Tag: WWE ID

Tony Khan AEW media call: Grand Slam Australia updates, WWE ID, new event strategy

Posted on by Josh Nason

Ahead of Saturday’s AEW Full Gear, AEW & ROH head Tony Khan spoke with the media for an hour, hitting on the WWE ID program, a ticket update for February’s Grand Slam event in Australia, and their new event strategy.

The full audio from the call can be found below.

Khan said they have sold “thousands” of tickets for their debut in Australia which is also taking place in a stadium. Asked about how fans will be able to watch, Khan was reluctant to commit to it being a pay-per-view due to the time zone difference between Brisbane and the U.S. In the same answer, he mentioned Max and how his key shows will be simulcast there, perhaps a strong hint that is how it will be made available.

Asked about how the WWE ID program will affect their recruitment of talent on the indies, Khan was unsure as he still isn’t clear about all the parameters but did hear something about matching rights. He said it will be interesting to see how it goes the first time they have a WWE ID talent they want to bring in. As such, he will reserve his thoughts until he “tests such a mechanism.” It hasn’t been a conflict yet, but he’s interested to see how that goes when it does.

Khan said with running smaller venues, he hopes to recapture some of the atmosphere of some of the early AEW shows, specifically putting over venues in Cedar Park, Texas, and Austin, Texas, that he loves running. Khan said the instances of Dynamite/Collision tapings on the same night will be rare and only in cases where they have international travel planned or some other circumstance that necessitates it.

Other notes:

  • Khan said he’s learned a lot about marketing and entrepreneurship from Big Boom A.J. and Big Justice of the Costco Guys fame. He will appear on Fox Business Friday with A.J. to promote Full Gear.
  • He said they are having active negotiations about Ring of Honor and/or other AEW programming.
  • He said news of Toni Storm’s retirement and her demise has been “greatly exaggerated” and hopes to have her back soon.
  • Khan said he would also like to get Kenny Omega back soon and that it “would help them a lot and would be a great thing for AEW.”
  • Khan said it would be months before they announce anything regarding the PPV buying capability on Max.

Click here to listen

Daily Update: WWE ID, MVP, Zak Knight

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Tuesday Update

WWE

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • MVP on social media recalled a time during WWE’s run at the Performance Center where “the old man” wanted to turn The Hurt Business into “NOD 2.0.”
    • There was a moment during the ‘PC Era’ when the old man wanted to turn ‘The Hurt Business’ into NOD 2.0. He even brought in Mark & Ron. We fought him on it. Our group was NEVER about RACE. It’s always been about our organic friendship and desire to make money doing what we love!
  • ESPN Australia has a promo package for AEW Grand Slam narrated by Adam Cole.
  • Zak Knight has shared why he hasn’t been on AEW TV as of late: “Just to clarify some things! I came home June & needed a lil time off due to personal/health reasons. I’ve been fit, clear & ready to go since August. AEW has a stacked & very talented roster!! I’ll remain patient and wait for my next opportunity! Let’s be avin ya.”
  • Katsuyori Shibata is celebrating a birthday today.
  • Gangrel wrote on social media that he’s been recovering from a total knee replacement: “I’ve been hanging low last 4 months, reason is I had a total hip replacement 3 months ago and 3 weeks ago a total knee replacement. I’m on my way back up and feeling good!”
  • Magnus vs. Titan has been added to the TV taping portion of MLW’s Eric Bischoff One-Shot event on December 5.
  • Dark Panther will make his MLW debut at Kings of Coliseum on January 11.
  • JBL will be at GCW’s November 23 event Dream On.
  • Mance Warner, Masha Slamovich, Sidney Akeem, and Maki Itoh have been confirmed for GCW in London on January 26.
  • Pro Wrestling NOAH will continue to allow people to post short video clips on social media during events in November and December.

WWE ID prospect announced at Memphis Wrestling event

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Two new ID prospects have been announced.

Fans in attendance at Memphis Wrestling’s show on Sunday are saying the promotion’s Heritage Champion, Aaron Roberts, has been announced as the newest member of WWE’s ID program.

During a Northern Crown event in Toronto on Sunday, it was announced that Zoe Sager is the latest to join WWE’s ID program, becoming the first Canadian talent to do so.

Sager is a trainee of Lance Storm and Michael Richard Blais. She started out in 2018 and has wrestled for companies such as Love Pro Wrestling, 365 Wrestling, NEW, and PPW. She also competed in a match on AEW Dark: Elevation back in March of 2023, losing to Emi Sakura. She has previously held the Love Pro Wrestling Grand Championship and the Love Pro Challenge Championship.

