Pro Wrestling NOAH held its ‘The New Year’ 2024 show earlier this month with the main event singles match between Naomichi Marufuji and Kota Ibushi, where they wrestled for 30 minutes before Ibushi went over in the end.
Ibushi went for an outside moonsault, and when he landed, he grabbed his ankle. Kota was taken to the hospital after the bout, which was heavily criticized.
Kota confirmed today that he will have ankle surgery on Wednesday:
The Young Bucks returned to AEW television on Wednesday during “AEW Dynamite: Homecoming” from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, and while nothing has been officially confirmed, they seem to have been positioned as the opponents of Darby Allin and Sting in the latter’s final match at AEW Revolution.
Matt and Nick Jackson’s music hit on “AEW Dynamite” following Allin and Sting’s tornado tag match against Powerhouse Hobbs and Konosuke Takeshita, where the babyface team got the victory. Sting and Allin, alongside Ric Flair, were in the ring with Tony Schiavone, who asked Sting who his opponent would be for his last match on the March 3 pay-per-view. That was when the Young Bucks appeared, acting very serious, sporting new mustaches, and wearing black and white trenchcoats. They stared down Sting and Allin from the stage before making their way to the back as the show went off the air, suggesting fisticuffs in the near future.
The Bucks have been off TV since losing a future shot at the AEW Tag Team Championships at Full Gear in November. Following the match, Matt Jackson lost his cool at ringside, smashing up the area. At the time it was reported that the Bucks could be turning heel and forming a stable involving Brandon Cutler and possibly Colt Cabana. Sting, for his part, has wrestled exclusively in tag team or multi-man matches since his debut for AEW, where he holds a record of 26-0 as of this writing.
Things haven’t come easy for CJ Perry over the past month. The AEW star missed a good chunk of December after she was hospitalized with an infection in her finger that could’ve proven serious. And despite what appeared to be a successful surgery to remove the infection, Perry may not quite be out of the woods just yet.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday morning, Perry revealed that she was on her way back to the hospital due to what she described as “complications.” Perry also admitted that the complications could involve the infection coming back, which would then require her to have a second surgery. As such, Perry could wind up missing more time from AEW, including this week’s episodes of “Dynamite,” “Rampage,” and “Collision.”
Perry joined AEW back in September, when she made an appearance at AEW All Out, saving her husband Miro from a post-match attack on Powerhouse Hobbs. Despite this, Miro rejected Perry, prompting the former WWE star to seek out other clients. Perry would represent Action Andretti and most notably Andrade El Idolo, who she managed during his run in the AEW Continental Classic tournament until she was forced out due to her surgery.
Perry’s association with Andrade drew the ire of Miro, leading to the two facing off at AEW Worlds End, with a returning Perry ultimately turning against Andrade to help Miro win, though Miro still appeared to be wary of Perry afterward. The match proved to be Andrade’s swan song in AEW, as he announced he had left the promotion just a few days later, with reports suggesting a return to WWE would soon be in his future.
CJ Perry Says MRSA Is Being Drained From Finger Every Day.
The AEW star took to Instagram, where she wrote the following:
Karma is purring in my lap …. But worth it to make sure @andradealmas was sent off properly at #AEWWorldsEnd @aew. Second surgery next week. Draining MRSA daily.
Flesh and scabs cut out of my finger again today. Antibiotics again. Possible full-blown second surgery next week but I would risk it all again for my ex-clients, future clients, and current clients.
AEW Dynamite Homecoming will air live tonight on TBS from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
8-Man Tag Team Match in recognition of Brodie Lee: Lance Archer, Brian Cage, and The Gates of Agony vs. Orange Cassidy, Dustin Rhodes, Adam Copeland, and Preston Vance
8-Woman Tag Team Match in recognition of Brodie Lee: Kris Statlander, Thunder Rosa, Willow Nightingale, and Anna Jay vs. Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Saraya, and Ruby Soho
Texas Tornado Match: Sting and Darby Allin vs. Konosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs
AEW President Tony Khan has often said that he is a wrestling fan first and foremost, and that he approaches wrestling from a fan’s perspective. Khan’s focus on win-loss records apparently isn’t limited to All Elite Wrestling, as Khan has been keeping tabs on the wins and losses of WWE stars as well — including that of former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, who will wrestle Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship on next week’s “WWE Raw.”
“A double standard,” an impassioned Khan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “[Hook] 28-1 career record, on winning streak calls out the champ, a logical challenge sparks online outrage. Jinder has literally lost every single match he’s in for the past year, immediately gets title shot, where is the rage?”
Not satisfied with just one outburst, Khan then took his war against Mahal to USA Network directly.
