Founding member of Bullet Club, Tama Tonga, was recently interviewed by SI.com. During the discussion, Tonga noted the differences between Japanese and American wrestling companies during the pandemic. According to Tonga, there is more unity in Japan and concern for the safety of fans and wrestlers.
“There is a different sense of unity in Japan,” said Tonga. “Here in America, the show must go on. Money needs to come in, so the wrestlers are still wrestling. New Japan stopped holding shows. That’s not just for the safety of the fans, but it’s also for the health of the wrestlers.”
Tonga continued to talk about how New Japan Pro Wrestling has assured staff and wrestlers that nobody will be let go. He noted that the company is more of a family.
“It’s a different culture in Japan, a lot different from ‘the show must go on’ mindset,” said Tonga. “The majority of our income comes from live shows, which has been cut out, but the company has held onto the staff and reassured us that no one will be let go. The company is more of a family in Japan.”
Tama Tonga is one of the most decorated tag team wrestlers in NJPW history. The Guerrillas of Destiny rank 5th all-time in IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team title defenses with 9. Their 6 reigns with the titles is tied for 1st all-time with Tencozy. They rank 4th all-time with 607 combined days with the belts. The team also made it to the finals of World Tag League 3x in a row from 2016-2018. They’ve never won the tournament, however.
Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 36 but hasn’t been part of WWE programming since. As it turns out, Owens suffered an ankle injury during the match that has sidelined him ever since. Meanwhile, the wrestler Owens beat at WrestleMania now has a WWE Championship match against Drew McIntyre at Money in the Bank.
Owens confirmed his ankle injury during an interview with RDS.
“It’s special that we were considered essential in the state of Florida, but maybe it’s a mentality where they think people need such distraction,” a translated quote from Owens reads.
“The great thing about WWE is that it doesn’t require us to be there if we don’t want to. That’s why in the last two weeks I have not been there because I preferred to be at home with my family,” Owens continued.
Owens doesn’t seem to be doing too bad during this time, however.
WrestleMania 36 with Owens’ 4th time wrestling at the event. He was involved in a 7-way ladder match for the IC title at WM32 (won by Zack Ryder.) At WrestleMania 33, he defeated Chris Jericho for the United States title. At WM34, he teamed with Sami Zayn and lost to Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan.
Jimmy Uso has suffered a knee injury and will be out of action for 6-9 months. According to a report from Ringside News, Uso needs surgery after suffering an injury during the ladder match at WrestleMania 36. The exact nature of Uso’s knee injury or the type of surgery he’ll need is currently unknown.
John Morrison won a 3-way ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso at WrestleMania. Big E would later win the titles for New Day in a triple threat match against Jey Uso and the Miz on Smackdown.
WWE recently announced that the New Day vs Forgotten Sons vs Lucha House Party vs Miz & Morrison will compete for the Smackdown tag team titles at Money in the Bank.
The Usos in WWE
Jimmy & Jay Uso are one of the most decorated tag-teams in WWE history. The 34-year-old brothers debuted on the WWE main roster in 2010. During that time, they’ve won tag-team gold in the promotion times.
The Usos have held the Smackdown tag titles 4x for 380 days spent with the belts. They rank 1st in total days spent with the Smackdown titles and second in reigns. The New Day have held the belts 6x for a combined 300 days spent as champions.
WWE presents the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event on Sunday, May 10, 2020. Here is the updated card:
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins
WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
Daniel Bryan vs. Baron Corbin vs. Otis vs. Aleister Black vs. vs. Rey Mysterio vs. TBA (to be held in Stamford, CT at the WWE headquarters) – Men’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match (held at WWE headquarters)
Nia Jax vs. Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Dana Brooke vs. Lacey Evans vs. Carmella – Women’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match (held at WWE headquarters)
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Tamina
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. The Miz & John Morrison vs. The Forgotten Sons vs. Lucha House Party – Title Fatal 4-Way Match
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
The main event of WrestleMania 9 was Yokozuna vs Bret Hart yet somehow, Hulk Hogan ended up the winner. Jim Ross recently addressed arguably the most confusing WrestleMania main of all time on an episode of his Grilling JR podcast.
