Category: AEW

AEW Dynamite Preview 5/22/2024

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS from the Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, California.

  • AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland vs. Nick Wayne
  • Orange Cassidy and Will Ospreay vs. Trent Beretta and AEW International Champion Roderick Strong
  • Konosuke Takeshita vs. Matt Sydal
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm & Mariah May vs. Saraya and Harley Cameron
  • Kyle O’Reilly vs. Malakai Black
  • FTW Title Eliminator 3-Way: HOOK vs. Bryan Keith vs. Katsuyori Shibata
  • Bryan Danielson vs. Satnam Singh
  • Bullet Club Gold will appear

AEW Star Tay Melo Training For Return To The Ring

AEW star Tay Melo is training to make her return to an AEW wrestling ring.

Melo took to X on Monday noting that she is happy to be able to be in the ring again. She also said that with a lot of patience she will get ready to be back.

Melo has been out of in-ring competition for over a year due to a back injury and then her maternity leave. Last November, Melo and her husband Sammy Guevara welcomed their first child. She and Guevara made the announcement at last year’s Double or Nothing that Melo was pregnant.

Source: eWn

Eddie Kingston To Undergo Surgery, Will Be Out 9 Months

Eddie Kingston will require surgery for his leg injury that he suffered during his match with Gabe Kidd at the NJPW Resurgence event. Kingston suffered a tibular fracture during the bout.

Kingston confirmed to Pwinsider that he suffered tears to his ACL and meniscus and will need surgery. It is said that Kingston will be out for around nine months.

Kingston said, “This part of the game. Injuries happen. I will be back.”

Source: eWn

AEW Collision & Rampage Preview 5/18/2024

AEW Collision and Rampage on TNT.

Collision:

  • Will Ospreay vs. Shane Taylor
  • Serena Deeb vs. Anna Jay
  • FTW Contender Series: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Rocky Romero
  • FTW Contender Series: HOOK vs. Johnny TV
  • Bryan Danielson & FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. Lance Archer & The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch)

Rampage:

  • Deonna Purrazzo vs. Robyn Renegade
  • Kyle O’Reilly vs. Lee Moriarty
  • Brian Cage vs. Anthony Bowens
  • Rush in action

ROH Women’s Champion Athena Reportedly Suffers Injury During Latest Taping

The “Forever” ROH Women’s Champion, Athena, reportedly sustained an injury during the ROH portion of last night’s “AEW Collision” tapings. According to PWInsider, Athena suffered the injury during a spot which saw her charge through the middle ropes, landing hard on the outside, and was seen limping when she returned to the ring.

Upon her return, Athena landed a forearm smash to her opponent, who kicked out of the first pinfall attempt but stayed down for a second, wrapping up the match. It’s noted that Athena appeared to have relayed her injury to the referee in between the pin attempts. Athena was said to have remained in character after the match, but would not put any weight on her left leg and hopped out with assistance from the referee and another staffer. She was reportedly checked out after the match, but there has yet to be an update on the nature or the significance of the issue.

Athena has been the ROH Women’s Champion for 525 days, after first capturing the title from Mercedes Martinez in December 2022. Back in December last year, she outlined 2024 as the year she would like to take another stab at dominating AEW TV again, further setting her sights on the TBS and AEW Women’s World Championships as part of her goal of being the women’s triple crown champion. She had made somewhat of a stride towards that goal in April, returning to AEW programming to defend her title against Red Velvet at “Battle of the Belts X.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW’s Eddie Kingston Injured, Darby Allin Returned, Will Replace Kingston In Anarchy In The Arena Match At Double Or Nothing

This past weekend, Eddie Kingston lost his NJPW Strong Openweight Championship at NJPW Strong Resurgence in a No Ropes Last Man Standing Match against Gabe Kidd, which saw Kingston suplexed out of the ring, his leg colliding with the barricade. It was recently speculated that Kingston was dealing with a legitimate, significant injury and the worst seems to be confirmed.

On “AEW Dynamite,” AEW EVPs Matt and Nick Jackson explained that Kingston was too injured to compete in the upcoming Anarchy In The Arena Match at AEW Double or Nothing on May 26. Kingston was supposed to team with FTR and former rival Bryan Danielson to defend AEW’s honor against The New Elite’s Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Kazuchika Okada, and Jack Perry. There is no word on how long Kingston will be out of action. While the barricade legitimately injured Kingston, The Young Bucks and Jack Perry added narrative salt in the wound by attacking the former ROH World Champion after his loss. The attack marked the Bucks’ first time back in an NJPW ring since before AEW was founded in 2019.

Kingston took to Instagram to share a photo of him, seated in a wheelchair, smoking a cigar, captioned with a quote from famed amateur wrestler Dan Gable.

