Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT.
- Continental Classic Blue League: Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia
- Abadon vs. Trish Adora
- Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal
- Orange Cassidy & Hook appear
Category: AEW
Major Update On Kyle O’Reilly’s AEW Status 18 Months After Neck Injury
It’s been more than a year and a half since wrestling fans last saw Kyle O’Reilly in the ring. The AEW star has been inactive as he recovers from neck fusion surgery, and with no news on his condition for months, it seemed a safe bet he would go all of 2023 without making an appearance on AEW TV. But with less than a month left in the year, a positive update has finally come along.
Fightful Select reports that O’Reilly has recently been backstage at AEW tapings, and that there has been talk of O’Reilly returning to TV, though no timetable was given for when. This is a stark contrast to the previous update O’Reilly gave earlier this year when the former reDragon member did not indicate a potential return was imminent.
O’Reilly debuted in AEW two years ago this month after his contract with WWE expired, immediately aligning with former Undisputed Era teammates Adam Cole and Bobby Fish. The trio would form the Undisputed Elite with the Young Bucks, but the group was short-lived after both O’Reilly and Cole were put on the shelf with injuries, while Fish left AEW after his contract expired. O’Reilly’s last wrestled on June 8, 2022, while he last appeared on AEW TV on August 3.
The news of O’Reilly’s potential return comes as AEW World Champion MJF, himself a close friend of Cole, has been targeted by a group of unidentified men led by a mysterious man in a devil mask, though O’Reilly himself has drawn little speculation as the potential “devil.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
AEW Dynamite Preview 12/6/2023
AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS from the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC.
- AEW TNT Championship: Christian Cage (c) vs. Adam Copeland
- AEW Women’s Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Skye Blue
- MJF and Samoa Joe vs. The Devil’s Masked Men
- Continental Classic Gold League Match: Jay White vs. Jay Lethal
- Continental Classic Gold League Match: Jon Moxley vs. RUSH
- Continental Classic Gold League Match: Swerve Strickland vs. Mark Briscoe
Report: There Is ‘A Lot Of Negativity’ Backstage In AEW
There’s never a dull moment behind the curtain at AEW. Among the many happenings are alleged backstage fights, wrestlers publicly speaking out about their booking, poor ticket sales, and key staff and performers departing the promotion. On the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio,” longtime wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer said he had received “a lot of negativity” from people in and around AEW. He feels that a lot of the issues stem from Saturday’s “AEW Collision” taping in Erie, Pennsylvania, which drew a very low crowd.
It was pointed out that despite the reported negativity, Tony Khan’s promotion is grossing more money than it has ever done before. It’s said that AEW will finish 2023 grossing between $170-$175 million, which is up 67% from 2022. That could increase even further next year with the company’s television rights up for renewal. The organization is also set to return to Wembley Stadium next summer for All In, with this year’s inaugural event grossing over $10 million in revenue. Meltzer added that there were “economic aspects” of the promotion that looked favorable, but there is still somewhat of a negative perception behind the scenes.
Following the announcement last week by wrestler and backstage contributor QT Marshall that he was leaving AEW due to the company moving in a different direction, it was reported yesterday that AEW VP of Post Production Kevin Sullivan had been let go. Meltzer noted there were “a lot of people” who were not happy about that decision, and he believes that’s why there’s currently negativity behind the scenes.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
ROH Reportedly Struggling To Sale Tickets For Final Battle 2023
AEW Worlds End may be the biggest wrestling event on Tony Khan’s calendar in December, but it’s not the only one. His other promotion, Ring of Honor, is set to hold its marquee event, Final Battle, in Garland, Texas, in a little more than ten days, airing exclusively on HonorClub. And so far, it appears fans aren’t viewing Final Battle as a big deal.
WrestleTix reports that, as of this past Friday, Final Battle has yet to cross the 1,000 tickets sold threshold, with the event only selling 996 tickets. The news doesn’t get much better, as the event is currently set up to hold 3,722 fans, meaning that 2,726 tickets remain available for purchase.
Should ticket sales continue at this current pace, this year’s Final Battle would be well down from last year, though that event itself only drew 2,700 tickets at Arlington, Texas’ College Park Center. Final Battle 2023 will be the third show under Khan’s umbrella to take place in Texas that week, with “AEW Dynamite” and “AEW Rampage” airing out of the College Park Center, while “Collision” will take place out of the Curtis Cullwell Center, the same arena Final Battle is booked for.
Only three matches have been announced for Final Battle so far, including Athena defending the ROH Women’s World Championship against former protege Billie Starkz, Keith Lee vs. Shane Taylor, and a Six-Way Survival of the Fittest match to determine a new ROH TV Champion. It’s unknown if either the ROH Tag Team or ROH World Championships will be defended, as both ROH Tag Champs, MJF and Adam Cole, are dealing with injuries, while ROH Champion Eddie Kingston has put his title up in the ongoing Continental Classic tournament.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
AEW Collision Preview 12/2/2023
Tonight’s AEW Collision airs live on TNT at 8:00 pm EST. from the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pennsylvania.