“I knew that the plans were for Hogan to leave the show as the champion,” JR said on the podcast. “But he wasn’t even in a match. So, to tell you I knew what was going to happen would be a lie. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
JR continued, I knew in general terms that by the end of the night when the sunset on WrestleMania 9 that Hogan would be leaving as the champion but I didn’t know the fortuitous route that we were going to take to get there.”
Hogan came out at the end of Hart vs Yokozuna and challenged the new champion. According to JR, Hart and Yokozuna’s match on the show was better than what was expected.
“Thanks to Bret and Yoko, they made chicken salad out of some chicksh*t,” JR said about their match. “It was a respite that we needed and I give credit to Bret Hart and Yokozuna for that. They always had amazing chemistry. I could watch them work all day long. Bret knew exactly how to work with Yoko to amplify and eventuate Yoko’s size and strength advantage.”
Before Cain Velasquez signed with WWE last year, he worked two matches in Mexico for AAA Lucha Libre. Konnan recently commented on WWE releasing Velasquez on an episode of his “Keepin it 100” podcast recently.
“How weird is that bro? They use the guy one time, that’s it,” Konnan said on the show regarding the former UFC Heavyweight Champion’s release.
Disco Inferno then chimed in and said that WWE didn’t need him.
“Well, you say they don’t need him but I think there was money in him and Lashley,” Konnan said. Konnan then listed some other names that Cain could likely draw money with but Disco was talking over him at the time.
Velasquez lost to Brock Lesnar in a WWE Championship match in Saudi Arabia last year. Velasquez would later team with Humberto Carrillo on a WWE live event from Mexico as well. They defeated the team of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows.
Konnan’s comments about Cain’s release can be heard in the player below:
Velasquez has been doing some video game live-streaming recently. He also posted the following link about luchadors sewing masks to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Becky Lynch is said to be drawing interest in the entertainment world for her ability to connect with fans.
During a recent chat with TMZ, the WWE RAW Women’s Champion revealed The Rock and John Cena are mentoring her for a potential career in Hollywood.
Lynch appeared in the season 5 premiere of the hit show Billions on Sunday night. Series co-creator Brian Koppelman said last year that Lynch had a standing offer to appear on the show.
“You never know if people are gonna come through with these things, but he did and they did. I’m on the season premiere,” Lynch told TMZ Sports about Koppelman’s offer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q0JLH-OhsY
Becky Lynch Mentored by The Rock & John Cena
Lynch continued to talk about how both the Rock and John Cena have been offering her advice.
“[The Rock has] actually he’s been very helpful in guiding me,” Lynch said. “He’s just being very giving and I think they all are because they’ve all been there and they’re all ready to look after the next generation.”
“Cena’s also been so great to me and so generous with his time and his advice, checks up on me on what I’m doing now. I think everybody wants to see the next generation move to where they’ve been, ya know?!”
Lynch would later confirm during the interview that she has no plans to leave WWE for Hollywood, however.
“Look, I just love performing. I love being able to get it out there, but I also love a crowd. So, as long as I can wrestle, then I’m going to be doing that.”
Lynch has a degree in acting from the Dublin Institute of Technology.
AJ Styles hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since WrestleMania 36 but now latest reports have revealed that the former World Champion would be returning to TV soon.
According to reports from Post Wrestling, The Phenomenal One is scheduled to make his return during the upcoming Money In The Bank go-home episode of Monday Night Raw.
The site also reports that AJ is expected to get involved in the men’s Money In The Bank match at the namesake PPV taking place from the WWE HQ next Sunday on May 10.
There is no news on what he will be doing at the show but there is obvious speculation of the former Champion’s participation in the last chance gauntlet match on Raw.
The last chance gauntlet match was announced because Apollo Crews was removed from MITB due to an injury. The company has not revealed the participants for the match so far and AJ Styles could be one of the persons to compete in the bout.
The former TNA World Champion was last seen on WWE programming at WrestleMania 36 where he competed against The Undertaker in a highly praised boneyard match.
Taker defeated Styles in the bout and it was reported later on that the company will be keeping him off television for a while to sell the loss.
Jeff Hardy appeared on this week’s episode of WWE’s After The Bell podcast. The Charismatic Enigma spoke to Corey Graves about returning to SmackDown and his desire to work a ‘cinematic’ match against “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.
