Former WWE personality Jonathan Coachman says he received a direct call from an inside contact confirming that WWE has already settled on the two headline bouts for both nights of WrestleMania 43.
On 2 Count Tuesday, Coachman revealed that his source was completely certain the company wants Cody Rhodes squaring off against CM Punk on one evening, with Oba Femi clashing with World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns taking center stage on the other.
With half a year still left on the road to WrestleMania, and major pit stops like Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble still ahead, Coachman expects creative to spend that time pushing Femi as a completely dominant monster who runs through opponents to build him up for The OTC.
Turning to the other marquee match, co-host JD wondered if Rhodes would need to turn heel to give a fresh spark to a showdown with Punk, an idea Coachman strongly agreed with while standing entirely by his report that both blockbusters are locked in as the event&#8217;s top attractions.
Punk defeated Rhodes to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam 2026 due to Randy Orton&#8217;s interference.

Spoiler On Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania 43 Match

According to PWInsider, Dragon Lee has signed a new multi-year contract with WWE.
Multiple reports indicate the deal is believed to be for 5 years, which would keep the luchador with the company through approximately 2031. The exact terms have not been officially confirmed.
Lee’s previous contract was set to expire around this time. He originally signed with WWE in late 2022, debuted in NXT in 2023, and later moved to the main roster.
He is a former NXT North American Champion, WWE Speed Champion, and World Tag Team Champion (with AJ Styles).
Lee has been featured regularly on Raw in 2026, including recent Intercontinental Championship pursuits. He is currently feuding with Big Cass.

Dragon Lee Signs New Contract With WWE

In a heartbreaking moment uncovered by newly released investigative documents, the wife of late AEW wrestler PAC (real name Benjamin Satterley) called his cellphone while officers were actively examining the scene of his death.
According to a Cook County Medical Examiner report obtained by the California Post, Natalie Taylor placed the call on September 27 as police were gathered around Satterley&#8217;s rental car in a restaurant parking lot in Des Plaines, Illinois.
When an officer answered her husband&#8217;s phone, Taylor explained that she had spoken with him less than three hours before he was pronounced dead at the age of 40, noting he had simply told her he was grabbing lunch at CAVA before heading to O&#8217;Hare Airport to catch his flight home. Taylor also confirmed to investigators that Satterley had a prescribed medical condition with specific medicine, emphasizing that he had no background of alcohol or drug abuse.
The tragedy began just before 4 p.m. when a bystander spotted the wrestler slumped motionless over the steering wheel and urgently told a 911 dispatcher that his chest was not moving at all.
Responders found inhalers inside the vehicle, and following toxicology screenings that showed nothing unusual, authorities officially ruled his death natural, caused by a fatal bout of bronchial asthma just one day after he competed against Andrade El Idolo at AEW All Out.

PAC’s Wife Called His Phone While Police Were Still Investigating His Death

Ilja Dragunov and Gunther share one of the most hard-hitting rivalries in recent history. Outside the ring, the two are also longtime, close personal friends.
During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dragunov was asked about Gunther&#8217;s creative trajectory in WWE, particularly following high-profile retirement matches like ending the career of 17-time WWE World Champion John Cena.
Dragunov reflected on his relationship with Gunther, noting how far back their bond goes:
&#8220;For me, he is one of the best. He will be one of the best of all time. He is a dear friend of mine for, I don&#8217;t know, meanwhile maybe since 2014, 2015. We are dear friends to each other. And I know he&#8217;s good, I know he will always do good, and whatever he does is going to be awesome.&#8221;
Helwani pointed out fan criticism regarding how WWE followed up on Gunther&#8217;s monumental victory over Cena, suggesting that the booking that followed did not match the magnitude of retiring an icon.
Dragunov agreed with the general sentiment, admitting that retiring someone like Cena creates a standard that demands top-tier booking:
&#8220;I guess my feeling is the same feeling as a lot of other people share. If you are the person to retire John Cena, it&#8217;s kind of like a standard that you should keep a certain level of that, in my opinion.
I can of course imagine that after the standard that he set and the standard of how he got portrayed, that this is not necessarily the level that we are working at right now.&#8221;
While Dragunov remains confident in Gunther&#8217;s greatness and ability to shine no matter what, he acknowledged that the recent presentation has noticeably dropped below the high bar set by his historic milestones.

