During a live stream on Thursday, Big E officially confirmed that Rusev is returning to WWE.
Big E and Tyler Breeze hosted a Fanatics Live session at WWE World in Las Vegas, opening packs of WWE trading cards. When they pulled a Rusev card from 2017, Big E said Rusev has confirmed to him that he’s now coming back to WWE.
“Someone that has just been announced to return. You didn’t see that? I reached out to him, and he confirmed that the news is indeed true,” Big E said. “I don’t know when he’ll be back, but there is Rusev. A blast from the past. And actually this is very topical because he has just announced that he is returning to the squared circle here in World Wrestling Entertainment.”
It’s been expected that Rusev (known as Miro in AEW) would be returning to WWE ever since he was let out of his AEW contract this February. Ahead of his WWE return, Rusev was spotted at the company’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut earlier this month.
Miro will be in Las Vegas during WrestleMania week.
He has been announced as making “special guest appearances” at KnokX Pro’s events at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center from Wednesday, April 16 to Friday, April 18.
KnokX Pro is a California-based wrestling school and promotion founded in 2009 and run by WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi. Miro was part of the academy’s first-ever graduating class.
In October, WWE named KnokX Pro Academy as one of the first five schools to receive its WWE ID designation. As part of the program, WWE will collaborate with select wrestling schools to provide trainees with “enhanced developmental opportunities.” Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling, Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Factory, Seth Rollins’ Black and Brave Academy, and the Elite Pro Wrestling Training Center were also included in the initial group.
Knokx Pro wrote:
“KPE is proud to welcome home our highly esteemed special guest @tobemiro ! KnokX Pro’s very own alumni from the graduating first class of 2009! We are very honored to be in the presence of God’s Favorite Champion, The Redeemer, The Best Man, The Bulgarian Brute as he celebrates with us during Mania Week in Downtown Las Vegas on Rusev Day no less!”
Miro was reportedly at WWE headquarters on Wednesday.
According to PWInsider, he spent the entire day at WWE’s Stamford offices and was seen by multiple sources. The visit is believed to be related to his expected return to the company.
Miro was released from his AEW contract in February, along with Ricky Starks and Malakai Black. Dave Meltzer reported in the February 17, 2025 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is already developing creative plans for his return.
“The belief is that (Malakai) Black and Miro will also be in WWE very soon. It wouldn’t surprise me to see CJ Perry back involved with him, but that’s less of a definite. Those in WWE had said creative had been talking about Black and Miro,” Meltzer wrote.
Miro and Perry recently reconciled and renewed their wedding vows following a brief separation of less than a year. PWInsider noted that Perry (Lana) was not present with Miro at WWE headquarters on Wednesday.
Former WWE and AEW wrestlers Miro and CJ Perry have reconciled and renewed their wedding vows.
TMZ reports that the couple have reconciled following their 2023 separation, and renewed their wedding vows in a Los Angeles ceremony “a few weeks ago.”
Exactly one year ago today, TMZ reported that the couple, married since 2016, had separated. The report emphasized that neither had accused the other of cheating, and that the pair had simply grown apart over the years.
In Tuesday’s reconciliation report, the outlet notes that the couple began speaking again last June, with things progressing over the ensuing months as “they slowly continued to rekindle their relationship.” TMZ also reports that the couple never officially divorced.
As Rusev and Lana, Miro and Perry were paired together on and off throughout their WWE stint from 2014 to 2020. Miro was released by WWE during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. Perry remained with the company until she was released in June 2021.
Miro debuted for AEW in September 2020, and worked infrequently for the company until being granted his release earlier this year. His last match for the promotion took place at Worlds End in December 2023. He wrestled his first match post-AEW at an indie event in Qatar last month, losing to Alberto El Patron.
Perry briefly joined AEW for an on-screen stint between October and December 2023, but announced she was no longer with the promotion last year.
Miro has been announced for his first wrestling-related appearance since leaving AEW.
Qatar Pro Wrestling has revealed that the former TNT Champion will be part of this weekend’s Super Slam III, scheduled for Friday, February 21, and Saturday, February 22, in Doha, Qatar.
Miro departed AEW last week after being with the company since 2020. He had publicly requested his release in September. He is expected back in WWE shortly. Our own Dave Meltzer wrote in Friday’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that creative pitches have already been made for his and Malakai Black’s return.
Meltzer wrote:
“The belief is that Black and Miro will also be in WWE very soon. It wouldn’t surprise me to see CJ Perry back involved with him but that’s less of a definite. Those in WWE had said creative had been talking about Black and Miro.”
