Category: AEW

AEW Star Killswitch (Fka Luchasaurus) Hospitalized With Serious Medical Condition

Just days away from the fifth anniversary episode of “AEW Dynamite,” it seems All Elite Wrestling will be without one of its original stars for an undisclosed period of time. On Monday, Fightful reported that Austin Matelson, who currently wrestles in AEW under the name Killswitch after initially being known as Luchasaurus, is dealing with a serious medical issue that has resulted in his hospitalization.

Fightful reports that Matelson’s fiancee “found him collapsed” this past Friday, after which he was taken to the hospital. Upon admission his blood oxygen level was found to be below 80% — dangerously low, considering the normal level is 95% – 100%. Doctors also discovered that Matelson had pneumonia in both lungs and that he was “days away from permanent lung damage.” Matelson has been on oxygen since Friday and was reportedly told he would need more than a month to recover, and it could be longer before he’s ready to return to the ring. Fightful says they received permission “from those close to” Matelson before reporting on the situation.

Matelson is a former AEW TNT, Tag Team, and Trios Champion, having won the tag titles in 2022 alongside Jack Perry back when Matelson was known as Luchasaurus, Perry was known as Jungle Boy and they were collectively known as Jurassic Express. The years since have seen Luchasaurus become Killswitch after turning on Perry at the behest of Christian Cage, who brought Killswitch into The Patriarchy; Cage and Killswitch were Trios Champions with fellow Patriarchy member Nick Wayne until AEW All In 2024, when they lost the belts to the Blackpool Combat Club at Wembley Stadium. Killswitch later helped Cage win a Casino Gauntlet Match the same night, resulting in Cage “earning” a guaranteed world championship opportunity. Killswitch hasn’t competed in the ring since Wembley.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Collision Grand Slam Preview 9/28/2024

AEW Collision Grand Slam will air tonight on TNT. It was taped Wednesday night from Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.

  • “The Scapegoat” Jack Perry TNT Championship Open Challenge
  • AEW World Trios Championship: Pac, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Private Party & Komander
  • Tornado Trios Match: The Learning Tree vs. the Conglomeration
  • Lumberjack Strap Match: Jeff Jarrett vs. Hangman Page
  • AEW Continental Championship Eliminator Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Sammy Guevara
  • Saraya Rules Match: Saraya vs. Jamie Hayter
  • 3-Way Lucha Libre: The Beast Mortos vs. Hologram vs. Dralistico
  • Action Andretti vs. Brody King
  • MxM Collection unveil Max Caster’s jacket makeover

Rey Fenix’s WWE Signing Falls Through Due To AEW Contract Complications

The Lucha Bros are expected to join WWE in the near future, but as of this moment, the former AEW World Tag Team Champions have not signed with the company.

Reports emerged this week that Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix had both agreed to multi-year deals with WWE, but Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select is reporting that is not the case.

 Penta and Fenix are currently under contract with AEW.

Sources within the company tell Fightful that they believe Fenix still has time left on his contract with AEW, making it impossible for him to come to terms with WWE.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that Penta is set to join WWE when his contract expires within the next two months.

The report states, “As far as Fenix goes, right now AEW is tacking on injury time which is nearly but not quite one year. Khan made both significant offers to stay but they wouldn’t sign a new deal.”

Sources: eWn and Sports Illustrated

AEW Rampage Preview 9/27/2024

AEW Rampage tonight on TNT.

  • House of Black (Brody King & Buddy Matthews) vs. Lio Rush & Action Andretti
  • Konosuke Takeshita vs. Angelico
  • Anna Jay vs. Robyn Renegade
  • Willow Nightingale vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • The Acclaimed vs. TBD

HOOK Retires FTW Title Following Successful Defense On AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam

The FTW Championship is no more.

On Wednesday’s “AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam,” FTW Champion Hook retained the title in a hard-fought battle against Roderick Strong. Strong shared a moment of respect following, shaking Hook’s hand after submitting to the Red Rum hold. After the match, Hook stood up in front of the Queens, NY crowd and declared that the time had come to retire the title. After he did so, Hook hugged his father, AEW Broadcaster -and the belt’s originator- Taz in an emotional display.

AEW revived the title in 2020, initially won by Team Taz’s Brian Cage. Since then, Hook has gone on to be a three-time champion, feuding with the likes of Jack Perry and Chris Jericho over the title. Hook’s recent reign began on August 25, when he defeated Chris Jericho to regain the title in Wembley Stadium, thanks to help from his father. Taz had initially created the belt in the 1990s, while Taz was in ECW. The belt had been most famous for the brutal feud between Taz and Sabu, who had heavily-lauded matches for the vanity title.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

MVP Makes AEW Debut On Dynamite: Grand Slam, Wants To ‘Talk Business’ With Top Star

Prince Nana appeared during “AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam” to provide an update on Swerve Strickland’s status, but the segment was more notable for the AEW debut of MVP, who has officially signed with the promotion according to Fightful Select.

Strickland was last seen in the viciously bloody Lights Out Cage Match against “Hangman” Adam Page, losing after taking a hypodermic needle through his cheek and all manner of extreme bumps prior. Nana confirmed that he was not in good condition after the match and was recovering, noting that he had lost his world championship, had his home burned down, and suffered his brutal loss to Page in a matter of weeks. He was then interrupted by the debuting MVP, lauding Strickland for his title reign throughout the year before lamenting Nana for allowing him to go through what he did. It became clear why he was disparaging Strickland’s manager when he handed his business card over, telling Nana to pass it on to his client so they can “talk business.” 

