Sam Adonis says that being “Corey’s brother” has negatively impacted his career.
The 36-year-old Adonis is the younger brother of WWE commentator Corey Graves. On Tuesday, he posted a statement to social media saying that being known as Graves’ brother has negatively impacted his career.
“NOTHING has negatively affected my career more than being ‘Corey’s Brother’ Few wrestlers have accumulated the diverse knowledge and experience I have worldwide aside from drawing actual money Still, to so many I’ve been reduced to nothing more than ‘Corey’s brother in Mexico’”
Adonis continues to wrestle for AAA at various shows but has not appeared on its programming since WWE announced it had purchased the company. In November, he responded to a fan on social media about the possibility of him being added to a Gringos Locos 2.0 faction with Dominik Mysterio. Adonis said there had been plans for him and QT Marshall to be the new version of the group.
Adonis’ statement is below:
NOTHING has negatively affected my career more than being “Corey’s Brother”
Few wrestlers have accumulated the diverse knowledge and experience I have worldwide aside from drawing actual money
Still, to so many I’ve been reduced to nothing more than“Corey’s brother’s in Mexico”
Sam Adonis recently revealed that there were plans to create a new Los Gringos Locos stable without Dominik Mysterio or El Grande Americano in 2024.
Responding to a fan on social media who commented that the team of Mysterio and Americano in AAA needed him, Adonis wrote that he and QT Marshall were originally slated to be Los Gringos Locos 2.0 last year. He said merchandise was created, pretapes were filmed, but the idea was dropped due to what he described as certain “factors.”
Adonis wrote:
“Actually, myself and QT Marshall were slated to be the new Gringos Locos in 2024. AAA had a logo made for merch & we did pretapes for TV, but certain “factors” forced the idea to be scrapped. 🤐 Although, Myself and @DomMysterio35 together would be… 💸💰💵 🤔🔥😈”
Following Mysterio and Americano’s win over Dragon Lee and El Hijo del Vikingo at AAA’s show in Mexico City on November 22, they were challenged by Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo for next month’s Guerra de Titanes. A AAA social media post confirmed that Mysterio and Americano are using the team name Los Gringos Locos 2.0, a reference to the group created in the 1990s by Art Barr and Eddie Guerrero.
“In Guerra de Titanes on December 20, it will be the Lucha Brothers vs. Los Gringos Locos 2.0,” AAA wrote on X (translated).
Marshall and Adonis teamed together at Heroes Inmortales XV in 2023, and again at TripleMania Monterrey and TripleMania Tijuana in 2024.
Actually, myself and QT Marshall were slated to be the new Gringos Locos in 2024.
AAA had a logo made for merch & we did pretapes for TV, but certain “factors” forced the idea to be scrapped. 🤐
Although, Myself and @DomMysterio35 together would be… 💸💰💵
It’s WWE SummerSlam Saturday and we hope your home’s air conditioned.
On today’s Wrestling Observer Live, Jim Valley gives you the rundown on night one. At first glance, it looks like a lot of babyface wins, but that can’t be right, right? WWE always throws in some surprise victories.
Earlier this week, you may have seen the AAA crowd in Mexico go crazy for Dom Mysterio and El Grande Americano. If you haven’t watched a lot of lucha, you may be wondering why Mexican fans are cheering Americano when he’s seemingly making a mockery of lucha libre.
Enter Sam Adonis, once called “the most hated man in Mexico.” He’s wrestled there for years in virtually every promotion including AAA, CMLL, The Crash and more. On today’s show, he offers his perspective on the differences between American fans and Mexican fans, and why some reactions in Mexico can be unexpected.
If you’re a fan of lucha or want to learn more, this is a great interview.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena with Joe Dombrowski and Matt Striker on the call.
Ichiban defeated TJ Crawford
This was Ichiban’s first match on Fusion after making his debut at Fury Road by defeating Tracy Williams. Crawford has made a few appearances for MLW so far, all losing efforts. This was a good match to showcase the ability of both and give Ichiban a solid win.
Ichiban is crisp and has a good rapport with the fans. Crawford got the heat by faking an eye injury to delay Ichiban on the top rope, followed by him then crotching the high-flying striker. He hit a nice double underhook sit-down slam but arrogantly went for a cover that Ichiban easily kicked out of.
Ichiban fought back with a stunner, handspring elbow and springboard dropkick. His momentum was stopped, but only momentarily, as he got a close nearfall after a crossbody.
They exchanged strikes until Ichiban hit a long satellite DDT before getting the crowd to chant “one” (Ichiban is Japanese for number one) as he leapt and hit his jumping downward spiral to pick up the win.
As Crawford was leaving, a hooded figure came out and whispered something in his ear before walking off together.
– Backstage, Mance Warner and the Second Gear Crew hyped up Microman and gave him their favorite weapons to use against Sam Adonis. After the match, Warner promised Coronas and “bonitas mamacitas.”
