Ricky Starks says that AEW always has room for talent but he has a piece of advice.
It’s no secret that AEW has become the place to be for many wrestlers. That’s because while WWE remains the most popular American wrestling company, AEW provides an alternative. The promotion has grown substantially in just two years.
We’ve seen big names such as CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole make their AEW debuts. Despite this, it appears AEW’s homegrown haven’t been negatively impacted.
Starks, who considers himself a homegrown AEW talent, told Denise Salcedo for Instinct Culture that AEW will keep leaving the door open for wrestlers. There is one rule that AEW hopefuls must follow, however.
“Don’t get it twisted, the people that were here originally built all of this. Just like any type of building piece, we had that, then we had them come in, then we have the young guys that are moving up now being the stars they were being built up for. It’s just so many cool parts. I think it’s cool to have someone like Punk, Bryan, and Adam Cole because iron sharpens iron and we cannot get better if we just wrestle the same 50 guys that we did the past ten years. So, I am a fan of it. I am really excited for it. The more the merrier as long as they come to work, and wanna help out and not be selfish.”
Ricky Starks recently made his return to the ring on the Oct. 8 edition of Rampage. While he had been on camera the past few months, Starks hadn’t been in the ring for a while. Starks recently told Salcedo he’d been cleared since July but AEW allowed him to have more time to fully heal.
Bryan Danielson and Minoru Suzuki will clash this Friday night on the Rampage Buy-In show. AEW announced yesterday that from 9PM until the start of Rampage at 10PM, AEW’s YouTube channel will run live from the James L. Knight Center in Miami.
Both Bryan Danielson and Minoru Suzuki have released statements about the upcoming match.
“In 2004, I wrestled Minoru Suzuki 1 on 1. He beat the sh*t out of me. Showed me what violence and sadism inside a wrestling ring looks like. Since then, I’ve learned a thing or two about violence myself. And sadism. Excited to show Mr. Suzuki what I’ve learned,” Danielson Tweeted.
In 2004, I wrestled Minoru Suzuki 1 on 1. He beat the sh*t out of me. Showed me what violence and sadism inside a wrestling ring looks like. Since then, I’ve learned a thing or two about violence myself. And sadism. Excited to show Mr. Suzuki what I’ve learned #DANIELSONvsSUZUKIhttps://t.co/HOCbVJ8W3S
“When I was drinking coffee in the city, I got a call and decided in a hurry. The wind of Minoru Suzuki will blow to Miami,” a translation of his Tweet reads.
Suzuki and “The American Dragon” met on July 20th, 2004 at NJPW Summer Struggle. Suzuki defeated Danielson in 13 minutes and 38 seconds. They had been on opposing sides of several tag matches leading up to the event. After their singles match, however, Suzuki and Danielson teamed together 4 times from July to October. They went 2-2 when teaming together. Their last match was a loss to Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Shinsuke Nakamura on October 20th, 2004.
In February of 2020, a story broke that Brett Dibiase, son of the “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase had been one of six people arrested as part of an embezzlement scheme regarding welfare funds for the state of Mississippi. Brett had been hired as deputy administrator at the Mississippi Department of Human Services in 2017 before his arrest.
Recently, State Auditor Shad White sent out several letters demanding repayment for misspent welfare dollars. Although all details have not been revealed, Dibiase Sr.’s Heart of David Ministry, had received $2.1 million in welfare money from the state of Mississippi, according to state records.
Yesterday, a report from Mississippi Today revealed names of individuals and the total amount they owe the state. Amongst those names is also Brett Favre. The former quarterback is said to owe over $800 thousand paid to him for speaking engagements that he did not attend.
Brett Dibiase, Ted Dibiase Sr, and Ted Dibiase Jr. were also named in the report.
“Ted DiBiase Jr., a retired WWE wrestler, must return $3.9 million,” the reports reads. “Virtually all the money he earned as a motivational speaker for the welfare agency, plus interest.”
Ted Dibiase Sr. owes just under what he spent in storyline on the Million Dollar Championship belt. He is being asked to repay $722,299 that his Christian ministry received.
Meanwhile, Brett Dibiase who worked as the state administrator, is being asked to repay $225,950.
Tony Khan is claiming that this weekend’s episodes of AEW shows are not about competing with WWE. Instead, it’s about producing the best show they can. The AEW president recently made an appearance on Moose & Maggie on WFAN. Among other things, he discussed the upcoming AEW shows.
