Malakai Black (Aleister Black) Debuts On AEW Dynamite, Attacks Cody Rhodes

Malakai Black ( fka Aleister Black) made his debut on Wednesday night during AEW Dynamite. He attacked Cody Rhodes to a massive reaction.

Aleister Black has made his decision… he’s officially going All Elite. No longer known as Aleister Black, he’s not even going by the name Tommy End –which we all thought was a moniker he would take after his WWE release. Instead, Black debuted on AEW Dynamite as Malakai Black.

The live crowd there to watch his AEW debut were in shock, but also extremely vocal, blaring their enthusiasm for a signing that most fans universally seem to think is a fantastic move by Tony Khan. The President of AEW hinted he had other things up his sleeve. Apparently, this was one of them.

As often happens in AEW, a new arrival made his debut by attacking Cody Rhodes. Make of that what you will, Black’s arrival seems to have caught a number of fans off guard. There was a lot of chatter about where Black might go. AEW was certainly among the possible destinations. But, after news that his wife Zelina Vega signed a multi-year contract with WWE, some thought that might be the opening to bring Black back into the WWE fold. He had other plans.

Interestingly, this might be a case where Black was released from his 90-day non-compete clause early. Based on when he was let go, he shouldn’t have debuted so soon.

Black teased earlier on Wednesday that something might be coming. He released a vignette in which he said, “My name isn’t Tom. My name is Malakai.” Obviously, that’s the name he’s now going by in AEW.

Outside of the fans in attendance being stoked for Black’s debut, social media was quick to voice their excitement, many saying this is exactly the right spot for Black who will be used properly and could become a massive star. We can only hope this turns out to be the case.

Black didn’t necessarily get a fair shake in WWE and he’s got an extremely creative mind and passion for the business. It appears AEW is going to try and tap into that and they’ve put him up against one of their biggest names right out of the gate.

Source: The Sportster

AEW Dynamite Road Rager Preview 7/7/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite: Road Rager episode airs on TNT at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

* QT Marshall vs. Cody Rhodes (South Beach Strap Match)

* MJF to announce stipulations for Chris Jericho to get through to have a match with MJF. If they have a match and Jericho loses — he has to leave MJF alone forever.

* Andrade El Idolo vs. Matt Sydal

* The Young Bucks (c) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo and Eddie Kingston (Street Fight for the AEW World Tag Team Championship)

* Jake Hager, Santana, and Ortiz with Konnan vs. Wardlow and FTR with Tully Blanchard

* Kris Statlander and Orange Cassidy vs. The Bunny and The Blade

* Ethan Page and Darby Allin have a sit-down interview with Jim Ross

Rebel Dislocates Her Knee On AEW Dynamite

Rebel dislocated her knee on Wednesday night while competing in a tag match alongside Britt Baker.

Rebel dislocated her knee towards the end of a match on Dynamite this week, forcing her to watch on from the sidelines as her partner picked up the win.

It’s shaping up to be a bad week for freak injuries in women’s wrestling. Tuesday night on NXT, a stiff roundhouse kick to the head appeared to knock out Mercedes Martinez and resulted in the match coming to a premature end. 24 hours later, Rebel suffered a knee injury that meant she couldn’t finish her match on Dynamite.

Unlike Martinez, Rebel was competing in a tag team match. That meant her partner Britt Baker could take the reigns and finish the match by herself. The AEW Women’s Champion even managed to win, beating Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero by forcing the latter to submit to her finisher, the Lockjaw. It might stop Guerrero from screaming excuse me for a week or two as well.

As for Rebel, AEW officials tended to her at ringside before she was helped to the back. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp provided updates on her condition, revealing that Rebel was in good spirits backstage despite dislocating her left knee. A pretty painful injury by all accounts but it sounds like Rebel handled it like a trooper.

