The Extreme Rules PPV gave people much to talk about including the strange finish to the main event extreme rules match between ‘Demon’ Finn Balor and the Universal champion Roman Reigns.
Many people including some WWE superstars reacted to the show on various social media sites. WWE also posted reactions of some of the stars who were part of the PPV on their YouTube channel.
WWE star Drew Gulak reacted to the finish of the Balor vs. Reigns match which saw the demon losing after the top rope broke. He said that the moral of this story is not to climb the rope if you are about to win the match.
Sasha Banks who made her return to WWE programming after more than a month of absence was seen in a backstage video. She simply said that ‘The boss is back’ and promised to see the fans on Friday.
And the moral of that story was: If you are about to win your match DO NOT CLIMB TO THE TOP ROPE! Thank you for coming to my PowerPoint presentation! #ExtremeRules
Charlotte Flair retained the Raw women’s championship against Alexa Bliss at Extreme Rules. However, what she was asked about in her backstage interview were her actions after the match where Flair ripped Lily to pieces.
Flair said that it’s a problem that people care more about what happened with Lily than Alexa Bliss. She then claimed that the Alexa she faced on the show was the old Alexa who had won the women’s championship multiple times.
The US championship match on Extreme Rules saw Damian Priest rolling up Sheamus to retain his title. WWE also posted the reactions of both Sheamus and Priest on YouTube after the show. You can check out their reactions in the playlist below:
Liv Morgan has been the victim of start and stop pushes in WWE but the female star is blaming herself for it rather than putting it on the management. She recently had an interview with SportsKeeda wrestling. Liv talked about things such as what Becky Lynch told her before going on a hiatus last year and more.
Discussing her career in WWE, Morgan admitted that she has failed to get a breakthrough despite having a lot of momentum a number of times. Though instead of putting the blame on the WWE creative for not pulling the trigger on her, Morgan believes that she probably wasn’t ready for the spot:
“I feel like the past two years of my career I’ve had moments where I feel like I had so much momentum and I was ready for a breakthrough, and then I don’t. I do feel like this time is different. I like to think positive and I’m very much a glass half full, so when I look back, I think, maybe I wasn’t as ready as I thought, and that’s why I didn’t break through.”
Liv Morgan then claimed that she now feels much more well-rounded as a performer. She said that she is now ready for the top spot. The former NXT star explained that after the Money In The Bank PPV she definitely feels like she is going to keep her momentum going until she wins the SmackDown women’s championship.
Morgan has not won any titles in WWE despite being with the company since 2014. She participated in the women’s ladder match at the Money In The Bank PPV this year. The match was won by Nikki A.S.H. who went on to cash in the contract to become the Raw women’s champion.
Bianca Belair was originally scheduled to face Sasha Banks at the SummerSlam PPV. She didn’t find out that her opponent had been changed to Becky Lynch until the last minute. The former SmackDown women’s champion recently had an interview with Inside The Ropes. She talked about her SummerSlam experience among other things.
Revealing when she was told about the change of plans, Belair said that she practically found out about it when she had already entered the ring for the bout:
“It was pretty much very, very, very, very, very last minute. Pretty much when I was in the ring up – until the time that I went out [to the ring].” said Bianca Belair, “Very late call, very late moment, Everything, all the emotions that you saw in my face during the match at SummerSlam, were real emotions,”
WWE knew that Sasha Banks will not be able to compete at the SummerSlam PPV 8 days before the show but they didn’t officially call off the match until the day of the event. Bianca Belair wasn’t the only performer who wasn’t told about the changed plans until very late either. Becky Lynch also found out that she will be competing at the PPV only a day before the show.
Tyler Rust is one of the many stars released by WWE this year. The NXT star was signed by the company back in December 2020. He was released from his development contract in August alongside people like Bronson Reed. The now-former WWE star recently had an interview on ROH Strong. He talked about a number of things and also opened up about his release from the promotion.
A lot of people were surprised by Rust’s release because he had been revealed as a member of The Diamond Mine just a few weeks prior. However, according to Tyler, he has no hard feelings after being let go:
“There are no hard feelings because, at the end of the day, it’s just business and we all know that this is part of wrestling and it can go that way. It’s unfortunate, surprising, and can be a little shocking at first.”
