Miro was one of the biggest names released from WWE during their budget cuts back in April and fans had been wondering since then where he will end up after leaving the company.
The former US Champion finally answered these questions last month when he made his debut for AEW and during his recent appearance on the AEW Unrestricted podcast; the wrestling star explained how this deal came to be.
The star formerly known as Rusev detailed his conversation with the AEW President Tony Khan and Miro revealed how they took their time while deciding the details of his contract:
“We started talking to Tony, and he wanted to bring us [to Florida] and we took time, and we wanted to execute the exact amount of the right contract for the right time, the right opportunity.
The former WWE star continued by explaining how he wanted to work on other projects as well and Khan’s attitude towards the same was the deciding factor:
“I was very keen on telling him that I’m very passionate about different projects, about my Twitch, about working in other places and doing different things, like outside projects, and he was very open to it.
And it was a huge, like wow, like you really care that I can succeed on my own on the outside, and we can use that.” said Miro, “So that was the biggest plus out of everything, and as soon as I heard that he’s willing to do that for me, I was willing to work with Tony at the same time.”
Miro made his AEW debut during the September 9th episode of Dynamite. He was revealed as Kip Sabian’s best man for his wedding with Penelope Ford. The former WWE star has revealed since then that he is planning to stick with the best man gimmick for the long run.
Former WWE star Damien Sandow did not get a lot of spotlight moments in WWE but he made the most out of the stories given to him. There was a point during his run where he was one of the most over acts in the roster.
However, his run was bogged down with many missed opportunities as well and probably the biggest fail of his WWE career was his failed Money In The Bank cash-in attempt in 2013.
Sandow opened up about the decision from WWE management during his new interview with WrestlingInc and the Intellectual Savior of the Unwashed Masses revealed what the officials had told him about it:
“Yeah, I wasn’t wasn’t happy about it, but I talked to a very high-ranking official, not Vince, but in the family, and [it was] pretty much, ‘look, we’re going up against Monday Night Football and the World Series. We need this. You have three segments.’
OK, so I knew what I had to do. “said Damien Sandow,” In the long term, I was frustrated, but in the immediate, I had to worry about going on TV and get the ratings up and we did.”
The former Impact Wrestling star went on to explain that his frustration was not so much with the immediate decision for the Money In The Bank contract but the fact that the company did not have any plans for him afterwards.
Damien Sandow won the Money In The Bank during the PPV of the same name in July 2013. He went on to hold the briefcase for several months before he unsuccessfully cashed in his contract on John Cena in October, making him the first person in the history to have an unsuccessful Money In The Bank cash in.
The current Impact Wrestling World Champion Eric Young recently appeared on Sitting Ringtside with David Penzer podcast where he talked about his WWE release and more.
Many believe WWE missed a big opportunity with the Sanity faction led by the current Impact Champion when they made their debut on the main roster back in June 2018.
During the interview, Young revealed that the original plans for the group’s debut were different and they were originally going to debut a week earlier:
“We were supposed to be with New Day and during the show which was our debut. The main event was an 8 man or a 6 man, I can’t remember, but it was 3 guys vs New Day.
New Day was going over and then our music would hit and we would stand at the top of the ring to end SmackDown and that would be the first time you see us. SmackDown would go off the air with the three of us standing there.”
However, the match involving the New Day went longer and according to Eric Young, producers then decided to nix their planned debut because they didn’t have enough time.
Sanity ended up debuting a week later, attacking the Usos before their match but the company did not have any long term plans for the group and they got disbanded less than a year later in April 2019 during the drafts.
While Matt Cardona does not have an active contract with AEW at the movement, he is hopeful about making a return to the company and the former WWE star recently revealed the names from AEW roster which he wants to face.
The former US Champion recently joined Pro Wrestling Junkies for a virtual Q & A where he talked about things like how his AEW deal came to be, what he wants to do in future and more.