The first half-hour of Rampage on Friday this week will be competing against SmackDown. WWE has announced that the final half-hour of their show will be running commercial-free, while AEW has confirmed a buy-in featuring Bryan Danielson for their show. The Dynamite episode will be airing on Saturday instead of Wednesday the next couple weeks to avoid a clash with NHL.
Tony Khan discussed these changes during his interview. He claimed that their shows this weekend are not about competing with the opposing promotion:
“We have Friday night Rampage on TNT at 10:00 and we have Saturday night Dynamite on TNT at 8:00. Right now, we have all this momentum. The number one show on all of cable and satellite TV six straight Wednesdays.
It’s bad timing to be moving off Wednesday when you’re on such a great recent run, but this weekend’s huge for us, and the shows have been so good. It’s not about competing with them. It’s about doing our best show.”
Though while Tony Khan is claiming that their shows are not about competing with WWE, he also isn’t leaving any chance to take shots at the promotion. The AEW president claimed on Twitter that he can’t wait to beat SmackDown when the clash was first confirmed. He also recently took a shot at this Monday’s Raw, saying it sucked.
It’s worth mentioning here that both Dynamite and Rampage suffered big rating drop last week. So it would be really interesting to see how the shows perform with all the announced changes this week.
Nobody knew that the All In event would become the catalyst of a big revolution in the wrestling business when it originally took place. Though WWE still warned their talents against attending the show, according to Chelsea Green.
The Impact Wrestling star talked about the PPV event on her Green With Envy podcast. She discussed things such as her fatal four-way match at All In and more.
Chelsea then said that she wanted her fiancée Matt Cardona fka Zack Ryder to be at the event. However, he couldn’t do it because he got a text from WWE:
“I will say that I really wish Matt had been able to go. Every one at WWE who had a spouse or a partner that was on All In got a text the week or two out from talent relations at WWE, saying they were not allowed to be at All In.
So originally, of course, Matt and people like Deonna and Adam Cole, so many people were going to be at All In, just backstage watching us.” said Chelsea Green, “And when they sent that text, I mean, it was way too risky for any of them to be there, especially after being told not to.”
Chelsea Green also revealed how she was able to participate in her fatal four-way All In match against Britt Baker, Madison Rayne, and Tessa Blanchard, despite already having signed a WWE contract.
She explained that she didn’t say anything about being part of the show to the officials. Instead, she just told them that she had to finish up her bookings before reporting at the performance center.
After taking part in a WWE tryout, the female star was signed to a contract in August 2018. Though she didn’t report to the performance center until October, a month after the All In PPV in September 2018.
Referee Aubrey Edwards has revealed that she has signed a contract extension to stay with her current promotion in All Elite Wrestling for the foreseeable future
The AEW star recently appeared on the Danger Zone podcast. She discussed things such as the upcoming AEW console game, working with CM Punk and more.
Edwards also discussed the hate she receives online for her work sometimes. She explained that keeping the people she works with happy is her priority. Aubrey then revealed that she signed a contract extension this year:
“People have a lot of opinions of wrestling, but unless you’re in the discussion about the match, you don’t fully understand all of the things that are being talked about, right? Ultimately, if the wrestlers I work with are happy, and my bosses are happy — I got a contract extension this year.
So clearly, I’m doing something good.” Aubrey Edwards, “If those are the people that ultimately determine my future, and if they’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
The 34-year-old made her debut in 2017. She refereed the first-ever AEW world championship match between Chris Jericho and Adam Page. She was then signed as the first full-time female referee of AEW in September 2019.
Since Aubrey did not provide any further detail on her new deal with AEW, it’s hard to say how long she will be staying with them. Though it at least confirms that she won’t be leaving the promotion anytime soon.
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw from Chase Center in San Francisco, California attracted the lowest live attendance since WWE returned to road in July.
The show featuring the announced team-up of SmackDown women’s champion Becky Lynch and Raw women’s champion Charlotte Flair among other things managed to draw in only 4,031 fans in the arena, according to WrestleTix:
WWE Monday Night RAW Mon • Oct 11 • 4:30 PM Chase Center, San Francisco, CA
This was still a good fill-out for Raw as the estimated capacity for the arena was 4,208. Though the chase center can hold up to 18,000 fans for basketball.
This was the lowest attendance figure in 13 weeks, ever since Raw returned to road with the July 19 episode. The show from Dallas had attracted 9,189 fans.
