Category: TNA

Andrade El Idolo Set To Make In-Ring Return Soon

Andrade El Idolo is on his way back, just in time for the launch of AEW Collision on June 17.

Andrade has been out of action since September due to torn pec that he had surgery for in November. Also around this time, he was involved in a backstage fight with Sammy Guevara, leading to them sending him sent home. 

Andrade is slated to make his in-ring return soon. According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Andrade is returning to the ring two days before Collision premieres for a show in Mexico.

Source: eWn

AEW Struggling To Sell Tickets For Collision

AEW Collision will premiere on June 17 on TNT as a two-hour program. AEW President Tony Khan will announce the location of the first episode this Wednesday on Dynamite. 

It was believed to be in Chicago at the United Center, but if they don’t work things out with CM Punk for him to return on the show, they will go to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. 

Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that AEW is off to a rough start with selling tickets to the Collision shows as none of them have sold out and is in a challenging situation with these being the first events of a show that is about to launch. 

Here is AEW’s updated touring schedule: 

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: May 24 – MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

AEW Double or Nothing: May 28 – T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: May 31 – Viejas Arena in San Diego, CA

AEW House Rules: Friday, June 2 – Cadence Bank Arena in Tupelo, Mississippi 

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: May 24 – MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

AEW Double or Nothing: May 28 – T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: May 31 – Viejas Arena in San Diego, CA

AEW House Rules: Friday, June 2 – Cadence Bank Arena in Tupelo, Mississippi 

AEW House Rules: Saturday, June 3 – Von Braun Center Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama 

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, June 7 – Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, CO

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, June 14 -Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

AEW Collision: Saturday, June 17 – TBD

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, June 21 – Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL

AEW Collision: Saturday, June 24 – Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

AEW Forbidden Door: Sunday, June 25 – Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, June 28 – FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario

AEW Collision: Thursday, June 29 – FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, July 5 – Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta

AEW Collision: Saturday, July 8 – Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

AEW Dynamite: Wednesday, July 12 – SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

AEW Collision: Saturday, July 15 – Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

AEW Dynamite/Rampage: Wednesday, July 19 – TD Garden in Boston, MA

AEW Collision: Saturday, July 22 – Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey

AEW All In PPV: Sunday, August 27 – London, England at the Wembley Stadium

Source: eWn

AEW Fight Forever Set For June 27 Release, Official Announcement Expected Next Week

After more than a few delays, the long wait for AEW’s first console video game — AEW Fight Forever — is nearing its end. According to Fightful Select, the game is set for a June 27 release date — two days after the cross-promotional Forbidden Door pay-per-view with NJPW; the official announcement is expected in the next week. 

This morning, GameRanx had flagged that French retailer Just For Games had switched the release day to June 27, and now it looks like that was not in error. It had become clear earlier in the week that the release was imminent when the Xbox store started listing the game’s achievement trophies and allowed players to start the pre-installation process. Now we know why.

AEW announced the formation of AEW Games and the console game project in November 2020. Additionally, the key details offered then were that longtime wrestling game developer Yuke’s would be involved, something along the lines of 2000’s WWF No Mercy game was the target, and No Mercy director Hideyuki “Geta” Iwashita was on-board in some capacity.

A preview version of the game was available to play at industry trade shows like GamesCom last summer and retailers started taking pre-orders for the game, but no release date was ever claimed on the calendar. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

The First AEW Collision Taping Location Will Depend On CM Punk’s Status

AEW Collision will be premiering on June 17 on the TNT Network.

While AEW President Tony Khan announced five upcoming TV taping locations for the new show on last week’s episode of Dynamite, he failed to mention the venue and location for the debut episode on June 17th. That announcement will be coming next week instead.

While the original plan was to hold the taping at the United Center in Chicago, IL, it’s all going to depend on whether the company can agree to terms with CM Punk on a return. If a deal can’t be reached, there is talk of having the first episode of the show airing elsewhere. The company would likely run a smaller venue and it may not be in the Chicago market. This is due to some concern that the fans would “hijack” the show as they’d expect CM Punk to show up whether he’s advertised or not.

