Category: AEW

AEW’s Skye Blue Undergoing Surgery For Ankle Injury

AEW and Ring of Honor’s residency at Arlington, Texas’ eSports Stadium has so far been a success, with one notable exception; an injury to Skye Blue. The AEW star was wrestling Hikaru Shida last Saturday when a crossbody to the floor saw Shida land on Blue’s right leg, leading to the match being stopped. Days later, Blue’s boyfriend, AEW’s Kyle Fletcher, posted a photo of Blue back home, sporting a cast on her right foot, while reports confirmed Blue had suffered a broken ankle, though the severity of the break was unknown.

 Alas, it appears the injury was severe enough that Blue will be forced to go under the knife. Taking to X yet again on Tuesday morning, Fletcher posted a photo of Blue sitting on a bench outside a hospital. Fletcher asked fans to “send prayers & cat toys.” For her part, Blue seemed to be in good spirits, making a funny face for the photo while holding an energy drink.

https://twitter.com/kylefletcherpro/status/1818281409695367367

Neither Fletcher nor Blue have commented on the matter since then, leaving it uncertain whether Blue’s surgery was scheduled for today, or if it will take place at a later date. No timetable has emerged regarding how soon Blue could return to action following surgery, though recovery time from a broken ankle can vary from up to several months to as long as a year.

The injury comes at a poor time for Blue, who had been having arguably the best year of her career following a heel turn that saw her align with House of Black’s Julia Hart, herself out recovering from injury. Blue’s most notable match of the year came back in April, when she challenged Willow Nightingale for the AEW TBS Championship in a wild Manitoba Massacre match.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Absent AEW Star Sammy Guevara Returns During ROH Taping

As part of AEW’s temporary residency in Arlington, Texas, this summer, numerous Ring of Honor events have been and will continue to be taped in the city’s Esports Stadium. Yesterday’s taping was notable as it featured the return of a long-absent AEW star — Sammy Guevara. During the show, Guevara came to the aid of Dustin Rhodes as he was attacked by The Dark Order, indicating that the controversial wrestler will be starting out as a babyface.

Guevara has been absent from AEW since February, when the young performer was reportedly suspended after not following proper procedure when Jeff Hardy was concussed during a match. The AEW star made several more appearances after the match with Hardy but disappeared later that month, when reports first emerged about his suspension.

That suspension was said to have ended months ago, but Guevara has not been brought back to television until now. It looks as though the Houston, Texas, native will now factor into ROH before presumably making a return to AEW sometime in the future.

The incident with Hardy earlier this year was not the first time Guevara has been attached to controversy. In the past, Guevara was reported to have had physical confrontations backstage with both Eddie Kingston and Andrade El Idolo. 

Additionally, Guevara was previously suspended from AEW in 2020 over highly offensive comments he made regarding the former Sasha Banks on a podcast in 2016. At the time, Guevara apologized and Banks (now known as Mercedes Mone) acknowledged that the two had spoken privately. However, Guevara has not yet made an appearance in AEW proper since Mone debuted in March and it’s unclear if there are any lingering issues regarding the controversy.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

https://twitter.com/5StarBasile/status/1817674252054897117
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AEW Collision & Battle of the Belts XI Preview 7/27/2024

AEW will be running three hours live back-to-back tonight on TNT with a new episode of AEW Collision and Battle of the Belts XI. Tonight’s shows are being held at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas as part of the Path to All In Summer Series.

Collision

  • Orange Cassidy vs. Johnny TV
  • The Beast Mortos vs. Hologram
  • MxM Collection vs. FTR
  • Thunder Rosa vs. Maya World
  • Premier Athletes vs. The Conglomeration
  • Lio Rush vs. PAC

Battle of the Belts XI

  • AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (c) vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • CMLL Women’s World Championship Eliminator Match: Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
  • ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Match: The Undisputed Kingdom (c) vs. Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs

Tony Khan Comments On Possibility Of Re-Branding ROH Programming Under AEW Umbrella

ROH’s annual Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view took place on July 26, leaving fans extremely satisfied with what they saw, as many are already praising the show for its quality wrestling and memorable moments. However, since Tony Khan purchased the promotion in 2022, there has been a notion that Khan doesn’t put as much effort or care into ROH as many would like, especially considering how influential the company was during its 2000s boom period.

