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MJF To Address “State Of The Industry” On Dynamite

Chris Stephens
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Maxwell Jacob Friedman (aka MJF) is currently the #1 ranked wrestler in AEW’s men’s singles division. He has yet to be pinned or submitted in the promotion.

AEW is now promoting that MJF will address the state of the wrestling industry this Wednesday night on Dynamite.

MJF also sent out the following Tweet with just the words “40 days”. 40 days from today will be Saturday, September 5th, 2020. AEW’s “All Out” PPV is currently scheduled for that date.

MJF has been making various ominous comments about AEW World Champion Jon Moxley as of late as well. Could MJF be lobbying for a title shot at All Out? It seems we could find out on Wednesday night.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman in AEW

MJF has wrestled 18 times for All Elite Wrestling. He is 1-2 in battle royals, 0-1 in fatal 4-ways, 3-1 in tag matches, and a perfect 10-0 in singles matches.

  1. 5/25/19: 21 Man Casino Battle Royal (won by Hangman Page)
  2. 6/29/19: Hangman Page defeated Jimmy Havoc vs Jungle Boy vs MJF (Fyter Fest 2019- 4-way match)
  3. 7/13/19: Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Sammy Guevara & Shawn Spears defeated Darby Allin, Jimmy Havoc & Joey Janela (Fight for the Fallen 2019)
  4. 10/2/19: Maxwell Jacob Friedman defeated Brandon Cutler
  5. 11/20/19: Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal won by Hangman Page and MJF (final 2 participants would meet the following week for the Dynamite Diamond Ring.)
  6. 11/27/19: MJF defeated Hangman Page
  7. 1/15/20: The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) & MJF defeated Diamond Dallas Page, Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall (AEW Bash at the Beach)
  8. 1/21/20: MJF defeated Joey Janela
  9. 2/12/20: MJF defeated Jungle Boy
  10. 2/29/20: MJF defeated Cody (AEW Revolution)
  11. 3/11/20: MJF & The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) defeated The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus & Marko Stunt)
  12. 5/13/20: MJF defeated Lee Johnson
  13. 5/20/20: MJF defeated Marko Stunt
  14. 5/23/20: MJF defeated Jungle Boy (Double or Nothing)
  15. 5/27/20: TNT Title #1 Contender Battle Royal won by Jungle Boy
  16. 6/11/20: MJF defeated Billy
  17. 7/1/20: The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) defeated MJF & Wardlow 
  18. 7/16/20: MJF defeated Griff Garrison

Vickie Guerrero On Why She Prefers AEW Over WWE, Managing Nyla Rose

Michael Reichlin
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Vickie Guerrero was interviewed this week by Denise Salcedo for Instinct Culture. Vickie spoke about how she came to work for All Elite Wrestling, her time in WWE, how the two companies compare, working with The Undertaker, Vince McMahon, Nyla Rose and more.

Guerrero revealed that she got a text out of the blue from Brandi Rhodes asking if she wanted to do commentary on AEW Dark. She is an AEW fan and was following the product, so it was an easy yes’ for her. After attending one AEW TV taping, she fell in love with how the company operates, the roster, the leadership and the atmosphere.

As for how AEW differs from WWE, Guerrero says Tony Khan is much more approachable than Vince McMahon and it’s easier for talent to pitch ideas to management.

“In WWE you kinda have to wait in line behind a closed door to get your turn to get your ideas in,” she began. “Tony Khan is in the hallway, people can go up to him and talk to him about the show. Tony calls me, I was like ‘oh my gosh he’s calling me.’ I never saw a lot of people in WWE calling the talent. It’s a relaxed atmosphere to where they let the superstar do the creative, the creative aspects for that night. And I just thought that was brilliant. There’s a lot of young people on the roster and I saw the advantage to be able to share my knowledge and experience with them and that was exciting to me because this is how it works, the industry starts with the next generation and if I can share my knowledge and experience with the women there and even the men, I’ve gained something back and given back to them and that’s how we help each other out. So I love that part of it.”

Several weeks ago, Nyla Rose teased that she had selected a new manager to guide her career. It was eventually revealed that Vickie Guerrero was the new advocate for the Native Beast. Vickie says Nyla is a “badass woman” whose style and strengths compliment her own.

“Being the bad guy of course I want to team up with the biggest woman they have on there besides Kong… I get to work with Nyla Rose, get to know her and I loved her character. I loved her attitude, her personality. When they teamed us up, right away we took off with creative ideas and backstage content and t-shirt ideas and what are new hashtag was gonna be and I think she was kinda taken aback a little bit. But at the same time, I wanna show Nyla that I am one hundred percent in and I wanna show AEW that I am not here just because I am a Guerrero or because I am a General Manager. I am here because I want to be part of the team and I want to expand the women’s division and start running with it. I’ve had really good feedback, I am excited.”

Vickie Guerrero sees big potential in AEW’s women’s division. She wants to see the women get more attention and more opportunities, but thinks they’re off to a great start just one year into AEW’s run.

You can listen to Denise Salcedo’s full interview with Vickie Guerrero here:

Arn Anderson Comments On Warhorse Facing Cody

Chris Stephens
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Independent wrestler Warhorse will challenge Cody for the TNT Championship on Dynamite this week. Recently on the Arn Show, Conrad Thompson asked Arn Anderson how Warhorse got on his radar.