“I just want to have one more good run man and maybe become the World Champion, the Universal Champion” Jeff Hardy began. “I would love to do something with The Fiend Bray Wyatt, I got some crazy cool ideas.”
Jeff Hardy Enters The Twilight Zone
Hardy would then go into detail with ideas for the potential ‘cinematic’ match with Wyatt. “I was like ‘what if there was something like The Twilight Zone?’ Because back when we did the Hardy Show that we had this thing called the WhyLight Zone. So now what if we, I don’t know…like Wyatt beat me and took me under the ring? Then all of a sudden I’m in the Funhouse by a black and white TV and it’s like the Twilight Zone?”
With the recent COVID-19 pandemic situation WWE have had to be creative when it comes to filming certain bouts/segments. WrestleMania 36 was unprecedented for a variety of reasons, two of them being the Boneyard match and the Firefly Fun House match.
It’s fair to comment that the ‘Deletion’ matches that Matt (predominately) and Jeff Hardy spearheaded have had a huge influence on these types of bouts. With WWE now able to add a world class production style to the cinematic bouts they can take a life of their own.
“I’m just excited about crazy creativity like that that you can pitch, throwing it out there, see if it sticks.”
– Jeff Hardy
Jeff would elaborate further on what he would suggest for a Wyatt match; saying “we do like ‘you’re trying to get out of the black and white TV?’ I’m just excited about crazy creativity like that that you can pitch, throwing it out there, see if it sticks. I’m just not be afraid to be open minded and creative.”
Discussion: Do you want to see Hardy vs. The Fiend in a ‘cinematic’ match?
Mandy Rose had been involved in a storyline with Otis in the last few months and their angle concluded with the two finally getting together at WrestleMania 36 where Rose helped the former NXT star in winning his match against Dolph Ziggler.
The duo then shared another moment backstage when they were interviewed after the show and during a recent interview, the Golden Goddess revealed that the segment was actually unscripted.
Mandy recently spoke to Sports Illustrated where she talked about a number of things and revealed that her post WrestleMania segment with Otis was completely unscripted:
“That was just us, off-script, being ourselves. I was shocked it got so many views. We’re really thankful that people are enjoying this. This was something we thought was really funny, and we both thought it could be a great story.
Though I never thought it would resonate with people this much. But it’s relatable, and it’s really cool that we’ve been able to involve so many people.”
The segment in question has garnered a lot of attention from fans and as of this writing it has more than 3.5 million views on WWE’s official YouTube channel.
Apart from this, Mandy Rose also talked about the start of this storyline and revealed who pitched the idea for it. You can check out her comments about the same here.
Nia Jax stands out in the WWE roster due to her size difference and the former Women’s Champion has been doing so from the first day of her WWE career.
The Irresistible Force recently appeared on WWE’s The Bump where she talked about things like her recent injury, her time away from the company and more.
Talking about her start in the promotion, Jax recalled how she stood out even in her tryouts and revealed what Joey Mercury told her after her first match:
“I will never forget my tryout, there was an obvious difference between me and the other girls. They were fitness models and bodybuilders. I walked in with no makeup, hair up in a ponytail, ready to sweat, and these girls had their hair and makeup done.
“I never thought in a million years that I would ever get this job.” said Nia Jax “I remember after my first match one of the coaches, Joey Mercury, came up to me and said, “Just so you know, you’re my first-round pick. I said, ‘What,’ and he said, ‘Your body, your size, you’re unique and you will be incredible.’ It was so cool.”
The former NXT star underwent surgery for a knee injury in April last year and she had been out of action ever since. She returned during the WrestleMania 36 follow up episode of Raw where she defeated Deonna Purrazzo in a squash match.
Apart from this, Nia Jax also talked about Simone Johnson joining WWE, what the Rock told her during her time away and more. You can check out her interview in the video below:
The cinematic matches at WrestleMania this year received high praise and fans are open to seeing more such content. Now it appears that Becky Lynch is open to the concept as well, including the possibility of creating her own version of the boneyard match.
The Raw Women’s Champion recently had an interview with TVInsider to promote her cameo in Billions where she talked about things like the upcoming Money In The Bank PPV, how she landed the role and more.
Talking about the cinematic matches and the possibility of WWE producing more such content in future, Lynch said that they can keep going along the lines:
“The thing is, it’s a crazy time. You have to see what works and what doesn’t. The fact that we have the ability to make more cinematic matches, I think it’s a testament to how we can adjust and move forward.
