Tag: AEW

AEW Announces Partnership With ITV To Broadcast “Double Or Nothing” In The U.K.

ITV today announced that they will broadcast Double Or Nothing on its ITV Box Office channel. The pre-show, Buy-In, will air for free on IT4 and will feature the Casino Battle Royale with 21 competitors.

Double or Nothing will air on ITV Box Office at 1:00 a.m. GMT, Sunday, May 26.

ITV ANNOUNCES AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING” WRESTLING EVENT FOR ITV BOX OFFICE

All Elite Wrestling’s Highly Anticipated PPV Show will Ignite the Screen with Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, The Young Bucks, Cody, SCU, and more

LONDON, UK, (May 8, 2019) – ITV, the largest commercial television network in the UK, announced a partnership today with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), the new wrestling promotion headlined by members of The Elite, to broadcast the highly anticipated DOUBLE OR NOTHING event on its ITV Box Office channel.

Fans across the UK can look forward to seeing all the drama, action and entertainment live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on the night of Saturday 25 May going into Sunday 26 May. DOUBLE OR NOTHING, which sold out in under 30 minutes, features an electrifying card packed with stars including the headline clash between Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho. The wrestling world will rock as Cody takes on his brother Dustin Rhodes, The Young Bucks battle the Lucha Bros for the AAA World Tag Team Championship, Hangman Adam Page clashes with PAC, and Britt Baker, Nyla Rose and Kylie Rae compete in a three-way match.

Additionally, before the live pay-per-view event begins at 1:00 a.m. GMT, Sunday, May 26, the hourlong live pre-show special BUY-IN will air for free on ITV4 at midnight. BUY-IN includes the first ever “Casino (Battle) Royale,” which will see 21 competitors including Jimmy Havoc, Billy Gunn, MJF, Michael Nakzawa, Jungle Boy, Glacier, Sonny Kiss, and Joey Janela entering the ring in waves of five wrestlers every three minutes followed by one final entrant, lucky number 21, all fighting it out in the ring until there is one winner, whose reward will be a future title shot against the first ever AEW World Champion. BUY-IN will also feature a pair of high-flyers squaring off one-on-one as the UK’s own Kip Sabian will face Sammy Guevara.

“We’re delighted to announce this partnership with AEW, whose entry into professional wrestling is already making a massive impact on the industry and promises to deliver an electrifying event later this month, and a fantastic experience for our viewers and wrestling fans in the UK,” said Niall Sloane, Director of Sport, ITV. “Joining forces with AEW for this event is faithful to ITV’s More Than TV strategy to develop direct relationships with viewers through big events available on its platforms.”

“We’ve stated since our launch that we want to make this the greatest time ever to be a professional wrestling fan, and part of this plan is to make our product as accessible as possible to a global audience,” said Tony Khan, President/CEO of AEW. “Since our launch in January, we’ve signed the best talent, sold out our debut show in record time, and we’ve built relationships and formed bonds with the best media partners like ITV. This collaboration with ITV is so important to AEW, ITV is the best in the UK, they were always my first choice to be our international PPV partner for DOUBLE OR NOTHING, and we’re looking forward to a great show.”

In addition, a special pre-event show “Before the Bell” will air for free on ITV4 and ITV Box Office in the build up to the DOUBLE OR NOTHING broadcast. Details about how to access DOUBLE OR NOTHING on ITV Box Office can be found at http://www.itvboxoffice.com.

Rhyno Says He Turned Down Big Money Offer From WWE, Talks About AEW

Sounds like Rhyno will soon be done as an active competitor in WWE, as his contract expires in July and the wrestler says he’s not signing a new deal.

In a new video interview, Rhyno told Chris Van Vliet the following:

“July 17th is my last date there. They actually offered me more than twice my downside but it wasn’t where they would have to use me because the downside is so large and it wasn’t about money it was about me wanting to be on the road work and helping the younger guys kind of like a player coach.”