During the Death Before Dishonor media scrum, Khan noted that ROH could potentially benefit from being re-branded in order to have more association with AEW, considering that AEW is much more recognizable in 2024. “It’s really interesting what the promotion has grown into, but I’m really proud of it,” Khan said. “I think ROH holds an important place. I recognize that AEW is at the very top of pro wrestling. The ROH brand could frankly benefit from even more association. I don’t think it’s out of the question to say or sacrilegious to say. I think it would only help grow the ROH brand if I were to license it or sublicense it if it were “AEW ROH.” I don’t think that’s a crazy thing or sacrilegious or bad. I think it would be good for everybody. People would see more of the connectivity that exists between promotions and what we’re going for.”

Khan also noted that if “AEW ROH” became a reality, it would likely give ROH more of a chance to be broadcast on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, especially given that Khan is still in negotiations with WBD regarding AEW’s new media rights deal. ROH currently streams on the HonorClub subscription service, and is usually treated as a separate entity away from AEW.

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to AEW

ROH Death Before Dishonor 7/26/2024 (Results)

Zero Hour

MxM Collection defeated Angelico & Serpentico. Mansoor and Mason Madden made their ROH debut with nifty teamwork and stunning poses. Hot tag to Madden to clean house. Tag back to Mansoor for the double-team double underhook brainbuster on Serpentico to win. Afterward, Maria Kanellis complimented the work of the MxM Collection. The insinuation being that she is interested in managing them.

Marina Shafir defeated Angelica Risk. Shafir kicked ass to win via chokehold.

The Infantry defeated Griff Garrison & Anthony Henry. Maria Kanellis was ringside to support Garrison in a makeshift tag team due to the injured Cole Karter. As the match progressed, Henry argued with Maria. He ran the ropes and accidentally knocked her off the apron into the arms of Garrison. Meanwhile, the Infantry closed with the Boot Camp big boot to side Russian leg sweep finisher. Shawn Dean made the pin.

Top Flight defeated Outrunners. Dante Martin blasted a jumping knee to send Turbo Floyd tumbling out of the ring. Darius Martin finished Truth Magnum with a fireman’s carry cutter.

Death Before Dishonor

The Beast Mortos defeated Komander. Amazing highlight reel of cool moves. Komander gambled for a rope-walking shooting star press, but he missed the mark when Mortos moved. The beast hit a vicious backbreaker and the Power Bull inverted piledriver to win. Breaking news that Mortos will wrestle Hologram on Collision.

Melissa Santos interviewed the MxM Collection. They spoke in acronyms to call out FTR for Collision. Dax Harwood needs an extreme makeover, but Cash Wheeler has potential.

ROH World Tag Team Championship: Matt Taven & Mike Bennett defeated Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii to retain the titles. Epic action with a garbage finish. Drama was hot, then Don Callis and Kyle Fletcher entered the scene. Callis distracted the referee, O’Reilly lunged at Fletcher, and Bennett struck O’Reilly with a low blow to win.

Texas Death Match: Leyla Hirsch defeated Diamante. Badass violence. Hirsch was busted open when stuck in the Tree of Woe for a dropkick into chairs to the face. Diamante bled as well. I think that was from colliding face-first into a chair in the corner. Diamante duct taped Hirsch to the ropes to beat her on the head with a chancla stuck with tacks. Hirsch hit a Samoan drop off the apron through a barbed wire board. On the finish, Hirsch duct taped Diamante to the table. Hirsch climbed a tall ladder for a moonsault through the table. The referee began the ten-count. Hirsch rose to her feet at 9. Diamante was still down at 10.

ROH Pure Championship: Lee Moriarty defeated Wheeler Yuta to win the title. Pure rules in effect. Battle of technicians. Both men used all three rope-breaks. Yuta suckered Moriarty into an armbar. Moriarty reached the ropes, but no more breaks. Moriarty used the ropes to roll into top position for a pin, and he put his feet on the ropes for leverage to win.