Talking about AEW, Cardona revealed the names from the promotion he wants to face, mentioning people like Chris Jericho and Darby Allin:
“There’s so many people, I made a list and I don’t want to leave people off by accident. I look at it like I look at wrestling toys, you know? There’s just so many that I want to play with.
Whether it’s guys that I’ve wrestled before, like Brodie Lee or Cody or Jericho.” said Matt Cardona. “There’s so many that I haven’t wrestled before, like Darby Allin, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega. I’m already forgetting people, but that’s what’s so cool about it, and it’s a lot of fun to think about wrestling again.”
Matt Cardona formerly known as Zack Ryder was one of the stars released by WWE this past April as part of the coronavirus budget cuts.
He made his AEW debut during the July 29th episode of Dynamite and went on to wrestle in an 8 men tag team match at All Out in September. Though his short term contract with AEW expired at All Out and Cardona hasn’t made any appearances for the promotion since.
NXT North American Champion Damian Priest picked up a big win over Johnny Gargano during the NXT Takeover: 31 event and latest reports suggest that he might get even bigger opportunities in future.
Dave Meltzer talked about Priest on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio and he claimed that the WWE officials want to make him “a big star.”
Meltzer continued by saying that the officials see him as someone with a lot of potential and he explained that Johnny Gargano was used as a setup guy to get him there.
Damian Priest made his wrestling debut in 2004 but he first got famous during his run with ROH. He attended an ROH training camp in 2014 and went on to have a run with the company from 2015 to 2018.
He was signed to a contract by WWE in late 2018. He spent a year making sporadic appearances for the company and Priest has been competing regularly on the NXT programming since last October.
Damien Priest won the NXT North American Championship in a ladder match during the NXT TakeOver: XXX event and the win over the former NXT Champion Johnny Gargano further solidifies his spot in the NXT roster.
Now with the reports of WWE management being behind Priest, we can expect him to continue this momentum in the upcoming times and become part of some big matches in future.
The Retribution storyline saw a big development during this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw when Mustafa Ali turned heel and was revealed as the leader of the group.
The former 205 Live star had a match with MVP on the show and the other members of the Hurt Business in Shelton Benjamin and WWE United States Champion Bobby Lashley were at the ringside.
Halfway through the match it looked like the Hurt Business was going to attack the high flying star but Retribution came out just in time. For a moment it seemed like Ali will join forces with MVP and others to fight the invaders.
However, the light weight star then turned heel. He joined Retribution and later instructed the members of the group to attack the Hurt Business, revealing himself as the leader of the new WWE faction.
The segment ended with Mustafa Ali standing tall in the ring with people like Mace, T-BAR, Slapjack and some other lower ranked members of the group standing behind him.
While the Retribution Leader did not make any comments on his heel turn during the show, he took on his Twitter after the broadcast and made the following tweet:
The former NXT Champion recently had an interview with TVInsider, where he talked about things like staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic, his WWE return and more.
When asked about the claims from his former tag team partner and the possibility of him coming to WWE, Roode refused to comment on the matter revealing that he hasn’t talked to Storm in years:
“That’s above my pay grade. I haven’t talked to James in years. During this time especially, I don’t know what’s going to take place or who is coming in or not. I have to worry about myself. I’m quite happy doing what I’m doing with Dolph and doing my thing.”
Robert Roode hadn’t been seen on WWE TV since the Elimination Chamber PPV in March this year because of the travel restrictions put in place due to coronavirus.
He returned to WWE during the September 28 episode of Raw and the former NXT star has shown interest in reuniting with Dolph Ziggler and winning back the Raw tag team championships.
WWE has announced Nikki Cross vs. Bayley for the SmackDown women’s title at the Clash Of Champions PPV tonight but some latest developments have started speculations about the status of the former Sanity member.
The female challenger did not appear on this week’s episode of SmackDown despite it being the PPV go home episode of the show and Dave Meltzer noted on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio that she was not backstage either.