“It was a mutual understanding that we were not going to figure out a number. And they’ve been great, I can’t say anything bad about them. I had a lot of fun. I was afraid that they would say yes to a larger downside than what they offered me because I was afraid that they would still sit me at home. It’s not that they don’t like me, there is a lot of talent there and they have to cycle the talent which is normal because you want to get men and women out there to work. I was afraid that I would become miserable and that’s the last thing that you want to do when you’re doing something that you love. I would rather take a step back and work for some of these companies and work the independent scene.”

As for why … Rhyno says he wants to help the future generation of wrestlers find themselves, which he can’t do if WWE doesn’t book him to be on the road.

“On the indies, I can do that,” he explained. “And with other companies whether it’s AEW, Impact, Ring of Honor or New Japan … I’ve done that before in the past and that’s something I can do now in the future.”

Watch the full interview below:

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

AEW Announces New Name And Rules For Battle Royale At Double Or Nothing

All Elite Wrestling has announced a new name for the Over The Budget Battle Royale at Double Or Nothing. The match will now be called the Casino Battle Royale.

AEW also announced the following rules for the pre-show match:

* 21 wrestler over-the-top Battle Royale

* Starts with 5 men

* Every 3 minutes a new wave of 5 men enter

* Lucky 21 competitors will enter last

* Battle Royale entry numbers picked at a later date

There are currently 11 of 21 spots announced for the match – Chuck Taylor, Trent Baretta, Joey Janela, MJF, Brian Pillman Jr., Glacier, Ace Romero, Sunny Daze, Brandon Cutler, Kip Sabian and Sonny Kiss.

AEW Double Or Nothing takes place on Saturday, May 25 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena near Las Vegas, Nevada. Below is the current announced card:

AAA World Tag Team Titles Match
Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix) vs. The Young Bucks (c)

Cody Rhodes vs. Dustin Rhodes

Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega

Pac vs. Hangman Adam Page

Dr. Britt Baker vs. Kylie Rae vs. Nyla Rose

Team All Elite Wrestling vs. Team Oriental Entertainment Wrestling
SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, Scorpio Sky) vs. Cima, El Lindaman and T-Hawk

Pre-show: Casino Battle Royale
Chuck Taylor, Trent Baretta, Joey Janela, MJF, Brian Pillman Jr., Glacier, Ace Romero, Sunny Daze, Brandon Cutler, Kip Sabian, Sonny Kiss, TBA

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Chris Jericho Attacked By Kenny Omega At An Indie Event (VIDEO), Jericho Comments

AEW’s Chris Jericho made a rare appearance at an indie show on Friday … and his “Double or Nothing” opponent made him pay for it.

It all went down at Southern Honor Wrestling’s Event in Canton, Georgia when Jericho interfered in a match by attacking two wrestlers with a chair.

Much to the surprise of Y2J … Kenny Omega’s music interrupted the beatdown and he attacked Jericho by hitting him in the ring with a Dragon Suplex.

Omega then gave his signature taunt to the crowd for a big pop, but he was attacked from behind by one of the local wrestlers. After he fought back, Jericho got involved again before more wrestlers hit the ring and a brawl broke out.

Watch how it all unfolded, as well as the post-match promo from Kenny, below.

Chris Jericho commented about Friday night’s brawl with Kenny Oemga at the above mentioned Southern Honor Wrestling event. On Instagram, Jericho said he wanted to remind everyone what the hottest match in wrestling is right now. He also “apologized” to Sunny Daze, who he attacked before Omega made the save.

“So, Kenny Omega & I made a little pit stop at the Southern Honor Wrestling show in Canton, Georgia last night in front of 1,000 CRAZY fans, to remind the world that the HOTTEST match in the entire wrestling biz is only 3 weeks away at the MGM Grand! Oh, and sorry about that metal chair to your enlarged melon, Sunny Daze.”

Sources: Pro Wrestling Sheet and Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On Bill Goldberg’s WWE Return, WWE Reportedly Concerned About Goldberg And AEW

WWE may have signed WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg for the June 7 Saudi Arabia show to keep him from All Elite Wrestling.