ROH Women’s World Television Championship: Red Velvet defeated Billie Starkz to win the title. Starkz tried to fake a neck injury again, but it didn’t work this time. After Starkz ‘surprised’ her opponent to continue the match, Velvet played possum to throw her off the turnbuckles. Velvet pounced for a front reverse DDT to win.

ROH World Six-Man Championship eliminator match: Dustin Rhodes & the Von Erichs defeated Dark Order. Winners advance to wrestle the Undisputed Kingdom for the six-man straps at Battle of the Belts. Dark Order used cowbell and cowboy hat antics to take control. They worked a smart game plan consistently attacking Rhodes on the outside to keep him out of the match. That lasted only so long. Hot tag to Rhodes running wild with snap powerslams. Dark Order dumped the Von Erichs over the barricade to attack Rhodes with a numbers advantage. That led to an Iron Claw return from the Von Erichs to clear the path for Rhodes to deliver the Shattered Dreams kick to Reynolds. A Final Reckoning suplex sealed the deal. Afterward, Katsuyori Shibata entered the ring to give the Von Erichs his endorsement. The Texas crowd was hot throughout for this match.

ROH World Television Championship: Atlantis Jr. defeated Brian Cage, Johnny TV, Lio Rush, Shane Taylor, and Lee Johnson to retain the title in Survival of the Fittest. Elimination style of contest. The flow was often one-on-one action with highlights galore. Taylor was eliminated first by Rush via frog splash after everyone teamed up on Taylor. Rush was eliminated second by Johnson via lifting reverse DDT. Johnson was eliminated third by Cage via springboard kick powerbomb combo with Johnny. Johnny was eliminated fourth by Cage via Drill Claw. Cage was eliminated fifth by Atlantis Jr. via roll-up on countering the Drill Claw. Atlantis Jr. was the last man standing.

ROH Women’s World Championship: Athena defeated Queen Aminata to retain the title. Slow pace with hard hits. Athena crushed a tombstone piledriver onto the ring steps. Aminata kicked out on the cover and roared back with anger. Aminata headbutt Athena to set up a double underhook driver. Billie Starkz ran in with Red Velvet right behind to prevent interference. Aminata headbutt Starkz off the apron. Meanwhile, Athena called over Lexy Nair to take her microphone. Boom! Athena walloped Animata with the mic as the referee was dealing with Starkz and Velvet. Athena took flight for the O-Face to win.

ROH World Championship: Mark Briscoe defeated Roderick Strong to retain the title. As Briscoe had momentum setting up a Jay Driller, the Kingdom ran in to interfere. Mike Bennett bashed Briscoe with a title belt. 1, 2, dramatic kick out by Briscoe. Kyle O’Reilly and Tomohiro Ishii ran in to even the odds and brawl with the Kingdom. Briscoe surged for a froggy bow to win.

AEW Rampage Preview 7/26/2024

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT.

  • AEW Royal Rampage to earn shot at AEW World Title at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam
  • Kris Statlander vs. Leila Grey
  • The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) vs. Kyle Fletcher & RUSH
  • Lance Archer will be in action

Former NWA Women’s Champion Kamille Makes AEW Debut On Dynamite

Mercedes Mone brought in an enforcer in Kamille to stack the odds against Britt Baker during “AEW Dynamite.” The former NWA Women’s World Champion of 812 days was reportedly signed by AEW earlier this year after becoming a free agent and holding talks with both Tony Khan and WWE. And after months of waiting and speculation, she finally debuted during Wednesday’s show as Mone sought to eliminate her would-be challenger. 

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1816276455606599789

Before Kamille emerged, Baker had to endure a challenge from a fellow former Women’s World Champion in Hikaru Shida, dispatching her opponent by submission after 10 minutes of action. She hadn’t much time to celebrate as Mone’s music played and she emerged to tease a TBS Championship bout between the pair. Per the theme of the feud thus far, however, she said that wouldn’t happen and Baker was set upon by AEW’s latest debutant. 

Britt Baker returned for the first time since September 2023 at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in June, confronting Mercedes Mone moments after she’d dethroned Stephanie Vaquer to become NJPW Strong Women’s Champion on top of retaining her TBS title.

