Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.
Saraya says she never spoke with WWE about wrestling again before she signed with AEW.
The 30-year-old got physical in the ring with Britt Baker on last week’s AEW Dynamite and it was reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that she has been cleared for an in-ring return. WWE medically disqualified her due to neck injuries in 2018 and Saraya noted on a recent Twitch stream that she never spoke with the company about wrestling again after.
“We never had that discussion. I never had that discussion with WWE because they let me go. I’ve been working years to better myself and be healthier and stronger. Me, mentally, I never brought it up because I had this mental block. I want to be as safe as possible. I know what my body can do. Me and WWE never had that discussion about having a match. I never brought it up to them about me potentially wrestling. If I was to talk them about it, I’m sure they would do the research. I wasn’t mentally ready. It still makes me nervous, but I’m way smarter about it. I know what I can and can’t do. I’m not expecting to do six German suplexes off the top. I’m not that wrestler anyway,” Saraya said.
“I’m not looking to bump around like crazy like I did before. I need to make adjustments and be smart about it. I’m very aware of what I can and can’t do,” she continued.
Saraya would also comment on WWE’s involvement in the FIghting With My Family movie.
“I love WWE, I just like the opportunities I’m getting with AEW. The one thing I don’t like is, ‘WWE got you that movie.’ No they didn’t. You know who got me that movie? The Rock. He made that happen. He asked WWE, ‘You can be part of this, but I’m doing this anyway,’ and WWE decided they could make money off of it and put their names on it. The Rock should get all the credit. Without him, there would be no movie. WWE were wonderful, they gave me a lot of opportunities, and I am forever grateful for that. The only downside that made me pick AEW from WWE is I don’t like sitting on my butt and not knowing what I’m doing or if I’m allowed to do certain things. I’m pro-WWE, but I love AEW and I wanted something new and I wanted freedom. That was very important,” Saraya said.
Saraya also revealed that she agreed to terms with AEW about two weeks before making her debut.
“It was like two weeks before because (Chris) Jericho, (Jon) Moxley, and Tony (Khan) were all like, ‘it would be good if you were on Grand Slam in two weeks.’ That’s when it all started. Everything was good, literally until it….I signed literally the day. It was the craziest two weeks.”
So far, Saraya says she’s happy with how the AEW President has taken her ideas into consideration.
“All the ideas I’ve had so far, he’s [Tony Khan] been great and using them. Every week he’s said, ‘I’m not going to be able to take every idea, but I’ll try to make it happen,’ and he has,” she said.
Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects that of the writer and not of our website.
WWE heads to Philadelphia this weekend for Extreme Rules — a show that could prove to be more than a B-level pay-per-view.
It’s been a little over two months since Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over as head of WWE creative and we are starting to learn more about what we can expect with him in charge. He’s still lining up his chess pieces for whatever he wants to happen at WrestleMania and Saturday should give us a better idea of what that is.
We learned at Clash at the Castle that the new WWE regime has no plans to take the undisputed WWE Universal title away from Roman Reigns any time soon — even when 60,000+ fans in Wales were begging for it.
So, while it seems likely Reigns will walk into WrestleMania as champion, there is far less certainty concerning the two Women’s titles.
Extreme Rules could possibly see both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s titles change hands. It all depends on where the company wants those belts to be in the build-up to WrestleMania.
Our own Dave Meltzer reported in February that the plan was for Ronda Rousey to face Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 39, although he noted that “a million things may happen between then and now.” Well, a million things did happen, and one of those things was Vince McMahon’s resignation/retirement.
One thing we have certainly learned during Levesque’s two months in charge is that he’s not going to shy away from bringing back previously released stars. Saturday could see arguably the biggest return yet depending on what hole this White Rabbit takes us all down. Bray Wyatt looms large over this entire show, much like a poker chip-holding MJF watching from a luxury suite.
Here’s a look at the show.
The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Butch & Ridge Holland) vs. Imperium (Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci) in a Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook match
WWE has latched onto something that works: put Gunther in the ring with Sheamus and let them have at it. The word “banger” has been used in moderation to describe such matches.
