Category: TNA

Christian Cage Returns From Injury On AEW Dynamite

On last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Christian Cage returned from injury and attacked “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry. This reignited their feud which began in June 2022 when Luchasaurus turned his back on Perry after they lost the AEW World Tag Team Championships.

No sooner had Perry just defeated Brian Cage in a singles match, Cage appeared on the entranceway and sprayed him with mace. Cage then removed his arm sling and elbow brace to nail Perry with the Killswitch on the stage.

The attack shows that Cage is now cleared to compete again after suffering an upper-body injury last summer.

AEW Dynamite Preview 2/15/2023

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS and emanate from the Sames Auto Center in Larado, Texas.

  • Texas Tornado Tag Team Match: Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs. RUSH & Preston Vance
  • AEW World Champion MJF Fulfills His Contractual Obligation to Appear in Laredo, Texas
  • Hangman Adam Page vs. Kip Sabian
  • Wardlow Sit Down Interview with Jim Ross
  • Brian Cage vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry
  • Mark Briscoe vs. Josh Woods
  • Renee Paquette Speaks with Adam Cole
  • Toni Storm vs. Ruby Soho vs. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.
  • Orange Cassidy, The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn vs. Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh & Sonjay Dutt

Jeff Jarrett Pays Tribute To His Late Father

Jeff Jarrett took to Twitter today to pay tribute to his father and the iconic wrestling promoter after his passing yesterday by writing the following:

When Things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and debts are high, And you want to Smile but have to sigh. When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns, As everyone of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about, When he might have won if he’d stuck it out, Don’t give up though the pace seems slow, You might succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up, When he might captured the victor’s cup. And he learned too late, when the night slipped down, How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out, The silver tint of clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems afar, So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit, It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit! ~ #Dad

https://twitter.com/RealJeffJarrett/status/1625897963397558275

Wrestling Legend Jerry Jarrett Passed Away

Pro wrestling lost a true legend of the industry yesterday with the death of Jerry Jarrett.  

Conrad Thompson mentioned Jarrett had been battling esophageal cancer during a recording with Jarrett’s son, AEW star Jeff Jarrett, that was released earlier today.

Along with his mother Christine, Jerry Jarrett put Memphis wrestling on the map as one of the true catalysts for making the territory so hot in the 1970s and 1980s. Along the way, he was responsible for making a number of stars in the business such as Jackie Fargo, Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Dutch Mantell, and his own son Jeff. In addition, talent such as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin credited Jarrett for helping them build the proper foundation to get their careers off the ground. 

Jarrett’s career spanned decades as both a wrestler and promoter. In 1969, he made his in-ring debut for NWA Mid-America, where he went on to become a 10-time NWA Southern Tag Team Champion. Jarrett initially retired from in-ring competition in 1988 ahead of promoting United States Wrestling Association, but competed in a handful of matches for USWA until his final bout in 1995. 

In 2002, after years of consulting work with both World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation, Jerry and son Jeff co-founded the promotion that became Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling, now known as Impact Wrestling. Jarrett parted ways with TNA in 2005 after a dispute over the company’s direction — this led to a falling out between Jerry and Jeff until their reconciliation a decade later, after agreeing to never talk about wrestling.

In 2018, Jarrett was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

Jarrett was 80 years old, and his contributions are being remembered by friends and colleagues whose lives he impacted over the years.

“I’m hearing reports of my friend and long-time booker/promoter Jerry Jarrett died this morning in TN,” tweeted Mantell. “I last saw him last year when we did the VICE show THE TERRITORIES in Atlanta. Very creative booker. Condolences to Jeff/Deborah and the Jarrett family.”

“Sad news of a great guy who has passed away. Condolences go out to the Jerry Jarrett Family,” wrote The Honky Tonk Man, adding that Jarrett gave him a break in wrestling that he’ll never forget.

“Godspeed, Jerry Jarrett. My heart goes out to his family and friends. What a legacy,” said former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce.

“Such sad news on Jerry Jarrett – will always be in my heart – one of the greatest promoters that gave way to some of my most fondest professional moments – he will be missed”

Below are some other reaction from the wrestling world.

https://twitter.com/RealMikeTenay/status/1625632618837602304

Backstage News On Whether There’s Been Any ‘Mending Of Fences’ Between CM Punk And AEW

Fans hoping for CM Punk to make his return to AEW television soon should know that there is reportedly much work left to be done. Dave Meltzer offered an update regarding the fallout of “Brawl Out” on the latest episode of “Wrestling Observer Radio.” “There was a lot of damage done that night,” Meltzer said, acknowledging that many want Punk to come back because the ratings for AEW have been flat as of late. Meltzer previously reported that Chris Jericho was pushing for Punk to not come back, but the ball remains in the court of AEW owner Tony Khan.

Backstage News On Whether There’s Been Any ‘Mending Of Fences’ Between CM Punk And AEW
Irvin Rivera/Getty Images
BY DOMINIC DEANGELO/FEB. 14, 2023 11:58 AM EST
Fans hoping for CM Punk to make his return to AEW television soon should know that there is reportedly much work left to be done. Dave Meltzer offered an update regarding the fallout of “Brawl Out” on the latest episode of “Wrestling Observer Radio.” “There was a lot of damage done that night,” Meltzer said, acknowledging that many want Punk to come back because the ratings for AEW have been flat as of late. Meltzer previously reported that Chris Jericho was pushing for Punk to not come back, but the ball remains in the court of AEW owner Tony Khan.