As for how long the injury will keep Rebel on the sidelines, that is yet to be revealed. Dislocations can be simple or they can be tricky. If the incident did no additional damage then it might have been as simple as popping it back in, although that would have likely been incredibly painful. However, it may have damaged ligaments or otherwise which could mean Rebel is out of the ring and maybe even off TV for a while.

Source: The Sportster

Jim Ross Comments After Signing Off Show With “WWE Dynamite” Botch

Jim Ross, once again, misspoke during an AEW show when he signed off Wednesday’s program by calling it a live episode of “WWE Dynamite”.

Jim Ross is taking a lot of heat from wrestling fans… again. For the second time since joining the AEW commentary crew (really, the second time in a few months), he’s made the painful mistake of accidentally calling AEW by the name of his old employer. Again, he’s aware he messed up and on Wednesday night, following the show, he responded to folks who figured he should probably just quit.

To sign off Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, Ross said, “There’s nothing in your life that will top seeing a live WWE Dynamite.” As you can imagine, the comments immediately came flooding in.

This is not the first time he’s made this mistake. It wasn’t that long ago he accidentally called Kenny Omega the WWE Champion. At the time, fans poked fun suggesting mistakes just happen. Since this is the second time he’s done it, fans have been a bit more critical.

Ross responded to all the heat on social media. He wrote, “Yep I apparently made an untimely error tonight at shows end. No excuses. And I’m not quitting.” His response suggests a couple of things. First, he seemed to have no idea he’d said what he said until he either saw it on social media or someone from AEW pointed it out for him. Second, he’s either beating all the critics to the punch or he’s responding to people saying he’s no longer someone that should be a part of the AEW announce team.

These mistakes are going to happen. When you’re Ross and you worked at WWE as long as J.R. did, it’s actually a bit surprising the slip up hasn’t happened more often. All it really takes is for something to cross your mind and out it comes. That said, does there come a point when AEW needs to do something about this?

As AEW fills the roster with more former WWE talent, it’s likely to happen again. And yes, he’ll take heat for it. At the end of the day, does it really hurt anything? It’s not ideal, but the video clip has gone viral. There’s always a silver lining.

Source: The Sportster – JIM PARSONS

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/30/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.

* Jungle Boy vs. Jack Evans

* AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Eddie Kingston and Penta El Zero Miedo. (If Kingston and Penta win, they earn a title shot)

* Rebel and AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero

* Miro (c) vs. Brian Pillman Jr. (AEW TNT Championship)

* MJF vs. Sammy Guevara in the main event

* Chris Jericho on commentary

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/26/21

Saturday night’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at 8/7c from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. This week’s show was preempted on Wednesday due to the NBA Playoffs.

* MJF and Sammy Guevara prepare for their June 30 main event match

* Ethan Page vs. Bear Bronson

* The Bunny vs. Kris Statlander

* Matt Sydal vs. Dante Martin

* Powerhouse Hobbs vs. “Hangman” Adam Page

* Kenny Omega defends the AEW World Title against Jungle Boy

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/18/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at 10/9c from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. This week’s show was preempted on Wednesday due to the NBA Playoffs.

* QT Marshall and Aaron Solow with Nick Comoroto vs. Cody Rhodes and Brock Anderson with Arn Anderson

* Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky vs. Darby Allin (Handicap Match)

* Penta El Zero Miedo, Eddie Kingston, and Frankie Kazarian with Alex Abrahantes vs. Matt Jackson and The Good Brothers with Don Callis

* Jim Ross sits down with Andrade El Idolo

* Orange Cassidy with Best Friends and Kris Statlander vs. Cezar Bononi with The Wingmen

* Wardlow vs. Jake Hager (MMA Rules Cage Fight)

* Julia Hart with Varsity Blonds vs. Penelope Ford

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/4/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. This week’s show was preempted on Wednesday due to the NBA Playoffs. It will feature the fallout from this past Sunday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view event.

