ESPN combat sports reporter Andreas Hale announced Saturday that WWE has denied his media credential for WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, barring him from covering the company’s flagship event for its own broadcast partner.
“I will not be covering WrestleMania for ESPN,” Hale wrote on X. “WWE denied my credentials and blocked my access. Neither I nor ESPN has been told why. You can speculate on the reasons, but if you want answers, ask WWE.”
The development comes seven months after Hale drew widespread attention for grading the company’s first premium live event on ESPN Unlimited a “C” in his editorial review. He has also reported on Janel Grant’s lawsuit.
POST Wrestling previously reported in March that ESPN stopped using letter grades in its WWE PLE reviews after objections from WWE, even as Hale’s UFC reviews continued to use the same grading format.
In addition to PLE reviews, Hale has covered the Janel Grant lawsuit against WWE and Vince McMahon for ESPN’s digital platform. He reported on the suit when it was first filed in January 2024 and published a follow-up on April 2, noting that WWE did not respond to his outreach for comment on that story.
At the time of publication, WWE had not responded to requests for comment from POST Wrestling. ESPN declined to comment.
In the United States, WrestleMania 42 is streaming on ESPN Unlimited as part of a five-year, $1.6 billion media rights deal that began last September.
The first hour of Saturday’s card will also air on ESPN2, with Sunday’s first hour on ESPN’s main channel.
Hale’s credential denial means that WWE’s primary broadcast partner will not have its lead digital wrestling reporter on site for its biggest event of the year.
Hale joined ESPN in 2024 as a combat sports reporter covering boxing, MMA and professional wrestling. He brought more than 20 years of experience as a journalist with previous stints at The Sporting News, DAZN, Sherdog and The Ring, among other outlets. He is also a regular host on SiriusXM’s Fight Nation.
When WWE’s deal with ESPN Unlimited launched last September, Hale reviewed the inaugural PLE, Wrestlepalooza, assigning it an overall grade of “C.” His review praised the Stephanie Vaquer vs. Iyo Sky match but found the rest of the card underwhelming, including the Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre main event and Brock Lesnar’s one-sided victory over John Cena.
Hale defended the review publicly, telling Jonathan Coachman’s “Off the Ropes” Sirius XM show: “I gave it a C, and it deserved a C. The bigger issue is that if we can’t be honest about how a show really is, then my journalistic credibility is at risk. My grades mean something.”
Hale went on to review the October Crown Jewel PLE, grading it a “B.” After that, letter grades disappeared from his WWE reviews entirely, though his UFC reviews, including as recently as UFC 327 last week, have continued to use the format without interruption.
As POST Wrestling reported on March 10, multiple sources familiar with the matter confirmed that ESPN removed the letter grades from its WWE reviews after WWE raised objections.
An ESPN source maintained at the time that the decision was ESPN’s alone, but declined to explain the reasoning or address whether WWE had taken issue with the grades. WWE did not respond to POST’s inquiries for that story either.
On a September 2025 media call, ESPN Senior Vice President John Lasker was asked whether the network’s reporters would maintain full independence in covering WWE. His answer was emphatic: “I think the answer to that is an emphatic ‘yes.'” Then-Vice President of Programming & Acquisitions Matt Kenny, who later moved to CBS Sports, agreed, calling it an “unequivocal ‘yes'” and invoking the principle of “separation of church and state.”
WWE talent have been widely featured on ESPN’s television platforms in the lead-up to WrestleMania, including appearances on shows such as ‘Get Up’ and ‘First Take.’ Those appearances, however, are largely promotional in nature and distinct from the journalistic access that ESPN’s digital editorial staff would typically use for original reporting and interviews.
One day before Hale’s announcement, he contributed to an ESPN.com WrestleMania 42 roundtable article alongside colleagues Marc Raimondi, Sach Chandan, Juliana Daddio and Joe Fortenbaugh, offering predictions and analysis for the event.
POST Wrestling will update readers if substantive comment is received from WWE or ESPN.
