Author: John Bass

Cody And Brandi Rhodes Part Ways With AEW

Today Cody Rhodes has announced that he and Brandi Rhodes are officially leaving AEW. The former three-time TNT Champion has been working as a free agent since the start of the year. However, the two parties have not been able to come to terms on a new contract. Because of that, his time with the company has come to an end.

Cody Rhodes released a lengthy statement addressing the situation on Twitter. During that, he took the time to thank Tony Khan. He also gave nods to many members of the AEW roster.

“I have loved my time at AEW. Amazing locker room, amazing fans, amazing people. The ‘revolution’ was indeed televised, and I’ve been incredibly lucky to be part of that. First, I want to thank Tony Khan. He’s taken the baton and run with it, and it was an honor to work for him and to know him on a personal level. He’s a beautiful soul. Obviously need to thank my incredible wife and the mother of my baby girl, Brandi, for all of her love and support throughout this journey together and the amazing relationships she fostered with Kulture City and the American Heart Association.

“I also need to thank Nick and Matt Jackson (these two, whether they know it or not, took an undesired and not confident lir cub and gifted me the confidence to become a leader of the pack), Kenneth Omega, Chris Jericho, Chicken…we started the fire. I must thank Tim W/Keith M/Greg W and the amazing production crew who understood and captured the vision with such grace, I can’t name everybody. But thank you to Megha, Margaret, Harrington, Jeff Jones, Dana, Tony Schiavone, Bern, Raf, and the hardest worker in the game, QT Marshall, for propping me up and kicking me in the ass when I was running on fumes.

“I must thank all my kiddos… MJF, Jade, Sammy, Darby, Lee, Ricky, Tom, The Gunns, Brock, Velvet, Nyla, Aubrey, Turner, Vanilla, Solo, Spears, Julia, Anna, Will, Wardlow, Sonny, Fuego 1 and of course, -1. While we’re at it, give Jade the Codyvator! Also need to take a moment to thank the great partners at Warner Media including Brett, Sam, and the rest of the team. I have so many milestones and beautiful memories of this renaissance…through sweat, blood, tears, literal fire, and all that…I left it all on the mat.

“Everything pales in comparison to the final contribution I was empowered to lead at the company, the community outreach team. In the most inward moments, your outward behavior and your ability to take fame/influence and do something of value for the communities you visit (whether the cameras are on or off) is the highest honor. I am confident Amanda Huber will lead the department with style. I’m so proud of my creations and contributions and the items I supported or collaborated on with such wonderful professionals.”

Following Cody Rhodes’ statement, AEW President Tony Khan also commented on the news. He took the time to thank both Cody and Brandi for their work within the company. Not just for their in-ring runs, but also what they have done with the community outreach program.

“Cody and Brandi Rhodes were integral to the launch of All Elite Wrestling. Cody’s ability combined with his boldness and his passion for our industry and his love for community outreach helped AEW deliver on our mission to give fans what they needed for far too long. Something new, innovative and lasting. Brandi helped us shape the AEW story, and I appreciate how hard she fought for us both in the ring and out of the ring, competing in the women’s division while advancing our efforts at inclusion and civic causes, including great partnerships with Kulture City and the American Heart Association.

“I have immense respect and appreciation for Cody and Brandi. And I wish them both the best as they move on from AEW. Thank you, Cody and Brandi!

“Tony Khan CEO, President, General Manager & Head of Creative, All Elite Wrestling”

Brandi also issued a statement on her departure from AEW:

It is currently unknown what is next for Cody Rhodes. However, it was reported earlier today on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, that there was talk backstage at Raw this week about him returning to the company.

https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1493601980215930880
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1493602087481061377

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Brandi also issued her own statement today after the departures were confirmed. She wrote the following:

“A heartfelt thank you to every fan that has supported me in AEW. It was an honor to be the company’s first Chief Brand Officer. The thank you list is long so I’ll try not to wander. Thank you to Kulture City, Special Olympics Illinois and the American Heart Association for allowing me to cultivate these amazing partnerships. Thank you to every AEW Heel that helped me build a dream community of female fans. Thank you to every AEW wrestler and talent that worked hard to create a great locker room environment. Thank you to the production team, make up team, and seamstresses. Thank you, Dustin, QT, Jerry Lynn and Leva Bates, for every ounce of energy, help and encouragement you provided. Thank you to my husband for being that constant rock and partner every single day. Thank you to TNT, TBS and WarnerMedia for treating my family like your family. Thank you to Tony Khan for giving me this opportunity and platform. I move forward with my daughter and this quote in mind.

“We must take time to define our own path. Too quickly we can find the world defining it for us” – Unknown

Also…

“I’ll see you on the flippity flop” – Michael Scott

https://twitter.com/TheBrandiRhodes/status/1493602002353463310

WWE RAW Preview 2/14/22

The Elimination Chamber go-home edition of WWE RAW will take place tonight from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Tonight’s RAW will air on Syfy for the second straight week due to Winter Olympics coverage on the USA Network. The show will return to USA next week.

