Category: AEW

AEW Not Offering Huge Money To Woo Newly-Acquired Talent From WWE

AEW has added a number of big names, but it doesn’t sound like they’re handing out big fat contracts to acquire these stars.

Talk in the professional wrestling world has been highly focused on big names jumping from WWE to AEW. With CM Punk, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage, Andrade El Idolo, and others potentially already a part of the AEW roster, the question about how many more WWE stars might follow suit is valid. Recent chatter that both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have WWE deals that expire soon and would be on AEW’s radar is interesting, while the futures of talent like Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt are still to be determined.

What seems to be the case, with exception of Punk — who was on Tony Khan’s radar for some time — is that AEW is not actively going after these former WWE stars. In fact, even when these talents become available, the talk is that AEW is not offering big money to convince the talent to join the roster. In some cases, these stars are being offered less and gladly accepting the deals because they are prioritizing the work environment over money.

One of the consistent themes is that AEW has money, but they aren’t eager to throw it away. Their pitch is creative input, a team atmosphere, fewer days, the ability to work outside the promotion, strong in-ring wrestling matchups, healthy relationships with the people in charge, and a family environment where talent wants to work together and there isn’t nearly as much political dissension as there might be in WWE. That’s how AEW is selling coming aboard and for wrestlers who value earning the best money over those things, AEW is happy enough to let wrestlers look at other options. In fact, Danielson said he almost didn’t come over.

In other words, AEW is not doing what WCW did back in the day and offering bigger money to acquire talent.

In some situations, Tony Khan is going after the talents that he wants. He had his eyes on 2.0 after they were released from NXT and he patiently waited for Punk to feel like the timing was right and AEW was the right fit. In other cases, Khan isn’t chasing free agents. Ruby Soho mentioned that she wasn’t sure if there was a spot for her in AEW and reached out to find out there was. If Ric Flair joins, it will likely be because he’s asked to work with Andrade El Idolo. Adam Cole was surprised to learn his contract had expired in AEW and Khan didn’t know anything about it until he was told as much. While the pay is likely fair for everyone, it doesn’t sound like any of these stars have hit a financial home run.

As such, don’t be surprised if stars like Owens and Zayn don’t jump. It will depend on what they value. It could be financial security or it could be the freedom that comes with having the best matches with creative input and joining a “wrestling promotion” over a sports entertainment company.

Source: TheSportster

Kenny Omega Tops 2021’s PWI 500, Top 10 Revealed

Kenny Omega has topped the PWI 500 for the second time in his career, beating Roman Reigns to number one.

Kenny Omega has topped the PWI 500 for only the second time in his career, knocking Jon Moxley off the top spot and all the way down to number six.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated has been ranking the 500 best male wrestlers in the business since 1991. Who deserves to be number one each year is heavily debated, with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Stone Cole, CM Punk, and AJ Styles all having clinched the top spot in the past. This year’s top ten has been revealed, and PWI has declared Kenny Omega 2021’s best male wrestler.

This is actually the second time Omega has topped the PWI 500. The Cleaner was named the publication’s best wrestler in 2018 as well. It was hard to argue with the decision to place him first then, and maybe even more difficult to make a case against him in 2021. During PWI’s assessment period, Omega won World Titles in three different promotions, holding them simultaneously.

The rest of the top ten has been revealed too, with Universal Champion Roman Reigns claiming the number two spot. That’s the highest Reigns has placed since he took the number one spot in 2016, bouncing back from dropping out of the top ten completely in 2020 when he missed a chunk of the year due to the pandemic.

Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Finn Balor also make the top ten, as does Will Ospreay. However, the New Japan star appears to be a little miffed with only making it as high as seventh. It’s actually the highest Ospreay has ever placed, only cracking the top ten one time before this in 2019. The British star tweeted that he could beat Omega any night of the week in response to the top ten being posted on Twitter.

SouOmega responded that New Japan has been “ice cold” since he left, to which Ospreay replied by pointing to a sold-out MSG show and the best-selling Tokyo Dome show in the promotion’s history. Ospreay closes by challenging Omega to a match. The forbidden door between AEW and New Japan is wide open right now, so it could happen. Just last night on Dynamite Moxley defeated Minoru Suzuki.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 9/8/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

* Fallout from All Out

* Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki

* Ruby Soho vs. Jamie Hayter (with Britt Baker and Rebel)

* Malakai Black vs. Dustin Rhodes

Mick Foley Says WWE Has A Problem In AEW

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley took to Facebook this morning and issued a video warning to WWE following the AEW All Out debuts of Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson and Ruby Soho.