Meltzer gave Sheamus vs. Gunther from Clash at the Castle a five star rating. It’s the 16th time a WWE match has received five stars or higher and four of those have involved Gunther (against Ilja Dragunov twice and Tyler Bate once). In other words, he’s had a decent last three years with the company.
While Gunther has consistently shown he can put on top performances, the match at Clash at the Castle was something of a coming out party for Sheamus. Despite being 44, he seems to be reaching a new peak in his career. He was so over in Cardiff it was if it caused the rest of the wrestling world to say, ‘Yeah, Sheamus is good’ and then add, ‘something, something banger after banger.” His matches with Drew McIntyre tend to garner a similar reaction.
Whatever happens Saturday will likely depend on who wins Sheamus vs. Gunther II on Friday’s SmackDown. As of this writing, that match has yet to happen, but I feel confident in preemptively referring to it as “a banger.”
Predicted winner: Brawling Brutes
Edge vs. Finn Balor in an I Quit match
Whatever drama plays out on WWE programming involving this feud pales in comparison to the untold story of Rhea Ripley and Dominic Mysterio. Just what is going on off-camera that gives Ripley such power over Rey Mysterio’s son? We may never know what Ripley has been whispering to him in the same way we’ll never know what caused everyone to lay down in Radiohead’s music video for “Just” (a dated reference, but I stand by it).
It’s probably unlikely that top babyface Edge says “I Quit” here, but it should be interesting to see how things play out. Rey getting involved and Dominic trying to get his father to hit him does seem to be a likely scenario.
Balor vs. Edge will possibly be more about furthering the Judgment Day vs. Edge/Mysterio storyline than anything. Despite the beatdown he was subjected to on Raw, the possibility that AJ Styles becomes the next member of this spooky group remains as well.
Predicted winner: Edge
Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins in a Fight Pit match
The Fight Pit makes its main roster debut and could be the blow-off to the Riddle vs. Rollins feud. Rollins picked up the victory in their singles match at Clash at the Castle, but the odds seem stacked in Riddle’s favor on Saturday.
For the uninitiated, the Fight Pit is reminiscent of the Lion’s Den match between Ken Shamrock and Owen Hart from SummerSlam ’98. Levesque would bring it to NXT in 2020 in a match that saw Timothy Thatcher hand Riddle a loss before he got called up to the main roster.
The idea is to create a similar atmosphere to an MMA fight. Considering Riddle’s past success in the UFC Octagon, it’s likely WWE considers this something of a signature match for him.
Bringing in former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier as the special guest referee only helps in luring MMA fans in to check out the product, either for the first time or for the first time in a while. Cormier loves pro wrestling and has probably convinced more than a few MMA fans to consider becoming wrestling fans as well. If a longer-term relationship with Cormier develops out of this remains to be seen, however.
Shamrock volunteered his services as referee for this match before the Cormier announcement was made. One has to wonder if the WWE regime change might lead to more recognition of the contributions he made to the company in the late 90s.
Predicted winner: Matt Riddle
Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross in a strap match
Kross has only ever lost one match under Levesque’s booking. That was when he dropped the NXT Championship to Samoa Joe at TakeOver 36 as he was beginning his ill-fated first trip to the main roster. Levesque portrayed Kross as nearly unbeatable before that, winning the NXT title in just his seventh match with the promotion.
Kross and Scarlett were two of the first wrestlers Levesque brought back to the company after taking over. They have moved immediately into a program with one of the company’s top babyfaces in McIntyre. There can be little doubt that Levesque is going to run with Kross as a top guy. With this being his first main roster pay-per-view, it seems likely he’ll come away with the win here.
Granted, one could argue that McIntyre could be due for a win after losing to Reigns in Cardiff. McIntyre was portrayed as the better wrestler in that match, however, and had the title won if it wasn’t for interference from a debuting Solo Sikoa. It’s not as though he lost clean. A loss to Kross probably won’t hurt McIntyre much, especially if it is as a result of a more precisely-aimed fireball.
Predicted winner: Karrion Kross
WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair defends against Bayley in a ladder match
It’s entirely possible that Bayley wins the belt here, but it all depends on what WWE’s long-term plans are for the women’s titles. Working in her favor is that she just returned from a long absence, is the leader of a new faction, is her division’s top heel, and is a focal point of the television show.