WWE has been making ID prospect announcements since November 7. Here is the updated list:

  • Ricky Smokes
  • Aaron Rourke
  • Brad Baylor
  • Jackson Drake
  • Sean Legacy
  • Cappuccino Jones
  • Zayda Steel
  • Bryce Donovan
  • Marcus Mathers
  • Sam Holloway
  • Jack Summit (aka Jack Cartwheel)
  • Zara Zakher
  • It’s Gal (aka GAL)
  • Ice Williams
  • Zoe Sager
  • Aaron Roberts

WWE ID prospect announced at Chaotic Wrestling event

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A member of Chaotic Wrestling’s roster has joined the WWE ID program.

At Friday night’s Chaotic Wrestling: Breaking Point event in Andover, Massachusetts, Ricky Smokes became the fourteenth indie talent to be announced as a WWE ID prospect.

Smokes, 24, is a five-year pro who has worked almost exclusively New England-area indies since breaking in according to his Cagematch profile.

Smokes is the first of three prospect reveals set for this weekend, with two more coming Sunday. The WWE ID program is similar to the WWE NIL program in that talent who sign are given some financial support and access to WWE training resources, but are not under a full-time contract with the promotion.

Chaotic posted a video of the reveal:

The current list of WWE ID prospects:

  • Ricky Smokes
  • Aaron Rourke
  • Brad Baylor
  • Jackson Drake
  • Sean Legacy
  • Cappuccino Jones
  • Zayda Steel
  • Bryce Donovan
  • Marcus Mathers
  • Sam Holloway
  • Jack Summit (aka Jack Cartwheel)
  • Zara Zakher
  • It’s Gal (aka GAL)
  • Ice Williams

More WWE ID prospects will be announced this weekend:

  • Sunday at Northern Crown’s Show IV in Toronto, Canada
  • Sunday for Memphis Wrestling in Memphis, Tennessee

Three more wrestlers revealed as WWE ID prospects

Posted on by Josh Nason

Thursday night saw three more wrestlers get the WWE ID tag with more to come this weekend.

During a Wrestling Open show in Worcester, Massachussetts, Aaron Rourke got the designation which genuinely seemed to take him by surprise as seen below.

For the last six years, the 28-year-old has been a regular on the Northeast U.S. indie circuit and is a product of the Create-A-Pro Wrestling Academy owned by Pat Buck and Brian Myers.

Later in the night, another talent on the Wrestling Open show got the news in Brad Baylor. A two-year pro, Baylor was trained by former WWE and WCW wrestler Paul Roma. He is also a Northeast U.S. regular, teaming frequently with Ricky Smokes.

Jackson Drake was also given the designation Thursday during a Fire Star Pro Wrestling event in North Carolina of which he’s the champion. He’s been a pro for seven years, taught by Cam Carter and LaBron Kozone.

Here’s where more WWE ID prospects will be announced this weekend:

  • Friday at Chaotic Wrestling in Andover, Massachussetts
  • Sunday at Northern Crown’s Show IV in Toronto, Canada
  • Sunday for Memphis Wrestling in Memphis, Tennessee

Daily Update: WWE ID, Rob Van Dam, Kris Statlander

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is up on the site right now.  It was a huge news week as it’s the largest issue in some time:

  • ull coverage of Crown Jewel with the matches, business and interest level
  • Thoughts on the programs going forward
  • TKO gives its quarterly business update
  • Why profits are lower than usual.
  • UFC’s media rights deal thoughts
  • Talk about the future of Fight Pass
  • Revenue for UFC & WWE in different categories
  • Stock value
  • How much debt TKO currently has
  • How the Cung Le lawsuit factors into all this
  • More on the show at  Sphere
  • Thoughts about Dana White and/or Nick Khan getting involved with  boxing from Mark Shapiro
  • More Netflix plans
  • A look at the Wrestle Kingdom lineup
  • Where New Japan’s business currently stands
  • Upcoming New Japan tag team tournament notes
  • Power Struggle coverage, great matches and angles
  • NXT and AEW go head-to-head, the most detailed breakdown as to what happened and why
  • Where AEW stood in the overall standings that night
  • How every quarter did
  • Coverage of the Conor McGregor trial going on
  • Update on Full Gear, announced matches,  other matches, ticket buying interest
  • Notes on WWE cuts like Baron Corbin, Indi Hartwell and Tegan Nox.
  • Dragon Gates runs a major show
  • The most detailed look at the ratings for all the shows this past week, with standings for the night and week, segment-by-segment numbers, and all the competition.
  • CMLL to fill the historical middleweight title vacancy by Mistico this week
  • Arena Mexico draws the week’s largest crowd for themed show
  • Update on El Hijo del Vikingo
  • Stardom tag team tournament update
  • King of Gate tournament update
  • Davey Boy Smith Jr. wins Triple Crown and background of that
  • Death of Scorpio Jr.
  • Hall of Fame candidate health issue update
  • The life of AWA’s Al DeRusha
  • Can actual wrestling draw more than 40,000 each to six events over three days. 2028 we’ll get the chance to find out.
  • Marko Stunt talks retirement
  • Santo retirement tour noes
  • Mike Mansury talks AEW production changes for 2025
  • All the PPV business updates
  • Ricochet talks leaving WWE
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers
  • Jon Jones talks Tom Aspinall and why he’s not interested in that ight
  • More on the Bruce Prichard and Michael Hayes leave of absences
  • WWE scheduling updates
  • Yoshhiki Inamura comes to NXT
  • WWE signs former Olympic athletes
  • Lots of WWE injury updates
  • Notes from all the live arena events and the European tour