Sam Leterna then interviewed Adonis who called himself Mexico’s top box office attraction and Mexico’s top draw. He says he is going to teach Microman some respect.
B3CCA defeated Tiara James
B3CCA defeated Maki Itoh at Fury Road to become the number 1 contender to Delmi Exo’s MLW Featherweight title. Love Doug, who is smitten with B3CCA, joined the commentary team with roses for her but she brushed him off each time he tried to get her attention.
James looked good here with a crossbody, gut buster and a running senton. Later, a spinebuster got her a close two count.
B3CCA took advantage and hit a middle rope dropkick and a running big boot in the corner. Her arrogance nearly got the better of her as James was able to sneak in a schoolgirl but she came back with an eye rake and her impressive top rope 450 splash to pick up the win.
After the match, she wanted the camera to follow her and not show Love Doug as he tried to get her attention.
– Salina de la Renta returned to MLW at Fury Road and tonight, we heard from The Empresaria. She told Leterna, who she thought was former MLW interviewer Alicia Atout, that she was behind the disappearance of Cesar Duran, Taya Valkyrie and John Hennigan. She promised to continue dropping bombshells.
– Leterna was earning her keep tonight as she then interviewed Jacob Fatu about his upcoming match with Minoru Suzuki at MLW Slaughterhouse on October 14th. De la Renta interrupted and threatened Fatu after what he did to her at 2020’s SuperFight in his match against LA Park.
Microman vs. Sam Adonis went to a no contest
This had the usual Microman comedy spots with Adonis making fun of his height, plus the usual heat spots with Adonis bullying and teasing to tear off the mask.
Adonis got the heat with a big boot and brought a chair into the ring to repeat what he did last week. Instead, Microman dropped Adonis with a drop toe hold onto the chair and was closing in on victory when Snisky (the former Snitksy) ran out and pulled the referee out for the disqualification.
Snisky backed Microman into the corner and threatened to punt Microman but the Second Gear Crew ran out to save Microman for the second week in a row. They hoisted Microman to the top rope and he splashed Adonis for good measure. They all then shared a beer to celebrate getting one over MSL and his World Titan Federation.
– MLW Champion Alex Kane held a press conference where he questioned who his next opponent was, saying Tom Lawlor ignored his offer to cash in his automatic rematch clause. MSL then interrupted and Kane said he would choke out Davey Boy Smith Jr. again if he had to.
– The Calling were in the house and as Fusion was going off the air, we saw them brawling backstage with the Second Gear Crew who had a little help from Jimmy Lloyd.
QT Marshall is the new AAA Latin American Champion.
Marshall appeared at Saturday’s AAA Triplemania event in Mexico City, pinning Pentagon Jr. in a match that also featured Dralistico and Brian Cage. The finish of the match had Marshall remove Pentagon’s mask, then pinned him to win the championship.
The Latin American title was held by Fenix until last month, when he announced his departure from AAA due to commitments elsewhere.. The title was vacated as a result.
In the main event, Psycho Clown defeated Sam Adonis in a four-way match that also featured LA Park and Rush. The stipulations of the match were that whoever was pinned in the match either had to lose their mask or their hair. There was a bunch of interference during the bout, including AEW’s Preston Vance making an appearance. The show ended with Psycho Clown being stretchered out due to taking a marionette towards the end of the match and Adonis’ hair being shaved off.
Elsewhere on the card, Flammer defeated Taya Valkyrie to win the AAA Reina de Reinas title. In the co-main event, Hijo Del Vikingo retained the AAA Mega Heavyweight title in a four-way defeating Daga, Speedball Mike Bailey, and Jack Cartwheel.
This week’s MLW Fusion was taped in both New York City and Philadelphia as part of MLW’s War Chamber and Battle Riot tapings earlier this year. Matt Striker and Joe Dombrowski were on commentary.
Mandy Leon (w/ Raven) defeated Clara Carreras
This was advertised as “The Calling unleashing Mandy Leon on the Featherweight division” and it did not disappoint in delivering Leon into title contention.
Leon was recently unveiled as the latest member of Raven’s group of rogues and here, she wasted no time in planting her spot at the top of the featherweight division. She is surely in line as one of champion Delmi Exo’s first challengers if she can survive wXw Women’s Champion Ava Everett in their title vs. title match at Never Say Never.
Carreras managed to get some offense in, including a cannonball in the corner and a nearfall from a frog splash, but Leon took most of the match. She rag dolled her opponent and put her away with Astro Projection and a Raven-inspired Evenflow DDT.
– Earlier today ahead of his leather strap match, Mance Warner and the Second Gear Crew caught up with MLW Tag Team Champions The Samoan SWAT Team. They ended up agreeing on a friendly tag team match in the future between the beer-loving and beer-sharing fan favorites.