If Miro competes at QPW Super Slam III, it will be his first match in over a year. His last match took place at AEW Worlds End on December 30, 2023. Miro defeated Andrade on the show.
Also announced to appear at QPW Super Slam III are Mustafa Ali, Mick Foley, Bobby Lashley, Alberto El Patron, Nic Nemeth, and Jushin “Thunder” Liger. Minoru Suzuki, Marty Scurll, nZo (FKA Enzo Amore), Matt Cardona, Raj Dhesi (FKA Jinder Mahal), and Robbie X are also advertised for the show. The only match officially confirmed for the card is Tommy Billington vs. Jonathan Gresham.
Bilal Taha, QPW co-founder and board member, told The Peninsula: “Super Slam III is more than just an event; it is a milestone in the evolution of professional wrestling in the Middle East. Through our valued partnerships and strategic collaborations, we are ensuring that this spectacle reaches new heights, both in terms of entertainment value and global impact. We look forward to delivering an unforgettable experience for wrestling fans worldwide.”
After not having wrestled since last December, Miro has reportedly requested his release from AEW.
Fightful first reported the news on Friday, adding that he had signed a four-year extension in the spring of 2022 after inking an initial two-year deal in September 2020.
The impetus for why the request has come now is unknown. The outlet noted there was consideration for Miro to be in the Casino gauntlet match at August’s All In and that he had pitched working with Jon Moxley earlier this year.
The 38-year-old has been used sparingly since the start of 2022, wrestling just 11 times with no appearances this year. His last match was at December 2023’s Worlds End when he defeated Andrade El Idolo in the latter’s final AEW match before returning to WWE.
Now reportedly healthy, the former TNT Champion said this past April that he was recovering from both a shoulder and elbow injury suffered in late-2023 that he finally addressed in January. In the same interview, he said AEW head Tony Khan was “great,” “creative” and that “he’s always thinking about how to get things better.”
Miro debuted with AEW during the pandemic era, making his in-ring debut in September 2020 as part of a team with Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford. He then won the TNT title over Darby Allin in May 2021 and held it through September 2021 when he lost to Sammy Guevara. He never competed for the company’s World title, but was in a four-way for the inaugural International title (then All-Atlantic) at June 2022’s Forbidden Door.
AEW’s Miro hasn’t wrestled since All Out 2022 and his spouse, CJ Perry, recently implied the couple could wind up back in WWE someday.
Our own Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Miro was presented with and rejected creative plans that would have built to a match at Full Gear.
“In September, they came to him, Tony Khan came to Miro and he had this idea which would build to a match on the November 19 pay-per-view and [Miro] didn’t want to do it,” Meltzer said.
Meltzer continued to talk about former WWE wrestlers in AEW who are hesitant to do jobs.
“It’s weird, a lot of people who come from WWE are very leery, obviously, Bryan Danielson being the exception, about doing jobs,” Meltzer continued. “Then it becomes very difficult to book when you don’t really want to do programs where you are going to lose.”
CJ Perry recently commented on Miro’s absence from AEW programming as well. She noted during an interview with Mike Wennmacher from 92.7 WMAY that “everyone always returns back to WWE.”
“Rusev Day will never die. It’s always going to be around, the kids are going to want to sing it and I’m sure it will make a return in WWE at some point. Rusev — well, whatever he shows [up] back in; whatever frickin name or gimmick or character he returns [as] at some point, in WWE is going to be iconic. You know, he, that’s the great thing about wrestling is it doesn’t matter what company you work for, what promotion, anything can happen. Let’s be honest, we know that everyone always returns back to WWE at some point,” Perry said(Transcriptions courtesy of Fightful).
Meltzer would continue to say now that Full Gear is over, the plan was to go back to Miro with more ideas but it is not clear if Perry’s comments will hinder that from happening.
Meltzer said:
“Now November’s over and now we’re in the new cycle and they were going to bring him back and try to come up with ideas for him and they very well may. Then his wife comes in and says, ‘well you know, Rusev Day is going to come back, and everybody goes back to WWE.'”
“When people go like, ‘he’s not using this guy,’ it’s like, there’s reasons. If you’re going to play ball, that’s fine, and if you really don’t want to, if you’re just biding your time to go somewhere else then it should be different. That’s the basic situation.”
“If you are in AEW and you want to be gone, I think the one thing you should do is don’t go public and say it, or don’t have your family members go public and say it because then if I’m the promoter, I’ve got other guys I can push. So, I would say keep quiet if that’s your goal because saying it will probably just hurt the amount of TV time you get and rightfully so.”