“Well, just because I’m illiterate where computers go, I have advanced this far, I can look on my phone, go to a Twitter account, go to an AEW twitter account, go to Conrad’s Twitter account. My go-to ones that I have to go to, I can go to and that name when the fans are talking wrestling and what they hear on our show, the name started to pop up.”

Anderson continued to talk about how Warhorse’s name kept popping up on his feed.

“Apparently this Warhorse kid has developed a pretty good following out there in the independent world. If you think about it, 90% of the talent on the AEW roster was in the same position he was in. They were making the indies, making the circuit, earning their stripes, and paying their dues.”

He continued to talk about how Tony Khan has challenged him with finding wrestlers such as Warhorse to challenge Cody.

“He’s on the radar screen and in this day and time, for a lot of guys who would like to be in that spot, that’s good enough.”

Double-A’s comments can be heard in the player below:

Jim Cornette Compares WWE Eye For An Eye Match to Vince Russo ‘Style’ Booking

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE writer and wrestling personality Jim Cornette had some choice words for the recent WWE Extreme Rules PPV. The event was billed as ‘The Horror Show at Extreme Rules,’ and Cornette seemed to agree with the ‘Horror’ aspect in more ways than one.

“It’s been so fucking stupid from the time that they announced this “Jim Cornette began on this week’s Drive Thru podcast, talking about the Eye for An Eye match between Seth Rollins and Rey Mysterio. “Everybody laughed at it and nobody believed it.”

Jim Cornette Talks Eye for an Eye

“There was some element of discussion and or wonderment and bewilderment” Cornette would continue. “How they gonna do this, right? It’s like two dogs f*cking.”

Jim Cornette would then allude to WWE ‘copying’ the booking style of Vince Russo. Whilst Cornette didn’t strictly say the former WCW, TNA and WWF writer’s name? It was quite clear who he was referring to. “They have taken what I described about sh*t stains booking from years ago and just now applied to everything. We don’t give a f*ck what happens, we just want to see how they’re going to do it.”

Cornette elaborated on this further, saying “we don’t care about any of these people and we certainly don’t believe that any of this is in any way legitimate. OR EVEN that there could be some ill will between these guys, like a Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels; that would lead somebody to go into business for themselves. It’s just a bunch of bullsh*t to laugh at, so how are they going to do this?”

The former Midnight Express manager would then admit that he himself was intrigued at one point. “I was even interested, what are they going to do? Is this one guy gonna walk around with no eyeball for the rest of his life!?”

Do you agree with Jim Cornette’s points here? Let us know in the comments

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Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette (Photo: Vice)

Jim Ross – “Vince McMahon Solidified My Financial Future”

Jake Skudder
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AEW commentator and WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently commented on WWE owner Vince McMahon ‘looking after him’ when it came to monetary matters.

This week’s episode of Grilling JR saw Jim Ross and co-host Conrad Thompson discuss the Fully Loaded 2000 PPV. As usual, Conrad would talk about the wider scope of WWE’s (then WWF) business around the time, which included the move from USA Network to TNN for the Monday Night RAW show.

The money involved in the change of Network was huge for the company, and JR would talk about how much of a difference it made for him from a monetary standpoint.

Jim Ross on The Big Bucks

“It was major, major money, big time” JR began on the show. “And we all shared in those profits. You know the executive guys like myself and Kevin Dunn for example, among others. You know, Vince took good care of us with stock. We got great stock, options and grants.”

Jim Ross elaborated further, saying “quite frankly Conrad? During that time I really kind of set my portfolio up to take care of me for the rest of my life. Cause the stock kept increasing. Vince [McMahon] took care of us.”

JR would then discuss Vince McMahon as a businessmen, saying that he ignores negative stories aimed at the WWE CEO. “So, when all the negative stories about him during that period of time? I ignored them. He [Vince] solidified my financial future over those last few years there, with the stock issues and things of that nature. So, the better we did? The more we got paid, which is a great way to look at it.”

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Luke Gallows on Vince McMahon Pitching Him The Festus Character

Chris Stephens
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WWE tried Luke Gallows out under a few different characters after he was first signed in 2005. In Deep South Wrestling he was known as “The Freakin’ Deacon.” His first experience on the main roster was as an imposter Kane in a short-lived angle. Then in 2007, Gallows formed a team with Ray Gordy known as “Jesse and Festus.”

Gallows recently spoke about how Vince McMahon pitched him the Festus character during an interview with Chris Van Vliet.

“I was 23-years-old and basically they told me to kind of get out of shape and this was the character they had for me,” Gallows said. “Originally, we were going to be hillbillies. I mean, how far is this hillbilly thing going to be able to go?”

“We’re getting ready to debut, we’re in the ring saying we’re going to do this, this and this, it’s like 20 minutes before doors and they go ‘Vince McMahon wants you guys in his office.’ Are we getting fired already? So we go in the office and Vince is literally like ‘hey, big man, can you do this?” Then Vince did the face Festus was known for. Gallows continued to say that he and Vince then made the Festus face back at each other for ten minutes or so.

“When you grow up thinking you’re going to be a long-haired wrestler with a beautiful robe and this cool guy and you become Festus, it’s not exactly ideal.”

Vince McMahon Didn’t Realize Gallows Was Festus

In an interview on the Sam Roberts podcast in 2016, Anderson and Gallows mentioned that when Gallows returned to WWE, Vince McMahon had no idea he was the one who played Festus.

