Tonight’s WWE SmackDown live on FOX from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jade Cargill vs. Indi Hartwell
Johnny Gargano w/ Tommaso Ciampa vs. Grayson Waller w/Austin Theory
Apollo Crews vs. Angel
Solo Sikoa anoints Tonga Loa as a member of The Bloodline
Chad Gable’s WWE contract expired today. He’s expected to get interest from many different promotions. WWE is interested in re-signing him.
It is said that there will be a strong push from talent in various outside companies to vouch for him to be signed. He has been heavily featured on TV as of late as the leader of Alpha Academy as he undergoes a heel turn.
Dave Meltzer reported the following in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
“Both AEW and WWE have interest in Gable. The only thing we’ve heard is that WWE has made an excellent offer to keep him. AEW is not allowed legally to make an offer until his WWE deal expires. He does have key people in AEW pushing him to Tony Khan. Gable would have to allow his contract to expire to get an offer. He’s also in the middle of the best singles push of his career right now.”
Quietly, AEW has made some changes to their broadcasting team early in 2024. The promotion released long-time personality/ring announcer Dasha Gonzalez towards the end of March, and recently brought in Arkady Aura to serve as a backstage interviewer alongside Renee Paquette. And it looks as though the duo will be joined backstage by someone who previously had a cup of coffee in AEW.
Taking to X Wednesday night, Alicia Atout posted a photo of herself backstage at “AEW Dynamite,” revealing that she had signed with the promotion, and would be seeing fans every Wednesday. Atout wasted no time getting to work, conducting two social media exclusive interviews last night with Wheeler Yuta, following his emotional return after five months off recovering from a concussion, and Mark Briscoe after he defeated Brian Cage to qualify for the TNT Championship ladder match at Forbidden Door.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight on TNA Impact at 8/7c on AXS TV and, for the first time ever, simulcasting at 8pm ET on TNA+.
ROH will air a new episode of its weekly television show tonight at 7 pm ET on HonorClub.
You can sign up for the streaming service here. Below is the lineup for the show:
All Elite Wrestling recently announced that they have partnered with the city of Arlington, Texas to host the Path to All In Series at the Esports Stadium beginning on July 20. The series of events will include four live episodes of “AEW Collision,” one taped episode of “AEW Collision,” and the ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, which takes place on July 26.
Wrestlenomics have been able to discover a few more details about the residency, with one financial note being that AEW is paying a half-price rate of $232,000 to use the venue across a six week span, with the local tourism organization potentially granting the company money or incentives to offset these costs as the events are set to bring in a healthy amount of revenue for the city. The figure of $232,000 breaks down as $112,000 going to the Arlington Expo Center, which will be paid in two instalments before the company moves in, while the rest will go to the Esports Venues, LLC company for the use of the building’s broadcast suite that is located on site.
AEW is also set to make that money back and more based on ticket sales alone. The report from Wrestlenomics suggests that the Esports Stadium will be scaled to a total of 1,290 seats. This means selling just over 5,000 tickets (or selling out four of the events) at an average ticket price of $45 will cover the rate that AEW is paying to use the building. While this residency takes place, episodes of “AEW Dynamite” and “AEW Rampage” are still set to take place in locations around the United States, but no dates or locations have been announced at the time of writing as the July 17 edition of “AEW Dynamite” in Little Rock, Arkansas is the latest event announcement the company has made.
The schedule also noted that there will be two exclusive Ring of Honor taping days taking place on July 28, two days after the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, and August 16, two days before the company loads out their equipment. However, these dates have remained unannounced and weren’t included in the official press release AEW presented on May 16, signalling that these dates could change at some point. Wrestlenomics did reach out to AEW’s public relations team for an update on the schedule but weren’t given a comment.
AEW and ROH might not be the only companies using the Esports Stadium over the summer. Wrestlenomics also received email records between AEW and government staff where the idea of potentially subletting the venue to CMLL or New Japan Pro Wrestling was floated around between staff members. However, AEW’s Vice President of Global Touring Ryan Seddon stated that the focus has been to get AEW’s ‘ducks in a row’ and that discussions regarding such things could happen. However, it seems as if it has just been nothing more than an idea at the time of writing.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s AEW Dynamite live on TBS from the Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado.
The sweet dreams of “WWE NXT” appear to be no more as a vignette teases a new, nightmarish version of Wendy Choo.
During Tuesday’s episode of “NXT,” WWE showcased a video clip indicating the imminent resurgence of Wendy Choo. Dressed in her usual ensemble of fuzzy slips and a onesie, Choo can be seen presumably rising from her slumber to wash her face with water in a nearby bathroom sink. As the camera later pans to Choo’s face, however, a noticeably darker aura is introduced, with Choo wearing dark eye makeup while she intensely stares into the mirror above the sink (before it dramatically shatters). The respective vignette ended with the announcement of Choo’s return to “NXT” television, which will take place on the May 11 episode.
Choo’s last “NXT” appearance took place on the February 28, 2023 episode of “NXT,” where she was attacked by a mystery assailant — later revealed to be Blair Davenport — in the WWE Performance Center parking lot. Two months later, Choo returned to action for a quartet of matches on “NXT Level Up” before being sidelined once again with an undisclosed injury.
After nearly a year on the shelf, the 32-year-old laced up her boots for another “NXT Level Up” match, this time against newcomer Wren Sinclair, on April 30 (aired May 10). Choo’s in-ring comeback would continue with a six-woman tag team victory over the likes of Stevie Turner, Izzi Dame, and Jazmyn Nyx at a recent “NXT” live event in Lakeland, Florida
Source: Wrestling Inc.
After a strong first seven months in AEW, Adam Copeland now finds himself on the shelf after suffering a broken tibia when attempting a diving elbow drop off a steel cage in his match with Malakai Black at Double or Nothing. The move isn’t just costing Copeland precious time in the ring, but it also put a halt to his two month reign as AEW TNT Champion. Even still, the “Rated R Superstar” isn’t looking at the negatives as he attempts to work his way back.
Late Tuesday morning, Copeland posted a video on Instagram at his home, revealing that he had successful surgery on his tibia twelve hours earlier. Showing off the cast on his left foot, Copeland proceeded to walk through the door to his gym, which featured a sign up front saying “Forbidden Door.” Copeland stated that if he couldn’t compete at the actual Forbidden Door PPV against a New Japan talent, he would instead go through the door to his gym to show fans what he could do so soon after surgery.
Accompanied by his dog, Copeland did just that, doing single leg plank workouts, with his surgically repaired foot raised in the air. Copeland credited handles he was using that kept him from sliding for helping him with the exercises, and by the end of the video, admitted he was already starting to “lose my breath and feel shaky” from holding his balance.
Aside from revealing he had surgery, Copeland provided no details as to when fans could expect to see him in the ring again. Depending on the severity, a broken tibia can take up to 4 to 6 months to recover from, which would put Copeland’s return between October and December, meaning he would miss AEW All In at Wembley Stadium.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE NXT on USA Network from the WWE Performance Center.
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