Dave Meltzer shared his thoughts on Jeff Hardy’s return to AEW on Wrestling Observer Radio.
On Thursday morning’s show, Meltzer described AEW’s decision to bring back Hardy following another DUI arrest last year as a “controversial” move.
“Everybody likes Jeff Hardy,” Meltzer said. “How many times…every promotion, we’re going back 15 years, and something happens, and the rival promotions get him. Then he goes back to WWE. Something happens and the rival promotion gets him. It’s been an endless cycle of this. And this time, something happened in the rival promotion and they didn’t fire him, they had him go to rehab and now he’s back. We all wish there will be a happy ending to this story and we will never hear about it again and all that, but man, history is history.”
Meltzer said that while everyone wants to hope for the best, he pointed out that this is hardly the first time that Hardy has been arrested.
“Maybe this will be the happy ending like I said. And maybe Tony [Khan] will be right. And hopefully he is. Hopefully his trust is rewarded. If it was the second time, you could go well, maybe. But after this many times, at some point you just gotta go…I don’t know.”
Jeff Hardy made his return to AEW on Dynamite, assisting his brother Matt against an attack from The Firm.
Ethan Page demanded that Matt Hardy come out to explain why he double crossed him. Hardy explained that the contract had a stipulation that if Hook defeated Ethan Page, he and Private Party would be free from Page’s control. Hardy then issued a challenge for a match where if Hardy wins, he and Private Party would be free from The Firm’s control. Eventually a brawl ensued between Hardy, Isaiah Kassidy, Hook, and members of The Firm. The Firm had the advantage until Jeff Hardy came out with a steel chair, evening the numbers. He laid out Lee Moriarty with a swanton bomb to close out the segment.
Jeff was suspended by AEW back on June 14 of last year after being arrested in Florida on a felony DUI charge. In their statement, AEW said they would only be open for Hardy to return to the company after “successfully completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety.”
In February of this year, Hardy entered a plea of nolo contendere (no contest) to the charges. As a result, he was sentenced to 38 days in jail (which was already served), two years of probation, $4,500 in court fees, a 10 year-suspension of his driver’s license, a court mandated school or DUI program, and community service.
He just had some eye surgery and he’s recovering, probably a few weeks out from being fully physically cleared but hopefully sooner than later he’ll be up for doing stuff physically again.
He did sneak away with his family and go on a little vacation for a few days, which is nice. He’s in a real good place in life. I think he’s very happy where he’s at and it makes me very proud of him and it also fills me with joy that he’s happy with where he’s at in life.
Jeff Hardy’s DUI case stemming from his arrest in June 2022 was closed in February after he submitted a plea of no contendere to all charges. The plea means he agrees to accept punishment for the offense but does not accept or deny responsibility for it.
Jeff was sentenced to time served and will also have his driver’s license suspended for 10 years. He will have to undergo court-mandated DUI school or a drug rehab program, was ordered to pay $4586 in fines and court fees, and was sentenced to an undisclosed amount of community service as well.
Last month on his podcast, Matt Hardy said a potential return to AEW for his brother has not been discussed.
Matt Hardy has provided an update on his brother Jeff.
The Florida DUI case against Jeff Hardy was closed last week after the 45-year-old submitted a written plea of nolo contendere to all charges. He was sentenced to time served, had his license suspended for 10 years, two years with an interlock device, community service, and court-mandated rehab.
Matt Hardy addressed his brother’s situation during the latest episode of The Extreme Life with Matt Hardy on AdFreeShows.com.
Matt Hardy said:
The first thing Jeff did whenever he got the opportunity, he traveled to Florida and he stayed 90 days and did an extensive rehabilitation stint. Really intense work on himself and then even after that ended, those 90 days, he was doing out patient where he was going every week. He probably did 170 days, I would say, altogether when it was said and done of treatment on himself.
My brother, obviously, people who’ve known him for many years, he’s had so many addiction problems through the years but he’s never been this specific and never tried to work through it in so much in detail, like, really committed himself to this.
Hardy continued:
The reason I say I feel like it’ll be different this time is because he just went into it with a different mentality and he’s never been this scared before. There was a lot of talk where they wanted him to go to prison for months and do this and they ended up working into this deal where it was the 38 days is what he ended up being sentenced with.
I think one of the biggest things you’re going to see about Jeff Hardy going forward is how he wants to share this story and try and help other people now. I just think that’s something he’s been very adamant in already.