I think we have to keep going along those lines.” said Becky Lynch. “Not necessarily every match has to be a cinematic match, but just [exploring] different ways of dialogue and how we adjust our storytelling to this new reality we’re in now.”
When asked if she can picture herself outside of a traditional match Lynch revealed that she has pitched some ideas for it “I’ve pitched plenty of things. We’ll see what happens. Sometimes your pitches go through, sometimes they don’t. We’ll see what happens. “
Apart from this, Becky Lynch talked about things like adjusting to the quarantine lifestyle, new faces getting a chance in WWE and more. You can check out her interview at this link.
The Money In The Bank will be taking place from the WWE headquarters and latest update reveal that the ladder matches this year will be unique in more than one way.
WWE announced on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown that both male and female Money In The Bank matches this year will be taking place at the same time:
The company previously revealed that the ladder matches will start from the ground floor of the WWE Headquarters and the competitors will have to ‘climb the corporate ladder’ and reach the top floor to win the bout.
Now this new announcement means that the male and female participants will be competing simultaneously and we might even see some interaction between them.
The Money In The Bank PPV was originally scheduled to take place from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD but it was moved due to the coronavirus restrictions.
The event will now air live from the WWE Headquarters on May 10, with some of the content such as the ladder matches announced for the show airing with tape delay.
A total of five matches have been confirmed for the show so far and you can check out an updated match card for the upcoming event at this link.
WWE has finalized the competitors for the upcoming Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match at the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view event.
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, WWE booked Carmella vs. Mandy Rose in a qualifying match to determine who would be the final star in the ladder match. As seen on the show, Carmella went over to advance.
She now joins Nia Jax, Asuka, Shayna Baszler, Dana Brooke, and Lacey Evans as stars competing in the contest. The winner of this match will earn a contract that states they’re guaranteed a future title shot at either the RAW or SmackDown Women’s Titles.
WWE presents the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event on Sunday, May 10, 2020 that will air on the WWE Network.
Updated WWE Money in the Bank Card
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins
WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
Daniel Bryan vs. Baron Corbin vs. TBA vs. Aleister Black vs. Rey Mysterio (to be held in Stamford, CT at the WWE headquarters) – Men’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match (held at WWE headquarters)
Nia Jax vs. Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Dana Brooke vs. Lacey Evans vs. Carmella – Women’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match (held at WWE headquarters)
The May 1st episode of SmackDown aired from WWE’s Performance Center. Two more superstars qualified for the MITB Ladder matches on tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
WWE SmackDown Results (5/1)
Daniel Bryan def. King Corbin via DQ
Sheamus def. Leon Ruff
Carmella def. Sonya Deville to qualify for the MITB Ladder match
Forgotten Sons def. New Day
Otis def. Dolph Ziggler to qualify for the MITB Ladder match
Here are 5 takeaways from tonight’s show:
King Corbin Beat Daniel Bryan Down
King Corbin
Daniel Bryan squared off against King Corbin tonight. Before the match, Bryan cut a promo hyping up the Money in the Bank match. Bryan said that winning the MITB Ladder match proved to everyone that he belonged here with the very best. Daniel stated that he was hoping that Drew Gulak would get to compete with him but King Corbin and his cronies ruined that.
King Corbin bragged about defeating Gulak last week and rolled highlights from the match. Bryan asked Corbin if he was squander his opportunity once again if he wins the MITB Ladder match. Corbin stated that he is stronger and smarter and is going to show that to Bryan right now.
Match Recap: Bryan controlled the action early and targeted Corbin’s knee. King Corbin battled back for a moment but Bryan sent him back to the canvas and locked in a Heel Hook. Corbin broke free and beat Bryan down as SmackDown went to a break. When SmackDown returned, Bryan hit Corbin with a Dropkick off the top rope. Daniel knocked Corbin out of the ring and went for a Suicide Dive but Corbin caught him. Bryan booted Corbin in the knee before Corbin grabbed a ladder. King Corbin hit Bryan with the ladder and the match ended in a DQ.
After the match, Corbin slid the ladder in the ring and went for End of Days but Bryan escaped. Daniel applied the Yes Lock on the ladder but Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro broke it up. Cesaro leveled Bryan with the ladder and Daniel rolled out of the ring. King Corbin launched Bryan off the entrance ramp and into the ladders next to the stage.