“The best part of the Festus character is that we heard from Talent Relations, or the Head of Talent Relations is that Vince doesn’t even remember that he was Festus,” Anderson said on the Sam Roberts podcast.

Gallows’ comments can be heard in the player below:

Brandi Rhodes Reveals New Info on AEW’s Deadly Draw Women’s Tag Tournament

Michael Reichlin
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Brandi Rhodes has provided some new information about All Elite Wrestling’s upcoming ‘Deadly Draw’ women’s tag team tournament.

AEW’s Chief Brand Officer spoke with Christy Olson this week for CHRISTYreports. Brandi discussed a wide variety of topics, including her role as an AEW executive, the #SpeakingOut movement addressing sexual misconduct in pro wrestling and much more.

Last week on Dynamite, AEW announced the Women’s Tag Team Cup tournament is happening this summer. We know that 8 teams will be competing, but additional details have been hard to come by.

Brandi says that the full picture will become “crystal clear” this week on AEW Dynamite. She and Allie have been announced as the first two participants in the tournament, but Brandi reveals that they might not be teaming together as the Nightmare Sisters.

“We’re going to explain how the teams come together and then you might see a team or two come together,” said Brandi. “There is the factor that [the Nightmare Sisters] could maybe not be together in the tournament, since that hasn’t been clear. So we will also see on Wednesday with the rules what that means for the Nightmare Sisters. I’m honestly hoping that we are together, because again, I feel like we’ve just gotten our footing so it would be kind of sad to tear us apart at this point.”

As for whether or not this is a one-off tournament or not, Brandi is hopeful this will be the first of many.

“I think that’s how you look at a lot of things. You try things, you see how they go. I, of course, am very hopeful that this tournament is something that can continue to happen as it’s going to bring great opportunities to a lot of women who don’t normally get to be seen on Dynamite or on AEW Dark as often as we’d like to.”

“There’s a limit to what I can handle of people sending me pictures of their genitalia. So I’m not open publicly to DMs anymore.”

For more of Christy’s interview with Brandi Rhodes watch the full video here:

Adam Cole Releases Statement On Pat McAfee Incident

Chris Stephens
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Adam Cole recently stormed off from an interview with Pat McAfee. Cole shoved a stagehand after taking issue with McAfee’s line of questioning and referring to him as “kind of small.”

Cole recently published a statement on the incident.

“I’ve had the weekend to think about everything, and it’s still hard to put into words where to begin. First of all, to anyone that I offended, I apologize. I apologize because I represent a brand that commands respect. Not just because of what we do in the ring, but how we handle ourselves outside the ring. Even though he continued to push my buttons, I still should have kept my composure and acted like a professional. I’m embarrassed by my reaction, and I will make sure something like that never happens again. Thanks for the continued support everyone.”

Although the segment appeared to have been a worked angle, one WWE Hall-of-Famer believes it was real. Mark Henry said he believes the incident was legit recently on Busted Open Radio.

“This is not a work, this is real sh*t that’s going to have to be turned into business because it’s too good not to,” Mark Henry explained. “Here we are with all the stuff that happened for a week in pro wrestling and we’re talking about a verbal disagreement on a show. It was real and that’s why we talking about it.”

Brian Pillman Jr. Talks What Legends Have Helped His Career Thus Far

Chris Stephens
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Brian Pillman Jr. recently wrestled a couple of matches on AEW Dark. He dropped bouts to Shawn Spears and Brian Cage. He is currently signed to MLW and has been involved with the new Hart Foundation stable in the promotion. Pillman recently spoke to Talk Sport about the help he’s received in his career from numerous wrestling legends.

Pillman was asked about his relationship with AEW’s Chris Jericho:

“Me and Chris have been close for a long time. That was also somebody that was pulling for me in the company [AEW] and he helped me get the opportunity at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view about one year ago. That was May 22, 2019,” Pillman said.

“So it’s been about a year since I’ve been there, so it’s been a long time. they wanted to see how far I have come and what improvements did I make and I think they were all happy with that.”

Brian Pillman Jr. On Advice From Steve Austin

Pillman also noted he got to speak with Jericho at the tapings as well.

Additionally, Pillman spoke about the guidance he’s received over the years from his father’s former tag-team partner, Steve Austin.

“Steve has offered me advice on several, several occasions,” Pillman said about Austin. He continued to say he asked Austin if he should go into the wrestling business.

“He just told me ‘You can do whatever you want to do. Your father would want you to do what’s passionate to you.’”

Pillman also spoke about his relationship with Bret Hart, Pillman’s father’s former stablemate in the Hart Foundation.

“He’s definitely someone that if I ever needed anything, he would be right there for me. Whenever I’ve seen him, he’s been nothing but family to me,” Pillman said of Hart.

The full interview can be read here.

Nick Aldis Shares Open Letter To NWA Fans

Steve Russell
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NWA World Champion Nick Aldis has shared an open letter to NWA fans. In the letter, he addressed his personal growth and how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted upon his and NWA’s momentum.

Aldis stressed how “Momentum is everything in this business.”

He pointed out how many talented wrestlers have suffered because of a lack of continual momentum.

Reflecting on his career in 2017, he confessed that he had lost a lot of personal and professional momentum. However, because he was always searching for external validation, he had “never taken the time to build any value in myself, BY myself.”

“I had always relied on a team of producers, editors and writers to tell the world who I was. As a result, I wasn’t even sure who I was. And if I wasn’t sure, why should the audience care?”