Matt would also say that the incident at Victory Road 2011 when his brother was in no condition to perform in a match against Sting was a wakeup call for Jeff but problems with alcohol would surface later.
There’s the Victory Road incident with Sting and that was the final point when it came to pills, he would never touch a pill again and he hasn’t, he never did. And then once drinking came along and that became his main vice, it’s the worst, alcohol is the worst. The reason it’s the worst is you can get it anywhere literally at anytime. And if you have an addictive personality, it’s the worst.
At the end of the day, he’s not someone who has done violent, bad things, that come from a terrible place, he’s someone who has an addiction problem and I hate it. There’s no way to justify someone being intoxicated and getting behind the wheel and driving, it can’t be justified in this day and age, it should never happen. But the help that he went and got during this time, I have just seen such a different version of him and it’s not one that’s trying to play the game. He’s just happy he got out and he’s just changed in so many ways.
Jeff Hardy hasn’t wrestled since May 29, 2022 when him and Matt defeated The Young Bucks at AEW Double or Nothing. Jeff was arrested for driving under the influence two weeks later on June 13, 2022. It was his third arrest for the offense in 10 years.
Matt Hardy continued to say that there has been no talk of his brother returning to AEW at this time.
That hasn’t been talked about. Will it happen? I mean, maybe. Will it happen? Maybe not, I don’t know but that isn’t something that has been talked about at all at this point and it certainly wasn’t going to be like his court case gets done, he shows right back up on AEW Dynamite.
Jeff Hardy has wrestled for AEW nine times since his in-ring promotional debut on the March 16, 2022 edition of Dynamite. He has an 8-1 record with his only loss coming in the Owen Hart Cup semi-finals against Adam Cole. The Hardys are undefeated in AEW with wins over Private Party, The Butcher & The Blade, and The Young Bucks.
The Florida DUI case involving AEW roster member Jeff Hardy dating back to June 2022 was closed on Thursday after he submitted a written plea of nolo contendere to all charges.
Hardy’s license will be suspended for the next decade and he will get 38 days credit for time served in county jail as part of his sentence.
Nolo contendere is where a defendant agrees to accept punishment, but does not accept or deny responsibility for that in which they are charged.
Hardy was arrested on the morning of June 28th in Florida and was charged with one count of DUI (his third offense), one count of driving under a suspended/canceled/revoked license, and one count of driving while his license was restricted.
He pled not guilty and faced up to five years in prison for the main charge while the others were misdemeanors.
Here is the full sentence via Volusia County court records:
A 38-day county jail sentence with 38 days credit for time served
Two years probation
$4586 in fines and court fees
A 10-year suspension of his license
Two years with an interlock device and 90-day vehicle impoundment
Court-mandated DUI school or drug rehab program
Community service
On Tuesday, Hardy’s attorney filed a motion to suppress the breath test results from his arrest as unreliable. They claimed the Intoxilyzer that was used was not inspected by the Florida Highway Patrol the month before Hardy was tested which violates a Florida Department of Law Enforcement rule in which such equipment must be “inspected by an agency inspector at least once each calendar month.”
They also claimed the equipment used exhibited “significant signs of unreliability” during tests and inspections, but was not fixed or removed from circulation.
According to the police report, Hardy blew a 0.294 and 0.291 as part of two tests, far above the Florida legal limit of .08.
The conclusion follows a long and winding road of delays throughout the last eight months.
Hardy was immediately suspended by AEW after the arrest without pay and “can only return to AEW upon successfully completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety.”
There has been no indication if Hardy is interested in returning to wrestling and if so, any target date.