Universal Champion Braun Strowman came down to the ring to cut a promo on Bray Wyatt. He was immediately interrupted by an episode of the Firefly Fun House.
Wyatt was sitting in a rocking chair and was wearing some glasses. Bray revealed that it was storytime and read from a book entitled “The Black Sheep”. The story was about a shepherd that raised the Black Sheep and taught him well. In return, the Black Sheep protected him but then one day the selfish Black Sheep left. The shepherd lost his entire farm and it was a sad ending.
Wyatt suggested a happier ending, one where the shepherd finds the Black Sheep and takes away what makes him happiest. Strowman challenged Bray to come to the ring but Wyatt simply waved goodbye to end the segment.
Sonya Deville Cost Mandy Rose Her Qualifying Match
Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Image Credit: WWE.com
Mandy Rose battled Carmella in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match.
Match Recap: Carmella avoided Mandy to start things off and moonwalked across the ring. Mandy Rose battled back before Sonya Deville interrupted. Sonya said she gave Mandy Rose her MITB spot last year and tried to hand her the match last year but Mandy still lost.
Deville said that she was sick of standing up here and shouted “karma is a bitch, bitch”. Sonya started making her way down the entrance ramp and Rose got distracted. Carmella capitalized with a Superkick to Rose for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Sonya Deville rushed the ring and attacked Mandy Rose. Deville bashed Mandy into the ring post and followed it up by throwing her into the steel steps. Sonya hit Rose with a running knee to the back of Mandy’s head before finally leaving.
The Forgotten Sons made their debut on SmackDown. Image Credit: WWE.com
New Day faced The Forgotten Sons tonight on SmackDown. The Miz and John Morrison joined commentary for the match.
Match Recap: New Day controlled the action early as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Kofi hit Cutler with a Splash and Big E went for the cover but Steve kicked out at two. Blake leveled Big E with a Suicide Dive and brought him back in the ring.
Forgotten Sons planted Big E with a Powerbomb for a near fall. Cutler and Kofi tagged in and Kingston connected with a Clothesline. Jaxson Ryker sent Big E into the ring post while the referee was distracted. Forgotten Sons then slammed Kofi to the canvas for the victory. After the match, Miz and Morrison chanted “you deserve it!” at New Day.
Dolph Ziggler faced Otis in a MITB Qualifying match tonight on SmackDown. It was the main event of this week’s show. Before the match, Dolph Ziggler vowed to win MITB and win the title again.
Match Recap: Otis absolutely leveled Ziggler with a shoulder tackle and knocked him out of the ring. Ziggler got back in the ring and Otis sent him flying again. Otis held up Dolph for a bit and dropped him with a Suplex for a near fall. Otis launched Ziggler into the turnbuckle and Dolph rolled out of the ring to try and regroup.
Otis brought him back inside and planted him with a slam for a near fall. Dolph battled back and sent Otis into the barricade outside the ring as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Ziggler was in control and had Otis in a Headlock. Otis broke free and hit Ziggler with a Clothesline. Dolph connected with a Zig Zag for a near fall. Otis hit a Powerslam and followed it up with Caterpillar Elbow for the victory.
Opinion: RAW and SmackDown were both disappointing shows this week in my opinion. It just felt like the shows were mailed in and nothing remotely interesting happened. I’m looking forward to Jeff Hardy returning next week and his confrontation with Sheamus. Hopefully that feud will inject some life into this show. The mystery surrounding the hacker and the feud between Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville are really the only entertaining parts of SmackDown right now. I liked idea of qualifying matches for Money in the Bank but the matches actually have to be entertaining for it to work. It was cool to see Otis get the win tonight but the match itself was completely forgettable.
Becky Lynch could be the next WWE star to branch out of the pro wrestling business and into the entertainment industry.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the RAW Women’s Champion is slated to be featured in a major national women’s magazine soon. The feature is being prepared now. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on the full details of the profile.
It was added that there are other people in the entertainment world who are interested in Lynch. The reason for that is due to her ability to connect with crowds.
This comes days after it was revealed that Lynch is slated to be featured on the season 5 premiere of Showtime’s “Billions” series. that airs at 9pm ET this Sunday on Showtime.
