Category: AEW

Jeff Hardy Pleads Not Guilty To DUI Charge

Jeff Hardy has pleaded not guilty to his recent DUI charge in Volusia County, Florida.

Hardy was arrested on June 13th for a DUI, marking the third time he’s been arrested for driving under the influence in 10 years. Hardy’s blood-alcohol level was reported to be more than three times the legal limit.

The evening before his arrest, Hardy had spent it at the SlamDown VII convention in Orlando, FL.

According to PWInsider, Hardy filed a written plea of not guilty on June 28th. Hardy is scheduled to be arraigned on July 5th.

It was also reported that the AEW star entered a rehab facility on June 21st.

As previously noted, AEW CEO Tony Khan suspended Hardy without pay until he’s able to maintain his sobriety for an undisclosed amount of time. AEW CEO Tony Khan had commented on Hardy’s current issues. He made it clear that treatment was Hardy’s last chance. Hardy has been in rehab since June 21st.

“I’m really glad nobody got hurt,” Khan said. “But what Jeff did going out and driving is different from the other thing. And I just don’t like hearing them the two compared if that makes sense. I feel like I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Jeff a lot of credit for now doing the right thing. And this is what we said — Jeff’s got to do the right thing if he wants to stay with AEW. Because it’s his last chance.

In the latest update from PWInsider, the site has acquired a copy of Hardy’s written notification that he was pleading not guilty to the June 13th DUI charge. Hardy was also charged with driving while his license was suspended/revoked and a violation of restrictions placed on his driver’s license.

According to the below copy from PWInsider, Hardy “waives arraignment by filing this written plea of not guilty.” Hardy’s arraignment was originally set for July 5th. He also waives the right to be present at any pretrial conferences.

Defendant, Jeffrey Nero Hardy, pursuant to rules 3.160(a), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, waives arraignment by filing this written plea of not guilty. Albritton v. White, 948 So. 2d 852, 854 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007). Defendant further waives the right to be present at all pretrial conferences.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Adam Cole Reportedly Suffered ‘Very Serious Concussion’ At Forbidden Door

Adam Cole reportedly suffered “a very serious concussion” during his Four-Way Match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view on June 26.

According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Cole’s concussion led to a “rushed and awkward finish” to the match as Jay White pinned the leader of the Undisputed Elite to retain his title. In the final sequence of the match, Cole landed several superkicks on Kazuchika Okada for a near fall but then appeared to grow sluggish after taking a superkick from Hangman Page. Cole would also counter a Rainmaker from Okada before taking the pinfall to White.

In the lead-up to Forbidden Door, Fightful Select reported that Cole has been dealing with a torn labrum as far back as his AEW World Title program with Page, and braved through the injury during their match at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view. The report added that Cole has been “banged up for quite a while” and has been “battling a series of injuries” for longer than most realize.

Meltzer’s report Friday suggested that Cole could potentially undergo surgery to fix the torn labrum, or at least take extended time off for rehab, but there’s no confirmation on his plans. Meltzer suggested that Cole is “mentally wanting to continue” as evidenced by the fact that the Owen Hart Cup winner has avoided surgery up to this point.

If Cole is forced to miss time, it could prove to be a devastating blow to AEW as the company deals with a never-ending slew of injuries. The injury list is currently headlined by AEW World Champion CM Punk (foot), Bryan Danielson (concussion), Kenny Omega (multiple injuries), Jungle Boy (undisclosed), Kyle O’Reilly (undisclosed), Red Velvet (undisclosed), Anthony Bowens (knee), Darius Martin (car accident), Leyla Hirsch (torn ACL), The Bunny (undisclosed), Buddy Matthews (shoulder), Lee Johnson (knee) and Santana (knee/leg). On a positive note, AEW TNT Champion Scorpio Sky returns from a knee injury on next week’s “Dynamite” for a title defense against Wardlow.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Santana Suffers Injury During Blood And Guts Match

Santana suffered an injury during the “Blood & Guts” main event bout last night on “AEW Dynamite.”