Ilja Dragunov Reacts To Gunther’s Post-John Cena Retirement Booking

Roman Reigns has made millions as one of the most successful superstars in WWE history, but even The Tribal Chief is not immune to making regrettable purchases.
During an appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast, host Shannon Sharpe asked Reigns about his spending habits and whether he had ever made a purchase he later regretted. Reigns explained that because he grew up poor, he was always very frugal-minded and preferred putting his earnings toward family homes and practical vehicles to move his wife and five children.
However, when asked about his absolute worst purchase, Reigns pointed directly to his garage.
&#8220;Probably my vehicles,&#8221; Reigns admitted. &#8220;Just the couple that I have, because they&#8217;re trucks, you know? I&#8217;m down in Florida, so I drive a TRX truck, RAM TRX, and then I have a big Suburban that&#8217;s lifted up, and there&#8217;s all kinds of modifications to that.&#8221;
Reigns explained that the customized, lifted Chevrolet Suburban became an ongoing headache, leading to constant repairs and playful grief from his wife, Galina.
&#8220;That&#8217;s the one she&#8217;s like, &#8216;You&#8217;re an idiot. Why don&#8217;t you just buy something factory, you know what I mean?'&#8221; Reigns laughed. &#8220;&#8216;You got to go and do all these modifications, and then you&#8217;re always sending it in to get this or that looked at&#8230;&#8217; So every time that thing breaks, she&#8217;s looking at me like, &#8216;I told you so.&#8217; So, yeah, I would probably say a big jacked-up Suburban was probably the dumbest thing.&#8221;
Despite the frequent breakdowns and repair bills, Reigns confessed that his Pensacola roots make it hard to give up customized trucks.
&#8220;But hey, I love it,&#8221; Reigns added. &#8220;I don&#8217;t care. It was money well spent for me. In Pensacola, that was like the thing you wanted. That&#8217;s what when people got a check, they&#8217;re like, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to go get me a truck. Let me get me a [truck] and I&#8217;m going to lift it up, put on big tires, too,&#8217; you know? So, that&#8217;s just kind of where I&#8217;m at. That&#8217;s just what it was.&#8221;

Roman Reigns Reveals The Dumbest Thing He Ever Bought

Ilja Dragunov faced Brock Lesnar in the 2026 Men&#8217;s Royal Rumble match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The moment sparked intense debate among fans. Many viewers were upset because Lesnar essentially did not sell Dragunov&#8217;s offense, brushing off his hardest strikes before taking him out.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Dragunov addressed the controversy and explained why he never felt disrespected by the spot. Dragunov first took time to thank the fans who felt angry on his behalf:
&#8220;First of all, that&#8217;s a shout out to all the fans that are feeling with me and are passionate with me and get angry for me in that sense. I love all of you guys and you&#8217;ve been sticking around with me forever, so I appreciate your concern.&#8221;
While fans viewed the spot as a burial of his offense, Dragunov explained that surviving brutal beatings against giants is the very core of his character:
&#8220;If you really understand the persona that I have been in the ring for the most part of the time, I&#8217;ve been facing monsters. At the end of the day, you can&#8217;t change certain things. You have a person like Brock Lesnar standing in front of you, most people would run away as soon as that happens. That&#8217;s simply what would happen.
Me as a persona, me as Ilja Dragunov who&#8217;s tough mentally and physically, I think for what I was given and how this whole situation occurred, I did the best what I could do about it and I can&#8217;t change anything about it.&#8221;
Dragunov stressed that his entire reputation in professional wrestling was built on being battered and fighting from underneath, not being an unbeatable powerhouse:
&#8220;My best career moments were made by my vulnerability. I wasn&#8217;t becoming a name by being the person who dominates at all times. I became a name on moments where I got beaten down, like beaten down badly.
I don&#8217;t know how good the camera angle is, but my nose is actually making a right turn because it has been broken a couple of times! But it&#8217;s always the way how I fought back and how I recovered after those moments, because these moments make great stories.&#8221;
Dragunov stated he never wasted mental energy being upset about the match:
&#8220;I don&#8217;t see it as a defeat. I&#8217;m glad that people are upset for me, and maybe it could have worked out a different way, I don&#8217;t know today. But I can tell you so much that I didn&#8217;t spare a second or third thought about it.&#8221;

