Various: Brandi Rhodes on Why She Never Returned To The Ring After Training For Potential Return In 2022, Brett Lauderdale on What It Would Take To Bring Masha Slamovich Back To GCW, Orange Crush Announces New Lucha Fresca Promotion & To Be Sister Brand To PRODUCE Wrestling

Sep 1, 2026

Brandi Rhodes Comments on Why She Never Returned To The Ring After Training For Potential Return In 2022

Former AEW wrestler and WWE ring announcer Brandi Rhodes has been mostly absent from wrestling since her departure from AEW in February of 2022. During her time away from her in-ring wrestling career, Rhodes had visited WWE’s Performance Center for some training in the summer of 2022 for a potential in-ring return that ended up not happening.

Rhodes recently released a new episode of the Shot of Brandi show on her official YouTube channel. One of the topics discussed included Rhodes’ thoughts about her reasons why she decided against returning to the ring.

“I wanted to come back fully, in full swing, because I had Liberty and I felt like I was ready to be back wrestling full-time. I went to the PC. They had me there for two weeks. Here’s what happened: I had a great time, and I enjoyed it so much and worked a lot with Norman, Fit, and a lot of girls who are on right now. Every time I stepped out of the ring, my daughter was crying and holding onto me. It was very hard. So, I did not do the follow-up that I should have to get in the ring. I felt like I didn’t think I could do it. I don’t think I can live on a bus with this kid needing me 24/7 when I’m hurt. They don’t reach for dad, they reach for mom.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Brett Lauderdale Comments on What It Would Take To Bring Masha Slamovich Back To GCW

As noted before, Masha Slamovich was accused of committing domestic abuse against her by her former partner and current indies wrestler AKIRA in September of 2025. Slamovich departed from TNA in December of 2025 due to her contract had expired following an internal investigation by TNA into the allegations. Slamovich wrestled in her first match since the allegations against her were made public for an indie event for Circle 6 this past January.

A recent episode of The Business of the Business podcast featured Game Changer Wrestling owner Brett Lauderdale as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Lauderdale’s thoughts about what it would take to bring Slamovich back to GCW.

“I have seen her. I saw her once over the summer, and I’ve exchanged messages. No lengthy conversation or anything like that but we’ve exchanged just a ‘hey. Hope you’re doing well,’ so on and so forth. Just very brief check-ins. Yes, I did consider Masha (Slamovich) to be a friend and I still do. But, whatever happened with her… I think there’s obviously work to be done and it’s kind of bigger than me, in terms of bringing her back and I hope that there is a way someday for that to happen, and I think she’s doing a lot of the right things and building that bridge but again, I think just like with Drake (Wuertz), I think there’s a process that probably has to play out… I’m not really the right one to determine what that process is but, obviously the first step for her is trying to get out there and rebuild relationships and I don’t know, it’s a tough situation because there’s allegations made that, again, they go beyond just words. I don’t know what that road is but… I feel like I know the real Masha, and I know there’s a good person in there and a good heart so, I don’t know how she builds that bridge to getting back into the mainstream indie wrestling scene but, if and when that occurs, I hope I do get a chance to work with her again one day.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Orange Crush Announces New Lucha Fresca Promotion & To Be Sister Brand To PRODUCE Wrestling

Orange Crush announced that they have recently partnered with Lucha Libre Promotions for the launch of a new wrestling promotion called Lucha Fresca.

It was announced that this new promotion will be a sister brand for Orange Crush’s PRODUCE Wrestling.

It was also announced that the debut event for Lucha Fresca will be taking place on September 18 in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Official press release:

ORANGE CRUSH AND LUCHA LIBRE PROMOTIONS ANNOUNCE ‘LUCHA FRESCA’
New High-Flying Promotion Makes Its Official Debut September 18 at La Fortaleza in Poughkeepsie
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — Orange Crush and Lucha Libre Promotions have officially joined forces to form LUCHA FRESCA, a new sister brand to PRODUCE Wrestling. Designed to fuse high-flying lucha libre tradition with modern, high end professional wrestling, Lucha Fresca will host its inaugural live event on Friday, September 18 at 8:00 PM at La Fortaleza in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Lucha Fresca represents a new era of live wrestling in the New York area and beyond, bringing together authentic luchadores, television personalities, and standout independent talent for an unmissable premiere showcase.
The debut Lucha Fresca card features five scheduled matches:
Main Event — 2-out-of-3 Falls Match: Bendito vs. Rey Horus
Special Attraction Match: Frightmare vs. El Tum Tum
David vs Goliath: Tiny Giant vs. AEW’s 10
Trios Match : Azriael, Angel Aviles & Calavarita vs. Mateo Marcelos, Eden & Tarzan Duran
Women’s Division Match: Vanilla Vargas vs. Emersyn Jayne
Last month, PRODUCE brought such stars as Mìstico, Hechicero, Persephone, Skadi, Black Tiger IX, and Rocky Romero to New York for their critically acclaimed event PRODUCE: Volume 3 – Azùcar.
Tickets for the inaugural Lucha Fresca event will be available for purchase on Monday, August 31st at 12 PM and at the door on the night of the show. Doors open prior to the 8:00 PM bell time.