Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre are two of the top examples of stars who have managed to break the barriers of WWE in recent times and finally reach their full potential and The Miz has an interesting name who he believes will be the next to do the same.
The former World Champion recently had an interview with Kliq Pro Wrestling Podcast, where he talked about things like his reality show Miz and Mrs, the possibility of making changes to his current schedule and more.
During the interview, The Miz also talked about the recent WWE return of his former tag team partner John Morrison and the A-Lister predicted that the former Impact World Champion will be the next break out star in WWE:
“He’s an immense talent, and I think he’s the next big superstar to break out. I think he’s going to be a Universal Champion or WWE Champion. I think he deserves to be one because he has that much talent to be one.”
The Miz also explained that he did not persuade John to come back to the promotion and it was Morrison who wanted to return. However, he did help the former champion as much as possible because they are best friends.
WWE confirmed the reports of John Morrison’s re-signing in December last year and he made his return to WWE programming in early January. The former TNA star has since reunited with his partner the Miz and the two even won the SmackDown Tag Team Titles in February.
While the company hasn’t made an official announcement regarding the same, latest reports suggest that AEW has released three wrestlers from their roster.
According to reports from Wrestling Observer, the promotion has parted ways with three wrestlers including Jimmy Havoc, Bea Priestley, and Sadie Gibbs.
Havoc was last seen on the AEW TV back in May before he was accused of sexual assault as part of the #SpeakingOut movement in June.
The company had responded to these allegations by announcing that the British star will be undergoing treatment for mental health and substance abuse issues. The officials had promised to evaluate Jimmy’s position with the promotion upon the completion of his rehabilitation
Priestley who turned down a WWE contract to sign with AEW was last seen in the promotion in March. It was reported that the female star had trouble getting into the country due to the restrictions put in place after coronavirus outbreak.
Sadie Gibbs, on the other hand, hasn’t been seen on AEW programming this year. Her last match for the company was a tag team bout during AEW Dark.
The company has been removing the names of the released stars from their website one by one and it’s possible that more names will be added to this list in coming times. We’ll keep you posted on any further updates on the matter.
AEW Dynamite has extended its winning streak over WWE NXT. Viewership was down for both shows this week, but AEW outdrew NXT by 173,000 viewers and doubled NXT on the Adults 18-49 demographic.
Here is this week’s breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
AEW: 792,000 viewers, 0.32 rating (9th on cable for the night)
NXT: 619,000 viewers, 0.16 rating (65th on cable for the night)
For comparison, Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.72 million viewers with a 0.47 demo. Once again, AEW and NXT (combined) topped Raw in the key demo.
AEW viewership dropped 12% from 901,000 last week. Dynamite saw Cody retaining the TNT Championship against Scorpio Sky, Orange Cassidy defeating Chris Jericho in the main event, special appearances from The Rock ‘n Roll Express, Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard for Tag Team Appreciation night and much more. (Results & Takeaways)
NXT viewership was down nearly 18% from last week’s 753,000. Top matches included Karrion Kross vs. Danny Burch, Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest and Cameron Grimes vs. Kushida and the returning Velveteen Dream in the main event. (Results & Takeaways)
WWE is expected to announce the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida as the SummerSlam location soon.
Multiple sources are reporting that WWE is planning to host SummerSlam at the Amway Center, and that no fans will be allowed in the venue. Orlando reporter Jon Alba adds that WWE is looking at the Amway Center for other upcoming events and TV tapings.
While no fans will be allowed into the venue for SummerSlam, PWInsider reports that WWE is looking at possibly using virtual fans for the crowd. FOX has used virtual fans for recent Major League Baseball broadcasts in the COVID-19 era. Any crowd members for SummerSlam will be contracted WWE talents, as we’ve seen with the recent TV events filmed at the WWE Performance Center.
Regarding the Amway Center, the arena is currently “closed” until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but WWE apparently just recently worked out a deal with venue officials. It was speculated that WWE may eventually bring fans into the venue because the large size of the arena makes it possible to practice safe social distancing.
The 2020 WWE SummerSlam will air live on Sunday, August 23rd.
Per a source: #WWE is not just exploring #SummerSlam at Amway Center in Orlando, but also utilizing the facility going forward for other events.
As I noted below, the arena is currently "closed" until next year, which would seemingly mean nothing is on the docket. https://t.co/vwkfPP09c8
If #WWE could secure some sort of lease at Amway Center, it's not out of the realm to suggest limited fans could eventually return to the tapings given how big the arena is. Plenty of room to social distance. #AEW has been running with some invited guests, distanced.
WWE Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles will reportedly defend the title against Jeff Hardy at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view.
WWE has not announced Hardy vs. Styles as of this writing, but PWInsider reports that this was the planned direction for the SmackDown episode that is taping in Orlando today at the Performance Center. This is the episode that will air tomorrow night on FOX.
This would be the first we’ve seen of the Hardy vs. Styles feud on SmackDown. Hardy wrapped his feud with Sheamus a few weeks ago, and Styles has successfully defend the title over Drew Gulak, Matt Riddle and Gran Metalik in recent weeks.
