Category: TNA

Marko Stunt Signs With All Elite Wrestling

Indie star Marko Stunt took to Twitter yesterday to reveal a big 23rd birthday present he received – a contract from All Elite Wrestling.

“It’s my 23rd birthday, and I can’t think of another way to celebrate, than by announcing something huge! I would like to announce that I have OFFICIALLY signed with @AEWrestling! Thank you to everyone who has supported me, and everyone at AEW! This is just the beginning,” Stunt wrote.

Marko made his AEW debut back at the Double Or Nothing pay-per-view in late May, participating in the Casino Battle Royale on the “Buy In” pre-show. He entered at #7 and was eliminated by Ace Romero, without picking up any eliminations. Stunt then accompanied Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy to the ring at Fight for the Fallen earlier this month for the Triple Threat tag team match against Angelico and Jack Evans, and winners The Dark Order. Stunt also worked the All In event in 2018, participating in the Over Budget Battle Royale on the pre-show.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Cody Rhodes Vs. Sammy Guevara Announced For AEW On TNT Premiere Episode

Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara has been announced for the first-ever AEW on TNT TV episode.

AEW on TNT will premiere live from 8pm – 10pm ET on Wednesday, October 2 from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. Tickets go on sale this Friday via Ticketmaster and AEWTix.com, and will cost $250 (within the first three rows of floor ringside sections, seat location includes an AEW-designed commemorative take-home chair once the event is over), $90, $75, $50, $35, and $20.

It’s believed that the title of the AEW TV show will be revealed soon, along with dates and locations for the other upcoming TV tapings.

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1156233150525321216

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Entertainment Reporter Chris Van Vliet Signs With AEW

Entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet announced today that he is joining All Elite Wrestling to work as a backstage interviewer for the AEW on TNT TV show, which premieres on Wednesday, October 2.

Van Vliet appeared as the “Control Center” segment host in the recent “Road to All Out” series on YouTube. He has been interviewing WWE Superstars for a few years now.

You can see Van Vliet’s full post below:

“I’m honored to announce that I am officially joining @allelitewrestling on October 2 for the first show on TNT!As a lifelong wrestling fan, this is a dream come true to mix my passion for broadcasting and pro wrestling as a backstage interviewer for AEW!

Growing up, I idolized the larger-than-life characters in the ring and I wanted nothing more than to be a professional wrestler.

When I was 20 years old, I enrolled in a wrestling school in Toronto but my wrestling dreams were put on hold as I chose to focus on graduating with an honors degree in Communication Studies and pursuing my other dream of being a TV host. During my senior year, I called every TV station in town and finally earned an internship that led to my first ever on-air job. Every day, I drove 60 miles each way for that job and worked part-time in the fish department of a pet store at the mall to make ends meet. That has since grown into a 15 year broadcasting career and a YouTube channel where I’m still blown away that I get to have conversations with some of the biggest wrestling stars on the planet.

I have loved working as an Entertainment Reporter for @decodrivetv on @wsvn over the last 5 years. My co-hosts @shireensandoval and @lynnmartinez123 are the best in the business—as are the producers, editors, photographers, administrators, studio crew and everyone else at Channel 7. You have all helped me grow so much as both a broadcaster and as a human since I moved to Florida from Ohio in 2014. I am so grateful to have been able to share incredible stories on TV and to also travel the world and report from some of the biggest red carpet events.

If you’re reading this, I’ve got two words for you: THANK YOU! I couldn’t have done ANY of this with you and your support.

And here’s the best part — we are just getting started!!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0gpRWvnPnC/?utm_source=ig_embed

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tenille Dashwood Signs With Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling announced that Tenille Dashwood has signed with the company. Dashwood will make her Impact debut in Mexico City, Mexico on August 15th and August 16th.

Since being released by WWE in October of 2017, Dashwood has worked on the independent scene. She had signed with ROH in February of 2018, however she revealed this past March that she was no longer under contract with the promotion.

Below is Impact’s announcement of Dashwood’s signing:

Ticket Prices And On-Sale Date Announced For The First-Ever AEW On TNT TV Episode

As noted, the first-ever AEW on TNT TV tapings will take place on Wednesday, October 2 from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. Doors open at 6:30pm ET and showtime is 7:30pm ET, indicating a pre-show dark match. The episode will air live on TNT that night from 8pm – 10pm ET.

AEW announced today that tickets for the first TV tapings will go on sale this Friday, August 2 at 12 noon ET, via Ticketmaster and AEWTix.com.

Ticket prices are as follows, and do not include facility fees or service charges:

* $250 (within the first three rows of floor ringside sections, seat location includes an AEW-designed commemorative take-home chair once the event is over)

* $90

* $75

* $50

* $35

* $20

It’s believed that AEW will be announcing the name of their TNT TV show this week. Stay tuned for more updates.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Brandi Rhodes Speaks Out About Receiving Death Threats On Social Media

AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes revealed that she gets death threats and hate messages sent to her daily on social media.

In a series of tweets, Rhodes explained that social media is just flooded with hate and people wishing others would fail, die, or likely both. She went on to say that people that have a blue check on their social media accounts get preyed on for no reason and how they can’t even defend themselves.

In her last tweet she wrote, “And people feel okay with themselves at the end of the day. You’re sad, bitter and angry at all of the wrong people. People you’ve never met. Never had a conversation with. You hate us and wish we would die. How embarrassing that must be to know how shallow and selfish you are.”

