Tonight’s AEW Rampage will have a special start time of 5:30 PM ET. on TNT.
AEW shocked the wrestling world on Wednesday night with Roderick Strong’s surprise debut on “Dynamite” in Sunrise, Florida. He had requested his WWE release last May, hadn’t been seen on WWE programming since August, and as of mid-March, was reportedly still under contract. So for him to show up on “Dynamite” to run in and save Adam Cole from the Jericho Appreciation Society was something almost no one saw coming. Very quickly, Fightful Select reported some details to try to help give context to what was a very left-field debut.
The most recent information that Fightful had was that the AEW talents they spoke to were “pleasantly surprised” that Strong had signed. On the WWE side, the newest information was that 2K Games had been told not to include Strong in the “WWE 2K23” video game, that other WWE talent had never been updated on his status, and he had not been at the WWE Performance Center “in quite some time” even though he was fully cleared to wrestle. The report also noted that Strong’s WWE run started its downward slide when Paul “Triple H” Levesque lost power in “NXT,” as he was behind Strong’s push as the center of a revitalized cruiserweight division.
Strong has been wrestling since 2000, breaking into the business when he was 16 years old after years of training under Jim Neidhart. After initially getting on the map for his work in the IPW promotion in Florida, he made a name for himself in Ring of Honor, where he was a mainstay for over a decade before signing with WWE in 2016.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS and emanate from the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
It appears that AEW Dark: Elevation is no more.
The show has aired on the company’s YouTube channel and FITE TV since it premiered in March 2021.
This week’s episode was billed as a “best of” show with no new matches airing. It was FITE that noted the series was coming to an end with the following description for it:
“The Special and final episode of Elevation – it’s Best of Elevation airing on FITE! The episode is throwing it back to some of the best matches that have graced our Monday nights over the years!”
AEW has yet to comment on the future of the program. You can watch the episode here:
Source: eWrestlingNews
Former AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa has been out of action since last year after suffering a back injury.
In an update on Rosa’s status, Fightful Select is reporting that she has still not been cleared to return to the ring. Additionally, there is some fear that she may require back surgery to fix the lingering issues.
Thunder Rosa is currently doing Spanish-language commentary for AEW.
Source: eWrestlingNews
This week’s AEW Rampage will air at a SPECIAL TIME of SATURDAY at 10pm ET/9pm CT.
The decision for CM Punk to return to All Elite Wrestling was reportedly made by Tony Khan many weeks ago.
Last week, it was reported that Punk’s return to the promotion is being “tentatively planned,” seven months after his comments at All Out 2022.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the decision to bring Punk back was made “many weeks ago,” and that a ‘snag‘ two weeks ago has been worked out.
Last month, Punk shared a fiery post on Instagram, alleging that the company had pressured him to compete last year when not medically cleared.
Punk also claimed that Jon Moxley had refused to lose to him and branded Chris Jericho a “liar” and a “stooge” in the deleted post.
It is believed that Punk will make his return to AEW on the June 17, 2023, episode of TV, which is believed to be the premiere of the rumored AEW Saturday show.
Source: eWrestlingNews
Tonight’s AEW Dynamite will air live coast to coast on TBS and emanate from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
WWE Hall of Famer and AEW personality Jeff Jarrett recently spoke on his podcast, “My World with Jeff Jarrett,” about a variety of professional wrestling topics including an update on more AEW house shows coming up:
Conrad Thompson told Jarrett: “Well, we also know that you guys are back on tour. You got upcoming dates in Pittsburgh, Sunrise FL, Baltimore, Detroit, Austin TX. You got the big Double or Nothing loop for Las Vegas. The rumor and innuendo is that there might even be some more house shows coming up. Is that right?”
Jarrett said, “We’re off and running. We hit Corbin Kentucky and Salem Virginia, which is right outside of Roanoke. So yeah, we’ve got those two House Rules events coming up. Lots of buzz going on right now around AEW and the ups and downs and everything in between. But yes, Troy OH, was the first House Rules event, and, you know, Salem, and Corbin, Kentucky, so we’re moving over into a different part of the country. Our next two events are going to be near and dear to both of our hearts, but we’ll see how that goes. So, you know, at some point we’re going to get out to the Midwest and Texas and probably out West. The Carolinas are a hotbed that we’re looking at, obviously Florida, and then it goes without saying, the Northeast, There are many, many markets in the Northeast that House Rules would fit. So we’re excited. We’re also talking to some Canadian partners from coast to coast. AEW has a monster summer planned for Canada. I mean, a monster summer. Things are rocking, pal. My day job is keeping me busy in so many ways.”
Source: PWMania
You can listen to the complete podcast below:
AEW star Saraya recently spoke with Raj Prashad of Uproxx.com for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling. During the discussion, Saraya commented on potential opponents for the AEW All In event at Wembley Stadium in London:
“I haven’t performed in the UK in years. And then to be on one of the biggest stages you can get over there, Wembley Stadium, it’s just a very wild opportunity. It does have that WrestleMania 1 vibe where this is something really special. I feel so fortunate that I get to be a part of history.”
“I would love to face Jamie Hayter. That would be amazing, because she’s also from the UK — I’ve had the opportunity to be in a tag and triple threat, but not a singles match, and I would love that opportunity. Do we open that Forbidden Door? Mercedes Mone, I would love to face her there. That would be such a full circle moment. There’s so much opportunity there.”
Source: PWMania
Wrestling News Blog 