It was noted in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE reportedly approached Goldberg for the show, figuring he was the one star left who could potentially bring back lapsed fans if he were to work with AEW. The situation was compared to how Vince McMahon, without the benefit of hindsight, left the door open in the 1990s for WCW to sign names like WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Roddy Piper.

WWE officials did have a concern that Goldberg would eventually sign with AEW, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

There’s no word yet on who Goldberg will face in Saudi Arabia, but a Lesnar vs. Goldberg match has been rumored.

Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker had been expected for the Saudi show, but Goldberg came out of the blue. Goldberg is believed to be making major money from the new contract with WWE. The Saudi shows usually bring a big payday to the wrestlers, as high as seven figures for some, but the fact that Goldberg rarely wrestles says a lot. There’s no word yet on if Goldberg’s deal is just for the Saudi show, or for more dates, but WWE could have made a strong offer to Goldberg if they are serious about keeping him away from AEW.

Randy Orton joked about Goldberg’s pay for the Saudi Arabia show this week, as seen below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dean Ambrose Shares Video Hyping The Return Of Jon Moxley, Will He Be At AEW’s Double Or Nothing?

Say goodbye to Dean Ambrose, and say hello once again to Jon Moxley … because the former WWE Champion just shared a video hyping his return to his former moniker.

The video was uploaded just minutes after midnight on May 1. Ambrose’s WWE contract expired on April 30, making him a free agent. Moxley continues to trend on social media, more than two hours after the video was released.

There’s obvious speculation on this promo being for Moxley joining another wrestling company, especially due to the high production values and other hints in the video.

Ambrose published a video on Tuesday night that begins with him sitting restless in prison before breaking out. This would seem to be a pretty obvious reference to him leaving WWE.

There are hash marks shown in the video as Moxley is breaking out of prison. The portion that is lit adds up to 25, which could be a teaser for Double Or Nothing. Double Or Nothing takes place on Saturday, May 25 from Las Vegas.

Some people have speculated that Moxley is initially in an asylum at the start of the video, and it’s Jon Moxley escaping from the Ambrose Asylum.

There are dice shown in the video and that has been the main symbol in promotional material for Starrcast in Las Vegas, which also takes place on May 25 (the event runs from May 23 – 26). The numbers on the dice shown are 2 and 5.

It’s believed that Moxley would be able to appear at Double Or Nothing as he is not under a non-compete clause from WWE because those usually apply to releases. His contract expired.

In another note on the speculation, AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes has “liked” the Moxley promo on Twitter.

The account that the promo was tweeted from, @JonMoxley, is the @DeanAmbrose account that Ambrose had been using, but he changed the handle, which is why the official WWE Twitter account is currently following it. It will be interesting to see if they are still following him tomorrow. The account was created in March 2012, but this is the first tweet from the account in many years.

https://twitter.com/JonMoxley/status/1123438186410205184

 

Cody Rhodes Talks AEW, Filling Out Roster, Estimates The Percentage Of WWE Talent That AEW Would Sign & More

We’re less than one month away from AEW’s first official event, Double or Nothing. The startup promotion is still going through its growth phase and that means adding new talent to the roster.

Cody joined Jim Ross on The Ross Report to talk about the new guys and girls who will fill out the AEW roster.

“I know from a talent number we are nearing 40 talents under a certain type of contract with us. So, there is more talent than a lot of people know, because you know, slow and steady on our road to Double or Nothing on May 25th ,” said Cody. “We don’t want to just put a splash page down on everybody. We want you to slowly learn about them. That is the biggest thing for me; the road to Double or Nothing series that I put on the Nightmare Family YouTube channel, where we also announced your [Jim Ross] arrival. And even those that know you [Jim Ross] so well for so many years I still wanted to treat it like it is everyone’s first day, and tell me who this is, which is especially helpful to the guys with these younger guys.

While Cody is no Vince McMahon in terms of being fascinated with wrestlers’ physiques, he did reveal that those in charge at AEW went on a “hoss hunt.” They are looking for wrestlers 6’2″ and above who can turn heads with their looks and also perform in the ring.

