Backstage News On Claudio Castagnoli Signing With AEW

At last night’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view, Claudio Castagnoli debuted as the newest member of William Regal’s Blackpool Combat Club, replacing the injured Bryan Danielson in a victory against Zack Sabre Jr. However, AEW initially had a different plan in place for the incoming Swiss wrestler, according to Fightful Select.

While the original plans for Castagnoli’s AEW debut weren’t specified, the report noted that AEW had already prepared merchandise and promotional material for the former Cesaro prior to Sunday’s AEW X NJPW crossover event. Furthermore, the duration of Castagnoli’s contract was described as “long term” but Fightful couldn’t confirm if he had put pen to paper yet. Castagnoli had been spotted training at the Flatbacks Wrestling School in Orlando, which is owned by AEW star Shawn Spears and former WWE star Tyler Breeze, multiple times over the last several weeks.

Castagnoli was reportedly backstage “throughout the night” Sunday, which would mean the locker room was aware of his debut. In contrast, Bryan Danielson’s debut was kept under wraps at last year’s All Out pay-per-view, with Danielson admittedly spending much of the night waiting in the production truck until he stepped out during the main event segment.

Less than four nights after his AEW debut, Castagnoli will be in action again this Wednesday on “AEW Dynamite” when he teams up with Interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz in a “Blood & Guts” match against The Jericho Appreciation Society. During the closing stages of Forbidden Door, Castagnoli was confronted by Kingston, who didn’t appear very pleased to be on the same team as his old CHIKARA and PWG rival. Castagnoli would take to Twitter later to comment on his AEW debut, as seen below.

https://twitter.com/ClaudioCSRO/status/1541309560756899840
https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1541271374337024006

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door Results 6/26/2022, Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro)

THE BUY-IN:

CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto) defeated The Factory (QT Marshall & Aaron Solow)

Lance Archer defeated Nick Comoroto

Swerve In Our Glory (Shane Strickland & Keith Lee) defeated El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Max Caster & The Gunn Club defeated NJPW Dojo’s Kevin Knight & The DKC & Alex Coughlin & Yuya Uemura

FORBIDDEN DOOR:

Trios Match To Determine Advantage In Blood & Guts Match
Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara defeated Eddie Kingston, Shota Umino & Wheeler Yuta

WINNER TAKES ALL MATCH FOR IWGP & RING OF HONOR TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) defeated Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Berreta) and Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan (c) (**TITLE CHANGE**)

AEW ALL-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Pac defeated Clark Connors and Malakai Black and Miro (**TITLE CHANGE**)

Darby Allin, Sting & Shingo Takagi defeated AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) & El Phantasmo

-Jericho Appreciation Society tell Shota Umino that he earned their respect. Jericho then threw a fireball in Umino’s face.

AEW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Thunder Rosa (c) defeated Toni Storm

IWGP UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Will Ospreay (c) defeated Orange Cassidy

-After the match, United Empire attacks Cassidy. Beretta and Rocky Romero make the save. Katsuyori Shibata’s music hits. Shibata takes out Aussie Open. Shibata is dressed to fight. Shibata hits a huge Pump Kick on Ospreay. Shibata hits Ospreay with a Shotgun Dropkick. Aussie Open save Ospreay from the Rear Naked Choke.

-Orange Cassidy thanks Shibata by putting his sunglasses on him.

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Zack Sabre Jr.

IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Jay White (c) defeated Adam Cole and Hangman Page and Kazuchika Okada

INTERIM AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Jon Moxley defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (**TITLE CHANGE**)

After the match, Jericho Appreciation Society beat up Tanahashi and Moxley. Massive brawl as more and more members of both JAS and Blackpool Combat Club run out to add to the brawl. Claudio comes out and clears the ring. Claudio spins Garcia endlessly and Blackpool Combat Club stand tall to end the show.

Backstage News On Bryan Danielson’s Injury

Bryan Danielson addressed concerns over his health on Wednesday’s episode of “AEW Dynamite,” but left people with more questions than answers.

Originally planned to face Zack Sabre Jr. at Sunday’s Forbidden Door event, Danielson has been off TV since AEW Double or Nothing, when he suffered an undisclosed injury that caused him to miss a meet and greet, as well as a flight.

The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer newsletter shines a little bit of light on the situation. According to Dave Meltzer, there is still no confirmed injury for Danielson, but that it is believed to have been a concussion suffered during the chaotic Anarchy In The Arena Match. Meltzer says that AEW followed the example of WWE, who usually are open about injuries unless they involve “the two C’s (COVID & Concussions).” The Observer states that a concussion could be troubling news, as Danielson has a history with head injuries (at one point having briefly retired from wrestling due to concussion concerns), and if he’s still not passing concussion protocol a month out from the injury, it could be serious.