Nick Aldis’ “Symbiotic Resurrection”

Turning his attention to the success he has enjoyed in NWA, Aldis shared how fans have been able to follow his ascension.

He pointed out how they’ve watched his journey as he defended the same belt held by Harley Race, Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes.

Aldis then pointed out how this “symbiotic resurrection” in NWA has hit a stumbling block thanks to COVID-19. He stressed how he isn’t an “angry young man” anymore. Instead, he has grown into a “thick-skinned experienced man who has weathered storms before.”

“[…] the major difference between the pre-NWA Nick and the current version is you, the fans. The fans who took a chance on a bold new strategy of focusing on one match, one champion, one challenger and one prize. The fans who sold out the GPB studios over and over for NWA Powerrr, the most authentic alternative in the business. The fans who stuck their flags in the ground on my island and said “this is where I want to be a wrestling fan the most.”

Nick Aldis ended his open letter thanking the fans. He stressed how he appreciates their support, and that he has no intention of letting them down. He added how, together, they will collectively find that lost momentum once more, helping NWA get back on track.

Impact Wrestling TV Viewership Data For 2020

Chris Stephens
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We have a rare look at Impact Wrestling viewership data for the company’s weekly TV show on AXS TV. Earlier this year, AXS TV began to be rated with Nielsen allowing for Impact Wrestling TV ratings to be publicized.

According to information obtained by PWTorch, Impact averaged 174,000 viewers per week for the first quarter of 2020. During the Q2 COVID-19 ’empty arena’ era, that number fell to 147,000.

Slammiversary generated significant buzz for Impact. That spike in interest carried over to the Impact TV show two days later. The post-PPV edition of Impact averaged 163,000 viewers, up from 156,000 the previous week before and 135,000 two weeks prior.

Impact Wrestling is the most-watched show on AXS TV by a considerable margin.

In the 18-49 demo that advertisers care most about, Impact brought in a 0.05 this week. In comparison, NXT did a 0.17 in the key demo this week and hovers around 600,000 to 700,000 viewers per week on the USA Network.

Impact began a new era this week at both Slammiversary and on AXS TV. The Good Brothers, EC3, Eric Young, and more either made their return or debut last week. This week on the show, The Good Brothers will face Reno Scum in tag-team action. There will also be an Impact World Championship match between Eddie Edwards and Trey from the Rascalz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLX0Racqp6A

AJ Styles: Dixie Carter Is 100% To Blame For Ruining TNA

Steve Russell
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Current WWE Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles has revealed who he believes can be blamed for ruining TNA’s Impact Wrestling show. As far as he’s concerned, blame can be fully attributed to Dixie Carter.

Reflecting on his time working for the promotion during a Twitch stream, Styles confessed how he loved Vince Russo as a person. However, when it came to working creatively together, he admitted they often “butted heads.”

“[…] but I realized when we butted heads, it was because he was getting things from Dixie the whole time. It must have been very difficult to work with this woman who has no idea how wrestling works and wanted everything to be done to it and it didn’t make any sense.”

Style then stressed how “Do I believe Dixie ruined IMPACT? Well, it was TNA back then, and 100%.”

He explained how, at the time, Impact was gaining positive momentum. Styles believes the problem stemmed from Dixie Carter’s need to be “WWE-lite,” something Styles claimed people weren’t interested in.

AJ Styles argued how instead of providing WWE-lite, fans were eager for “something else.” He shared how all Dixie Carter had to do was “let us do what we do.” He added how—had she left the creative direction to the writers—TNA would still be around and would probably be more popular than they currently are as Impact Wrestling. Styles added how, because Dixie Carter didn’t know what was best for business, she ultimately ended up hurting TNA.

Cesaro On Improving His Mic Skills, His Championship Ambitions

Steve Russell
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WWE SmackDown Superstar Cesaro recently took part in an interview with Newsweek.com. During the conversation, Cesaro acknowledged his growth on the microphone and whether or not he’s interested in another singles run.

When asked if he was actively working to improve on the mic, Cesaro joked how he’s been “working on that forever.” He noted how English isn’t his first language, so promos tend to be a bit harder for him.

“A lot of stuff gets mixed up in my head, I’ll mix up words and sayings. I had a good one like ‘taking the kid from the candy’ or one of my better ones is ‘out of blue field’ which is a mix of ‘out of left field’ and ‘out of the blue’ so I mess up stuff, I mix stuff up, my accent sometimes people don’t understand it.”

He acknowledged how his hard work is paying off, however. As his promo abilities have grown, he shared how he’s now “getting the chance to talk more.” He argued how the two feed into each other, with his evolving promo skills opening up mic opportunities and vice versa.

Despite this growth and additional mic time, Cesaro confessed how it’s a process he will be constantly working on and hopes to continue improving in.

Cesaro’s Ultimate WWE Ambition

Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura recently claimed the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Despite this accomplishment, Cesaro joked how he hasn’t held enough gold. He divulged how his goal has always been to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Cesaro acknowledged how this goal is shared by everyone in WWE but remains his ultimate ambition.

He stressed how he doesn’t want to win the title just for himself. He wants to be crowned WWE Champion for “all of Europe” and for all of WWE’s international fans.

Cody Rhodes Discusses Fan Criticism Of AEW Via #AskCody

Steve Russell
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All Elite Wrestling’s TNT Champion Cody Rhodes has responded to fan criticism regarding the promotion during a recent Q&A Session under the hashtag #AskCody.

