Category: AEW

AEW Dynamite Preview 8/17/22, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat

Tonight’s episode of “AEW Dynamite” — which will be sponsored by HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” set to premiere on August 21 — will emanate live from Charleston, West Virginia.

* As a special surprise for the show, it was confirmed by AEW CEO Tony Khan yesterday that Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will serve as special guest timekeeper throughout the broadcast.

* “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson and Daniel Garcia squaring off in a two-out-of-three falls match

* AEW World Trios Championship tournament will kick off when Andrade El Idolo, Rush, and Dragon Lee battle The Young Bucks and a mystery partner

* Varsity Blonds (Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison) will take on the Gunn Club (Austin and Colten Gunn) w/Billy Gunn

* Toni Storm is set to face Kilynn King

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1559933320162471938

Kris Statlander Provides Update On Her Injury

Kris Statlander expects to miss at least six to eight months of action after undergoing surgery to fix a torn ACL.

In her first interview post-injury, Statlander touched upon how her knee landed awkwardly after she struck Sierra with a running kick on a recent episode of “AEW Dark.”

“I did a big boot which I don’t really do that often, but I decided to do it that day,” Statlander recalled on AEW’s Road to West Virginia YouTube special. “When I landed, my knee buckled on me. After getting an MRI, [it was revealed] I had a completely torn ACL. My lateral meniscus is torn, and there is lateral impaction fractures in my tibia and femoral heads, so tiny little cracks that are more of a bruise, but still [I] technically have a broken leg.”

“I’ve had a similar injury with my left leg, so my good knee went bad,” Statlander continued. “But what’s weird is that with the first one, I was in so much pain and couldn’t walk. But with this one, I didn’t really have as much pain. It was uncomfortable at first but after about 24-36 hours, I was able to walk around on it fine. Little to no swelling. So, we were really hoping for the best, and it turned out to be the worse.”

Despite the MRI revealing the worse possible outcome, Statlander is determined to bounce back “bigger, more powerful, and more than a woman” at some point in 2023.

Statlander, who missed nearly a year due to an ACL tear in 2020, hopes to call upon her past experience in her current recovery.

“So, recovery time is about 6-8 months,” Statlander confirmed. “Once we had the MRI, we were hoping it’d just be a meniscus tear; that would have kept me out for 3 months at the most. But now that we know the ACL is torn, it could be 6-8 months. Hopefully closer to 6, considering I know what I have to do. I’ve done this before.

“I came back biger and stronger the last time, and I’m going to use this opportunity to do that one more time — because fall down two times, get up three,” Statlander said with a thumbs up gesture. “I’m just trying to stay positive, gotta make the jokes — it’s the only way to do it.”

In conclusion, Statlander thanked her fan base for supporting through adversity.

“Whenever my return is, I’m really looking forward to being able to feel in the crowd,” Statlander stressed. “So, thank you all for supporting me.”

Statlander was reportedly in line for a huge push prior to her injury. She was on a winning streak for nearly four months, and seemed prime to challenge Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship. Many believe her AEW career went on a different trajectory after she dumped her previous “Galaxy’s Greatest Alien” character for the “More than a Woman” persona, a change that Statlander herself felt was necessary.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 8/12/22

Tonight on AEW Rampage airing at 10/9C on TNT.

* AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship: Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti (c) vs. Dante Martin & Skye Blue
* Orange Cassidy vs. Ari Daivari
* Parker Boudreaux vs. Sonny Kiss
* The Gunn Club vs. Beardhausen (Erick Redbeard & Danhausen)
* We’ll hear from Swerve in Our Glory
* HOOK to speak
* Bryan Danielson returns

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1558075837525762054

AEW Trios Championship Tournament Bracket Revealed

A few weeks ago, AEW introduced their World Trios Championships. In a week’s time, the tournament to crown the promotion’s inaugural champions. The finals for the tournament will be held at All Out on September 4 in Chicago.

Trios titles in AEW have been a hot topic for the last few years. Now that the titles have officially been introduced, AEW will have the chance to live up to their own hype. It might be a bit of an uphill battle in the face of criticism that the company has introduced too many championships too quickly, but if anyone can generate interest in tag team wrestling, it’s AEW.

Running down the right side of the bracket, there’s House of Black set to face off against Dark Order and Trustbusters against the Best Friends. It’s unclear at this point who will be representing the Dark Order between John Silver, Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno and Preston Vance. Looking at this half of the bracket altogether, it’s hard not to pick the House of Black as the favorites.

The left side of the bracket is admittedly much more interesting. Death Triangle is set to face off against NJPW’s Will Ospreay and Aussie Open. Next, La Faccion Ingobernables (Dragon Lee, Rush, and Andrade) are set to take on the Young Bucks and their partner, who is yet to be determined. Most fans had assumed that the Young Bucks would be partnering with Hangman Adam Page, but after Page’s heartbreaking rejection of Matt Jackson’s offer, their future is up in the air.

Kenny Omega may be returning, though the likelihood is slim at this point. If no one else, the Bucks could team with their friend Brandon Cutler. He’s no Hangman, but he’s better than nothing.

Source: TheSportster

CM Punk Makes Shocking Return From Injury To End Wednesday’s Dynamite

CM Punk made a surprise return to AEW TV on Wednesday night, showing up to shut Dynamite down following a bloody AEW World Championship match between interim champ Jon Moxley and challenger Chris Jericho.

Moxley retained the championship, surviving quite the beating from Jericho and even kicking out after receiving a Judas Effect. The champion had been bloodied early in the match, with Jericho ripping an earring from his ear.