*Vince McMahon talks about returning and we talk about the prospects of that, including from those close to him *The Rita Chatterton story resurfaces, and we go back to look at the original story and current legal status as well as a new allegation against Vince McMahon that came up this week *What can’t happen to WWE as long a McMahon wants back in *What would have to take place before McMahon to return to power *What risks are there for the company *The Vice special on Vince McMahon and those who would and wouldn’t talk *Mandy Rose gets fired and details of why it happened and what the original plans were regarding the women’s title *ROH PPV coverage, Honor Club, PPV buys, ROH title change *Sasha Banks and Japan WWE, AEW prospects, a return t WWE and more *Notes on Wrestle Kingdom, the card,te story behind the card *Updates on Matt Riddle *Full coverage of UFC 282, hat happens next, business notes, what’s next for the fighters *ROH Deadline and the debut of Iron Survivor *Just how rapidly is cable losing homes, a list for the stations that air wrestling and MMA and what the numbers are now *Tokyo Sports awards and story behind it *PWG Battle of Los Angels *The most detailed look at the ratings for all wrestling shows on national TV including how each segment did, *Streaming numbers *Advance ticket sales for the major WWE & AEW events *Government works with Arena Mexico for a special event *CMLL’s next tournament *Konnan talks his health *Rules in place for independent promoters and usage of El Hijo del Vikingo *A look at a Mexico match of the year candidate *A look at another match of the year candidate *Finances of major wrestling conglomerate *Future of Kota Ibushi *Why the economics are going to be tougher for New Japan *Coverage of the New Japan tag tournament finals *Update on the MLW lawsuit against WWE *Huge match in London this week *AEW announces new television deal *Behind the Jericho loss to Action Andretti *What famous feud started in a similar fashion *People who have been world champion in the U.S., Japan and Mexico *UFC takes action regarding a suspicious fight *World MMA Awards *William Regal news *WrestleMania news
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Monday Update
Jim Valley and I will be doing Wrestling Observer Radio tonight covering Raw and all the latest news. You can send questions for the show tonight to [email protected] and we should have time for many of them like we did last night.
Raw is tonight in Des Moines, IA, which is Seth Rollins country so he should be the most popular wrestler on the show. Andre Chase is there to work a Main Event match. Announced for the show is Dexter Lumis vs. The Miz in a ladder match with a double-or-nothing money stipulation, Becky Lynch vs. Bayley and Judgment Day vs. Street Profits. Raw goes against the Green Bay Packers vs. Los Angeles Rams game. Both teams are well below .500 so it shouldn’t be killer competition. Raw is coming off one of its lowest marks ever last Monday. The Wells Fargo Arena had 5,700 tickets out as of this morning. With the walk up it should beat the last time they ran Raw in the building in May.
Mike Tenay and Don West got back together yesterday on Face Time. As many of you know West has been battling cancer for years and Tenay said that “I won’t get a better Christmas gift than our time with Don West.” The two were not just broadcast partners but are also very close friends.
PWInsider reported that Jeff Hardy’s attorney is looking at rescheduling his hearing for his most recent DUI that was scheduled for Wednesday.
We’re looking for reports from these shows: *Raw tonight in Des Moines with Main Event tapings and any dark matches or anything off the air *Last night’s WWE show in Rochester, MN *Saturday’s RevPro show at York Hall in London We’re looking for results, finishes and thoughts on the shows to [email protected]
Tribute to the Troops will replay Thursday night at 7 p.m. Eastern and Friday night at midnight on FS 1 this week.
My newest book in the series of books covering complete years in wrestling, the Wrestling Observer Yearbook from 1995, covering the start of the Monday Night Wars is available right now.
The scheduled Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa middleweight fight scheduled for UFC 284 2/11 in Perth, Western Australia is off. Even thought he fight has been announced and publicized, Costa has claimed he has never signed a contract for the fight and that he’s negotiating a new deal and until he gets the new deal he’s not signing for another fight. ESPN reported today that the fight was off and Costa then wrote on Twitter, “Great fight is going down due to lack of negotiations kills. They should stop being petty.” He said they should keep the fighters happy and it’s not only him, but also Francis Ngannou, Shane O’Malley and Mark Hunt..
We heard rave reviews of today’s Just Tap Out PPV show in Japan promoted by Taka Michinoku and Taichi. We heard great things about th Suzu Suzuki vs. Tomoka Inaba women’s match, a 2/3 fall match with Hiromu Takahashi vs. Michinoku and a great Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi King of Pro Wrestling lumberjack last man standing match. They also had a unique Minoru Suzuki & Douki vs. Tomoaki Honma & Jun Kasai and Desperado & Lance Archer vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & MJ Paul match.
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Philipe Lins has been added to the 2/18 show in Las Vegas. Saint Preux was supposed to fight on the 12/10 PPV show but three different opponents,including Lin,s pulled out for different reasons.
CMLL will be streaming live from Arena Mexico every Tuesday night starting tomorrow o its Facebook and YouTube. Tomorrow’s show has Esfinge & Fugaz defending the Mexican national tag titles against Virus & Cancerbero, and a main event of Mistico & Negro Casas & Titan vs. Euforia & Hechicero & Mephisto.