The Proud & Powerful star appeared to get hurt after hitting Jericho Appreciation Society’s Daniel Garcia with an Uranage throw, before landing awkwardly on both his wrist and knee, as seen in the video below. His leg buckled immediately following the maneuver, and he remained grounded for the rest of the match. According to fans at the arena, Santana would roll out of the ring, lying between the cage and the ropes, as he communicated with referees at the ringside area.

https://twitter.com/theangleradio/status/1542331064168873990
https://twitter.com/GOATGOD_1000/status/1542322738169356291

Santana never returned to the action and wasn’t part of the post-match celebration either. A few minutes before the brutal match concluded, Santana was seen being helped up the ramp and taken to the backstage area for a medical evaluation.

The “Blood & Guts” match would eventually conclude with Claudio Castagnoli tapping out Matt Menard atop the steel cage, barely seconds before Eddie Kingston would do the same to Chris Jericho. AEW teased some tension between Castagnoli and Kingston after the match, with the latter claiming he secured the win for William Regal’s Blackpool Combat Club & Co.

If Santana is forced to miss time with an injury, he’d be the latest to join AEW’s lengthy injury list. The list is crowded enough with AEW World Champion CM Punk (foot), Bryan Danielson (concussion), Kenny Omega (multiple injuries), Jungle Boy (undisclosed), Kyle O’Reilly (undisclosed), Red Velvet (undisclosed), Anthony Bowens (knee), Darius Martin (car accident), Leyla Hirsch (torn ACL), TNT Champion Scorpio Sky (knee), The Bunny (undisclosed), Buddy Matthews (shoulder) and Lee Johnson (knee) on the shelf with various injuries. On a positive note, Sky’s in-ring return has been announced for next week’s Dynamite.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Kenny Omega Says He Will Retire If He Suffers One More Major Injury

Kenny Omega is tired of rehabbing for injuries.

AEW superstar Kenny Omega has declared he will quit wrestling if he suffers another major injury setback. The former AEW World Champion has been out since last year’s Full Gear as he recovers from multiple injuries, including shoulder and knee problems, a hernia, plus more.

There was hope he could be back in time for Forbidden Door, but that wasn’t the case and there’s still no word on when he might return.

Omega appeared on the CEO Gaming channel on popular platform Twitch and would update fans on his injury. He said he will call curtains on his wrestling career should he suffer another big injury as he isn’t prepared to go through the rehab and the uncertainty that comes with trying to get back in the ring.

The Cleaner also inferred that people aren’t aware of how difficult it is for athletes to come back from major injuries, also revealing he’s on the end of ridicule on a daily basis.

“If I get another major setback, that’s it. That’s it, I’m done, I can’t do this ever again,” he said in quotes transcribed by Fightful. “Two times, three times a day, really painful rehab, not even knowing what it’s going to be like when I get back in the ring. I have no clue. It’s scary, actually.

“You see people, they come back to the ring and you’re just happy to see them back. There is a different kind of expectation put on me, and I think that anything less than what they are expecting, which is already unrealistic, is going to lead to a lot of ridicule, which is what I get every day anyway. You can probably understand and imagine how difficult it is, struggling twice, three times a day, trying to get things to work that maybe never worked before, and trying to re-route things in your brain to get around the things that aren’t going heal.

“People think, ‘Kenny is hurt, he took time off,’ snap your fingers, I come back and I’m 100%. Life doesn’t work that way. Bodies don’t work that way. Athletes don’t work that way. It’s very difficult to formulate a plan and to execute it. We’ll see how I do.”

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite “Blood & Guts” Preview 6/29/22

AEW will present the violent spectacle of one of its signature matches on tonight’s episode of Dynamite – “Blood & Guts” from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

The following line-up is announced for tonight:

  • Blood & Guts Match: Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho, Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, Matt Menard & Sammy Guevara) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (AEW Interim World Champion Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Eddie Kingston, Ortiz, Santana & Wheeler Yuta)
  • TBS Championship Match: Leila Grey vs. Jade Cargill (c)
  • Ethan Page vs. Orange Cassidy
  • We hear from Christian Cage

Jon Moxley Potentially Suffers Concussion At Forbidden Door

New AEW Interim World Champion Jon Moxley admitted that he was “probably concussed” following his main event match against Hiroshi Tanahashi at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

