Category: AEW

Jon Moxley Makes Surprise Indie Appearance To Answer Killer Kross’ Challenge

Killer Kross got what he was looking for last night in Las Vegas after Jon Moxley answered his recent challenge at an indie event.

Future Stars of Wrestling’s “Natural Born Killers” event took place Friday night in Las Vegas and Moxley made a surprise appearance to wrestle Killer Kross, who was there with Scarlett Bordeaux.

Kross made a video last month calling Mox out.

Unfortunately, the match ended in a no contest. Both wrestlers then beat up security guards afterward who were trying to break them apart. Moxley also got on the microphone and said Kross has now earned his respect, so he’d like to finish this in the future.

Watch some of the clips from social media below.

https://twitter.com/AndreasHale/status/1147381393548173312

https://twitter.com/marc_raimondi/status/1147381327940816902

https://twitter.com/AndreasHale/status/1147384993833897984

https://twitter.com/GlennKingXXX/status/1147570965213110272

jon moxley killer kross surprise appearance match wrestle

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Booker T Backs Out Of Starrcast III Convention

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T announced on Twitter earlier this week that he was backing out of the Starrcast III convention in Chicago next month. The convention is running in conjunction with AEW’s All Out pay-per-view in the Chicago area.

Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline.com reported that Booker pulled out of All Out after agreeing to come, which if this wasn’t a typo, could indicate Booker was planning on attending the AEW pay-per-view. Meltzer added that Booker said, when pulling out of the event, that he found out the WWE vs. AEW war was very real, and he didn’t want to be in the middle of it. Meltzer also said he was told to expect “another major counter by WWE” soon.

Booker still makes appearances on WWE pay-per-view panels, and is likely signed to a Legends deal. It’s interesting that WWE may have influenced his decision to back out of Starrcast as they apparently do not have issues with him working with Impact Wrestling. Booker’s Reality of Wrestling promotion is teaming with Impact this Saturday, July 6, for a joint show in Texas City, TX, at the World Gym Arena that ROW owns.

You can see Booker’s tweet on the Starrcast booking below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Reportedly Worried About Losing Teenage Fans To AEW, Backstage News On Ricochet’s Push

WWE officials have been very aware that they have lost touch with a key demographic – teenagers, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio.

There’s reportedly been concern that the company will completely lose their teenage viewers when AEW TV starts on TNT in the fall.

WWE’s recent attempts at an edgier product will work with keeping teenage fans and making new ones in that demographic. There was a feeling that they had to take this new edgier direction to help with the demo, and for other obvious reasons.

Regarding Superstars that could connect with teenagers, Meltzer noted that there aren’t many younger top talents on the main roster, but we could see some called up soon.

The new push for WWE United States Champion Ricochet is likely being done, at least in part, to help with the teenage demographic. New RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman is said to be very high on Ricochet. Meltzer noted that Ricochet is a talent that can likely appeal to teenagers and that is a new goal for the company – to make sure teenagers don’t go to AEW before their weekly TV show starts later this year.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Fight For The Fallen Price, Fyter Fest Recap Video

AEW’s Fight for the Fallen event is now available for pre-ordering on FITE.TV for fans outside of the United States. The price tag is $12.99 or £8.99 in the UK. The event will stream free on BR Live for fans in Canada and the United States.

Fight for the Fallen takes place on July 13 from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. Matches announced so far include: Allie vs. Brandi Rhodes, Cima vs. Kenny Omega, Adam Page vs. Kip Sabian, The Young Bucks vs. Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes. Chris Jericho will also appear.

AEW released this recap video for last Saturday’s Fyter Fest event from Daytona Beach, FL.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Mentions AEW In Social Media Error During RAW (Photo)

It’s very possible that a member of WWE’s large social media team was reprimanded during this week’s WWE RAW episode after All Elite Wrestling was accidentally mentioned by the official WWE Instagram account.

The AEW mention came when the WWE Instagram account posted a backstage photo of WWE NXT Tag Team Champions The Street Profits, who made their first main roster appearances during backstage segments on RAW.

The original caption on the photo read, “The #NXT Tag Team Champions AEW here on #Raw!”

They meant to say, “…are here on #Raw!”, but for some reason AEW was on the mind of the social media employee who made the post, or they fell victim to auto-correct.