Other Notes
Warrior Wrestling from last night in Chicago Heights, IL: Trevor Outlaw b Mance Warner-COR, Tootie Lynn b KiLynn King, Technical Difficulties b Slime & SNZ, Jordan Kross b EC 3-COR, Max Caster b Stu Grayson, Zachary Wentz b Speedball Mike Bailey (said to be match of the night), Eddie Kingston b Warhorse (said to be good) Sam Adonis b Johnny Warrior (Morrison) to keep the Warrior Lucha Libre title. This sets up Adonis vs. El Hijo del Vikingo in a Warrior title vs. AAA Mega title match with both belts at stake (thanks to Dave Gould)
ICW No Holds Barred from Saturday night in Newark, NJ: AKIRA b Bobby Beverly, Dr. Redacted b Orin Veidt, Jimmy Lloyd b Danny Demanto, Hoodfoot b Abdullah Kobayashi, Matt Tremont b Tommy Vendetta, John Wayne Murdoch b Eric Ryan, Brandon Kirk b Kasey Catal to win the American death match title (thanks to Leonard Brand)
Former pro wrestler/MMA fighter/powerlifter and MMA/wrestling TV announcer Paul Lazenby noted to us he will be in the corner of Marcus Aurelio for the Inoki Ganryujima show on 12/28 at SUmo Hall in Tokyo. That’s the show where Tom Lawlor will do a UWF style match with Katsuyori Shibata. He will also be doing English language announcing for the 1/1 NOAH show for some matches on the card. That’s the Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Great Muta show.
Stephen A. Smith did a Ric Flair split liquor promo to open First Take this morning. Smith will be part of the Peacock documentary on Ric Flair which comes out next Monday so he’s getting into Flair mode (thank to Samuel Batts)
Fury Pro Grappling on 12/30 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on UFC Fight Pass. Several UFC fighters are on the show including Chase Hooper vs. Clay Guida, Joe Pfyter vs. Eryk Anders, Ovince Saint Preux vs. Andre Petroski plus Alex Caceres, Phillip Rowe and Trevor Giles./ C.M. Punk will be announcing the show with John Morgan.
The 2002 documentary: “Wrestling Then and Now” is now on Tubi. Killer Kowalski and Nikolai Volkoff are among those featured. It’s also on Amazon Prime.
The Sheepherders/Bushwhackers bio (Butch Miller & Luke Williams) called “Blood Seat and Cheers” is being released Christmas Day on Amazon Kindle. It’s a very fun read because they go through decades all over the world from being a savage team in the territory days to making it as a comedy act in WWE.
AEW roster member Jeff Hardy’s pre-trial hearing for his June DUI arrest has been delayed again.
Hardy’s attorney filed a motion in Volusia County, Florida, court Tuesday requesting his hearing scheduled for Wednesday be pushed back. Prosecutors agreed and the new date is now Thursday, November 17th.
From the court documents, Hardy’s attorney “recently provided extensive mitigation materials” to the prosecution and “the parties require additional time to negotiate a potential pretrial resolution.”
Hardy was arrested on the morning of June 28th in Florida and was charged with one count of DUI (his third offense), one count of driving under a suspended/canceled/revoked license, and one count of driving while his license was restricted.
He pled not guilty and faces up to five years in prison for the main charge while the others are misdemeanors.
He had an initial arraignment hearing pushed back from July and then was canceled in August due to his written plea. The previous pre-trial hearing scheduled for August was initially pushed back to today.
Hardy was suspended by AEW in June without pay and “can only return to AEW upon successfully completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety.”
Jeff Hardy’s arraignment and bond hearing related to his June DUI arrest has been postponed until next month.
According to court records, Hardy had been set to appear in court in Volusia County in Florida on Tuesday, July 5, but the hearing was postponed until Tuesday, August 2 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time.
Hardy is set to be arraigned on one felony count of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol third offense within ten years, as well as a pair of misdemeanor charges — driving while license is cancelled, suspended or revoked, and violating restrictions placed on a driver’s license.
On June 13 in Volusia County, Hardy was arrested after being pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol. According to the arrest report, Hardy was “…unsteady on his feet, displayed orbital sway, reeked of the odor of an alcoholic beverage, and was confused.”
A pair of tests administered to Hardy revealed a blood-alcohol content of 0.294, and 0.291 respectively, both three times over the legal limit in the state of Florida.