For those wondering, Punk and AEW have both been in contact since he was pulled from the Collision announcement. Those talks are ongoing and the hope is that something will be worked out soon.

Source: eWn

Impact Wrestling Announces Partnership With Swerve Sports

Impact Wrestling has a new partnership with Swerve Sports. The following was issued:

Swerve Sports Partners with Anthem Sports and Entertainment to Add Impact Wrestling and Invicta FC to its Line-up

Impact Wrestling will air at 9:00pm ET on “Wrestling Wednesdays” and Invicta FC will air at 9:00pm ET
on “Friday Night Fights” on the Swerve Sports channel.

Swerve Sports, a category-leading free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel, announced today that it has licensed Impact Wrestling and Invicta FC (MMA) from Anthem Sports and Entertainment. In addition to being available on the Swerve Sports channel, Swerve’s growing video-on-demand library will also feature popular Impact programming like Impact in 60 and TNA Wrestling’s Greatest Matches.

Swerve Sports continues to add fresh and exciting competitions from innovative leagues around the globe including the most recently completed season of Strongman’s Champions League, the world’s premier strength competition. In addition, Swerve continues to grow its foundation of premium sports documentaries with quality features like Autobiography: Mike Tyson.

“We welcome the Swerve audience to both Impact and Invicta,” said Ariel Shnerer, VP of Business Development for Anthem. “We look forward to working with Swerve to extend our reach and build audience together.”

“Impact delivers premium pro wrestling matches and one-of-a-kind drama, so we could not be any more excited to be partnering with a leader in the space” said Dan Keston, Swerve TV’s Head of Content, parent company of Swerve Sports. “And with featured matches and PPVs from the largest, all-women’s MMA organization in Invicta FC, Swerve is able to continue to expand its combat sport space footprint in the best possible way.”

About Swerve TV, LLC

Founded in 2021 by digital media veterans Steve Shannon and Dan Keston, Swerve Sports is the first FAST channel focused on telling the stories behind the world’s most inspirational athletes. Swerve is available on Fubo, LG Channels, The Roku Channel, SLING TV, VIZIO, Xumo Play and more and is accessible in over 80% of US households.

Anthem, Impact Wrestling, and Invicta are registered trademarks of Anthem Sports and Entertainment, Inc. Trade names, trademarks and service marks of other companies appearing in this press release are the property of their respective holders.

AEW Rampage 5/19/2023

AEW Rampage tonight with a special start time of 6:30 PM ET. on TNT.

  • Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Best Amigos (Bandido, Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta)
  • TBS Champion Jade Cargill title defense open challenge
  • The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) and Billy Gunn vs. Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese, Josh Woods & Ari Daivari)
  • Dustin Rhodes vs. Bishop Kaun
  • Jeff & Matt Hardy promo

Impact Wrestling Preview 5/18/2023

Tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV is all-new.

Here are the matches that have been announced for the show:

* Trinity vs. KiLynn King
* Moose, Eddie Edwards & Frankie Kazarian vs. Alex Shelley, Jonathan Gresham & Yuya Uemura
* Trey Miguel vs. Laredo Kid
* Jason Hotch vs. Ace Austin
* Before the Impact: The Design (Deaner & Kon) vs. Johnny Swinger & Zicky Dice

Backstage News On How AEW Will Run TV Tapings Following Collision Debut

All Elite Wrestling announced that the new weekly Collision show will debut on June 17 and air on TNT.

Pwinsider has provided an update on how AEW will run its TV tapings moving forward.

AEW will continue running Dynamite live on Wednesdays and then tape Rampage for Friday nights on TNT. The current plan is to hold Collision live on Saturday nights, followed by TV tapings for Ring of Honor, which will then stream on HonorClub on Thursdays.

With the recent elimination of Dark and Dark: Elevation, many within AEW have found the shows and TV tapings easier to work with.

The absence of additional Dark tapings has also made the live audience hotter and producing the shows less of a weekly chore, allowing more focus for Dynamite and Rampage.