* Darby Allin & Sting Will Address Their Win Over Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky

* Red Velvet vs. The Bunny

* Dustin Rhodes vs. Nick Comoroto (Bullrope Match)

* Jungle Boy & Christian Cage vs. Private Party

* Young Bucks vs. Death Triangle (PAC & Penta El Zero M)

*Cody Rhodes & Lee Johnson vs. QT Marshall & Anthony Ogogo

* Mark Henry Speaks

* Dr. Britt Baker’s Championship Celebration

AEW Dynamite Preview 5/28/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. This week’s show was preempted on Wednesday due to the NBA Playoffs.

* Miro (c) vs. Dante Martin (AEW TNT Championship)

* Joey Janela vs. Hangman Page

* Anthony Ogogo and Cody Rhodes weigh-in

* Jade Cargill issues an open challenge

* A celebration of the Inner Circle hosted by Eric Bischoff

* Evil Uno and Stu Grayson vs. Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page

* Darby Allin with Sting vs. Cezar Bononi with Ryan Nemeth

* One year anniversary of Hikaru Shida as AEW Women’s World Champion

* Orange Cassidy will respond to Kenny Omega’s offer to defer his title shot

Cody Rhodes Drops Spoiler On Future Of TNT Title, Talks AEW Moving To TBS

AEW star and EVP Cody Rhodes has confirmed that the TNT Championship will not be renamed when AEW programming moves to TBS in 2022.

In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Rhodes said he’s “99 percent sure” that “the second most important title in wrestling” will not be altered with next year.

“I don’t want to drop any spoilers, but I mean, I’ll drop a spoiler,” Rhodes said. “I don’t think we’re going to change the title’s name one bit. TNT is the place that the first alternative challenger brand in two decades appeared on. Their excitement, our partners at WarnerMedia, and the TNT title, as I’ve stated, I think it is, if not the most important title in wrestling, the second most important title in wrestling.

“I don’t see us changing that name, and I think that’s kind of across the board. I don’t think you’ll find anybody in management or Tony himself who wants to change that name. We’ll always roll with the punches and we’ll always pivot, but I’m 99 percent sure the TNT title stays the TNT title.”

Rhodes went onto explain why upcoming show AEW Rampage will provide a platform to wrestlers who don’t regularly appear on AEW Dynamite.

“I think having Rampage will help considerably,” said Rhodes. “That way we can share the wealth. However, Dynamite’s a very hard show to get on. The best wrestlers in the world are on Dynamite. We have a very full locker room, and on the way to the ring, you walk by a lot of people who are on the bench that week.

“I think you’ll see a lot of that bench get unloaded for Rampage, and that’s very, very exciting. And the two shows will have their own identities surrounding the AEW championships that kind of tether us all together. But other than the logo for Rampage, the details are all still forthcoming, other than I think it will be really great for our locker room.”

Rampage will premiere Friday, August 13, on TNT. The one-hour show will also move to TBS in Jan. 2022 along with Dynamite. When asked how he reacted to the big announcement, Rhodes heaped praise on AEW President Tony Khan.

“Tony [Khan] was able to facilitate the best possible deal for All Elite Wrestling, and that means more money for the content, and then more importantly, the term that Brett [Weitz] at WarnerMedia used is the best term, it truly is an expansion. We’re just expanding our brand on to TBS, that being Rampage, coming over to TBS, Dynamite itself, four specials [on TNT], a la Clash of the Champions, our Saturday Night’s Main Event.

“So for me, I was excited. I’m always kind of the eternal … I’m very reserved in what I think, and so we put it out there on the medium, but it would be remiss if I didn’t think of the fact that TBS has been a part of my life since I was a little kid.”

Rhodes, a big fan of the show American Dad!, also floated the idea of AEW doing a little cross-promotion with the TBS show.

Rhodes will use his father’s “American Dream” moniker in his match against Anthony Ogogo this Sunday at AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view.

Source: Wrestling Inc.