Foley titled his video, “WWE – WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM.” You can read his full comments and watch the video below:

“Hello, this is ‘The Hardcore Legend’ Mick Foley. I’d like to title this video, ‘WWE – We’ve Got a Problem’ because I think you do and that problem is that WWE is no longer the place for talent to aspire to,” Foley began. “Part of it is because AEW is doing a great job of attracting great talent, proven talent, building other talent, creating storylines, but part of it is a problem of your own making. I think younger talent sees the way that developmental characters are cut or left by the wayside, or in the case of Karrion Kross, greatly watered down and even made a joke of when they debut on the main roster. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

“If I was an aspiring talent now, big league talent with a major decision to make, I’m not sure that I would trust WWE creative to do the right thing with my career. You guys did wonders with me back in the day… that was a different time, different place. If it was today, I’m not sure I would trust the powers to be with my career in their hands, and until that changes, WWE – you’ve got a problem.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Bryan Danielson Is Unsure If He’s Allowed To Chant ‘Yes’ In AEW

Bryan Danielson has revealed why he didn’t chant “yes” along with the fans at AEW All Out.

Bryan Danielson has explained why he didn’t chant “yes” along with the fans when he came to the ring at All Out.

Daniel Bryan, who will now go by Bryan Danielson since he is no longer with WWE, made his very first appearance for AEW at All Out. Danielson aligned himself with Jurassic Express and Christian Cage, chasing off The Elite along with its own brand new member, Adam Cole. Fans in-house broke out into a deafening yes chant as Danielson made his way to the ring, but the former WWE Champion didn’t join in.

On the surface, that was probably because he was focused on helping out the wrestlers getting beaten down in the ring. However, when asked about it after the show, Danielson admitted he’s not sure he’s legally allowed to chant yes and strike his signature pose on a non-WWE wrestling show.

“I don’t know, we’re going to have to talk about like what I can do and what I cannot do,” Danielson explained. “I appreciate the people I worked for before and respecting their intellectual property and that sort of thing… the fans doing it is great, but I’m not sure if I’m going to do it.” Tony Khan added afterwards that he doesn’t believe the yes chant is WWE’s IP.

Despite WWE’s penchant for trademarking everything it can when it comes to its employees, it seems unlikely that it would be able to lay claim to one of the most commonly used three letter words in the English language. Based on everything else Danielson said during the post-show scrum, it may be more of a case of him wanting to respect WWE. He said that he still has a great relationship with Vince McMahon, and sees some of the people still under WWE’s employ as family.

It could also be a case of Danielson simply not wanting to bring that part of his WWE persona with him. While he might have reached the once unfathomable levels of fame he as attained while under WWE’s banner, this is a whole new chapter in his career. He may want to reinvent himself using elements of his time in WWE, but not necessarily all of them.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Star Kip Sabian Working On A New Gimmick?

AEW star Kip Sabian hasn’t wrestled since May 24 and underwent successful arm surgery in mid-May.

His last appearance on AEW TV was on April 28, thanks to a backstage attack from Miro. The current TNT Champion was not happy at the time about their loss to Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy in an Arcade Anarchy Match.

Sabian now looks to be potentially working on a new gimmick, posting a photo of himself wearing a suit and box over his head with the words, “underrated, over it” on the box. There’s also a sand timer on the side of the box.

“Time doesn’t heal…It changes you…” Sabian wrote in the caption.

During this weekend’s AEW All Out Fan Fest, Sabian did an unadvertised meet and greet with fans and scribbled different messages over his 8×10 photos.

On many of them he scratched out his face and wrote “no” as to indicate he’s not long connecting with that character. In the videos, it didn’t sound like Sabian talked at all with the fans that came up to him.

https://twitter.com/TheKipSabian/status/1434293000436436993
https://twitter.com/authofwrestling/status/1434293557557407754
https://twitter.com/infinitepuppy/status/1434388509645737984
https://twitter.com/qthomaswrestle/status/1434296655470370821

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW All Out Results 9/5/2021, Minoru Suzuki, Ruby Soho, Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson Debut

THE BUY IN
Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta, Orange Cassidy, and Jurassic Express defeated Matt Hardy, TH2, and Private Party

AEW TNT CHAMPIONSHIP
Miro (c) defeated Eddie Kingston

Jon Moxley defeated Satoshi Kojima

Post-match, Minoru Suzuki’s music hit and a surprised Moxley looked to the stage in confusion. Suzuki eventually came out and calmly made his way to the ring.