“A moral victory for USA is one win more than their World Title challenger Jinder Mahal has in the past 364 days… because it’s been literally a full year since he won a match,” Khan wrote, quote-tweeting a post from the night before in which the USA Network’s official account made a joke about Cagematch, Khan’s oft-cited source for the quality of his programming. “You really put AEW in our place getting Jinder Mahal in a big match on your tv show. Do it more often.”
AEW President adding Eric Bischoff to the list of his victims.
The Khan/Bischoff feud started when “Eazy E” took to his Twitter account to call Tony Khan a “clown” for his tweet comparing HOOK and Mahal’s recent attempts to get their respective companies’ World Title shots. Khan wound up posting a GIF that reads, “Get out of my sight, you miserable has-been!”
Rumors continue to swirl regarding Andrade El Idolo potentially returning to WWE, and they will intensify with the news he has now been pulled from this Friday’s GCW event. GCW released a statement on X to confirm it, stating, “Due to circumstances out of control, ANDRADE and MAKI ITOH will be unable to compete on Friday’s event in Chicago.” GCW revealed they have replacements for both wrestlers, with Masha Slamovich and Lio Rush set to step in, however, the news will certainly get people talking about the future of the former AEW star. El Idolo’s final match for AEW took place at Worlds End 2023, which saw him lose to Miro, and both he and Tony Khan confirmed that they would be parting ways after that point.
Due to circumstances out of control, ANDRADE and MAKI ITOH will be unable to compete on Friday's event in Chicago.
Ever since, there has been speculation that the former “WWE NXT” Champion is going to be returning to his former company, WWE — where his wife, Charlotte Flair also works. Of course, nothing is official regarding El Idolo and WWE, but people within the company are expecting him back at some stage. Wrestlers being pulled from independent dates has been a sign in the past that a wrestler is heading to WWE because, unlike AEW, the company doesn’t tend to allow its roster members to work for other promotions.
El Idolo is not under a non-compete clause, which means he is technically free to appear on WWE television at any point, should he sign with the company. He last worked for WWE in 2021 after spending seven years with them, and he does have a positive history working under the creative leadership of Triple H, who of course is now in charge of that department for WWE’s main roster.
Rumors have circulated about the possibility of WWE moving “WWE Raw” from The USA Network to a Warner Bros Discovery channel, possibly TBS or TNT, which would put them in conflict with WBD’s current wrestling product, All Elite Wrestling. As a major year for media rights negotiations, in wrestling and beyond, AEW President Tony Khan is seemingly unfazed by the rumors.
“It’s part of sports. Everybody discusses contracts and free agency and things of that nature,” Khan told “Going Ringside” on News4JAX. “I think everybody’s aware that everybody’s gonna be talking to everybody in the media this coming year. So they’ll certainly be a lot of opportunities. We have a great history with Warner Bros. Discovery and continue to produce great ratings so we should be in a very good position next year.”
WBD’s negotiations with both WWE and AEW are likely hamstrung by the media conglomerate’s current negotiations with the National Basketball Association, as NBA programming has been the central pillar of the Turner Networks programming and the amount of money offered to either promotion would likely be affected by whether or not WBD retains the Basketball league. AEW has been with WBD since the beginning of the wrestling promotion, which premiered “AEW Dynamite” on WBD networks in 2019, soon adding “AEW Collision,” “AEW Rampage,” and quarterly “Battle of the Belts” specials.
MJF hasn’t been seen on AEW television since last weekend’s Worlds End pay-per-view. At the time, it was reported that his contract was set to expire on January 1, leading to speculation that he could leave the promotion. MJF’s profile has since been removed from the AEW roster page, and Tony Khan is choosing to remain tight-lipped about the star’s current status.
“I can say that MJF certainly has been a great part of AEW for the first five years, Khan told Going Ringside. “And through those five years, certainly, he’s been one of our great homegrown stars, and he’s somebody we really value, and I would love to have MJF in AEW in the future, should the contractual situation allow.”
While Khan’s comments suggest that MJF has yet to sign a new deal with AEW, he might have already. It was recently reported that he extended his AEW stay before January 1, and the ambiguities surrounding his future are being played up for storyline purposes. The latest episode of “AEW Dynamite” saw Adam Cole and the Undisputed Kingdom discuss their desire to rid AEW of MJF once and for all, so there is a built-in storyline for him to return to, should his future be with Tony Khan’s promotion.
Regardless of his future destination in wrestling, it remains to be seen when the former AEW World Champion will return to action. MJF is currently injured after suffering a torn labrum, which could require surgery and put him on the shelf for six months. That said, it’s unknown if MJF will go that route or seek alternative treatment options that will allow him to return to screens before then.
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