Belair, meanwhile, recently completed something of a year-long saga. After losing her title to Lynch at SummerSlam 2021, she went on to once again win the championship at WrestleMania. Then to bring everything full circle, she defeated Lynch at SummerSlam 2022, earned her rival’s respect, and then fought alongside her against a new threat. That’s a nicely wrapped-up story. She might be playing the role of the number two babyface in the next story, however, with Lynch once again assuming the top spot.
Whether Bayley does or does not win the title really depends on what the company’s plans are for WrestleMania. Are they still looking at Rousey vs. Lynch? If so, would just one title be on the line or both? Not having those answers adds some unpredictability to the two title pictures right now.
It also seems as though Damage Control is headed to a WarGames match at Survivor Series with Raw’s top babyfaces, so we could see the start of that build on Saturday as well.
Predicted winner: Bayley
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan defends against Ronda Rousey in an Extreme Rules match
For a babyface champion, Morgan has been on the winning end of a dangerous amount of cheap victories. First, she cashed in the MITB briefcase to win the title after Rousey had just competed in a hard-fought match with Natalya. Then, Morgan tapped out at SummerSlam but the referee didn’t see it as he was counting Rousey’s shoulders down for three.
She got booed on the next SmackDown as a result, although was back to receiving cheers the following week. I doubt WWE wants a repeat of that. Morgan getting a fluke victory, or one due to interference, would hurt her far worse than losing clean would.
The most likely ending, I believe, would be Rousey winning the title after a hard-fought contest and Morgan having fought valiantly, winning over the new champion’s respect. There are other possibilities as well, however.
With Levesque in charge, the likelihood of Rousey going heel at some point seems greater than it used to be. It’s something she wants to do, too. On a video game stream earlier this year, Rousey even said she’d like to be a Roddy Piper-type heel.
“He was the real heel though, who wanted you to hate him. He wasn’t the cool guy heel,” Rousey said of Piper. “That jacket that I wear that is a replica of his jacket is actually stab-proof because people would try to stab him. That’s the kind of heel I want to be. I want to be the kind of heel that really inspires that vitriol and really gets the other person liked. I think a lot of people forget that the job of the heel is to get the babyface over, not for everyone to think that you were a cool heel.”
If WWE’s plans for WrestleMania remain the same as they were before the regime change, perhaps the dynamic is a babyface Lynch vs. a heel Rousey.
There was also a tease of something brewing involving Rousey and longtime training partner Shayna Baszler on the September 9th SmackDown. Rousey told Baszler to find her when she was ready to “take over the show.” In what direction that is all headed could come into play at Extreme Rules as well.
Predicted winner: Ronda Rousey
Potential White Rabbit-related activity
According to a report from Fightful, “those in the know” expect the White Rabbit reveal to take place at Extreme Rules. It does seem like the best place to deliver on several weeks of ominous clues and riddles.
For evidence of how much fan interest there is in this angle, you only need to look at the television rating for the September 23rd SmackDown. With Wyatt fans clearly expecting something at 9:23, the 9 PM quarter of the show drew 2,767,000 viewers and an 0.70 in the 18-49 demo.
It was the highest-rated WWE segment in over a year. For whatever complaints you may have about Wyatt or the Fiend character, people are intrigued. In addition to teleporting and various other superpowers he’s shown over the years, Wyatt also has the ability to move needles.
There was a big drop in the rating beginning at 9:25 and didn’t carry over to Raw the following Monday, however, meaning Wyatt fans are all done with the riddles and ready to see him return.
Meltzer also noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that strong White Rabbit merchandise sales have not gone unnoticed as well.
“White Rabbit merchandise was also a hot seller over the past week. As a marketing ploy, it has been very effective,” Meltzer wrote. “There was talk that Paul Levesque would be doing more things like this going forward.”
There are a few complaints regarding how Wyatt has been used in the past. One of the most notable was mentioned recently by Seth Rollins in an interview with Ariel Helwani. He echoed previous sentiments made by our own Bryan Alvarez regarding the difficulty of booking the Fiend character.