When asked about AEW’s detractors and why they might find it so difficult to relax and enjoy wrestling without constantly comparing promotions and shows, Cody replied explained AEW’s show is still so new and unknown. He added how Dynamite is “aggressive in delivery and it’s marketing.”

He acknowledged how the Monday Night Wars that took place between WWE and WCW offers a template that people often revert to as a reference point. Cody added how “respectfully that ecosystem doesn’t fit ours. This is very new territory & it’s fan made.”

Cody On Providing An Alternative & Equal Entry Contracts

Cody Rhodes also responded to a fan who stressed how they wanted an alternative to WWE, not alternative WWE. The fan pointed at Marko Stunt as an example of how AEW’s product is embarrassing, to which Cody replied:

“Show is great man. It’s a 2hr gritty/atheltid/and often fun weekly presentation. Seems odd to form an opinion about the entire brand based on you disliking short people. Not the end of the world though man, you can’t please everybody and trying is the first step down.”

When challenged over the starting contract rates between male and female talents, Cody was quick to correct a fan who believed men were on a higher entry rate than the women. He explained how AEW’s “entry contracts are the same, regardless of gender. It’s 2020 man.” He added how AEW stressed the importance of this initiative at its first press conference, and how they’ve delivered on it ever since.

Chris Jericho Explains Why He Isn’t Interested In Returning To WWE

Steve Russell
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All Elite Wrestling’s Chris Jericho has explained why he isn’t interested in returning to WWE. The former AEW Champion shared his reasoning during a recent live stream of Saturday Night Special.

Jericho proclaimed how a return to WWE simply isn’t going to happen. He explained how he’s really enjoying being in AEW before adding how he loved his WWE experience. Jericho also stressed how he loves Vince McMahon.

He noted how he learned a lot and had a lot of fun in WWE but, ultimately, felt how he couldn’t “stay in the same place forever.” If he did, he believes he would have eventually become stagnant—something he never wants to become.

“If you do and I think you need to push yourself to do something new and the fact that AEW was live without a net when I first showed up and all of us have done such a great job of promoting this brand and promoting this company.”

Chris Jericho then stressed how his current claims of being a “demogod” are real. He was quick to add, however, that it’s not just him contributing to AEW’s success “[…] even though I’ve never been beaten in the demo for my segment this week. The friggin Young Bucks did over a million viewers. And not only that, The Butcher and The Blade, how about that?”

Chris Jericho teamed with Jake Hager in a winning effort against Jurassic Express during last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite that saw the return of Inner Circle member Sammy Guevara.

Mark Henry On Adam Cole & Pat McAfee Incident: “This Is Not A Work”

Steve Russell
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WWE Hall of Famers Mark Henry and Bully Ray have shared their thoughts on the recent confrontation between Adam Cole and Pat McAfee. The two discussed the incident during a recent episode of Busted Open Radio.

While appearing on McAfee’s show, Cole took issue with McAfee’s suggestion that he had only become the longest-reigning NXT Champion because of the Undisputed Era. He then mocked Cole’s size, calling him “small.” At this point, Cole took offense and began to berate McAfee before storming off.

Henry stressed how the best stories have a semblance of reality to them. He shared how he doesn’t believe their interaction was work, adding how WWE should capitalize on this encounter, turning it into business.

“This is not a work, this is real sh*t that’s going to have to be turned into business because it’s too good not to,” Mark Henry explained. “Here we are with all the stuff that happened for a week in pro wrestling and we’re talking about a verbal disagreement on a show. It was real and that’s why we talking about it.”

Pushing Adam Cole’s Buttons

Mark Henry’s co-host Bully Ray explained how he believes McAfee’s words pushed Cole’s buttons on an off day. He then asked how Cole’s reaction can be justified or found “acceptable” by WWE.

Bully Ray also argued how people can also put the onus on McAfee. He suggested how WWE may reflect on its relationship with the host and the work they’ve done together:

“And then the WWE can turn around and go, ‘You know something Pat? We’ve been really good to you, we’ve allowed you to announce on our shows. […] Why did you even feel the need to throw any digs at Adam Cole?’ There’s a lot of different ways to look at this. You know Adam Cole is a big part of the NXT roster. You know that people bust his chops for his size. Why would you do that?”

Adam Cole’s momentous reign as NXT Champion came to an end after Keith Lee defeated him in a “Winner Take All” match at NXT’s Great American Bash.

Jim Cornette Rips into WWE and Wyatt Swamp Fight

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE writer and wrestling personality Jim Cornette had some choice words for the recent WWE Extreme Rules PPV. The event was billed as ‘The Horror Show at Extreme Rules,’ and Cornette seemed to agree with the ‘Horror’ aspect in more ways than one.

“And that’s when I said I’m done” Jim Cornette began on this week’s Drive Thru podcast, talking about the Wyatt Swamp Fight match. Cornette was discussing the point where Braun Strowman was knocked out (by himself) and woke to be chained against a chair.

Jim Cornette on Wyatt Swamp Fight

“F*ck these guys, f*ck these alleged writers [and] f*ck this company” Cornette continued. “This would have made me ashamed to ever be a part of wrestling, but this isn’t wrestling. So I’m not ashamed to have ever been a part of wrestling. I would have been ashamed to ever be a part of whatever the f*ck these people just did.”

