The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
Live from Las Vegas, hear or watch the Q&A session from Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez.
The guys are in Sin City to cover AEW Double or Nothing and will do their usual post-event Wrestling Observer Radio in the wee hours of the morning.
Note that the Q&A starts around the 56:00 mark if you’re streaming.
Watch live on YouTube above with full audio coming shortly.
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The Bloodline saga reached a new point at WWE Night of Champions.
Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the latest wrinkle in the storyline on Sunday’s Wrestling Observer Radio. The end of Night of Champions saw Jimmy Uso turn on Roman Reigns after Reigns piefaced him and confronted his brother Jey. Although Jey seemed stunned by what Jimmy did, he ultimately left without choosing a side.
“Jey didn’t give which side he’s on,” Meltzer said. “Jimmy and Roman split. Jey is in the middle, and that’s where everything sort of seems to stand…it seems like it first is Roman and Jimmy, then Jey has to make a choice.”
The turn sets up a new match for Roman Reigns, would could be the start of many new matches as the Bloodline continues to implode.
“We got Cody kind of handled for a while, Roman is clearly going to go Roman vs. Jimmy, then Roman vs. Both Usos, then you could go back to Roman vs. Cody…they have a year’s worth of storylines,” Alvarez said.
Meltzer suggested that Reigns should have taken the pin, with Bryan explaining that since Reigns said he was going to win the Tag Team titles, he should have been the one that failed.
The first episode of Collision has a location, and CM Punk will be there.
Dave Meltzer confirmed on Wednesday that CM Punk will be at the first AEW Collision show at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on June 17. Although Punk was not announced for the show on Wednesday’s Dynamite, Meltzer confirmed that everything has been sorted out between AEW and Punk.
“They got a deal. He’s going to start at Collision,” Meltzer said. “There was some legal stuff that was taken care of…there were NDA’s involved in this…the key stuff is AEW is protected as far as him showing up for all the dates and the decision is, as far as we know, that Ace Steel will be working remotely. He will not be an agent going to the Collision shows,” Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio Thursday morning.
It had been previously reported that one of the reasons why CM Punk was not announced on the day AEW Collision was announced was because of a last minute disagreement involving Ace Steel, who Punk expected to be working as a producer on the road. Meltzer noted that the pressure was on AEW to get something big for the debut show, as Collison tickets thus far have been soft.
“They needed something really big, and Punk is about the biggest thing they could get right now,” he said.
The following are spoilers for what is assumed to be next Thursday’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub TV show.
Matches were taped both prior to and after AEW Dynamite at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and come courtesy of PWInsider.
ROH:
AEW Rampage:
It’s that time of year when we look ahead to our annual convention in Las Vegas, set for AEW Double or Nothing weekend in May.
As always, there is a lot happening starting on Friday, May 26th through Sunday, May 28th that includes:
Buy tickets for any of the above before they sell out.
*We have a luxury suite at the T-Mobile Arena for Double or Nothing with Dave in attendance in addition to a spread of food (drinks not included). There are limited seats left at $600 each, so please email us if you are interested.
For any questions, just email us.
Cody Rhodes is heading into Night of Champions with “a broken arm”.
Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the show-long storyline on Raw on Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer immediately pointed out that even if Cody Rhodes refused medical attention so that he could go to Night of Champions, wouldn’t he need to be cleared anyway before the match?
“There’s some holes here in this story. They are essentially trying to create Hell in a Cell last year,” Alvarez said. Alvarez also pointed out that if Rhodes really did break his arm, he would need a long period of time off to sell the injury, as broken arms don’t heal overnight.
Later, Alvarez brought up that there would have been “a great deal of intrigue” if Rhodes had won the title at WrestleMania. Meltzer argued that while Rhodes as champion may have been good for Night of Champions, it is possible WWE has a story that could end up being even better.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have an idea to do something that will be even better…until it plays out, I don’t want to say they are wrong.”
Mercedes Mone, among others, are currently dealing with injuries.
