Backstage Update On Dustin Rhodes’ AEW Contract

Back in December, Dustin Rhodes did an interview where he revealed that his contract with All Elite Wrestling would be expiring in July of this year. At the time, Rhodes said,

“I made the decision, the end of July, my contract is up and I’m going to be done in-ring, or at least tone way down. I don’t know if that’s going to be it because when we say we’re retiring, we always comeback and you never say never, but that’s what I’m looking for, an end date for my in-ring wrestling career.”

According to a report from Fightful Select, Rhodes’ contract actually expires in September of 2024.

As of this writing, there is no word on whether an extension was signed or if another issue extended the terms of the original contract.

Source: eWn

AEW Dynamite Preview 7/26/2023

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS from the MVP Arena in Albany, New York.

  • AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. AR Fox
  • Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Lucha Bros (Rey Fenix and Luchasaurus), and Best Friends(Trent Baretta and Chuck Taylor)
  • Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland
  • PAC vs. Gravity
  • Dr. Britt Baker, DMD vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • MJF & Adam Cole promo

Impact Wrestling To Make ‘Major International Announcement’ This Week

Impact Wrestling will be making an international announcement later this week.

According to a report from Pwinsider, a “major international announcement” will be announced on Thursday morning. As of this writing, there is no word on what the announcement will be.

As many of you know, AEW and WWE have both been expanding their international events with All In 2023 and Money in the Bank 2023 taking place in London.

Source: eWn

Billy Gunn Leaves His Boots In The Ring On AEW Collision

After The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn were unsuccessful in winning the World Trios Titles on Saturday night’s AEW Collision, Gunn unlaced his boots, took them off and left them in the center of the ring. Gunn was pinned after Malakai Black hit him with a side kick to the head.

After being pinned, Black whispered something in Gunn’s ear, before the House of Black themselves made their own exit from the ring. It was after this, Gunn began to unlaced his boots.

As Gunn was beginning to unlace his boots, the fans started a “You still got it!” chant, while Max Caster and Anthony Bowens looked on with confusion. After Gunn walked off, Anthony Bowens grabbed Gunn’s boots from the center of the ring.

Source: eWn

I believe it’s just a story line angle. Whether or not Gunn has wrestled his last match, it’s very likely that we will learn more about this development in the coming weeks on AEW television.

AEW Collision Preview 7/22/2023

Tonight’s AEW Collision Live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey tonight at 8/7c on TNT.

  • Ricky Starks celebrating his Owen Hart Cup win in the opening segment
  • CM Punk will be on-hand looking for a fight
  • Taya Valkyrie vs. Skye Blue
  • FTR appearance
  • Action Andretti & Darius Martin vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson)
  • AEW Trios Champions House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews) defend against The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn

Eric Young On WWE Exit: ‘I Can’t Take Instruction And Work For A Person Like That’

It was recently reported that Eric Young left WWE in April because he didn’t want to work with Vince McMahon. The longtime wrestling promoter returned to the Stamford-based promotion as executive chairman earlier this year after retiring last summer due to allegations of sexual misconduct. Young, who returned to Impact Wrestling at the promotion’s Slammiversary event this past weekend, addressed his WWE exit in a recent interview with Denise Salcedo. 

“I can say that I signed up for one thing and then was presented with a completely different thing,” Young said. “Personally, professionally, and for me, more importantly, morally, I can’t take instruction and work for a person like that. 

“And if you would have said that nine months ago, six months ago, I would probably would have said, ‘No. I wouldn’t be back at Impact.’ Fates got a funny way of doing things.

“Like I said, I didn’t really wanna leave [Impact] in the first place, but business is business, and an opportunity had presented itself that I just couldn’t say no to. I made the move, and I don’t regret it at all. Nine-month vacation, there’s worse things that can happen to a person, for sure.”

Young went on to say that he was “very lucky” to be in a position where he had a choice to leave WWE, acknowledging that not many people within the promotion would have that same ability. The former Impact World Champion believes it was the right option for him to walk away from a “massive opportunity” and “life-changing money.” Young said that he doesn’t regret the decision he made. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 7/21/2023

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT

  • TBS Championship: Kris Statlander defends against Marina Shafir
  • Royal Rampage battle royal to earn a TNT Title shot at All Out 
  • The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass vs. QTV

Nick Aldis Is Interested In Both WWE And AEW

Nick Aldis departed from Impact Wrestling after the Slammiversary 2023 pay-per-view event, where he lost to World Champion Alex Shelley in the evening’s main event. He is now once again a free agent.

Before his Impact return at its April 16th Rebellion pay-per-view event, where he was on a short-term contract with the promotion, he had interest from WWE but wasn’t brought in. 

As previously reported, WWE has expressed interest in signing Aldis again and Aldis’ name has been discussed internally among WWE management as a potential producer for the company.

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Aldis has yet to sign with anything.

“Aldis has no new deal in place and is said to be interested in both AEW and WWE. Aldis did clean jobs on the way out to Alex Shelley in the title match and Eric Young on TV. Aldis is a free agent right now and had agreed to work here through this week,” Meltzer wrote.

Source: eWn

Impact Wrestling Preview 7/20/2023

Tonight’s Impact at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.

  • Fallout from Slammiversary
  • In the closing moments of Slammiversary, Josh Alexander made his shocking return after relinquishing the IMPACT World Title due to injury this past April. Alexander would go face-to-face with reigning IMPACT World Champion Alex Shelley, who successfully retained his title over Nick Aldis just moments prior. Then, Alexander uttered the words that sent chills down the spines of wrestling fans around the world, “I’m back”. This Thursday, we will receive a status update from Josh Alexander himself. What’s next for the “Walking Weapon”? Tune in to find out.
  • Impact World Tag Team Championship: Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews) (c) vs. ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey)
  • Jake Something vs. Kevin Knight
  • Dirty Dango vs. Santino Marella
  • Courtney Rush vs. Savannah Evans

Bryan Danielson Undergoes Surgery, Provides Injury Update

Bryan Danielson broke his arm during a match with Kazuchika Okada at last month’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II pay-per-view event.

The American Dragon recently took to Twitter to provide an update, revealing that he underwent surgery “about two weeks ago.” He wrote,

“Also, to give everyone an update before #AEWDynamite, I got surgery on my arm about two weeks ago, where they put in a steel rod and 9 screws. Surgery went well and I’m on the road to recovery. Thank you all for the support, and check out #BloodAndGuts tonight!”

Source: eWn