Category: TNA

Impact Wrestling Preview 7/8/21

In less than two weeks, worlds will collide as the Impact World Champion Kenny Omega is set to do battle with “The Draw” Sami Callihan in the main event at Slammiversary. Tonight, these two notorious bruisers will make their match official with a contract signing on Impact Wrestling.

Last week, Omega and Callihan led their respective teams in a six-man tag team match. Unfortunately, Callihan’s team lost at the hands of The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson). But it’s important to note that neither Omega nor Callihan took the pin. These two future opponents missed each other in the match. The only interaction between them was Omega hitting a V-Trigger on Callihan, which helped his team pick up the pinfall victory.

Although this will be Omega’s first contract signing held at the Impact Zone, Omega will have to mind his Ps and Qs against one of the most violent athletes on the Impact roster. Callihan, who is dead set on winning the title for a second time and bringing it back home, is also ready to end Omega and keep him far away from the promotion he spent close to four years perfecting through his blood, sweat and tears. How will “The Best Bout Machine” handle “The Death Machine” tonight?

Speaking of Slammiversary, a Knockouts Tag Team Contenders Match will take place between Havok and Rosemary against Susan and Kimber Lee. Whoever wins will secure their shot at facing Fire ‘N Flava for the titles (Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz) next Saturday. With Lee focused on summoning Su Yung to help her and Susan seek revenge on Deonna Purrazzo, will The Undead Bride arrive to obtain the victory?

Also set for tonight’s show:

* Brian Myers vs. Jake Something

* Steve Maclin vs. Suicide will kick things off on Before The Impact at 7 PM ET.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Malakai Black (Aleister Black) Debuts On AEW Dynamite, Attacks Cody Rhodes

Malakai Black ( fka Aleister Black) made his debut on Wednesday night during AEW Dynamite. He attacked Cody Rhodes to a massive reaction.

Aleister Black has made his decision… he’s officially going All Elite. No longer known as Aleister Black, he’s not even going by the name Tommy End –which we all thought was a moniker he would take after his WWE release. Instead, Black debuted on AEW Dynamite as Malakai Black.

The live crowd there to watch his AEW debut were in shock, but also extremely vocal, blaring their enthusiasm for a signing that most fans universally seem to think is a fantastic move by Tony Khan. The President of AEW hinted he had other things up his sleeve. Apparently, this was one of them.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1412944130813083650

As often happens in AEW, a new arrival made his debut by attacking Cody Rhodes. Make of that what you will, Black’s arrival seems to have caught a number of fans off guard. There was a lot of chatter about where Black might go. AEW was certainly among the possible destinations. But, after news that his wife Zelina Vega signed a multi-year contract with WWE, some thought that might be the opening to bring Black back into the WWE fold. He had other plans.

Interestingly, this might be a case where Black was released from his 90-day non-compete clause early. Based on when he was let go, he shouldn’t have debuted so soon.

Black teased earlier on Wednesday that something might be coming. He released a vignette in which he said, “My name isn’t Tom. My name is Malakai.” Obviously, that’s the name he’s now going by in AEW.

Outside of the fans in attendance being stoked for Black’s debut, social media was quick to voice their excitement, many saying this is exactly the right spot for Black who will be used properly and could become a massive star. We can only hope this turns out to be the case.

Black didn’t necessarily get a fair shake in WWE and he’s got an extremely creative mind and passion for the business. It appears AEW is going to try and tap into that and they’ve put him up against one of their biggest names right out of the gate.

Source: The Sportster

AEW Dynamite Road Rager Preview 7/7/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite: Road Rager episode airs on TNT at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

* QT Marshall vs. Cody Rhodes (South Beach Strap Match)

* MJF to announce stipulations for Chris Jericho to get through to have a match with MJF. If they have a match and Jericho loses — he has to leave MJF alone forever.

* Andrade El Idolo vs. Matt Sydal

* The Young Bucks (c) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo and Eddie Kingston (Street Fight for the AEW World Tag Team Championship)

* Jake Hager, Santana, and Ortiz with Konnan vs. Wardlow and FTR with Tully Blanchard

* Kris Statlander and Orange Cassidy vs. The Bunny and The Blade

* Ethan Page and Darby Allin have a sit-down interview with Jim Ross

Update On Kenny Omega’s Injuries

Last month a report came out about AEW World Champion, Impact World Champion, and AAA Mega Champion Kenny Omega “hurting pretty badly” from a couple different injuries.

Omega was said to be dealing with an athletic hernia, a deep bone bruise near his tailbone, and general wear/tear on his knees. He was also coming off a stomach virus, and a sliced hand that required seven stitches. Omega himself said at the AEW Double or Nothing Fan Fest that there were days he considered retiring from wrestling, but the crowd always made him feel better while performing.

In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was reported the champion has been doing better — as seen in his title match victory against Jungle Boy on last Saturday’s Dynamite.

The biggest issue had been his athletic hernia, but stem cell treatment and PRP (Platelet-rich plasma) therapy have helped make “a world of difference.”

Omega has some big defenses lined up, beginning on July 17 at Impact Slammiversary against Sami Callihan. He’ll also be heading to Mexico City, Mexico on August 14 at AAA TripleMania XXIV to defend the AAA Mega Championship against Andrade.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Paul Wight Responds To Shaq’s Challenge For AEW Match

A match between NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal and Paul Wight [fka The Big Show] has been rumored for years. But aside from a brief encounter during the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32, the two giants have never truly locked horns inside the squared circle.