Below is the current line-up for the 2020 SummerSlam pay-per-view, which will air live on August 23rd:
– WWE United States Champion Apollo Crews defends against MVP
– RAW Tag Team Champions The Street Profits defend against Andrade & Angel Garza
– RAW Women’s Champion Sasha Banks defends against Asuka
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defends against the winner of the Tri-Brand Battle Royal on SmackDown
– WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman defends against “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
– Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio (Mysterio will be allowed to use weapons)
– WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defends against Randy Orton
IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team Champion and former TNA Champion Chris Sabin recently appeared on the Chris Van Vliet show.
Chris Sabin is one of the names synonymous with TNA’s X Division, with the former X Division Champion having appeared in the most amount of ‘Ultimate X’ matches in company history. Ultimate X would become the crown jewel of the division, with Sabin having appeared in 17 matches and winning 8.
Chris Sabin on Ultimate X
“I don’t think you can” Chris Sabin would reply, when asked how he would prepare for the Ultimate X match. “I remember the first Ultimate X match we did? They [the company] weren’t even prepared.” The first Ultimate X match took place on August 20, 2003 and saw Sabin face Michael Shane (Matt Bentley) and Frankie Kazarian.
“They put these posts…like they hadn’t had the structure set up yet” Sabin would continue. “So we went there the day before just to like see the structure, climb up on it. Make sure see how sturdy it is, just to get a feel for it. And I remember when they had recently put these posts in the corner posts, like just these long poles and they had two cables going across.”
Chris Sabin would elaborate further, saying “I remember Frankie [Kazarian] climbed up and grabbed down in the middle and tried to hang on it. And then those posts? They just kind of bent in, like, ‘oh no what are we going to do!?’ So they were scrambling to figure out a way to build a structure because they had this match advertised!”
“And then, what they finally ended up doing was using like the light trusses. They used straps to strap it to the ring posts and that ended up being strong enough” Sabin continued.
“So we didn’t even have any experience with it, we didn’t even get to climb on the structure at all, get a feel for it at all. Basically when the match happened? That was the first time we were climbing on that thing so we were just kind of hoping that this thing stays together!”
Indie content is coming to the WWE Network this weekend.
WWE announced today that shows from EVOLVE, PROGRESS, wXw and ICW will premiere on the WWE Network this Saturday, August 15th. These are shows that have already taken place over the past few years.
WWE recently purchased the EVOLVE promotion and tape library, and content from that promotion includes The Best Of Keith Lee In EVOLVE and The Best Of Drew McIntyre In EVOLVE. wXw’s Femme Fatales 2019 and AMBITION 11 events will be available. Shug’s Hoose Party 5 – Night 2 will be available from ICW, and Chapter 92 will be available from PROGRESS Wrestling.
WWE pushed that the wXw content will feature current Superstars such as Timothy Thatcher and WALTER, while Chapter 92 from PROGRESS featured names like Toni Storm, Pete Dunne, and Ilja Dragunov, among others. WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett is featured on Night 2 of Shug’s Hoose Party 5.
It’s been rumored that WWE planned to introduce outside content to the WWE Network for the past two years, and now the additions have been confirmed for this weekend. It’s likely that the non-WWE libraries will be updated in the future.
Major League Wrestling has inked a deal with the Fubo Sports Network to air episodes of Fusion. The show will air at 10 PM EST on Thursday nights. A replay of the previous week’s show will air at 9 PM the same night.
Fubo is a free live streaming sports station. It can be streamed through Roku, Pluto TV, TV Plus, Xumo, Vizio and on their official website here.
“At a time when sports are in high demand we’re thrilled to add Major League Wrestling to our lineup on fubo Sports Network,” said Ben Grad, head of content strategy and acquisition for fuboTV. “MLW features some of the best quality fighting out there, and consumers will be able to watch it all for free on fubo Sports Network.
“We are proud to partner with fubo, given their emerging position in sports and broadcasting,” said MLW’s Court Bauer. “We are excited about our future with fubo as we further the reach and popularity of the league with this partnership.”
“I’ve been very encouraged by how the UFC, NBA, the NHL, Top Rank Boxing and DAZN Match Room boxing have managed operations as they restart,” said Bauer. “We’re also seeing TV and film start back up in certain regions in a cautious manner and that’s the mindset you need to operate with during this moment in time: caution.”
In storyline, MLW has been shutdown due to a hostile takeover by Contra Unit.
Former WCW President and WWE Executive Director of SmackDown Eric Bischoff recently appeared on AEW Dynamite. ‘Easy E’ appeared in a segment with Orange Cassidy and former AEW ‘Le Champion’ Chris Jericho.
One of the more interesting aspects of this week’s 83 Weeks podcast was Bischoff’s take on the ‘non-scripted’ elements of AEW programming. Eric Bischoff discussed on the podcast about how the concept is ‘progressive’ in an era of heavily scripted to a minutia WWE programming.
Eric Bischoff on AEW Promos
“It’s like ‘wow this is a really progressive way to go about this'” Bischoff began, discussing the promo styling of AEW. “Let’s not have writers. Because we’ve all been, conditioned now over the last how many years to talk about creative and writers from the perspective of almost a traditional television show. Or a traditional scripted television show.”
Bischoff would elaborate further, discussing how WWE have completely changed the production and scripting style of a ‘pro wrestling’ show. In the past, WWE would have a minimal amount of talent writing the show (McMahon, Patterson, Prichard, Russo et al). Whereas over the past decade they’ve introduced a slew of writers to the television format.