Regarding her WWE status, she hasn’t been seen in the ring wrestling since successfully retaining the title over Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania 36 – Night 1 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center last month.
Lynch did appear on Monday Night RAW a few weeks back where she sent a warning to potentially her next opponent. She did so during a promo talking about the WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view that will feature the six-woman MITB Ladder Match.
Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Asuka, Nia Jax, Baszler, and one more competitor are slated to wrestle in the contest. The winner will earn a future title shot from either Lynch or WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if she will appear on next Monday’s episode of RAW or the Money in the Bank PPV event.
More details on AEW going back to holding TV tapings have surfaced online.
As noted, All Elite Wrestling will return to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida on May 6th for future episodes of Dynamite and Dark in addition to their next pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing, later this month.
According to a report by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AEW plans to air the May 6th episode of Dynamite live. Then, they will tape the May 13th episode either the night of May 6th or the next day.
Finally, AEW will return on May 20th with a live show, which will be the go-home show of Double or Nothing. AEW will do Double or Nothing on May 23rd and then do another live episode of Dynamite on May 27th.
Plans for June and going forward have not been revealed as of this writing. Those who live in the area will stay in town or go home while those who fly into the state will stay in Jacksonville from May 20th through May 27th
Cody Rhodes vs. Lance Archer will be in the finals of the tournament that will determine the inaugural AEW TNT Champion. This has been the only match to be confirmed for Double or Nothing.
The evolution of state order guidelines regarding the coronavirus continues to change and pro wrestling promotions such as WWE and AEW have been adapting to it.
Since March, stay-at-home orders and social guidelines have been put into place by various states throughout the United States. Florida has been a state that has been more relaxed to the point where pro wrestling, MMA, boxing, and sporting leagues have been deemed an essential business.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has revealed his guidelines for re-opening the state. These new guidelines could let pro wrestling promotions be allowed to have fans attendance at their shows as early as Monday, May 4.
Per the guidelines, large spectator sporting events can include fans but must have social distancing followed and the venue be at 25 percent capacity.
Thus, if WWE wanted to do so, they could have fans attend shows in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center and Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. Same goes for AEW from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida for Dynamite shows.
Regarding for AEW, if Tony Khan wanted to do so, they could have fans attend their Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event on Saturday, May 23rd.
Jon Moxley believes there are endless possibilities ahead for the 20+ wrestlers recently released by WWE.
The AEW World Champion spoke with SEScoops earlier this week to promote his role in Cagefighter: Worlds Collide. The film premieres on FITE pay-per-view Saturday night, May 16th for fans outside the United States. A domestic release is planned for later this year. Moxley plays Randy Stone, a pro wrestler who crosses over into the world of mixed martial arts. Moxley told us that he relates to Randy Stone, who he described as ‘kind of an a-hole’ with a chip on his shoulder.
We asked Jon Moxley if he thinks AEW should sign some of the Superstars who were laid off by WWE last month. We also got his take on AEW’s impact on the wrestling industry at large.
Jon Moxley on WWE Releases
WWE released and furloughed over 30 people in April. Many of the released performers could be strong additions to All Elite Wrestling, whether in the ring or behind the scenes.
We asked Jon Moxley if AEW should considering signing some of them, or if he thinks AEW should focus on developing their current roster.
“Everybody in wrestling, you kind of generally end up where you’re supposed to end up,” Moxley began. “That’s just kind of how it goes. The cool thing is that, of all the kind of current free agents who are unfortunately on the market at an unfortunate time? Once the world kind of goes back to normal and stuff? Now [companies] are all gonna have all these great talents.”
Getting released by WWE is the end of the road for some. It marks a new beginning for others. We’ve already seen The Revival, Gallows & Anderson, Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder), EC3 and others set the stage for the next chapter of their careers.
Jon Moxley says he would not simply sign former WWE talent and plug them right into AEW programming. He thinks the talent needs time to branch out and evolve.
“It’s not like I’m just gonna plug this person in here and then put them into AEW and it’s gonna be the same thing,” he said. “You can’t even think like that because you have no idea what these people are going to become. They may become totally new characters, they may branch into a different style. It may be the best version of all 20 of those people, we’ve yet to see. It’s endless possibilities, and you just kind of have to see what the future holds.”
