WWE

Ric Flair has a message for all you Cavs fans fretting over that Game 1 beatdown the Pacers put on you ... CHILLLLLLL ... 'cause Nature Boy says LeBron James and the Cavs will win on Wednesday.

As long as LBJ goes for 40.

We got Ric -- a huge Cavs fan and the man LeBron credits with keeping him off the street as a kid -- out in NYC ... and asked if Cleveland is in trouble after the Pacers took it to them in Game 1.

"LeBron, you gotta do 40 tomorrow night, man."

Ex-WWE superstar Vader is doing so well after his open-heart surgery in March, he's showing off the scar ... and even cracking jokes about it!

Vader -- real name Leon White -- had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure back in 2016 and said doctors told him he only had two years to live.

Well, here we are ... two years later and Vader is still kicking!

"They had me but I KICKED out 2," Vader said on social media over the weekend.

And when posting the photo of his surgery scar, he joked ... "The surgeon confessed he had A few to many that's why the scar is off centerer I OWE THAT MAN MY LIFE THANK U JESUS."

Vader's good friend, Mick Foley, has also weighed in ... saying, "NOW THAT’S A SCAR! Very best wishes for a speedy recovery to @itsvadertime following open heart surgery."

CM Punk will NEVER step foot inside the Octagon again after he gets embarrassed at UFC 225 -- so says the fighter who's planning on embarrassing him.

We spoke with Mike "The Truth" Jackson now that Punk vs. Truth is official ... and he told us he's gonna show the world the ex-WWE superstar doesn't belong in MMA.

"I'm just going in here to beat him up a little bit and show him it's not for him," Jackson told TMZ Sports.

That said, Mike's backtracking on his violent threats from last month ... saying he really doesn't wanna hurt the guy.

As for why he thinks he got the call to fight Punk -- "If you bring in someone else ... it's not gonna get this type of buzz. It's getting this type of buzz because of me."

"This is a storyline not even Vince McMahon could write."

Really, bro?

Brooke Hogan says Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson getting through TT's cheating scandal is gonna be hell on earth ... but NOT 'cause of Khloe's reality show!

Brooke is a huge reality TV star herself (she's starring in MTV's "The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars") -- so we asked Hulk's daughter if "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" reportedly airing out Khloe and Tristan's dirty laundry is a bad call.

Hogan told us the show might actually HELP by humanizing their situation ... and said a bigger issue is Thompson's jam-packed NBA playoff schedule.

"It's gonna be hell for Khloe ... a guy that travels is hard."

"My mom dealt with it, I've dealt with it ... it's definitely not easy especially after a cheating thing," Brooke told the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1).

In other words -- with Tristan gone from Cleveland half the time, it ain't gonna be easy to make things right with KK.

2:00 PM PT -- WWE has announced that Rusev will be replaced by Chris Jericho in the Casket Match vs. The Undertaker ... after Lana voiced a complaint.

"I’ve already spoke with WWE officials to change that match because I REFUSE to let my husband compete in a Casket Match," Lana wrote on social media.

Rusev added -- "Life is life ... it will be Rusev Day somewhere."

Unclear if this is a work or if an actual issue prompted Rusev's removal from the event.

Stay tuned ...

The Undertaker just smashed John Cena at WrestleMania, but his next opponent -- and his smokin' hot wife -- say he's gonna make the Deadman REST ... IN ... PEACE.

We got superstars Rusev and Lana just hours after WWE announced Undertaker vs. Rusev at their Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia ... and the power couple told us Taker's about to take his last ride in the ring.

"Undertaker is a little bit in the past," Rusev told TMZ Sports at The Henry in WeHo. "I'll beat him so bad it may be his last fight."

Lana chimed in -- "You're gonna obviously crush him. He's stronger and faster and better."

Rusev admits Undertaker's one of the GOATs, and has home-field advantage for their CASKET MATCH ... but says he ain't sweatin' it since "Rusev Day" is equally legendary.

We dunno, bro ... looks pretty intense.

Jeff Jarrett says he had an unforgettable "WrestleMania moment" before his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame -- and it had everything to do with his real-life rival, Vince McMahon.

Double J tells TMZ Sports he was preppin' for his big speech when -- for the first time in almost 20 YEARS -- he came face to face with the WWE honcho ... and buried the hatchet on their heated feud.

"For me to connect with him on the stage where I got to do the speech -- it was surreal," Jarrett said.

"It was quick, but a real special conversation ... a real personal conversation we had."

As for the ceremony itself -- Double J tells us why being able to thank US was the biggest honor of all.

Ain't he great?

WWE superstar Mojo Rawley reached back like a pimp and slapped the ever-loving crap out of a dumbass in a duck mask in a New Orleans bar ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

It all went down early Monday morning on Bourbon Street after Wrestlemania 34 ... when some goofy (probably drunk) WWE fans approached Mojo and started messin' around.

Unclear what triggered the chest slap ... but it's pretty obvious the dude in the duck mask asked Mojo for the chop and Rawley obliged.