“We’ve got producers, we’ve got writers, we’ve got directors now. Not that they didn’t exist before, but in wrestling we call them different things. But the process for professional wrestling has evolved/changed. Evolved or devolved, depending on your perspective, to the point where everything has become so scripted that we expect that’s the way it’s going to be. But now AEW is approaching it differently.”
‘Conceptualizing’ The Show
Bischoff would also discuss how AEW ‘conceptualizes’ the product, giving their talent freedom structure promos and interviews in their ‘own’ way. “They’re spending the week writing the show or conceptualizing the show. I don’t even want to say writing it because they’re probably putting it together differently than obviously a WWE would; in terms of reducing everything to paper and approving every little comment period and quotation mark. All those other silly things that people waste time on…in some places.”
“But here you know it’s a collaboration” Bischoff continued. “And they probably, I’m guessing, I didn’t talk to Cody about this, so I have no insight at all. But I’m guessing? They’ve got a pretty good outline and blueprint of what they want to do for the show, because you have to plan, you have to ‘time’ your show.”
Do you feel that the promo styling in AEW is greater than WWE’s currently? Let us know in the comments
AEW Dynamite aired from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Cody put the TNT Championship on the line against Scorpio Sky and Chris Jericho battled Orange Cassidy in a $7K Obligation Match. Best Friends and Inner Circle were banned from ringside.
Dynamite Results (8/12)
Young Bucks def. Grayson & Evil Uno
Cody def. Scorpio Sky to retain the TNT Championship
Hangman Page & Kenny Omega def. Jurassic Express to retain the AEW Tag Titles
Hikaru Shida def. Heather Monroe
Orange Cassidy def. Chris Jericho
Here are 6 takeaways from this week’s show:
Young Bucks Picked Up A Win
Grayson and Evil Uno squared off against The Young Bucks to start off the show. During Matt and Nick’s entrance, Dark Order attacked them from behind on the ramp.
Match Recap: Evil Uno isolated Nick Jackson in the corner as members of Dark Order made their way ringside. Matt Jackson flipped onto the members of Dark Order but turned around into a Suicide Dive from Grayson.
Back in the ring, Uno slammed Nick into the turnbuckle and tagged in Stu. Nick finally escaped and tagged in Matt Jackson. Matt hit a Crossbody and followed it up with a Clothesline. Nick quickly tagged back in and hit Stu with a chop and then a Splash.
Nick connected in an Arm Drag and tagged Matt back in. Evil Uno tagged in and planted Matt with a German Suplex for a near fall. Grayson tagged back in and hit Matt with a Splash on the ring apron.
Dark Order surrounded Matt but he escaped under the ring and to the other side. Evil Uno hit Matt with a Cutter but Matt responded with a Spear. Evil Uno leveled Matt with a boot to the face and lifted him up in the Electric Chair. Matt countered into a reverse Hurricanrana and tagged in Nick.
Nick hit Uno with a Facebuster and then hit Stu with a Superkick outside the ring. Young Bucks hit Risky Business on Evil Uno for a near fall. Nick hit Evil Uno with a Swanton and Matt went for the cover but Uno got his foot on the ropes to break it up.
Grayson and Evil Uno batted back and knocked Matt out of the ring. Uno hit Nick with a Brainbuster and went for the cover but Nick broke it up. Grayson brought Matt up the ramp and threw him down the tunnel. Dark Order then stood in front of the tunnel entrance to keep Matt from returning to the ring. Nick rolled up Evil Uno for the pinfall victory as Grayson was too late to break it up.
MJF continued his campaign to become the next AEW Champion during tonight’s Dynamite. MJF demanded that his secretary Nina smile and show some polling numbers. MJF was the projection winner at 500% and Moxley was at -1000%.
He said that today is the day that everyone’s belief in Dictator Jon dies because he isn’t here tonight. MJF claimed that Moxley isn’t here because he is afraid of him and change. MJF added that Moxley isn’t used to dealing with someone that is better than him and won’t happily look up at the lights for him.
MJF laid down in the middle of the ring and said that this great company deserves quality leadership and Moxley is not a leader. MJF called Moxley a rabid dog chasing cars and he has caught the finest car on earth, the AEW Championship.
He suggested that it was time to fork the keys over to a real leader because everyone knows that we deserve better. Moxley’s theme hit and MJF directed his security team to the openings in the crowd.
Moxley came right down the main entrance way and leveled MJF with a Clothesline from behind. Jon followed it up with a massive Paradigm Shift as the crowd chanted “Moxley!”. Jon knocked over the podium and made his way backstage. Jon grabbed a microphone and told MJF that doesn’t make them even and they won’t be even until All Out. Moxley vowed to teach MJF a very painful lesson at the PPV.
Cameron Grimes def. The Velveteen Dream and KUSHIDA to advance to the NXT North American Championship Ladder Match
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Adam Cole Wasn’t Happy
Killian Dain vs. Drake Maverick, the second match on the card, didn’t have a finish. Instead, The Undisputed Era came down to the ring and beat them down. Adam Cole got on the microphone to cut a promo on Pat McAfee as they’re just over a week from their match at NXT TakeOver: XXX.