The highest attendance for Raw since they resumed touring was 12,629 for the August 2 show. The episode from Allstate Arena in Chicago featured a live appearance for Goldberg among others.
Poor live attendance had been a persisting problem for WWE before coronavirus. Reports of low attendance and empty arenas had become a regular occurrence.
Many believe that WWE’s failure to create new stars that can draw the audience is the reason for this. Though Jinder Mahal believes that the notion about the promotion not creating new stars is wrong. You can check out his comments at this link.
NXT women’s championship will be defended in a triple threat match among the teams of Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta, Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne, and Io Shirai & Zoey Stark at the upcoming Halloween Havoc event.
This week’s episode of NXT saw Toxic Attraction’s Dolin and Jayne challenging the current tag team champions Shirai and Stark for a match at the upcoming event.
Hartwell and Pirotta had a match later in the evening where they defeated the team of Sarray and Amari Miller. Post-match, we saw a three-way brawl among the challengers and the champions.
WWE later announced that these three teams will be meeting at the upcoming NXT special where Io Shirai & Zoey Stark will have to defend their title in a three-way.
This will be the third title defense for the current champions since they won the championships back on July 6. They had defeated Hartwell and Candice LeRae during the Great American Bash event.
Updated Halloween Havoc Match Card
This is also the third match that has been announced for the upcoming show after the NXT championship and the women’s championship match. Here is the updated card for the event:
NXT Championship Match: Bron Breakker vs. Tommaso Ciampa
NXT Women’s Championship Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal Match: Mandy Rose vs. Raquel Gonzalez
NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match : Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta vs. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne vs. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark
NXT Halloween Havoc will air on Wednesday, October 26 from the Performance Center in Florida.
Roman Reigns is seemingly printing money these days and WWE continues to protect IPs in relation to its top talent.
Reigns is the WWE Universal Champion. He’s held that title since Aug. 30, 2020. Reigns has been a heel ever since making his return back in the summer of 2020 and many believe he’s the best thing going in WWE. There’s no doubting that the “Tribal Chief” era has been a fresh coat of paint for Roman Reigns.
USPTO reveals that WWE has filed a new trademark for Reigns. Enter The Suplexorcist.
“Mark For: THE SUPLEXORCIST trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of clothing, namely, tops, shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, hoodies; outerwear, namely, coats; bottoms, pants, shorts, underwear, pajamas, scarves, gloves; Halloween and masquerade costumes; footwear, namely, shoes, sneakers, slippers, flip flops; headwear, namely, hats, caps; wrist bands; bandanas; championship trophy belts.”
For those who may not be aware, The Suplexorcist is a term that has been used on WWE TV by Paul Heyman. Heyman serves as the Special Counsel to Reigns.
Acey Romero is no longer under contract with Impact Wrestling.
Back in late August, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported that Romero put in a request to be released from his deal with Impact. He hadn’t been used by the promotion in months and it appears he had enough of the inactivity.
Jon Alba is now reporting that Acey Romero has been granted his release from Impact Wrestling.
I’m told IMPACT Wrestling has released Acey Romero, and he can now work with any promotion.
Romero hadn’t appeared on TV since early spring after he contracted COVID-19, and @SeanRossSapp reported last month he requested his release after not being used for months. #IMPACT
“I’m told IMPACT Wrestling has released Acey Romero, and he can now work with any promotion.”
Romero first signed with Impact back in 2019. He never won any championships during his time with the promotion. Romero was last seen on Impact teaming with Larry D as XXXL.
He hadn’t been used since a set of Impact tapings back in April. Acey then had a COVID-19 scare in May. The good news is, Romero was able to avoid long-term issues from the virus. He has been taking bookings and has a few shows lined up in October and November.
Fans can see Acey Romero compete against KC Navarro in Limitless Wrestling’s Fresh Blood on Oct. 23. He’ll also be in action on Nov. 14, taking on Buddy Murphy at Pro Wrestling Magic’s Underdogs show.
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott is no longer the WWE NXT North American Champion, but he wasn’t dethroned by Santos Escobar. Instead, it was Carmelo Hayes.
The title match took place on Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0 during the main event of the show. Hayes and his friend attacked members of Legado del Fantasma to help Scott retain the title over Escobar. However, Hayes attacked Scott after the match.
Hayes cashed in his Breakout Tournament contract for a title match and won the title after hitting a big boot then a leg drop.
This title change was expected as Hit Row (Scott, Ashante Adonis, Top Dolla, and B-FAB) was moved from NXT to the main roster in this year’s Draft. The group will now be featured on the SmackDown brand.
