Author: Bryan Rose

Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.

Report: TNA interested in former AEW wrestler

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TNA are in talks with a former AEW wrestler.

Fightful Select reported on Tuesday that they have had conversations with Bear Bronson to work at their upcoming tapings in El Paso on December 5 through 7. According to the report, those in TNA have said they are hopeful that they can sign him if all goes well.

One of Fightful’s AEW sources also said AEW had interest in bringing him back.

Bronson made his AEW debut in 2020 as part of Bear Country with Bear Boulder, and together the two were often seen on AEW television, usually losing to other tag teams. Eventually, they were rebranded as The Iron Savages with Jacked Jameson joining the act. In February, Boulder was released after he was arrested for domestic battery, with Bronson departing soon after. Jameson remains in AEW as part of The Frat House with Cole Karter, Preston Vance, and Griff Garrison.

Since his departure, Bronson has been working heavily on the independent scene, working dates for GCW, Wrestling Open, and Limitless.

Penta provides update following WWE Raw injury

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Penta has spoken out following his injury.

On social media, Penta took time to thank those who reached out and promised to return ‘very soon’ from his injury.

“Thank you to everyone who has checked in on me. This injury tested my body and spirit, but it also awakened the strength that has always guided me,” he wrote. “I am a Mexican warrior, forged in struggle, honor, and heart. And though the fall was hard, I rose with a fire stronger than ever. To my rival, my deepest respect. Thank you for your professionalism and for a clean, dignified battle. I recognize your dedication and honor.”

“I will be back very soon, stronger, more prepared, and determined to finish what I left pending,” he continued. “Thank you for standing with me because this war still has chapters to be written.”

During Raw on Monday, Penta went for a hurricanrana off the barricade and landed hard on his shoulder. According to Bryan Alvarez, Penta wanted to continue the match but the doctor called it off, with the match being awarded to Solo Sikoa.

Daily Update: ESPN, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels

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Tuesday Update

 WWE

AEW & Other Wrestling

  • AEW has a Timelines video of Samoa Joe’s title wins in the company.
  • Joe’s name plates are put on the AEW World Championship.
  • Christopher Daniels reacted to a old photo of himself with AJ Styles, Frankie Kazarian, and Samoa Joe: “As of today, the three best wrestlers in this picture hold championship gold in their respective federations, after years of honing their skills around the world against the best competition anywhere. The fourth guy is proud to have shared the ring with them & see their success.”
  • Kazarian responded: “Make no mistake, YOU are a part of all these championships. The four of us share a bond that is unbreakable. I believe I can speak for Joe and AJ when I say without you, all our paths are very different. Every wrestler who shared a ring with you came out better for it. I Love you.”
  • TNA announced a new Hardy Party event is set for December 4 at La No. Uno Taqueria in El Paso.
  • The memorial service for Bob Caudle that was held earlier today is now available to watch on the Hayes Barton Baptist Church’s website.

Solo Sikoa was scheduled to win WWE Raw match

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No unscheduled wins on Monday Night Raw.

Penta and Solo Sikoa were wrestling on Monday when Penta suddenly suffered an injury after a bad landing following a hurricanrana. After a few minutes, the referee stopped the match and Sikoa was awarded the victory, advancing to the next round of The Last Time Is Now tournament where he will take on Gunther. Although that results in a heel/heel matchup, according to Bryan Alvarez that was the planned outcome of the match despite Penta’s injury.

“Solo Sikoa was scheduled to beat Penta, so nothing changed in the tournament,” he writes.

The injury took place early in the match, around the four minute mark. According to Alvarez, once it was clear Penta had suffered an injury Wade Barrett threw the show into a commercial break as Joe Tessitore was being fed information. The match was originally scheduled to be around twelve minutes.

Two more quarterfinal matches in the tournament will air on Friday’s SmackDown. Jey Uso will take on Rusev, while a mystery competitor will face LA Knight. The winner of the touranment will face John Cena at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13.

Former WWE Tag Team Champions to have final match in 2026

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The Headbangers will have their final match next year.

On Instagram, Mosh & Thrasher announced that the duo will have their final match on July 23, 2026 as part of the ISPW Legends of Wrestling Night card at the Wildwoods Convention Center in Wildwood, New Jersey. In the video, they noted that they had been teaming for 33 years, and the two joked that even though this was their final in-ring appearance, things could change if WWE or Japan calls them.

The two are best known for their run in WWE, where they won the vacant WWE Tag Team titles at In Your House: Ground Zero on September 7, 1997. They would lose the titles the following month and would continue to team until 1999, when Thrasher was put out of action with a knee injury. During that year, Mosh wrestled as a singles competitor, first as Beaver Cleavage, then later under his real name Chaz. The two were reunited by the end of that year and teamed up until the following fall, when they were split up and eventually released.