CJ Perry, the former Lana in WWE, talked to Chris Jericho on his podcast about her WWE tenure, getting released, and what she hopes her future holds — as long as it has a no-cut clause.
She said she was completely blindsided by getting the call from John Laurinaitis and thought it was about an outside TV project WWE had just given approval to. She got the call when a lot of her family was at a house she and husband Miro are renting so she could train more. Her heart dropped when she got the call, but she was also relieved.
Perry said she was texting with Mandy Rose at the time so she was the first person to know, followed by Natalya who she called. Budget cuts were given as the reason and she was glad it was Laurinaitis who gave her the news as he’s more business-like than Mark Carrano would have been.
She said Vince McMahon texted her to thank her for her contributions and work ethic. Perry was very complimentary of McMahon, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Brian “Road Dogg” James and Billy Gunn for helping develop the Lana character in NXT and her WWE work. McMahon scripted her promos for her first year in WWE.
She isn’t sure what’s next as it’s only been three weeks and she has a 90-day non-compete. She doesn’t want to be done with wrestling and felt like she was improving in the ring, working out of TJ Wilson and Natalya’s ring on the side to get better. If it is wrestling, she wants a no-cut clause due to the constant state of fear of being released wrestlers have.
She said it was hard to say goodbye to the Lana character as so much of it was what she wishes she could be.
On the Survivor Series match last year where she backed into a win by not really doing anything, Perry thought it would have got over bigger had it been in front of fans. McMahon wanted the finish as he and Shane McMahon thought it was hilarious if she didn’t get in there at all because it had never been done. There was supposed to be a table spot in the match, but there was pushback from Roman Reigns because of a planned table spot in his match that night.
She talked a lot about the ThunderDome era and how working in front of no fans was difficult. She turned to social media to get feedback and was overwhelmed with the negativity. She was happy to be out of the Performance Center and live in the ThunderDome because McMahon couldn’t “rethink the show and rewrite things 17 times.” She also told a story of how she was once on set for 19 hours just to do a 60-second backstage segment.
She said she was surprised by how much she gets buried on Twitter and “the dirt sheets” and feels she resonates with a live crowd much more than with the Internet. Jericho said the live audience is reflective of 90% of the overall audience while the real hardcore fans are about 10%.
In the hour-plus podcast, Perry also talked about the rise of the Rusev/Lana team and why it got split up, his release, getting put through a table for nine straight weeks, and the heat she got for her engagement picture to Rusev/Miro getting to social media even though she didn’t post it.
WWE has announced a few additions to the lineup for tonight’s episode of Raw.
WWE Champion Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre will face off in six-man tag team action tonight. Orton will team with The Miz & John Morrison against McIntyre & Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods).
McIntyre, The Miz, and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt have recently been positioned as potential challengers for Orton’s title. Miz holds the Money in the Bank briefcase and tried to cash in after McIntyre laid out Orton last week, but McIntyre stopped Miz. McIntyre said he’s going to be the person to take the WWE Championship from Orton. Later in the night, Orton dropped McIntyre with an RKO after McIntyre defeated Miz & Morrison in a handicap match. The Fiend’s laugh then played to close the show.
Kingston & Woods appearing on Miz TV with Miz & Morrison, Raw Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Nia Jax in a non-title match, and Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali have also been added to tonight’s show. Plus, Jeff Hardy, Riddle, and Elias will face off in a triple threat second chance qualifying match to determine the final member of Raw’s Survivor Series men’s team.
A Moment of Bliss segment with McIntyre as the guest was originally announced for tonight’s show but is no longer listed on WWE’s preview.
Date: September 21, 2020 Location: Amway Center in Orlando, FL
The Big Takeaway —
Retribution finally had a match. It ended in a DQ.
Show Recap —
Retribution invaded Raw as soon as it started. There were five members all wearing new (ugly) masks. Tom Phillips frantically mentioned that the five core members have been given contracts which means they can do whatever they want to whoever they want.
Mia Yim spoke first (her mask barely covered her mouth/jaw so it was clearly her). She said the contracts weren’t going to stop them. Another member, likely Dominik Dijakovic, called the WWE wrestlers whores for collecting their paychecks.
They were interrupted by the Hurt Business who marched to the ring while Retribution escaped to ringside. MVP and Bobby Lashley threatened them. Suddenly, way more masked men appeared and attacked. Two members, likely Dijakovic and Dio Maddin, gave Lashley a double chokeslam as they went to break.
After a break, everyone was gone.
Phillips, Byron Saxton and Jerry Lawler are on commentary. Lawler couldn’t believe that Retribution were given contracts.