Kamille’s arrival in AEW had been long in the making, as it had been heavily reported she had signed with the company earlier this year, but no word was mentioned on when she would show up. According to Fightful Select, her appearance on “Dynamite” was kept very quiet in order to maintain the element of surprise, but it was no secret that she had signed with the company. She was reportedly backstage at AEW events as early as January 2024, which ultimately led to contract talks and her eventual signing with the promotion, with graphics and materials being in place for sometime. There were rumors she was set to join WWE as part of the “WWE NXT” roster earlier this year, but those talks never fully progressed.

While newer fans to AEW will see her appearance as a debut, Kamille appeared in AEW in the past when the company had a brief working relationship with the NWA. She appeared on an episode of “Dynamite” in 2021 to confront “Legit” Leyla Hirsch ahead of their NWA World Women’s Championship match at that year’s EmPowerrr pay-per-view, where Kamille retained her title over the Russian star. Despite making an appearance for the company many years ago, she has yet to wrestle a match for AEW, but now that she is aligned with “The CEO,” expect to see more of Kamille on AEW TV going forward.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite ‘Blood & Guts’ Preview 7/24/2024

AEW will present a “Blood & Guts” themed episode of Dynamite tonight on TBS from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.

  • Blood & Guts: Swerve Strickland, Mark Briscoe, Darby Allin & The Acclaimed vs. The Elite & Hangman Page
  • FTW Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki
  • Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. vs. Hikaru Shida
  • The debut of “The Glamour” Mariah May
  • We’ll hear from MJF

Latest Update On AEW’s Negotiations With WBD

As has seemingly been the case before time itself began, the relationship between AEW and Warner Brothers Discovery and whether it will continue past this year has been a hot topic with wrestling fans. Over the weekend though, things really heated up when reports emerged that AEW and WBD had an agreement, in principle, to keep AEW with TBS and TNT for the next several years, something that was echoed again on Monday.

However, an official announcement on the matter may still be a ways away. Fightful Select has reported on Tuesday that those close to WBD say an announcement from either AEW or WBD regarding a new deal isn’t imminent, and that the framework of a deal currently isn’t done. That doesn’t mean an agreement is far off, however, as those in AEW and WBD still expect a deal to be reached, and for both sides to continue their relationship for years to come.

One possible time the deal could be reached is during the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, France, as both AEW owner Tony Khan and WBD President David Zaslav will both be in Paris for the games, and are set to meet while there. While this meeting doesn’t guarantee the deal will be reached, the meeting has been set between Khan and Zaslav for months, and they are expected to have some form of negotiation.

While the news remains an overall positive for AEW, it should disappoint some fans who were hoping for an official announcement this week, possibly as early as today in the hours leading up to “AEW Dynamite.” Instead, those fans will just have to settle for their usual Wednesday night wrestling fix, which will feature a Blood & Guts match between Team AEW and Team Elite.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Update On Jay White’s AEW Absence

The Bang Bang Gang were forced to vacate the AEW Unified World Trios Championship after Jay White picked up an injury that forced him out of action. Juice Robinson and The Gunns tried to reclaim the titles against The Patriarchy only to fail, continuing the group’s run of bad luck. Furthermore, it turns out that White’s injury is legitimate as opposed to a storyline setback, according to Fightful Select.

As of this writing, details about White’s injury have yet to be confirmed, so it remains to be seen what he’s suffering from and how long he’ll be out of action for. However, the former NJPW ace has been out of action since his loss to Adam Page in the men’s Owen Hart Tournament semi-final on the June 24 edition of “AEW Collision.”

This marks the latest White absence from AEW television. Earlier this year, he was forced to do pre-taped promos due to visa issues that prevented him from entering Canada. However, he returned in time to participate in the aforementioned tournament. White officially joined AEW in 2023 after making sporadic appearances for the promotion while he was still with NJPW. Since then, he’s mostly teamed with his cohorts in the Bang Bang Gang, aka Bullet Club Gold, feuding with teams such as The Acclaimed and FTR.

White isn’t the only AEW star to suffer an injury setback lately, as Skye Blue got legitimately hurt on the latest episode of “Collision.” Similar to White, how serious her injury is remains to be seen.

Source: Wrestling Inc.