Tyler Rust explained that being signed by WWE was a goal for him since he was 17. He claimed that he would have been happy even if the company had released him a day after his signing and he is content with the opportunities he got.
Tyler Rust On His Goal After WWE Release
The former NXT star also talked about his future in pro wrestling after being released by WWE. He explained that he is an adult who has bills to pay. So his goal after his release is to obtain a new contract in pro wrestling:
“My goal is to obtain a contract. My goal is to get a signed deal in professional wrestling again, sooner than later. I’m an adult, I have bills. I have life to take care of outside of this business. While I don’t mind the free agency, I know after a year or so of free agency, the uncertainty of income will be quite annoying,”
Tyler Rust has returned to Ring of Honor after his WWE release. He made an appearance at the Death Before Dishonor XVIII. We will have to see if Rust gets offered a contract by the promotion or if he ends up signing with a different company.
John Morrison recently joined the After The Bell podcast with Corey Graves. Among other things, he detailed a very strange backstage interaction with Walter.
The former IC champion first revealed that Walter is the favorite wrestler of his dog. The dog named Presley watches the former NXT UK champion’s entrance every time:
“Walter, I’d like to wrestle Walter because he’s [my dog’s] favorite wrestler, Presley was tweeting Walter for like six months, every time he came out, Presley would watch his theme music.”
John Morrison then recalled his interaction with Walter at the Royal Rumble event last year. According to him, he yelled at the heavyweight star which probably spooked him:
“The first time I met Walter was at [Royal] Rumble before the lockdown started. I was a little too excited maybe. He walked in and I was talking to Edge and Christian and a bunch of the guys,
And I screamed like across the room like ‘Hey, Walter ! Hey, you’re my dog’s favorite wrestler.’ I ran over and I think I spooked him because he turned around and left.”
Morrison revealed that he hasn’t talked to the Austrian star ever since. He said that Walter hopefully knows that he was just being excited for his dog.
John Morrison made his return to WWE back in January 2020 after months of rumors. He associated himself with the Miz upon his return and the two have been tag team partners ever since.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jake Roberts has been away from AEW programming after undergoing foot surgery according to latest reports.
After not being seen on AEW TV recently, it was reported this Friday that the wrestling veteran was absent because he was dealing with some undisclosed health issues.
Cassidy Haynes of BodySlam.net provided some updates on Roberts. He revealed that the former WWE star has been away after undergoing a foot surgery where he had pins inserted in some of his toes.
The good news for fans is that the wrestling legend is not expected to stay out for very long. According to the site, he has been cleared by doctors to return to work. So he could be back on AEW programming as soon as this week.
Jake Roberts signed with AEW back in March 2020. He introduced Lance Archer as his client and he has been managing the NJPW star since then. Roberts revealed back in July, 2021 that he has signed a two-year contract extension with AEW.
The Hall Of Famer’s next confirmed public appearance is at the New York Comic Con on October 7th as part of the Headlocked Comics & Heroes Hideout booth. It would be interesting to see if he makes his AEW return before that.
Chris Jericho welcomed Adam Cole on the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho. Among other things, these two also revealed their thoughts on the recent rebranding of NXT and discussed whether AEW’s win in Wednesday night wars is the reason for it.
Jericho claimed that he can say just from observing things that WWE had no idea what they were dealing with when they put NXT against Dynamite. He then claimed that Mr. McMahon holds a grudge against NXT for not beating AEW:
“When they put NXT up against AEW, it really hurt the brand to where you lost the cool factor, and AEW was the cool one. NXT just got steamrolled, and I think, as a result, Vince kind of holds a grudge against NXT. You had the chance to beat AEW, and you didn’t. Now I’m going to take over, and I’m going to do it my way.”
Discussing if AEW’s win in the Wednesday night wars played a part in the recent NXT revamp, Cole said that it absolutely did. He explained that from Vince McMahon’s standpoint, NXT is the breeding ground for main roster stars. So he understands if the boss wants to have a little bit more control over things.
Chris Jericho also talked about his time in WWE and working with NXT stars. He recalled how he encouraged Vince McMahon to bring Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura to the main roster.
Tony Khan made his weekly appearance on Busted Open Radio where he talked about a number of things. He also opened up about AEW’s partnership with the Owen Hart Foundation. The AEW president first said that the upcoming tournament is going to be a tremendous event and he called their partnership with Martha Hart and the Owens Hart Foundation great.