And yeah, the duck mask dude definitely hurled a homophobic slur during the incident.

Andre the Giant was a booze-swillin' LEGEND -- so says WWE Hall of Famer "Mean" Gene Okerlund, who tells TMZ Sports there were times he tried matching the Giant drink-for-drink!

Yeah ... you can guess how that turned out.

We spoke to Mean Gene before the "Andre the Giant" doc premieres Tuesday night on HBO ... and he told us some fun facts about his larger than life friend.

Turns out, Andre was a serious fine-dining nut -- especially for delicacies like animal hearts, kidneys and tongues. Gene also told us the Giant was one of the most honest human beings he's ever met.

But, the best part was when Gene revealed he went on a few benders with Andre -- and ended up getting WASTED.

"I did try to stand toe-to-toe with him on a couple of occasions, and trust me, I got bent," Okerlund said.

Ronda Rousey gave everything she had in her impressive WrestleMania debut -- and now, she's so wiped out, she can barely stand up straight.

The WWE superstar arrived to LAX early Tuesday morning -- where our photog was heaping praise for her insanely athletic and dominant performance against Steph McMahon and Triple H.

Of course, Ronda also killed it on 'RAW' on Monday night -- putting Steph in another armbar. Two great performances, two nights in a row.

"I tried my best," Ronda told us while noting she hasn't slept in 2 days.

"I don't even know my last name right now, I think."

Things got very real for Ronda Rousey during a session with Tyler Henry -- when the "Hollywood Medium" made a connection with her father ... who took his own life when she was only 8-years-old.

Henry -- a self-described "clairvoyant medium" -- told Ronda he was seeing imagery connected with a a vehicle and someone's final moments.

Ronda instantly become emotional and revealed that her father took his own life inside of a car after suffering from a debilitating medical condition for years.

The UFC legend (turned WWE superstar) began recalling memories of her father and started to tear up during the episode which airs Wednesday on E!.

Ronda Rousey shut up all her haters in a BIG way at WrestleMania 34 -- so says one of the top women's wrestlers of the past decade.

Eve Torres Gracie -- a 3-time WWE Divas champ -- says winning over pro wrestling fans is the hardest part of the business. But when the spotlight was on, Rowdy delivered -- layin' the smackdown on Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in what many are calling the night's #1 match!

"She killed it ... she blew everyone away," Eve told the guys on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) ... "Legendary performance."

Fun fact: Eve's been friends with Ronda for years -- Torres' husband, Rener Gracie, coached Rousey up in jiu-jitsu -- and knowing her as well as she does, told us why all the question marks only fueled her epic debut.

Brock Lesnar went full MMA beast mode on Roman Reigns Sunday night at WrestleMania 34 ... raining elbows on his dome and leaving him a leaking, bloody mess!!

We know what you're thinking ... it's all fake, right?

Well, a lot of fans are convinced Brock's hell-bows REALLY sliced Roman's skull ... but even if Reigns snuck in a cut himself, the whole thing was super gnarly.

The Big Dog immediately started gushing like a fountain ... turning the WWE ring into "The Shining" in a matter of seconds.

Wouldn't have been the first time Brock went a little overboard. Back in 2016, he left Randy Orton in a pool of his own blood at SummerSlam -- hitting him with a shot that needed 10 STAPLES to close!

For Roman's sake, we hope this was all part of the script.

The biggest wrestling stars in the world are gearing up for Sunday's epic WrestleMania 34 ... which is goin' down in the Big Easy.

Check out the pics ... Ronda Rousey,The Miz, The Bella Twins, Roman Reigns, Shane McMahon, Jeff Hardy, Stephanie McMahon, Tom Hardy, Michelle McCool, and a bunch of other WWE wrestlers strutted the streets of New Orleans Saturday.

The big stars put on their Sunday best -- at least some of them -- for wrestling's biggest event of the year -- Wrestlemania 34.

The big names came out in force Friday for the 2018 Hall of Fame ceremony in New Orleans.

John Cena and Nikki Bella were all gussied up ... joined by Michelle McCool, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Booker T.

Bill Goldberg was inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with Ivory, Jeff Jerrett, The Dudley Boyz, Hillbilly Jim and Mark Henry. Kid Rock, who's been involved with the WWE for 2 decades, was also inducted into the celebrity wing of the Hall of Fame.

Note: Being a huge rapper is an amazing thing.

Just ask rap superstar Wale, who's a gigantic WWE fan -- and proved it by partying with the whole damn organization down in New Orleans Thursday night.

Of course, it's Wrestlemania weekend -- and Wale (whose new single "Negotiations" dropped Friday) had celebrated in the Crescent City with an event called "WaleMania."

If you were wondering who came out -- the answer is EVERYONE. Mojo Rawley, Alicia Foxx, and Rob Van Dam (decked out in rapper Westside Gunn's chain) all showed up to turn up with Wale.

Look at that ... rappers, wrestlers and fans all together, and absolutely ZERO chairs (or dollies) thrown.