“The Bray Wyatt character was just difficult,” Rollins said. “I mean, if you look at anybody that worked with the Bray Wyatt character for an extended period of time, they didn’t come out of it better than they went in. It was very difficult to have a story with him where, aside from Randy [Orton] obviously who killed him, it was difficult for anyone. I think maybe Daniel Bryan, Bryan might have escaped a little unscathed but I mean, everyone else pretty much met a dire end for their character. I mean, that was the end for the Seth Rollins character as you knew it, the Beast Slayer character. It was tough figuring out how to tell a good wrestling story with that character.”
It’s not clear what version of Wyatt could be returning to the company. He could be back as The Fiend, the original leader of the Wyatt Family, or as an entirely new character. Even if his new persona has similar characteristics to The Fiend, some tweaks can be made to limit the negative impacts on his opponents.
Wyatt could have been just as over without Seth Rollins selling his spookiness by crying in a corner. It’s not like Wyatt became popular because he made Rollins cry. He’d sell just as much merchandise if Rollins appeared to be “putting on a brave face” and wasn’t all freaked out that Husky Harris put on a mask. His opponents don’t need to be petrified of him.
Another aspect that made The Fiend hard to book is that he was being portrayed as an unstoppable monster incapable of being hurt. He can’t be booked as that without it taking away from those he’s working with. He’s going to have to sell moves or WWE will run into the same problems all over again.
Fans of Wyatt seem less concerned with how unstoppable of a monster he is, however, and seem to just really enjoy the mysteries, easter eggs, riddles, and general creativity surrounding his character more than anything. He could start selling moves and even getting pinned from time to time and it would not hurt him all that much.
The other complaint that is often made regarding Wyatt is the paranormal aspect of his character. This is something WWE fans have been arguing with each other about since The Undertaker rose from the dead at the 1994 Royal Rumble. What Meltzer wrote about the response to that angle 28 years ago still rings true today.
“If nothing else, the 1994 Royal Rumble is going to be the subject of a lot of controversy and polarized views,” he wrote. “The vehemence in the phone calls to the Observer was like no show in recent memory. Those who didn’t like the show, which was a greater than two-to-one majority, hated it with numerous calls saying it was the worst PPV show of all-time and many remarks that they expected this to be a 100% thumbs down poll. Yet of those who gave it a thumbs up, very few gave it a marginal thumbs up and some thought it was one of the best PPV show ever. I guess it comes down to the debate of whether pro wrestling should be a worked sporting event with showmanship involved that one can attempt to suspend disbelief during, or that it is nothing more than a broadway show with oversized actors using a wrestling ring as a set.”
Some fans do not want this in their wrestling at all. For them, it kills the suspension of disbelief. For other fans, however, they love when wrestling goes this route and often consider such angles and characters as their favorite part of the show.
How much WWE leans into the more magical aspects of the character remains to be seen. We’ll just see what awaits us down the rabbit hole at Extreme Rules.
Zelina Vega/Queen Zelina is expected to return on WWE SmackDown.
The 31-year-old has been out of action since April after suffering an undisclosed injury that required surgery. According to a report from PW Insider, Vega has been spotted in Boston ahead of SmackDown from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. There are reportedly creative plans in place for her return on tonight’s show.
According to a report from Fightful Select, there has been a “heavy pitch and push” to put Zelina with the Legado Del Fantasma faction, possibly as a replacement for Elektra Lopez. Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Cruz Del Toro have also been spotted in the area of tonight’s show, but Lopez is not believed to be with them.
Vega returned to WWE in July 2021 after an eight-month absence following her release from the company on November 13, 2020. Her departure occurred at the same time WWE was instituting a new policy limiting its roster from taking part in third-party opportunities with companies such as Twitch. In a since-deleted tweet, Vega announced her support for unionization shortly before her release was made public.
Since returning to WWE, Vega won the inaugural Queen’s Crown tournament and held the Women’s Tag Team titles along with Carmella from the November 22, 2021 edition of Raw until dropping them to Sasha Banks and Naomi at WrestleMania 38.
It was reported earlier this week that the 36-year-old was serving as a guest coach at the WWE Performance Center. Our own Dave Meltzer reported in Friday’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Lorcan has actually been back with the company for a while and working full-time in a coaching role.