Sarah Schrieber asked Rey Mysterio about Dominik getting his first chance at a title shot. Rey said he made his mark in WWE as a tag team and it was an honour that Dominik could follow in his footsteps.
A couple of other notes about the opening segment: Mercedes Martinez was one of the other Retribution members. Also, the cameras were shaking violently even when they were just standing in the ring doing a promo.
Triple Threat Tag Team Match: Andrade & Angel Garza defeated Seth Rollins & Murphy and Dominik Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo (5:24)
The Street Profits joined commentary. Zelina Vega was not with Andrade and Garza.
(Carrillo was last on Raw on August 10 when he lost to Rollins in three minutes. Two weeks before that, he lost to Murphy. More recently, he has consecutive losses to Mustafa Ali and Riddick Moss on Main Event.)
Dominik and Carrillo each hit dives early in the match and Rollins appeared to be impressed, as were the Street Profits. The Profits said they would love to face Dominik and Carrillo. Dominik gave Andrade a Code Red but Garza broke up the cover.
Murphy nailed Andrade with a knee strike but as he crawled to make a cover, Rollins left. Rollins said he had better things to do.
Andrade gave Murphy a back elbow and Garza followed with a Wing Clipper for the pinfall win. Andrade and Garza face the Street Profits. Again. (Dominik and Carrillo were knocked out of the ring earlier and just never covered.)
Between July 20 and September 7, some combination of Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins fought some combination of Andrade and Angel Garza in 8 out of 9 shows.
Retribution cut a promo backstage. Dijakovic did the talking. He said Hurt Business could have been part of the solution but were instead part of the problem because they bowed to WWE and took their money. Retribution said they would make Hurt Business pay… with retribution. (They teased that there would be a match tonight.)
The KO Show
Kevin Owens said it was time to move on from Captain Hot Topic (Aleister Black). He couldn’t believe it, but his guest tonight was Shane McMahon. Shane came out and they played “Shane O’Mac” chants.
Owens and Shane acknowledged their past. Owens was going to leave it in the past because tonight he had Shane on to plug Raw Underground. Shane talked about Dabba-Kato, who beat up Owens two weeks ago. Shane invited Dabba-Kato to the ring.
Owens knew this was going to happen which is why he willingly had Shane on as a guest. Owens didn’t forget about what Dabba-Kato did to him. Owens said he and Dabba-Kato would fight one day. Owens slapped him in the face before introducing his other guest — Braun Strowman.
Strowman entered and faced off with Dabba-Kato but Shane got in between them. Shane said if they wanted to fight, it wouldn’t be on the KO Show, it would be on Underground.
As Shane spoke, Aleister Black showed up, yanked Owens down and pulled him crotch-first into the ring post three times. (Black wore a covering over his eye even though it appeared to be fine last week.)
Charly Caruso asked Drew McIntyre about Keith Lee. McIntyre understood it was all business and everyone wanted to be WWE champion or else they wouldn’t be there. He said they would laugh about it over drinks one day, and those drinks would be on him after he beats Lee tonight.
Retribution beat up Titus O’Neil and Humberto Carrillo backstage.
Retribution vs. Hurt Business was made official for tonight.
Keith Lee defeated WWE Champion Drew McIntyre via DQ in a non-title match (11:44)
Lee drove McIntyre over the top rope using a running body block. McIntyre followed soon later with a backdrop onto the announce table (which didn’t break) and they went to break.
[Second hour]
McIntyre briefly stopped Lee’s comeback but Lee clocked him with a forearm to the injured jaw. Lee hesitated before making the cover for two. McIntyre came back with a spinebuster for two, followed by a neckbreaker for two. Lee blocked a DDT and used a slam for two, then hit a clothesline for two.
Lee set up for a spirit bomb but McIntyre slipped out and hit a Claymore kick. Randy Orton attacked McIntyre from behind with a steel chair for the DQ. (Yet another match Lee was about to lose.)
Orton drove the edge of the chair into McIntyre’s jaw before punting Lee in the head. Loud booing played as Orton stood tall.
Orton remained in the ring after a break. The crowd booing was still playing. Orton shamed the fans for doubting that he would make it to Clash of Champions. He was the one constant in WWE in the past 20 years. He has never walked away from a title shot and wasn’t about to.
He acknowledged that Sunday’s title match wasn’t a normal one and walked over to the ambulance that was parked by the stage (as a prop). As he was being carried away in the ambulance a few weeks ago, Orton realized what everyone must have felt like after being taken out by him.