The wrestling journalist further speculated on Cross’ availability for the PPV tonight, revealing that he did not get a clear answer when he inquired about it:
“If she’s there [at Clash of Champions], she’s there. I asked [on Saturday] morning if she was going to be there, and nobody got back to me, which is your answer,”
The standard company protocols call for a person to be quarantined for at least 14 days if they test positive, making them unavailable for active competition.
Though the company doesn’t reveal the name of any person who tests positive so the speculation about the SmackDown star are only rumors at this point and we should get a better idea about her status during tonight’s PPV event.
While his brother Jey Uso is all set to challenge for the Universal Championship at the Clash Of Champions PPV, Jimmy Uso is currently out of action with an injury.
Though the good news for the former champion is that the latest reports suggest that his recovery is going well and he is on track to return to the ring early next year.
Alex McCarthy of TalkSport recently spoke to Jey Uso ahead of his big match on Sunday and the SmackDown star confirmed that his brother is on course to return to action in early 2021.
The wrestling journalist provided the update via a tweet and he wrote “Jimmy Uso is on course to return to action from his knee injury in January/February 2021, Jey Uso told me.”
Jimmy Uso is on course to return to action from his knee injury in January/February 2021, Jey Uso told me.
For those who don’t know, Jimmy Uso suffered a leg injury during the triple threat ladder match for the SmackDown tag team championship at WrestleMania 36.
The injured star revealed in later interviews that he suffered the injury early in the bout and he apparently tore his ACL while jumping off a ladder during the opening minutes of the match.
Now it would be interesting to see what the company is planning for his return and if we can see Jimmy being a surprise entrance in the Royal Rumble next year.
Both Erick Rowan and Luke Harper once wrestled under the leadership of Bray Wyatt. After the disbanding of the Wyatt Family the two had numerous stints as a tag team before being released from WWE.
However, things have changed now as Luke Harper has joined AEW as the leader of the Dark Order, Brodie Lee and Rowan will likely have to accept the leadership of the current TNT champion for a possible reunion between the two.
The former WWE star talked about the possibility of reuniting with Lee during a recent Q & A with Pro Wrestling Junkies and Erick Rowan said that he is not sure how to answer that question:
“I’m not really sure how to answer that question because I’m not used to him being the leader, I’ll have to watch a little bit more of his stuff. Yeah, I’d love to lock back up with Brodie and get back together, but there’s a place and a time for it, you know? Now just might not be the right time.”
Rowan also talked about his future in pro wrestling and explained that he hasn’t joined any company because he doesn’t want to get lost in the shuffle once again.
Though later in the session, the former Wyatt Family member revealed that he has been training recently and according to him, he is staying ready for a potential in ring return.
Former WCW star Billy Kidman returned to his position as a backstage producer for WWE this week, according to reports from PWinsider.
Kidman returned to work during the tapings for this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown and he is expected to continue working for the company in the coming weeks.
The former Cruiserweight Champion was furloughed by the promotion as part of their budget cuts when the coronavirus pandemic forced them to suspend their normal operations in April.
Now that the company has moved to a bigger arena from the Performance Center, they have brought back a number of employees and Kidman seems to be one of them.
Billy Kidman started his wrestling career in late 1994 and he was signed to a contract by WCW in mid-1996. Though he spent the first year of his stint as an enhancement talent with no character.
He was then added to Raven’s Flock and the high flying star found some success after he got out of the group.
He started competing in the cruiserweight division in 1998 and Kidman won the Cruiserweight championship 3 times during his WCW tenure. He even teamed up with Rey Mysterio to win the Cruiserweight tag titles once.
He was one of the stars who WWE signed when they bought WCW and the lightweight star remained with the promotion until 2005. He was brought back as a trainer in 2007.
While WWE seems to be building towards a match between Asuka and Zelina Vega for the Raw women’s championship at the upcoming Clash Of Champions PPV, new reports reveal that the original plans for the title were different.
