IMPACT Preview 8/25/22

The road to Bound For Glory continues on an all-new IMPACT! this Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.

  • Violent By Design vs. Time Machine (Motor City Machine Guns and KUSHIDA)
  •  Knockouts World Tag Team Championship: VXT (Deonna Purrazzo and Chelsea Green) (c) vs. Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace and Mia Yim
  • Vincent vs. IMPACT World Champion Josh Alexander
  • Mike Bennett vs. Karl Anderson
  • Jessicka (formerly known as Havok) makes her in-ring debut
  • Bhupinder Gujjar vs. Jason Hotch

The action begins Before the IMPACT, streaming this Thursday at 7:30pm ET exclusively on IMPACT Plus, YouTube and Facebook. Bullet Club’s Ace Austin and Hikuleo team up to battle Johnny Swinger and Zicky Dice in an exclusive match you won’t see anywhere else!

Eddie Kingston Was Reportedly Suspended For Backstage Altercation With Sammy Guevara

Eddie Kingston was reportedly suspended recently for getting into a verbal dispute with Sammy Guevera.

According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, Kingston “was secretly suspended from AEW” a few weeks ago after a backstage incident involving Guevera. However, Kingston has already finished serving the suspension imposed upon him by AEW President Tony Khan.

Fightful Select later confirmed Meltzer’s report, noting that the word backstage was that “Guevara made a comment about Kingston’s physique,” which prompted Kingston to take a swing at Guevera. “We’ve not confirmed that with anyone that witnessed it, and reached out to both parties,” the report noted.

Fightful added that due to Kingston’s absence from recent AEW tapings, at least one segment to build up to his once-planned All Out match against Guevera has been scrapped. It’s unknown if the match will be finalized during next week’s All Out go-home shows.

Kingston and Guevera have been feuding on AEW TV since the latter helped Chris Jericho defeat Kingston in a Barbed Wire Everywhere Match last month. Thereafter, on the August 3 episode of “AEW Dynamite,” Kingston interrupted a Guevera/Tay Melo video package to challenge Guevera to a match at All Out. When Guvera accepted the challenge at the August 10 “AEW Rampage” tapings, Kingston appeared via video screen and said he was going on a vacation. This was followed by Ruby Soho & Ortiz challenging Guevera & Tay to a future match.

Interestingly, the segment where Guevara accepted Kingston’s challenge never aired on the August 12 “AEW Rampage,” and no reference to the match has been made since. One can assume this was due to Kingston serving his suspension.

Guevara & Melo will defend their AAA Mixed Tag Team titles against Ortiz and Soho this week on “AEW Rampage.” If the Kingston vs. Guevera match is still planned for All Out, Kingston could potentially return soon. According to Fightful, it is unknown if the “situation has since been rectified, or the status of the match moving forward.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW’s Chief Legal Officer Has Contacted WWE About Alleged Contract Tampering

It might not be a war, but the healthy competition between WWE and AEW appears to have been ramped up since Vince McMahon retired and Triple H took over as head of creative. Tony Khan has admitted wrestling fans who had grown disillusioned with WWE would naturally be tuning back in to see what’s changed, even admitting there has been an improvement in the quality of his rivals’ product since The Game took over creative.

Outside of the quality of the shows, the biggest talking point since WWE’s backstage changes has been which wrestlers will be going where. Triple H has been bringing people back left and right, leaving some fans wondering if they now regret becoming All Elite. There have even been reports WWE approached someone currently under contract with AEW, presumably to gauge their interest in coming back.

It’s still unclear if that actually happened, and the wrestler approached has not been named. However, according to PWInsider, the topic has been taken very seriously behind the scenes in AEW. Khan held a company-wide meeting hours before Dynamite on Wednesday, and one of the many topics apparently discussed was the alleged approach by somebody from WWE.

According to the report, talent at the meeting were informed that AEW’s chief legal officer Megah Parekh sent an email to Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan. The email warned WWE’s co-CEOs against tampering with contracted AEW stars in the future. Parekh might not be a name many fans are familiar with, but apparently she is effectively Khan’s number two in AEW.

Approaching a talent who is under contract with a rival company is obviously a big no-no. Depending on what exactly is discussed, of course. If someone within WWE did do what they have been accused of, and plan on doing it again, it’s hard to imagine they would do it so overtly that they would leave themselves open to legal action. As for who that talent might be, that will be left to fans’ imaginations for the time being.