On Wednesday, Danielson announced that a replacement — and Blackpool Combat Club debutante — would wrestle Sabre in his stead, as well as in the upcoming Blood & Guts match in which the BCC is set to participate on next week’s “Dynamite.” Danielson did not explain his injuries further, merely stating that he’s not going to be at Forbidden Door or Blood & Guts. As the Observer notes, Danielson appeared to be doing well during the announcement, with no slurred speech or confusion.

There’s currently no word on Sabre’s replacement, but The Observer suggested that AEW likely have someone in mind and are just holding off on announcing his replacement in the name of PPV curiosity. According to the publication, the replacement will need to be up to the standard of the highly-anticipated original match, or else fans will start to chafe against AEW’s penchant for surprises — former WWE stars Cesaro and Johnny Gargano have both been the subjects of speculation in the wake of Danielson’s announcement.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 6/26/2022

DATE: June 26, 2022 8:00 pm
LOCATION: United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
AVAILABLE ON:Pay-Per-View, Bleacher Report, FITE (International), NJPW World (Japan)

CARD

INTERIM AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley

IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Adam Cole vs. Hangman Page vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White (c)

AEW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Toni Storm vs. Thunder Rosa (c)

IWGP UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Orange Cassidy vs. Will Ospreay (c)

AEW ALL-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Malakai Black vs. Miro vs. Pac vs. Clark Connors 

WINNER TAKES ALL MATCH FOR IWGP & RING OF HONOR TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan (c) vs. FTR (c) vs. Roppongi Vice

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBA

Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara vs. Eddie Kingston, Shota Umino & Wheeler Yuta

AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, El Phantasmo & Hikuleo vs. Darby Allin, Sting, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi

Swerve In Our Glory (Shane Strickland & Keith Lee) vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

THE BUY-IN:
Max Caster & The Gunn Club vs. NJPW Dojo’s Kevin Knight & The DKC & Alex Coughlin & Yuya Uemura

AEW Rampage Preview 6/24/22

The last AEW Rampage before AEW X NJPW ForbiddenDoor is tonight at 10/9c on TNT!

The following line-up is announced for tonight:

  • Andrade El Idolo vs. Rey Fenix
  • Cash Wheeler vs. Jeff Cobb
  • The DKC vs. HOOK
  • Serena Deeb & Mercedes Martinez in action
https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1540364131722792960

Andrade El Idolo will not be part of the Forbidden Door event. He says he was supposed to be the opponent for Will Ospreay. However, New Japan Pro-Wrestling nixed the idea due to its relationship with Mexico’s CMLL promotion. Andrade has been working for CMLL’s rival, AAA.

WWE SmackDown Preview 6/24/22

Tonight on WWE SmackDown at 8/7 C on FOX.

Ricochet looks to take back the Intercontinental Title in rematch with Gunther

During last Friday’s “SmackDown”, WWE announced a pair of Money in the Bank qualifying matches for tonight’s episode: Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura and Aliyah vs. Shotzi.

As of Friday morning, WWE has not mentioned if Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar will appear on tonight’s “SmackDown”.

NJPW Star Tomohiro Ishii Pulled From AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door Due To Injury

Another star will be missing this Sunday’s AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door event.

NJPW announced on Thursday that NJPW star Tomohiro Ishii has sustained a left knee injury and is not medically cleared to compete at AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door on June 26.

Clark Connors will be taking Ishii’s place in the AEW All-Atlantic Championship Four-Way match at Forbidden Door. The match is now Connors vs. PAC vs. Malakai Black vs. Miro.

Below is NJPW’s full statement: 

Thank you for supporting New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Tomohiro Ishii, who was scheduled to compete on June 26 at AEWxNJPW Presents Forbidden Door, has sustained a left knee injury and is not medically cleared to compete.

We apologise to fans who were looking forward to seeing Ishii wrestle and appreciate your understanding.

After a hard fought qualifying match in Korakuen Hall on June 21, Clark Connors will take Ishii’s place in the All-Atlantic Championship four way at Forbidden Door. The card change is as follows:

AEW All-Atlantic Championship Four Way

PAC vs Miro vs Malakai Black vs Clark Connors

AEW has been dealing with a slew of injuries before the Forbidden pay-per-view. Bryan Danielson and CM Punk are just two AEW wrestlers who are currently injured and will be missing the Sunday event.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Kurt Angle Confirms He Will Never Wrestle Again Following Recent Surgery

WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle has revealed he will never be lacing up the boots again due to his recent surgery.

WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle has recently undergone a double knee surgery, which he has confirmed will bring an end to his professional wrestling career.

Of course, the Olympic Gold medalist did officially have his final match at WrestleMania 35 against Baron Corbin, with WWE building up that fact ahead of time, with Angle having a final run against a variety of wrestlers on the run towards that match against the likes of Chad Gable and Samoa Joe.