Cole said that Pat isn’t welcomed in their world and just wants to play wrestler. He said that Pat runs his mouth on social media, but Pat kicked him when he had his hands behind his back. He reminded Pat that he is the longest-reigning NXT Champion of all-time. He said that at TakeOver, Pat is stepping into the ring with that guy.
He dared Pat to show up to NXT next week and if he has the guts then get into the ring so he can look Pat in the eyes and let him know that he’s going to whoop him at TakeOver. He said at that moment, Pat will know that he’s in over his head.
Karrion Kross returned to the ring to face Danny Burch. This was booked and perceived to be a squash match. It turns out that was exactly what it was supposed to be.
It served as the opening contest. Kross ended the match with the cross jacket submission hold.
After the match, Keith Lee walked down to the ring with a contract in hand. Kross and Scarlett walked out of the ring. Lee said that the blame is on Kross and called him a b*tch for not coming at him first.
Lee said that he pleaded with William Regal with the promise that he wouldn’t touch Kross if he got a match at TakeOver. Regal signed it, Lee signed, and now Kross signed. The match is official for NXT TakeOver: XXX. Scarlett kissed the contract and slid it into the ring.
Lee opened the folder and a fireball shot out of it going right into the face of Lee. He was helped to the backstage area.
Jeff Cobb is still a free agent, but that might be changing soon.
Cobb teased a major promotion announcing his signing during an appearance on Wrestling Inc. Daily.
“Well, technically I’m a free agent until whatever group announces that I signed. I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I was going to make a decision but then this craziness kind of happened. So kind of just laying low until the company announces it, and then we’ll go from there.
I want the company to do it so the company will get the recognition. I’d rather them do it that way so they can get the spotlight instead of me, and I’ll go from there.”
Cobb’s contract with ROH expired back in January. A few months ago, he made it known to ROH officials that he wanted to stay and work with ROH, but was enjoying his time as a free agent.
Back on the February 12th episode of AEW Dynamite, Cobb made a surprise appearance by attacking Jon Moxley. The following week, Moxley beat Cobb in a singles match. He hasn’t been seen since then on AEW TV.
He is currently competing as part of NJPW Strong in the New Japan Cup for the opportunity to challenge for the IWGP United States Championship.
Keith Lee vs. Karrion Kross has been announced for the upcoming WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX.
After weeks of teasing it happening, WWE made it official during Wednesday’s episode of NXT. After Kross had beaten Danny Burch, Lee came out to the ring with a contract in hand. After Kross had signed it, Scarlett kissed it and when Lee opened the folder, a fireball hit him in the face.
Once Lee won the title from Adam Cole, Kross had set his sights on Lee because he wanted the championship. Last month, Kross beat Dominik Dijakovic, who is the good friend yet better enemy of the NXT Champion. He gave him such a beating that Dijakovic hasn’t been seen since.
Although NXT General Manager William Regal stated that Kross had to earn the title match, that has clearly changed.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver XXX event on Saturday, August 22, 2020 in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
Updated WWE NXT TakeOver XXX Card
WWE NXT Champion Keith Lee vs. Karrion Kross
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Dakota Kai
Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. TBA vs. TBA vs. TBA – Ladder Match to crown new NXT North American Champion
It appears Vince McMahon won’t get what he wanted, which was to have fans in attendance for this year’s WWE SummerSlam.
It had been reported that WWE was looking into holding the show at an outdoor location with the idea of having some fans in attendance. At one point, there was talk holding the show on a beach or a ship or at a location in the northeast.
WWE has yet to confirm where the event will take place after announcing that it had nixed its original plans to hold it in Boston at the TD Garden Arena.
On Wednesday, WrestleVotes first reported that the event will not have fans in attendance, but wasn’t sure the exact location for the event.
Meanwhile, PWinsider.com reported that “any WWE plans to tape content for Summerslam in Atlantic City have been dropped.” Instead, the report states the show will be held in Florida.
WWE presents the SummerSlam pay-per-view event on Sunday, August 23, 2020 that will air on the WWE Network. Although the full card hasn’t been revealed yet, some of the top matches have been made official.
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton represents the main event of the Raw brand while WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt is the top match featured on the Friday Night SmackDown side.
The AEW TNT Championship belt design is finally complete.
AEW crowned the first TNT Champion at Double or Nothing in May. Cody Rhodes defeated Lance Archer in the finals of the TNT Championship tournament.
Boxing legend “Iron” Mike Tyson was on hand to present Cody the belt. AEW announced at the time that thee belt was incomplete. Production on the prestigious award was halted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cody with the AEW TNT Championship (Photo: AEW)
After winning the TNT Championship, Cody announced a weekly open challenge competition for anybody to step up and see if they can take the prize from him. We have seen wrestlers from AEW and outside the company try their best. Cody has memorable battles with Jungle Boy, Sonny Kiss, Eddie Kingston and Warhorse.
As of this writing, he is still champion. Cody Rhodes defends the AEW TNT Championship against Scorpio Sky this week on Dynamite.
Discussion: What do you think of the AEW TNT Championship Final Design?
John Cena hasn’t been on WWE television since WrestleMania 36 where he took part in the Firefly Fun House match against Bray Wyatt. It was a trip down memory lane for Cena.
It wasn’t a normal match, but rather a series of segments where he went through all of his old gimmicks.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Cena commented on the end of the match, which apparently saw Wyatt win, but it was never confirmed.
