Category: AEW

Backstage Talk On Why Cody Rhodes Left AEW, More On Cody – WWE

Regarding Cody and Brandi leaving AEW, word as of last Friday was that Cody wanted a big money deal, but several within the company didn’t think that a new deal was going to happen, according to Fightful Select. It was noted that Cody and Brandi have not been quite as connected to the AEW locker room in recent years as they were when AEW first launched, with word coming out that Cody had become distant from the other Executive Vice Presidents, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks.

It’s believed by some that Cody could be returning to WWE soon. It was noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that there was a lot of talk at Monday’s RAW about Rhodes possibly returning to his former employer, who he was with from 2006-2016. There is said to be chatter within certain WWE circles about Cody’s future with the company, but nothing is official as of this writing. Furthermore, Ariel Helwani reported that Rhodes and WWE are in talks about a return.

Shortly before AEW and Cody confirmed the departures today, WWE officials were aware of the situation and reportedly knew ahead of time that an announcement would be made, according to the Fightful report. It was noted that Rhodes and WWE have at least had discussions, but WWE did know that an announcement on Rhodes’ AEW departure would be made this morning.

There is no word on if Cody’s WWE return deal would include a spot on the roster for Brandi, or when we might see Rhodes return to the WWE ring.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

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

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

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

Tony Khan Brought Jay White To AEW Dynamite To Make Up For “Forbidden Door” Botch

The AEW debut of top NJPW star Jay White was just put together on Sunday.

As noted, White made his AEW Dynamite debut last night during a backstage segment that saw The Young Bucks and Adam Cole attack Roppongi Vice (Trent Beretta, Rocky Romero). After taking out Romero with a BTE Trigger, the trio went to finish off Beretta until Cole stopped and pointed out White as he approached. They backed off as White sent Beretta flying face-first into a production truck. White then walked away, stopping to nod at The Elite and compliment Matt Jackson on his earrings.

White was later referenced in another backstage segment with Cole and The Bucks. The brothers looked ahead to defeating RPG Vice on Rampage, and Cole said White can have their backs on Friday’s show. The Bucks pointed to how White was once enemies with the injured Kenny Omega, but once you take the oath to be in The Bullet Club, it’s for life.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1491592268431691776

Khan took to Twitter after Dynamite and revealed that he didn’t secure White until Sunday. He brought White in because he botched his own definition of “The Forbidden Door” when first teasing a surprise for last night’s show. In his post-Dynamite tweet, Khan said he brought White to Dynamite because he heard the fan feedback and wanted to make sure Dynamite was special.

“I didn’t secure @JayWhiteNZ until Sunday. I realized after the fact that Friday night I butchered my own definition of Forbidden Door in hyping tonight. I heard the fans’ feedback, & wanted to ensure that tonight was a special #AEWDynamite for all. Thank you everyone who watched!” Khan explained.

White will also appear on AEW Rampage this Friday night, but it appears he has not been signed to a contract.

White is currently working a storyline in Impact Wrestling with bellow Bullet Club members Guerrillas of Destiny from NJPW, and Chris Bey from Impact. The February 19 No Surrender event will see White take on Eric Young in singles action, while G.O.D. challenge Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers. White has made a few appearances for Impact since last year due to their working relationship with NJPW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

New Japan’s Jay White Walks Through AEW’s Forbidden Door On Dynamite

Former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White finally made his AEW debut on this week’s edition of Dynamite on TBS.

Leader of The Bullet Club, Jay White appeared on an AEW show for the first time during this week’s edition of Dynamite on TBS.

It all went down at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. White made his AEW debut during a backstage segment featuring a confrontation between The SuperKliq and Roppongi Vice.

Trent Barretta and Rocky Romero were backstage discussing their upcoming Rampage match, in which they will face The Young Bucks in tag team action. The Bucks then approached Romero and Barretta and attempted to goad them into a fight then and there. Before Roppongi Vice could do anything, the dup was jumped from behind Adam Cole. Nick and Matt Jackson hit a BTE Trigger on Romero … and then “Switchblade” Jay White appeared.

White picked grabbed the already dazed Trent and launched him into the side of the truck that had served as the backdrop for the segment. Cole looked at White approvingly while The Bucks looked slightly confused. Later in the show, Cole attempted to convince The Bucks that they can trust White.

Jay White is a 28-year-old wrestler from Aukland, New Zealand who began his career in 2013. He began training as a Young Lion in 2015 before moving to the US to work for Ring Of Honor in 2016. On 5 November 2017, White returned to NJPW as the mysterious “Switchblade” character at Power Struggle. Last year, there were rumors that WWE was close to signing White, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be heading to the Performance Center any time soon.

The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion — who is currently under contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling — has already walked through one forbidden door when he made his IMPACT Wrestling debut and confronted Kenny Omega at the company’s Slammiversary pay-per-view in July 2021.

White hasn’t wrestled in Japan since last May and is currently based in the US. He lost the NEVER Openweight title to legendary veteran Tomohiro Ishii at NJPW Battle In The Valley last November.

Source: TheSportster

Keith Lee Signs With AEW, Debuts On Dynamite

Former WWE Superstar Keith Lee made his AEW debut on last night’s edition of Dynamite.

BASK IN HIS GLORY! The rumors were true. Keith Lee is officially ALL ELITE!

