Author: John Bass

FTR Sets Its Sights On The IWGP Tag Titles As AEW Contracts Wind Down

AEW stars Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler are teasing a potential New Japan run and declaring their desire to challenge for the IWGP tag titles.

FTR members Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler have a few very clear-cut goals … but not all of them involve AEW. And if their own words are anything to go by, they’re more than ready to part ways with Tony Khan’s promotion in order to take care of business.

Harwood and Wheeler addressed their future and their current AEW contract status during a recent chat with Brandon F. Walker on Barstool Rasslin‘. The FTR said they want to regain the AEW tag titles next year and they intend to defeat The Briscoes, the stalwart Ring Of Honor tag team they confronted during last week’s Final Battle pay-per-view.

“I think we are going to be the first-ever two-time AEW Tag Team Champions,” said Wheeler. “In 2022, we are going to get the titles back. We are going to have the title run that we should’ve had the first time,” he added. “Rematch with the Young Bucks. Beat the s**t out of The Briscoes. Hold titles everywhere.”

Harwood later revealed that the lads don’t have much time left on their AEW contracts.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen from there. But we have a short amount of time to accomplish what we want to accomplish,” Harwood said, before declaring FTR’s intention to challenge for the coveted IWGP Tag Team Championship at some point.

So far, FTR has been unsuccessful in its attempt to recapture the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but they didn’t manage to win the AAA tag titles from the Lucha Bros on Dynamite a few weeks ago.

Harwood and Cash Wheeler formed a tag team while they were both members of WWE’s developmental roster. For the majority, they were known as The Revival, due to their penchant for an old-school style of tag team wrestling. The duo parted ways with WWE in 2020 and subsequently jumped ship to AEW. They made their AEW debuts on the May 27, 2020 edition of AEW Dynamite.

Source: TheSportster

Impact Wrestling Preview 12/16/21

Tensions are at an all-time high as Hard To Kill approaches! Don’t miss an all-new IMPACT! tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.

* Before they collide in a Triple Threat World Title showdown on January 8th at Hard To Kill, IMPACT World Champion Moose, Matt Cardona and W. Morrissey will sign the contract for the blockbuster matchup.

* Rohit Raju vs. Josh Alexander 

*  Tenille Dashwood vs. Jessie McKay

* Doc Gallows and Joe Doering vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack

* John Skyler vs. Trey Miguel

* Chris Bey vs. Laredo Kid

* Ace Austin w/Madman Fulton vs. Hernandez w/Johnny Swinger – Before the IMPACT, tonight at 7/6c on AXS TV and 7:30pm ET on YouTube. 

AEW Reportedly Signed Brody King

Top indie wrestler Brody King has reportedly signed with AEW.

King reportedly signed with AEW almost immediately after ROH announced that they were going on hiatus until April 2022 at the end of October, according to Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam. King was then told over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend that the signing was a done deal.

As seen in the tweet below, this week’s Winter Is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite featured a new Malakai Black vignette to tease the debut of a new House of Black member. It’s believed that King will be the new member.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1471304754890432519

King and Black are the current PWG World Tag Team Champions. Billed as The Kings of The Black Throne, they won the vacant titles at PWG Threemendous VI on September 26, defeating Black Taurus and Demonic Flamita.

Report: Brody King Signs With AEW, Likely Role Revealed

King began wrestling back in 2015, and has worked for MLW, ROH, NJPW, PROGRESS, EVOLVE, and GCW, among others. He worked for ROH from December 2018 until the company went on hiatus with the Final Battle pay-per-view last weekend. Final Battle saw King lead his Violence Unlimited stable of Homicide, and Tony Deppen with Rocky Romero to an eight-man tag team match victory over EC3, Eli Isom, Taylor Rust and Tracy Williams. King left ROH a one-time ROH World Tag Team Champion and a one-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion.

King has been working with NJPW since 2018 due to his ROH contract. There is no word on if the AEW contract will prevent him from working with NJPW moving forward. He last worked for NJPW at the NJPW Strong Nemesis tapings on December 9, going up against Dave Dutra.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Kevin Owens Has Signed A New Deal With WWE

According to a report, Kevin Owens has re-signed with WWE. His current deal runs up in January.