On Monday’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave and Bryan discussed Mercedes Mone’s injury during the main event of NJPW Resurgence on Sunday. Mone had attempted to do a code red off the top rope, but instead crashed to the floor, breaking her ankle. She then went into the ring, where opponent Willow Nightingale gave Mone two doctor bombs to pin Mone and become the first Strong Women’s Champion.
“Obviously Mercedes was supposed to win the championship,” Meltzer said. “I can’t say one hundred percent, but when I was told about [the tournament], which was before it happened, I was told she was winning the tournament. You can tell the ref was just freaked out.”
With Nightingale’s win, Meltzer argued that this could be what AEW needs in order to really get going on Nightingale.
“AEW kinda got handed something with Willow winning this match and beating Mercedes and everything, and should really capitalize on it ASAP rather than just letting it fall through,” he said.
Other injuries were also talked about, including Liv Morgan suffering a shoulder injury that may require surgery, Dakota Kai with an unknown injury, Mark Davis of Aussie Open suffering an injury that forced Aussie Open to vacate both the IWGP and Strong Tag Team titles, and Taiji Ishimori suffering an injury to his cervical vertebra that has caused him to pull out of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
Here are results from the second episode of SmackDown taped after Friday’s show in Columbia, South Carolina. WWE will be in Saudi Arabia next week ahead of Saturday’s Night of Champions event.
Results courtesy of ITN WWE:
AEW is looking for a potential alternative venue for their first AEW Collision event.
On Wrestling Observer Radio Friday, Meltzer reported that Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida has been contacted. The show originally was intended to take place in Chicago, Illinois. However, a dispute between CM Punk and AEW has put his return to the company in question, causing AEW to make a backup plan in case things sour even further.
“They do have the United Center booked. They are working on booking the Daily’s Place,” Meltzer said. “The people at the Daily’s Place has been told it’s a backup plan, it’s not the ‘A’ plan. So Chicago is still in place.”
If the situation between Punk and AEW is unresolved, it could make things tougher for Collision, which needs starpower in order to even have a chance against some of the competition they’ll be facing in the timeslot.
“Man, the competition they are going to face every single week,” Meltzer said. “There’s no easy weeks. It’s not like on Wednesday when at least when the NBA is over they’re going to get a little bit of a break…every big fight is Saturday night.”
The dispute between CM Punk and AEW, according to this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, arose when Tony Khan told CM Punk that while Ace Steel could return to AEW and work close with Punk, Steel could not return as a producer for the Collision television show.
AEW Collision is happening, but CM Punk’s involvement is anything but confirmed.
The new Saturday show was confirmed at Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfronts on Wednesday. CM Punk, who has been reported as the major star of the program, was not listed in any of the material. A press release link did mention Punk’s name by accident, but all other references to him were removed shortly before the announcement, according to Dave Meltzer.
“[On Tuesday], WBD was told to remove CM Punk from everything,” Meltzer said.
There has been speculation regarding what happened. Mike Johnson from PWInsider on Wednesday reported that Punk and AEW were “at odds” over the return of Ace Steel to the company and him working backstage at Collision tapings, the latter of which was something that AEW reportedly didn’t want.
“I would say that the Mike Johnson story from PWInsider was pretty close,” Meltzer said. “I really can’t say more because Tony’s never going to talk about anything.”
Where it goes from here is anyone’s guess, but those at Warner Bros. Discovery thinks that the situation is not a dead deal, according to Meltzer.
“There were people who thought this was the ultimate blow up and Punk screwed Tony on Tony’s big announcement and Tony’s big day. From the WBD side, because nobody from the AEW has talked about this nor confirmed any of this..they said their belief is that there will be an attempt to work it out and they are hopeful that they will work it out, that it’s not a dead deal.”
Meltzer also said that at the end of the day, CM Punk has the leverage over the current situation as he was set to be the major star, and without him the show would take a hit in star power.
Here are spoilers for Friday’s AEW Rampage, which was taped following Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite in Austin, Texas.
Results from PWInsider:
AEW is headed to Las Vegas next week for AEW Dynamite and Rampage tapings on Wednesday. Double or Nothing will take place that Sunday at the T-Mobile Arena.