“It left a lot of questions,” said Cena. “It wasn’t just single-serving, it is something you can go back and watch and enjoy. Those are some of the best efforts. Bray is obviously doing a great job, Seth Rollins has done an unbelievable job of adapting to a crowdless environment.”
One of the more interesting aspects of the match came when Wyatt dressed up as Eric Bischoff and Cena dressed in NWO gear while acting like Hulk Hogan.
The finish saw Wyatt hit Sister Abigail to Cena then choked him out with the Mandible Claw to end the match.
Since that time, Wyatt has been put back into the Universal Title picture and will challenge Braun Strowman for the title at SummerSlam.
AEW’s Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes spoke with TV Insider this week and said she recently left Twitter because she has more important things to focus on.
Rhodes made the news and social media chatter last week after she deactivated her Twitter account following fan criticism over the AEW “Heels” online community for female fans. The speculation was that Rhodes, who was regularly active on Twitter, deleted her page because the negative feedback was too much.
Rhodes told Scott Fishman of TV Insider that she’s now focusing on AEW’s “Deadly Draw” tag team tournament for the women’s division, and the “Heels” project.
“I just think that right now there are other things that need my attention a lot more,” Rhodes said of leaving Twitter. “I’m focusing on ‘Heels,’ which Friday we had our first members based event. It was extremely successful. It’s nice to come together in a community of women that really appreciated it and enjoyed it. We had a really great time on Friday night. It was nice to put my energy into that.
“My energy is also going into the ‘Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament’…It has been a really nice weekend to put all my time and energy into what I want to be focusing on right now.”
Tonight is @AEW_Heels first official event! Sign up and hang out with us at exclusive events.
We've got lots of stuff in store tonight, including a Q&A with yours truly!
— Aubrey Edwards – AEW Referee (@RefAubrey) August 7, 2020
Rhodes directly addressed the feedback to “Heels” and said the plans are already laid out for the project for the next year, and she believes word of mouth will be the best thing for it. She touted last Friday’s event for members, calling it a success.
“I think the word of mouth on ‘Heels’ is going to be the best thing for it,” she said. “After the event on Friday the word about it was positive. There was not a single person of the two hundred and change people who showed up that said I did not get what I expected or asked for…We want to keep the women excited and looking forward to different things. The plans are very much laid out for ‘Heels.’ We’ve got a course of action for an entire year here.
“That course of action can change a little bit as the conditions of the world improves, but I think for now we’ve got plenty of events and virtual meet-and-greets and contests and cool things for these women. Not just monthly, but weekly…It’s a cool thing to talk to each other and motivate each other and share their slices of life and just have fun, which is so much of what is missing in life. These are trying times with current events. If ‘Heels’ can be the bright light at the end of the tunnel for them, we’re happy to do whatever it takes to make it that.”
Rhodes also talked about how money isn’t the most important thing when it comes to the “Heels” project. She said “Heels” is not intended to be “super profitable” for the company.
“Another thing for people to know out of the gate is that ‘Heels’ is not ever going to be something I look to as a super profitable thing,” she said. “It’s not intended to be. It’s intended to be something they can count on and grow with and learn with and get something out of.
“In order to run a multi-faceted platform like that, it costs money. It’s not cheap by any means. This is not going to be a huge cash grab for AEW. But it’s something fans will love and appreciate, so it’s worth all the work and effort. Not everything is about a dollar. Some things are about what’s right.”
Last week on Dynamite, Sammy Guevara chucked a chair at Matt Hardy. The end result was a deep laceration to the 45-year-old’s head. Hardy posted a video to Twitter recently to talk about the incident.
“You ever have those moments in life where it seems like time stands still?” Hardy asks to begin the video. “I had one of those last week, AEW Dynamite, when I got into a brawl with that little weirdo bitch Sammy Guevara.”
Hardy then continued to mention that the chair Sammy hit him with was not the usual kind seen in pro-wrestling.
“I was thinking ‘that’s no average steel chair, folding chair, that you see in pro wrestling. No, that’s 3 or 4 times heavier, heavy-ass industrial-grade chair, that’s what is flying at my face.’”
The chairshot was referenced this week on Being the Elite as well. Hardy said he felt fine but then switched between several of his many personas in short succession.
“Sammy, that literally could have killed me,” Hardy continued. “Congratulations, you are going to go down in pro-wrestling history as the guy who threw the most dangerous, reckless, vicious chairshot in history.”
Hardy then promised to get revenge on Guevara.
“It’s my mission to rid you from this business because you don’t deserve to be in the same industry I’m in,” Hardy said to Guevara.
GIMME AN OL' RE-TWEET if you're excited to watch @AEWrestling's #AEWDynamite tonight.. Here's my in-depth thoughts on last week's @AEWonTNT incident & what I'm going to do to that weird & reckless piece of shit, Sammy Guevara. pic.twitter.com/Nnw3oI1k58
This week’s edition of WWE RAW ended with Randy Orton turning on Ric Flair. The 16x World Champion had been serving as something of a manager for his former Evolution stablemate as of late. Orton said Flair was a liability to his career, as his ego was what led to his match Monday night against Kevin Owens.
Flair took to Twitter recently to send a message to both the WWE Universe and Orton regarding the events from RAW.