WWE’s Executive Vice President of Digital & Social Content Jayar Donlan spoke with Sports Business Daily in May 2018 and revealed that he then had a staff of 90 employees who worked WWE’s social media department. There’s no word on if that number included interns or how big the team is today.

The error received several thousand likes and comments on Instagram before it was fixed. The corrected photo, seen below, has many comments from fans about the botch, with most people joking about someone getting fired.

You can see a screenshot of the AEW botch below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Fyter Fest Results 6/29/19

(SCU vs. Private Party vs. Best Friends
Winner advances to All Out for a shot at a first round bye in AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament.

Winners: Best Friends

Allie vs. Leva Bates – Winner: Allie

Hardcore Match: Michael Nakazawa vs. Jebailey – Winner: Michael Nakazawa

Christopher Daniels vs. CIMA – Winner: CIMA

Yuka Sakazaki vs. Riho vs. Nyla Rose – Winner: Riho

Post-match, Rose attacks Riho from behind, crowd booing. She looks for a beast bomb, Sakazaki with the save, double dropkicks sends Rose out to the floor. Sakazaki tries to help Riho up and gets shoved away.

Hangman Adam Page vs. MJF vs. Jungle Boy vs. Jimmy Havoc – Winner: Hangman Adam Page

Cody w/Brandi Rhodes vs. Darby Allin – Match ends in a 20-minute time limit draw

They consider giving them more time, but Shawn Spears comes into the ring and smashes Cody right in the head with the chair. Brandi gets in the ring and asks him what he’s doing. The referee gets between Brandi and Spears. Spears stares at Brandi and makes his way out through the crowd. Cody has a gash on the back of his head now, sizable pool of blood on the mat. MJF is in the ring, not happy as he watches Spears leave. Scorpio and Kazarian out to check on Cody. Commentary does a good job putting over how sickening that was for Spears to hit Cody with that chairshot. That match and post-match was wild.

Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Lucha Bros & Laredo Kid – Winners: Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks

Post-match, Omega and Young Bucks celebrate. Omega tells the other team to jump in the ring, they jaw a bit, but Pentagon, Fenix, and Laredo Kid celebrate a bit in the ring. Omega shakes hands with everyone ringside and makes his way to the back.

Non-Sanctioned Match: Jon Moxley vs. Joey Janela – Winner: Jon Moxley

Post-match, Kenny Omega rushes Moxley and beats the hell out of him. This is revenge for Moxley attacking Omega at the end of Double or Nothing after his loss to Chris Jericho. Suplex on the floor. Puts the table over Moxley, and hits a big double stomp on him. Moxley tries to fight back, Omega gets on him and continues to swing away. He sends Moxley’s face-first into the drum kit out near the stage. Omega hits Moxley with some drum sticks, then grabs the electric guitar and cracks Moxley’s over the back with it before backing away. Referees help Moxley up the ramp, he ends up shoving them away. Omega runs out with a garbage can and cracks Moxley a bunch of times. Omega then hits dirty deeds on the trash can and stands tall as the show ends.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Fyter Fest 6/29/19

Fyter Fest, from AEW and CEO Gaming, will take place tomorrow 6/29/19 from Daytona Beach, Florida. It will air live for free on Bleacher Report Live at 8pm ET. The Buy In pre-show at 7pm ET.

 

Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Lucha Bros & Laredo Kid

Non-Sanctioned Match: Jon Moxley vs. Joey Janela

Cody vs. Darby Allin

Adam Page vs. MJF vs. Jungle Boy vs. Jimmy Havoc

Yuka Sakazaki vs. Riho vs. Nyla Rose

Christopher Daniels vs. CIMA

(Pre-Show) Hardcore Match: Michael Nakazawa vs. Jebailey

(Pre-Show) SCU vs. Private Party vs. Best Friends
Winner advances to All Out for a shot at a first round bye in AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament.

FOX Hoping To Make AEW Look Inferior With WWE SmackDown Debut?, News On AEW Start Date And Time Slot

AEW is expected to start on Turner during the first week of October, which is the same week that WWE SmackDown will being airing on Friday nights on FOX. The news was first reported by MMA insider @fightoracle, who first broke the story that Turner Sports would be presenting AEW at their upfronts last month. As noted, AEW applied for the trademark “Wednesday Night Dynamite” earlier this month.