Moxley closed the show against the New Japan Pro Wrestling star in an entertaining headline match that saw him capture the title, but he was badly busted open during the encounter, visibly bleeding a lot throughout the match. After the show went off the air, the new champion addressed the crowd and confessed, “I don’t know where I am going with this, I am probably concussed.”

https://twitter.com/ShiningPolaris/status/1541282745845948416

This would be a major concern for the company if it was true, as Moxley is currently scheduled to compete inside Blood & Guts on the upcoming episode of “AEW Dynamite” against the Jericho Appreciation Society. If he has suffered a concussion, Moxley would presumably be ruled out of that match, and could be out of action for a longer period depending on the severity, which is not what the company needs right now. AEW is currently dealing with a laundry list of injuries across its roster, which is how Moxley ended up in the main event of Forbidden Door to begin with, as reigning AEW World Champion CM Punk had to be taken off the show due to a foot injury. On top of that, Bryan Danielson is currently out of action with an undisclosed issue, which is why he was replaced at Forbidden Door by the debuting Claudio Castagnoli.

As well as them two, Red Velvet, Scorpio Sky, Lee Johnson, Darius Martin, The Bunny, Kyle O’Reilly, Kenny Omega, and Anthony Bowens are all on the shelf, with Jungle Boy having also been added to that list recently.

During the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match on the PPV, Adam Cole also appeared to be hurt, which led to an abrupt finish for the contest, continuing to stretch Tony Khan’s roster. So far there has been no official confirmation on the situation regarding either Moxley or Cole.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On Claudio Castagnoli Signing With AEW

At last night’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view, Claudio Castagnoli debuted as the newest member of William Regal’s Blackpool Combat Club, replacing the injured Bryan Danielson in a victory against Zack Sabre Jr. However, AEW initially had a different plan in place for the incoming Swiss wrestler, according to Fightful Select.

While the original plans for Castagnoli’s AEW debut weren’t specified, the report noted that AEW had already prepared merchandise and promotional material for the former Cesaro prior to Sunday’s AEW X NJPW crossover event. Furthermore, the duration of Castagnoli’s contract was described as “long term” but Fightful couldn’t confirm if he had put pen to paper yet. Castagnoli had been spotted training at the Flatbacks Wrestling School in Orlando, which is owned by AEW star Shawn Spears and former WWE star Tyler Breeze, multiple times over the last several weeks.

Castagnoli was reportedly backstage “throughout the night” Sunday, which would mean the locker room was aware of his debut. In contrast, Bryan Danielson’s debut was kept under wraps at last year’s All Out pay-per-view, with Danielson admittedly spending much of the night waiting in the production truck until he stepped out during the main event segment.

Less than four nights after his AEW debut, Castagnoli will be in action again this Wednesday on “AEW Dynamite” when he teams up with Interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz in a “Blood & Guts” match against The Jericho Appreciation Society. During the closing stages of Forbidden Door, Castagnoli was confronted by Kingston, who didn’t appear very pleased to be on the same team as his old CHIKARA and PWG rival. Castagnoli would take to Twitter later to comment on his AEW debut, as seen below.

https://twitter.com/ClaudioCSRO/status/1541309560756899840
https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1541271374337024006

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door Results 6/26/2022, Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro)

THE BUY-IN:

CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) defeated The Factory (QT Marshall & Aaron Solow)

Lance Archer defeated Nick Comoroto

Swerve In Our Glory (Shane Strickland & Keith Lee) defeated El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Max Caster & The Gunn Club defeated NJPW Dojo’s Kevin Knight & The DKC & Alex Coughlin & Yuya Uemura

FORBIDDEN DOOR:

Trios Match To Determine Advantage In Blood & Guts Match
Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara defeated Eddie Kingston, Shota Umino & Wheeler Yuta

WINNER TAKES ALL MATCH FOR IWGP & RING OF HONOR TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) defeated Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Berreta) and Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan (c) (**TITLE CHANGE**)

AEW ALL-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Pac defeated Clark Connors and Malakai Black and Miro (**TITLE CHANGE**)

Darby Allin, Sting & Shingo Takagi defeated AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) & El Phantasmo

-Jericho Appreciation Society tell Shota Umino that he earned their respect. Jericho then threw a fireball in Umino’s face.