Kingston will be replaced by former AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin, who returned from numerous injuries, including being hit by a bus, to help FTR and Danielson fight off the New Elite at the end of the episode. According to Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez, Allin said he is not 100% heading into the brutal match, as on top of his many injuries, a superplex during the show’s main event led to Allin getting hit in the head with a beam while he was hiding under the ring.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite Preview 5/15/2024

AEW Dynamite live on TBA from the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington.

  • AEW World title eliminator: Swerve Strickland vs. Brian Cage
  • Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson vs. Kyle Fletcher & Jeff Cob
  • AEW Continental Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Dax Harwood
  • The Young Bucks vs. Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels
  • Toni Storm vs. Harley Cameron
  • Mercedes Mone-Willow Nightingale contract signing
  • Will Ospreay-Roderick Strong face-to-face
  • Adam Copeland calls out Malakai Black for Double or Nothing.
  • Hook returns

The Latest Update On AEW-WBD Potential Media Rights Deal Ahead Of Upfronts

AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery have not yet reached a new television deal, and it is not expected to be part of WBD’s upfront presentation on Wednesday. 

A recent report from Fightful Select provides further insights into the ongoing negotiations between AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery and the expected timeline for a new rights deal announcement.

Sources close to the matter suggest that the announcement of a new deal is being closely guarded, with a probable timeframe for the announcement being summer to fall.

The report highlights the uncertainty surrounding the end date of AEW’s exclusivity deal with WBD, which is expected to continue into the summer. However, a firm date for its conclusion remains unknown. A pilot for a new AEW-related program with WBD was slated to be announced for social media channels this week. It is said that the program is not a reality show.

According to sources at WBD, there has been ongoing interest in the company to include AEW pay-per-view events on HBO Max. Discussions between the two parties have been in progress for an extended period of time to determine the specifics of this potential agreement. Initial proposals for this arrangement were put forth as early as last year.

These sources have also indicated that nearly every agreement made by WBD is strategically aligned with Max, emphasizing a heightened focus on the streaming platform compared to when AEW originally entered into its last agreement with WBD.

Additionally, there have been rumors that WBD may lose its media rights to the NBA. If this were to occur, the company reportedly plans to reinvest funds to maintain its position on cable and explore other properties to attract viewers.

It remains unknown whether this potential reinvestment will involve AEW. With that being said, AEW Dynamite almost always ranks number one on all of cable TV on Wednesday nights without any competition from the NBA/NHL or other sporting events. Sources from both parties have spoken highly of each other and the negotiation process continues.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Bryan Danielson Confirms When His AEW Contract Expires (And It’s Soon)

Bryan Danielson is in his final full-time year as a pro wrestler, closing the chapter on one of the most storied careers in history. With his run set to wind down, Danielson told “Casual Conversations” that he still has a few things to check off his bucket list, including an appearance at All In 2024 at Wembley Stadium. However, he confirmed that his current contract is due to expire before the London event in August. 

“The big one is Wembley. I want to make it to Wembley,” he said. “My contract actually expires before. But I want to make it to Wembley.” 

Danielson opined that Wembley differs from other iconic wrestling venues, such as Arena Mexico or the Tokyo Dome, in that it’s not one typically synonymous with the sport. He reasoned that it held a different energy to the others he has wrestled at, and given that he was unavailable for last year’s All In event, he wants to cross off that goal this year. Furthermore, he might stick around longer, as he feels that October’s WrestleDream event would be a great curtain call. 

“I’m not sure if I’ll make it. But one thing that’d be a nice way to close everything out for me is to do my last match as a full-time wrestler at WrestleDream at the Tacoma Dome. Because that’s the first wrestling show I ever saw [at the Tacoma Dome]. It was WWF and it was Ultimate Warrior versus Rick Rude.” 

Bryan Danielson joined AEW in 2021 months after departing WWE, signing a three-year deal with the promotion. He confirmed that this would be his final year of full-time competition ahead of the Continental Classic late last year. However, Danielson has not been seen on TV since losing to Will Ospreay at AEW Dynasty. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Collision & Rampage 5/11/2024

AEW Collision & Rampage live on TBS from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British  Columbia, Canada

Collision:

  • Cope Open – TNT Championship: Adam Copeland (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly
  • Dax Harwood vs. ‘Dynamite Kid’ Tommy Billington
  • Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Top Flight
  • Will Ospreay vs. Lee Moriarty
  • Thunder Rosa vs. Robyn Renegade
  • Brian Cage & Gates Of Agony vs. TBA

Rampage:

  • Deonna Purrazzo vs. Lady Frost
  • Trent Beretta vs. Dalton Castle