The decision to call Hit Row to the main roster was made “days earlier” before the Draft. This wrapped up the feud between Hit Row and Legado del Fantasma ( Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, Raul Mendoza and Elektra Lopez), which has been going on for the past few months.
Scott beat Bronson Reed to become the North American Champion on the May 18, 2021 episode of NXT. Scott held the title for over a 100 days.
CM Punk continues to show his interest in stepping inside an NJPW ring.
Punk has been enjoying his return to the pro wrestling industry. The self-proclaimed “Best in the World” made his AEW debut back in August. He’s had three matches in his time with AEW. Those were against Darby Allin, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Daniel Garcia. Punk was victorious in all three matches.
When Punk first made his return to the wrestling business, he said that dipping his toes in the NJPW waters could prove to be fun.
During an interview with Rich Eisen, he doubled down on his desire to work against NJPW’s top names. “I’m both feet in on AEW, but I know a bunch of New Japan guys wind up coming over and wrestling on AEW Dynamite and Rampage,” said Punk. “I’m not averse to the idea, but I know they’re in the throws of their G1 and stuff like that, so I don’t know if they can spare the guys. And I think because of the pandemic, you don’t see a whole lot of travel from America to Japan.”
He continued, “I definitely think you’d have to do a hard quarantine once you got to Japan, and I just don’t think that’s a viable option at this point. I gotta do that when I kick acting gigs, and that’s hard enough. To be in Japan for two weeks sitting in a hotel, I’d probably lose my mind. But I’m for sure interested.”
As CM Punk mentioned, there’s still the travel issue when it comes to making appearances for NJPW. Japan has begun softening its travel restrictions, but a 10-day quarantine is still required for those entering the country.
The October 12, 2021 episode of WWE NXT 2.0 aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Tommaso Ciampa def. Joe Gacy.
Xyon Quinn def. Malik Blade.
Ivy Nile (w/Diamond Mine) def. Valentina Feroz.
Julius Creed def. Ikemen Jiro.
Von Wagner & Kyle O’Reilly def. Pete Dunne & Ridge Holland.
Duke Hudson def. Grayson Waller.
(Persia Pirotta & Indi Hartwell def. Amari Miller & Sarray.
Isaiah Scott def. Santos Escobar to retain North American Title
Carmelo Hayes def. Scott to win North American Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Challenges Issued
Toxic Attraction (Mandy Rose, Jacy Jayne, and Gigi Dolin) came out to the ring for a promo where they called out the NXT Tag Team Champions Io Shirai and Zoey Starks for a match at Halloween Havoc. Rose called out Raquel Gonazlez for an NXT Women’s Title match at thai same show.
Rose said Raquel got lucky last week and her luck is coming to an end. She said at Halloween Havoc, they will make history by wearing gold. Rose said it doesn’t matter what hair color she has, she is still the baddest b*tch in the game.
Diamond Mine’s Ivy Nile was in action against Valentina Feroz.. The match was a compete squash match that was totally designed to show off Nile’s athleticism.
Nile, real name Emily Andzulis and former Titan Games winner, signed with WWE in January 2020.
She has worked just two matches thus far since signing with the company including a loss to Shayna Baszler on August 3, 2020 on Raw Underground then an NXT Women’s Battle Royal on September 23, 2020.
NXT North American Champion Isaiah “Swerve” Scott defended the title against Santos Escobar.
This marked Scott’s first title defense since winning the North American Championship from Bronson Reed.
Of course, WWE drafted Hit Row (Scott, Top Dolla, Ashante “Thee” Adonis & B-Fab) were drafted to SmackDown. It should be noted that the roster changes don’t go into effect until Friday, October 22.
Hit Row have been feuding with Legado del Fantasma (Escobar, Raul Mendoza, Joaquin Wilde & Elektra Lopez) for months. Last week, this bout was made official when Scott issued the match challenge.
This match was saved for the main event. Scott went over with his finisher after a fun back and forth match.
However, after it, Carmelo Hayes attacked Scott and cashed in his Breakout Tournament contract for a title match. Hayes hit a big boot to Scott then a leg drop off the top rope for the win.
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa vs. Joe Gacy in a non-title match took place. The stipulation to go along with it was if Gacy wins, he will be added to Bron Breakker vs. Ciampa for the NXT Title at Halloween Havoc.
Just last week, WWE set up Ciampa vs. Bron as they had been building towards the challenge being made and eventually accepted.