MVP’s AEW debut swiftly follows previous reporting that fellow Hurt Business members in WWE, Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley, had been in negotiations to join the promotion. MVP’s Totally Harmless Concept LLC has also filed to trademark “The Hurt Syndicate,” which only adds to the idea that they could be soon to follow.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NJPW Video Teases Reunion With AEW’s Kenny Omega At WrestleDynasty Crossover Show

Kenny Omega has faced some of the best wrestlers in NJPW history, and the promotion was where he firmly established himself as a major name in the business. On AEW television, Omega hasn’t been seen since May, when he was written off after an attack by former allies The Elite, but it seems like “The Best Bout Machine” is returning to the public eye.

The official NJPW X account recently shared a brief clip where Hiroshi Tanahashi looked back at his last match with Omega, and teased an upcoming reunion. “We wrestled in the main event in the Tokyo Dome in 2019. That match and what came out of it? It was a unique situation, so I think everyone’s curious as to how we’ve been. I’ve got a lot of mixed emotions, but I’m curious too. Excited to see him,” Tanahashi said. The two men then met in a room, and greeted one another, with the post’s hashtags teasing that their “reunion” is somehow tied to the multi-promotion Wrestle Dynasty pay-per-view, which will take place on January 5, 2025.

The most recent update on Omega’s health was one month ago, in August. The star has been suffering from diverticulitis for quite some time, and had surgery recently. His good friend and AEW star, Michael Nakazawa, claimed that “The Cleaner” had 25 centimeters removed of his colon, and had lost abdominal strength as a result, making basic tasks difficult for him. However, Nakazawa added that Omega had steadily been recovering, and that he’d been training at the time. Considering that he’s seemingly planning to appear at Wrestle Dynasty in January, it appears like his recovery has gone quicker than many anticipated.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite Grand Slam Preview 9/25/2024

AEW Dynamite Grand Slam will air live tonight on TBS from Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.

  • AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (non-title match and if Danielson is cleared to wrestle)
  • Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin for Darby’s AEW World Championship opportunity
  • Prince Nana to provide an update on Swerve Strickland
  • AEW Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (Matthew and Nicholas Jackson) (c) vs. International Champion Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher
  • FTW Championship Match: Hook (c) vs. Roderick Strong
  • AEW Women’s World Championship: Mariah May (c) vs. Yuka Sakazaki

AEW Media Deal With WBD Reportedly In Final Stages, Will Include PPV Streaming On Max

It seems like it’s only a matter of time before AEW announces a new media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. Earlier this week, Puck reported that a four-year deal — three guaranteed and one optional — worth around $170 million had been agreed to, with AEW programming remaining on TNT and TBS and additionally airing on TruTV. Andrew Zarian touched on that report during his “Mat Men Podcast” on Saturday, confirming that the deal is done with just a few things left to be finalized. Zarian also said AEW pay-per-views will finally make its way to the Max streaming platform in January, though he noted that they can still be accessed on other selected platforms.

Additionally, Zarian noted that he hadn’t personally heard about TruTV as part of the package, but he speculated TruTV could be used to air replays of “AEW Dynamite” and “AEW Collision.” Meanwhile, it seems “AEW Rampage” will not be airing on TNT or TBS, implying it will either be canceled or itself aired on TruTV, possibly paired with “AEW Shockwave,” whatever that turns out to be (Zarian would only say it was another hour of weekly programming). Fox has been reportedly linked to “Shockwave,” though Zarian noted that network executives could be referring to any Fox network as “Fox” just as they refer to both TBS and TNT, for example, as “Turner.” 

Zarian also said WWE isn’t expecting Fox to use AEW as a replacement for “WWE SmackDown” after its move to USA Network, but that Fox’s sales team is reportedly confident that wrestling was something they could sell. Fox was the only network Zarian had personally heard to be in talks with AEW. As for when the actual deal would be announced, Zarian said he’d heard it will be announced next week, but he’s also heard the same thing for weeks now.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW’s Dustin Rhodes Launches Wrestling Promotion, First Show Announced

After 36 years of experience within the industry, Dustin Rhodes will start his own wrestling company and step into a new role as a promoter beginning this fall. On Sunday night, the current ROH World Tag Team Champion took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to announce the launch of Rhodes Wrestling Association, as well as the date of the company’s first show, Texas Fall Fury. He also revealed that he will be present for a VIP meet and greet one hour ahead of the first show. 

“FINALLY!!! @RhodesWrestling is LAUNCHING!! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for all info. Soon November 21st Thursday at 6pm central #RWA’s Bullpen in Leander Texas. Lets make the first one special! I will be doing a VIP Meet and greet at 5pm central.”

The announcement of Rhodes’ new promotion also lines up with the rumors surrounding his AEW contract status, which has been reported to expire this fall. In addition to his announcement of RWA, Rhodes posted a heartfelt message to AEW and reflected on his last five years with the company, suggesting that he’s keen to stick around Tony Khan’s promotion.

Prior to winning the ROH World Tag Team Championships with Sammy Guevara, Rhodes also became a ROH World Six Man Tag Team Champion alongside The Von Erichs at Battle of the Belts XI. The latter marked his first title win since 2014, when he held the WWE Tag Team Championships with his brother, Cody Rhodes, who is now riding high as the Undisputed WWE Champion. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.