– Microman and Willie Mack were sharing some Dunkin’ Donuts in the parking lot but Mister Saint Laurent was quick to jump in and remove his Micro-money maker from the situation.
– After winning the MLW National Openweight title last week, a jubilant Jacob Fatu said he and the Samoan SWAT Team, who joined him for a championship celebration last week, were now going full gear in MLW.
Sam Adonis defeated Mance Warner in a strap match
After coming to blows and eliminating each other in the Battle Riot match, but more recently being on the end of a reckless and brutal hanging two weeks ago, Warner was set for revenge tonight against the men (Adonis and John Hennigan) who were fined $2500 last week for their actions.
The four corner touch rule was in effect here. Adonis came out early trying to touch each turnbuckle multiple times. He was also quick to use the strap to his advantage. It culminated in a top rope blockbuster neckbreaker by the lucha-loving AAA member Adonis. As impressive as Adonis’ neckbreaker was, it still received a “you still suck” chant from the fans, which was a nice comedic touch from the Philly faithful.
Of course, the tough-as-leather Warner fought back and hit a neckbreaker on the floor followed by multiple chops and whippings from the strap.
The finish of the match involved the rules coming into play. The referee told the fans that during the back-and-forth brawling, both fighters made it to 3-3 on the corner touching but via different paths. However, a tug-of-war ensued that led to both crashing into a wooden board in the corner. As Adonis went in back first, his hand reached up first and as a consequence, he hit the buckle before Warner thus giving Adonis the win.
Warner got the last word after smacking a broken board over Adonis’ head, but it was the Azteca Lucha member who walked away with the win.
Later, Warner called out Adonis for a Country Whipping match to bring their feud to a conclusion. This was booked for Never Say Never.
– In a segment that took us no further forward in the search for the Bomaye Fight Club money man behind the enterprise, Dan Lambert, Shane Taylor and Wale were all named as potential leaders of the number one contenders fight club. However, they were quickly told that none of them were, in fact, the person we are looking for, and that person will be named at Never Say Never. Other than name dropping, this seemed a bit pointless but it did give Dave Meltzer a showing as he was pictured alongside Wale.
– Jacob Fatu will defend his newly won Openweight title against Calvin Tankman at Never Say Never.
– Sam Leterna interviewed the aforementioned Exo, but she was quickly attacked by former champion Taya Valkyrie. Valkyrie gave her a curb stomp on top of her newly-won title belt before explaining Exo has to have a rematch with her in the next 30 days due to her contract.
– Everett then cut a promo before her title vs. title match with Exo and said that Exo was in her first-ever professional match. She also promised to walk away with both titles.
Alex Kane defeated Shigehiro Irie
Ahead of his MLW Championship challenge of Alex Hammerstone at Never Say Never, Kane put up some of his Bomaye Fight Club cash in what was advertised as “The Big Apple Grapple II: The Search For More Hoes.” They are still going with this name.
Irie’s slingshot splash is innovative and impressive which gave him a very early nearfall in this 10-minute hard-hitting battle. A ringside brawl concluded with Kane having the advantage inside the ring after a commercial break.
Irie caught Kane off guard and slammed him with a nice suplex as the commentators talked up his latest wXw 16 Carat tournament win. Irie then ran over and slammed into Kane with a running back elbow through the ropes as Kane was sitting on the ring apron, which was the first time I have seen that.
A strike exchange then followed before a hard-hitting back-and-forth exchange of suplexes led to Kane raking the eyes and hitting The Mark of Kane finisher for the win. This was a good hard-hitting bout.
After the match, Kane called out Hammerstone who gladly obliged but was initially held back by officials so they could throw insults at each other. Kane had a few good straight-to-the-point ones: “Hulk Hogan,” “Old Warrior,” and “Roid Boy” but ended with a good line while Hammerstone stood behind three referees and a stagehand in a black hoodie. He said, “You lift all these weights and you can’t break through that line?” before Fusion eventually went off the air with Kane milking in the crowd adulation.
Next week:
MLW Tag Team Champions Samoan Swat Team (Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i) defend against The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner & 1 Called Manders)
New for Never Say Never (July 8th):
Mance Warner vs. Sam Adonis in a Country Whipping match
MLW Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu defends against Calvin Tankman
While many are contracting with just one company, Sam Adonis is traveling the world as a professional wrestler, working in the U.S., Mexico, Japan and more.
On this episode of the Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling podcast, Adonis talks about his start in wrestling, headlining at Arena Mexico, how social media is affecting careers, and where he sees his own career going.
Perhaps best known for his pro-Donald Trump heel persona on lucha libre shows, he also talks about the pros and cons of the gimmick and how he’s moving forward as his own person and persona.
He’s shared locker rooms and rings with everyone from Negro Casas to Jerry Lawler to Kento Miyahara and has a very interesting perspective on audiences and the overall health of the wrestling business. If you are student of the wrestling business, you will want to listen to this interview available only on F4Wonline.com.
