding the giant boot Nikki has on her left foot, resulting from an injury sustained during the March 27 SmackDown.

Rumors are swirling online Nikki won't be cleared to compete in the WE Women's Tag Team Championship fatal four-way match alongside Brie Saturday night ... but she's given no indication that she'll drop out.

The Dudley Boyz put a near-endless list of wrestlers through tables over the years, but if there's one person Bubba Ray would've liked to execute his finisher on, he says it's the woman who will soon join him in the WWE Hall of Fame this weekend!

"If there's one woman in the business that I would have wanted to put through a table, but never had the opportunity to, it's Stephanie McMahon," Dudley told us this week.

Of course, Steph will soon become part of the 2026 HOF class ... an enormous honor, and one that's well deserved.