According to a report from Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingNews.co), Owens has signed a new deal with WWE. As previously noted, his current deal will expire in January.

Back in 2018, Owens announced that he had signed a new five-year deal with the company. The contract was reworked, and it thus pushed up the expiration date to Jan. 2022. But that’s all a moot point now, because the 37-year-old and longtime fan favorite is here to stay for the long run.

It’s worth noting that the contract of Owens’ close friend, Sami Zayn, is reportedly slated to expire soon as well. With Owens now signed long-term, WWE can now focus on working toward a new deal with Zayn. Keeping Owens, simply put, can only help WWE’s chances of convincing Zayn to stick around.

WWE has been giving both Owens and Zayn more television time in recent weeks. The Prized Fighter is now working in the WWE Championship scene on Raw with Big E, Bobby Lashley and Seth Rollins. Those four will face off for the title at the upcoming Day 1 pay-per-view.

Despite signing a three-year deal, Kevin Owens could be released at a moment’s notice.

According to Dave Meltzer, the deal is three years long and could be worth as much as $3 million to the former Universal Champion. Owens will also be working a lighter schedule moving forward. That’ll be more like live events every other week, not four matches a year like Brock Lesnar.

The other interesting note made on Wrestling Observer Radio is KO’s contract does not include a clause granting him immunity from being released. One of the main reasons The Prizefighter likely opted to re-sign is for job security. He has a wife and two young children at home, so the guaranteed money that comes with signing on with WWE will have likely been a big factor behind his decision to stay.

Owens said the decision to re-sign with WWE was easy because it was the best thing for his family.

“I’ll just say that my contract still ends on January 31, but not 2022,” Owens said. “I will still be in WWE for several years, The decision was pretty easy because it was the best thing for my family, really. When it comes to that, it’s always a pretty easy decision to take. WWE has been my home for seven years now, so I have a sense of belonging.

“Basically, I spent the majority of my career here. When you look at all the wrestling companies I’ve wrestled for, in WWE, that’s where I’ve been the longest. That’s where I need to be for the next few years. That’s how I felt and that’s the decision I made.”

While a three-year contract might sound like job security as well as a hefty wage, WWE has proved more than ever this year that anyone can be let go at a moment’s notice. There have even been cases in 2021 where it has felt as if WWE has signed wrestlers to new deals just so they can release them soon after. That forces those wrestlers to sit and do nothing for 90 days as opposed to moving on right away had their deal been allowed to run out. Hopefully, Owens won’t suffer the same fate and will be with WWE for at least three more years.

As for Zayn, he challenged Universal Champion Roman Reigns for the title on the Dec. 3 episode of SmackDown. Zayn lost quickly, however, as Brock Lesnar attacked him before the match started.

Source: TheSportster

MLW Fusion: ALPHA Preview 12/15/21

This weeks show is billed as the series finale of the MLW Fusion Alpha miniseries. MLW will return with the MLW Azteca miniseries starting Thursday, January 6. Alpha streams tonight on the MLW YouTube page and FITE TV at 6CT/7ET. The show will be replayed Saturdays on beIN Sports at 9CT/10ET.

-Tajiri vs. Atsuki Aoyagi for the MLW Middleweight Championship

Join Rich Bocchini, Joe Debrowski, and broadcast journalist Alicia Atout as MLW presents Fusion: ALPHA!

AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming Preview 12/15/21

The special Winter Is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite on TNT will air live tonight from the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas.

AEW has announced the following line-up for tonight:

* Matt Sydal vs. Wardlow

* MJF vs. Dante Martin for the Dynamite Diamond ring

* Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb

* AEW World Championship: “Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. against Bryan Danielson

Matt Hardy Reveals His New Twitter Policy

AEW star Matt Hardy took to Twitter this week and posted a video to announce his new Twitter policy.

