Category: AEW

Backstage WWE & AEW Reaction To CM Punk’s Return To WWE

CM Punk made his return to WWE this past Saturday at the Survivor Series: WarGames 2023 pay-per-view event.

Fightful Select has shared additional details on the backstage reaction of both WWE and AEW to Punk returning “home” at the pay-per-view event in Chicago, IL.

Several top WWE wrestlers are expecting to speak to officials in the company for “assurances” about Punk and his role in the company going forward.

The reaction backstage in WWE has been quite muted, similar to when Punk returned for AEW Collision.

There have been rumors about talents who do not wish to work with Punk and are considering leaving WWE.

Like AEW, however, there have been no reports of anyone actually requesting his/her release over Punk’s return to WWE.

Some top talent in WWE have reportedly asked friends in AEW whether Punk was involved in the ongoing Devil storyline. It has been reported that Punk was never considered for the Devil’s role.

As for AEW President Tony Khan, he reportedly seemed more concerned with losing Katsuyori Shibata, who had to fly back to Japan, than Punk’s WWE return.

Punk’s appearance was kept a top secret in WWE, although the former AEW World Champion either told or hinted to his very close friends that it was happening.

WWE is currently using renders from Punk’s previous stint with the company including the same Titantron video.

A source at Peacock suggested that the playlist of Punk content, which went online immediately after Survivor Series 2023, didn’t require any time to compile.

Prior to Punk’s return on Saturday, WWE talent and staff were advised to ignore any Punk chants at SmackDown and Survivor Series 2023.

Source: eWn

Report – MJF Suffering From A Torn Labrum

MJF is reportedly dealing with a torn labrum.

Fightful Select is reporting that the reigning AEW World Champion took to Twitter today to announce that he got an MRI done and tore the labrum in his left shoulder. The tweet, which has since been deleted, said he’d be ready for the December 30th Worlds End pay-per-view event and closed with “I believe in AEW.”

It’s worth noting that MJF was telling people last week that he believed he had torn his shoulder. While there is no word on whether the MRI comments are legit, it appears the injury is the real deal.

Finally, it was added that the injury occurred while MJF was performing a top rope uranage at Full Gear 2023. He is currently undergoing treatment and is hoping to avoid surgery.

UPDATE

MJF sustained real injuries during the main event of the AEW Full Gear 2023 pay-per-view.

He suffered a hip injury that required popping back in and a shoulder injury, which is a torn labrum. MJF will be avoiding surgery and doing rehab instead to make sure he doesn’t miss any time, including his World Heavyweight Title defense against Samoa Joe at Worlds End.

Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that MJF is still experiencing a lot of pain in his hip and has significant swelling around it. MJF had the same tear in his labrum when he wrestled Jack Perry at Double or Nothing in 2020, but the tear is more severe this time.

Source: eWn

Tony Khan Says He Can’t Legally Talk About CM Punk’s Return To WWE

After his departure from AEW due to a backstage altercation with Jack Perry at All In 2023, CM Punk made a shocking return to WWE following the main event of Saturday’s Survivor Series 2023 pay-per-view event.

Tony Khan recently did an interview with BBC West Midlands, where he was asked about Punk’s WWE return. The AEW President said,

“Can’t talk about that, nor do I think it’s the time or the place. But I appreciate you asking, and I’m very excited about AEW All In Wembley Stadium. Not to dodge or duck your question, it’s just not something I can legally talk about.“

Source: eWn

AEW Rampage & Collision Preview 11/25/2023

As a result of the NHL game being broadcasted on Friday night, AEW will be airing a live episode of Rampage on TNT tonight at 6:00 PM EST. Following that, there will be a live episode of Collision an hour later.

Tonight’s Rampage and Collision live from the Petersen Event Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

AEW Rampage:

  •  ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs. Wheeler Yuta

AEW Collision:

  • Continental Classic tournament match: Eddie Kingston vs. Brody King 
  • Continental Classic tournament match: Daniel Garcia vs. Claudio Castagnoli

AEW Dynamite Preview 11/22/2023

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

  • Fallout from last Saturday’s Full Gear 
  • Start of the Continental Classic Tournament
  • TNT Champion Christian Cage to rechristen Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne

Report – Juice Robinson Suffers Legitimate Injury, Written Off AEW TV

Bullet Club Gold was attacked by MJF on the AEW Full Gear 2023 go-home episode of Rampage, and when the camera cut backstage, Juice Robinson was laid out after MJF apparently broke a flat-screen TV over his head.

Fightful is reporting that Robinson was legitimately injured sometime before that and the angle was carried out to write him off television.

Robinson suffered a back injury at some point and will require surgery to repair the issue. It’s unknown when the injury occurred.

Robinson last wrestled on the November 1st episode of AEW Dynamite. He is believed to be out for the remainder of the year, but not much longer than that.