“There were stories about Oney Lorcan (Chris Girard, 36), working as a guest coach this week at the Performance Center. When asked about it, we were told he’s not a guest coach and has been there for a while as a full-time coach,” Meltzer wrote.
Lorcan requested his release from WWE last year and it was officially granted on November 4, 2021. He had been with the company for six years after signing a developmental deal in the fall of 2015. He won the NXT Tag Team Championships along with Danny Burch in October 2020 but the belts would be vacated that March after Burch suffered a shoulder injury.
Jimmy Smith says he learned he was being fired from WWE before Monday’s edition of Raw.
On Thursday, WWE announced a shakeup of its commentary teams and it was revealed that Smith would be replaced by Kevin Patrick at the Raw commentary booth. Smith had been working as the play-by-play commentator for the show since May 26, 2021.
On an episode of his Unlocking the Cage podcast released Thursday, Smith noted that Triple H accidentally let him know on Monday that he was going to be let go.
“I might as well tell this story, why not? Triple H accidentally told me before the show Monday,” he said. “He screwed up and told me, he didn’t mean to.”.
“What happened was, I was doing my prep for the show and we had a production meeting and on-air Seth Rollins had cut a promo saying DC [Daniel Cormier] hates Riddle just as much as I do. So, everybody in the production meeting turns to me and goes, ‘What did he mean? Do they have some kind of personal problems?’ I’m the MMA guy, right? I said, “Well, Riddle’s been critical of fighter pay in the UFC, and Daniel Cormier is considered kind of a company guy. So, I go, ‘That could be what he was talking about.’ It was the only thing I could think of.”
“Before the show, I go up to Riddle and I go, ‘Do you and DC have any kind of beef or problem? And he goes, ‘No, no, we’re cool. He might be upset that I outwrestled Jon Jones and he couldn’t.”
“He beat Jon Jones wrestling twice in New York, whatever,” Smith continued. “So, he goes, ‘He may be mad that I outwrestled Jon Jones twice.’ I said, ‘Oh man, that’s a good line, we gotta use that.’ So, I go to Triple H who was standing there, I go, ‘I just talked to Riddle and he gave me this line about how he outwrestled Jon Jones twice.’ And Triple H goes, ‘Okay cool, give that note to [Michael] Cole.’ And I went, ‘Why would I have to give that note to Cole if I’m calling the match on Saturday? Oh, I’m not calling the match on Saturday. Oh, I’m probably fired.'”
“I knew basically the whole show Monday night that I was not coming back. So, when I got the call Tuesday, I was not particularly surprised.”
Bobby Fish is set to make his professional boxing debut.
The Global Titans Fight Series announced Thursday that Fish will face Boateng Prempeh on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Deji Olatunji. The show is scheduled for Sunday, November 13, from the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Prempeh holds a professional record of two wins and three losses.
“@thebobbyfish makes the transition and bold leap from pro wrestling to boxing, debuting against Ghanaian Boateng Prempeh,” the promotion wrote on Twitter.
On an episode of his Undisputed podcast last month, Fish mentioned he was hoping Tony Khan would give him permission to do a kickboxing fight while he was with AEW.
“Since May, I have tried to get Tony Khan to sit down with me, no less than five times, to ask permission to do a kickboxing fight,” Fish said. “It was actually something that I talked with other people in the company about but I could never nail Tony down. In Tony’s defense, he’s a busy man, especially on TV days. It is what it is but I wanted permission to do a fight and I couldn’t get there with Tony.”
Fish’s contract with AEW expired over the summer and was not renewed. He recently debuted for Impact Wrestling at Victory Road last month but has yet to wrestle for the promotion.
Daniel Cormier says his deal with WWE for Extreme Rules is a ‘one-time thing’ but could perhaps lead to something bigger.
Cormier will serve as the special guest referee in the Fight Pit match between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle at Extreme Rules on Saturday. He spoke to Mark Raimondi recently and was asked about how the deal came together.
“It’s crazy, right, because for years we’ve spoken about this,” Cormier said. “How many times have I been at post-fight press conferences going ‘I’ve talked to Triple H, I’ve talked to these guys’? We never really could find a role that worked but this made sense.”
Cormier continued to say Rollins texted him about possibly refereeing his match with Riddle in Philadelphia.