This match opened the show and was mostly dominated by Ciampa. They went about 9 minutes with Ciampa going over with his finisher. He looked really solid. Post-match, some bald guy in a jumpsuit grabbed Gacy then let him go and disappeared. The fans were chanting “who are you?”
Von Wagner and Kyle O’Reilly vs. Ridge Holland and Pete Dunne in a tag team bout was booked.
The storyline of this match being made was Dunne and Holland attacking Kyle for several weeks while Wagner has been the only one to come to his aid.
The match took place to start off the second hour and they gave them plenty of time. Kyle hit a running knee strike on the outside to take out Dunne. WWE gave the shine to Wagner, who hit his finisher to pin Holland, who was called up to the main roster as part of the draft.
AEW head honcho Tony Khan has hurled quite the shot at WWE.
Khan finds himself in an interesting situation. A scheduling conflict with the MLB playoffs has forced WWE to move SmackDown to FOX Sports 1 on Oct. 15. SmackDown usually airs from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on Friday nights, while AEW Rampage begins at 10 p.m. ET.
Things are a little different this week. SmackDown will now be running an extra half-hour and WWE is bringing the big guns. Brock Lesnar has been advertised for the show as well as a match between SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks.
Speaking to Robbie Fox on My Mom’s Basement, Tony Khan said he expects Rampage to be a better show than SmackDown on Oct. 15 since Raw “sucked.”
“On Friday, they’re doing a half-hour head-to-head with Rampage, which is new. I put my show on consciously after SmackDown knowing there is a huge audience of people that watch that show and a lot of people are going to watch Rampage, which has been a hit for TNT. They’re literally going to do a half-hour head-to-head, that’s fine. We’ll see what happens. I’m not saying for sure we’ll win and maybe the odds are against us in some ways, but we’re going to do the better show, I know. If you don’t believe me, watch the go-home show [Raw] they did last night because it sucked.”
AEW has also been building interest with their Rampage show. The promotion has even announced a “Buy In” preshow, which will be free on YouTube beginning at 9 p.m. ET. On the preshow, Bryan Danielson will go one-on-one with Japanese wrestling legend Minoru Suzuki.
As for the Rampage show airing live on TNT, it’ll feature CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal, The Men Of The Year & Junior dos Santos vs. The Inner Circle, and Ruby Soho vs. The Bunny.
WWE is looking to get more butts in the seats for its debut in UBS Arena.
The promotion will be bringing Roman Reigns to Long Island this November. Peep the announcement from the official Twitter account of UBS Arena.
? JUST ANNOUNCED: “The Head of the Table” Universal Champion @WWERomanReigns will be live at UBS Arena for @WWE Monday Night RAW on 11/29! #WWERAW#WWELongIsland
“JUST ANNOUNCED: ‘The Head of the Table’ Universal Champion Roman Reigns will be live at UBS Arena for WWE Monday Night RAW on 11/29! #WWERAW #WWELongIsland.”
There is no word on whether or not Reigns will be featured on TV or if he’ll simply compete in a dark match. Roman Reigns is widely considered to be the best thing going in WWE right now but he’s a member of the SmackDown brand. WWE’s UBS Arena debut will be for an episode of Monday Night Raw.
Many will take this as WWE’s answer to AEW outpacing them in terms of attendance for their own UBS Arena debut on Dec. 8. Back in September, it was reported by WrestleTix that WWE only distributed 2,365 tickets, while AEW distributed 6,167 tickets.
It’ll be interesting to see how much WWE feels inclined to stack its Nov. 29 episode of Raw. SEScoops will keep you posted on anything new announced for the UBS Arena shows for both WWE and AEW.
Music star Bad Bunny still gets goosebumps thinking about his WrestleMania match.
Back in April, Bunny teamed with Damian Priest to take on John Morrison and The Miz. This was Bad Bunny’s first match and he knocked it out of the park. He was praised for his athleticism and even his selling. Of course, there was also the Canadian Destroyer spot outside the ring.
During an interview with Allure, the pop star admitted he has watched his WrestleMania match a slew of times.
“It was like I died and went to heaven. I’ve never sat to watch a recording of one of my concerts. Never. But my wrestling fight — I’ve watched it a hundred times. For like a week, I would go to bed watching it.”
Many WWE superstars have praised Bad Bunny for not only his in-ring work but his passion and dedication. During an appearance on The Bump, Randy Orton thanked Bunny for having respect for the wrestling business and called him a true performer.
