Tag: PAC

PAC Reportedly Injured During AEW Dynamite Match

AEW may be dealing with another unfortunate injury setback, as PAC appeared to suffer a significant injury during this week’s episode of Dynamite, live from Baltimore, MD.

The incident occurred during his highly anticipated matchup against Swerve Strickland. Multiple sources have reported that the injury seems to be centered around PAC’s right foot or ankle. The match, which had been delivering on expectations, came to a sudden halt following a buckle bomb from Strickland. Immediately afterward, PAC was seen clutching his lower leg in visible pain and rolled to the outside.

AEW medical personnel quickly checked on the former Trios Champion at ringside. Although PAC attempted to stay involved, it became clear he couldn’t continue, and he was helped to the back by officials. Swerve closed out the match swiftly with a kick followed by his signature Stomp to pick up the win.

At this time, AEW has yet to issue an official statement on the severity of the injury or PAC’s status going forward. The timing is especially rough considering PAC had just begun gaining momentum again after extended time off due to previous injuries.

Kota Ibushi, PAC Announced As Final Participants In AEW Dynamite Blood & Guts Match

The full lineups for next week’s Blood & Guts match at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts are set, with the fifth man for both the Blackpool Combat Club and Elite teams announced at the end of the July 12 episode of “AEW Dynamite.” And while one was exactly who fans were hoping for, the other was a bit of a surprise, albeit one that makes plenty of sense.

After Don Callis made his entrance to announce the fifth member of the BCC team, replacing the injured Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega made his way to the ring, only to be cut off by Jon Moxley and Konsuke Takeshita. As Omega fought back, he was blindsided with a steel chair by the returning PAC, who had not been seen in AEW since he and the Lucha Bros. lost the AEW World Trios Titles to Omega and the Young Bucks in January. PAC announced that he had not forgotten that Omega “shattered my nose bone” during the Death Triangle-Elite best-of-seven series.

As Moxley placed the chair around Omega’s neck and asked if he had any last words before being taken out, the Winnipeg native told him to turn his attention to the video screen. A video then played revealing that Omega’s Golden Lovers tag team partner, Kota Ibushi, will be the fifth member of his team, which allowed enough of a distraction for the Young Bucks and “Hangman” Adam Page to run in and clean house.

So it’s official: Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita, and PAC, representing Blackpool Combat Club and the Don Callis Family, will face the Golden Elite of Kenny Omega, “Hangman” Adam Page, Kota Ibushi, and the Young Bucks next Wednesday night in Blood & Guts, AEW’s version of War Games.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Andrade El Idolo vs. PAC Removed From AEW All Out PPV Card

Due to travel issues, AEW has announced that the match between Andrade El Idolo vs. PAC has been removed from the All Out card.

One of the big matches for AEW’s All Out pay-per-view this Sunday has changed. It was announced during Wednesday’s epsiode of Dynamite that Andrade El Idolo versus PAC will no longer be taking place and the match will have to be rescheduled. Adrade teased a potential new opponent but no names have been released and it’s not clear how AEW will proceed with the angle moving forward.

Tony Khan tweeted, “Thank you to you fans supporting #AEWDynamite LIVE next on TNT! The Women’s Casino Battle Royale, which was booked on the Buy In, will now be featured on the ALL OUT ppv card. Due to travel issues, the @BASTARDPAC vs. @AndradeElIdolo bout is postponed until a future #AEWRampage”. Following the announcement, Andrade started tweeting responses to the news. In one tweet he wrote, “I just wasted my time! It’s like in boxing, when they don’t make weight, the fighter has to be fined a sum of money Or is he just not ready to face me and he wants more time!” In another tweet he asked who he’ll be facing.

It’s unfortunate news for fans who were looking forward to this match. It was arguably going to be Andrade’s toughest competition to date in AEW and the prospect of these two in the ring together was exciting. This could have been a show stealing bout on a card full of top notch matches. It’s also another unfortunate break for PAC who has had some travel issues in the past and with COVId restrictions constantly changing, this was something that shouldn’t come as too shocking a surprise.

Still, when AEW learned he wasn’t going to make the show, they immediately let the fans know.

