Category: TNA

Matt Hardy Teases Tony Khan May Have Bought Out Jeff Hardy’s WWE Contract

Since Friday night’s episode of AEW Rampage, speculation has run rampant about an upcoming announcement on AEW Dynamite that will see a brand new signee make their debut and challenge Isiah Kassidy in a Face of the Revolution Ladder match qualifier.

On his Monday Twitch stream, AEW star Matt Hardy talked about the big announcement and AEW President Tony Khan’s use of the term Forbidden Door when hyping it on social media.

“Tony Khan has been teasing a big announcement, and then he made the big announcement, that the Forbidden Door is going to be opening up again on Wednesday,” Hardy said. “Sometimes people think the Forbidden Door is when someone comes from another promotion into your promotion and they can go back in. And the way he referenced this is, somebody is going to walk through the forbidden door, which means they’re coming from another promotion, and they’re going to slam the Forbidden Door. This means they’re not going back to the other promotion. That’s what that means.

“Tony is one who coined this phrase ‘the Forbidden Door.’ And it opened up whenever the Good Brothers came over from Impact Wrestling and Kenny Omega was going over to Impact and he was coming back to AEW as well. And then there were some people who came in from New Japan Pro Wrestling. People came from NWA, Billy Corgan’s organization in AEW.

“That’s kind of what the Forbidden Door was, it was basically like ‘we can all work together because there’s a big company that’s kind of monopolized wrestling for a while. So let’s all work together and try and make all of our companies as exciting as possible.’ So now there’s a lot of speculation. ‘Is this Forbidden Door prospect that he’s talking about going to show up Wednesday night in Dynamite? Is he from WWE?’ And it sounds like it’s because they say they’re going to be slamming the door behind them. So that means they’re not going back to wherever they came from.”

One name that has been floated around as the potential new AEW star is Matt Hardy’s brother Jeff Hardy, who was released from WWE in December under controversial circumstances. At first Matt Hardy suggested that Jeff would not be the guy to wrestle Kassidy, who currently is aligned with Matt Hardy in the AHFO. He quickly however clarified that it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

“As far as an update on Jeff and what’s going on, I don’t think he’s the guy that’s coming in this Wednesday against Isiah Kassidy,” Hardy said. “Although who knows? Tony Khan, Papa Khan’s got a lot of money. Maybe he bought out his contract. And maybe it is happening early. Who knows?”

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to Matt Hardy’s Twitch 

WWE Announcers Were Not Allowed To Say Impact Wrestling Or Knockouts During Royal Rumble

In case you haven’t heard, wrestling has a forbidden door and apparently, it’s wide open. AEW wrestlers are competing in New Japan, Impact stars are showing up in WWE, and pretty much everyone is appearing for GCW. The most shocking of all was that middle one. Mickie James returning to WWE for one night only even though she is currently the Impact Knockouts World Champion.

James made an appearance in the women’s Royal Rumble and even though she isn’t a WWE Superstar, she had quite a good showing. She was even allowed to wear her Knockouts Title to the ring. However, eagle-eyed fans might have noticed the bottom third referred to the championship as the Impact Women’s Title. Not what it’s called, and this was no accident.

During a recent episode of Fightful’s Grapsody, which you can check out below, Will Washington reveals a few of the words WWE’s announcers were not allowed to say when discussing James during the Rumble. The big one was the ability to say Impact, but not Impact Wrestling. Not a slight on the rival wrestling company, but rather the hang-up Vince McMahon has with the word wrestling. It’s sports entertainment.

The title being given an entirely different name is also linked to words WWE didn’t want said on the air. Knockouts was one, and world was another. Unclear what WWE’s problem is with the word knockouts. Perhaps it doesn’t want fans to think wrestlers might get legitimately knocked out. As for the word world, maybe since its own Women’s Titles don’t have the word world in them, McMahon feared fans would think the Knockouts Title would be thought of as better than by more casual fans.

The ban on those words for Royal Rumble also extended to the social media team. As for the announcers, dodging words and phrases McMahon doesn’t like being said on his TV shows is an almost untraversable minefield at this point. The longer the list gets, the more respect we should all have for Michael Cole. The man gets a lot of stick from fans, but to be doing that job as long as he has with McMahon constantly in his ear, he deserves more credit than he gets.

