IMPACT Preview 3/17/22

Tensions on the road to Rebellion have reached levels never seen before. Don’t miss an all-new IMPACT! this Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders!

* Josh Alexander vs. Matt Taven

* Bullet Club (Jay White and Chris Bey) vs. Motor City Machine Guns

* Brace yourself for the biggest Champ Champ Challenge to date as Deonna Purrazzo defends both the AAA Reina de Reinas and the ROH Women’s World Championships against Lady Frost and Gisele Shaw in a Triple Threat match!

* Steve Maclin vs. Rhino

* Larry D vs. Bhupinder Gujjar

* Kick off your night Before the IMPACT, streaming this Thursday at 7:30pm ET exclusively on IMPACT PlusYouTube and Facebook. The intense rivalry between IMPACT World Tag Team Champions Violent By Design and former champions The Good Brothers rages on when Deaner takes on Karl Anderson! Plus, Gia Miller, Josh Mathews and George Iceman get you ready for all things IMPACT on the road to Rebellion.

AEW Dynamite St. Patrick’s Day Slam Preview 3/16/22

The St. Patrick’s Day Slam edition of AEW Dynamite on TBS will air live tonight from the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas.

* Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson vs. Chuck Taylor and Wheeler Yuta

* AEW TNT Champion Scorpio Sky defends against Wardlow

* AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker defends against hometown star Thunder Rosa in a Steel Cage match

* Adam Cole and reDRagon vs. AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page and AEW World Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express

* Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Daniel Garcia, and 2point0 host the Jericho Appreciation Society Commencement

Report: AEW EVP Believes Cody Rhodes Has Signed With WWE

At least one AEW EVP believes free agent wrestler Cody Rhodes is bound for WWE, according to Fightful Select.

The report noted that as of last weekend, at least one AEW EVP “fully believed that Cody Rhodes was signed or was signing with WWE and would face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania.”

The news outlet added they haven’t been able to confirm Rhodes’ WWE status or potential debut date.

Last week, Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Rhodes’ WWE situation was “back up in the air,” with WWE creative being asked to hold off on plans until Rhodes signs a WWE contract. The report also noted that Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins was previously penciled in for WrestleMania 38, but that was when Rhodes was expected to sign with WWE.

According to Dave Meltzer, upper-level WWE sources “don’t know what happened with the Rhodes talks” and have halted all Rhodes-related plans. With Monday’s RAW being held in Jacksonville, there has been a lot of chatter on social media of Rhodes returning to WWE TV this week.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 3/11/22

Tonight’s AEW Rampage episode on TNT was taped earlier this week from the Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida after AEW Dynamite went off the air.

* Darby Allin vs. Marq Quen

* Jamie Hayter vs. Mercedes Martinez

* Keith Lee vs. QT Marshall

* Swerve Strickland vs. Tony Nese

* The Hardy Boys will also appear on tonight’s Rampage, along with members of Team Taz, Thunder Rosa, and others.

How Was AEW Able To Use The Hardy Boys’ Theme Song On AEW Dynamite?

For Jeff Hardy’s AEW debut on this week’s episode of Dynamite, the company used the Hardy Boys’ classic theme song for his entrance. The song, which is titled “Loaded” and was performed by Zack Tempest, has been licensed by AEW.

WWE actually doesn’t own the rights to the song. The song has also been used in several Spike TV advertisements over the years. AEW quickly picked up the rights to that theme when they were confident enough that Jeff would be coming in. Tony Khan now owns the entire library that it was a part of. This includes Bob Holly’s WWE theme song.

It should be noted that WWE does own the rights to “No More Words,” so AEW will not be able to use that.

Additionally, Fightful is reporting that Jeff Hardy owns the rights to his own “Modest” and “Obselete” songs. The “Obselete” song was the one Jeff used for his entrance in TNA.

Source: ewrestlingnews

IMPACT Preview 3/10/22

Following an unforgettable Sacrifice, the road to Rebellion continues this Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders!

* This past Saturday at Sacrifice, Josh Alexander made his shocking return to IMPACT when he laid out Moose following a successful IMPACT World Title defense against Heath. Alexander revealed that not only did he sign a new multi-year contract with IMPACT Wrestling, but he will also be Moose’s challenger for the IMPACT World Title at Rebellion! With their long-awaited rematch finally set to take place, what will happen when Josh Alexander returns to the IMPACT Zone this Thursday?

* The Knockouts Division has all-new champions after Tasha Steelz defeated Mickie James for the Knockouts World Title and The Influence defeated The IInspiration for the Knockouts World Tag Team Titles at Sacrifice. Just days later, the Knockouts will continue to make headlines as Tasha Steelz, Savannah Evans, Tenille Dashwood and Madison Rayne battle Mickie James, Chelsea Green, Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay in an All Star Knockouts Tag this Thursday!

* Bullet Club will address the IMPACT Zone

* John Skyler, Ace Austin and Crazzy Steve collide in an X-Division Title match qualifier!

* Kick off your night Before the IMPACT, streaming this Thursday at 7:30pm ET exclusively on IMPACT PlusYouTube and Facebook. The Knockouts take center stage as Havok goes one-on-one with Jordynne Grace! Plus, Gia Miller, Josh Mathews and George Iceman get you caught up on everything that went down at Sacrifice.