As reported earlier, Shaq told PopCulture.com in a recent interview that his match with Wight could happen “really, really soon” in AEW

“I hear Paul Wight is still talking trash,” O’Neal said. “So I’m going to work out really hard this summer and maybe we can do something really, really soon.”

Shaq added that nothing would prevent the match from happening this time around.

“There shouldn’t be any problems for us getting together now,” O’Neal said of his potential match with Wight. “Last time there was a lot of bureaucracy and red tape. Now there is no red tape. I’m still kind of sore from that table so I’m going to work out during the summer, pump these muscles up and I’ll be waiting for you, Mr. Paul.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling Preview 7/1/21

Tonight on Impact on AXS TV:

* Don Callis’ team (Impact World Champion Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers) challenges Tommy Dreamer’s team (Sami Callihan, Moose and Chris Sabin) in a six-man tag team main event

* Eddie Edwards vs. Satoshi Kojima

* Chris Bey vs. Petey Williams

* TJP & Fallah Bahh vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack

* Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will take on her former ally Kimber Lee in a non-title match on Before The Impact at 7 PM ET.

Rebel Dislocates Her Knee On AEW Dynamite

Rebel dislocated her knee on Wednesday night while competing in a tag match alongside Britt Baker.

Rebel dislocated her knee towards the end of a match on Dynamite this week, forcing her to watch on from the sidelines as her partner picked up the win.

It’s shaping up to be a bad week for freak injuries in women’s wrestling. Tuesday night on NXT, a stiff roundhouse kick to the head appeared to knock out Mercedes Martinez and resulted in the match coming to a premature end. 24 hours later, Rebel suffered a knee injury that meant she couldn’t finish her match on Dynamite.

Unlike Martinez, Rebel was competing in a tag team match. That meant her partner Britt Baker could take the reigns and finish the match by herself. The AEW Women’s Champion even managed to win, beating Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero by forcing the latter to submit to her finisher, the Lockjaw. It might stop Guerrero from screaming excuse me for a week or two as well.

As for Rebel, AEW officials tended to her at ringside before she was helped to the back. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp provided updates on her condition, revealing that Rebel was in good spirits backstage despite dislocating her left knee. A pretty painful injury by all accounts but it sounds like Rebel handled it like a trooper.

https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1410450506124869640

As for how long the injury will keep Rebel on the sidelines, that is yet to be revealed. Dislocations can be simple or they can be tricky. If the incident did no additional damage then it might have been as simple as popping it back in, although that would have likely been incredibly painful. However, it may have damaged ligaments or otherwise which could mean Rebel is out of the ring and maybe even off TV for a while.

Source: The Sportster

Jim Ross Comments After Signing Off Show With “WWE Dynamite” Botch

Jim Ross, once again, misspoke during an AEW show when he signed off Wednesday’s program by calling it a live episode of “WWE Dynamite”.

Jim Ross is taking a lot of heat from wrestling fans… again. For the second time since joining the AEW commentary crew (really, the second time in a few months), he’s made the painful mistake of accidentally calling AEW by the name of his old employer. Again, he’s aware he messed up and on Wednesday night, following the show, he responded to folks who figured he should probably just quit.

To sign off Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, Ross said, “There’s nothing in your life that will top seeing a live WWE Dynamite.” As you can imagine, the comments immediately came flooding in.

This is not the first time he’s made this mistake. It wasn’t that long ago he accidentally called Kenny Omega the WWE Champion. At the time, fans poked fun suggesting mistakes just happen. Since this is the second time he’s done it, fans have been a bit more critical.

Ross responded to all the heat on social media. He wrote, “Yep I apparently made an untimely error tonight at shows end. No excuses. And I’m not quitting.” His response suggests a couple of things. First, he seemed to have no idea he’d said what he said until he either saw it on social media or someone from AEW pointed it out for him. Second, he’s either beating all the critics to the punch or he’s responding to people saying he’s no longer someone that should be a part of the AEW announce team.

These mistakes are going to happen. When you’re Ross and you worked at WWE as long as J.R. did, it’s actually a bit surprising the slip up hasn’t happened more often. All it really takes is for something to cross your mind and out it comes. That said, does there come a point when AEW needs to do something about this?

As AEW fills the roster with more former WWE talent, it’s likely to happen again. And yes, he’ll take heat for it. At the end of the day, does it really hurt anything? It’s not ideal, but the video clip has gone viral. There’s always a silver lining.

Source: The Sportster – JIM PARSONS

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/30/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.

* Jungle Boy vs. Jack Evans

* AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Eddie Kingston and Penta El Zero Miedo. (If Kingston and Penta win, they earn a title shot)

* Rebel and AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero

* Miro (c) vs. Brian Pillman Jr. (AEW TNT Championship)

* MJF vs. Sammy Guevara in the main event

* Chris Jericho on commentary

AEW Star Trent Reveals He Underwent Neck Fusion Surgery

AEW Star Trent revealed on Twitter that underwent neck fusion surgery on Saturday.

His last match was on the April 21, 2021 episode of AEW Dynamite against Penta El Zero Miedo.  He lost that match.

Last December, Trent revealed he had a partially torn pec, which kept his out of action for several months.  He made his surprise return during on the March 31, 2021 AEW Dynamite during the Arcade Anarchy Match.