“We went on this big hoss hunt and we want to find some big boys,” stated Cody. “You can’t replace that if that makes any sense? If you see one of those guys or girls that walk by an airport that makes you turn your head, that is still a part of wrestling – that going to the circus scene and you look at them and say, ‘damn, what do you do?’ I believe that is going to help us. We have a young and light-heavyweight roster, but to add that buffet to big, bigger, I want it all.”

Even though many of Cody’s friends such as The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega hold executive positions, that doesn’t mean all of his friends are going to just be given jobs. He talked about having to say no to many of his friends who came knocking on his door.

“I don’t know if I had a hard time to say no as much as I have been able to say that the door is unlocked, but it’s kind of up to them to kick the door down,” admitted Cody. “The best example of all that is when I left WWE, I did that full year before I fully signed on for one year with Ring of Honor. I did a full year of every indie under the sun. The best one, the worst one, the most niche one, the most mom and pop, I did all of that. That is the type of thing that kind of thing that helped me gravitate towards Matt and Nick Jackson and getting into New Japan and the first Tokyo Dome show I did and things of that nature.”

Cody didn’t just rest on his laurels or his family connections to get where he is today, he worked his tail off. He wants the same from AEW talent and, in a way, he echoes Vince McMahon in that he wants prospective AEW talent to grab the brass ring.

“People know what opportunities exist and it all lies on putting in the work,” said Cody. “You have to put in the work, and I swear by that. My wife is the same way. In this era of entertainment in general; content is king. It’s no longer, ‘oh this great show is coming on and has a great marketing appeal, and it’s all marketing.’ Now the sizzle and the substance have to match otherwise you get a big drop-off and we want our sizzle and substance to match. To answer your question, it hasn’t been hard to say no because most people know to not ask unless they are out there doing the work. It hasn’t been hard for me yet.”

Along the lines of his gimmick, AEW strives for only elite talent. Thus, Cody says that many current WWE performers wouldn’t even be accepted into AEW.

“Honestly, I’ve kind of jokingly said that it is five percent and I’m talking Jim Ross, Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho, maybe a few others,” Cody replied on the percentage of WWE talent that would be accepted in AEW. “It’s not the same. Having that equity with WWE is wonderful, but like I have been talking, you have to be able to cut it and meet the standard that people have into their bell-to-bell contest. That number may increase, being that this opportunity that exists for the boys and girls to make more money, whether here [AEW] or there [WWE], for the boys and girls to have options. That number may increase.

“If they can play, they are going to play, but right now the recruitment was more about…I use the term ‘Tier 1.’ It was more about freshness, if that makes sense. I want to build a new class of guys. I have been there before where nobody has my back, nobody is my ally, and I don’t want to get into sour grapes over it but I know that it is one of the things that I look forward to the most once we really get into the schedule is the fact that these fresh faces…take Darby Allin for example who was just announced. I don’t want them to feel like they were set up and that was it. I want them to feel that they were set up to win and set up to succeed and then they went out there and hit it out of the park, so yeah.

“WWE at the moment I would say five percent at the current makeup, and that may increase. But right now there are a lot of faces you have never seen, and a lot of people you would be surprised once you do see them.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

More Lucha Underground Stars Reportedly Seek Legal Help To Obtain Releases

Lucha Underground may have recently settled a class action lawsuit with some of their wrestlers, but it sounds like they could be heading back to court soon with more.

Lucha Central reports Matanza Cueto (ROH star Jeff Cobb), Famous B and XO Lishus (AEW’s Sonny Kiss) have all sought legal representation in order to get their releases from Lucha Underground.

Cobb is the most surprising name on the list, as it was assumed he was released from the company after Season 4 when his character was killed off. Lucha Central claims that despite Jeff signing a contract with ROH, his previous employer has tried to block him from working there because they insist he’s still under contract.

The site also suggests Willie Mack could soon be seeking representation as well due to speculation over his LU contract status being the reason for his NWA National title loss over the weekend.