The Undertaker also gave props to the Puerto Rican sensation. Undertaker told Entertainment Tonight that Bad Bunny set the bar for other celebrities who are looking to enter the world of sports entertainment.
Bray Wyatt will soon be free to sign with any promotion that wants him, so has AEW shown interest?
Wyatt was released from WWE back in July. The news came as a shocker to many wrestling fans as Wyatt was in a pivotal role with the company as The Fiend. Wyatt competed against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37. Wyatt lost the match and made his final WWE appearance in a Raw segment the following night.
Of course, many have already assumed that Bray Wyatt will eventually make his way to AEW. Some have even suggested that Wyatt could fill the shoes of the late Brodie Lee and take over The Dark Order.
Appearing on WFAN Sports Radio, AEW head honcho Tony Khan revealed whether or not he’s been in talks with Bray Wyatt.
“He’s a great wrestler, and I have to be honest, we haven’t talked at all. I’ve known him in personal life, but in reality, we haven’t talked. But you never know.”
Bryan Alvarez of F4W has said that he’s heard from sources that AEW will not be bringing Wyatt on board in a full-time role. The general consensus is that Impact Wrestling will ultimately be Wyatt’s new home.
Wyatt’s non-compete clause is set to expire on Oct. 29.
AEW will be airing a “Buy In” show on its official YouTube channel beginning at 9PM est before Rampage this Friday night. The show will go head-to-head with Smackdown which will be airing from 8PM est to 10:30PM est this week. AEW is notifying various media outlets about this today.
“We’re going to do what we normally do what we do for a PPV, you know how we do the preshow the Buy In? Rampage is a huge event on Friday night so we’re going to have a Buy-In live on YouTube Friday night live from the Knight Center,” Khan said on WFAN Sports Radio today.
Khan then announced that Bryan Danielson and Bobby Fish will both wrestle on the YouTube show. Daniel Bryan will face Minoru Suzuki and Fish will take on Lee Moriarty. Fish and Danielson will wrestle each other the following night on Saturday Night Dynamite.
If I’m not sweating it, you shouldn’t be either. This is what sports are about, set a goal & try your best. We’ve got a great #AEWRampage card Friday + big Dynamite matches Saturday. I expect to do well, but regardless of next Friday’s stats, it’ll be a great weekend for the fans
Matches announced for this Friday’s live Rampage from Miami include:
CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal
The Bunny vs. Ruby Soho
The Men Of The Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) & Junior dos Santos (w/Dan Lambert & Jorge Masvidal) vs. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager & Sammy Guevara)
The following night, AEW will be back in Miami for a special Saturday night episode of Dynamite. Here are the matches scheduled for that show:
Malakai Black vs. Dante Martin
AAA World Tag Team Championships The Lucha Brothers (Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) (c) vs. TBD (w/Andrade El Idolo)
Jon Moxley has returned to his roots of deathmatch wrestling after his release from WWE a couple of years ago. He has delivered insanely brutal matches against opponents such as Joey Janela, Kenny Omega and Nick Gage. Though Renee Paquette is not a fan of this hobby of her husband. The female star recently made an appearance on the Busted Open Radio. Among other things, she also discussed Mox’s obsession with hardcore matches.
Revealing her reaction to seeing her husband in these brutal scenarios, Renee admitted that it’s hard to watch. She recalled how Moxley was a mess when he came back after his recent bout with Nick Gage:
“Obviously, it’s really hard to watch. I don’t even really know how to put it into words. You’re watching your loved one, my husband, doing this insane sh*t. Just seeing him bleeding that much, seeing his back tore up, it looked like grilled beef. The dude walked in the door yesterday. By the time he got home, I’d never seen him look worse. It’s hard to watch that. It’s hard to see him go through that. Also, he retained the championship, so what does that mean? Does that mean there is more of this?”
Renee Paquette Wants Mox To Be Happy
Renee Married Jon in April 2017
Renee Paquette explained that it’s hard to see Jon bleeding that much. She wants the former AEW champion to do the things he wants and be happy. Though as soon as he walks back through the door, she has to assess all the damage:
“The thing is, I want him to go out the door and go do the things he wants to do. I want him to be happy. I want to see him thrive in that space, and obviously, he is, but as soon as he walks through the door, I’m still in wife mode. I’m like, let me see. I want to assess all of the damage.”