AEW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Thunder Rosa (c) defeated Toni Storm

IWGP UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Will Ospreay (c) defeated Orange Cassidy

-After the match, United Empire attacks Cassidy. Beretta and Rocky Romero make the save. Katsuyori Shibata’s music hits. Shibata takes out Aussie Open. Shibata is dressed to fight. Shibata hits a huge Pump Kick on Ospreay. Shibata hits Ospreay with a Shotgun Dropkick. Aussie Open save Ospreay from the Rear Naked Choke.

-Orange Cassidy thanks Shibata by putting his sunglasses on him.

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Zack Sabre Jr.

IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Jay White (c) defeated Adam Cole and Hangman Page and Kazuchika Okada

INTERIM AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Jon Moxley defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (**TITLE CHANGE**)

After the match, Jericho Appreciation Society beat up Tanahashi and Moxley. Massive brawl as more and more members of both JAS and Blackpool Combat Club run out to add to the brawl. Claudio comes out and clears the ring. Claudio spins Garcia endlessly and Blackpool Combat Club stand tall to end the show.

Backstage News On Bryan Danielson’s Injury

Bryan Danielson addressed concerns over his health on Wednesday’s episode of “AEW Dynamite,” but left people with more questions than answers.

Originally planned to face Zack Sabre Jr. at Sunday’s Forbidden Door event, Danielson has been off TV since AEW Double or Nothing, when he suffered an undisclosed injury that caused him to miss a meet and greet, as well as a flight.

The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer newsletter shines a little bit of light on the situation. According to Dave Meltzer, there is still no confirmed injury for Danielson, but that it is believed to have been a concussion suffered during the chaotic Anarchy In The Arena Match. Meltzer says that AEW followed the example of WWE, who usually are open about injuries unless they involve “the two C’s (COVID & Concussions).” The Observer states that a concussion could be troubling news, as Danielson has a history with head injuries (at one point having briefly retired from wrestling due to concussion concerns), and if he’s still not passing concussion protocol a month out from the injury, it could be serious.

On Wednesday, Danielson announced that a replacement — and Blackpool Combat Club debutante — would wrestle Sabre in his stead, as well as in the upcoming Blood & Guts match in which the BCC is set to participate on next week’s “Dynamite.” Danielson did not explain his injuries further, merely stating that he’s not going to be at Forbidden Door or Blood & Guts. As the Observer notes, Danielson appeared to be doing well during the announcement, with no slurred speech or confusion.

There’s currently no word on Sabre’s replacement, but The Observer suggested that AEW likely have someone in mind and are just holding off on announcing his replacement in the name of PPV curiosity. According to the publication, the replacement will need to be up to the standard of the highly-anticipated original match, or else fans will start to chafe against AEW’s penchant for surprises — former WWE stars Cesaro and Johnny Gargano have both been the subjects of speculation in the wake of Danielson’s announcement.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 6/26/2022

DATE: June 26, 2022 8:00 pm
LOCATION: United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
AVAILABLE ON:Pay-Per-View, Bleacher Report, FITE (International), NJPW World (Japan)

CARD

INTERIM AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley

IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Adam Cole vs. Hangman Page vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White (c)

AEW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Toni Storm vs. Thunder Rosa (c)

IWGP UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Orange Cassidy vs. Will Ospreay (c)

AEW ALL-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Malakai Black vs. Miro vs. Pac vs. Clark Connors 

WINNER TAKES ALL MATCH FOR IWGP & RING OF HONOR TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan (c) vs. FTR (c) vs. Roppongi Vice

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBA

Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara vs. Eddie Kingston, Shota Umino & Wheeler Yuta

AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Darby Allin, Sting, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi

Swerve In Our Glory (Shane Strickland & Keith Lee) vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

THE BUY-IN:
Max Caster & The Gunn Club vs. NJPW Dojo’s Kevin Knight & The DKC & Alex Coughlin & Yuya Uemura