Source: TheSportster

Jon Moxley Handily Defeats CM Punk To Become Unified AEW Champion, Update On All Out Main Event

CM Punk returned to AEW two weeks ago after a spell on the sidelines, seemingly setting up a showdown to crown the one true champion at All Out. That wasn’t the plan as was revealed shortly after. Punk and Interim Champion Jon Moxley’s unification match was announced for Dynamite instead. Wednesday’s Dynamite, and now AEW once again has just one World Champion.

That man is Moxley, and the surprises kept on coming before and after the match. The first surprise was that not only was AEW not saving what was arguably one of the biggest matches in its short history for a PPV, but it didn’t even save it for Dynamite’s main event. Moxley’s music hit midway through the show, indicating the match was about to begin at the halfway point.

Both Punk and Moxley proudly held their respective titles aloft as the announcers promised multiple times that AEW would stick with the action for as long as it takes. A sign to some that the match might go the full second hour and other scheduled bouts would need to be pushed. It was the exact opposite of that. Moxley beat Punk shockingly quickly, solidifying himself as AEW’s one true champion.

CM Punk appeared to re-injure his leg in the closing stages of the very short match.

Punk hit Moxley in the side of the head with a well-placed roundhouse kick during the early goings, and even though it sent Mox to the mat, Punk also went down like a shot too. As soon as Punk landed, he clutched his standing leg, the same one he injured. That opened the door for Moxley to take the advantage, dominating Punk from there on in which wasn’t long at all.

Mox took his title and celebrated in the crowd as Punk was helped to the back. What remains unclear hours after the match is whether Punk’s injury was legitimate or not. This whole situation has been entirely unpredictable and a little bit bizarre from the moment Punk returned. 

Despite Jon Moxley winning the AEW World Championship unification match in dominant fashion on “AEW Dynamite” this week, the planned main event for the upcoming All Out PPV has supposedly remained unchanged. According to Dave Meltzer on the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio,” the match slated to headline the show next Sunday is still Moxley vs. CM Punk for the AEW World Championship, though it’s unknown if any stipulations will be getting added.

It had been reported before the unification match happened that the two men would meet for the unified title at All Out, which many fans expected to be their first collision in AEW, but after the way their encounter was booked on “AEW Dynamite,” doubts began to creep in. While some sort of outside angle or controversial finish was widely expected to setup a rematch at the PPV, that was not the case, as Moxley picked up the victory clean. Punk connected with a kick at the start of the match, then began selling a foot injury — the reason he’s been off television for several months, and the reason Moxley became Interim Champion in the first place. 

From there, Moxley focused on the foot and secured a quick, clean win in just over three minutes, to the surprise of everyone watching. Punk was helped to the back by doctors, while Moxley cut a passionate promo about how it’s his time, but no official announcement or angle was done to set up a potential rematch. With the PPV taking place on Sunday, September 4, that leaves just one more episode of “AEW Dynamite,” as well as two episodes of “AEW Rampage,” for Tony Khan to get the match booked if it is, in fact, still taking place.

Sources: TheSportster and Wrestling Inc.

Motor City Machine Guns To Debut For AEW At All Out

Legendary Impact Wrestling and ROH tag team The Motor City Machine Guns will team up with Jay Lethal at AEW All Out.

Prior to this Wednesday night, fans understood the Wardlow and FTR to be lined up for a six-man tag team match at AEW All Out against Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh. However, after Lethal defeated Dax Harwood on Dynamite, Dutt got on the mic to claim they’d never said who would represent their team at the PPV. Rather than Dutt and Singh, it will be The Motor City Machine Guns, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, joining Lethal.

Despite their tremendous talent, it’s possible for fans who’ve only followed WWE, WCW, and AEW to have not had The Motor City Machine Guns land on their radar. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin are quite arguably the greatest tag team in Impact Wrestling history, in addition to stints in New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor. They’re a fast-paced, high-flying team. Yes, they may have lost a step athletically since they first started being featured together fifteen years ago. The duo has the experience and ring savvy to still perform at high level, though, including staging one of the best matches of the night at the recent Ric Flair’s Last Match PPV opposite The Wolves.