Source: TheSportster

Bryan Danielson To Be Inducted Into ROH Hall Of Fame

Bryan Danielson is about to become a two time Hall of Famer. The AEW star, who was inducted into the 2016 class of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, will now be inducted into the Ring of Honor Hall of Fame. ROH announced Bryan Danielson’s induction in a press release on their website.

“Ring of Honor is proud to welcome Bryan Danielson, the embodiment of fighting spirit and technical wrestling excellence, into the inaugural class of the ROH Hall of Fame,” ROH’s statement read. “‘The American Dragon’ played a major role in establishing ROH as the Best Wrestling on the Planet, beginning with his performance in the main event on ROH’s debut show, The Era of Honor Begins, in 2002. Whenever ‘The Final Countdown’ blared throughout the building as Danielson made his entrance to the ring, fans knew they were about to witness a true master of his craft at work. A superior technician, striker and submission specialist, Danielson cemented his status as the best wrestler in the sport when he won the ROH World Title in 2005. His 462-day reign as ROH World Champion is the third-longest, and he made a record 38 successful title defenses. Danielson made history in 2006 when he defeated arch rival and ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness in Liverpool, England to merge the titles. He also won the inaugural Survival of the Fittest in 2004 and main-evented ROH’s first pay-per-view in 2007.

“Danielson had many impressive victories in ROH, but one of his most memorable performances came in defeat. Just over four minutes into his match against then-ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima in 2007, Danielson suffered a detached retina as a result of the Japanese powerhouse’s clubbing blows. Morishima targeted Danielson’s injured left eye throughout the match, but Danielson showed incredible toughness and heart and came within a fraction of a second of winning before Morishima ultimately prevailed after more than 20 dramatic minutes. After leaving ROH in 2009, Danielson would gain world-wide fame in WWE, where he main-evented WrestleMania in 2014 before more than 75,000 fans at the Superdome in New Orleans. Danielson is currently one of the top stars in AEW.”

Bryan Danielson is the second announced inductee into the ROH Hall of Fame, following The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe). More inductees are expected to be announced, with the ceremony airing the weekend of March 5, according to the statement. Bryan Danielson hasn’t commented on his induction at this time.

In the meantime, Bryan Danielson is keeping busy for AEW, recently starting a program with former rival and recently returned star Jon Moxley. In an in ring confrontation last week on AEW Dynamite, Danielson offered Moxley the opportunity to unite and take over AEW as a unit. Moxley has yet to give Danielson an answer.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Stars Teases Jeff Hardy Debut In Upcoming Ladder Match

Is Jeff Hardy on the verge of making his AEW debut?

As we’ve noted, Tony Khan announced last Friday that Isiah Kassidy will wrestle a mystery opponent in a Face of The Revolution Ladder Match qualifier on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.

Khan confirmed that Kassidy’s opponent “will walk through the Forbidden Door” and sign a contract with AEW on Wednesday.

The announcement has fueled a lot of speculation on social media, with fans throwing out names such as Hardy, Keith Lee, Karrion Kross and John Morrison, among others.

Over the weekend, Kassidy seemingly teased that he would be wrestling Hardy in the ladder match. While responding to a tweet from Tony Khan praising his performance against Sammy Guevera on Rampage, Kassidy mentioned how he doesn’t want to be forced to “put this dude out for good.” He also asked Matt Hardy, the older brother of Jeff, to get him ready for the ladder match.

I was good, but Sammy was better on Friday. Respect g.

But aye man, this better not be who I think it is… Y’all gonna force me to put this dude out for good 💯

By the way. I’ve called you 4 times @MATTHARDYBRAND. I gotta get ready for this ladder match.

#AEWDynamite

The Young Bucks have also continued to tease Hardy’s AEW debut. On Sunday, they changed their Twitter bio to “Bring us Jeff Harvey,” seemingly poking fun at a moment where Mike Adamle incorrectly referred to Hardy as “Jeff Harvey” at Royal Rumble 2008.

WWE released Jeff Hardy last December after a strange incident at a live WWE event where the Charismatic Enigma abruptly exited a six-man tag team match. The legendary wrestler is presently serving his 90-day non-compete clause with WWE, and won’t be a free agent until March 9.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tony Khan Confirms ‘Forbidden Door’ Wrestler Will Make AEW Debut On Dynamite

AEW president Tony Khan has promised that a mystery wrestler will make his AEW debut on the February 9 edition of Dynamite.

