The AEW contracts for both Shanna and Awesome Kong were not renewed, according to Dave Meltzer.
Both were removed off the company’s roster page over the weekend, raising questions as to their status.
After not working for AEW due to the pandemic, Shanna returned last November and racked up a 6-2 record in infrequent appearances. She appeared once on Dynamite during that span, losing to Britt Baker, and was last seen working an early-April Elevation show in a loss to Leyla Hirsch.
Kong made a surprise appearance at 2019’s Double or Nothing as Brandi Rhodes added her to a four-way with Baker, Nyla Rose and Kylie Rae. She competed four more times, racking up three quick singles wins along with a Casino Battle Royale appearance. She last appeared on a January 2020 episode of Dark, defeating Skyler Moore.
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Joey Janela took to Twitter Monday to reveal he is injured and is pulling out of two GCW dates.
Janela didn’t reveal what the injury was or the severity, but simply said he was not cleared. He said he will not be able to wrestle for GCW for this Saturday’s Atlantic City, NJ, show and a June 19th show in Laramie, Wyoming. He was “85%” optimistic he would be able to work for a July 10th GCW show in Texas.
It’s unknown when he was set to next work for AEW, but on this past week’s Elevation, he did an interview that appears to be leading toward a split with tag team partner Sonny Kiss.
The Big News: Brandon Cutler did not get involved as his partner Sonny Kiss got destroyed, decimated, and defeated by The Dark Order in the main event.
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Tony Schiavone opened the episode on the Chris Jericho Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Rager at Sea and introduced the matches. Dasha Gonzales wasn’t on the show, but it was said she’d be back next week.
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Nyla Rose defeated Shanna in a tables match
This match was taped in Miami at the Bash at the Beach episode of Dynamite.
For the first time in AEW history, Jim Ross described a match as Bowling Shoe Ugly. The match wasn’t necessarily bad, but it did have some rough points, especially as it regarded Shanna trying to set up a table.
Shanna did a dive off the apron early on and attempted to push a table into the ring, but Rose shoved it into Shanna’s stomach, which sent her crashing into the guardrail. JR mentioned that he felt similar pain at the Cow Palace once, referencing the New Japan show where Jay White caused the announce desk to push into Ross, knocking him over. That’s also when Josh Barnett stood up and attempted to start a confrontation with White before being calmed down.
Shanna snapped off a hurricanrana, which popped the crowd and eventually the table was set up at ringside. While Rose was on the apron, Shanna leaped off the top rope, but got caught and chokeslammed through the table, giving the win to The Native Beast.
After the match, Rose pulled out a second table, but Sadie Gibbs ran in for the alleged save. Gibbs attempted a Space Flying Tiger Drop, but Rose moved. Gibbs tried to land on her feet, but she slipped and fell on her butt. Rose ran after her, beat her down, and then powerbombed Gibbs through the second table.
We were magically whisked away to the Caribbean as we were on the Jericho Cruise for this match. Sabian worked over Marshall’s arm for the majority of the match after Ford interfered, which allowed Sabian to gain the advantage.
Sabian decided to leave the ring and jaw-jack with some fans at ringside. Marshall made a brief comeback and hit some really nice slams, but this was not his night.
Marshall went for a senton, but Sabian maneuvered out of the way and slapped on an armbreaker and Marshall got the ropes. To play off Marshall’s entrance where he threw an apple into the crowd, Sabian grabbed an apple, but got a punch to the face for his troubles. Marshall went for a sunset flip, but Sabian sat down, fell forward, and grabbed the ropes for the win.
Sabian will go one-on-one with Cody on Dynamite tomorrow night.
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The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) defeated Sonny Kiss & Brandon Cutler
Cutler and Peter Avalon are now in a race to see who can have the longest losing streak in AEW history. Avalon is currently in the lead, but Cutler is gaining on his tail. We flew back to Miami for this bout.
This show lasted 32 minutes and the bell to start the main event rang 28 minutes in, so needless to say this wasn’t an Iron Man match. Alex Reynolds and John Silver walked to the ring without their masks on and put them on before the match.
Kiss was attacked at the bell and spent the entirety of the brief bout in a failing attempt to fight back. Kiss did a slingshot split leg drop, which may have done more damage to him than Grayson. Uno speared Kiss on the ring apron and then Kiss was pinned after The Dark Order hit Fatality.
It was brought up at Cutler never tagged in. Kiss never got close enough to the corner to attempt the tag.
So that does it for this week. Thank you for reading and I presume we return to normal next week.
AEW Dark tonight will feature a number of matches taped two weeks ago prior to the Chris Jericho Cruise. You can watch the video below:
Nyla Rose will face Shanna tonight in a tables match. Rose’s gimmick has been putting people through tables, and did the same to Shanna several weeks ago. Shanna hopes to gain a measure of revenge tonight.
The Dark Order will also be in action, as they will take on the team of Sonny Kiss and Brandon Cutler. The last several weeks of Being the Elite have teased Cutler possibly joining the Dark Order, with the Young Bucks frequently mentioning that Cutler hasn’t been around.
Kip Sabian will also be in action, as he will take on QT Marshall.
Matches announced for this week’s Dynamite in Cleveland, Ohio include Kip Sabian taking on Cody, a six man tag match featuring Darby Allin & Private Party against Chris Jericho, Santana & Ortiz and The Young Bucks taking on The Butcher & The Blade