“I Wanted Last Night To Go Differently. What I Would Have Said Is I Don’t Know What Would’ve Happened If My Son Was In This Business. But I Do Know What Charlotte Has Done, And Like You Randy, She Is Much Better Than I Ever Was, Just Like You Have Surpassed Your Father. That’s it.”
Flair’s son Reid passed away in 2013 at the age of 25.
I Wanted Last Night To Go Differently. What I Would Have Said Is I Don’t Know What Would’ve Happened If My Son Was In This Business. But I Do Know What Charlotte Has Done, And Like You Randy, She Is Much Better Than I Ever Was, Just Like You Have Surpassed Your Father. That’s it. pic.twitter.com/TNOsjSodVi
Flair and Orton have a long history together in WWE dating back to the formation of Evolution in 2002. Orton would be kicked out of the group shortly after winning the World Championship at SummerSlam 2004 in Toronto.
Orton and Flair have wrestled each other 6x (not including house shows). They have split their all-time series with 3 wins apiece.
AEW has released its latest series of top-5 rankings ahead of tonight’s episode of Dynamite.
AEW Men’s Singles Division
AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley (15-0) TNT Champion: Cody (17-1)
MJF (8-0)
Lance Archer (10-1)
Brian Cage (6-1)
Brodie Lee (5-1)
Scorpio Sky (7-1) (previously unranked)
#5 Scorpio Sky replaces Darby Allin in the final spot in the rankings this week. Sky has been racking up the wins as of late on Dark and will challenge Cody for the TNT Championship tonight on Dynamite. Allin falls out of the rankings after dropping his AEW World Championship shot to Jon Moxley on last week’s episode.
#4 Brodie Lee pinned Hangman Page in tag action last week when the Dark Order defeated The Elite and FTR.
#3 Brian Cage and #2 Lance Archer each had the week off.
#1 Contender MJF is preparing for his upcoming World Championship match against Jon Moxley on PPV next month.
AEW Women’s Division
AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida (15-1)
Nyla Rose (7-2)
Big Swole (6-3)
Penelope Ford (6-4)
Abadon (3-1)
Dr. Britt Baker (4-4)
There was no movement in the women’s singles division this week but #2 Big Swole picked up a couple of victories. She defeated Rebel (aka Reba) on Dynamite and teamed with “Lil Swole” Nicole Savoy in victorious fashion in the 1st round of the Women’s Tag Team Cup. Swole still has to worry about Britt Baker, who is scheduled to return from injury in time for next month’s All Out PPV.
#3 Penelope Ford also picked up a singles victory this week on Dark. She defeated Rachael Ellering.
Champion Hikaru Shida, #1 Nyla Rose, and #4 Abadon had the week off from in-ring competition.
AEW Tag Team Division
AEW Tag Team Champions: Kenny Omega & “Hangman” Page (11-0)
FTR (5-0)
Best Friends (13-4)
Dark Order (8-1)
Young Bucks (5-2)
Jurassic Express (5-2)
Champions Hangman Page and Kenny Omega, #1 FTR, and #4 the Young Bucks all teamed together last week and lost to 6 members of the Dark Order including #3 ranked Stu Grayson and Evil Uno.
#2 The Best Friends defeated the unranked Santana and Ortiz. Sue’s van was damaged in the aftermath, however.
Tonight on Dynamite, Hangman Page and Kenny Omega will look to defend the titles against the #5 ranked Jurassic Express.
The National Wrestling Alliance will be returning to live events starting next month. The promotion recently announced a partnership with the United Wrestling Network. The two companies will produce an ongoing series of weekly PPVs beginning September 15th.
The United Wrestling Network is a group of united promotions. These include Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, Championship Wrestling from Arizona, and Championship Wrestling From Memphis. It was created in 2013 by David Marquez.
? BREAKING: The United Wrestling Network, @nwa & @Thunder_Inc are partnering to launch a new, live, weekly wrestling PPV series on national cable / satellite TV and streaming on @FiteTV!
“United Wrestling Network’s Primetime LIVE” will premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 9 pm ET. pic.twitter.com/KBnIGqnNIO
— United Wrestling Network (@unitedwrestling) August 10, 2020
The shows will air live from Thunder Studios in Long Beach. They will be 90-minutes long and air on traditional PPV outlets as well as on the FITE app.
“My goal here is simple: to provide the best contests possible with the greatest talent available, carrying on the great legacy of the National Wrestling Alliance as an independent governing body. And in that we hope to feature at least one championship match on every live broadcast,” said NWA Owner, Billy Corgan in a press release.
The tapings will adhere to strict COVID-19 protocols. These include testing, temperature checks, and a zoning system which prevents people from entering certain areas.
“In my 30 years in both television production and promoting wrestling, this project will be the biggest of my career,” said UWN: Primetime LIVE Executive Producer David Marquez.
Former WCW President and WWE Executive Director of SmackDown Eric Bischoff recently appeared on AEW Dynamite. ‘Easy E’ appeared in a segment with Orange Cassidy and former AEW ‘Le Champion’ Chris Jericho.
One of the more interesting aspects of this week’s 83 Weeks podcast was Bischoff’s take on Tony Khan. Eric Bischoff and Tony Khan have previously had heated words online but after a recent Patreon-exclusive podcast the two are now on amicable terms, at least publicly.