It has yet to be seen if the pair will become AEW mainstays, be more associated with ROH, or if this will be a one-off booking. Nonetheless, the idea of them teaming with Jay Lethal has a great deal of promise.

Earlier this summer, FTR’s Cash Wheeler went on the record to say he wanted to face The Motor City Machine Guns. While this trios contest won’t be quite the same as a straight-up tag team match, Jay Lethal is an elite in-ring talent, and Wardlow is a good talent with a lot of momentum, not to mention a powerhouse who thrives on pulling off feats of strength working multiple opponents simultaneously. Add up these factors and the new line-up for this match is more promising than when it appeared Sonjay Dutta and Satnam Singh were involved.

The All Out card had just started taking shape in earnest. While there are still significant puzzle pieces to fill in, Wardlow and FTR vs. Jay Lethal and The Motor City Machine Guns offers and additional bout that might threaten to steal the show on September 4.

Source: TheSportster

Thunder Rosa Injured, Interim AEW Women’s Champion To Be Crowned At All Out

AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa is unable to defend her title due to an injury … but she’s not relinquishing the gold. Instead, AEW will crown an interim AEW Women’s Champion at the promotion’s upcoming All Out pay-per-view.

During a backstage interview with Tony Schiavone on this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite on TBS, Rosa revealed that she will be taking some time off to recover from an injury. As a result, Toni Storm, and Jamie Hayter, former AEW Women’s Champions Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida will compete in a four-way match at All Out on September 4.

AEW Dynamite Preview 8/24/22

AEW will air live tonight on TBS, and emanate from the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, OH.

As of this report, AEW is advertising the following for tonight’s show.

  • –AEW Undisputed World Championship Match: CM Punk (c) vs. Interim Champion Jon Moxley
  • -Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. KiLynn King
  • -AEW World Trios Championship Tournament – Quarterfinals: Death Triangle vs. Will Ospreay & Aussie Open
  • -Dax Harwood vs. Jay Lethal
  • -Billy Gunn vs. Colten Gunn
  • -Chris Jericho and Daniel Garcia will go face-to-face
  • -Ricky Stars speaks

Title Unification Matches Announced For NXT Worlds Collide

WWE announced last Thursday that “NXT UK” will be put on hiatus before it relaunches as the rebranded “NXT Europe” in 2023.

WWE has officially announced title unification matches for its NXT Worlds Collide event on September 4.

“NXT” Champion Bron Breakker issued the challenge to “NXT UK” Champion Tyler Bate at the top of Tuesday night’s “NXT 2.0.”

Minutes after announcing “NXT” Champion Bron Breakker will face “NXT UK” Champion Tyler Bate in a title unification match, WWE has revealed another match at the upcoming Worlds Collide event to unify two more titles.

“NXT” Women’s Champion Mandy Rose will face “NXT UK” Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura and Blair Davenport in a Women’s Championship Unification Triple Threat Match on September 4.

The match was made official on Tuesday night’s episode of “NXT 2.0.” Satomura made an appearance during an in-ring segment between Rose and Davenport.

News On Next WWE Draft

Wrestling fans have been interested to see what’s in store for this year’s WWE Draft, but it seems as if their wishes may not be granted.

Fightful Select is reporting that sources from the USA Network have told talents that the Draft isn’t slated to happen right after Clash at the Castle as initially reported, but sometime after next year’s WrestleMania. Talents were initially told that the Draft was slated to take place the week after the upcoming event. However, several “Raw” talents were not booked for the September 9 edition of “SmackDown” (when the first night of the Draft was first expected to be held), meaning crossovers of talent between the two brands would be unlikely.

The Draft has not been officially announced by WWE, and there has been no confirmation of dates the Draft will take place, as talents haven’t been told about anything that is happening in the upcoming weeks. The Draft had been listed on the internal calendar for September. There had also been discussions about it being held this month, following SummerSlam. It should also be noted that dates for last year’s Draft were changed a few times throughout the year.

The WWE Draft made its debut in 2002 but was discontinued in August 2011. The company revived it in July 2016 before introducing titles that were specific to brands. In the years following, the company held a Draft every year, dubbing it the Superstar Shake-Up for a few years and including “NXT” as a third brand.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT 2.0 Preview 8/23/22

WWE NXT 2.0 airs live tonight on USA Network at 8/7C.