Dave Meltzer reported on the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Shayna Baszler was originally slated to challenge The Empress for the Raw women’s championship at the upcoming PPV.
However, the company changed the plans for the title match when the former NXT Women’s Champion was paired with Nia Jax and the two won the women’s tag team championships.
The duo of Baszler and Jax are now scheduled to defend the women’s tag titles against Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan or The Riott Squad at the upcoming PPV.
Asuka on the other hand, does not have an announced match for the show yet but WWE is building a feud between her and Zelina Vega.
This week’s episode of Raw saw Vega walking away from Andrade and Angel Garza and she then had a confrontation with the Raw Women’s Champion later in the show.
With only one Raw episode left to go before the next WWE PPV, it’s likely that we will see a brawl between the two female stars at the next episode of the show and the company will announce a match between the two afterwards.
Posted September 19th, 2020 in News, WWE. Tagged: Asuka.
Sting vs. The Undertaker is one of the biggest dream matches of the wrestling history which never took place despite both the stars having careers spanning many decades and crossing paths in both WCW and WWE.
The Dead Man was recently interviewed by Barstool Sports where he talked about a number of things and the former World Champion also revealed if he ever had any talks with The Icon about a potential bout.
Taker was asked if he ever discussed a match with Sting. Replying to it the legend claimed they never talked about it despite knowing each other since the 80s:
“Not even once, I knew him from my days in WCW in the the late 80s but I never actually saw him again until he joined WWE, Its crazy that we never spoke.
We never called each other and discussed, ‘hey would you like to do this mega match’ or whatever. My schedule was always full, there were always guys waiting to face me.”
Undertaker went on to explain that a match between the two would have been cool in the early 90s when they were in their primes because he doesn’t want people to get a watered down version of their characters:
“To be completely honest, the match would have been cool in the 90s or early 2000s. I don’t want people to get a watered down version of that character.
I want people to remember the 90s, the WrestleMania matches with Edge, Batista, Shawn, and Punk, and not the match I had with Roman, when I was all beat up and out of shape. I looked like a Bloated Elvis.”
Ultimately, Undertaker vs. Sting will go down in history as one of the biggest dream matches in the wrestling history that never took place despite the possibility of it being one of the biggest wrestling matches of all time.
During her 8 year-long tenure with WWE, former backstage personality Renee Young became part of many weird moments in the company. As it turns out, one of the weirdest moments of her career was actually her first meeting with the owner of the company, Vince McMahon.
During her recent interview with Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast, Young recalled her first meeting with The Boss. According to Renee, her first interaction with Mr McMahon took place in a hallway where they shook hands. However it wasn’t a straight chat and the former WWE star explained how it ended up being a bizarre interaction.
“We were in Hershey, Pennsylvania, I was brought in to TV and I got to the building early, as one does when you’re new. I was used to our world of acting auditioning where you show up fresh faced then change and get ready for the show. Little me is walking around backstage with a clean face, squeaky clean, and he comes walking down the hallway, and I’m like, ‘Hi!’
And I don’t remember who it was with him, but they said Vince should not see you without makeup on. You should be fully done.” recalled Young
“He did not react in any poor way or anything, but I remember being like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that. I thought I came here and I would go into makeup, so why would I already have makeup on?’ It was very weird.”
Renee Young continued by saying that Vince would not remember the meeting but she just remembers it because she had no clue that’s how it was supposed to work.
During the same interview, the former WWE star explained the reason behind her departure from the company in detail and you can check out her comments at this link.
Chris Jericho is known to be the guy who always has his figure on the pulse of the wrestling business and he continues to evolve his character to stay relevant in the wrestling world.
On the other hand, WWE is often blamed for not understanding what the fans want and up until recently, one of the biggest examples of it was the babyface run of Roman Reigns, who many believed should have been turned heel long ago.