In 2016, they were briefly brought back as part of the SmackDown brand where they competed in a tournament to crown new SmackDown Tag Team Champions, losing to Heath Slater and Rhyno in the first round.

AEW reveals participants for upcoming Continental Classic tournament

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The field for this year’s Continental Classic has been announced.

During the AEW Continental Classic Selection Show on Monday, Tony Schiavone announced the following participants for this year’s tournament. Notably, Kazuchika Okada and Kyle Fletcher of the Don Callis Family have been placed in the Gold League, while Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli of the Death Riders are together in the Blue League.

Here are the full list of participants:

Gold League

  • Darby Allin
  • PAC
  • Kevin Knight
  • Speedball Mike Bailey
  • Kyle Fletcher
  • Kazuchika Okada

Blue League

  • Konosuke Takeshita
  • Jon Moxley
  • Claudio Castagnoli
  • Orange Cassidy
  • Roderick Strong
  • Mascara Dorada

Schiavone also announced the schedule for the tournament. Action begins this Wednesday and will continue on AEW Collision, which airs on Thanksgiving this coming Thursday. The League Finals, as well as the Championship Finals, will take place at Worlds End on December 27 at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Continental Classic schedule:

  • Week 1: AEW Dynamite (11/26) and AEW Collision Thanksgiving (11/27)
  • Week 2: AEW Dynamite (12/3) and AEW Collision Galaxycon (12/6)
  • Week 3: AEW Dynamite Winter is Coming (12/10) and AEW Collision Winter is Coming (12/13)
  • Week 4: AEW Dynamite & Collision Holiday Bash (12/17)
  • Week 5 (Round Robin stage): AEW Dynamite on 34th Street (12/20) and AEW Christmas Collision (12/21)
  • League Finals & Championship Final: AEW Worlds End (12/27)

Last year’s tournament winner was Kazuchika Okada, successfully retaining the Continental championship he has held since March 20, 2024 by defeating Will Ospreay in the finals.

Penta match stopped on WWE Raw due to injury

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A match was stopped during Raw after Penta suffered an injury.

During Monday’s show in Oklahoma City, Penta was wrestling Solo Sikoa in a Last Time Is Now tournament match. After hitting a hurricanrana off the barricade, he landed hard on his shoulder upon impact. The match was stopped as Penta was given medical attention, with cameras focusing on Solo Sikoa in the ring. According to Bryan Alvarez, Wade Barrett threw it to a commercial break as an audible as Joe Tessitore was being fed information. When the show returned from break, the match was called off and Sikoa was awarded the victory.

Bryan Alvarez also notes that the match had been scheduled to go 12 minutes, and although Penta wanted to continue the match, he wasn’t allowed to.

“Penta wanted to try and pop his shoulder back in and keep going but doc said no,” he wrote.

During this weekend’s AAA tapings in Mexico City, Penta reunited with his brother Rey Fenix and set up a match between themselves and Dominik Mysterio & El Grande Americano at AAA Guerra de Titanes on December 20. That bout is scheduled to be the first time the Lucha Brothers have teamed together since signing with WWE.

With the win, Sikoa will now advance to the semifinals of the Last Time Is Now tournament where he will face Gunther, who advanced earlier in the night.

Tony Chimel says he is no longer working for AEW

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Tony Chimel is no longer working for AEW.

The longtime WWE announcer had been working for AEW since 2023 as a producer. But in a recent new interview with All Axess Entertainment, Chimel revealed he was no longer working there, but was positive of his experience.

“I always had a good time there. They’re a little smaller operation and run things a little differently, but the people there are nice,” he said. “I knew a lot of WWE people there that are there now. It was a nice little run that I had there. Very grateful for the time I had there. They do their thing the way they want to do their thing.”

Chimel had been a part of WWE for decades, working as part of the ring crew dating back to 1989. By 1999, he was the voice of WWE SmackDown, a role he would have through 2015. He also had a role overseeing the ring crew. He was released from the company in 2020 as part of staff cuts.

Maxxine Dupri reflects on WWE Women’s Intercontinental title win

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Maxxine Dupri comments on her Intercontinental Championship win.

After defeating Becky Lynch in a shock win this past Monday, Dupri reflected on her title win in a vlog that was published on Sunday, saying she couldn’t be happier.

“I dunno how we got here. I think I saw my whole life flash before my eyes in that moment,” she said. “The sound of the crowd was the best thing that I’ve ever experienced in my whole life. It was so electric and I think I finally understand when people are like, this is addicting. I’m fiending for it already. New York was, like, the best place for this to happen. I couldn’t be happier, I can’t believe this is real life.”

The vlog showed Dupri training at the WWE Performance Center days before the match, as well as the aftermath following it including taking a picture with Triple H and celebrating with her friends and family.