However, in wrestling, the popular phrase is “never say never,” particularly when it comes to retirements, with plenty of wrestlers having made a return over the years after claiming they were done, and that always led to questions regarding Angle, even if he had competed on the independent scene again rather than WWE, especially after he showed himself in great shape recently.

His final run in the ring didn’t quite live up to the hopes that most fans had, with Angle himself admitting he had hoped to wrestle first and then go into a role like the Raw General Manager, but the company ended up going in the opposite direction.

The WWE Hall Of Famer recently spoke with the Two-Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast about his recent surgery, and why he doesn’t plan on stepping into the ring again to potentially risk his two new knees.

“My knees were shot. I had to have them done. I didn’t have a choice,” Angle said. “Now with the knee replacements, no. I’m not going to mess these knees up.” (h/t to Fightful)

The double knee surgery was a major operation for Angle to undertake, but for him, it was important to get it done as soon as possible so he could begin moving on from that situation.

“Well, you know, usually you have one at a time because it’s — you’re gonna be destabilized. So with me, the thing is, I wanted to get them out of the way. I just wanted to get them done and move forward with my life and not have to worry about the other down the road,” he said. “I can walk around. I’m still in a lot of pain, though.”

Angle is now focused on his road to recovery to get back to being able to walk comfortably again, while he will no doubt continue to make appearances in the wrestling world down the line in a non-wrestling capacity.

Source: TheSportster

7 Law Firms Exploring Possibility Of Taking Class-Action Suits Against WWE Over Vince McMahon Allegations

The investigation into Vince McMahon may bring lawsuits to WWE’s door.

WWE’s stock price had remained strong amid the recent bearish trend the market has been experiencing. They just had to find a reason to join everyone else.

Following the news of the company’s investigation into Vince McMahon’s alleged misdeeds and the WWE chairman stepping down temporarily, the price of shares has gone down, causing ears at various law firms to perk up.

According to reports, five such entities are searching for investors who lost money as a result of the development as they look to undertake class-action lawsuits.

No suits have been filed as yet but more firms are said to be looking into the matter, which means there’s likely something to answer to on that front. Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics is reporting that two more firms have joined the search as they sense there is an opportunity to make some money at WWE’s expense.

Per Thurston, the Pomerantz Law Firm and Moore Kuehn, PLLC are now looking into the possibility of a suit against WWE. It’s thought that the company’s failure to disclose the information before it became public has caused people to los a lot of money.

McMahon is being investigated over claims he paid $3 million in hush money to a former employee he had an affair with, whom he also passed to head of talent relations John Laurinaitis “like a toy.” His daughter Stephanie will be in charge for the foreseeable future, having returned to grab the reins after leaving on a sabbatical in May.

The firms in question are still trying to determine just how much money people lost in order to come to a decision on whether a class-action suit can be sought.

Should their findings prompt them to take legal action, it could spell big trouble for WWE.

Meanwhile, McMahon remains in charge of creative while Stephanie runs the company.

Source: TheSportster

Big E Shares Video Showing Neck Movement Without Brace

It’s been more than three months since Big E suffered a broken neck and fractures to his C1 and C6 vertebrae on “SmackDown” following a belly-to-belly suplex performed by Ridge Holland outside the ring. Last night, the former WWE Champion shared “the power of positivity” and provided a major update on his current recovery status.

Responding to a tweet from a fan, Big E posted a video which showed him without his neck brace for the first time since the accident occurred in March. The 36-year-old even went as far as excitedly showcasing a number of movements with his neck, displaying that he is on the road to being mended. Big E stated that fans “don’t need to worry about him” and the “he’s good” as his recovery continues.

https://twitter.com/WWEBigE/status/1539736329554079744

In the aftermath of the accident, which narrowly saw him avoid paralysis and potentially death, Big E revealed that there were no spinal or ligament injuries, meaning the New Day member did not require surgery. He eventually returned home from hospital after a short stay at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. Days later, Big E posted a video on his Twitter account walking around his neighborhood, providing an update to fans.

Big E began his run with WWE in December 2009, debuting under the longer name Big E Langston and performing for WWE’s developmental brand at the time, Florida Championship Wrestling. Once FCW had been rebranded to “NXT,” he captured the “NXT” Championship as a babyface in December 2012 (a match that aired on television on January 9, 2013), before debuting on “Raw” that same month as a heel, aligning with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee and not bringing the title to the show.

Big E ultimately lost the “NXT” Championship to Bo Dallas and set off on a new journey with the shorter name of Big E, becoming Intercontinental Champion and eventually forming The New Day with Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods in the summer of 2014. The trio went on to become multi-time “Raw” and “SmackDown” Tag Team Champions before Big E became WWE Champion on “Raw” in September 2021 after cashing-in his Money in the Bank briefcase. He lost the prestigious championship to Brock Lesnar in a “Fatal 5-Way” Match at WWE Day 1 earlier this year, and was performing on “SmackDown” up until the time of his accident.

Source: Wrestling Inc.