Cornette would elaborate further, saying “they should be ashamed to call themselves wrestlers; but it didn’t make me ashamed of wrestling, because there was no aspect of wrestling involved in this.”

The former manager of the Midnight Express tag team would finish by laying into Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard. “If Vince likes it? He needs to take that cognitive test that old f*cking president pigsh*t has taken; where he can identify the elephant from the donkey. Or if Bruce was in favour of this? I think he’s been to rehab before, somebody needs to f*cking check and see if Bruce has fallen off the wagon.”

Do you agree with Jim Cornette’s assessment of the ‘match’? Let us know in the comments

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Internal WWE Reaction To Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson’s Comments About Paul Heyman

Andrew Ravens
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Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson had a lot to say about their WWE departure. They did an interview with Ryan Satin on YouTube where they addressed a wide variety of topics. 

One of the more interesting topics was about them being let go by the company due to budget cuts just months after they had signed new big-money deals with the promotion. 

Gallows and Anderson joined AJ Styles in the belief that Paul Heyman was responsible for the tag team being let go as he put their name on a list of talent to be released. 

They do acknowledge that Vince McMahon made the final call to fire them, but they were still upset that Heyman allegedly lied to them.

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the backstage reaction to their comments was mostly about how naive they could be to think that it was Heyman, not McMahon, that made the call to fire them.

There are two stories that have gone around about the internal reactions. The first story is that while McMahon made the call, Heyman didn’t fight to keep them. The second story is how Gallows and Anderson were not on the list of wrestlers to be fired but once McMahon had a talk with Heyman about future storyline plans and they were planned to be used, McMahon added them to it. 

It should be noted that all wrestlers who were released in April were under a 90-day non-compete. Thus, if McMahon wanted to bring them back, he had three months to make a decision and didn’t. 

Luke Gallows On Why He And Karl Anderson Signed With Impact Wrestling, AEW Discussions

Chris Jericho Touts “A Little Bit Of The Bubbly” Sales

Andrew Ravens
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Chris Jericho hit a home run by getting into the sparkling wine business. He partnered with Stephen Amell, star of the CW superhero series Arrow. 

He launched the brand, “A Little Bit of the Bubbly” last year. He took to his official Instagram account where he noted that sales of the sparkling wine are going well. 

More than 40,000 bottles of A Little Bit of the Bubbly have been sold in 7 months. You can see his post here: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDARa_OjEUx/?igshid=1ucma45k9b5o3

A Little Bit of the Bubbly is a sparkling Riesling produced exclusively by Nocking Point Wines.

Jericho made the “A Little Bit of the Bubbly” catchphrase extremely popular with fans that ended up going viral last Summer after he beat Adam Page at the All Out pay-per-view event. He said the catchphrase in his post-match celebration for winning the first AEW World Championship.

Pre-orders were made available late November 2019 with bottles of Jericho’s sparkling shipping in December.

Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, Luchasaurus, and Jungle Boy vs. Jericho, Jake Hager, Santana, Ortiz, and Sammy Guevara in a 5-on-5 match has already been confirmed for next week’s AEW Dynamite episode. 

Update On MLW Live Events Returning

Chris Stephens
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Major League Wrestling hasn’t produced an event since March. The company’s last show was in conjunction with AAA for a card in Tijuana on March 13th.

According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the current plan is for MLW live events to return in December. These plans could change anytime between now and then, however.

“The current plan, and this can change in an instant, is to go back live in December, perhaps in Philadelphia,” wrote Dave Meltzer regarding MLW.

In storyline, Contra Unit took part in a hostile takeover of the company leading to it shutting down temporarily.

MLW’s Court Bauer has previously said the company won’t return to live events until it is safe to do so.

“I will wait until we are sure it’s safe to return. We’re doing that for our fans, our athletes, and our crew, and all of their families. We do not want to put anyone at harm. We’ll see what the NBA looks like once they go live with their season, and we’re seeing what is happening with WWE. This [battle with COVID] is far from the rearview mirror. Our decision to proceed will be dictated by science and experts in the medical world. Until we know it’s safe, we’re going to be as judicious as possible.”

Gail Kim & Others Comments On The Term “Knockouts” For Women’s Division

Chris Stephens
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Impact Wrestling refers to its women’s division and championship with the term “Knockouts.” Some fans have expressed the belief that this is an outdated term akin to how “Diva” was used in WWE. According to Gail Kim, however, conversations have taken place backstage about the term and the Impact roster is in favor of continuing to use it.

“Knockouts is the perfect name for the women past and present of Impact(TNA) Strong, powerful, tough and kick ass. All different and beautiful in their own way. I will always be proud to be the Original knockout,” Tweeted Traci Brooks.

The conversation got started when Courtney Rush (aka Rosemary) responded to a fan on Twitter.

Chelsea Green, who performed under her Hot Mess character in Impact, agreed with Rosemary:

Allie, who left Impact after her character was killed off in the undead realm, echoed the sentiment.

https://twitter.com/AllieWrestling/status/1286839326383525888

The Knockouts Champion also commented:

Madison Rayne noted that the term represents a positive history in women’s wrestling:

Deonna Purrazzo is the current Knockouts Champion. She defeated Jordynne Grace for the title at Slammiversary. Purrazzo is the 24th wrestler to win the championship and begins the 55th reign in the title’s lineage. Gail Kim has won the title 7x and held it for a combined 711 days, the most in both categories.