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full Fallon Henley vs. Kelani Jordan NXT Women’s North American title match from last night.
  • New WWE ID recruits will be revealed at shows for Wrestling Open (Thursday in Worcester, Massachusetts), Fire Star Pro Wrestling (Thursday in Greensboro, North Carolina), Chaotic Pro Wrestling (Friday in Andover, Massachusetts), Memphis Wrestling (Sunday in Memphis, Tennessee), and Northern Crown (Sunday in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) in the coming days.
  • While appearing on This is Wrestling Life, Rob Van Dam reflected on his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. RVD said it was an honor to be inducted, but having the induction happen during the pandemic era was a little disappointing:
    • It was very validating, you know, to be thought of on that Mount Rushmore of wrestlers. That’s something that they can never take away from me now. Like, it felt like I elevated up to a level and now people like yourself refer to me as a Hall of Famer. It’s very prestigious, so I was honored. The fact that it was during COVID and we didn’t have a crowd was kind of disappointing after going to Hall of Fame for so many years and watching the really long speeches. And then they told us to go 3-5 minutes on our speeches after hearing these guys [doing long speeches in the past].
    • The thing about the time and there not being people there, if you’ve seen my speech, then you’ve seen like nine minutes of it, but the whole thing was actually 27 minutes. So I actually went, in theory, maybe like 24 minutes over the three-minute request. I didn’t hear anything when I got back except I said, ‘That was a little long, wasn’t it?’ But I had no idea until I saw the whole thing that it was that long. You’re playing off of somebody turning the volume up and down on a response… I’ll have to get in it again.
  • Chelsea Green joined Sheamus on the latest episode of Celtic Warrior Workouts.
  • Paul “Triple H” Levesque congratulated Sheamus on the Celtic Warrior Workouts YouTube channel reaching one million subscribers. Sheamus responded that he wants to have Levesque on an episode of the show.
  • Paradigm Talent Agency – which represents several WWE stars – has announced the launch of The Sports Group, which is “a dedicated, all-encompassing division established to represent a roster of elite athletes and iconic teams.” Damian Priest, Tiffany Stratton, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, and Liv Morgan are among the WWE wrestlers that Paradigm represents.
  • Bret Hart will be in Las Vegas for WrestleMania 41 weekend. He’s advertised as part of the hospitality ticket packages that fans can purchase for the event.
  • WWE remembered Eddie Guerrero on the 19th anniversary of his death.
  • Liv Morgan was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show this afternoon.
  • 360 With Speedy interviewed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • Kris Statlander gave Ring the Belle the following explanation when asked about her partnership with Stokely Hathaway breaking up:
    • We had a common goal in destroying Willow [Nightingale], and I think we accomplished that. But I think we just didn’t have any sort of, like, we didn’t have any other goals after that. The goal was to take care of her. I think after that, we just kind of decided like, you know what, the job is done. It’s kind of like a handshake and, ‘You helped me. I helped you. We’ll see if our paths cross again in the future or something.’ Then he tried to pass a Spanish quiz and put my [CMLL Women’s] title shot on the line that I rightfully won. He put that on the line without me knowing, lost it. So, not my fault. I also decided to give him a boot for that, because how dare you take my opportunities away from me.
  • Appearing on Stories With Brisco and Bradshaw, Jake Hager discussed his departure from AEW and what’s next for him:
    • It’s interesting. I’m excited to find out (what’s next for me). My contract expired with AEW in June, so I just left them. I’m currently working independents, but I’m 42 and I think it’s time to — I don’t know. I want to find a way to be home more with my kids and so I’m looking into more business opportunities; construction, rental properties and I’d love to sit down with you John (Bradshaw Layfield) and get some pointers about announcing and maybe stay on camera that way. But really, just doing what I can. I had a great career, very blessed to have that career. So, now, it’s kind of easier. The pressure’s off and just try to be a good dad and good example for my kids.
  • Casual Conversations with The Classic interviewed Aubrey Edwards.
  • CMLL legend Atlantis has been announced for MLW Kings of Colosseum in North Richland Hills, Texas on Saturday, January 11.

