Tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite live from the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial in Rochester, New York.
The following line-up is announced for tonight:
AEW’s Tony Khan said it was unlikely, but he’d be open to discussing the possibility of a cross-promotional show between his company and WWE.
According to the President of AEW himself, Tony Khan, he’s open to the idea of AEW and WWE working together to put on a supershow, much like he did with NJPW for Forbidden Door. While he admits the idea seems far-fetched, he’s not opposed to it and would be open to discussing with the higher-ups in WWE.
The comments stemmed from a conversation Khan had on the The Ringer’s “The Masked Man Show.” podcast where he was asked about AEW stars appearing on WWE programming recently for the 20-year celebration of John Cena. Khan said he was approached about it and said yes because it was for a good cause. When the follow-up question was about whether he would be open to a pay-per-view with WWE, he didn’t shy away from answering yes.
Khan said, “I’m not sure if that’s gonna happen (AEW and WWE doing a joint show). But, I would be open to talking about that type of thing. It’s not crazy but it’s a bold prediction.”
Like the scene from Dumb and Dumber where Llyod Christmas was told by the female lead that it’s a million-to-one odds she’d ever be interested in him, his response was, “so you’re saying there’s a chance”. AEW and WWE working together seem incredibly unlikely, but Khan is not ruling it out as something worth considering down the line. As for whether WWE would like to pursue it, that might depend on who is in charge. Being a publicly-traded company, every decision is about revenue and the shareholders. If there’s a good financial reason to do so, WWE might be open to it as well.
The question fans will immediately ask is, what matches would make the most sense? Bobby Lashley teased on Raw this week that no one could beat him for his United States Championship, including anyone from another promotion. He seems to be thinking about it already. From there, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Riddle, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair would be names at the top of WWE’s list. For AEW, CM Punk, Hangman Page, Kenny Omega, Jade Cargill and Britt Baker would be among the more intriguing options.
Source: TheSportster
The former manager of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, former color commentator for the NWA, and current podcaster, Jim Cornette, has never shied away from sharing his feelings with the public or taking part in controversial situations.
Kenny Omega and Cornette have not been in each other’s good graces for a long while, with neither man seeming to even remotely respect the other. While on Twitch with “CEOGaming“, former AEW World Champion Kenny Omega discussed Jim Cornette, Cornette’s followers, and his opinion on Cornette’s situation.
“I think Jim Cornette has backed himself up into a corner where, now, he’s found this group of extremely pathetic human beings who have no other thing to aspire to become, or no one to base their life off of, no one to listen to, no one to adhere to their commands,” Omega said. “And so, when it became a character that he could play as though he was still traveling up and down the strip in the indies, like back in the old days, now he’s got this group of people hanging off his every word. And all he has to do is sit and talk on a podcast with some other guy.
“When he realized he could make money by delivering hateful speech, he backed himself into a corner, and now, if he wants to make rent, if he wants to buy his fancy McDonald’s double cheeseburger meal, he has to talk about the things that are going to get attention and a lot of the time, that’s going to be your’s truly.”
Omega has received criticism from Cornette before on his wrestling style and matches but has still had success, helping to create the second-largest professional wrestling company in North America: All Elite Wrestling. Omega, Nick + Matt Jackson, and Cody Rhodes were the original EVPs of AEW, alongside Tony Khan, the owner of the company.
Over his 20+ year career, Omega has been able to win the Impact World Championship, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and the AEW World Championship, which he holds the record as the longest-reigning AEW World Champion in history.
Omega has not been traveling with AEW recently due to multiple different injuries his body had sustained working over the past few years. Cornette’s criticism does not stop at Omega, as Cornette has had multiple criticisms regarding AEW as a whole. Despite not traveling with AEW at this very time, Omega revealed whether or not Cornette’s comments have any effect on backstage life at AEW.
“That seeps into our locker room too. Yeah, it does. Everyone is so afraid of the f*cking cult of Cornette army and people that have like, you know, anti-AEW sites that they want to be — they want to do whatever the f*ck they can to stay safe.”
Omega last wrestled on November 13th, 2021 when he lost the AEW World Championship to ‘Hangman’ Adam Page in a 25+ minute match, completing a story that had begun during AEW’s exposition.
Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to CEOGaming on Twitch
AEW will debut a new match concept on tonight’s episode of “Rampage”. The Royal Rampage match will kick off tonight’s show. It will be contested inside the same double-ring used for the Blood & Guts match on this past Wednesday’s “Dynamite”.