Khan also explained how this partnership came together. He first praised Martha saying that she is a very principled and intelligent woman and revealed that they had been talking about it on regular basis for over a year:
“She thought long and hard about this, and we talked for a long time about this. I talked to Martha about this for over a year on a regular basis. She put a lot of thought into it. We put a lot of thought into it and that’s how this came together. She’s a really good person and I think she wanted to make sure we’re good people too.
Tony Khan Teases Big Plans For Upcoming Tournament
Talking about the upcoming tournament, the AEW owner said that it will be a great opportunity to celebrate Owen Hart’s life. Tony Khan then teased some ‘big booking plans’ he has up his sleeve that he is really excited for people to see:
“I’ve got a few match announcements and a few big booking plans up my sleeve that I’m excited for people to find out about. And that’s all coming in due time. The Owen Hart announcement is really big for us. When we get through this huge night for us, I think next week, we’ll have a lot of cool stuff when the dust has settled.”
AEW announced earlier this week that they were partnering with the Owen Hart Foundation. In addition to promoting Hart’s legacy, AEW confirmed that they will hold an annual tournament to honor the legends’ memory.
This Friday’s episode of SmackDown saw the return of Riddick Moss. He helped Happy Corbin in attacking the former Universal champion, Kevin Owens.
Prior to his appearance on WWE programming this week, the former NXT star had not been seen on WWE TV for a while. His last on-screen appearance had come during the October 1, 2020 episode of Main Event.
Regarding his surprise return to the blue branded show this week, Fightful Select mentioned how Moss never made an appearance after last year’s WWE Draft.
Since there is another Draft taking place in a few days, the officials felt that there was ‘no harm’ in the former 24/7 champion joining forces with Corbin.
Riddick Moss wrestled with an ACL Injury for some time last year. The report also noted that a WWE official said that they were ‘shocked and impressed’ with it due to the nature of his injury.
The former NXT star is a homegrown talent for WWE who had not made any wrestling appearance before his NXT debut back in December 2014.
Moss was called up to the main roster in January 2020 where he accompanied Mojo Rawley. Riddick had been out of action since October last year due to a torn ACL.
Former world champion Matt Hardy is getting to interact with a lot of new people in AEW and one of them is none other than the legendary Sting. The former WWE star recently had an interview with Post Wrestling. He talked about things such as Edge being cleared to compete by WWE and more.
During the talk, Hardy also detailed his first conversation with the Icon. Matt revealed that Sting praised their Stadium Stampede match and expressed the desire to work some cinematic matches himself:
“One of the first things Sting said after he was at AEW was, ‘I gotta tell you, they showed me the match you guys had, the Stadium Stampede. You know, when you went in the water and came out, you were a different gimmick. Like oh my God.’
He said that stuff was so great and he was just going into the whole thing.” recalled Matt Hardy, “He said, ‘You know, I’m think I’m gonna do some of those while I’m here’ but he said, ‘You know, I feel pretty good. I think I can do a couple regular ones too’ and I said, ‘Really?’”
Sting got his wish of participating in a cinematic match when he made his in-ring debut for AEW. He teamed up with Darby Allin to face Team Taz in a street fight at Revolution. He has since wrestled in a few live matches as well.
Apart from this, Hardy also discussed the difference between Tony Khan and Vince McMahon. He detailed an incident where Khan told the commentary team to use the word belt for a title, something which Mr. McMahon notoriously hates.
After being praised for his performance as the Peacemaker in Suicide Squad and Jakob Toretto in F9, John Cena has now landed a role in the political thriller called The Independent.
The Cenation leader will be starring alongside Oscar winner Kathy Bates. Both of them will be playing the role of presidential candidates. These two will be joined by Brian Cox and Jodie Turner-Smith.
According to Deadline, the new John Cena movie will be set during “the final weeks of the most consequential presidential election in history.”
The feature film will follow an idealistic young journalist played by Turner-Smith teaming up with her idol played by Cox to uncover a conspiracy placing the fate of the election in their hands.
Will John Cena Be At Survivor Series?
The movie, directed by Amy Rice is scheduled to start filming in NYC in November. This is a curious schedule for Cena because of the Survivor Series PPV.