- AEW Continental Classic Match (Blue League): Bryan Danielson (0) vs. Eddie Kingston (0)
- AEW Continental Classic Match (Blue League): Daniel Garcia (0) vs. Andrade El Idolo (0)
- AEW Continental Classic Match (Blue League): Claudio Castagnoli (3) vs. Brody King (3)
Report – Nearly 34,000 AEW All In 2024 Tickets Sold On The First Day
AEW President Tony Khan took to Twitter on Friday to announce that the AEW All In 2024 pay-per-view event has already grossed $4 million on the first day of ticket sales.
According to a report from WrestleTix, 33,923 tickets have been distributed so far. The current setup allows for 44,452 fans to be in attendance. As of this writing, there are 10,529 tickets still available. It should be noted that more tickets will be released as time goes on.
AEW All In 2024 is still nearly nine months away and no matches have been announced for the show as of this writing. The event takes place on Sunday, August 25, from the historic Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Source: eWn
AEW World Champ MJF Won’t Get Surgery, Thinks He Can Work ‘Careful Matches Or Smoke And Mirrors Matches’
MJF is currently dealing with two significant injuries — a torn labrum and a dislocated hip — but the AEW World Champion reportedly plans to work through the pain. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, MJF won’t be getting surgery to fix either injury, and will instead be undergoing stem cell therapy and rehab to get ready for his title defense against Samoa Joe at Worlds End.
The 27-year-old reportedly opted against surgery, as going under the knife would put him on the shelf for a couple of months. It’s presently unknown if MJF plans to work any more matches before his clash against Joe, but WON notes MJF believes he can deliver “careful matches or smoke and mirrors matches” in the lead-up to AEW’s last pay-per-view of 2023. This injury isn’t new to MJF, as he worked through a torn labrum at Double or Nothing 2020, where he wrestled Jack Perry in a critically acclaimed match between two of AEW’s four pillars. However, the tear he’s dealing with currently is said to be worse than his previous one.
MJF announced the news of his shoulder injury via X, informing fans an MRI revealed he had suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder. According to Dave Meltzer, MJF suffered the tear while on the receiving end of a top rope Uranage from Jay White at Full Gear, aggravating his already injured shoulder in the process. As for the hip injury, MJF got hurt while delivering an elbow drop off the top rope to White on the floor. The original intent was for White to be placed on the announce table rather than the floor, which would have broken MJF’s fall, but the table collapsed prematurely. MJF dislocated his hip later in the match, and since then, Meltzer’s sources say that his swelling has subsided but he continues to deal with pain.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
AEW Rampage Preview 12/1/2023
Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT.
- Danhausen, Orange Cassidy, Hook & Trent Beretta vs. Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker
- The Don Callis Family’s Konosuke Takeshita, Powerhouse Hobbs & Kyle Fletcher in action
- Saraya, Ruby Soho & Anna Jay vs. Kris Statlander, Hikaru Shida & Skye Blue
- Penta El Zero Miedo, El Hijo del Vikingo & Komander vs. Brian Cage & The WorkHorsemen’s JD Drake & Anthony Henry
- Sting and Ric Flair to appear
Tommy Dreamer Says Britt Baker Is Adding To The Disruptiveness Of AEW Locker Room
Tommy Dreamer feels that AEW star Britt Baker’s recent tweet criticizing AEW management could cause disruption in the promotion.
Baker, during this week’s “AEW Dynamite,” called out AEW on social media for not affording her promo time on AEW television in 2023. Dreamer discussed the comment by the former AEW Women’s World Champion on “Busted Open,” stating that it could be disruptive if it was a real criticism.
“I don’t think AEW needs any negative. As of today, this is deemed a negative up until [if] this is the reveal. If this is the reveal then, we all got got,” said Dreamer. “If it’s not, then it needs to be handled, and if it’s not handled, there will be more disruptiveness.”
Dreamer gave the example of The Miz as someone who made it work and has lasted a long time in WWE despite being treated poorly by his peers in his early years in the promotion. Dreamer discussed how The Miz put his head down and worked hard despite being ostracized by the locker room.
“There’s people who complained online about stuff in WWE, they were let go. There were, if I would say, hey, you don’t understand what this person went through, I did because I lived it through him, and it was The Miz. The Miz was put through hell,” said the former WWE star A different locker room, he was ostracized, you weren’t allowed to speak, it was made horrible for that young man. I like Miz, Miz’s my friend. From that, Miz has outlasted everybody. Did Miz go out on social media and say, ‘I’m dressing in a broom closet’? Miz ate it and then continued his hard work and whatever little, stupid spots he’s given, he got it over. And he’s been there forever.”
Baker hasn’t got on the mic in AEW this year and hasn’t wrestled since September when she lost the AEW TBS title match to Kris Statlander.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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