We asked Jon Moxley what his friends in WWE think about AEW. He hasn’t gotten much feedback specifically about the AEW product, but a few people said it looks like he’s having fun.
“I haven’t really got much feedback or opinion on anything like that from anybody within WWE,” Moxley began. “Just in general, just like ‘Happy for you, looks like you’re having fun, keep killing it’ kind of thing. I don’t really know what the opinion and situation is. But I do know that … in terms of business? Obviously nothing’s gonna change in the last month or two, but from the time AEW came in the picture? All positive things have happened for the business all across the board.”
He elaborated on AEW having a positive impact on the industry. “People in WWE have gotten new and better contracts or new and better schedules. NXT is live on TV now as a direct result of that [AEW Dynamite] so that’s a great opportunity for those people. I think it’s just good for everybody. It’s good for the whole business, so I don’t see how there could be any negative thoughts whatsoever. I think everybody’s loving that the business is still kind of on fire right now.”
Catch Jon Moxley in Cagefighter: Worlds Collide on Saturday, May 16th at FITE.TV.
Mick Foley has shared a touching tribute to the life of Nancy Benoit on social media. Foley recently connected with Nancy’s sister and this led to him feeling reconnected with Nancy as well. He took to Facebook and asked for wrestling fans to remember Nancy for her contributions to pro-wrestling rather than how she died.
“For the past thirteen years, Nancy Benoit’s life has been largely defined in the public eye by how she died. I think it’s about time we changed that way of thinking. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could pause for a moment to remember instead, how she lived, how she worked, and to reflect on what her legacy in pro wrestling should be?” Foley asks in a recent Facebook post.
Foley would continue to say he believes Nancy should be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
“I would love to see Nancy inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame,” Foley continued in his post.
Foley then mentioned several different periods of Nancy’s career that are Hall of Fame worthy. These included her time as Fallen Angel, as manager of the 4 Horsemen, and her run in ECW.
“Inducting Nancy Toffoloni into the WWE Hall of Fame is the right thing to do. Let us remember her, and define her for who she was and what she did in life,” Foley concluded in the post.
Darby Allin was eliminated in the semi-finals of the TNT title tournament recently on Dynamite. The 27-year-old went into the match ranked #3 in the official AEW top-5 rankings. He spoke to the Bleacher Report recently about a variety of subjects including the creative freedom he currently enjoys in AEW.
In lieu of long in-ring promos, Darby often creates videos addressed to his upcoming opponents that are aired on Dynamite. He spoke to the Bleacher Report about the process these videos go through before being broadcast.
“Me and my friend Max Yoder, we’re just a two-man group. All it is,” Darby said about who produces the videos.
He would continue to say he sends the videos to Cody, Tony Khan, and Chris Jericho.
“Yeah. I send it to Tony. First thing I send it to Tony and then I’ll send one to Cody. Jericho too, I’ll send him s–t. Just like, ‘Yo, look at this.’ It’s not, like, so much to be hoping that they’ll put the thumbs up. Because I know that they’ll like it. It’s just that I just want to share my art with certain people before it gets on air. Just being like, ‘Tell me your thoughts on this.'”
Britt Baker was recently interviewed by Chris Van Vliet. During the discussion, Baker talked about her heel turn in AEW, whose idea it was, and the creative process backstage in the company.
“I don’t want to say I felt lost but it just felt like I didn’t have a character,” Baker said about her pre-heel turn character. “It was something that obviously the fans can’t relate to because they’re not dentists and professional wrestlers. So, when you’re shoving it down their throats it’s almost like a slap in the face.”
She continued to say that it was Kenny Omega who had the idea of turning her heel.
“It was Kenny who had the idea of turning me heel,” she continued. “I was like ‘of course’ I’m down to try anything but I knew I was going to need a lot of help because I’ve never been a heel before ever.”
Baker also continued to talk about the backstage creative process for her in AEW.
“It’s a lot of coming together. So, Tony obviously writes the show and I’ll get bullet points. Tony, Cody and I will all kind of come together and come up with the content of what we want to say in the promos.”
Recently on Dynamite, Baker gave fans a tour of her dental office while she talked about some of the rules of being a role model.
Chris Jericho was recently interviewed by Newsweek and discussed his time at the commentary position as of late on Dynamite. Jericho noted that the temporary move to the commentary booth allowed him to be more of a focus of the show.