Paige VanZant Has Has Officially Signed With AEW

Even though one industry requires its competitors to legitimately hurt each other, and the other makes its money from staged fights and storylines, there’s a lot of crossover between MMA and pro wrestling. Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, and Marina Shafir are just a few of the people to have found success in both worlds. There tends to be a lot of buzz around anyone notable who leaves one sport for the other, and the latest star to generate that buzz is Paige VanZant.

The former UFC star has been showing up in AEW for months at this point, aligning herself with American Top Team. However, she isn’t actually signed to the company, at least she wasn’t until last night. Dan Lambert struck a deal with Tony Khan, promising VanZant would sign with AEW if he gave Scorpio Sky a TNT Title match on this week’s Dynamite.

That deal paid off in a major way for Lambert as Sky got his shot and made it count. The former SCU member beat Sammy Guevara and the TNT Title is now under American Top Team’s banner. Sky had a pretty big helping hand from VanZant, though. The new signing, who wasn’t technically under contract at this particular moment in time, jumped the barricade and threw Tay Conti into the steel steps.

Conti is Guevara’s other half and had accompanied the now-former TNT Champion to the ring for the match. Watching VanZant attack Conti at ringside was enough to distract Guevara for so long that Sky pounced on his opponent and covered him for the win. Right after, VanZant took the opportunity to sign her deal then and there, adding insult to injury by putting pen to paper on Conti’s back.

All signs point to Conti being VanZant’s first opponent as an AEW star. Perhaps a mixed tag match involving those two, Sky, and Guevara is also in the offing. What remains unclear is what this means for VanZant’s MMA career. While she could, of course, continue to compete in both worlds, VanZant is currently 0-2 since signing with BKFC so may want to focus on wrestling moving forward.

Source: TheSportster

Jeff Hardy Makes AEW Debut On Dynamite, Reunites With Matt Hardy

This week’s edition of AEW Dynamite played host to a Hardy Boyz reunion when Jeff Hardy made his ALL ELITE debut and came to the aid of his brother.

Jeff Hardy is ALL ELITE! The rumors and reports were proven accurate when the former WWE Champion made his AEW debut during this week’s edition of Dynamite on TBS.

It all went down at the Hertz Arena in Fort Myers, Florida on Wednesday, March 9 when the power struggle between Andrade El Idolo and Matt Hardy finally came to a head after the Andrada-Hardy Family Office emergency board meeting ended in violence. Andrade conducted a hostile takeover after convincing The Butcher, The Blade, Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen to vote Hardy out of the group. After the vote, the five men ambushed Hardy and continued to beat him down until Sting and Darby Allin arrived to help Hardy out.

The numbers were still in the Andrade Family Office’s favor, and they had the upper hand in the ensuing braw … until a familiar face arrived. The classic Hardy Boyz theme and out around the arena as Jeff Hardy sprinted down to the ring to assist his brother and his fellow face pain aficionados.”

Jeff emptied the ring and hit a Swanton on The Blade. The Hardy Boyz embraced then stared down Sting and Darby, bringing an end to a touching debut segment for the “Charismatic Enigma.”

Jeff Hardy was released by WWE on December 9 following an incident at a WWE live event at which he allegedly performed while inebriated. Hardy was reportedly sent home from the house show, which led to much speculation among fans regarding his well-being.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 3/9/22

The post-Revolution edition of AEW Dynamite on TBS will air live tonight from the Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida with fallout from last Sunday’s pay-per-view.

* Fallout from Revolution

* Leyla Hirsch vs. Thunder Rosa to determine a new #1 contender to AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker

* Chris Jericho will address Eddie Kingston

* TNT Champion Sammy Guevara defends against Scorpio Sky

* Jeff Hardy officially became a free agent today as his non-compete clause with WWE has expired.  His first TV appearance for AEW possibly coming as early as tonight’s episode of Dynamite. Jeff is reportedly scheduled to be at the Hertz Arena in Fort Myers, FL tonight, the site of Dynamite.

Jeff Hardy Is Officially A Free Agent

Jeff Hardy officially became a free agent today as his non-compete clause with WWE has expired.

There have been rumors and speculation regarding Jeff joining his brother Matt Hardy in AEW, with his first TV appearance for AEW possibly coming as early as tonight’s episode of Dynamite. Jeff is reportedly scheduled to be at the Hertz Arena in Fort Myers, FL tonight, the site of Dynamite, but it was still being determined if he would actually appear on the show.

“Nothing’s official yet,” Jeff Hardy told the La Crosse Tribune last week. “I’m still legally under a contract with WWE until next Wednesday.”

“Strange thing about that is you know what happens on Wednesday,” He added.

Jeff and his brother Matt Hardy are set to reunite for another run as a tag team that begins Saturday at a Big Time Wrestling event in Webster, MA. The Hardy Boys will face the winners of a tag team match between The SAT and The Briscoes earlier in the night.

WWE released Jeff Hardy in December after he turned down an offer from the company to go to rehab. This came after an incident at the December 4 WWE live event in Edinburg, TX, where Hardy tagged out of a six-man tag team main event and disappeared through the crowd with security following him. He was pulled from the road after that incident and then released. Test results later confirmed that Hardy was not intoxicated or under the influence of drugs during the incident at the live event.

Matt Hardy was on the losing end of a six-man Tornado Tag Team Match at AEW’s Revolution pay-per-view on Sunday, taking the pin from Darby Allin.

Source: Wrestling Inc.