The stars of IMPACT Wrestling set their sights on Over Drive as the action emanates from Las Vegas! Don’t miss an all-new IMPACT! this Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.
X-Division Championship Tournament: Trey Miguel vs. Alan Angels.
Gisele Shaw & VXT vs. Mickie James & Taylor Wilde & Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace.
Tasha Steelz vs. Rachelle Scheel.
Chris Bey vs. Tommy Dreamer.
Matt Cardona vs. Alex Shelley.
Joe Hendry vs. Raj Singh.
The action begins Before the IMPACT, streaming this Thursday at 7:15pm ET exclusively on IMPACT Plus, YouTube and Facebook.
X-Division Championship Tournament: Black Taurus vs. Laredo Kid
The Elite look to be on their way back to AEW soon.
On Wednesday night’s episode of Dynamite, a video package aired showcasing some of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega’s biggest moments. For what it’s worth, The Elite were actually backstage at Wednesday’s TV tapings.
The group have been out of action for the past several months due to suspension after their involvement in a post-show scuffle with CM Punk backstage at All Out.
AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS at 8/7C from the Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
AEW World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo
AEW World Tag Team Championships Number One Contender’s Match: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. Swerve in our Glory (Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland)
Riho vs. Jamie Hayter
Chris Jericho & Daniel Garcia vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta
Laredo Kid underwent emergency surgery Monday after suffering an injury at AAA Lucha Libre’s “Showcenter” event over the weekend.
Kid, who wrestled two matches at Sunday’s event in Mexico, shared a photo of himself in a hospital bed with his mid-section bandaged up, along with a note where he thanked the AAA promotion, his fans, and family for sending “good vibes, prayers and energy” in his direction. While Laredo didn’t specify the nature of the injury or the severity of what happened, the luchador indicated he may be out of the ring for the foreseeable future.
Through an Instagram post, as seen below, Kid revealed he had to be rushed to the hospital early Monday after his victory over El Hijo del Vikingo in the finals of the AAA Showcenter Tournament, which was the main event of Sunday’s AAA show in Monterrey.
Subsequently, AAA issued a statement on Kid’s injury, confirming that the wrestler is “stable and under medical supervision” after he underwent “surgery with positive results” early Monday morning. The statement also noted that Kid was dealing with “multiple abdominal disturbances” prior to the emergency surgery.
Kid, widely recognized as one of the best luchadors in the wrestling business, has been a regular performer for both AAA and IMPACT Wrestling in recent months and was scheduled to wrestle at AAA’s next show in the United States on December 3. An active member of IMPACT’s X-Divison, Kid was part of the six-way Scramble that aired on October 13, and also wrestled several multi-man matches through September.
The 35-year-old luchador was highlighted to U.S. audiences at the 2019 “AEW Fyter Fest” event where he teamed up with Lucha Brothers in a Trios Match against Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks. Kid would subsequently wrestle two more matches for AEW, most recently in another trios match against Omega & The Good Brothers on the March 21, 2021 “AEW Dynamite” taping in Jacksonville, Florida. Prior to Kid signing a contract with IMPACT earlier this year, there was speculation of the high-flyer joining the AEW roster on a full-time basis.
With Triple H, Sean Waltman, Shawn Michaels, and Road Dogg reuniting to close the October 10th edition of WWE Raw, D-Generation X celebrated their 25th anniversary.
Billy Gunn of AEW was noticeably absent from the reunion. According to reports, WWE considered bringing Gunn back for the reunion, but that did not happen.
Gunn’s longtime tag team partner, Road Dogg, stated on his podcast that Gunn wanted to appear and that it broke both of their hearts that it didn’t happen. He also stated that Triple H, Michaels, and Waltman were upset that Gunn didn’t appear.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer reported that WWE and AEW were in “meaningful talks” about having Gunn appear on the show. Money was not a factor because neither WWE nor AEW President Tony Khan offered or requested money.
According to Meltzer, “Khan agreed to let him do to the show, but on the air, they would have to mention he’s from AEW, or that AEW allowed him to appear or some wording, but there had to be one mention that in some form he works for AEW, just as WWE already did when they got Mickie James for the Royal Rumble this past year.”
According to the report, WWE stalled when responding to Khan and would not agree to the terms at the last minute.
Well over a month after it all went down, the situation surrounding CM Punk and the backstage altercation at AEW All Out has started to make headlines again this week. That’s after both Punk and The Elite were mentioned on AEW TV for the first time since the incident. Ace Steel, another employee who was allegedly involved in the incident, was also released earlier this week.
According to the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the potential reason we have been hearing more about how the situation is progressing is due to some progress actually being made. It’s believed the whole thing has been tied up in red tape for the past six weeks. However, the new report claims AEW is currently in the process of negotiating a buy out for the rest of Punk’s contract.
If that is the plan, then clearly the ship has sailed on any hope that Punk will be returning to AEW once he’s recovered from his injury. The two-time AEW Champion needed surgery after his match at All Out and will be on the shelf for at least six months. Despite not being able to wrestle until at least early 2023, apparently, the hang-up when it comes to Punk’s potential buy out is his non-compete.
While not specified, it seems likely Punk doesn’t have a non-compete clause in his contract. Either that or buying out the deal isn’t something AEW ever anticipated it would need to do, so a buy out doesn’t trigger it. The fear is presumably that Punk will leave AEW and show up in WWE. Something that was once completely off the table, but a lot of things have changed since Punk returned to wrestling and signed with AEW in 2021.
WWE reportedly turned down the chance to talk to Punk about returning to the ring when he worked for Fox on WWE Backstage. Even though Punk and Triple H famously don’t get along, their interests have differed so much in the past three months that they may now align. Signing Punk would be the biggest blow WWE could possibly deal to AEW, and the sour taste in Punk’s mouth from how his time appears to have ended there could have him thinking a return to WWE might now be the best thing to do.
An update on Ring of Honor’s broadcasting situation and a possible deal is expected to be made soon.
In March, AEW President Tony Khan purchased Ring of Honor and made a rare appearance on AEW Dynamite to make the announcement.
Bryan Alverez of the Wrestling Observer reports that there are “definitely” rumors of a Ring of Honor TV deal, and an announcement is expected “imminently.”
Since purchasing the promotion, ROH has had two events, Supercard of Honor XV in April and Death Before Dishonor in July.
ROH Championships are regularly featured on AEW programming.
Ace Steel has been released by All Elite Wrestling.
Speaking on the Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer confirmed the now-former AEW coach/producer was officially released yesterday (18th October).
“So he was officially released yesterday,” Meltzer said. “So I guess that is the first bit of news out of that whole situation in weeks. There’s a lot of other stuff going on.”
Steel’s role in the backstage altercation that took place after CM Punk’s post-All Out media scrum earlier this year has been widely reported, with Steel, CM Punk, The Elite, and Kenny Omega being heavily involved in the incident. It was noted at the time that Steel had bit Omega during the fallout of the scrum.
Shortly after the incident, all five names (amongst others) were suspended, with the company refusing to comment publicly on the altercation pending the outcome of a third-party investigation into the incident. However, it should be noted that both CM Punk and The Elite were acknowledged on last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
Ace Steel was first announced as working backstage for AEW in March of 2022.
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