Jericho talked about WWE’s decision to finally turn Reigns heel during a recent interview with Inside The Ropes and the former World Champion claimed that the Big Dog will do better as a heel:
“I’m a huge fan of Roman Reigns, I think as a heel, he’s going to leaps and bounds be better than as a babyface, which will then allow him to become a babyface, which will be leaps and bounds over being a heel.”
Y2J also recalled his time working with Roman and said that he would be a much bigger star if WWE would just let him be himself. Interestingly, Chris Jericho then went on to compare the current Universal Champion to his cousin, The Rock:
“He reminds me a lot of The Rock, he’s the type of guy that if you’re a guy, you want to have a beer with them. If you’re a girl, you want to go on a date with him, but he doesn’t get a chance to really show that.”
Chris Jericho continued by saying that WWE should let the former Shield member relax and be himself and he would get to a point where he would become the top guy in the company who no one complains about.
Trish Stratus continues to address a potential match against WWE Superstar Sasha Bans. The trailblazing Attitude Era star appeared on The Bump this week to discuss the women’s revolution movement, her career and much more.
Ever since their interaction in the 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble match, fans have speculated the possibility of Stratus and ‘The Boss’ going one-on-one.
Stratus says she loves and respects Sasha Banks. She knows fans want to see them wrestle and finds the match-up intriguing.
“I mean, do you guys think fans would want to see that? I’m not sure,” she asked sarcastically. “The fact of the matter is that I can’t go back, that’s a proven fact, right? I love and respect Sasha so much. I love her in-ring work. Would I love a taste at that? Yes.
Here’s the thing people have been buzzing about Sasha and I’s interaction at the Royal Rumble.” said Trish Stratus “As a wrestling fan, do I think this is intriguing? Absolutely!”
Earlier this year, Trish Stratus got fans buzzing with a cryptic video she tweeted that included her and Sasha Banks. WWE knows fans are interested in a potential ‘dream match’ between the two women, as seen in the video embedded below.
Would you like to see Trish Stratus returning to the ring for one last match against Sasha Banks sometimes in the future?
The former Nexus Leader spoke to Sports Illustrated about his new contract with the company after the news broke out and he claimed that their aim is to be different than the rest of the WWE programming.
Barrett also revealed that he has signed a one-year deal with WWE which has the option to extend their partnership, before claiming that NXT is not a developmental brand:
“This isn’t a developmental brand, I’ve followed the careers of The Undisputed Era, Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, and Rhea Ripley for a long time. There are so many up-and-comers, and NXT is a destination where you can see people turn into stars.”
Before rejoining WWE, Wade Barrett was doing commentary for NWA and he revealed that he was actually planning to sign a long term deal with the company.
Though he noted that the coronavirus pandemic made them change their plans and the former Intercontinental Champion claimed that he has nothing but great things to say about Billy Corgan.
AEW has given the first taste of limelight to a number of independent stars and Chris Jericho recently revealed his top picks for the stars which are rising to stardom in the company.
The inaugural AEW World Champion talked about a number of things on the latest episode of his Saturday Night Special stream including his match with Sonny Kiss and more.
During the show, Jericho was asked about which talents he thinks are the rising stars of AEW and he took the names of people like Darby Allin and Jungle Boy:
“I’ll go with Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, Orange Cassidy, Sammy Guevara, and Thunder Rosa. I’ll also throw in Penelope Ford there.”
Chris also provided an update on the AEW video game and the former WWE star said that they are spending a lot of time in its development to ensure that it’s done right:
“Kenny [Omega] and Aubrey [Edwards] have a lot to do with the direction of the game. They are spending a lot of time on its development, putting in a lot of time. We want to ensure that the video game is done right and it is not a half-assed effort”
During the same stream, Chris Jericho talked about Miro’s AEW debut as well and he revealed that he wrote the controversial line about WWE in his promo. You can check out Y2J’s comments on the matter at this link.
Renee Young ended her 8 year-long stint with WWE after SummerSlam this year. Her departure came as a surprise to many because she was still featured on TV and there wasn’t any news of the female star being unhappy in the company.