Hardy filed a written not guilty plea to the charges on June 28, and PW Insider reports that Hardy entered a rehab treatment facility on June 21. He was released on $3500 bond following his arrest.
According to a statement issued by AEW GM Tony Khan, Hardy has been placed on indefinite suspension without pay, “…and he can only return to AEW upon successfully completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety.”
Hardy joined AEW in March after being released by WWE in December.
Jeff Hardy has pled not guilty to his recent DUI charge.
According to PW Insider, Hardy filed a written plea of not guilty on June 28. He is scheduled to be arraigned on July 5 in regard to his arrest for DUI on the morning of June 13 in Volusia County, Florida.
Hardy is said to have entered a rehab facility on June 21.
He has been charged with one count each of driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol (third offense in 10 years), driving with a canceled/suspended/revoked license, and violating restrictions placed on a driver’s license.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi added further details on Hardy’s arrest obtained from the Florida Highway Patrol arrest report.
“Once he left his car, Hardy was unsteady and smelled of alcohol, per the report. Officers, through conversation, learned Hardy had been drinking. Hardy could not complete any portion of sobriety exercises successfully ‘or without risk of falling,’ the officer wrote in the report.”
“Officers administered a breath test and Hardy’s first sample read 0.294 of blood-alcohol content. A second sample read 0.291. The legal limit to drive in Florida is .08.”
On June 14, Tony Khan released a statement that Hardy had been suspended from the company without pay and his return is dependent upon him completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety.
“We were able to resume contact with Jeff Hardy this afternoon. AEW does not condone Jeff’s alleged behavior. We’ve made it clear to Jeff that we’ll assist him in getting treatment for substance abuse issues, which he has indicated that he’s open to receiving. In the interim, he is suspended without pay, and he can only return to AEW upon successfully completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety,” Khan’s statement said.
During his Friday media call to promote Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view, Tony Khan provided an update on Jeff Hardy and discussed the company’s wellness policy.
Khan said that Hardy is in treatment, but couldn’t say much more other than that he has stayed in contact with Matt Hardy and that AEW will continue to support Jeff as he goes through the treatment process.
He was asked if AEW has a wellness policy and the differences between Hardy’s DWI arrest and Jon Moxley who entered rehab last year for alcohol abuse.
Khan said they do have a wellness policy, but didn’t go into details about it. He said it’s available to talent of any stature and he hopes people that need it come to them before there are incidents. He said there is testing in place and the expectation is that people come to work ready to do just that. He said doing any type of post-event alcohol testing wouldn’t make sense and that the majority of the roster are responsible with alcohol.
He came back to the question later and bristled at the notion the Hardy and Moxley situations are similar. He said that Moxley never put anyone in danger and that the two situations were “apples and oranges” and didn’t like to hear them compared.
Here’s some of the other notable news from the call, the full audio of which is available below:
Based on the success of ticket sales and buzz, he is already thinking about Forbidden Door II.
He went into long detail at the onset about the difficulties with injuries and availability with making Sunday’s show happen. He said CM Punk and FTR would have been together on the show had Punk not got hurt. They knew Okada would be available to them this week and that Jay White would be available two weeks before.
He wished all four men in the IWGP Title match could have had more TV time leading up to Sunday, but he dealt with it as best he could.
He decided to shelf Bryan Danielson for Forbidden Door and Blood & Guts as he didn’t want to risk Danielson being out longer with injury. He strongly put over Danielson’s replacement Sunday and thinks it will be a special moment.
He said Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy had been the plan for quite some time.
More Buy-In matches for the PPV will be announced tonight on Rampage.
He acknowledged the politics involved in not having Rey Fenix and Andrade on Sunday’s show, but put over their match on Rampage and a “wild ending” to tonight’s show.
Sunday isn’t a precursor to more AEW PPVs. Khan acknowledged more PPVs would increase revenue, but there’s no imminent increase coming.
He is open to AEW wrestlers carrying NJPW titles and vice versa.
PPV buys are right around the same number they usually are 72 hours out, but the big movement is in the next 48 hours.
Matt Hardy has addressed how his brother Jeff is doing following his recent arrest.
On an episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy released on Friday, Matt spoke about mental health and substance abuse issues. During the discussion, he also commented on some of the challenges his brother has faced.
“A lot of people know our history and I feel like some of Jeff’s issues probably come from our mother dying when he was so, so, so young. I know that was always an issue that he carried with him deeply.”
Matt continued to say that Jeff feels remorseful and embarrassed following his arrest on Monday.
“After speaking to Jeff the last couple of days, he is just so remorseful, so embarrassed. He, like, hates himself and I think that’s part of it too. He has to know, obviously, what he did was atrocious and terrible, terrible decision-making but then also he has to know that people love him. It’s very important and just like you said, at the end of the day, it all comes down to the individual. You have to keep yourself in check, you have to be on top of yourself, you are the only person that can really ensure you’re not going to go awry or go in a bad direction whether it’s because of mental issues or because of addiction issues.”
Matt also addressed his reaction to finding out Jeff had been arrested for DUI.
“When I first learned about Jeff’s situation, my heart sunk. Hugely overwhelming. You just have to stop and breathe.”
Matt will be performing for AAA at Triplemania Tijuana on Saturday. Jeff will not be on the show, however.
“I’ll be going to TripleMania in Tijuana for AAA, I’m pretty excited about that,” Matt said. “We’re going to have a mystery partner. We will probably announce the mystery partner, in all reality, but I’ll be teaming with someone else.”
“Jeff right now is focused on life which is much bigger than pro-wrestling. I will be there. I will be honoring my meet and greet session and I’m going to do everything in my ability to make everyone as happy as possible and give them the best fan experience that they can possibly have.”
“As far as what I’m doing going forward, I’m sure I will be doing something in some capacity on AEW. I’m going to change it up a little bit, tweak things a little bit, and try to make some magic happen.”
The Hardys had been set to win the AEW World Tag Team Championships before Jeff Hardy was scheduled for a brain scan.
Bryan Alvarez noted on the Bryan & Vinny & Jonathan Show that plans changed after concerns were raised about Jeff following the Hardys vs. Young Bucks match at Double or Nothing.
“The idea was the Hardys were going to win the tag titles in this ladder match, that was the plan for awhile,” Alvarez said. “Apparently, at the pay-per-view when the Hardys and the Bucks had their match, Jeff was not looking good. Apparently, they examined him afterwards and he was all beat up and he didn’t remember the match.”
“Remember when Jeff got pulled over and said he was on his way to a brain scan? He was on his way to a brain scan. So, his idea was to drink whatever he drank and then drive to his brain scan.”
“They had advertised the ladder match. He was never actually going to be in the ladder match. They were going to do the angle where he and Matt were going to be coming out for the ladder match, they were going to be jumped on the ramp and they were going to be carted off and they weren’t actually going to do the match. So, whether he had his DUI or not, Jeff was never going to do that ladder match. It was always going to be Jurassic Express vs. the Young Bucks for the tag team titles with the Young Bucks winning.”
“The Hardys were going to be in the ladder match but then after they scheduled him for the brain scan, he wasn’t going to be in the ladder match.”
A Wall Street Journal story on 6/15 noted that the WWE Board of Directors was investigating accusations of payoffs made by Vince McMahon to multiple women that he and Talent Relations head John Laurinaitis had affairs with to keep them quiet.
The start of this investigation into the story began on 3/30 when board members were sent an email that alleged that McMahon had agreed to pay $3 million to a 41-year-old woman who worked as a paralegal, and later as an assistant to Laurinaitis.
The email was anonymous and stated to be from a friend of the woman. While the payoff itself is notable, it apparently came from McMahon’s personal funds and not from the company, which is a key distinction. But what could be the more dangerous revelation is that the article and the letter said that McMahon hired the woman at $100,000 per year in 2019, and then increased that figure to $200,000 after he began having a sexual relationship with her. If that was true, that is company funds and a gigantic impropriety. If her raise can be tied to her affair, Vince McMahon’s future could be in jeopardy.