After recently announcing that all of his tweets would be genuine Matt Hardy thoughts and not something made up to go along with one of his gimmicks, Hardy posted this new video to announce his personal policy for Twitter interactions. Hardy says he will no longer interact with the trolls or the people that bring negativity.

“I want to take a second to talk about Twitter,” he began. “I know I told everyone in the past that you’re not seeing a wrestling character tweet now. I am notorious for doing that in the past, I enjoy doing it just for the entertainment of others, even myself at some points, but from this point going forward, whenever I tweet, whenever I respond, it is going to be as real-life, real-time, Matt Hardy. Authentic Matt Hardy. I would respond to a tweet the way I would respond to someone in a regular conversation in everyday life, and what that means is that the people that come with, like, negative horse-s–t or stuff that is incorrect, or if people are talking about something they have absolutely no idea about, or if they’re just trolling, I will not dignify those responses at all, I will not dignify them.

“I am only going to be responding and interacting with the people that come with constructive criticism, that come with varying opinions, as long as it’s done respectfully. I am totally cool with that, I love a good honest-to-God conversation, especially on Twitter if someone has a varying opinion than I do, and I’m cool with that. So, from this point going forward, I am not going to respond to any trash or any troll, I am only going to be responding and interacting with the people that are here on Twitter, and deserve to be rewarded by tweeting productive, constructive, honest-to-God, fair stuff. That’s it.”

Hardy captioned the video with, “MY NEW TWITTER POLICY If you agree to these terms, put a [check mark emoji] in the mentions.”

This new video comes after Hardy announced last week that his social media posts would no longer be coming from his “Big Money Matt” character.

“You’re not getting tweets from Big Money Matt anymore. You get authentic Matt Hardy tweets & thoughts now,” he wrote last week.

You can see Hardy’s full video below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 12/14/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode on the USA Network will feature more build for the upcoming New Year’s Evil episode on January 4.

Jimmy Rave Passes Away At Age 39

Former Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling star Jimmy Rave has passed away today at the age of 39-years-old. The announcement came yesterday on Twitter, in a statement prepared by agent Bill Behrens and Rave’s daughter, Kailah.

“James Michael Guffey has died at the age of 39,” the statement began. “James was best known as Professional Wrestler Jimmy Rave. His career started in 1999, continued for over 2 decades. He was a two-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. He appeared in Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling, where he teamed with Lance (Hoyt) Rock as the ‘Rock and Rave Infection.’ In Ring of Honor, he feuded with AJ Styles and was the ‘Crown Jewel’ of the faction, The Embassy, and last appeared in 2013 as a member of S.C.U.M. He toured Japan with both Dragon Gate Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling where in 2008 he competed in the Best of the Super Junior Tournament. In 2005, he appeared on World Wrestling Entertainment’s Sunday Night Heat. Rave also appeared in numerous independent promotions including Rampage Pro Wrestling, Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment, and Combat Zone Wrestling, among many others. He also served as the booker for several years in Rampage Pro Wrestling and led a faction known as Jimmy Rave Approved.

“Outside of wrestling, he held the position of Director of the Bartow County, Georgia Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Center for several years. James had been struggling with drug addiction for many years. His struggles resulted in the amputation of his arm and, later, both of his legs. James is survived by his ex-wife Felicia, daughter Kailah, son James II, and his parents Jim & Toni Guffey. At the time of his death, he was living in Philadelphia, PA area with Gabby Gilbert. RIP, James Michael Guffy, 12/8/82 – 12/12/21. Memorial services will be held in Georgia. Details to be released at a later time.”

The news of Jimmy Rave’s passing comes only a few months after Rave was forced to have both of his legs amputated following a battle with a MRSA infection. Jimmy Rave had previously been forced to have his left arm amputated due to infection in 2020, which resulted in him being forced to retire from wrestling.

Many have tried to help Jimmy Rave as he worked to overcome his struggles in the past year. A Go Fund Me page was launched for Rave earlier this year to help him with the cost of his medical bills. In recent months, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley also began raising money to assist Rave.