Moxley and Suzuki faced off for a moment, Suzuki then took his jacket off and they battled in the ring. The two threw some big shots and laughed along the way. Suzuki eventually put Moxley down with a rear naked choke and a gotch style piledriver.

https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1434678469158387715

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Britt Baker (c) defeated Kris Statlander

AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (STEEL CAGE MATCH)
Lucha Bros defeated The Young Bucks (c) to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship

WOMEN’S CASINO BATTLE ROYALE
Ruby Soho makes AEW debut and wins Casino Battle Royale to earn a future shot at the AEW Women’s World Championship

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1434696235525591040
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1434698188187963399

Chris Jericho defeated MJF

CM Punk defeated Darby Allin

Paul Wight defeated QT Marshall

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Kenny Omega (c) defeated Christian Cage

AEW World Champion Kenny Omega defeated Christian Cage in the main event and then cut a promo about how anybody that could beat him was either dead, retired, or not in AEW. Cole’s music hit and out he came to a big pop. Cole got in the ring to face-off with Omega and quickly superkicked Jungle Boy (who had come down to help Christian during a post-match beatdown).

Cole reunited with his friends and said The Elite was the most dominant group in pro wrestling. Omega then went to do his signature sign-off and Danielson’s music hit. He got into the ring and teamed up with Jurassic Express and Christian against The Elite (with Omega running out of the ring). The Elite was quickly cleared away as Danielson and the rest of his guys celebrated to close out the show.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1434724098748395522
https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1434724570813149190
https://twitter.com/SirLARIATO/status/1434724440118546433
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1434725051727859713
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1434725051727859713

AEW All Out 9/5/2021

DATE: September 5, 2021 8:00 pm
LOCATION: NOW Arena, Chicago, Illinois
AVAILABLE ON:B/R Live, Traditional PPV, FITE

Card

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Britt Baker (c) vs. Kris Statlander

AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (STEEL CAGE MATCH)
The Young Bucks (c) vs. Lucha Bros

AEW TNT CHAMPIONSHIP
Miro (c) vs. Eddie Kingston

CM Punk vs. Darby Allin

Paul Wight vs. QT Marshall

Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima

MJF vs. Chris Jericho
If Jericho loses, he can never wrestle in AEW again.

WOMEN’S CASINO BATTLE ROYALE
Riho, Anna Jay, Kiera Hogan, Jade Cargill, Abadon, KiLynn King, Leyla Hirsch, Nyla Rose, Julia Hart, Big Swole, The Bunny, Red Velvet, Thunder Rosa, Tay Conti, Penelope Ford, Diamante, Rebel, Jami Hayter, Emi Sakura, Hikaru Shida, Skye Blue
Winner receives shot at the AEW Women’s World Championship.

THE BUY IN
Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta, Orange Cassidy, and Jurassic Express vs. Matt Hardy, TH2, and Private Party

AEW Rampage Preview 9/3/21

Tonight’s AEW Rampage airs on TNT from the NOW Arena in Chicago, Illinois. This will be the last stop before All Out on Sunday.

*  Darby Allin vs. Daniel Garcia (CM Punk will be on commentary)

* Malakai Black vs. Lee Johnson

* AEW TNT Champion Miro to speak

* Kris Statlander vs. Rebel and Jamie Hayter

Tony Khan Has Spent More Than $10 Million On AEW’s Video Games

Tony Khan recently revealed he has spent eight figures of his own money on AEW’s video games.

Tony Khan recently revealed he has spent eight figures of his own money on AEW’s video game division, most of which will have gone on its upcoming debut console game.

AEW might still be less than three years old, but its early success makes it hard to imagine a wrestling landscape without it. Big names are joining the promotion’s ranks, and wrestlers who were relatively unknown when AEW launched are now household names in wrestling circles. Tony Khan also continues to prove he isn’t afraid to take risks to make sure AEW’s success continues to grow.

One area where Khan is very keen to make a splash is wrestling video games. The company has already released two mobile games, but its first mainline console game will be the real acid test. Khan mentioned during a recent media call that he has spent eight figures of his own money, so at least $10 million, on AEW’s video game division.

Although very little has been revealed about AEW’s first major video game, it seems likely that the majority of that investment has been on the console game. Development must be going well as Khan added he is confident he will make that money back. Since WWE and 2K don’t share specific development costs, it’s unclear how much it costs to create a wrestling game, but eight figures feels like enough that the game has to be a success.

AEW has shown off very little of the game so far. A trailer very early in development and some shots of what Darby Allin will look like in the game. However, the last we heard, Kenny Omega, who is close to the project, was hopeful AEW’s first big game will be here by early 2022.

That potential launch window was made a lot more interesting over SummerSlam weekend when WWE 2K revealed WWE 2K22’s has been delayed. The game won’t be here until March 2022 which might well coincide with the arrival of AEW’s first game. The Wednesday Night War might have ended, but six months from now we might have an all-new type of wrestling battle to watch pan out.

Source: TheSportster