After one day off, NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament resumed with night four taking place on Tuesday.
The show was headlined by Lio Rush vs. Taiji Ishimori, two wrestlers who were undefeated in the tournament heading into Tuesday. Here are the results:
– A Block: Lio Rush defeated Taiji Ishimori
– B Block: Master Wato defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru
– A Block: Hiromu Takahashi defeated SHO
– B Block: El Desperado defeated Kevin Knight
– A Block: KUSHIDA defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey
– B Block: Francesco Akira defeated Dan Moloney
– A Block: TJP defeated DOUKI
– B Block: Robbie Eagles defeated BUSHI
– A Block: Titan defeated Ryusuke Taguchi
– B Block: YOH defeated Clark Connors
Rush is now the only wrestler with a perfect record in this year’s tournament. Bailey was undefeated prior to his loss against KUSHIDA.
There will be more Best of the Super Juniors events on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week. The tournament runs through May 28.
Here are the current standings:
A Block —
B Block —
Seeds are being planted for what could come for Roman Reigns down the line.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the upcoming match with Reigns & Solo Sikoa taking on Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for the Undisputed Tag Team titles at Night of Champions on May 27. Meltzer said one of the finishes for the tag title match could eventually build to a Reigns/Sikoa match.
“I think Roman and Solo is something they are building towards,” Meltzer said. “Not anytime soon.”
Alvarez suggested other matches could happen down the line as well, including the Usos feuding with Reigns.
Meltzer said that if Reigns and Sikoa are not walking away the winners in Saudi Arabia, then it has to be Reigns who is pinned, possibly by Zayn. However, Meltzer said that Zayn isn’t as over as he was just a few months ago.
“Sami is definitely past his peak from February,” Meltzer said.
Later in the clip, Meltzer and Alvarez recap a Seth Rollins promo where it was teased that next week he would talk about Roman Reigns. From what it sounded like, a future Rollins/Reigns match could also happen down the line.
“It sure sounds like that’s another match they’re going to do.” Meltzer said.
The second night of NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 30 took place in Nagano on Saturday.
Five wrestlers still have perfect records after two nights of tournament action. They are: Taiji Ishimori, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Robbie Eagles, Lio Rush, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru.
Here are the results from the show:
– B Block: YOH defeated Master Wato
– A Block: Hiromu Takahashi defeated DOUKI
– B Block: El Desperado defeated BUSHI
– A Block: Taiji Ishimori defeated Titan
– B Block: Francesco Akira defeated Kevin Knight
– A Block: Mike Bailey defeated SHO
– B Block: Robbie Eagles defeated Clark Connors
– A Block: Lio Rush defeated Ryusuke Taguchi
– B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Dan Moloney
– A Block: TJP defeated KUSHIDA
Night three of Best of the Super Juniors is being held in Aichi on Sunday (May 14). The tournament runs through May 28. If Hiromu Takahashi doesn’t win the tournament, the winner will be in line for a shot at his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Here are the current standings:
A Block —
B Block —
Best of the Super Juniors 30 kicked off on Friday with a show that aired for free on NJPW World.
In the main event, “Speedball” Mike Bailey started the tournament strong with a victory over IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi. Here are the results from the show:
– A Block: “Speedball” Mike Bailey defeated Hiromu Takahashi
– B Block: Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated El Desperado
– A Block: Titan defeated TJP
– B Block: Robbie Eagles defeated YOH
– A Block: Lio Rush defeated SHO
– B Block: Master Wato defeated Francesco Akira
– A Block: DOUKI defeated KUSHIDA
– B Block: Dan Moloney defeated BUSHI
– A Block: Taiji Ishimori defeated Ryusuke Taguchi
– B Block: Clark Connors defeated Kevin Knight
The tournament runs through May 28 and features 12 shows in total. If Takahashi doesn’t win the tournament, the winner will be in line for a shot at his title.
Best of the Super Juniors continues this weekend with a show in Nagano on Saturday (May 13) and a show in Aichi on Sunday (May 14).
Here are the standings after night one:
A Block —
B Block —