Source: eWn

Details On AEW Champion MJF’s Legitimate Injury At Full Gear

MJF successfully retained the AEW World Championship against Bullet Club Gold’s Jay White this past weekend at the AEW Full Gear 2023 pay-per-view. According to Bryan Alvarez of the “Wrestling Observer Radio” show, MJF suffered a dislocated hip during that main event title clash. The injury reportedly occurred when “The Salt of the Earth” performed an elbow drop from the ring to the floor. The move was supposed to be through the announce table, but the table broke when MJF placed White on top of it.

Alvarez said that MJF ended up having his hip put back into place, but he is now dealing with a “very, very painful” hip injury and a shoulder injury. However, it’s said that MJF will not miss any time.

MJF was involved in an injury angle this past weekend at Full Gear. On the Zero Hour pre-show, Austin and Colten Gunn injured MJF’s leg with a steel chair after they unsuccessfully challenged “The Salt of the Earth” and Samoa Joe, who was filling in for the injured Adam Cole, for ROH World Tag Team Championship. MJF was stretchered out of the arena and taken away in an ambulance. 

During the Full Gear pay-per-view, Tony Schiavone was set to announce White as the new AEW World Champion by default, but Cole stepped in and said he would defend the belt on MJF’s behalf. MJF ultimately returned, driving the ambulance he was placed in earlier in the evening, to defend the world title right before the main event was due to get underway.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

MJF Has Had Zero Talks With WWE, Believed To Have Re-Signed With AEW

In the past, AEW World Heavyweight Champion MJF made a big deal about his AEW contract expiring in early 2024 and potentially leaving for WWE if they offered him more money.

However, according to Nick Hausman of Haus of Wrestling, multiple WWE sources now believe that MJF has re-signed with AEW, with one high-ranking WWE source claiming that there have been no discussions between the two parties.

The report noted, “They further noted that the idea Friedman is set to enter free agency imminently is a “false narrative” and that they believe he has re-signed into 2027.”

“This is a completely in his head storyline,” one WWE source said. “1000%,” another WWE source stated. “I was told a while ago he is under a long-term deal, which is why they stopped pushing the 2024 stuff.”

Source: eWn

Tony Khan Reveals How Ronda Rousey ROH Appearance Came About, Clarifies Her AEW Status

Ronda Rousey is officially living the life of an independent wrestler, including making a stop in Ring of Honor, where Rousey made her promotional debut at this week’s ROH taping, teaming with Marina Shafir to take on Billie Starkz and ROH Women’s World Champion Athena. According to AEW President and ROH Owner Tony Khan, the appearance was a one-off for now.

“She’s not signed but we had a great conversation,” Khan said at the post-AEW Full Gear press conference. Rousey had wrestled against Starkz earlier in the week at a local show in Los Angeles, and Khan wanted to keep the animosity going and felt the feud would be a good addition to that week’s Ring of Honor. This corroborates a previous report that said Rousey was booked to help increase HonorClub subscriptions.

“Ronda was happy to come here and she was great and the crowd was really excited to see her,” Khan gushed. “We’d love to have her back sometime.” Rousey is also a Los Angeles-area local, making the recent tapings in Inglewood easy for the former WWE Raw Women’s Champion to attend.

The former UFC Champion wrestled for WWE from 2018, racking up numerous accolades as well as a Royal Rumble win, until this past summer when she and WWE parted ways. She re-emerged in October, wrestling alongside Shafir at Lucha VaVoom, wrestling Taya Valkyrie and Brian Kendrick. Former AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa said Rousey could be a great addition to the AEW locker room, should she someday sign.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tony Khan Confirms New AEW Title For Continental Classic, Along With Rules & Start Date

AEW President Tony Khan has confirmed that the first AEW Continental Classic tournament will culminate in the crowning of the first AEW Continental Champion.

Khan wrote on social media Saturday night, “The Continental Classic starts this week, Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve on #AEWDynamite! 12 fighters, no interference, nobody at ringside. The winner becomes AEW Continental Champion + ROH World Champion + NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, a new Triple Crown Champion at Worlds End!”

As noted, Eddie Kingston announced at AEW Full Gear that he will defend his ROH World and NJPW STRONG Openweight titles in every match he competes in of the round-robin-style tournament. Six competitors will be split into two groups for those round-robin bouts, which will begin this Wednesday, November 22, on “Dynamite.” The matches will continue for six weeks across “Dynamite” and “Collision” until the finals take place at the new AEW Worlds End pay-per-view on Saturday, December 30, in Long Island.

The first Continental Classic will have 12 competitors but only four have been confirmed thus far: Kingston, Bryan Danielson, Andrade El Idolo, and Mark Briscoe. Wrestling Inc. will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

Source: Wrestling Inc.