Immediately following Friday’s edition of AEW Rampage, the company’s president Tony Khan took to Twitter to announce that another wrestler would soon be walking through AEW’s forbidden door … and would slam the door shut after signing an AEW contract.

“The Forbidden Door can be opened for anyone from any wrestling promotion in the world, whether or not it’s a company [AEW] is on good terms with, even if it’s someone from a company that’s open for business,” Khan wrote. “They’re also welcome to slam the door in the face of their prior company.”

The wording of Khan’s tweet left many fans confused, although he provided additional details in a follow-up tweet. Khan seems to be using the Forbidden Door analogy to describe a free agent acquisition, which probably means the new signing is another ex-WWE performer.

 The 90-day non-compete clause if several former WWE Superstars are due to expire imminently, or have very recently expired. Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, Ember Moon and Nia Jax are now all free to sign elsewhere, although the chances of Tony Khan being interested in Nia Jax’s services are extremely slim.

Khan also revealed that the new signing would go one-on-one with Isiah Kassidy in a Face of the Revolution qualifying match, the winner of which will be awarded a spot in the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match at AEW Revolution on March 6. This fact strongly suggests that the new acquisition is a man, so Keith Lee, arguably the hottest free agent in the industry, is a safe bet.

Source: TheSportster

Brian Kendrick Was Pulled From AEW Dynamite After Abhorrent Comments Resurface

Brian Kendrick’s planned AEW debut was canceled after comments he made regarding dangerous conspiracy theories resurfaced.

Brian Kendrick did not appear on last week’s AEW Dynamite.

On Wednesday, February 2, wrestling journalist David Bixenspan shone a light on offensive remarks Kendrick had publicly made in the past. In some footage recorded in 2011, Kendrick can be seen discussing dangerous antisemitic conspiracy theories. In another interview, Kendrick claimed that the number of Jewish people murdered by Nazis during the Holocaust is much lower than the consensus would suggest. This claim is, of course, total and utter bullshit and only a bigot with a severe case of brain worms would buy into it.

https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/1488956369822785536

AEW boss Tony Khan took to Twitter shortly before Dynamite to announce that Kendrick had been pulled from the show.

“We’ve been made aware of abhorrent & offensive comments made in the past by Brian Kendrick,” TK wrote. “There’s no room in AEW for the views expressed by Brian. We think it’s best for all that Brian be pulled from tonight’s card as we gather more info. We’ll announce a replacement bout ASAP.”

The canceled match with Jon Moxley would have been Kendrick’s first since October 2020 when he teamed up with Mansoor to defeat Ever-Rise (no known as 2point0 in AEW) on WWE 205 Live. As you might recall, Kendrick seemingly announced his retirement back in April 2021 in a video filmed at the Performance Center and posted to WWE’s YouTube channel.

Brian Kendrick has issued an apology, of sorts, after antisemitic comments he made in the past resurfaced.

“I apologize for all the hurt and embarrassment I have caused with my words. These are not my beliefs and never were beliefs of mine, and I crossed the line,” Kendrick tweeted on Wednesday, February 2.

“I spread the most vile comments without thinking of the damage it would cause,” he added in a follow-up tweet. “I will live with this regret for the rest of my life. I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused.”

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 2/2/22

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite on TBS will air live from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. This week’s AEW Rampage on TNT will also be taped tonight in Chicago.

AEW has announced the following line-up for tonight:

* Brian Kendrick debuts vs. Jon Moxley

* Malakai Black and Brody King vs. PAC and Penta El Zero Miedo

* Ruby Soho vs. Nyla Rose

* CM Punk vs. MJF

Brian Kendrick Set For AEW Debut, Will Face Jon Moxley On Dynamite

Weeks after parting ways with WWE, pro-wrestling veteran Brian Kendrick will make his AEW debut on this week’s edition of Dynamite.

The Brian Kendrick is about to perform inside an AEW ring for the very first time! On Tuesday, February 1 — one week after it was reported that Kendrick had requested his WWE release — AEW announced that the veteran wrestler would go one-on-one with former AEW Champion Jon Moxley on the February 2 edition of AEW Dynamite on TBS.

Wednesday’s match will be Kendrick’s first since October 2020 when he teamed up with Mansoor to defeat Ever-Rise (no known as 2point0 in AEW) on 205 Live. As you might recall, Kendrick seemingly announced his retirement back in April 2021 in a video filmed at the Performance Center and posted to WWE’s YouTube channel.