“It wasn’t really from the people in charge, it was Seth Rollins who texted me, he goes, ‘Hey, real-life fighting in the Fight Pit and we may be in the market for a special guest referee, would you have an interest in it?'”
Cormier continued to say that he put WWE in contact with his agent, who just so happens to also be Becky Lynch’s agent.
“I have always wanted to do something with the WWE,” Cormier continued. “But it can be intimidating with all the people, the fans, but now my career has now groomed me for this moment.”
Cormier was asked about the potential of reaching a longer-term agreement with WWE in the future.
“As of right now, it’s a one-time thing,” Cormier responded. “We’ll see how it goes this weekend and we’ll kind of go forward from there.”
“Maybe it does lead to something bigger but right now, all eyes are on Extreme Rules.”
He would continue to say that he contacted UFC President Dana White and was granted permission to take part in Extreme Rules.
Cormier was also asked about the possibility of facing Brock Lesnar in WWE.
“No, I haven’t heard anything about that,” Cormier responded.
“It seems to make a lot of sense but, as you know, just because something makes sense doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. So, no, there is no talk of me fighting Brock Lesnar.”
Hart appeared on an episode of AEW Unrestricted released on Thursday and revealed the news.
“We are engaged,” Hart said of her relationship with Johnson. “Now, it sounds weird saying ‘boyfriend,’ I’m like, ‘what?’ he’s my fiance. Nobody really knows that but we also don’t care, but we also didn’t make a huge post about it. Anyway, we did meet at the Nightmare Factory, we were just friends at first. Then one day he asked me, he’s like, ‘hey, do you want to get pizza and watch wrestling?’ And I was like, ‘sure.’ I didn’t really have any friends in Georgia so I was like, ‘sure, I’m not doing anything.’ Then the next thing you know we are literally hanging out until 7 a.m just talking and just clicking, having the best time ever.”
Johnson has been out of action since May with a knee injury.
“He’s the best, I don’t know, I just couldn’t ask for anyone better,” Hart continued. “He’s like my dream man. He just has everything I could ask for in a guy, it’s great. I can’t wait for him to come back.”
It was later revealed on the show that Hart and Johnson became engaged “months ago” but had not announced the news publicly.
Hart also addressed her character change from the Varsity Blondes cheerleader to the darker House of Black member.
“Words can’t explain how much I’m obsessed with my new character,” Hart said. “I was a competitive cheerleader for six years and, you guys, I was so over it. I was so over cheerleading and being on the sidelines and cheering for someone else.”
“I just needed something different and new and a different side of me that I can pull from and it’s crazy how being with House of Black, how creative everyone is and just being around that environment of those people, and I’m constantly learning from all of them.”
Tony Khan says he could bring back the AEW rankings soon.
The promotion’s top-5 rankings have not been updated since Wednesday, August 31, 2022, the same date as the go-home edition of AEW Dynamite before All Out. Khan was asked about the status of the rankings during a recent interview with Comicbook.com.
“I haven’t updated it lately because I think so much has been fluid, coming out of the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions in particular. It’s a fluid situation coming out of Grand Slam and I think now I’m reevaluating it and quite possibly (I) could bring them back soon, but certainly made a lot of changes for the better that led to our best ratings of the year in many ways because we really zoned in and have had, I think, a lot of our best shows in recent months.”
FTR has been ranked number one in the AEW tag team division since April 6, but have not received a shot at the titles in that time. They haven’t had a two-on-two match on AEW Dynamite since May. Khan was asked what the reason behind his booking of FTR in this way is.
“FTR have wrestled at singles. They have had some trios and, of course, have had a number of pay-per-view matches in that time, both in Ring of Honor and in AEW. But I think we could look to see them in tag action and maybe defending some of those tag team titles that they hold. They hold three different tag team championships in companies that we all have affiliations with, across Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and Lucha Libre AAA. And certainly, I’ve been instrumental in organizing their bookings overseas and with Ring of Honor, where I also do the bookings.”
The AEW President also spoke to SI.com ahead of Wednesday’s Dynamite from Washington. He declined to comment on the status of those suspended following the backstage altercation at All Out but did confirm that media scrums would continue after AEW pay-per-views. Khan also provided an update on a potential future streaming service for AEW.
