Category: TNA

Backstage Impact Wrestling News

Impact Wrestling Digital Media Champion Joe Hendry is dealing with an injury. As of this writing, there is no word on what the actual injury is or how long he’ll be out of action. The last time we saw Hendry compete was at the April 17th tapings in Toronto, Canada.

D’Lo Brown was working as a producer during the latest set of Impact Wrestling TV tapings. As of this writing, there is no word on whether he’s back working full-time with the company. It should be noted that D-Lo is well-respected in the Impact Wrestling locker room.

And finally, Melissa Anderson (aka Cheerleader Melissa and Alyssa Flash) received a tryout as a producer at the recent set of Impact Wrestling TV tapings.

Source: eWrestlingNews

Impact Wrestling Preview 4/27/2023

IMPACT tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.

  • Jordynne Grace vs. Masha Slamovich
  • Knockouts Championship: Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Taylor Wilde
  • Bullet Club (Ace Austin and Chris Bey) vs. The Design (Angels and Kon) in a non-title match

Trinity Fatu, FKA Naomi In WWE, Reportedly Set To Make Impact Debut

With Mercedes Moné making waves in Japan with STARDOM and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, many have wondered what the future holds for her former WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship-winning partner Trinity Fatu (formerly known as Naomi in WWE).

PWInsider Elite is reporting that Trinity Fatu will debut for Impact Wrestling during this weekend’s taping in Cicero, Illinois, just across the border from Chicago. Impact had been teasing a big surprise for the tapings at Cicero Stadium, and it appears that surprise is Fatu. Not set to be just a one-off surprise appearance, the report states that this will mark the start of the former “SmackDown” Women’s Champion’s tenure with the promotion. There is no information on the length of her deal with the promotion.

The debut will mark her first appearance on a wrestling program since she and Moné walked out of WWE in May 2022, abandoning their women’s tag team titles out of frustration over the creative direction of the women’s tag division. There had been talk of Fatu joining her husband Jimmy Uso in the popular Bloodline faction, but nothing has come of those rumors. Fatu confirmed late last month on Instagram that she was completely finished with WWE.

Fatu’s partner Mercedes Moné debuted for New Japan Pro-Wrestling in January, also wrestling for NJPW’s sister promotion STARDOM as the IWGP Women’s Champion. Moné recently lost her title and has demanded a rematch in Long Beach, California at NJPW Resurgence. She recently signed an extension with the companies, which are both owned by Bushiroad.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Details On Roderick Strong’s WWE Departure, Surprise AEW Debut

AEW shocked the wrestling world on Wednesday night with Roderick Strong’s surprise debut on “Dynamite” in Sunrise, Florida. He had requested his WWE release last May, hadn’t been seen on WWE programming since August, and as of mid-March, was reportedly still under contract. So for him to show up on “Dynamite” to run in and save Adam Cole from the Jericho Appreciation Society was something almost no one saw coming. Very quickly, Fightful Select reported some details to try to help give context to what was a very left-field debut.

The most recent information that Fightful had was that the AEW talents they spoke to were “pleasantly surprised” that Strong had signed. On the WWE side, the newest information was that 2K Games had been told not to include Strong in the “WWE 2K23” video game, that other WWE talent had never been updated on his status, and he had not been at the WWE Performance Center “in quite some time” even though he was fully cleared to wrestle. The report also noted that Strong’s WWE run started its downward slide when Paul “Triple H” Levesque lost power in “NXT,” as he was behind Strong’s push as the center of a revitalized cruiserweight division.

Strong has been wrestling since 2000, breaking into the business when he was 16 years old after years of training under Jim Neidhart. After initially getting on the map for his work in the IPW promotion in Florida, he made a name for himself in Ring of Honor, where he was a mainstay for over a decade before signing with WWE in 2016.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite Preview 4/26/2023

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS and emanate from the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida.

  • AEW TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Bandido
  • Pillars Tournament Final: Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara
  • The Butcher & The Blade (w/ Kip Sabian) vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kenny Omega (w/ Don Callis)
  • Dax Harwood vs. Jeff Jarrett
  • We’ll hear from Adam Cole
  • We’ll hear from Tony Khan
  • We’ll hear from Wardlow and Arn Anderson

AEW May Have Canceled Dark: Elevation

It appears that AEW Dark: Elevation is no more. 

The show has aired on the company’s YouTube channel and FITE TV since it premiered in March 2021. 

This week’s episode was billed as a “best of” show with no new matches airing. It was FITE that noted the series was coming to an end with the following description for it:

“The Special and final episode of Elevation – it’s Best of Elevation airing on FITE! The episode is throwing it back to some of the best matches that have graced our Monday nights over the years!”

AEW has yet to comment on the future of the program. You can watch the episode here: 

Source: eWrestlingNews

‘Major Surprise’ Teased For Friday Night’s Impact Wrestling TV Tapings In Chicago

Impact Wrestling will be holding a set of TV tapings at Cicero Stadium in Chicago, IL this Friday night. Earlier today, the company took to Twitter to tease a “MAJOR SURPRISE” that will be taking place at the tapings. They wrote,

“There will be a MAJOR SURPRISE THIS FRIDAY at #SpringSlugfest in Cicero Stadium in Chicago!

Get tickets and be there to see it in person”

As of this writing, there is no word on what the surprise will be.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1650862239078035460

Source: eWrestlingNews

Details On CM Punk Visiting WWE Raw, Reaction Internally And In AEW

CM Punk was backstage at “WWE Raw,” but fans shouldn’t expect to see him return to his former company anytime soon.

According to PWInsider Elite, Punk met several WWE talents and employees while they were on the same flight. After finding out that “Raw” was being held at the Allstate Arena, which isn’t far from Punk’s home in Chicago, he visited the venue and hung out in the common area for around 20 minutes. He wasn’t hidden, nor was his visit expected.

The report states that Punk had conversations with employees such as Paul “Triple H” Levesque and The Miz. Furthermore, his chat with Miz supposedly led to them clearing the air after having heat with each other. The overall impression was that people were happy to see Punk and many of them greeted him in a positive manner. Those who didn’t were more confused to see him than anything. Punk was asked to leave by WWE security shortly after arriving, and he did so respectfully.

Of course, Punk’s appearance has led some people to believe he may have been gauging interest for a WWE return. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio revealed that people within AEW are under this impression; however, the PWInsider notes that he still has a lot of time left on his AEW contract and was merely there to visit some people and clear the air. 

Regarding his relationship with Tony Khan’s promotion, it’s been reported that Punk will return to AEW later this year and be part of the rumored Saturday show.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Concern That Thunder Rosa May Need Surgery

Former AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa has been out of action since last year after suffering a back injury.

In an update on Rosa’s status, Fightful Select is reporting that she has still not been cleared to return to the ring. Additionally, there is some fear that she may require back surgery to fix the lingering issues.

Thunder Rosa is currently doing Spanish-language commentary for AEW.

Source: eWrestlingNews

AEW Rampage Preview 4/22/2023

This week’s AEW Rampage will air at a SPECIAL TIME of SATURDAY at 10pm ET/9pm CT.

  • AAA Mega Championship: El Hijo del Vikingo (C) vs. Dralistico
  • Jon Moxley vs. Christopher Daniels
  • Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett and FTR vs. Varsity Athletes and Slim J
  • We will hear form The Hardy’s, Hook and Isiah Kassidy
  • We will hear from TBS Champion Jade Cargill
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1649382481957916679