Of course, some fans had fun at WWE’s expense with the way AEW was completely transparent about the change in plans. One Twitter user wrote, “THIS ISN’T HOW A COMPANY DOES BUSINESS!” They jokingly added that AEW should have kept advertising the match, run a video promo just before the match was to take place and then tell the fans that it wasn’t happening live during the event. This, of course, was a sarcastic reference to how WWE handled the Sasha Banks situation at SummerSlam.

Source: TheSportster

Dynamite Match Ends Early After Orange Cassidy Gets Knocked Out, Original Plan Revealed

A match to decide Kenny Omega’s challenger at Double or Nothing had to be changed on the fly after Orange Cassidy was unable to continue.

Wrestling can be unpredictable at times, even to those who put the matches together. That seems to be more prevalent this week than usual. First Humberto Carrillo’s match-stopping injury on Raw, and now via the same thing for Orange Cassidy on Dynamite. Freshly Squeezed was unable to continue on Wednesday night leading to his match with Pac coming to a premature end.

While it’s unclear when exactly Cassidy was first injured in the match, a sunset powerbomb outside the ring was the move that seems to have finished Cassidy off. Despite his best efforts, Cassidy was unable to make it back to his feet in order to finish the match. An audible was called and the match was declared a no contest.

According to PWInsider, while the match was supposed to end in a draw, it was meant to go for another seven minutes, hitting the time limit. At that point, it would have been declared that Omega will face both men at Double or Nothing in a triple threat. Since Cassidy was hurt and the planned finish was a draw, the decision was made to end the match early so Cassidy could be checked.

Reports suggest Cassidy was briefly knocked out at some point but the belief he suffered a concussion may be unfounded. A follow-up report from PWInsider has confirmed Cassidy was okay and responsive when he got back to the locker room. Tony Schiavone confirmed after the match that the AEW Title will be defended in a three-way match at Double or Nothing.

Source: The Sportster

In an update from PWInsider, Cassidy is said to be “OK” and was seen socializing with a number of talents after Dynamite went off the air. The report added that Cassidy is expected to be “good to go” for the Triple Threat Match for the AEW World Championship with Kenny Omega and PAC at Double or Nothing on May 30.

The Young Bucks Say They’ve Had A Lot Of Talks With CM Punk, Provide Update On PAC’s Status With AEW

AEW’s All Out, has been speculated as the night that former muti-time WWE Champion CM Punk will return to professional wrestling and debut with AEW. All Out takes place at the Sears Centre Arena in Chicago, the city where Punk is from.

“We’ll be honest, of course we would love [Punk] to come to our company,” Nick Jackson told Chris Van Vliet. “At this time, I just don’t think he wants to. Matt talks to him all the time about it but the timing is not right, I guess.”

“When he wants to come back to wrestling, it’ll be his decision,” Matt explained. “Professional wrestling is the most demanding thing in the world. You can’t just find yourself back in it one day and be like, ‘Okay, I guess I’m doing this again.’ You really have to want to do it and that’s up to him.”

With or without Punk in AEW, the company has been a hot topic of conversation in the pro wrestling industry. The Bucks took some time to note the improvements that AEW has brought to performers and the overall competitive nature of the sport.

“We’ve changed the whole pay scale for everyone in wrestling, which is awesome,” Nick said. “A lot of our friends are getting paid and they’re finally making money for the first time in their careers. It feels good, it feels awesome.”

“The pressure has been put on everybody in the professional wrestling business,” Matt added. “… Everybody is trying harder now. It’s very competitive again. We need competition again; the industry needs it to survive.”

At Double Or Nothing this past May, “Hangman” Adam Page and PAC were supposed to have a one-on-one bout that was ultimately cancelled due to creative differences. The Bucks mentioned that they still have every intention of bringing on PAC as a part of their future AEW productions.

“He’s coming. I mean, eventually,” Matt stated.

“It’s a work in progress. It’s obvious that Matt and I are big fans of his,” Nick said. “We met him like 10 years ago over in Japan, so we’ll always have ties with him and we wanna work things out with him. I think it’s just a matter of trying to fit his schedule with ours and hopefully, things will work out.”

“It’s a priority for us and I think we’re gonna make this thing work,” Matt added.