WWE announces two new WWE ID recruits

Posted on by Ian Carey

A “real-life action figure” has been added to the WWE ID roster in addition to a wrestler from Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling.

WWE first posted a video on Sunday of GAL, a product of the Elite Pro Wrestling Training Center in Concord, NH, receiving a WWE ID contract. The four-year pro was scouted from the Wrestling Open promotion and also frequently performs for Beyond Wrestling in the Northeast U.S.

GAL’s name on the WWE ID recruit page is listed as “It’s Gal.”

And then as promised earlier in the week, Ice Williams was announced as the latest WWE ID prospect during a Reality of Wrestling show, announced by Booker T himself:

The California native is listed a six-year pro who has appeared frequently for Future Stars of Wrestling out of Las Vegas. He was part of a tag team match in AEW in 2023 and then for ROH in 2024.

The Elite Pro Wrestling Training Center was one of five schools initially given WWE ID designation, along with Seth Rollins’ Black and Brave in Davenport, Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Factory in Atlanta, Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling in Houston, and the KnokX Pro Academy in Los Angeles.

Announced members of the WWE ID program:

  • Sean Legacy
  • Cappuccino Jones
  • Zayda Steel
  • Bryce Donovan
  • Marcus Mathers
  • Sam Holloway
  • Jack Summit (aka Jack Cartwheel)
  • Zara Zakher
  • It’s Gal (aka GAL)
  • Ice Williams

Two new recruits announced for WWE ID program

Posted on by Ian Carey

Two new additions to the WWE ID program have been announced.

On Saturday, WWE uploaded a video of William Regal inviting Marcus Mathers and Sam Holloway to be part of the program.

“It’s very fitting that Mr. Regal is the first person we see in the first ever WWE ID video,” wrote Gabe Sapolsky in response to the video.

Mathers has been a regular with Game Changer Wrestling since April 2021. He’s also wrestled twice for AEW this year. He teamed with Joe Keys in a loss to The Beast Mortos and Roderick Strong on an episode of Rampage in September and lost to EJ Nduka in a dark match in June.

Sam Holloway is an Ohio-based wrestler and the current IWC Super Indy Champion. He trained with Absolute Intense Wrestling in Cleveland and frequently wrestles for the promotion. He’s scheduled to wrestle Dominik Dijak on AIW’s November 29 show.

Wrestling Observer Radio: AEW Dynamite vs. WWE NXT ratings analysis

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

Dave Meltzer and I are back with our Friday episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, talking about all the big news from today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Here were some of the things we covered:

  • Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite vs. WWE NXT ratings analysis
  • Kenny Omega’s impending return
  • AEW revamping their in-arena experience
  • WWE ID program
  • Conor McGregor civil trial
  • Vince McMahon
  • Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul

Click here to listen (sub needed) or watch on YouTube (video sub needed)

Jack Cartwheel, Zara Zakher, Sean Legacy join WWE ID program

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

WWE has also announced that Zara Zakher and Sean Legacy have joined the WWE ID program.

Zakher is an emerging women’s wrestler on the indies. After starting her career in 2023, she has already competed in Japan for Tokyo Joshi-Pro Wrestling. She’s based out of California, currently holding the Women’s Championship for West Coast Pro.

She has a background in gymnastics and cheerleading and recently made her Game Changer Wrestling debut.

Legacy is from the state of Georgia. He also has international experience, including wrestling for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan. He’s currently in Europe for a tour that includes his Germany debut and training at the wXw academy.

**********

A wrestler with AEW experience has been signed to WWE’s Independent Development program.

Jack Cartwheel is the latest indie wrestler to be unveiled as a WWE ID signee, joining Zayda Steel, Bryce Donovan, and Cappuccino Jones as the first four announced. The program identifies top independent wrestling prospects and provides resources to them with a pathway to potentially being signed to WWE/NXT in the future.