“As the library continues to grow, we’re only building a stronger and stronger addition to our content,” he said. “We’re working on doing it in a way that makes sense.”
Tony Khan believes MJF is the “total package” of what it takes to be a successful pro-wrestler.
In an article released by Variety on Wednesday, the AEW President was asked about his relationship with the 26-year-old wrestler.
“It’s very professional,” Khan responded. “He’s been part of AEW from day one, and he’s one of the most important stars on our TV show. … Whether you love MJF or love to hate MJF, I think he’s one of the wrestlers who’s connected with the audience in recent years and made himself a star. He’s also had the company behind him to help build him and support him. I think that he is the total package of everything it takes to be a successful pro wrestler. I think he has it all. He’s a really important part of AEW.”
Khan would also praise the new AEW Tag Team Champions, The Acclaimed. With “National Scissoring Day” being celebrated on Wednesday’s Dynamite, Khan is hoping that “scissoring” will be a popular way for wrestling fans to greet each other in the coming days.
“[The Acclaimed] found ways to connect with the audience, but also to have great matches, and you have to be able to do both to be a truly top wrestler,” Khan continued. “Scissoring is something that really connects to the fans. So I think all this week and especially around Wednesday, and maybe the continuing into Thursday at school the next day, there’s going to be people scissoring at school, at work, and in the audience at AEW, and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a great way to greet somebody.”
During last night’s episode of NWA Power, Thom Latimer challenged EC3 for the pay-per-view. EC3 accepted and the match was later made official.
Latimer and EC3 also faced off on the second night of NWA 74 on August 28. The match was ruled a no-contest, however, after members of Control Your Narrative interfered.
NWA Hard Times 3 takes place Saturday, November 12 from the Frederick J Sigur Civic Center in Chalmette, Louisiana. The only other match announced for the show thus far features NWA World Heavyweight Champion Trevor Murdoch defending his title against Matt Cardona and Tyrus in a triple threat match. The main event had originally just been Murdoch vs. Cardona, but Tyrus then announced he was cashing in his NWA Television Championship for a crack at the ten pounds of gold.
NWA Hard Times 3 announced lineup:
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Trevor Murdoch defends against Tyrus and Matt Cardona in a triple threat match
The build to Halloween Havoc continued on last night’s NXT.
Pretty Deadly kicked off the show with a “Commonwealth Address.” The NXT Tag Team Champions were dressed in their regal best complete with powdered wigs and robes. After claiming they are out of challengers, Elton Prince and Kit Wilson attempted to issue a decree that they would be the champions “forever.” This brought out Ridge Holland and Butch of the Brawling Brutes and a championship match was made for later in the night.
Holland and Butch looked like they were on track to win the titles until Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci of Imperium interfered. This allowed the champions to hit Spilt Milk and Prince pinned Holland to win the match.
NXT this week also featured a new setup inside the WWE Performance Center. The brand has switched back to a black and gold theme with a darker-colored ring mat.
Additionally, two more matches were confirmed for Halloween Havoc on Saturday, October 22. Cora Jade will face Roxanne Perez in a weapons match and Damon Kemp and Julius Creed will square off in an ambulance match.
Scott D’Amore spoke with our own Josh Nason regarding Impact’s live event schedule, the promotion’s future on AXS TV, and the upcoming Bound For Glory pay-per-view.
During an episode of JNPO released on Tuesday, The Impact VP was asked about the company’s recent switch to presenting pay-per-views on Friday nights.
“It is a busy night but one of the things is the way people consume content differently in this day and age. You see sometimes what we think is competition isn’t as much competition as we really think because there are people that are going to watch it. This isn’t as much of a live content-consuming world as it used to be,” D’Amore said.
“There is great stuff out there on Friday nights,’ he continued. “I’ll be totally honest with you, Josh, we might turn around and look at this in a handful of months and go ‘you know what? Fridays isn’t the day to do.'”
“There is so much competition on every night of the week out there these days that we went and looked at it and said, ‘You know what? Friday and Saturday are great nights to block for live events, let’s take a look, and let’s see how the Friday night pay-per-views do.'”