The former WWE Superstar made his AEW Dynamite debut on the February 9 edition of Dynamite on TBS. It all went down at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Keith Lee was revealed as Isiah Kassidy’s mystery opponent in a Face Of The Revolution qualifying match just moments before the match began.

https://twitter.com/WrestlingSheet/status/1491590521478778880

The crowd went absolutely wild when Lee’s music hit, and kept that energy going throughout the entire bout, popping for every move and taunt. The match probably went on slightly longer than necessary, but it was obvious that Lee – who got married to fellow wrestler Mia Yim over the weekend — was having the time of his life. It was Lee’s first match since October of last year (when he defeated Cedric Alexander on Raw under the name “Bearcat” Lee) but he looked as good as ever as he tossed Kassidy all over the place.

The former NXT Champion was able to overcome interference from Kassidy’s Private Party partner Marq Quen to secure the win and book his spot in the Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match at Revolution next month.

After the match, AEW president Tony Khan took to social media to reveal that Keith Lee had officially signed an AEW contract.

https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1491591759159345153

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 2/9/22

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite on TBS will take place from the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

AEW President Tony Khan is promising a major debut on tonight’s show. The newcomer will sign his AEW contract tonight, and then face Isaiah Kassidy in a qualifying match for the Face of The Revolution Ladder Match.

* Tony Khan will make a huge talent announcement. Who will walk through the forbidden door?

* First qualifying match for the Face of The Revolution Ladder Match at the AEW Revolution PPV with Khan’s new signing vs. Isaiah Kassidy

* MJF will speak on his win over CM Punk

* Chris Jericho has called an Inner Circle Team Meeting

* AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page defends against Lance Archer in a Texas Death Match

Tony Khan Says “Huge” AEW Signing Sets Up Friday’s Rampage

With only a day away from AEW Dynamite, speculation continues to grow over who the free agent walking through the Forbidden Door Tony Khan was referring to last Friday following AEW Rampage. In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Tony Khan provided some more details regarding the signing, calling it huge and saying it would set up this week’s episode of AEW Rampage.

“It’s a huge signing for us,” Khan said. “I have created some debate about what it means to open the ‘Forbidden Door’ and that’s what we are going to do on this show. The fans are going to get a great night of wrestling, and I hope everyone is surprised—and comes back for the matches this sets up.

“It’s going to be a big reveal on Dynamite. It sets up this week’s Rampage and puts a lot of irons in our fire. We have created an environment in AEW where people routinely expect great wrestling matches, and we have the wrestlers to live up to those high expectations.”

Following last Friday’s AEW Rampage, Tony Khan announced that Isiah Kassidy would wrestle a new free agent signing on AEW Dynamite to determine who would qualify for the Face of the Revolution ladder match taking place at AEW Revolution. He would later elaborate that the signing would be the same person who Khan earlier in the night said would be walking through the Forbidden Door, a term usually used for talents from New Japan working in AEW or vice versa.

Since then, several names on the free agent market, New Japan and even WWE have been rumored as being the potential signing. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported on Friday that free agent Keith Lee was either in talks or had already signed a deal with AEW, making him a potential candidate. Yesterday, AEW star Matt Hardy teased that Tony Khan had bought out the rest of Jeff Hardy’s 90 day noncompete clause, suggesting Hardy could be the surprise signee.

All questions will be answered tomorrow night on the next episode of AEW Dynamite. In addition to the signing, Hangman Page will defend the AEW World Championship against Lance Archer in a Texas Death Match and the Inner Circle will have a mandatory meeting to discuss recent dissension within the group.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Matt Hardy Teases Tony Khan May Have Bought Out Jeff Hardy’s WWE Contract

Since Friday night’s episode of AEW Rampage, speculation has run rampant about an upcoming announcement on AEW Dynamite that will see a brand new signee make their debut and challenge Isiah Kassidy in a Face of the Revolution Ladder match qualifier.

On his Monday Twitch stream, AEW star Matt Hardy talked about the big announcement and AEW President Tony Khan’s use of the term Forbidden Door when hyping it on social media.

“Tony Khan has been teasing a big announcement, and then he made the big announcement, that the Forbidden Door is going to be opening up again on Wednesday,” Hardy said. “Sometimes people think the Forbidden Door is when someone comes from another promotion into your promotion and they can go back in. And the way he referenced this is, somebody is going to walk through the forbidden door, which means they’re coming from another promotion, and they’re going to slam the Forbidden Door. This means they’re not going back to the other promotion. That’s what that means.

“Tony is one who coined this phrase ‘the Forbidden Door.’ And it opened up whenever the Good Brothers came over from Impact Wrestling and Kenny Omega was going over to Impact and he was coming back to AEW as well. And then there were some people who came in from New Japan Pro Wrestling. People came from NWA, Billy Corgan’s organization in AEW.

“That’s kind of what the Forbidden Door was, it was basically like ‘we can all work together because there’s a big company that’s kind of monopolized wrestling for a while. So let’s all work together and try and make all of our companies as exciting as possible.’ So now there’s a lot of speculation. ‘Is this Forbidden Door prospect that he’s talking about going to show up Wednesday night in Dynamite? Is he from WWE?’ And it sounds like it’s because they say they’re going to be slamming the door behind them. So that means they’re not going back to wherever they came from.”

One name that has been floated around as the potential new AEW star is Matt Hardy’s brother Jeff Hardy, who was released from WWE in December under controversial circumstances. At first Matt Hardy suggested that Jeff would not be the guy to wrestle Kassidy, who currently is aligned with Matt Hardy in the AHFO. He quickly however clarified that it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“As far as an update on Jeff and what’s going on, I don’t think he’s the guy that’s coming in this Wednesday against Isiah Kassidy,” Hardy said. “Although who knows? Tony Khan, Papa Khan’s got a lot of money. Maybe he bought out his contract. And maybe it is happening early. Who knows?”

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to Matt Hardy’s Twitch