Talents and officials had tremendous fun working the recent House Rules live events in Kentucky and Virginia. The fun can be attributed to the fact that House Rules have a different vibe than televised shows and a “lack of the same type of pressure” that talents normally have for TV tapings.

Source: eWrestlingNews

Big Issues Holding Up CM Punk’s AEW Return? Warner Bros. Discovery Hopeful AEW & Punk Can Work Things Out

CM Punk is at odds with AEW, leading to the two sides having another fallout. 

On Wednesday, the official announcement was made that AEW Collision will be coming to the TNT Network on Saturday nights beginning on June 17th. In the official press release, CM Punk was not mentioned. But in the original email sent out by Warner Media, Punk’s name was mentioned but it was later redacted.

Some of you may recall that Ace Steel, who is very good friends with CM Punk, was involved in the All Out 2022 brawl. He was later fired from the company.

According to a report from Fightful Select, Chris Jericho brought up Ace Steel’s name during his recent meeting with CM Punk, with the belief being that everyone working together could relieve some of the tensions between the two sides involved in the fight. While it was talked about, nothing was set in stone.

There was another meeting held between AEW and CM Punk this week, where Punk was directly told that Steel would be able to return and work directly with him. With that being said, it was made very clear that Steel would not be allowed to attend any of the TV tapings.

This reportedly didn’t go over well with Punk, and he disagreed with the decision. It should be noted that there’s no word on how specifically Punk reacted other than the notion that he wasn’t flattered with the idea that his friend wouldn’t be able to attend the TV tapings with him.

As of this writing, there is no word on whether this is the reason CM Punk wasn’t included in the AEW Collision announcement. Additionally, it’s unknown why Warner Bros. Discovery issued a statement noting that Punk is not “affiliated with TNT’s AEW Collision.” CM Punk reportedly didn’t want his return to AEW to be announced ahead of time.

Additionally, it was said that there were plans for an AEW crew to film content at Punk’s home on Wednesday. As of this writing, there is no word on whether that took place or not.

And finally, sources in Impact Wrestling stated that they had some interest in bringing Steel in for a tryout, but they passed on that several weeks ago as they were under the impression that he was headed to AEW or WWE.

The bottom line here is that there are still some issues that need to be resolved and it’s far from confirmed that CM Punk will be featured on the debut episode of AEW Collision.

Punk was slated to make his return to AEW on the June 17 premiere episode of AEW Collision after not being seen since All Out. Punk was originally listed in the press release and promotional materials for the announcement of AEW Collision before he was removed. 

Dave Meltzer confirmed on the most recent Wrestling Observer Radio that Warner Bros Discover was hopeful that the two sides would be able to reconcile and there would be an attempt to work it out. It’s said that it’s not a dead deal yet.

Source: eWrestlingNews

AEW All Access Moving From TBS To Max Streaming Service On June 9th

It was confirmed today at Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront that All Elite Wrestling will be launching “AEW Collision” on June 17. The new two-hour show is set to air every Saturday night at 8 pm EST. Furthermore, it has now been revealed that “AEW All Access” will be switching to streaming platform Max from June 9 — HBO Max is set to be rebranded as Max later this month. The reality series premiered on March 29 and airs on TBS. The show takes a look at what goes on behind at the curtain at AEW. 

The revamped Max streaming service will see a wide range of programs be featured, including HBO Originals, Warner Bros. films, and the DC Universe. Max will launch on May 23 and will be continuously updated with fresh content. Along with “All Access,” HGTV’s “Battle on the Beach” and TLC’s “90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days” will also be switching to the streaming platform. It’s said that many current HBO subscribers will have their apps automatically updated, while others will be instructed to install the new app.  

Six episodes of “All Access” have aired since the show was launched in March. When the program was first announced, it was revealed that it would “showcase AEW’s stars as they navigate the week-to-week challenges to remain at the top and will track the rivalries between talent as they vie for fans’ attention.” The inaugural series has highlighted various aspects behind the scenes, including the personal lives of real-life couple Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Adam Cole.

Source: Wrestling Inc.