Updates on C.M. Punk, Cody Rhodes, the injuries, how WWE and AEW are booking around the injuries, details of the injuries, surgeries, AEW interim title and medical protocol questions
Hell in a Cell coverage, the matches, the ticket demand, PPV numbers, interest level and WWE & AEW crossover fan base
Hiromu Takahashi sets Best of the super Juniors records, business of the finals, angles for Dominion and more
AEW Double or Nothing PPV number update
Saturday’s UFC coverage and what comes next for the fighters on the show
NXT In Your House coverage
Television ratings for every national show, ups, down and competition
Expected CMLL anniversary show main event
AAA and running in the US
Stardom & New Japan joint show
Movie being made about the life of an active women’s wrestling star and details
Notes about young retirements in Dragon Gate an the booking
CyberFight show at Saitama Super Arena
Kota Ibushi and New Japan update
Benefit event for Shinjiro Otani
More on Ric Flair’s return
Johnny Rodz and the infamous Roddy Piper story
Olympic wrestler talks about better conditions for pro wrestlers
Notes on PBS documentary on St. Louis wrestling
MJF update
All-Atlantic title and thoughts
Forbidden Door notes
International TV ratings
Ticket sales for upcoming U.S. events
Streaming numbers for AEW & WWE
UFC revenue and profits update
This week’s UFC show
Major fight Dana White is looking at for the interim heavyweight title
ONE debuts on Amazon Prime
Bellator allows one of its top stars to do Bare Knuckle Fighting
Update on Stephanie McMahon
More on Vince McMahon autobiography
Hilarious Vince McMahon deposition in the liver Luck case
Why Edge was kicked out of Judgment Day
Reports from all the WWE events this week with business notes
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Tuesday News Update
WWE
Matches taped for Main Event this week include Shelton Benjamin (returning from injury) vs. Akira Tozawa and T-Bar vs. Reggie.
The Miz & Mrs. episode that aired after Raw last night did 519,000 viewers with a 0.14 in 18-49, which put them in 24th place for the night.
WWE and TEG Dainty announced that they have delayed their August tour in New Zealand and Australia to a later time.
Sonya Deville was interviewed by Forbes after appearing at the LA Pride Parade this past Sunday. When asked what Pride means to her, Deville said “I think every year it kind of means something a little bit different to me, just as I evolve in my journey and get more comfortable with who I am and my sexuality,” she said. “I feel like it’s different every year. It used to be I would watch from afar and I would wish I could be out there, but I just wasn’t ready yet. And so now it’s a thing where I embrace it and I get to go out and do these events and I feel comfortable doing so. And now I get the opportunity to use my voice and my platform to speak out for what we believe in, and for the community, and hopefully create a safer, more open environment in sports, entertainment and in WWE, for those looking to join, and watch, and letting them know that it’s a very inclusive space in WWE, and if I’m here, we all can be here.”
The Atlanta Voice has an interview with Kesahun Moore, who was named in WWE’s second annual Next In Line class.
Paige on Twitter: So it’s I’ve been told there are people making fake emails pretending to be me to try and scam promoters etc. The only 2 emails that are MINE are: [email protected], [email protected]. That being said. Now I’ve had a few days to chill, let’s goooo!
AEW/ROH
Jeff Hardy’s court date today for his DUI arrest Monday morning has been moved to July 5 at 2:30 pm.
This week’s AEW Road To, which focuses on Miro vs. Ethan Page and Chris Jericho vs. Ortiz in a hair match.
Jay Briscoe on Twitter: “We have a baby folks!!! Murphy “Big Murph” Pugh came a month and a half early but he’s getting stronger every day!! Appreciate the continued prayers and positivity.”
PWInsider is reporting that former WWE star Ken Patera is releasing an autobiography.
PWInsider is also reporting that former TNA star Rhaka Khan, real name Trenesha Biggers, will stand trial on 7/22 in El Paso, Texas on charges of interference with child custody and “aggravated kidnapping facilitate”. Biggers was indicted back in August of 2019 and became a wanted fugitive after failing to appear in court. She was arraigned in December of 2019. A bench warrant was issued for her arrest several weeks ago, but was rescinded after Biggers posted bond.
CNN is reporting that a law inspired by Hana Kimura’s death has passed in Japan, where offenders convicted of online insults can be jailed for up to one year or fined 300,000 yen ($2,200).
HAYATA of Pro Wrestling NOAH will head to Nottingham for Wrestle Carnival’s first anniversary show on August 7.
Masa Takahashi of DDT will be wrestling for Progress Wrestling in Birmingham in September.
The family of Mark ‘Rollerball’ Rocco will be hosting a charity night to raise funds for kids with dementia on September 17 at the Crest Court Hotel in Altrincham, Manchester.
Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with tons to talk about including IMPACT DOING A REVERSE BATTLE ROYAL AGAIN, Jeff Hardy’s situation with AEW, Dynamite thoughts from last week, too many titles?, an ode to Chris Jericho and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