The following line-up is announced for tonight:
Jeff Hardy has pleaded not guilty to his recent DUI charge in Volusia County, Florida.
Hardy was arrested on June 13th for a DUI, marking the third time he’s been arrested for driving under the influence in 10 years. Hardy’s blood-alcohol level was reported to be more than three times the legal limit.
The evening before his arrest, Hardy had spent it at the SlamDown VII convention in Orlando, FL.
According to PWInsider, Hardy filed a written plea of not guilty on June 28th. Hardy is scheduled to be arraigned on July 5th.
It was also reported that the AEW star entered a rehab facility on June 21st.
As previously noted, AEW CEO Tony Khan suspended Hardy without pay until he’s able to maintain his sobriety for an undisclosed amount of time. AEW CEO Tony Khan had commented on Hardy’s current issues. He made it clear that treatment was Hardy’s last chance. Hardy has been in rehab since June 21st.
“I’m really glad nobody got hurt,” Khan said. “But what Jeff did going out and driving is different from the other thing. And I just don’t like hearing them the two compared if that makes sense. I feel like I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Jeff a lot of credit for now doing the right thing. And this is what we said — Jeff’s got to do the right thing if he wants to stay with AEW. Because it’s his last chance.
In the latest update from PWInsider, the site has acquired a copy of Hardy’s written notification that he was pleading not guilty to the June 13th DUI charge. Hardy was also charged with driving while his license was suspended/revoked and a violation of restrictions placed on his driver’s license.
According to the below copy from PWInsider, Hardy “waives arraignment by filing this written plea of not guilty.” Hardy’s arraignment was originally set for July 5th. He also waives the right to be present at any pretrial conferences.
Defendant, Jeffrey Nero Hardy, pursuant to rules 3.160(a), Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, waives arraignment by filing this written plea of not guilty. Albritton v. White, 948 So. 2d 852, 854 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007). Defendant further waives the right to be present at all pretrial conferences.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Adam Cole reportedly suffered “a very serious concussion” during his Four-Way Match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view on June 26.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Cole’s concussion led to a “rushed and awkward finish” to the match as Jay White pinned the leader of the Undisputed Elite to retain his title. In the final sequence of the match, Cole landed several superkicks on Kazuchika Okada for a near fall but then appeared to grow sluggish after taking a superkick from Hangman Page. Cole would also counter a Rainmaker from Okada before taking the pinfall to White.
In the lead-up to Forbidden Door, Fightful Select reported that Cole has been dealing with a torn labrum as far back as his AEW World Title program with Page, and braved through the injury during their match at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view. The report added that Cole has been “banged up for quite a while” and has been “battling a series of injuries” for longer than most realize.
Meltzer’s report Friday suggested that Cole could potentially undergo surgery to fix the torn labrum, or at least take extended time off for rehab, but there’s no confirmation on his plans. Meltzer suggested that Cole is “mentally wanting to continue” as evidenced by the fact that the Owen Hart Cup winner has avoided surgery up to this point.
If Cole is forced to miss time, it could prove to be a devastating blow to AEW as the company deals with a never-ending slew of injuries. The injury list is currently headlined by AEW World Champion CM Punk (foot), Bryan Danielson (concussion), Kenny Omega (multiple injuries), Jungle Boy (undisclosed), Kyle O’Reilly (undisclosed), Red Velvet (undisclosed), Anthony Bowens (knee), Darius Martin (car accident), Leyla Hirsch (torn ACL), The Bunny (undisclosed), Buddy Matthews (shoulder), Lee Johnson (knee) and Santana (knee/leg). On a positive note, AEW TNT Champion Scorpio Sky returns from a knee injury on next week’s “Dynamite” for a title defense against Wardlow.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Santana suffered an injury during the “Blood & Guts” main event bout last night on “AEW Dynamite.”
The Proud & Powerful star appeared to get hurt after hitting Jericho Appreciation Society’s Daniel Garcia with an Uranage throw, before landing awkwardly on both his wrist and knee, as seen in the video below. His leg buckled immediately following the maneuver, and he remained grounded for the rest of the match. According to fans at the arena, Santana would roll out of the ring, lying between the cage and the ropes, as he communicated with referees at the ringside area.
Santana never returned to the action and wasn’t part of the post-match celebration either. A few minutes before the brutal match concluded, Santana was seen being helped up the ramp and taken to the backstage area for a medical evaluation.