You can watch the full interview in the video below.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Pac Removed From AEW “Fyter Fest” Poster

AEW has removed Pac from the promotional material for the June 29 Fyter Fest event in Daytona Beach, FL. Pac has been advertised to team with Rey Fenix and Pentagon Jr. to face The Elite’s Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. Tickets went on sale for the event this afternoon and we will keep you updated on sales.

As seen below, a mystery man is now being advertised to team with The Lucha Brothers. Pac’s AEW future has been up in the air following the creative differences that led to his match with “Hangman” Adam Page being pulled from Double Or Nothing. The match ended up being taped in England and released on YouTube.

Updated card for AEW Fyter Fest:

Hardcore Match
Jebailey vs. Michael Nakazawa

The Elite (The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega) vs. Lucha Bros & ?

Cody Rhodes vs. Darby Allin

Jon Moxley’s AEW in-ring debut vs. Joey Janela

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Releases Full Adam Page Vs. PAC Match From England (Video)

Over the weekend, news broke of AEW pulling Adam Page vs. PAC from this Saturday’s Double or Nothing card over creative differences.

PAC is the current Open the Dream Gate Champion for Dragon Gate and didn’t want to lose a match while holding the title. For AEW, they are focusing on wins/losses and didn’t want to have tie or DQ in the match. AEW is also reportedly looking at things long terms and while they didn’t necessarily have a problem with him beating Page, PAC’s next opponent was likely Kenny Omega and a win over Omega (or multiple opponents in a row) maybe wasn’t in the plans.

The PPV is slotted for four hours, so time was also a consideration as it would take up a big chunk of the show just for a tie/DQ to happen.

Last Saturday, Page showed up at a Wrestle Gate Pro event in Nottingham, England to confront PAC and answer his open challenge. The two had a match where Page won by DQ. Afterwards, PAC took down Page with a chair and told him he wouldn’t be coming to Double or Nothing or AEW as a way to write off the match.

So fans could still see a bout between the two wrestlers, AEW released the match today on its YouTube channel, which you can watch below. PAC could still return to the promotion at some point down the road. Page will be on Double or Nothing against a yet to be named opponent.

Double or Nothing will air on B/R Live and traditional PPV for $49.99 at 8 pm ET this Saturday. The Buy In pre-show will stream for free on All Elite Wrestling’s YouTube channel. Be sure to join us for complete live coverage of the show.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On PAC And Adam Page Match Getting Pulled From AEW Double Or Nothing

Yesterday, Adam Page showed up at a Wrestle Gate Pro event in Nottingham, England to confront PAC and answer his open challenge. The two had a match where Adam Page won by DQ. Afterwards, PAC took down Page with a chair and told him he wouldn’t be coming to Double or Nothing or AEW.

Initially, this all seemed like a way to hype their upcoming match at AEW Double or Nothing, but in actuality the match had been called off and this was how it was written off. It was reported the cancellation was do to creative differences as PAC (and Dragon Gate) didn’t want to lose a match while he’s the Open the Dream Gate Champion. AEW had other ideas for how they wanted the match to go and things weren’t lining up for the two sides.

Page will still have a match at the show against a yet to be named opponent.

On this morning’s Wrestler Observer Radio it was noted the bout in England will be streamed by AEW, most likely on Tuesday, as a way for fans to still be able to see a match between the two since it won’t be on Saturday’s PPV.

In terms of the match itself, AEW did not want a tie/DQ as they are looking for wins/losses in their matches, especially on PPVs. PAC previously went to 30-minute draws with Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr., which drew boos and would probably get a similar reaction at Double or Nothing. Also, it was reported PPV time was a factor as AEW is working within a four hour limit and that match would take up a big chunk of time, only for a tie to happen.

Dave Meltzer also speculated AEW is looking at things long-term, PAC beating Page wasn’t so much a problem, but he would have to keep winning against bigger names to make the win against Page mean something. He felt Kenny Omega would have been next in line and AEW probably didn’t want to have PAC beat Omega at this point.

When PAC eventually drops his title, doing the DQ finish in England allows an easy reentry point for PAC, if he does return to AEW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

PAC No Longer Appearing At Upcoming WrestleCon Due To Visa Issues

WrestleCon has announced PAC will no longer be appearing at their WrestleMania weekend event due to visa issues.