He said ambulances meant different things to different people but to him, it represented a 14th world title. He said McIntyre’s title reign would flatline thanks to an RKO.
Schreiber asked Asuka who was the biggest threat between Mickie James and Zelina Vega. Billie Kay interrupted and mocked her for willingly defending the title against just about anyone. She wondered if even Schreiber would get a shot.
Peyton Royce showed up and said she should get a shot. Asuka wondered if they were still friends. Kay and Royce said they still had each others’ backs. Asuka said no one would be ready for her at COC and Royce was not ready for her tonight.
Zelina Vega defeated Mickie James (4:12)
There was a pre-taped James promo where she said she did not give up last week and would not give up going after the Women’s title.
Vega applied an octopus hold but James got out of it by ramming her into the corner. James blocked a kick and they exchanged rollups. James hit a series of kicks and a flapjack followed by a Thesz press off the top for a nearfall.
Vega blocked a DDT, yanked James into the ropes and hit a back cracker for the pinfall win. Vega wins clean and faces Asuka for the title at COC.
The Hurt Business beat up the secondary members of Retribution backstage. MVP asked Lashley and Shelton Benjamin if they had things handled (because Cedric Alexander has a match next). Benjamin said yes.
There was a Bianca Belair video. It was just her outworking some guy in the gym.
There was a dumb segment with R-Truth running from a shark at the beach where maybe Akira Tozawa was eaten by the shark.
MVP and Alexander were in the ring. MVP said Retribution would be facing them in a six-man match and they would find out why they were called the Hurt Business. He called Hurt Business the executioners.
Alexander said he found out the hard way how dangerous they were. Alexander let Apollo Crews know that tonight wasn’t about Crews getting revenge, this was about Alexander getting his revenge. Alexander said he didn’t care about Crews or his kids, which was a random line.
Crews and Ricochet entered. Crews didn’t care why Alexander did what he did and tonight would be a preview of Sunday when he becomes a two-time US Champion.
Apollo Crews (w/Ricochet) defeated Cedric Alexander (w/MVP) (7:56)
Crews used a baseball slide and they went to break less than 30 seconds into the match. Alexander was in control after the break. He used a Michinoku Driver for two. Crews came back with an enziguri, flying crossbody, Stinger splash and Samoan drop for two.
Alexander responded with a suicide dive. Ricochet got in his face so he told Ricochet to back off. Alexander slipped back in the ring and Crews caught him in a rollup for the pinfall win.
The Hurt Business music distracted Crews so Alexander attacked him from behind. They laid out Crews and Ricochet. Lashley put down Crews with a full nelson before leaving.
[Third hour]
Raw Underground
Dolph Ziggler and Arturo Ruas had a back-and-forth fight that Ziggler won with a sleeper.
Shane wanted to talk to Strowman but Strowman didn’t want to talk to him. Shane handed the mic to Briana Brandy who happened to be nearby and she asked a question instead. This tricked Strowman into speaking I guess. He threatened to beat everyone up and send them home with a pocket full of teeth and told Shane he should get in the ring if he wanted some.
Seth Rollins / Mysterio family segment
Rollins spoke about everything the Mysterio family has put him through. He went to WWE.com and noticed something that’s been bothering him about them. He showed a picture on the big screen and noted the difference between Rey and Dominik (presumably their height).
Rollins had some people do an investigation and had the results of that investigation in an envelope. He invited the Mysterio family out to hear it for themselves. They entered the stage. Rey threatened to beat him up.
Rollins tried to calm him down and said he respected them for standing together and overcoming adversity. Rollins said they deserved the truth.
Rollins had the results of a DNA test. He knew this was done once before but technology has changed so much. He had the truth on whether or not Rey was Dominik’s father.
Rollins said Rey was not the father. He laughed. Rey said they’ve been down this road before. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.
Rollins realized he may have made a mistake when he asked the question to his investigator. Perhaps it was Aalyah who was not Rey’s daughter.
He had more evidence. He showed a replay of Aalyah checking on Murphy’s wellbeing last week. Rollins asked her what the deal was.
Rey told Rollins not to speak to her. Rey said they already spoke about what happened last week. He raised her to be caring and compassionate. He also noted that she was only 19 years old and didn’t know about this business.
Aalyah seemed offended by that comment and stormed to the back. Angie followed. Rey and Dominik followed too. Dominik looked back angrily at Rollins before leaving. Rollins acted sorry.
(Aalyah storming off after that comment felt very forced. Last week’s angle was nice and subtle. This was not.)
Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler defeated Natalya & Lana in a non-title match (1:00)
Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan joined commentary. They stressed being a stronger team than Jax and Baszler despite how dangerous each of them were individually.