Leading to their match on Monday, Dupri had defeated Lynch twice, once by count out and the other by disqualification. On their third match, Lynch was looking to use a nearby turnbuckle when suddenly AJ Lee arrived. The distraction allowed Dupri to climb the top rope and hit a crossbody on Lynch, pinning her to win her first championship in WWE.

Report: Not all NJPW contracts expiring in January

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A tradition in NJPW seems to be changing.

Most NJPW contracts typically expire after one year, January through January, but some talent continue to talk to the promotion and some contracts aren’t signed until a few months later. But some in NJPW have told Fightful in a new report that their contracts extend past January of 2026, so contracts may not necessarily expire at the start of the year anymore moving forward.

The report also noted that free agents that had spoken to Fightful said they never heard back from the company when they expressed interest in working there. One person, who was said to be a ‘prominent American wrestler,’ said they were willing to work in NJPW for a discount, but never heard back from them.

NJPW has not run as many shows in the United States in 2025 as they have in recent years. Their last show in the country was in May when they held Resurgence at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. The company recently announced, however, that they will be holding The New Beginning USA at the Cure Insurance Arena in Trenton, New Jersey on February 27 of next year.

Former WWE tag team reunite at independent wrestling event

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The APA have reunited.

Ron Simmons and JBL made an appearance at the Wildkat Sports Revolution Rumble event on Saturday, confronting a tag team in the ring. JBL grabbed a steel chair from one of the wrestlers and handed it to Simmons as JBL gave the other wrestler the clothesline from hell. JBL then cut a brief promo before the duo made their exit.

Together, the two are known for their run as the Acolyte Protection Agency in WWE during the late 90s and early 2000s, winning tag team titles on multiple occasions. The tag team ended in 2004 when Simmons was released. JBL branched out as a full-time singles wrestler, going on to become WWE Champion. The APA have been seen together sporadically in the years since the end of their team,  most recently at the 2024 WWE Draft.

JBL was induced into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020. It was recently announced that Ron Simmons would be inducted into the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame as part of the 1976 Warner Robins Screamin’ Demons team.

Bret Hart says he has a hard time watching today’s wrestling: ‘It’s too fake for me’

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Bret Hart isn’t a fan of today’s professional wrestling.

While appearing on the Johnny I Pro Show, Hart said he has a hard time watching today’s wrestling, preferring to watch wrestling from the 1990s instead. He feels today’s wrestling is too ‘fake,’ comparing wrestlers to actors.

“It’s too fake for me,” he said. “But I love watching the old 90s wrestling, I really do. When I watch my matches back, just in almost any match, even obscure Stampede Wrestling matches, there’s something about the realism, the punches and the kicks, and even just the way the presentation is. It just seems to me to be more onus put on the workmanship of learning the craft of being wrestlers. I think that today’s wrestlers are actors, most of them are actors pretending to be wrestlers, and you know, they don’t actually know how to wrestle and they don’t even know what a headlock is.”

“Everything is a high spot,” he continued. “Everything is high spots, like, I want to get my move in. It’s like, I don’t know, I always thought wrestling needed to actually pretend to be wrestling. I miss the wrestling aspect and the psychology of the 60s and 70s wrestling, like the presentation of trying to, you know, pretending that it’s a real sport.”

Later, Hart singled out one current wrestler’s punches in particular: Sheamus.

“Whenever I see him I’m like why don’t you take ten minutes and go down and have someone teach you how to throw a punch instead of throwing that embarrassment of a punch?”

At this year’s WWE Hall of Fame, Hart was inducted for a third time, with his match against Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 being named the first-ever ‘Immortal Moment.’

Injured WWE star makes in-ring return during AAA tapings

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An injured WWE star has made his return to the ring.

During an untelevised portion of the AAA tapings on Saturday, Apollo Crews made his return to in-ring action after answering an open challenge from Lince Dorado. Crews emerged victorious, scoring his first win since his injury ten months ago.

Crews suffered a torn pectoral muscle while wrestling Johnny Gargano on the January 24 episode of SmackDown. Crews was hurt after taking a backcracker, and while he favored his shoulder for the rest of the match, was able to get the win after a roll-up. 

“A few weeks ago on SmackDown, I tore my pec—an unfortunate situation,” he wrote at the time. “Sometimes, you do everything right, but there are just some things beyond your control. I’m looking forward to the road ahead, attacking it with a positive and unstoppable mindset.”

Since being drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2024 WWE Draft, Crews had mostly been working Main Event tapings prior to his injury. He also formed a brief tag team with Baron Corbin prior to his release in November of last year.

Tony Khan says he’s ‘not worried at all’ about potential Warner Bros. Discovery sale

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Image: JJ Williams

Notes coming out of AEW Full Gear.