“Initially the idea of producing seemed like a good – not a retirement plan – but the next best thing to wrestling,” Kendrick explained during the clip. “It turns out it’s just as rewarding, in different ways. I love every bit of it. It’s a whole new way of looking at wrestling for me.”

Following the announcement, Kendrick began working at the WWE Performance Center as a coach/producer and occasionally appeared on-screen during NXT. Kendrick was briefly involved in a storyline with Harland (Parker Bordeaux) which was cut short as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak that affected several WWE staff.

Interestingly, Kendrick is a longtime friend and associate of AEW star Bryan Danielson, who has recently been teasing a match with Jon Moxley. Danielson and Kendrick were both students at The Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in 1999 and came up in the independent scene together.

On the January 21 edition of AEW Rampage, Danielson sarcastically congratulated Moxley on his victory over Ethan Page. On the January 28 edition of Rampage, Danielson was shown backstage watching Mox’s match with Anthony Bowens. A Danielson vs. Moxley feud seems inevitable at this point … whether Brian Kendrick gets involved or not remains to be seen.

Source: TheSportster

Former WWE And Impact Star Ken Anderson Accused Of Unprofessionalism By Students At Wrestling School

Former WWE and Impact Wrestling star Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy) has been accused of unprofessional business practices by students at his wrestling school in Minneapolis, MN.

On Sunday, a Reddit user, claiming to be a student enrolled in Anderson’s “The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling,” stated that the school has been closed for “quite some time now,” and hasn’t resumed activities unlike other gyms in the area. The post claimed that students enrolled in the school for nearly two years have yet to receive any semblance of training, “not even remote homework like tape study, character development or promos.” Furthermore, the user pointed out that the school’s website was deactivated a while ago.

The user noted that Anderson has “gone silent and his only update every 2-3 months is that they’re in talks with a realtor for a new facility but no real progress comes out of it.”

The post led to another Reddit user commenting on his experiences with Anderson’s school. They claimed to have signed up for a 30-minute free consultation, only to show up to an empty warehouse at the time of the scheduled appointment. The Reddit thread can be found here.

According to Bodyslam.net, while some students are still hopeful that the school will eventually reopen, one particular student has given up hope. The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, pointed out how the reopening of the school has been postponed several times in the last 18 months since they paid for the program. He also corroborated claims by users in the Reddit thread that Anderson’s school has yet to issue refunds.

The student revealed the reasons he’s been given – for not receiving training – range from the outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant to the lack of a building to train in. This specific student came to a conclusion about six months ago that the situation seemed “super sketchy based on the lack of communication.” They also noted their communication with Anderson himself to be very minimal, citing brief conversations via text messages.

The student issued the following statement via BodySlam:

In no way am I making any claims on Ken’s personal character as I’ve had minimal contact with the man, but I believe his business practices and professionalism speaks for themselves. I’m personally not out to ruin anyone’s career but simply trying to hold others accountable for their actions as well as preventing others from making the same mistakes I did.

The money I’m out may not seem like a lot to some but it was my entire savings as well as my dreams, and at the end of the day, that’s all I really want back. My dream is crushed but hopefully I can get my money back.

Mr. Kennedy’s wrestling school has trained talents such as Dante & Darius Martin of AEW, and once had trainers such as Molly Holly, Shawn Daivari and Arik Cannon.

Anderson has yet to respond to the allegations. As seen in the screengrabs below, the school has reached out to the students at regular intervals, but hasn’t provided any training in two years.

Anderson was last seen in a match at the NWA Powerrr tapings in December 2019. He was scheduled to compete at the NWA Hard Times pay-per-view in January 2020, but was pulled from match versus Tim Storm due to an injury.

UPDATE: Through their Facebook page, Anderson’s wrestling school reached out to their students on December 18, 2021. As seen in the screengrabs below, the school also previously expected to reopen on November 1.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Beach Break Championship Friday Preview

Tonight’s AEW Rampage episode on TNT will be the special Championship Friday Beach Break edition, taped earlier this week from the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, OH.

* Jon Moxley vs. Anthony Bowens

* AAA World Tag Team Champions FTR vs. Brock Anderson and Lee Johnson

* AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Julia Hart

* AEW World Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express defend against Private Party