Baszler tapped out Lana quickly with the Kirifuda Clutch.
The champs went after the challengers after the match. Ruby and Morgan fought Jax until Baszler backed them off.
Jax saw Lana nearby and gave her Samoan drop through the announce table again.
Caruso interivewed McIntyre who was icing his jaw in the trainer’s room. He said he was going to beat the piss out of Orton on Sunday and was ready to pick a fight tonight. He marched off. (Was he sitting there for the past hour?)
In the back, Aalyah told Rey that she can speak for herself. Rey was trying to protect her from Rollins. She said she only came to Raw to support Dominik and Rollins has hurt both of them. (She seemed to indicate that he was his fault.) She worried about what Rollins was capable of doing to her or her mom. She left.
Raw Underground
Riddick Moss knocked out Erik with a right hand.
Shane asked Brandy to ask Dabba-Kato a question. She seemed too intimidated by him to do so. Shane asked a question instead. He said Strowman would find out what he was capable of and told Shane to get out of his face. (Dabba-Kato came off well here.)
Raw Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Peyton Royce (w/Billie Kay) via DQ in a non-title match (2:22)
Royce got a few nearfalls. Asuka gave her a roundhouse kick and tried applying the Asuka Lock (I think) but Vega attacked for the DQ. Asuka tried to go after Vega but she bailed. A bad segment.
Murphy approached Aalyah in the back. She was startled upon seeing him. He sat down next to her and said the stuff with Rollins has gotten out of hand and apologized for anything he might have done to hurt her.
Raw Underground – Braun Strowman defeated Dabba-Kato
This went about 90 seconds. Strowman knocked down Dabba-Kato with a right hand, mounted him and hit a few strikes before the referee stopped it. I don’t know what I was expecting but this wasn’t much of a fight.
I suppose it should be noted that they’re now calling it “Shane McMahon’s Raw Underground” and “Raw Underground with Shane McMahon.”
6-man tag match: Hurt Business (w/MVP) defeated Retribution via DQ (6:21)
Each team entered before a break and the match started after the break, which means the chaotic Retribution kindly waited for the commercials. The women members of Retribution were not at ringside.
The male members of Retribution are named T-Bar (Dijakovic), Mace (Maddin) and Slapjack (Shane Thorne I guess). WWE is stylizing the names in all-caps, but I will not be doing that.
They added cheering when Hurt Business was on offense.
The match ended by disqualification when T-Bar (or Mace), who wasn’t the legal man, punched Lashley. Yup.
The secondary members of Retribution swarmed and attacked Hurt Business.
McIntyre’s music hit and he sprinted out with the Raw roster to join the brawl.
McIntyre was somehow the only man in the ring when Orton slipped in and gave him an RKO.
“The Best Man” Miro (formerly known as Rusev in WWE) made his debut on last night’s AEW Dynamite.
Kip Sabian promised to reveal the best man for his and Penelope Ford’s wedding. After a pair of decoys, Miro entered and cut a promo. He said he is not only a best man, but “The Best Man.”
Mr. Brodie Lee retained the TNT Championship in the show’s main event. Lee defeated Dustin Rhodes. After the match, Lee and The Dark Order left Rhodes and QT Marshall laying in the ring.
Matt Hardy delivered a promo and vowed that once medically cleared, he would go after his first championship in AEW. Hardy thanked the fans for their love and support since All Out and promised that his pro wrestling journey is not over.
The next step in the Kenny Omega/Hangman Page story saw Page pledging to remain a team with Omega while Omega told Jim Ross that he is planning a singles run.
On the day it was announced that she had signed an AEW contract, Tay Conti lost to Nyla Rose and was beaten down after the match. Hikaru Shida made the save for Conti.
FTR held a celebration after winning the AEW World Tag Team titles at All Out. Their opponents on next week’s Dynamite, Jurassic Express, ruined the celebration.
Chris Jericho and Jake Hager beat Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss in a no DQ tag match. Jericho vowed that he and Hager are going after FTR’s titles.
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and his next challenger, Lance Archer, cut promos on each other last night. Their title match is set for the October 14 anniversary episode of Dynamite.
For more of what you missed from last night, including Jurassic Express vs. Lucha Bros and a Ricky Starks promo on Darby Allin, scroll below.
With that, the man formerly known as Rusev in WWE ended his first AEW promo as he was announced as Kip Sabian’s surprise best man on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
During his promo, Miro said that after spending ten years in the same house with the same glass ceiling and the same brass ring, “you can shove that brass ring up your ass.” Shortly afterward, AEW tweeted out the above image, confirming his signing with the company.