Cody Comments On If He’s A Babyface Or Heel

Chris Stephens
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Cody Rhodes says his character is neither a babyface nor a heel. There has been some debate about this as of late considering how many of his TNT title defenses have gone. There also may have been some hints dropped as of late that Cody’s character might be turning full heel somewhere down the road.

Cody responded to a recent comment by Disco Inferno on Twitter asking if he is a heel.

“Is Cody Rhodes a heel? This is like the old school angle where you have a list of worthy contenders and they are just a bunch of indy workers that don’t even work for the company,” Disco Tweeted.

Cody responded with the following:

“I’m neither. I’m a competitor & a reigning champion. Tired old tropes are even more insulting to the viewer considering I’ve been on their TV since I was 20. It ain’t black and white, it hasn’t been in forever. Circumstances of the match dictate who we cheer for, beautiful thing.”

https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1286791424403558400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1286791424403558400%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwrestlingnews.co%2Faew-news%2Fcody-rhodes-explains-why-hes-not-a-heel-or-babyface%2F

The conversation then turned to good guys and bad guys in Marvel movies/comics.

https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1287021847075266560

Cody Rhodes TNT Title Reign

Cody has defended the title 6x since winning it at Double or Nothing in May. He’s defeated Jungle Boy, Marq Quen, Ricky Starks, Jake Hager, Sonny Kiss, and now Eddie Kingston. He is scheduled to face Warhorse next week.

Angel Garza Gets Married To Zaide Lozano

Scott Lazara
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Congratulations to WWE RAW Superstar Angel Garza on getting married to Zaide Lozano earlier this week.

Lozano revealed the wedding in two Instagram posts on Thursday. You can see those posts with photos below.

“Just Married ! JUST MARRIED! YES, yes for life! I love you,” she wrote in a translated post.

Lozano, who is a Mexican sports TV host, said yes when Garza proposed to her live on WWE NXT TV back in December. Garza popped the question in the middle of the ring following his NXT Cruiserweight Championship win over Lio Rush. It was believed that the wedding was being planned as Lozano posted about having her bachelorette party back in mid-March, which you can see below. Lozano then appeared on the April 13th RAW episode, posing as a ringside photographer during one of Garza’s entrance. While Lozano was not named on commentary, she received a rose and a kiss from Garza at ringside.

There’s no word yet on a honeymoon for The Garzas, or any time off for Garza. He and partner Andrade have been focused on the RAW Tag Team Championships as of late, and Monday’s RAW will feature a Triple Threat with the winners becoming the new #1 contenders to The Street Profits for a title match at SummerSlam. The match will see Garza and Andrade vs. The Viking Raiders vs. Cedric Alexander and Ricochet.

Below are a few photos of Garza and Lozano from their wedding, plus a few posts related to her WWE TV appearances:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CC_t2GTpPXZ/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDAokuFJmXm/

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B9xYBO4p9J4/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B59MAIvnfiw/

NJPW To Hold First Outdoor Event in 21 Years

Evan S
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During today’s NJPW Sengoku Lord 2020 in Nagoya event, New Japan Pro-wrestling announced during their intermission that they would be holding their first outdoor event in 21 years. The event, named Summer Struggle in Jingu will take place on August 29th, 2020 at Meiji Jingu Stadium, a baseball stadium in Tokyo Japan. This will also be the second outdoor event in NJPW’s 48 year history.

The stadium, which normally can hold well over 30,000 spectators, will likely be run at less than half capacity to comply with the Japanese government’s COVID-19 social distancing restrictions for events, as all recent NJPW events have. Ticket pricing and sales details have yet to be announced. NJPW has stated that the event will be postponed to August 30th if there is rain on the event’s planned date.

NJPW’s last, and first, outdoor event also took place at Meiji Jingu Stadium, and was called Jingu Climax: Last Battle of Summer. It was on August 28th, 1999. At that event, the featured matches were singles matches between Shinya Hashimoto and Masahiro Chono, as well as the main event, a “No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Barricade Explosive Land Mine Double Hell Deathmatch” between The Great Muta and Atsushi Onita.

Results: NJPW Sengoku Lord 2020

Evan S
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Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Sengoku Lord 2020 event will take place from the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan.

Watch on NJPW World with Japanese commentary.

Start Times: 2AM Pacific, 5AM Eastern, 10AM UK, 6PM Japan, 7PM East Australia

An English commentary version will be uploaded later in the week. Note: This event was held with a reduced attendance capacity so that the crowd could maintain social distancing.

NJPW Sengoku Lord 2020 in Nagoya Results

Taiji Ishimori def. Yuya Uemura (8:02)
It continues to be obvious that Yuya Uemura has a lot of potential. If I were in charge, I would have both him and Yota Tsuji skip excursion and simply turn up as non-Young Lions one day. After all, it’s not going to be practical or fruitful to send them overseas to wrestle any time soon. Uemura looked a bit awkward when he did a springboard crossbody, he lost his balanced on the top rope but was able to save it. Taiji Ishimori submitted Yuya Uemura with the Yes Lock after hitting the Cipher Uteki.

Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Gabriel Kidd (10:25)
Tomoaki Honma and Yota Tsuji were also supposed to be on oppiste teams in this match, but NJPW reported that they had recently been on a TV show, where they were in close proximity with a cast member who has since tested positive for COVID-19, so they were removed from the show out of an abundance of caution. This match was at its best towards the end when it involved young lion Gabriel Kidd against Togi Makabe. Makabe was using his power to run over Gabriel with lariats, but Kidd was able to get Makabe down for multiple near falls using clever pinning combinations. Togi Makabe pinned Gabriel Kidd with a bridging German suplex.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) def. CHAOS (SHO, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) (10:31)
The most interesting thing about this match is what’s going to happen with two sets of splintered tag team championships that have members present here. SHO has the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but YOH is likely going to be out for the rest of the year with the ACL tear he sustained. The NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships, which are held by EVIL, SANADA, and BUSHI, are also in an obvious state of flux. EVIL said in an interview that he didn’t need the championship other than the fact that he was able to call himself a triple champion, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Notably, while SHO brought his championship, SANADA and BUSHI did not bring theirs, and EVIL likely will not bring his during his match tonight. SANADA submitted SHO with the Skull End. After the match, all of LIJ attacked the referee, which they used to do frequently, but haven’t done at all recently.

At this point, an intermission to disinfect the ring was held, but NJPW had a major announcement to make. They will be running their second outdoor event in history on August 29th to conclude the Summer Struggle Tour. It will take place at Meiji Jingu Stadium, a baseball stadium in Tokyo that can seat over 30,000 people. Read all about it.

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato def. Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) (12:55)
It was notable that Tenzan entered to Master Wato’s music while all the other members of that team entered to Tanahashi’s. It’s really being presented that Tenzan and Wato are in something of a master-and-student relationship. Kota Ibushi pinned DOUKI after the Kamigoye. He and Tanahashi gestured at IWGP Tag Team Champions Taichiand Zack Sabre Jr. as if they wanted their championships back. The match in which Dangerous Tekkers won the championships involved heavily unfair two-on-one offence, so it might be the best course of action to give them a rematch.

Kazuchika Okada def. Yujiro Takahashi (13:43)
Yujiro was hesitant to start this match from the beginning. In interviews leading up to this match, Yujiro had acknowledged that Okada was stronger than him, but said that he would try to brign Okada down to his own level. Okada got Yujiro in the cobra clutch, which he has been using to win matches lately, but Yujiro was able to get his foot on the bottom rope to braek the hold. Following that, Gedo came in and hit Okada with a spanner, but Okada still kicked out when Yujiro went to pin him. Finally, Okada knocked Gedo off the apron when he tried to interfere again, then hit Yujiro with a spinning tombstone piledriver and then submitted him with the Cobra Clutch.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) def. El Desperado (17:03)
El Desperado entered wearing the NEVER Openweight Championship that he had stolen from Shingo Takagi at Dominion. Furious, Shingo Takagi entered quickly to start the match, and laid waste to Despy with his explosive power. However, El Desperado knew he wouldn’t be able to outmatch Shingo blow for blow, and instead relentlessly went after Shingo’s legs. Shingo was still capable of brief bursts of quickness, but his damaged leg stopped him from following up at speed. El Desperado lured Shingo out of the ring only to hit him with his own NEVER Openweight Championship. As Shingo barely made it back in before the count, Despy floored him with a spear and the Guitara de Angel for a two count. With a brief display of energy, Shingo was able to get Despy up for Made in Japan, but it only garnered a near fall. El Desperado tried to push Shingo into the referee and give him a low blow, but Shingo blocked it. With his last energy, he hit the Pumping Bomber and Last of the Dragon to put El Desperado away. He them limped back up the ramp, damaged but victorious.

IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championships: EVIL (c) def. Hiromu Takahashi (33:57)
EVIL’s look has improved substantially from his victory several weeks ago, as he’s substituted the awkward skirt for some tights that are more appropriate for the rest of his look. Dick Togo entered with him, wearing an all white suit that made him look like a drug lord. Hiromu Takahashi blitzed him at the start of the match, incensed by the betrayal of his former stablemate and friend. He took advantage early, but well-timed and subtle interference from Dick Togo let EVIL firmly take control. The crowd was all for Hiromu here, wanting to see good conquer EVIL, so to speak. He tried to hit Hiromu with the Darkness Falls on the apron, but Hiromu stuffed it and made EVIL’s plan backfire with an apron death valley bomb, then a diving senton bomb from the top rope to the outside. EVIL was able to fire back with a superplex and he went for the EVIL, but Hiromu blocked it, only for EVIL to throw him with multiple high-angle German suplexes. He went for the EVIL again, but Hiromu just slapped him in the face, and followed up with a lariat for a 2.9 count. EVIL threw Hiromu into the referee and this gave Dick Togo the opportunity to interfere again. He and EVIL hit a Magic Killer on Hiromu, and Dick Togo went to the top turnbuckle, but Hiromu kicked EVIL into the ropes, causing Togo to fall. Hiromu capitalized by hitting EVIL with his own self-named finish, then a death valley bomb into an exposed turnbuckle. He then hit the Time Bomb, but it onlymanaged a two count! He then hit the Time Bomb II, and it looked like he would win, but Dick Togo pulled the referee out right before the three. Hiromu was about to take out Togo, but EVIL hit him with a low blow from behind to slow his roll. Togo was out, but EVIL hit the Darkness falls and the EVIL for the pinfall victory. He retains the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships.

Following the match, Taiji Ishimori attacked the fallen Hiromu, and tried to hit him with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but Tetsuya Naito finally ran in to scare him off. Naito stared EVIL down and expressed his desire for revenge, before leaving with Hiromu slumped over his shoulder.

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