“That was really interesting. Now, you know I got to meet Tony [Khan] because of you (co-host Conrad Thompson). You put us together to do a thing on Patreon” Eric Bischoff would begin on 83 Weeks.
Eric Bischoff on Tony Khan
“I enjoyed talking to him then. But when I was backstage, and it was most noticeable for me… I hope Tony doesn’t mind me sharing this! I doubt that he would, but in case you do Tony I apologize” Bischoff continued.
Bischoff would then discuss the time just before he appeared for the segment on AEW Dynamite. “But while I was getting ready to go out? We’ll call it in the ‘gorilla position,’ but when I was standing backstage? Ready to be introduced for the segment? I was within earshot of Tony when he was at at the gorilla position and on monitors.”
“I couldn’t help overhear Tony” Bischoff would elaborate. “[He was] talking to probably Keith Mitchell in the truck or somebody in the truck. I’m assuming it was Keith. Tony’s…into this. Tony’s the guy with the chequebook who’s a big fan who’s ALSO a good producer. And more importantly, loves producing.”
Bischoff would finish by praising Khan further, saying “It is his passion in the product. He’s obviously a very intelligent and experienced businessman so check those boxes. But when you have passion, and you like producing and you’re willing to grab it by the balls? As opposed to putting someone else in that position and hoping that they’re going to do the work that you want them to do? Therein lies the magic. By the way, that’s what I did to a large degree, that’s a mistake that I made in WCW.”
Do you feel that AEW has had a good run in terms of production over their short tenure? Do you agree with Eric Bischoff? Let us know in the comments
Impact Wrestling presented a show on AXS TV and Twitch last night. The card was the go-home show before the 2-week Emergence event that starts next Tuesday night. It featured the in-ring return to the promotion of Brian Myers, who now wishes to be referred to as “The Most Professional Wrestler.”
Impact World Championship Eddie Edwards (c) defeated Brian Myers
Here are 10 takeaways from Impact 8/11:
“The Most Professional Wrestler” Brian Myers Faces Eddie Edwards
Brian Myers returned to Impact Wrestling in the main event this week. He answered Eddie Edwards’ open challenge for a shot at the belt. Edwards had called out Eric Young for a match but Myers answered instead. He told the champion that in Edwards’ hands, the Impact World title is a “belt” but in Myers’ hands, it would be a “championship”, which is perhaps a nod to what Myers means when he says he’s “The Most Professional Wrestler.”
Myers would give the champion all he could handle but in the end he couldn’t dodge multiple Boston Knee Party attempts, allowing the champion to retain his title. Edwards will continue his Open Challenge for the Impact World Championship at Emergence as well.
The Good Brothers To Face Ace Austin & Madman Fulton At Emergence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rifVthN7ckw
It was announced this week that Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows will face Ace Austin and Madman Fulton next week on night 1 of Emergence. Recently on Impact, Austin planted a trap for the Good Brothers which resulted in Gallows being arrested. This allowed Austin and Fulton to attack Anderson 2-on-1. This week on Impact, Anderson and Gallows were on the search for Austin and Fulton.
Later in the show, The Good Brothers told Scott D’Amore that they were headed out to the ring to search for Austin and Fulton. This caused D’Amore to remark that he was getting some real “Hall and Nash” vibes from Anderson and Gallows.
Anderson and Gallows then interrupted the match between Dez and Suicide. They called out Austin and Fulton but only got them to appear on the big screen. Austin and Fulton said they will fight the Good Brothers on their terms, which will be next week on night 1 of Emergence.
EC3 says he is returning to Impact Wrestling to destroy his past. Part of his past is the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and EC3 let the current self-proclaimed holder of that title, Moose, know this week that he is coming to destroy him.
EC3 found a rather interesting way to deliver his promo this week as well. As Moose was backstage, an image of EC3 was projected on the wall. The former champ let Moose know that he is coming to destroy what he currently holds as it is synonymous with his past.
Susie Showed Cousin Jake Her True Self Then Blamed Alisha For Their Bad Date
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRe5CXhxsSM
Wrestle House sure has developed into a showcase of Impact’s humorous side. This week saw Susie, Alisha, and the Deaners all involved in an interesting angle.
Susie and Cousin Jake seemed to have a bit of a budding romance going. Alisha was helping Susie with her dating game but things didn’t go too well. Cousin Jake got all dressed up in his best Fantastics gear and Susie repeatedly mentioned that she has the runs, which set the stage for their dinner date. Unfortunately, when Jake was saying he had a good time, Susie showed him her “true self” which is, of course, a dark and frightening undead soul. Upon seeing this, Jake fled. Susie then blamed Alisha’s dating advice for this and the two ended up having a match.
With Crazzy Steve serving as a rather unorthodox referee, Susie was able to secure the victory with a roll-up pin.
After the match, Taya attempted to get everyone back in the living room to continue watching “The Best of Taya Valkyrie.” Kylie Rae suggested they go to bed instead and this seemed to irritate Taya, as most things Kylie says seem to do. Taya mentioned that while Kylie is the #1 contender to the Knockouts title, she’s never defeated a champion. This led to Kylie challenging Taya but Taya mentioning she’s “all booked up” right now.