“Friday night is a night that we might look at it and we might find that Friday night people are already in the wrestling groove. They might decide they want to DVR SmackDown and Rampage and watch our show or they might want to watch SmackDown and Rampage and DVR our pay-per-view.”
“One thing we’ve always been, Josh, is open to trying different things. Sometimes you invent Ultimate-X and sometimes you come up with the Reverse Battle Royal.”
D’Amore was also asked if he is happy with how things turned out regarding Impact’s collaboration with AEW last year.
“We had our ups and downs and we felt our way through a lot of things, and that always happens. I know some of our fanbase was frustrated at times as we got to it, but to me, to culminate in a guy like Christian Cage, who is as Impact Wrestling as Impact can be, a guy who has always said coming to Impact Wrestling is where he was allowed to make his bones and become a world champion and prove that he could be the guy, to have his return here to basically be the passing of the torch to Josh Alexander, to me, was a great culmination.”
D’Amore would continue to praise Impact’s relationship with AAA.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better partner than what we’ve had in AAA from Mexico. They have been fantastically supportive of us, we’ve done our darndest to always be supportive of them.”
Nason asked D’Amore if he feels Impact will remain on AXS TV or move to another network.
“We’re open to exploring anything. I can tell you this, I sit here, I wear a couple of hats, I’m the EVP of Impact Wrestling and I’m also the EVP of Anthem Sports and Entertainment Sports Media Group and Impact is such a juggernaut on AXS TV for us. I know it’s, at times, frustrating for fans. It’s one of the reasons why we added the show weekly on the YouTube subscription for 99 cents,” D’Amore said.
“We will always look to keep Impact Wrestling as one of the staples of AXS TV and frankly, our other broadcast networks both domestically and in Canada and such but we will also look for other growth opportunities. To me, it’s a great opportunity to serve two masters. We’ve got Impact Wrestling, which is so great on AXS TV, especially paired with New Japan, but if we’re out there and the right deal pops forward, we would be more than happy to sit in a room and look at a deal with a different network. The other thing is we’ll continue to work at other streaming platforms and opportunities.”
Regarding a rumor that he met with then-free agent Braun Strowman earlier this year in Detroit, D’Amore said, “I spend a lot of time on the Detroit side of the border and yeah, got together, sat with Braun, had a nice bite to eat, had a drink. We weren’t hiding, we we’re doing nothing.”
He continued to say that they made plans to meet up as Strowman was in the area for a comic con.
“We got together, we chatted, was a great talk, wish him all the best,” D’Amore continued.
D’Amore and Nason would also discuss where Impact fits into the current wrestling ecosystem, the build to Friday’s Bound For Glory, and more. The show is available here.
Horror writer Rob Fee was chosen for the position and started with the company last month.
Fee’s Linkedin profile reads, “a horror writer for Marvel – penning comics for Spider-Man, Daredevil, and The Avengers. He was head writer on multiple Disney shows, including 100 episodes of Disney XD’s top-rated series PLAYER SELECT.”
According to a report from Fightful Select, Fee once pitched “a Fiend-related movie” to WWE. Bray Wyatt was released shortly after he did so, however, so nothing more came of the idea. Fee has reportedly been working on the production of the White Rabbit QR code messages in recent weeks as well. He is said to be a longtime follower of wrestling.
Fee also produced multiple series for Will Smith including The Fresh Prince Reunion. He also worked as a producer on The Ellen Show, MTV’s Ridiculousness, and has served as a creative consultant for Netflix.
Three wrestlers from NXT made their main roster debuts on Monday.
Fallon Henley, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen all competed in matches before last night’s episode of WWE Raw from the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Henley defeated Dana Brooke in singles competition. Briggs & Jensen defeated the team of R-Truth and Shelton Benjamin.
Former EVOLVE Champion Josh Briggs began training at the WWE Performance Center in October 2020. He started teaming with Jensen on the debut episode of NXT 2.0 on September 14, 2021. Jensen is the son of former WWE wrestler Bull Buchanan and reported to the Performance Center in August 2021.
Henley wrestled under her real name of Tesha Price in a dark match at the Mae Young Classic tapings in 2018, losing to Britt Baker. She then wrestled 21 matches for AEW between November 2020 and August 2021. The 28-year-old signed with WWE and made her NXT debut in September 2021.