The “Blood & Guts” match would eventually conclude with Claudio Castagnoli tapping out Matt Menard atop the steel cage, barely seconds before Eddie Kingston would do the same to Chris Jericho. AEW teased some tension between Castagnoli and Kingston after the match, with the latter claiming he secured the win for William Regal’s Blackpool Combat Club & Co.
If Santana is forced to miss time with an injury, he’d be the latest to join AEW’s lengthy injury list. The list is crowded enough with AEW World Champion CM Punk (foot), Bryan Danielson (concussion), Kenny Omega (multiple injuries), Jungle Boy (undisclosed), Kyle O’Reilly (undisclosed), Red Velvet (undisclosed), Anthony Bowens (knee), Darius Martin (car accident), Leyla Hirsch (torn ACL), TNT Champion Scorpio Sky (knee), The Bunny (undisclosed), Buddy Matthews (shoulder) and Lee Johnson (knee) on the shelf with various injuries. On a positive note, Sky’s in-ring return has been announced for next week’s Dynamite.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Kenny Omega is tired of rehabbing for injuries.
AEW superstar Kenny Omega has declared he will quit wrestling if he suffers another major injury setback. The former AEW World Champion has been out since last year’s Full Gear as he recovers from multiple injuries, including shoulder and knee problems, a hernia, plus more.
There was hope he could be back in time for Forbidden Door, but that wasn’t the case and there’s still no word on when he might return.
Omega appeared on the CEO Gaming channel on popular platform Twitch and would update fans on his injury. He said he will call curtains on his wrestling career should he suffer another big injury as he isn’t prepared to go through the rehab and the uncertainty that comes with trying to get back in the ring.
The Cleaner also inferred that people aren’t aware of how difficult it is for athletes to come back from major injuries, also revealing he’s on the end of ridicule on a daily basis.
“If I get another major setback, that’s it. That’s it, I’m done, I can’t do this ever again,” he said in quotes transcribed by Fightful. “Two times, three times a day, really painful rehab, not even knowing what it’s going to be like when I get back in the ring. I have no clue. It’s scary, actually.
“You see people, they come back to the ring and you’re just happy to see them back. There is a different kind of expectation put on me, and I think that anything less than what they are expecting, which is already unrealistic, is going to lead to a lot of ridicule, which is what I get every day anyway. You can probably understand and imagine how difficult it is, struggling twice, three times a day, trying to get things to work that maybe never worked before, and trying to re-route things in your brain to get around the things that aren’t going heal.
“People think, ‘Kenny is hurt, he took time off,’ snap your fingers, I come back and I’m 100%. Life doesn’t work that way. Bodies don’t work that way. Athletes don’t work that way. It’s very difficult to formulate a plan and to execute it. We’ll see how I do.”
Source: TheSportster
AEW will present the violent spectacle of one of its signature matches on tonight’s episode of Dynamite – “Blood & Guts” from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
The following line-up is announced for tonight:
New AEW Interim World Champion Jon Moxley admitted that he was “probably concussed” following his main event match against Hiroshi Tanahashi at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
Moxley closed the show against the New Japan Pro Wrestling star in an entertaining headline match that saw him capture the title, but he was badly busted open during the encounter, visibly bleeding a lot throughout the match. After the show went off the air, the new champion addressed the crowd and confessed, “I don’t know where I am going with this, I am probably concussed.”
This would be a major concern for the company if it was true, as Moxley is currently scheduled to compete inside Blood & Guts on the upcoming episode of “AEW Dynamite” against the Jericho Appreciation Society. If he has suffered a concussion, Moxley would presumably be ruled out of that match, and could be out of action for a longer period depending on the severity, which is not what the company needs right now. AEW is currently dealing with a laundry list of injuries across its roster, which is how Moxley ended up in the main event of Forbidden Door to begin with, as reigning AEW World Champion CM Punk had to be taken off the show due to a foot injury. On top of that, Bryan Danielson is currently out of action with an undisclosed issue, which is why he was replaced at Forbidden Door by the debuting Claudio Castagnoli.
As well as them two, Red Velvet, Scorpio Sky, Lee Johnson, Darius Martin, The Bunny, Kyle O’Reilly, Kenny Omega, and Anthony Bowens are all on the shelf, with Jungle Boy having also been added to that list recently.
During the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match on the PPV, Adam Cole also appeared to be hurt, which led to an abrupt finish for the contest, continuing to stretch Tony Khan’s roster. So far there has been no official confirmation on the situation regarding either Moxley or Cole.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Wrestling News Blog 