Paquette later also discussed how Jon Moxley loves indie wrestling, whether it be competing at the CGW shows or showing up to Defy in Seattle. He is not the guy who wants to be rich and famous. He is the guy who wants to do art and matches that he is proud of. Since the ball is in his court to be able to do that, that’s exactly what the former WWE champion is doing right now.
There are millions who believe that Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best football players of all time, though WWE superstar Sheamus is not one of them. The celtic warrior recently had an interview with BT Sport. Among other things, he also explained his reasoning for not considering Ronaldo among the greatest ever.
Sheamus explained that Ronaldo is definitely a world-class player but everything he does is for camera. Even if his team doesn’t win, the Portuguese star doesn’t stop:
“Don’t get me wrong, Ronaldo is probably one of the greatest players. Is he one of the greatest players ever? Absolutely not, he’s not. But he’s definitely a world-class player and one of the best there’s been in the last decade.
But even if he scores a penalty, he’s just all about the camera, mate. D’you know what I mean? Shirt off, where’s the camera? Even if he scores a penalty and they didn’t win, like, shirts off, whatever.” said Sheamus, “I’m not knocking the guy or hating him; it’s just he knows exactly what he’s doing.
"Is Cristiano Ronaldo one of the greatest players ever? Absolutely not. But he's one of the best of the last decade."
"He wouldn't last five minutes in the ring, he's got the showmanship but no physicality."@WWESheamus is a Liverpool fan and a wind-up merchant ?? pic.twitter.com/k5zql6rM7Y
The former world champion was also asked how he thinks the football player would fare in a wrestling ring. To which, he replied by saying that he wouldn’t even last 5 seconds. Sheamus claimed that football players go down when the wind blows or a blade of grass hits their shin. They wouldn’t last even 2 minutes in wrestling.
Darby Allin isn’t exactly clamoring for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship at the moment.
It’s clear that Darby is one of AEW’s fastest-rising stars. His popularity has grown immensely in a short period of time. In fact, some believe he is destined to one day hold the AEW World Heavyweight Championship.
Don’t tell that to Darby Allin just yet, however. During a panel at the New York Comic-Con convention, Darby pushed back on the idea of him chasing the world title right now (h/t Fightful).
“Out of all of those matches, I can say it was probably the one I lost to Miro. It was lots of fun, but it was during the pandemic, I was having the best matches of my career, and long story short, I’d like to run that shit back in front of a live crowd. We’ll continue to show everybody why that championship is the most important championship in AEW. Everyone is like, ‘I can’t wait until you become World Heavyweight Champion.’ I don’t give a shit about that. Give me that TNT Championship.”
Darby held the TNT Championship for 186 days. That run ended courtesy of Miro back in May. Darby is the longest-reigning TNT Champion in AEW’s short history.
At the moment, Darby is involved in a feud with MJF. MJF has tried to make things personal with Darby but once the mind games weren’t working, he and members of The Pinnacle attacked Darby in a parking lot.
All Elite Wrestling talent Lio Rush has shared that his relationship with Mark Henry has improved.
In an interview with Oral Sessions’ Renee Paquette, Rush revealed that he and Henry had resolved issues. While they might disagree on certain things in pro wrestling, Rush says he has a cordial relationship with Henry.
“…Me and Mark Henry relationship is super cordial now,” said Rush. He praised the working environment at AEW and thought it would be foolish for them to continue to have issues with each other. He continued, “I think it came down to two very strong personalities and two very different eras of wrestling, and I think we just kind of like agree to disagree, and we are about to be working together now.”
The problems between Rush and Henry began during Rush’s career in WWE. In 2019, Rush was unhappy with how the company was treating him. He felt WWE didn’t financially compensate him for his work. At the time, he was working with Bobby Lashley as a manager and wanted more money.
“My issue is the fact that I haven’t been on meet & greets with Bobby, haven’t been getting paid for merchandise for us that has my catchphrases on them,” said Rush. He also shared that he struggled to pay for his hotel and travel because he wasn’t making enough money.
On May 2, 2019, Henry criticized Rush for spending too much money. “If you can’t pay for a rental car, you can’t pay for a hotel with the money that you’re making every week; then you need to change the way you’re spending. You can’t blame that on the office. If you spent everything before you got it, that’s your problem,” Henry said. He also said, “Back in my day, they would’ve told him, ‘Lio, Bobby shouldn’t have to drive. He shouldn’t have to carry his bag.’ Yokozuna was my responsibility.”