After her tweets, someone replied to her, “I’m sorry but you are the same person who does the same thing?” After that Rhodes asked the user if they could point out where she wished failure and death upon someone on here.

Below is the Twitter thread:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling Preview 7/26/19

Tonight on Impact – Pursuit Channel and Twitch.

* Impact X-Division Championship: (C) Rich Swann vs. Jake Crist

* Moose in action

* Kiera Hogan vs. Jordynne Grace

* Street Fight: Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin

Backstage News On How Many Live Events AEW Will Run Per Year, Format For TV Tapings

In case you missed it, All Elite Wrestling announced that their TV debut on TNT will be on October 2nd. The first show will be taking place inside the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. In an arena that holds up to 20,000 people, AEW is looking to change things up when it comes to venues.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the promotion will be running different sized arenas based off of demand. They will be looking into holding arenas that can hold 6,000 to 11,000 people. Just like WWE does with Main Event tapings, there will be matches prior to the 8 p.m. start time. At 7:30 p.m. there will be a warm-up match prior to TV time.

In regards to how many shows they want to put on, their goal is to run 100-120 live events per year, including many Saturday night house shows. Outside of those shows, they are expected to run 51 TV show days and up to four PPVs.

In regards to live events, there are thoughts of doing more than one house show a week. The top talent would work in the area of 75 matches per year, which AEW feels would help them keep their match quality high. It was noted that on of their key goals is to have great matches on the top of the card as compared with any other promotion.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Vince McMahon Talks AEW, Says He Can’t See TNT Tolerating “Blood And Guts” Content For Too Long

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon made several references to All Elite Wrestling during today’s Second Quarter 2019 Earnings call from WWE HQ in Stamford, CT.

When discussing the WWE creative content getting a bit more edgier, Vince said they will remain in the PG environment” and they will not go back to the Attitude Era, but they will do some more controversy with better storylines. He then said WWE will not “do blood and guts and things of that nature, such as what is being done on our new potential competitor” – a reference to AEW and what they have been doing on their sows.

Vince later talked more about competition during the Q&A with investors, and said he generally believes that competition is good for everyone. Vince said they are hoping to the extent that they, presumably AEW, remains competition, but that AEW doesn’t continue “the blood and guts and gory things that they have been doing,” which he says are bad things.

Vince added that he can’t speak for TNT, but he can’t imagine that the network “would put up with that” kind of content continuing from AEW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

CM Punk Says He Received An Offer From All Elite Wrestling Via Text Message

A large portion of the wrestling community is hoping to see CM Punk in AEW, and now the former WWE star has confirmed he recently received an offer from the company (via text message).

Punk was brutally honest, so it would seem, about his relationship with All Elite Wrestling while speaking with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi to promote an upcoming appearance at Starrcast.

When asked if he had a relationship with AEW, Punk firmly stated no.

“I know they like to talk about me a lot. If I text Matt Jackson, “Hey, have a great show tonight,” which I did when they had their big show in Vegas, that somehow turns into Tony Khan telling people he has a great relationship with me. I’ve said in the past I’ve talked to them, but nothing ever came of anything,” he added.

Punk also addressed fans having expectations to see him at All Out because of his scheduled appearance at Starrcast:

“I think if there’s an expectation, it’s purely been built by them. My silence to some fans means something. They’re trying to read the tea leaves, but there’s nothing to read. I even feel like talking about it may feel like I’m putting some sort of negative slant on it, but I’m really not. The fact is I know they’ve teased me ad nauseam, and if anybody is gonna get mad it’s at me because I don’t show up. Well then, I don’t know what to tell you. That’s one of those things that’s none of my business.”

“They do videos where they talk about me. They’re constantly talking about me in the media. And again, maybe this sounds like I’m badgering them, but I’m not. It’s just something that happens. I’m a popular guy to talk about. But I’m not doing interviews talking about them. If people ask me about it, I say no, I won’t be there.”

Punk was then asked straight up if anything between he and AEW was imminent and this is what he said:

Punk: The last thing I got — I got a text from Cody [Rhodes]. And again, I almost don’t even know how to reply to them sometimes, because if I reply, they do interviews and are like, “Oh yeah, I just talked to Punk.” I’m kind of damned if I do, damned if I don’t. I always think if somebody wants to do business with me, they can come talk to me. Texting offers isn’t really a way to do good business, at least.

ESPN: Was it an offer via text?

Punk: It was texted through three people and an offer came in through text. This is like a month ago, maybe.

ESPN: An offer for All Out?

Punk: I think it was just a general offer. I never could have done the last one in Vegas [Double or Nothing], because I was in California for CFFC.

Punk talked about his UFC future as well in the interview and how he wouldn’t be surprised to get cut.

“I’m not that dude that sat down on a stage in Vegas eight years ago,” he added. “I’m not the dude that left WWE. I’m not that guy. That was five-years-ago Phil. I’m a different dude now. People still have that connotation, like, “Oh, he hates WWE.” And it’s just like, no, I’ve let all that go, and I’ve let all that go so long ago. But there are people that hold on to that. They still think or want me to be who I was. I’m not who I was yesterday. This is my journey, this is my odyssey.”

Punk also said he doesn’t expect to be involved in wrestling by 2020 — but anything is possible.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet