Less than a week after a mystery vignette first aired on AEW Collision teasing the appearance of a new masked wrestler, the question of who the man behind the mask is has already been revealed.
The BodySlam report stated the deal was struck over the last few weeks when the luchadore and AAA were unable to come to terms on a new deal. A start date is unknown or if he will officially work under the name Hologram which was referenced in the vignette (“Holo.grm”).
The 25-year-old has never worked in either AEW or Ring of Honor in the past. He did have a nine-match stateside run in MLW in 2021 and 2022.
On Wednesday, AEW head Tony Khan attempted to temper expectations when asked about the vignette, saying the man behind the mask was someone he is “excited for but it’s not necessarily teasing the biggest free agent signing or anything like that.”
Two luchadors were released by MLW in May but seem to have only learned of this today.
AAA’s Arez, who frequently performs for GCW as well, posted to X on Wednesday that MLW denied his release request six months ago. He said the promotion also has not offered him any work for the past 18 months.
Arez wrote:
To the General Public:
I find myself forced to address the following situation publicly, with the hopes that a resolution can finally be found. I join the recent wave of fellow professional wrestlers that just like me, have requested their release from Major League Wrestling “MLW”) and its President and Owner, Court Bauer.
Firstly, I would like to very sincerely thank Mr. Bauer for his interest in my career more than 2 years ago when he invited me to join MLW. In Spring of 2021, AAA presented me an offer on behalf of MLW to join their roster for 3 years. Although I did not understand the contract, as it was never presented to me in Spanish and I am not an English speaker, and even though I did not have a work visa at the time of signing that would even allow me to accept a job offer in the USA, I told AAA that I was very interested and I signed said contract.
The salary I was offered contractually was considerably below my indie rate, but I accepted it as I hope to see my career grow by being a part of MLW.
The reality is that MLW has not offered me any matches in over 18 months, and I see no interest whatsoever in offering me any work. With this situation and knowing how much work it has cost me to survive based on my income as an independent wrestler, I respectfully requested my release to Mr. Bauer more than 6 months ago, which he refused.
MLW has refused to cancel my contract in writing, even though I don’t even believe it has any legal weight as I was ineligible for work in the US at the time of signing and a Spanish translation was never presented to me. If I had the resources and team to challenge this in court, I’m sure the outcome would be favorable, but since I do not have these resources, I’m forced to air this problem publicly since my family’s well- being is what is at stake. Reading the multiple reports about the recent wave of MLW talent similarly requesting their releases, I find myself obligated to join these voices and find a resolution to what I believe is an unfortunate situation for all parties.
I hope my fans and fans of Lucha Libre in general understand and can support me and any other wrestler caught in a similar situation of being tied to a company that has no interest in giving them work.
I hereby request once more to Mr. Court Bauer my full release in writing from MLW.
Sincerely, Arez
MLW then responded that both Arez and Aramis were released from the promotion in May and AAA was to relay this information to them but, evidently, did not do that. AAA was a co-signee on both contracts.
MLW responded:
MLW notified AAA in May that both Arez and Aramis were released from the MLW contracts as AAA is a co-signee on both contracts. AAA confirmed they would relay this to talent at that time. Evidently they did not. We wish Aramis and Arez the best with the future.
I will point out that Arez asks for his full release in writing and I'm not a lawyer and I think a tweet probably doesn't cover that, hope a PDF is being sent over.
Aramis and Arez were signed by the promotion in the summer of 2021. They both took part in MLW’s monthly TV tapings up until the following April when the company stopped bringing them in. Their last show with MLW was on April 1, 2022, from Gilley’s in Dallas, Texas.
PWG has announced a change to the July 3 Nineteen event.
In a tweet on Monday, the promotion announced that Aramis will not be able to compete at the Nineteen show. He had been scheduled to face Shane Haste at the show. Instead, Haste will face the debuting Titus Alexander.
Unfortunately, Aramis will not be able to wrestle at NINETEEN. Titus Alexander makes his PWG debut as he takes on Shane Haste!
A total of seven matches have been announced for the July 3 show, including the first women’s singles match in the promotion since 2010, with Yuka Sakazaki taking on Masha Slamovich.
The PWG Championship will also be on the line, as Daniel Garcia defends against Konosuke Takeshita.
Here is the lineup for Nineteen:
PWG Nineteen, Sunday, July 3 —
Daniel Garcia vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the PWG Championship
JONAH vs. Kevin Blackwood
Titus Alexander vs. Shane Haste
Yuka Sakazaki vs. Masha Slamovich
Jonathan Gresham vs. Davey Richards
Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Buddy Matthews
Kings of the Black Throne vs. Aussie Open for the PWG Tag Team titles
PWG has announced the eleventh participant for the Battle of Los Angeles 2022.
Aramis will be part of the field for the second time, as he joins the previously announced PWG World Champion Bandido, AEW’s Lio Rush, Daniel Garcia and Lee Moriarty, JONAH, Alex Shelley, Kevin Blackwood, Black Taurus, Jack Cartwheel and Davey Richards in the BOLA field.
The tournament is set to take place on Saturday, January 29 and Sunday, January 30 at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Aramis became a PWG regular this year, appearing at their last three events. He teamed with Rey Horus in a win over Myron Reed and Trey Miguel at Mystery Vortex 7 in August, lost to Dragon Lee at Threemendous VI in September, then defeated Jack Cartwheel at It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) in November. In his previous BOLA appearance, he lost in the first round of the 2019 tournament to Rey Fenix.
A briefcase full of cash will be on the line at MLW’s War Chamber tapings.
It was announced today that Aramis vs. Arez will take place at the War Chamber tapings, with the winner getting a briefcase full of cash from MLW’s Cesar Duran (formerly known as Dario Cueto in Lucha Underground). The War Chamber tapings are being held at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday, November 6.
Aramis vs. Arez is a rematch from this July’s Battle Riot tapings, which was the show where both wrestlers made their MLW debuts. Aramis defeated Arez in that meeting.
Aramis and Arez were also both involved in the four-way match for the MLW Middleweight Championship at Fightland earlier this month. Tajiri pinned Myron Reed in that match to win the title.
Here’s the updated lineup for the War Chamber tapings:
War Chamber match: Alex Hammerstone, Richard Holliday, EJ Nduka, and a partner vs. Contra Unit (Jacob Fatu, Mads Krugger, Josef Samael & Ikuro Kwon)
The 2021 Opera Cup finals
Ladder match for the vacant MLW National Openweight Championship: Alex Shelley vs. Myron Reed vs. Zenshi vs. Alex Kane vs. a wildcard entrant
Homicide vs. LA Park
Willow Nightingale vs. Holidead
Aramis vs. Arez (winner receives a briefcase full of cash from Cesar Duran)
An MLW Middleweight Championship match has been added to the Fightland show on October 2nd in Philadelphia, PA.
During his appearance on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Wednesday, MLW founder Court Bauer announced that Myron Reed (seen above) will defend his title against Arez, Aramis and the debuting Tajiri in a four-way.
The show will be held at the 2300 Arena and will also be a TV taping.
Reed is in the midst of his second Middleweight title reign after regaining it from Lio Rush at the end of last season. He has yet to defend the title in this latest run as MLW is in between seasons. In his first reign, Reed held the title for 424 days and defended it six times before dropping it to Lio Rush at the Kings Of Colosseum show earlier this year.
Arez and Aramis are relatively new additions to MLW, having debuted at their July TV taping, also in Philadelphia.
Fightland will also see World Champion Jacob Fatu vs. National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone in a title vs. title match in addition to the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Opera Cup tournament.
MLW continued their weekly “draft” Thursday, announcing two new additions and pair of returns for their upcoming season that kicks off in July.
The new faces are indie standout Lee Moriarty and AAA’s Aramis.
Moriarty is a sixth-year pro who gained popularity over the past two years with appearances in GCW, Beyond Wrestling, AIW, Limitless Wrestling and dozens of other indie promotions. In the past six months alone, he’s worked with Joey Janela, Daniel Garcia, Lio Rush, Warhorse, Blake Christian and MLW talents like Dominic Garrini, Calvin Tankman and Jordan Oliver.
Aramis has primarily worked for AAA in recent times, but the 22-year-old worked two GCW shows earlier this year and three PWG dates in 2019. He was announced as signing a multi-year deal and will be part of Cesar Duran’s Azteca Underground.
Moriarty was announced for the July 10th TV taping in Philadelphia, PA, while Aramis’ debut date is unknown.
Other notes from Thursday’s draft show:
Savio Vega and Zenshi were announced as returning.
For the third straight year, the Opera Cup tournament will return this fall. Tom Lawlor won the 2020 Cup while Davey Boy Smith took home the 2019 Cup.
Alicia Atout teased a special announcement about the Philadelphia show next Thursday night.