Henry’s comments led to differences between the two that’s lasted for a year. On May 14, 2020, Rush reflected on what Henry said the previous year. He also claimed that Henry’s actions exemplify African Americans tearing down other African Americans from succeeding. Henry took exception to Rush’s comments and threatened legal action.
From Rush’s comments on the Oral Sessions’, he and Henry are on better terms. In AEW, both men look to have a fresh start and forget about past issues.
CM Punk recently commented on the Owen Hart Cup tournament upcoming in AEW. He was on the Sport1 podcast and noted that he had heard about it before the official announcement was made. Still, he says the announcement had a big impact on him and he’s hoping to participate in the tournament.
“I knew about it beforehand, but it still hit me like a truck when I read the press release just because I think it’s such a staggering and monumental bridge,” Punk said (Transcriptions via Fightful). “I think it goes a long way to show and prove that Martha always wanted Owen’s memory to be revered and his legacy preserved. It just couldn’t be at WWE and if you really look at it, it makes a lot of sense. Now, the fans can embrace Owen again, like they’ve always wanted to, Martha can embrace the fans and support Owen’s legacy, like she’s always wanted to. There just wasn’t an outlet or a place to do it before. Now there is. It got me emotional reading the press release. I was like, ‘Wow.’ This is pretty special. Just as a wrestling fan.”
AEW announced a partnership with the Owen Hart Foundation last month. As part of the deal, AEW will be able to create merchandise featuring Owen’s likeness. This includes clothing, action figures, and his inclusion in the upcoming AEW console video game. The Owen Hart Foundation, run by Martha Hart, has various programs dedicated to underprivileged youth, education, and helping low-income families achieve home ownership.
“I’m not sure how the tournament is going to go, but I’m for sure throwing my name in that hat. I want to be in that tournament,” Punk continued.
The Owen Hart Cup
No details as to the format or schedule of the tournament have been announced thus far. Tony Khan has said he plans on it being an annual event, however.
Chris Jericho, who grew up idolizing Owen Hart and dreaming of being in a tag-team with him has also expressed his appreciation for AEW partnering with the Owen Hart Foundation.
Tessa Blanchard will be back with the Women of Wrestling (WOW) promotion when it returns to television. The Jeanie Buss-led company has signed a multi-year deal with ViacomCBS. New episodes are expected to air next fall with historical episodes to run in syndication beginning later this year.
Tessa Blanchard was interviewed by Entertainment Tonight about her return to the company. She noted that she feels blessed to be part of what she believes will be the biggest platform for women’s wrestling in history.
“In my own experiences, professional wrestling has been my life since before I was born,” Blanchard said. “My father, my grandfather, and with that, I followed my passion and it’s taken me all over the world. I’ve gotten to live in different countries, win championship titles all over the world, but now with WOW, this is, without a doubt, the biggest platform for women’s wrestling in history. In history. To be a part of it, it’s a testament that we’re changing the status quo for women’s wrestling, for professional wrestling altogether. It’s such a blessing to be a part of it.”
AJ Mendez, the former AJ Lee from WWE, will also be part of the company. She will serve as an executive producer for the show. AJ will also work as the color commentator. Recently, AJ said “never say never” as it comes to a potential return to the ring with WOW.
The full EXCLUSIVE interview with @TheAJMendez has just dropped on the official WOW Wrestling YouTube channel. Find out what she told the Hot Tag with Izzy about her plans for WOW Wrestling!
Max Caster appeared on TMZ Sports recently and delivered a freestyle rap that was loaded with mentions of this past weekend’s Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder fight.
‘Platinum Max’ also called out The Rock, who recently made his rapping debut.
Some of the highlights from Caster’s rap include the lyrics below (transcriptions likely not perfect):
“When I’m on AEW the crowd goes *bleeped* Gotta keep it clean like a bucket and mop The PR team is worried to watch
Yo what up to the Rock Yeah I heard your rap song Why you all up in my lane when Dwayne’s *Bleeped* is that long Flow’s weak but the last’s strong When the track’s on, you just can’t act on Yo, come to Dynamite, we can get this match on Yo, knock you out like Deontay Say my name like Beyonce Platinum Max on TMZ Y’all don’t know what he gonna say.”
The full segment featuring Max Caster can be viewed in the player below:
The Rock Raps with Tech N9ne
The 49-year-old Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his rap debut on the Tech N9ne’s song “Face Off” recently.
“Made my historic rap debut (thankfully I didn’t suck) Huge shout to all the hip hop & music fans for your HYPE reactions,” Rock tweeted Friday.