Ilja Dragunov Reacts To Fans Thinking Brock Lesnar Buried Him At Royal Rumble 2026

Ilja Dragunov recently shocked the wrestling world by walking away from WWE and debuting for All Elite Wrestling at WrestleDream.
Following his appearance, Dragunov joined The Ariel Helwani Show to break his silence and explain exactly why he decided to leave WWE after spending most of his 20s there.
<h1>His WWE Departure Was Not A Release</h1>
Unlike many recent departures, Dragunov made it clear that he was not released by WWE. Instead, he simply allowed his contract to expire in August.
Many fans noticed that he had been off TV since April, where his last appearance was in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Dragunov revealed that he had no idea that match would be his last time in a WWE ring.
Addressing rumors about being kept on the sidelines, Dragunov explained that creative simply ran out of ideas for him as new talent arrived:
&#8220;At some point of time you just don&#8217;t have creative. At some point of time you&#8217;re just waiting for the next opportunities to come because a lot of new people came up, a lot of stories were full, and we all know that there&#8217;s only a certain amount of time for certain people. Everything I knew is that the expiration of my contract came and that the negotiations didn&#8217;t lead anywhere.&#8221;
<h1>Why He Turned Down WWE’s Offer</h1>
Dragunov confirmed that WWE did not want to let him go and attempted to sign him to a new deal. However, he decided to walk away because the offer did not feel satisfying enough to stay:
&#8220;There was definitely no intention of the company to let me go&#8230; It was an accumulation of a lot of things. It&#8217;s an accumulation of, of course, the offering, because we all know at the end of the day it&#8217;s the business. But also, it&#8217;s definitely based on my feeling of how do I want to work creatively? Do I need a scenery change? Is the scenery change something where I can see myself stay for like forever?&#8221;
He added that he felt it was time to &#8220;breathe some new fresh air&#8221; rather than stay comfortable.
<h1>Betting On Himself &amp; Joining AEW</h1>
Walking away from WWE is a massive decision, but Dragunov explained that his journey through the independent scene taught him to trust his gut and take big risks:
&#8220;If you come from the indies, which is next to no money if you&#8217;re not a very big name, you struggle for years to make a living. You work a second job, you eat the dirt. Then you&#8217;ve got to have some faith. I always had faith in myself and one thing I never did was question my beliefs, and I never questioned to bet on myself&#8230; It requires guts, it requires courage, it requires to also deal with the possibility that things could not work out your way.&#8221;
Dragunov confirmed that once his deal expired, AEW was the only promotion he spoke with. Because his contract simply expired naturally, there was no non-compete clause, allowing him to sign right away. The only delay between his signing and his WrestleDream debut was waiting for his United States work visa to clear.

Spoiler On Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania 43 Match

Dragon Lee Signs New Contract With WWE

PAC’s Wife Called His Phone While Police Were Still Investigating His Death

Ilja Dragunov Reacts To Gunther’s Post-John Cena Retirement Booking

Roman Reigns Reveals The Dumbest Thing He Ever Bought

Ilja Dragunov Reacts To Fans Thinking Brock Lesnar Buried Him At Royal Rumble 2026

Ilja Dragunov Reveals Why He Turned Down WWE’s Offer