The company released a statement saying:

We regret to inform you that PAC will not be at WrestleCon. We worked diligently over the past several months with our attorneys to ensure that he successfully received a Visa to travel into the United States. Our Visa application was filed in a timely manner, all fees were paid to attorneys, and all required information was disclosed to government officials. Our attorneys were confident there would be no issue and based on their experience and expectation, we advertised PAC on the assumption there would be no problem obtaining a Visa. However, after exhausting all efforts, we were unable to provide PAC the appropriate Visa to travel and work in the United States. We understand and share your disappointment of this unanticipated outcome, as does PAC.

Further, we would like to clarify that in no way will this unfortunate incident have any impact on his future with AEW. This issue is isolated to WrestleCon only.

According to WrestleCon, refunds will be issued to everyone who purchased photo ops and autographs with PAC. They’ll also be changing all the advertisements so he’s no longer shown.

All Elite Wrestling “Double or Nothing” Rally News, Chris Jericho, PAC, Billy Gunn, AEW Roster Update, Women’s Division Pay (Video & Photos)

View postImage result for All Elite Wrestling Double or Nothing Rally

The new All Elite Wrestling promotion officially launched yesterday with their Double Or Nothing rally at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.

The biggest news coming out of the rally was the signing of future WWE Hall of Famer Chris Jericho, who closed the rally and announced that he is all in with AEW. Jericho said he’s with AEW because he believes in doing something new and something different, not for the money because he’s already got the money.

AEW also announced that their Double Or Nothing event will take place on Saturday, May 25 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. They announced a second AEW event for Jacksonville to be held at a later date but details were not released. There were also no details on a possible TV deal or any kind of online distribution but more announcements will be made in the future.

https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1082763499988795392

AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes spoke at the rally and confirmed the AEW women’s division, noting that they want this to be a strong division with the strongest women’s wrestlers in the world. Brandi said AEW cares about their female wrestlers and will be paying them equally with the male competitors. She said Cody agrees with her that there will be no sliding scale when it comes to pay. Regarding her role as CBO, Brandi said it will come with lots of hard work and long nights, but she is 100% committed to helping bring AEW to the level it’s supposed to be at, which she guaranteed.

Regarding the Khan family, several of the speakers gave thanks to Tony Khan and his father, Shad Khan. We noted that the Khans confirmed their roles with the company. Matt Jackson noted during the rally that the Khan family approached them after All In last year and asked them if they really wanted to change the world, then offered to really help make that happen.

https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1082761279083868160

It looks like AEW will be working with other promotions as well. Matt said they have come to an agreement with OWE (Oriental Wrestling Entertainment) in China, and that they will bring OWE into AEW to give them a major spotlight. Matt promised fans will love OWE if they’re not already familiar with them, praising the promotion for the “gifted” in-ring work they bring. It was also interesting that PAC (Neville) carried his Dragon Gate Open the Dream Gate Title when he came out for a confrontation with “Hangman” Page.

https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1082769681231024129

Cody Rhodes announced on Twitter before the really that former WWE Tag Team Champion Billy Gunn is the first agent for the promotion. He is the only producer announced as of this writing. Coming out of the rally, below is the confirmed roster for the promotion:

* Cody Rhodes (Executive Vice President)
* Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks (Executive Vice President)
* Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks (Executive Vice President)
* Brandi Rhodes (Chief Brand Officer)
* Billy Gunn (Agent)
* Chris Jericho
* PAC fka Neville
* “Hangman” Adam Page
* Britt Baker
* Joey Janela with Penelope Ford
* MJF
* Christopher Daniels of SoCal Uncensored
* Frankie Kazarian of SoCal Uncensored
* Scorpio Sky of SoCal Uncensored

The rally was trending on Twitter, before it even began. Hosts Conrad Thompson and Alex Marvez noted that more than 100,000 fans were watching the rally across the various platforms. I believe the YouTube stream peaked at around 60,000 live viewers. The rally featured pyro on the stage they used, and a larger fireworks display from inside the stadium, which is the home of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars mascot, Jaxson de Ville, and their cheerleaders were also featured.

Below is the video of Cody with Gunn, along with various shots from the press conference and the full stream video.

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1082759281382961152

https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1082771739656908801

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https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1082765367594967040

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1082766635461734400

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1082771911673810944

https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/1082771476149952512

https://twitter.com/MrJacobCohen/status/1082771164894806016

Source: WrestlingINC

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