Samoa Joe To Be Inducted Into ROH Hall Of Fame

One week after AEW star Bryan Danielson was revealed as the second inductee into the Ring of Honor Hall of Fame, ROH has announced that a contemporary of Danielson’s will be joining him. In a lengthy statement released on their website, Ring of Honor revealed that Samoa Joe will be the third inductee into ROH’s inaugural Hall of Fame class.

“Ring of Honor is proud to welcome Samoa Joe, the most dominant ROH World Champion in history, into the inaugural class of the ROH Hall of Fame,” the statement read. “From the first time he stepped into an ROH ring in 2002, Joe proved to be an intimidating force whose hard-hitting offense, intensity and relentlessness made him one of the sport’s most dangerous competitors. ‘The Samoan Submission Machine’ is arguably the most proficient American pro wrestler in the art of strong style, a form of pro wrestling popularized in Japan that emphasizes strikes and submissions.  In just his 10th match in ROH, Joe captured the ROH Title in March 2003. Two months later, Joe officially elevated the championship to world title status when he successfully defended it in London, marking the first time the championship had been defended outside the United States.

“Joe went on to hold the ROH World Championship for a record 645 days and make 31 successful title defenses. It’s not only the longest reign in ROH history, but at the time it was the longest world title reign in any U.S.-based pro wrestling company in 15 years. During Joe’s historic reign, he and CM Punk engaged in an epic trilogy of matches that have become legendary. They wrestled to two 60-minute draws before Joe won their final meeting. Six months after losing the ROH World Title, Joe won the ROH Pure Championship. After leaving ROH in 2007, Joe won the TNA World Heavyweight Title by defeating Kurt Angle. Joe returned to ROH in 2015 for a series of matches before he departed for WWE, where he became the first two-time NXT Champion.”

Samoa Joe joins Danielson and The Briscoe Brothers in Ring of Honor’s inaugural Hall of Fame class; the final inductee will be revealed next week. Shortly after the announcement, Samoa Joe simply tweeted out “#Honored” along with a photo of himself and fellow ROH alumni CM Punk and Homicide.

The announcement comes a little more than a month after Samoa Joe was released from WWE for the second time in the span of a year. Originally released in April of 2021, Joe was re-signed by Triple H and brought to WWE’s NXT brand to work as an in-ring performer and talent scout. He would go on to defeat Killer Kross for the NXT Championship at TakeOver 36 but quickly vacated the title due to injury right before the launch of NXT 2.0.

Joe would never appear on WWE programming again and would ultimately be released on January 6, alongside several other so-called Triple H “lieutenants” William Regal, Gabe Sapolsky, and Road Dogg. In a statement following his release, Joe hinted at a potential return to the ring once he was legally able to. It is unknown what kind, if any, of noncompete clause Joe is under.

As also announced by Ring of Honor, a career retrospective of Samoa Joe will air this weekend on ROH’s weekly Ring of Honor Wrestling program, followed by a YouTube special focused on Monday. The Hall of Fame episode will air on TV next month on Saturday, March 5.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

*Spoilers* NWA Powerrr Trip Results From 2/12/2022

NWA’s “Powerrr Trip” event was on February 12, at the Valor Hall in Oak Grove, Kentucky.

Below are the Powerrr Trip results courtesy of Andrew Mitchell/Wrestlezone: via Wrestling Inc.

* Chelsea Green defeated Kenzie Paige

* Jax Dane defeated Eric Jackson

* The Fixers defeated OGK (Billy Corgan announced that this was the first match of the Crockett Cup)

* Colby Corino defeated Rhett Titus in a 2 out of 3 falls match

* Mike Knox defeated The Pope

* Idolmania Sports Management defeated Cyon & ILL Begotten

* NWA National Championship: Anthony Mayweather defeated Chris Adonis to win the championship

* Nick Aldis defeated Thom Latimer in an ‘I Quit’ match after Kamille came out to throw in a white towel

* NWA Women’s Championship: Kamille defeated Taryn Terrell

* NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Matt Cardona defeated Trevor Murdoch to win the title. Afterward, Nick Aldis said that he still is owed a rematch and will be the next challenger for the title.

NWA Powerrr Trip 2/12/2022

DATE: February 12, 2022 8:00 pm
LOCATION: Valor Hal, Oak Grove, Kentucky

CARD

NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Trevor Murdoch (c) vs. Matt Cardona

NWA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Kamille Vs. Taryn Terell

NWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Chris Adonis (c) vs. Anthony Mayweather

KENTUCKY SWEETHEARTS BRAWL
OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. The Fixers (Jay Bradley & Wrecking Ball Legursky)

I QUIT MATCH
Nick Aldis vs. Thom Latimer

TWO-OUT-OF-THREE FALLS MATCH
Colby Corino vs. Rhett Titus

Chelsea Green vs. Kylie Raw

Mike Knox vs. ‘Da Pope’ Elijah Burke

Cyon, Matthew Mims, & The Ill Begotten (Alex Taylor and Rush Freeman) vs. Idolmania Sports Management (Tyrus, BLK Jeez, Jordan Clearwater, & Marshe Rockett)

AEW Rampage Preview 2/11/22

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT was taped earlier this week from the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.