“I’m the leader of the Inner Circle, and I’m Le Champion,” he continued. “I think that was a great kind of stopgap measure to keep the star power on the show because we had a smaller crew for those four weeks that will plug up the gaps and I can kind of be one of the focuses of the show without being the focus of the show if that makes sense.”
Jericho continued to say that he has enjoyed his time working commentary but now he feels its time to go back to what he had been doing before.
“As fun as it is to commentate, that’s maybe something I’ll do more in the future,” Jericho said. “But I think it’s time to kind of take control again, outside of the commentary booth.”
While Dynamite will be live next week, they won’t be live every week moving forward. The May 13th edition will be pretaped before Dynamite runs live again on May 20th.
Chris Jericho, the Inner Circle & “The Bubbly Bunch”
In addition to working the commentary booth, Jericho and his stablemates have debuted “the Bubbly Bunch” segments. This past week, the Flim Flam Challenge took a turn. It became a “Manitoba Melee.” Highlights of the segment were posted to the AEW YouTube channel:
The full interview with Newsweek can be read here.
AEW President Tony Khan has provided some interesting insight about All Elite Wrestling’s creative process.
Khan spoke with Johnny Christ this week on a special Youtube edition of the Drinks With Johnny podcast. They spoke a wide variety topics, including the recent NFL draft. Of course there was also a lot of wrestling talk.
Interestingly, Khan revealed that he has taken inspiration from late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon when formulating AEW’s “no audience” programming. He also shed some light on the importance of letting wrestlers be themselves without over-scripting.
Christ said one of the things he likes about AEW is the wrestlers speak from the heart. He feels like the talent has taken control of their characters, which gives them and the product a more organic feel.
Tony Khan Lets AEW Talent Get Creative
Tony Khan said there needs to be an overall structure to AEW’s story telling. However, he does not want to write dialogue that is not believable for a specific wrestler. He would never hand a wrestler a piece of paper and tell them to memorize 6 paragraphs to recite.
Khan singled out Darby Allin as a prime example of a talented performer that needs to speak in his own words. “I can’t speak for Darby Allin, nobody can but Darby,” Khan said.
Darby Allin’s character development in AEW has been fueled by his ominous vignettes. He puts those together himself. “That’s the genius of Darby,” Khan said. He reiterated that AEW needs an overall structure and he loves that side of the creative process. But the talent needs leeway to flourish creatively.
Johny Christ said promos are what sold him on wrestling as a kid. When you see a wrestler who is fired up and speaking passionately, you have no choice but to get invested. Christ said he’s seeing cooler promos in AEW than “elsewhere.”
Tony Khan wrapped up by saying, “we have some really creative people” in AEW. In recent weeks, they have been working with a skeleton crew. Everybody stepped up and that has made him proud. He gave another example of Chris Jericho coming up with the Bubbly Bunch series. Jericho was given a chance to get creative and it’s working.
You can check out the full episode of Drinks With Johnny Live below:
It’s safe to say that at the age of 42, Jeff Hardy has more of his wrestling career behind him than in front. It appears that the former World Champion also understands this as he is already talking about a potential retirement match for himself.
The Charismatic Enigma recently appeared on the After The Bell podcast of Corey Graves where he talked about his long and illustrated career in the wrestling business in detail.
During the interview, Hardy also expressed the desire to face Brock Lesnar once again and said that maybe he can compete with the Beast in his last match:
“That’s one more thing, I would love to get my a** kicked by him [Brock Lesnar] again because he’s just intimidating and insanely gifted. To be as successful as he was in the MMA world, he’s amazing. That would be interesting, man. Maybe that could be my last match. I was his first match; he could be my last match.”
Jeff also talked about the recent SmackDown promos promoting his return. He talked about his rehab and problems with alcoholism and drug abuse and said that he is doing everything he can to make the situation better.
Brock Lesnar’s debut match in WWE main roster was against Jeff Hardy. Lesnar faced the Attitude Era star in a singles bout at Backlash 2002 and the Beast defeated the wrestling veteran via a TKO in five minutes.
The Hardy Boyz then went on to pick up victories over the former WWE Champion in the following weeks but Jeff has never faced Brock in a singles match since then.