With the television show seemingly airing on Wednesday nights, the premiere date will be October 2nd. Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while there are still meetings occurring regarding the show, strategies, and other ideas from the TNT side, the plan is for the show to air on Wednesdays, with 8-10 p.m. being the most likely time slot.

WWE SmackDown will make its much anticipated debut two nights later at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. It was reported in The Observer that FOX will be testing out two new cameras for the debut. FOX is also looking to invite a lot of celebrities and give the show the feel of a major event, which is a reason that it’s being held in Los Angeles. It was noted that the idea is to make WWE look as major league as possible, which in turn would make AEW look minor league from the start.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Kenny Omega Strongly Criticizes WWE For Streaming Evolve Show Opposite AEW Fight For The Fallen

WWE announced yesterday that the WWE Network will stream EVOLVE’s 10th Anniversary Celebration. It will air as the EVOLVE 131 event, on Saturday, July 13 from the former ECW Arena, the 2300 Arena, in Philadelphia, PA. . The special will feature WWE NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Akira Tozawa with the title on the line, Matt Riddle vs. WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak in a non-title match. The event will also feature NXT’s Arturo Ruas (Adrian Jaoude) and Babatunde, plus EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory and EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy. A full line-up of matches will be announced soon.

“Evolve was the birthplace for many current WWE and NXT Superstars so it is only fitting that their 10th Anniversary Celebration will be showcased live on WWE Network,” Triple H said.

WWE began their working relationship and talent exchange with WWN Live’s EVOLVE promotion back in 2015. Booker Gabe Sapolsky now works behind-the-scenes for NXT and the WWE Performance Center.

Many fans have pointed to how the WWE Network EVOLVE stream is airing on the same night as AEW’s Fight for the Fallen event from Jacksonville, FL. This event will have a portion of the proceeds donated to victims of gun violence.

It should be noted that the EVOLVE 131 date was first announced back in mid-May. We don’t know when WWE began negotiating for the livestream. AEW first announced the details on Fight for the Fallen during the first week of March.

AEW Executive Vice President Kenny Omega has fans talking on social media today after a tweet he made on the EVOLVE – WWE special. He apparently called out WWE for working with Saudi Arabia.

“If lining your pockets with blood money is okay, then what’s wrong with trying to undermine a charity show for victims of gun violence? I hear that healthy competition is supposed to be a good thing and yet I can’t help but feel like I’m gonna be sick,” Omega wrote.

Omega has deleted his original tweet that apparently knocked WWE for their working relationship with the Saudis. His new tweet, also seen below, reads like this: “I’ve said my piece and it opened the door to a very toxic environment. It wasn’t a message to fans, or the boys, just the decision makers. I wish everyone wrestling on any show that day all the best. That is all.”

You can see Omega’s full tweets below:

If lining your pockets with blood money is okay, then what’s wrong with trying to undermine a charity show for victims of gun violence? I hear that healthy competition is supposed to be a good thing and yet I can’t help but feel like I’m gonna be sick.

— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) June 26, 2019

https://twitter.com/KennyOmegamanX/status/1143980930203312133

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1143954386592423937

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Trademark Likely Reveals When Their Weekly TV Show Will Air

All Elite Wrestling applied for the trademark “Wednesday Night Dynamite,” on June 18, possibly leading towards which night their weekly TNT show will air. The show will premiere in the fall later this year.

AEW had also applied for “Tuesday Night Dynamite” last year, looking to possibly fill in Tuesday nights once SmackDown moves to Fridays on FOX on October 4. The fact that they have now applied for the Wednesday night trademark would suggest that the show will air on Wednesdays, not Tuesdays.

Back in May it was officially announced AEW would be partnering up with TNT, while also utilizing B/R Live as a platform to stream events. Despite the $50 price tag, last month’s AEW Double or Nothing was a success with an estimated 98,500-113,000 PPV buys worldwide.

The promotion is following that up with AEW Fyter Fest on June 29 in Daytona Beach, Florida, which will stream for free on B/R Live.

Source: Wrestling Inc.