He was also put through the Lion Tamer – more than once at that – but Jericho would be the one to tap out even after sending Moxley face first into an exposed turnbuckle and slugging him with a baseball bat thrown into the ring by Sammy Guevara (he overthrew it actually).

Moxley was then attacked by the Jericho Appreciation Society before the Blackpool Combat Club came to his aid. Jericho’s entourage got the upper hand and the inaugural AEW World Champion was about to smash Mox in the face with his own belt, but CM Punk’s music hit, prompting a pause.

Punk cleared the JAS out of the ring and then faced down Moxley, who showed little appreciation for the save, flipping the champ the bird and cursing him out before making his exit.

It appears Punk is ready and raring to go following surgery on his foot – he made sure to hop around on it, showing he could put weight on the surgically repaired appendage before the show went off the air.

Source: TheSportster

https://twitter.com/AEWonTV/status/1557546031532847104
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AEW Dynamite “Quake By The Lake” Preview 8/10/22

AEW Dynamite’s Quake By The Lake special will air live tonight on TBS, and emanate from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Here is the current lineup for the show:

* Jon Moxley (c) vs. Chris Jericho for the AEW Interim World Championship

* Darby Allin vs. Brody King in a Coffin Match

* Lucha Brothers (Penta Oscuro and Rey Fenix) vs. Andrade El Idolo and Rush in a Tornado Tag Team Match

* Jade Cargill (c) vs. Madison Rayne for the TBS Championship

* Ricky Starks vs. Aaron Solo 

* FTR to appear for the first time since the July 21 episode of Dynamite

More Details Revealed About AEW: Fight Forever Video Game

Over the past week, more updates and information about Yukes and THQ Nordic’s upcoming game AEW: Fight Forever have been coming. We’ve seen gameplay, trailers, and the cover art, with more official info said to be released on August 12th at THQ Nordic’s Showcase. Before the event, “Fightful Select” has learned even more news about the upcoming wrestling game.

Fightful revealed that nobody in All Elite Wrestling even knew what the cover looked like until it leaked one day before it was supposed to disclose. The cover athletes didn’t even know they were on the game’s cover. This is because THQ Nordic designed the cover art itself, not AEW.

As for updates on the many different modes in the game, there will be more mini-games than what was seen in a recent gameplay video. We will have the three previously shown off and a fourth centered around The King of Sloth Style, Orange Cassidy. The story/career mode for the game was reportedly not going to be like other wrestling games’ career mode, being described as “much different than anything before it.”

Many of the talent who arrived in AEW earlier in the year will not be expected to make the cut for the upcoming game, so don’t be surprised if we don’t see names like Swerve Strickland, Keith Lee, or Athena appear in the game.

Internally, AEW: Fight Forever’s release date has been moved around, with Kenny Omega previously stating that the hope is the game would release in September. Fightful also said that THQ Nordic has been in high gear over the last few months, pushing out additions and bug fixes to the game. They also report that there are rumors of more being shown off about the game next month in Japan.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Battle Of The Belts 3 Preview 8/6/22

AEW Battle of the Belts 3 will air this Saturday at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT taped Friday night in Grand Rapids, MI.

Here is the current lineup for the show:

* Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the Ring of Honor World Championship

* Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Jamie Hayter for the AEW Women’s Championship

* Wardlow (c) vs. Jay Lethal for the TNT Championship

AEW Rampage Preview 8/5/22

Tonight on AEW Rampage live from Grand Rapids, MI.

The following lineup is announced for tonight’s “Rampage”:

  • AEW Interim World Championship Eliminator Match: Mance Warner vs. Jon Moxley (c)
  • Friday Night Street Fight: AEW World Tag Team Champions Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland) vs. Josh Woods & Tony Nese
  • Madison Rayne vs. Leila Grey

Madison Rayne Comments On Her First Day Working For AEW

Madison Rayne is feeling good following her first full day in AEW.

“Today was such an incredible day,” Rayne said in a post on Twitter.

AEW announced on Wednesday that Rayne has joined the company as a coach in its women’s division. Her hiring was announced as part of a list of promotions that expand AEW’s talent relations department — Sonjay Dutt and QT Marshall were promoted to Vice Presidents of Show and Creative Coordination, Pat Buck was promoted to Vice President of Talent Development, and Tony Schiavone was promoted to Senior Producer and Special Advisor to Talent.

Rayne’s official debut is being advertised for Friday night’s live episode of “AEW Rampage”. AEW CEO Tony Khan has said he’s open to the idea of Rayne wrestling matches for AEW. Rayne’s last match to be broadcast by her former employer, Impact Wrestling, was a loss to Masha Slamovich during the July 21 episode of “Impact on AXS TV.” Another match from the most recent set of tapings against Mia Yim has yet to air.

Rayne spent the better part of the last 14 years in Impact, formerly known as TNA. She’s one of the most decorated women in the company’s history — a five-time Impact Knockouts Champions, one of only four women to hold the title on five or more occasions, and her 404 cumulative days as Knockouts Champion rank as the third most in history. Rayne’s last reign on top of the Knockouts division ended in 2014.

Rayne was also recently one-half of the Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Champions alongside Tenille Dashwood. The pair held the titles for more than 100 days before this past June, when they were dethroned by Taya Valkyrie and Rosemary at the Slammiversary pay-per-view. It was the third time in Rayne’s career that she held the Knockouts Tag titles, having previously won them with Gail Kim and as part of the Beautiful People alongside Velvet Sky and Lacey von Erich, who defended the belts interchangeably as a trio under the Freebird Rule.

https://twitter.com/MadisonRayne/status/1555053121126154241