The former NXT star recently appeared on Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast and during the interview; she detailed the reason behind her surprising decision.
In her long tenure with WWE, Young portrayed many roles in the company including being the first full-time female commentator, a backstage interviewer and panel co-host and according to Renee she felt that she had hit her ceiling:
“I’ve been there for eight years and I kinda did everything I could possibly do. I felt like I was bouncing around and continually trying to carve this path out for myself and I feel like I hit my ceiling,”
Renee Young explained that after doing commentary for a year, she realised that her strength was being a TV host. After she was removed from her position and moved to SmackDown as a special contributor Young felt that WWE didn’t know what to do with her either:
“I felt like they didn’t know what to do with me either. Just having me on TV and doing backstage interviews again felt like a step back and there was just nowhere for me to go. There was nothing for me to do anymore especially when Backstage got cancelled with FS1.
I feel like I had checked all of the boxes and I turned over every card that I could there. I didn’t want to waste any more time. I’m about to turn 35 and I’ve done a bunch of stuff there so it’s time to move on.”
During the interview, Renee Young also revealed that she still has a relationship with Fox and she will be working with the network in future.
Though the former WWE star has a serious non compete clause that stops her from working for any other wrestling company for almost a year, which means that the possibility of her making an appearance for All Elite Wrestling anytime soon is not very bright.
It’s well known that AJ Styles left Raw to join the SmackDown roster because he was unhappy in the Red Brand but latest reports suggest that he is having problems competing on Friday nights as well.
Dave Meltzer mentioned on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that The Phenomenal One has to miss his son’s football games due to SmackDown’s schedule and he is not happy about it.
This wasn’t a problem when he originally moved to the Blue Brand as shows were being taped in advance back then but the introduction of WWE Thunderdome has changed things as the shows are airing live once again.
Meltzer also noted that since the WWE drafts are scheduled for October, Styles is likely to ask to be moved back again and he has the leverage for his request to be considered.
For those who don’t know, AJ Styles left Raw because of his issues with Paul Heyman who was running the show at the time. Heyman had apparently lied to the former World Champion about the firing of Gallows and Anderson.
Though Heyman was also removed from his position not long afterwards. He has since returned to SmackDown as the manager of Roman Reigns and this could be another reason for Styles to want to return to Raw during the upcoming drafts.
The WWE release of Authors Of Pain or AOP came as a surprise to many, especially because they were being pushed on Raw as part of Seth Rollins’ stable before being taken off TV due to Rezar’s injury.
Dave Meltzer provided some update on the situation in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter and he revealed that Vince McMahon had already given up on the duo in 2019.
McMahon had lost hopes even before the team was paired with Rollins. It was the former Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman who saw potential in AOP and brought them back.
Heyman reportedly wanted to give the duo a major push when Rezar returned from injury but Paul himself was removed from the position at Raw before the former tag champions could return.
Rezar had recovered from the injury and he was ready to return a few weeks before his release. However, the company decided not to use the two and made the decision to let them go instead.
There is no word yet on what the two are planning for their future after getting released from WWE and it would be interesting to see if AOP remains a tag team or if they go on their separate ways.
Posted September 14th, 2020 in News, WWE. Tagged: AOP.
AJ Styles returned to his twitch stream recently where the former World Champion answered questions from fans related to many topics such as his time in NJPW, his relationship with Kenny Omega and more.
Talking about his stint in the Bullet Club, the Phenomenal One claimed that he was never the leader of the group and he just happened to swap places with Finn Balor when The Prince was going out of NJPW and he was coming in.
A fan then asked Styles about the possibility of forming a bullet club-like faction in WWE and which stars he would like to have in his club if it happens. Replying to it, AJ took the names of Finn Balor and Adam Cole:
“Well certainly, Finn is one of those guys,” Styles said. “I’d have to throw Adam Cole in there as well. It’s hard to know which guys I’d put in there; that’s a tough question.