Last week on Impact, Kimber Lee struck a deal with Deonna Purrazzo. Kimber Lee said she would take out Jordynne Grace for the champion so long as she was granted a title shot in return. She wasn’t able to take out the former champion, however. The end of the match came when Grace countered a swanton into a choke and got the tap out.
Later in the show, Deonna Purrazzo cut a promo and informed fans that when she faces Grace on night 2 of Emergence it will be a 30-Minute Ironman Match.
Sami Callihan Attacks Rob Van Dam On Locker Room Talk, Heath Purchases Advertisement
Madison Rayne hosted another edition of Locker Room Talk this week. She also announced that the show this week had a sponsor. A 38-second ad from Heath was then played. He encouraged fans to use the hashtag “Heath4IMPACT” to help get him a contract in the promotion.
Rayne brought on Katie Forbes and Rob Van Dam as her guests this week. When the couple began ignoring her and making out, Rayne opted to just leave. Eventually, Sami Callihan managed to teleport himself into Madison’s chair and then began attacking RVD, furthering the ongoing rivalry between the two. Forbes ended up spraying Callihan in the face with an aerosol can and this allowed RVD to turn the tables of the melee.
Eric Young Defeats An Emotional Willie Mack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9phnKUQIvU
Before this match began, viewers watched highlights of Rich Swann’s emotional retirement speech and the brutal attack from Eric Young that followed. This week, Swann’s tag-team partner Willie Mack sought revenge on Eric Young when they faced each other in singles competition.
The match kicked off the show but only because the two began brawling in the backstage area before the show began. They eventually made it to the ring and decided to have their match earlier then scheduled.
Mack seemed in control of the match but he eventually let his desire for revenge cloud his judgement. He put a chair over EY’s leg, perhaps intending to injure him as he had done to Swann, and then went to the top rope. This gave Young a chance to recover, however, and he countered with a stalling pile driver for the win.
Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz defeat Neveah & Havok In A No Disqualification Match
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_coRaLn3peg
The ongoing tag-team rivalry between Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz and Neveah & Havok continued this week. The two teams faced off in a no disqualification match that seemingly favoured Neveah and Havok. For weeks, it seemed as though Neveah and Havok were on their way to getting revenge on Hogan & Steelz for the two singles victory they had stolen from the team as of late. No such revenge would happen here, however.
The finish of the match came when Hogan and Steelz super kicked Havok off the apron and through a table. This allowed Hogan to hit a spinning fisherman suplex for the win. Big win for Hogan and Steelz as they likely walk away from this rivalry here the strong victors.
Team XXXL Fight Following a Spell From Rosemary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xck8FXeXRBs
Rosemary is having a difficult time trying to seduce John E Bravo on Wrestle House. Bravo’s frequent attention given to Taya Valkyrie seemed to frustrate her this week. She opted to cast a magical spell on Larry D from Team XXXL which seemed to cause him to fall in love with her. Perhaps, Rosemary was doing this in an attempt to make Bravo jealous.
With Larry D under a spell, he gets into an argument with his tag-team partner, Acey Romero over his apparent change in attitude (and lack of appetite.) This led to a match between the two partners which Larry won with a Knockout punch. He’d then point at Rosemary and say “that was for you.”
Booker T doesn’t believe that former WCW President Eric Bischoff belongs on anyone’s WCW Mount Rushmore. As far as the Hall of Famer is concerned, Bischoff’s “not in the conversation.”
Booker T shared his thoughts on his Hall of Fame podcast. He explained how people like Bischoff who “haven’t put time in the ring wrestling for years” don’t deserve consideration. He stressed that this was just his opinion on the matter.
Extrapolating on his opinion, Booker T reflected on Bischoff’s impact on WCW and the wrestling business. He acknowledged how Bischoff did a lot for him and his career in WCW. However, he noted that when business and pleasure mingle, problems can occur.
“When Eric Bischoff stopped being the president, stopped being the boss and wanted to start being one of the boys and wanting to be one of the talents on the show, that’s when everything got clouded.”
Booker T continued, “Judgment totally didn’t come into play in certain instances because you got a lot of guys around you that you think are your friends. Eric Bischoff should have never been in a position to even be considered to be a part of Mount Rushmore.”
FTR has shared their approach to tag team psychology and whether they believe AEW needs a 6-man championship.
Speaking with Fightful Select, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood explained how they approach tag team psychology. They revealed how, when it comes to finally hitting a hot tag, “you don’t want to come in and do a bunch of flips and roll like that.”
FTR shared how, because their partner has been beaten down for minutes on end, they would come charging with fists instead of flips.
“I’m going to come in and throw fists. I’m going to come in and beat the sh*t out of you. That’s the psychology of tag team wrestling that you can build so much around that.”
FTR On 6-Man Tag Team Championships
When asked if they thought AEW needed 6-man tag team championships, FTR’s Wheeler expressed how the promotion could consider it “down the line.”
He explained how including them now would be akin to “trying to run before we can walk.”
Wheeler stressed how AEW is still building its tag team division and establishing all of its tag talents:
“We don’t need to bring more championships into the fold when these aren’t even established and are less than a year old. We don’t need to bring 6 man teams into the fold when we are still trying to establish the 2 man.”
He reiterated how AEW may consider it at some point in the future. However, until their current tag team division is firmly established, it would be an unnecessary endeavor.