As we previously reported … El Hijo del Fantasma, Ivelisse, Joey Ryan and Kobra Moon were also recently let out of their LU contracts after banding together in a class-action lawsuit.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

All Elite Wrestling CEO Tony Khan Discusses TV Deal, And More In New Interview

AEW President and CEO sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Jacksonville, FL one month before Double or Nothing. Tony gives us an idea of what we can expect from All Elite Wrestling and also covers of number of topics like a TV deal, how he signed Goldust (Dustin Rhodes), his 5-year plan for the company, being compared to WCW, wins and losses counting in AEW, whether or not he wants to be an on-air personality and much more!

Source: Trevor Decker News

Tony Khan was a big fan of ECW, and was therefore asked if he would like to see AEW have a similar ‘edgy’ style:

“I think we are doing some very edgy things and I think what you see on our social media is not necessarily what you will see in our television product which I do expect to be much more advertiser friendly than ECW. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t push the envelope sometimes, that doesn’t mean that you won’t see really exciting high spots. A lot of what made ECW great was the work and we’re going to have the best caliber in ring stuff in the world.”

Many people have been comparing AEW to WCW. On the topic of the comparisons between the two promotions, Khan had the following to say:

“I don’t want to compare us to any other wrestling company. We’re AEW and we’re doing something very different. What’s great is what we will offer, which will bring people back to 20 years ago, and there will be a major alternative. There will be a second company with great production values and great exposure, it’ll be easy to watch and give you shows with the top wrestlers and the best matches on a regular basis. That’s something that hasn’t been readily available to people outside of WWE in a long time, almost 20 years.”

Khan also spoke about how he wants the touring schedule for his performers to be light, something that WWE doesn’t have:

“For us, I want to offer a quality of life and a work/life balance that is the best and is unparalleled in the business for the best quality of life. What that means is less time on the road, but still working regularly, still performing on pay-per-view and on television in the future. I believe you don’t need to spend 6 days on the road to make a good living as a wrestler or 5 days on the road per week necessarily”.

Khan was also asked if he wanted to be an on-air personality for the company:

“I have thought about it and I’m not going to do it. We have some of the greatest on-air performers in the world and look, I am who I am in the promotion. I am the president and the CEO and the founder of this company but it’s not going to be me all over TV and I’m not going to be doing a lot of interviews or backstage segments on television.”

He also discussed AEW’s television deal:

“I have negotiated some things and I am very excited about what we are doing. I do think it’s very important to give wrestling fans a better quality of life. I think 20 years ago was honestly in many ways not nearly as good of a time to be a wrestling fan. There was not nearly as much wrestling out there and available if you were really looking for it. If you are really looking for great wrestling now there has never been a better time to be a wrestling fan.”
He also spoke about where he wants All Elite Wrestling to be in five years time:

The 5-year plan for AEW is that we will have built up a brand, we will have built up a roster, we will have established ourselves as a top brand in wrestling for people who want fast paced exciting action and want a product that is more of a sporting based product. I’ve talked a lot about how I want wins and losses to matter because at the end of the day, that’s why you’re having the match. There’s going to be a winner and a loser and it matters. It should matter to your standing in the company and it should matter to your standing in your chase for the championship which at the end of the day is what everyone is trying to attain”.

Finally, Khan was asked if he would like to see former WWE Champion, CM Punk, sign for the promotion:

“He’s a great talent and a great performer, I don’t know if that was Phil in the ring, but he’s great. I’m from Illinois and I grew up around Chicago sports and he’s obviously very popular there.”

Thanks to WrestleZone for the transcription.

Wrestling News Blog Podcast Episode 8 – AEW, Cody vs. Dustin, NWA Crockett Cup, Impact Rebellion And More

Wrestling News Blog Podcast Episode 8

Segment One – AEW “Double or Nothing” Cody Rhodes vs. Dustin Rhodes

Segment Two – WWE News

Segment Three – Starrcast II, Undertaker & Kurt Angle Pulled

Segment Four – CM Punk

Segment Five – 2019 NWA Crockett Cup

Segment Six – Impact Wrestling “Rebellion”

Wrestling News Blog Podcast is available on all major podcast apps such as Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts and Stitcher.