It’s not just what guys would get along,” said AJ Styles “it’s what guys you have stuff in common with. With Gallows and Anderson not there, that makes it really tough for me. I don’t know who else.”
The former World Champion also reiterated his comments about wanting to team with Finn Balor in WWE and form a tag team with the NXT Champion.
AJ Styles said that he hopes to get the opportunity to win the tag titles at some point before he retires. So he will be able to say that he has done what very few others have done – winning all the titles in WWE.
Jim Ross has seen a lot of major wrestling angles unfold over the decades and the legendary wrestling commentator recently revealed his thoughts on one such angle which has been creating buzz- Roman Reigns’ heel turn.
The AEW star talked about things like the disappointing performance of the Invasion angle after WWE bought WCW, the early days of Brock Lesnar and more during the latest episode of his Grilling JR Podcast.
Discussing Reigns’ recent heel turn and his pairing with Paul Heyman, Ross said that he likes the fit and he explained that the company now has a chance to get Roman over as a viable something:
“It seems like it’s a fit,” JR said. “At least now they have a fighting chance to get Roman over as a viable something. It’s not, ‘Is he a tweener? Is he a fan favourite? Is he a villain?’ We know pretty much what he’s going to be with Heyman.”
Roman Reigns returned to WWE programming after months of absence during the SummerSlam PPV and he attacked both Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman during his comeback.
The former Shield member then cemented his heel turn by forming an alliance with Paul Heyman and Heyman has since helped Reigns recapture the Universal Championship.
Former US Champion Rusev made his AEW debut as Miro during the latest episode of Dynamite after getting his release from WWE earlier this year and Chris Jericho believes that the company will regret letting him go.
Y2J talked about Miro’s debut on his current promotion during his Saturday Night Special stream and revealed that they have been considering signing the former champion ever since he was released from his contract.
Jericho continued by claiming that he has always been a fan of Rusev and while he fell through the cracks in WWE, the company will regret releasing him:
“I’ve always been a fan of his. He’s another guy, who, for whatever reason, fell through the cracks there [in WWE] and they are going to regret letting him go,”
Chris Jericho also revealed that he helped write Rusev’s debut promo in AEW where the newest AEW star took some serious shots at his former employers:
“When he indirectly mentioned WWE, talking about the glass ceiling and brass ring, that was actually my line. He couldn’t believe he could say that on Live television. When he asked me, ‘can we actually say that?’ I was like, ‘yes, you can say whatever you want here [in AEW].'”
Rusev was released from WWE as part of their budget cuts in April earlier this year and after months of rumors, he finally made his AEW debut during last week’s episode of Dynamite.
AJ Styles infamously left the Raw roster to get away from Paul Heyman but the ECW founder has since found his way onto the Blue Brand’s roster as well.
The Phenomenal One returned for his weekly twitch stream recently where he talked about a number of things including his most memorable title win, Shane McMahon possibly taking over Raw and more.
A fan asked Styles about Reigns’ pairing with the former Raw Executive Director during the stream and the former TNA star said that it’s surprising for him too:
“It’s surprising, isn’t it, he fought with Brock for so long and now he’s associating himself with Paul Heyman. It’s surprising. I would love to know how that came about.”
AJ also commented on the reports of Brock Lesnar becoming a free agent and rumors about his future, claiming that he doesn’t know what the future holds for the Beast Incarnate:
“Is Brock done? Are we not going to see him anymore? Is his contract up? I don’t know. I hear the rumors just like you guys. Everyone always assumes that we know what’s going on, but that’s rarely ever the case.”
For those who don’t know, Roman Reigns returned to WWE programming during the SummerSlam PPV. He attacked Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt after their match on the show, turning heel in the process.
Reigns then aligned himself with Paul Heyman on the following episode of SmackDown and Heyman has since helped the Big Dog recapture the Universal Championship.