He announced in July on Twitch that he had tested positive for COVID-19, so it’s unclear when he will be physically ready to return to action.
The 35-year-old born Miroslav Barnyashev was released in April by WWE during their pandemic-related financial cuts after a decade with the company that began in Florida Championship Wrestling in 2010.
During his time in WWE, he held the U.S. Championship three times, worked a WrestleMania against John Cena with a memorable entrance that featured a tank, and became popular with “Rusev Day.”
He’s married to Lana (Catherine Perry) who re-upped with WWE on a multi-year deal in 2019.
Former WWE star Rusev announced on Twitch today that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
“I am absolutely positive for COVID-19,” he said on a livestream today. “I am absolutely, 100 percent, super mega incredibly positive.”
He later posted a video on YouTube, saying he felt fine aside from losing his sense of taste and smell, a symptom of COVID-19.
Rusev, real name Miroslav Barnyashev, told his viewers that he had originally thought he had tested negative. However, a phone call from the doctor’s office confirmed that he had tested positive.
The news comes as his wife, WWE star Lana (CJ Perry), wrote on social media that both her mother and father have been battling the virus in recent weeks. In a new YouTube video, Lana said that her mother was taken off oxygen and was breathing on her own and is now out of the ICU. Her father is also recovering.
Rusev was released from WWE in April as a part of wide ranging cuts and furloughs within the company. His no-compete clause is scheduled to end later this month.
We’ve got yet another double issue of the Observer out this week covering both the creative changes in WWE and a long bio on Johnny “Mr. Wrestling II” Walker, as well as a number of other features.
The move to Bruce Prichard as creative head of Raw and Smackdown and the steps leading to this process change. We look at who appears to be safe and who isn’t. We look at what was tried on Raw and what wasn’t working, and notable key recent moves. We also look at the problems of comparing Raw with Smackdown.
We have a long look at the life and career of Mr. Wrestling II, Johnny Walker. We look at his heyday, his connection with President Jimmy Carter, the birth of cable and his role in popularizing pro wrestling on cable, how babyfaces changed in the 70s, his 1980 feud with Harley Race, his checkered past, his wrestling debut, his coming mainland, interactions with the toughest guys of his era, his first good run in Tennessee, how his life was notable in both pro wrestling and country music, his first masked gimmick and his planned retirement. Having the right gimmick in the right place at the right time made him one of the biggest stars in the country. We look at the Georgia wrestling war and the creation of Mr. Wrestling II. We look at the Mr. Wrestling vs. Mr. Wrestling II feud and all of II’s biggest feuds over the next decade. We look at II’s meetings with the president’s mother, his biggest matches at the Omni, his runs in Mid South, feud with Magnum T.A., his WWF tenure, and his life after wrestling in Hawaii.
We also cover:
New Japan Pro Wrestling returning to business this week, scouting out the New Japan Cup, directions for fans attending the Osaka shows and why the matches won’t have traditional heat, and the complete schedule.
Economics of Conor McGregor, Jorge Masvidal, Jon Jones and Henry Cejudo and how the ESPN deal has removed fighter leverage. We look at comments by the fighters, response from Dana white and realities of he situation.
An enormous donation made by John Cena, Paul Levesque talks a signature match, WWE canceling over shows due to the pandemic, weekly sports ratings, Edge movie, DVR viewership, Canadian ratings, twitter feuds, Arn Anderson on Sami Zayn, funny story on the first time Adam Cole heard from WWE, what happened to Chris DeJoseph, plus upcoming TV bouts.
Fight Island and the next UFC PPV show
UFC 250, with business notes, popularity notes, poll results and match-by-match coverage.
NXT Takeover In Your House with a rundown, booking notes, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Backlash and story behind Edge vs; Randy Orton.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw and all the latest news with Wrestling Observer Radio. You can send questions for the show to [email protected] We’re also looking for your thoughts on last night’s Backlash show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
Paul Heyman is not at Raw tonight unless he’s being hidden. Ric FLast night’s Observer Radio show talks in depth the amended complaint and changes in the lawsuit regarding Saudi Arabia included a deposition from a WWE wrestler about what really happened in Saudi Arabia. Flair has an appearance on tonight’s show talking about Randy Orton’s win. Randy Orton is scheduled to open the show to discuss injuries both he and Edge received on the show. Drew McIntyre & R-Truth vs. Bobby Lashley & MVP has been announced, as has a rematch with Asuka vs. Nia Jax for the women’s title. Dominick Mysterio will do a segment with Seth Rollins. With this being the first Raw under Bruce Prichard, expect some new directions and probably a few big angles.