Starting out in California in 2019, Cartwheel has gained experience both in the United States and internationally. That’s included televised matches for AEW and ROH in 2023-2024. As recently as last month, he teamed with Jon Cruz in a loss to Brian Cage & Lance Archer on AEW Battle of the Belts XII.

The high-flying Cartwheel is a regular for Game Changer Wrestling on the indies and has wrestled for PWG as well.

WWE ID is a complement to the company’s Next in Line program that exists for college athletes. Indie wrestlers who sign ID deals are given financial support, along with training, mentorship, and development resources and access to WWE facilities. WWE plans to showcase highlights and matches from WWE ID wrestlers on the company’s social media platforms.

Select wrestling schools are also working with WWE as part of the ID program. Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling, Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Factory, Seth Rollins’ Black and Brave Academy, Elite Pro Wrestling Training Center, and KnokX Pro Academy have been given official WWE ID designations.

Wrestling Observer Live: Fun Friday, WWE ID deals, AEW vs. NXT ratings, your calls

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Image: AEW

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about on FUN FRIDAY!, including get-well wishes for a few folks in wrestling, a look at the new WWE ID deals and who has them, AEW vs. NXT ratings, the weekend line-up, your phone calls and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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First three WWE ID contracted wrestlers announced, more to come Friday

Posted on by Josh Nason

The first three members of the WWE ID program were announced Thursday with more to come in the next few days.

Announced last week, the program is designed to identify potential future WWE wrestlers and talents through both affiliations with specific schools and traditional scouting methods. It’s still unknown what the parameters of their deals with WWE ID are with Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reporting that as of now, there are no restrictions on bookings or match finishes.

Zayda Steel

The 21-year-old was the first talent announced Thursday. A professional for just over two years, the Arlington, Virginia, native was scouted out of Combat Zone Wrestling despite not having wrestled there since September 2023. She recently spent nearly five months working in Japan for Marigold with whom WWE has a working partnership.

She has also worked for MLW, H2O, Beyond, Wrestling Open and other New England/New York/New Jersey indies, but has not worked for either AEW, ROH or TNA to date.

Bryce Donovan

Trained by the famed Create-A-Pro Academy, Donovan is a regular on the Northeast indie scene both as a singles wrestler and partnering with Bobby Orlando as part of the Shook Crew. He is in his eighth year and was scouted out of Wrestling Open, a promotion he works for regularly.

Donovan, who has height, has worked for AEW five times as an enhancement talent, most recently in November 2022. He also worked for ROH twice between March and April 2024.

Cappuccino Jones

Jones is listed out of Coffeyville, Kansas, (birthplace Tulsa, Oklahoma) and heavily leans into his name with names for his finishing moves. A pro since just 2022, he wrestles regularly for Oklahoma indies with some stops in Texas as well. He has wrestled once each for AEW and ROH in early-2024 and was scouted out of This Is Wrestling.

The WWE ID X account stated that more prospects will be announced Friday and this Sunday, another will be announced during a Reality of Wrestling event. The promotion and school, initially named as one of the schools in the WWE ID program, is owned by current NXT announcer and former WWE/WCW champion Booker T.

WWE ID recruit to be revealed at Reality of Wrestling event

Posted on by Ian Carey

WWE will announce one member of its new Independent Development (WWE ID) program this weekend.

The news will be revealed at Reality of Wrestling’s Super Sunday event on November 10 at the Walker Texas Lawyer Arena in Texas City, Texas.

“Someone’s been ID’d… be there this Sunday to find out who,” the WWE ID X account wrote.

Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling is one of five schools to receive WWE ID designation. The others are Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Factory in Atlanta, Seth Rollins’ Black and Brave Academy in Davenport, Elite Pro Wrestling Training Center in Concord, N.H., and KnokX Pro Academy in Los Angeles.

It’s unclear if the WWE ID recruit to be named is already advertised for Sunday’s show, but those who are include Richard Holliday, Alex Gracia, Ice Williams, and Cam Cole. Joe Hendry has also been announced for the event.

Wrestling Observer Radio: McMahon, WWE ID, Rhea hurt, AEW and NXT

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Vince McMahon’s new idea for a venture, the WWE ID program, Kenny Omega returning this weekend, Rhea Ripley injured, ratings, your AEW Dynamite and NXT TV reports, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Wrestling Observer Live: Bey, Maria, NXT TV, Fright Night, WWE ID

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including updates on Chris Bey and Maria, the latest on the WWE ID program, NXT from Tuesday night, positive attendance news on Fright Night Dynamite, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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