* Bryan Danielson will speak

* The Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice

* AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker vs. Robyn Renegade in a non-title match

* Hook vs. Blake Li

* AEW World Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express defend against The Gunn Club in the main event

WWE SmackDown Preview 2/11/22

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will air live from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Killer Kross Set For MLW Return

Former WWE Superstar Killer Kross (Karrion Kross) will return to MLW for the first time since 2020.

The Killer Kross comeback will continue in MLW! A vignette promoting Kross’ imminent return to promotion aired during the most recent edition of MLW Fusion.

Kross will perform in an MLW ring for the first time since 2020 at the company’s Super Fight event, which takes place at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on February 26.

Shortly after making his MLW debut in February 2020, Kross signed for WWE and reported for duty on the company’s developmental brand NXT. Kross debuted for NXT in April 2020 and had the proverbial rocket strapped to him. He went on a dominant streak that culminated at NXT TakeOver: XXX with a win over Keith Lee for the NXT Championship. Kross relinquished the title a few days later due to a shoulder injury he sustained in the TakeOver: XXX main event, but won it back from Finn Balor upon his return in April of this year.

The 36-year-old was still NXT champ when he was called up to Raw, but he lost the title to Samoa Joe at NXT TakeOver 36 back in August. Kross was released by WWE along with several of his now-former colleagues on November 4.

“Everything felt wrong and I felt something bad coming, like four months before it happened,” Kross said of his doomed main roster tenure during a recent chat with Renee Paquette on her The Sessions podcast, on which he was interviewed alongside his real-life partner and fellow-former WWE Superstar, Scarlett Bordeaux. “But everyone I would talk to was like ‘oh no. Everybody loves you. It’s good. You have no problems, yada, yada, yada.’ But I felt it coming. I tried to, as professionally, politely as I could, talk to people in the chain of command about that. And I just tried to be a good sport about everything,” he added.

Source: TheSportster

Tony Khan Admits He ‘Can’t Renew’ All AEW Contracts Due To Incoming Stars

According to the company’s president Tony Khan, AEW roster cuts are unavoidable.

Tony Khan has confirmed that an exodus of AEW talent is imminent as the company will not be renewing every contract that is due for renewal.

During a recent chat with Scott Fishman of TVInsider, the AEW president addressed the issue of his promotion’s ever-expanding roster and acknowledged that the reason so few wrestlers have parted ways with AEW was that he didn’t want to fire people during a pandemic unless it was absolutely necessary.

“When we started a lot of people had contracts that were a couple of years long and a lot of them are coming up. I have really tried hard to be very considerate of the people on the roster, especially going through the pandemic,” Khan said.

TK admitted that he would be unable to renew all the contracts that are up for renewal, in part because AEW has brought in some big-name talent in recent months, including Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, and Keith Lee.

“Really only two places were running and the other place was cutting people left and right. I did want to give some job security to people. Now with so many wrestlers coming in, I can’t renew all the contracts,” Khan confessed. “I’ve had to make some tough choices based on ability, fan response, or both. I try to maintain the best roster I can for the company and fans,” he added.

Whereas WWE often releases talent who still have time left on their deals, Khan prefers to keep his wrestlers under contract until their deals expire, which means he technically isn’t firing them. In the wake of another wave of mass WWE layoffs last year Khan actually called into question the legitimacy of the contracts WWE offers to performers.

“Anybody who signs a contract [with WWE] these days, is not signing a real contract, in my opinion,” TK proclaimed during a Busted Open Radio appearance. “It’s a temporary arrangement. People who come wrestle with me, a lot of these people are frankly lifers and they know that. There are some people who are here and work really hard. There are some people who come in and work more than really hard.”

Source: TheSportster

MLW Fusion Preview 2/10/22

A new season of Major League Wrestling’s flagship show FUSION returns Thursday at 8pm ET featuring a World Heavyweight Championship bout, and streaming worldwide for free on MLW’s YouTube channel and Saturday nationwide on cable and dish on beIN SPORTS. 

  • Falls Count Anywhere Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Alex Hammerstone (C) vs. Pagano
  • King Muertes vs. Richard Holliday
  • EJ Nduka vs. Ikuro Kwon

After last week’s targeted Azteca attack on Richard Holliday, his dynastic bro Alex Hammerstone puts the World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Pagano in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

Can Your Boy Hammer power through Cesar Duran’s agent of chaos in the type of environment that Pagano thrives in, or will the hellraiser from Juarez bring World Heavyweight gold to AZTECA? 

Duran has made it double jeopardy for The Dynasty as a battered Richard Holliday rumbles with the monstrous Caribbean Champion King Muertes.

Part 3 of the All Access look at Jacob Fatu touches on wrestling saving his life, and his plans for regaining the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.

“The Judge” is in session as EJ Nduka looks to show out in his Dallas homecoming as he faces Ikuro Kwon.

The double tag team champions 5150 cope with adversity as a big title fight looms.

Mister Saint Laurent embarks on adventure to find the world’s greatest fighter?

Join Rich Bocchini, Joe Dombrowski, and broadcast journalist Alicia Atout as MLW presents the season premiere of MLW Fusion!