Raw will be live to tape done in the afternoon. Smackdown is being taped for Friday tonight. Raw & Smackdown for next week will be taped on Tuesday, while two weeks of NXT will be taped on Wednesday.
Yesterday’s Backlash show was the eighth most searched Internet term with 200,000. exactly the number expected, the same number as UFC did the day before. So the interest level was similar to most non-major WWE PPV shows.
New Japan started up today and has shows on Tuesday and Wednesday live on New Japan World. Tomorrow’s show at 6 a.m. Eastern has New Japan Cup bouts with Togi Makabe vs. Yota Tsuji, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Desperado, Toru Yano vs. Jado and Hiromu Takahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma. The Wednesday first round matches are Kazuchika Okada vs. Gedo, Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki, Yuya Uemura vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Gabriel Kidd vs. Taiji Ishimori.
On last night’s show when talking about muscle tears, I noted that in the NFL, quad tears never happened until the steroid era and are generally considered in football as steroid injuries. One of our readers noted he’s never taken steroids and has had decent quad tears playing soccer. He said that the only sports where quad tears seem to happen not involving steroids are Australian Rules football and soccer, which he believes has to do with the body mechanics used for kicking, and said in Australia several doctors have told him that those injuries seem exclusive to those sports.
WWE
The 7-foot-3 masked giant in the Street Profits-Viking Raiders skit was Jordan Omobeghim, who has been in developmental for a while. He’s from Lagos, Nigeria and played college basketball at Morgan State and the University of South Florida. Here are his NCAA stats.
The FS1 wrestling block tomorrow has the 1996 Survivor Series show from Madison Square Garden at 7 p.m. which features Dwayne Johnson’s first WWF main roster match as Rocky Maivia, plus a classic Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin match. Bret Hart and C.M. Punk will both be on WWE Backstage at 11 p.m.
Anthony Agogo, a former pro boxer who was an Olympic medalist in the sport and is under a developmental deal to AEW, was on a webcam feed discussing Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury on Sky Sports News on Saturday. He talked about his eye injury that led to the end of his boxing career. Pro wrestling wasn’t brought up but he was wearing an AEW T-shirt (thanks to Tony Garvey)
MISCELLANEOUS
Rusev talked about Impact’s showing a Bulgarian flag in its Slammiversary commercial as a tease he’s coming, not confirming or denying anything, saying: “As I said, any Bulgarian can go and debut. They may have another kid from Bulgaria. I keep saying that. Could be anybody. Look, I don’t know why you think it’s me. I understand why you think it’s me, but I can’t confirm or deny. Or I don’t wanna confirm or deny. Maybe they wanna pay me a million dollars for one match. Who knows? Maybe I’ll come in.” You can watch the clip here. (thanks to Himanshu D)
CWE announced the 2020 Lethal Lottery for 7/10 in Winnipeg at Rookie’s Sports Bar with a 100 person capacity. Fans will draw the matches at random. The winners of the first round matches will go into a second drawing for the main event where teams will be drawn one pick after another seconds before the match starts, so rivals may team up and friends will; battle. So the entire show has to be called in the ring with no planning ahead of time since nobody will know their matches.
IWTW announced a new partnership with Riptide Wrestling out of the U.K. and its library will be part of the service.
OVW will be doing a one-hour special on the career of Jessie Godderz on its national show on the YTA Network that airs at midnight Easter time on Friday night. The show is called “From Pectacular to Prime Time.”
All of Raw’s participants for this year’s Money in the Bank ladder matches are now set.
Aleister Black, Apollo Crews, and Rey Mysterio won their qualifying matches on tonight’s Raw and will be taking part in this year’s men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Black defeated Austin Theory tonight, Crews defeated MVP, and Mysterio defeated Murphy.
Shayna Baszler, Asuka, and Nia Jax are Raw’s participants for the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Both ladder matches will feature three wrestlers from Raw and three from SmackDown.
Daniel Bryan and Dana Brooke are the only SmackDown wrestlers to qualify for the ladder matches thus far. Two qualifying matches have been announced for this Friday’s SmackDown: Drew Gulak vs. Baron Corbin and Sasha Banks vs. Lacey Evans.
Money in the Bank is set for Sunday, May 10. Both ladder matches are taking place at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. The matches will begin on the ground floor and the briefcases will be hanging on the roof of Titan Towers.
Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship, Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship, and Bayley vs. Tamina for the SmackDown Women’s Championship have also been confirmed for Money in the Bank.