“I was thinking about Jimmy and how Jimmy’s Go Fund Me really needed a boost,” Foley told The Wrestling Inc. Daily last week. “Losing both legs, it’s devastating emotionally, psychologically, and also financially. He’s got bills that go for $100 thousand. He believes they’ll be able to whittle that down to $50 or $60 thousand, but it’s still a mountain of money.

“I just thought ‘hey, if there are some orders out there to be had, and I can combine that with some of my memorabilia, and also some personal interactions like the 2 nights in Georgia.’ Actually, it was 3 nights, and we had a fantastic time with a couple that bid a nice amount of money. It really exceeded my expectations. I thought we’d get maybe $10 or $12 thousand. Michael said ‘we’re going to try and get you and Jimmy to his goal’, which was $22 thousand. And we get it. It was really incredible.”

Debuting in October of 1999, Jimmy Rave joined Ring of Honor in 2003 and gained notoriety for being one of the most hated heels in the early history of the promotion. He would wrestle the likes of AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Nigel McGuinness, and countless others, and once unsuccessfully challenged Danielson for the Ring of Honor Championship in 2006. His most notable matches in ROH were a tag match where Rave and current WWE on-screen authority figure Adam Pearce wrestled Danielson and Punk at ROH Unscripted II, Punk’s last Ring of Honor match, and a Fight Without Honor match with McGuinness in March of 2007.

Jimmy Rave would join Impact Wrestling, then TNA, in 2007, but failed to catch on despite his aforementioned Rock & Rave tag team with Lance Hoyt (current AEW star Lance Archer). The duo would be released in 2009 after an uneventful two-year run, though Rave would eventually return for several one-off appearances until 2013.

Rave would also make several returns to ROH, first in 2009 to feud with Grizzly Redwood and Necro Butcher, though he was let go shortly after as he battled his drug addiction. He would return again in 2011 to feud with The Embassy’s new Crown Jewel Tomasso Ciampa, and one last time in 2013 as a member of the S.C.U.M. stable, alongside Kevin Steen, Jimmy Jacobs, Steve Corino, Rhino, Cliff Compton, Matt Hardy, and Rhett Tidus. He would continue to wrestle on the independent circuit afterward before his retirement.

 Condolences to Jimmy Rave’s family, and friends during this difficult time.

You can read the statement on Jimmy Rave’s passing below.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jeff Hardy Speaks For The First Time Since His WWE Release

Jeff Hardy made an appearance on his brother’s Twitch channel.

WWE shocked and upset a lot of fans last week when it was revealed that Jeff Hardy had been released from his contract. The company is actually yet to officially confirm Hardy is no longer with WWE, but apparently, the former World Champion was offered help and rehab by his former employers but he turned it down. Whether a relapse or ongoing issues with addiction led to Hardy’s release also remains unclear.

Jeff’s brother Matt, who is incredibly active on social media, has been providing fans with updates. Matt let fans know Jeff is doing okay and that his brother would share more information with him if and when he was ready. Well, the reason for Jeff’s release still isn’t any more clear, but The Charismatic Enigma has spoken publicly for the first time since his time with WWE came to an end.

Jeff made an appearance during Matt’s most recent Twitch stream. The appearance was part of a pre-taped clip Matt aired during the stream during which he is discussing how he was the architect of The Hardy Boyz with a ladder in the background. Jeff then appears with headphones on before joining his brother and revealing he was listening to a song called Release Me by Wilson Phillips.

“I am the Whisper In The Wind, I am The Swanton Bomb but without you there is no Poetry In Motion,” Jeff said, referencing the nods to The Hardy Boyz’s past Matt had just brought up. After finishing the rehearsed bit, Jeff proceeds to tout that he will be performing music at a number of live dates later this week, giving the locations and adding that he will be interacting with fans at the shows.

Matt told fans not to worry or read too much into what happened between Jeff and his brother over the weekend. He certainly seemed to be doing okay during his Twitch cameo, and must be in somewhat of a good place to be performing live music just a couple of days from now. The best of luck to Jeff and hopefully we will see him wrestle again elsewhere once his non-compete clause has expired.

Source: TheSportster