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Wrestlers Who Can’t Stand Hulk Hogan
“Tony’s gonna do what Tony’s gonna do and I don’t know what that’s going to be. … There’s a lot of damage there to the brand. It wasn’t just like he yelled at The Young Bucks. It was the brand. I mean he basically said that AEW is second-rate,” Meltzer added, having been in attendance for Punk’s infamous post-All Out press conference. According to Meltzer, there are bridges that haven’t been crossed yet between the two parties.

“There’s a lot of mending of fences that need to be done and there’s been no mending of fences at all,” he said. “Punk could be back in two months and then there’s a decision of how that goes. That’s going to be a big story of how that goes down or how it doesn’t go down.” Punk happened to tear his tricep that night while defeating Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship, and hasn’t been seen in AEW since. Without Punk appearing for AEW, ratings for “AEW Dynamite” have plateaued below a million viewers and viewership for “AEW Rampage” has nosedived.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 2/10/2023

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT at 10/9C.

  • Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Kip Sabian and The Butcher & The Blade
  • “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry in action
  • Ruby Soho vs. Marina Shafir
  • Mark Briscoe to speak
  • All-Atlantic Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Lee Moriarty

ESPN Secures Exclusive Broadcast Rights To AEW In Major Overseas Deal

All Elite Wrestling and ESPN announced a major partnership on Thursday, which will see Dynamite, Rampage and AEW pay-per-view events made available to ESPN subscribers in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

You can check out an excerpt from the press release below:

“ESPN announced that it has secured exclusive broadcast rights to top American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), bringing its premium matches and entertainment to ESPN subscribers in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands starting February 16.

Each week on ESPN, fans in the region can catch all the action on “AEW: DYNAMITE” on Thursday AEDT, and “AEW: RAMPAGE” on Saturday AEDT, with same-day replays and episodes made available on-demand. In addition, through ESPN, fans will have access to all of AEW’s quarterly pay-per-view events on delay: REVOLUTION, DOUBLE OR NOTHING, ALL OUT and FULL GEAR.

AEW will be available on ESPN in the following locations: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Niue, Nauru, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Northern Marianas, Tokelau, Tahiti, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Marshall Islands, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, and Wallis and Futuna.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoduIjXIRRp/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=52edfa2f-9aef-471d-9e0b-a354e51bad0a

Starting on Thursday, February 16th, AEW Dynamite will air on AEDT and Rampage will air on Saturdays AEDT with episodes available via same-day replays and on-demand as well.

Source: eWrestlingNews

IMPACT Wrestling Preview 2/9/2023

The road to No Surrender continues on an all-new IMPACT! this Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.

  • Mickie James and Tommy Dreamer vs. “The Good Hands” John Skyler and Jason Hotch with Bully Ray banned from ringside
  • Joe Hendry vs. Matt Cardona for the Digital Media Title
  • Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Death Dollz vs. Killer Kelly and Taylor Wilde in a non-title match
  • Jordynne Grace vs. Steph De Lander
  • Brian Myers vs. Dirty Dango in a qualifying match for the four-way at No Surrender
  • PCO vs. Mahabali Shera in a qualifying match for the four-way at No Surrender

Eddie Kingston Does This Charitable Act At Indie Shows

Throughout his time with All Elite Wrestling, Eddie Kingston has still maintained a healthy schedule of independent shows on many weekends to complement his work on “AEW Dynamite” and “AEW Rampage.” While speaking to Marc Maron on a special wrestling-themed episode of “WTF,” Kingston discussed his reasons for continuing to work independent promotions, and shared that he usually makes a charitable donation with a significant portion of his earnings.

“I like doing the independents still,” Kingston said. “Because without the independents, I would’ve went nuts years ago. … A lot of times — well, they already announced it a couple times. I hate it when they do this. I usually will go there and do a show, but I’ll tell them, ‘Take half my money, and give it to a charity that’s local.’ And I tell them not to announce it, just do it. And they announced it anyways.” Kingston stated that he sees these donations as his way of giving back after working his way through the independents for most of his career.

Over the last year, Kingston has stayed busy working for promotions across the country such as House of Glory, Beyond Wrestling, DEFY, and Glory Pro. On top of his work with his home promotion and on the independents, the AEW star has competed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, facing off against Tomohiro Ishii and even teaming with Kazuchika Okada to wrestle “Switchblade” Jay White and Juice Robinson of Bullet Club in October. After months of trash talk back and forth, Kingston will soon return to the promotion to face White in a singles match at NJPW Battle in the Valley on February 18.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite Preview 2/8/2023

AEW Dynamite “Championship Night” will air live tonight on TBS and emanate from the El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas.

  • AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: The Acclaimed (c) vs. The Gunns
  • AEW World Trios Championship Match: The Elite (c) vs. Top Flight & AR Fox
  • World Title Eliminator: AEW World Champion MJF vs. Konosuke Takeshita
  • Women’s Title Eliminator Match: AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter vs. The Bunny
  • Bryan Danielson vs. Rush
  • Garcia-Guevara Gauntlet Match