Mark Briscoe, Big Boom AJ, Ricochet, Kris Statlander, and Khan all answered questions from the media on Saturday at the AEW Full Gear media scrum. Here are the highlights:

Mark Briscoe

  • Briscoe had a new custom TNT title belt that was given to him by Orange Cassidy following his title win.
  • Says he never thought a night like this would happen, as he always considered himself a tag team wrestler. He thanks Tony Khan, his family, and God.
  • Corey Lieb asked about reflecting on being TNT Champion when previously the Briscoes were banned from appearing on the network. Khan said that this was a previous, now long gone executive and thanked David Zaslav (head of Warner Brothers Discovery) for bringing in new people who quickly changed things.

Big Boom AJ

  • AJ said it was great to have a ring general like QT Marshall for his match and thanked the crowd.
  • Tony Khan said ‘100%’ there would be a Big Boom AJ figure in the future.
  • Big Boom AJ said if Big Justice wanted to be a wrestler, he would be one of the greatest wrestlers ever.

Ricochet

  • On his title win, Ricochet said winning the title feels familiar and told everyone to watch their back because he was coming after them next, including Kris Statlander.
  • Khan said that the Casino Gauntlet match from Saturday’s show was one of the best they’ve had yet.

Kris Statlander

  • When asked who’s left, Statlander asked Tony Khan who should be next. Tony Khan said there will be a long line of challengers coming forward after Full Gear.
  • She said feels that her being seen as an underdog is an insult considering she is holding a title Mercedes Mone never held.

Tony Khan

  • He started off by saying he had a ‘very good idea’ on who the Continental Classic participants are and will be revealed early this coming week. He did bring up that as a result of Jon Moxley’s actions following their match, Kyle O’Reilly will likely not be cleared and will have to ‘deal with some injuries.’ 
  • Khan also took time to send condolences to Bob Caudle and George Tahinos, who passed away this past week.
  • Asked about reflecting a year ago versus now, Khan said that a year ago, he thought they were on the verge of a turnaround, and now a year later they have been consistent, both on television and pay-per-view, and have a lot of momentum.
  • According to what data they have, Khan feels this may be the biggest PPV yet in the HBO Max era.
  • He was asked about three breakout wrestlers for 2026. Renee Paquette brought up Kevin Knight and he agreed, saying he is someone with great breakout potential, as well as Speedball Mike Bailey. Willow Nightingale was also named. 
  • Khan was asked if Mercedes Mone’s run on the independent scene was the inspiration for the National title. Khan lauded what Mone was doing but also brought up international wrestling in general as well as ROH’s success on YouTube. He also said that CMLL and NJPW are interested in potential National title matches.
  • Regarding earlier start times and show length, Khan said he was interested in changing around start times and thinks he won’t run another show so late on the east coast on a Sunday. He feels there are differences between running shows on Saturdays and Sundays, and is open to earlier start times. In regards to show length, Khan said they are contracted for three hours and forty five minutes, and they’ve never gone under that.
  • Regarding what he looks for in the independents, he said he looks for who connects with the crowd.
  • Someone asked about the potential of Warner Bros. Discovery being sold to someone who has ties to WWE. Tony Khan point blank said he is not worried at all, they have a great relationship with WBD and is optimistic about AEW’s future.
  • He hasn’t taken a break from pro wrestling in a long time and loves it, he doesn’t miss a show and loves coming to AEW events. He’s obsessed with it, he loves it so much. 
  • Said that getting Hangman Page’s licensed theme at Full Gear was a race against time and is happy they’ve been able to get the licensed music they’ve wanted for the shows.

Lucha Brothers reunite, issue challenge for AAA Guerra de Titanes

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The Lucha Brothers are back, and are looking for a challenge.

During Saturday’s AAA tapings in Mexico City, Dominik Mysterio and El Grande Americano were in the ring when suddenly they were interrupted by Rey Fenix and Penta, who called out both men and issued the challenge for Guerra de Titantes, which takes place on December 20. Mysterio accepted on their behalf, setting up a giant tag team match.

Although the two frequently teamed together previously in AAA, AEW, and elsewhere, Penta and Rey Fenix have yet to team up under the WWE umbrella. Penta has been a fixture on the Raw brand, while his brother has been wrestling on SmackDown.

Another match was made for Guerra de Titantes on Saturday. After Psycho Circus (Psycho Clown, Murder Clown, Pagano, and Dave the Clown) were victorious against El Ojo, Bo Dallas appeared in a taped promo. He said that the Wyatt Sicks had accepted their invitation and would introduce them to a carnival of carnage at Guerra de Titantes. The last several months have seen the Wyatts attack Psycho Clown & Pagano after their matches.

AAA Guerra de Titanes (December 20)

  • Lucha Brothers vs. Dominik Mysterio & El Grande Americano
  • AAA Latin American title: Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. defends against Ethan Page
  • Psycho Circus vs. The Wyatt Sicks