Survivor Series is set to take place on November 21 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. This puts the 16-time world champion in town around the time for the event.
While competing at the show seems out of question for John due to insurance issues, a live appearance at the event seems very much possible. It would be interesting to see if WWE decides to reach out to him for the event.
Jake Roberts has not been seen on AEW programming in recent times because he is dealing with some undisclosed health issues, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Meltzer wrote that the Hall Of Famer was seen “in a wheelchair and had an oxygen thing in his nose that he’d take out when posting for photos” during a recent public appearance.
Roberts made his AEW debut back in 2019. He became a regular on AEW TV after joining forces with Lance Archer in March 2020. Jake announced in July this year that he had signed a two-year contract extension with the promotion.
The wrestling veteran had revealed in an interview with Premier Live TV YouTube channel last year that he was battling COPD. He said that it was passed down to him through bloodline and called it worse than COVID.
COPD obstructs airflow from the lungs. The legend had explained back then that because of the disease, he doesn’t get enough oxygen in his blood.
The wrestling star had noted that because of it he couldn’t talk for more than 20 seconds without an oxygen tank. Roberts had also mentioned how he was not sure how limited he will be in the future.
These latest reports make it seem like COPD might be the reason for his absence. There is no word yet on if there are any plans for Jake Roberts to return to AEW programming anytime in the future. We will keep you posted on his status.
Now that Big E is on the top of the food chain after winning the WWE championship, there are plenty of people who want a shot at him. One such star we could see him wrestling soon is none other than Goldberg.
The new champion recently had an interview with Hot 97 radio. He talked about things such as his life before WWE, the boss Vince McMahon and more.
Speaking of a potential match against the former WCW star, E recalled how he used to make jokes about facing him because he never thought he would get the match:
“Man, I used to make jokes about it because I never thought I’d get the match, but as far as I know, Goldberg is still under contract. He’s still around. Goldberg was my favorite wrestler as a kid. I met him, probably 25 years ago, at a signing in Tampa.”
However, now that an encounter with Goldberg seems plausible, Big E believes that there is no one better than him to take the ‘old yeller behind the barn’:
“Well, who better to retire him? Who better to take him out to pasture, take Old Yeller behind the barn? We’ll see. I just feel like I would be the right person to send them on home, give him his walking cane, and say, ‘Thank you for your service.’”
Goldberg was last seen during the August 29 episode of Raw where he promised to comeback and take revenge on Bobby Lashley. There is no word yet on if there is any plan for him to take on Big E in the future.
MVP has confirmed that he underwent successful knee surgery earlier this week and he will stay out of action for about four to six weeks.
The former US champion recently provided updates on his health in an Instagram video. He disputed reports of having undergone surgery earlier in the month.
MVP said that he was undergoing surgery today in the post made on Thursday. He mentioned how he has been dealing with knee issues for a while and claimed that he is looking forward to being able to actually wrestle again.
Regarding his recovery and comeback, the Raw star said that after his arthroscopic surgery, he is hopeful to get back on Monday Night Raw in four to six weeks.
MVP was written off TV after an attack from Randy Orton during the September 13 episode of Raw. WWE later provided a storyline update on his condition saying that MVP will be out indefinitely due to a broken rib.
A four to six-week recovery period means we can expect the former champion to be back by Bobby Lashley’s side in late October or early November.
Prior to his injury, MVP had teased a Hurt Business reunion. It would be interesting to see if the company follows up on this once he is back on TV and if we really see the group getting back together.
Tony Khan has not forgotten WWE’s comments about their rivalry being a marathon and not a sprint. He is using it to tout the latest success of Dynamite. After pulling off another impressive rating success with this week’s episode of their flagship show, the AEW president took on his Twitter to thank the fans.
Khan interestingly also referenced WWE’s statement on the premiere of Dynamite. He reminded everyone how they are already catching up to WWE despite the fact that their competitor had a 40 year head start:
“2 years ago, our competitors said this is a marathon, not a sprint. They were right. They’ve also had a head start of >40 years & in <2 years we’ve made up more ground from scratch than anyone in wrestling history.” wrote Tony Khan, “Let’s FN GO TONIGHT. Let’s make #AEWRampage #1 on cable TONIGHT!”
<2 years ago, our competitors said this is a marathon, not a sprint. They were right. They’ve also had a head start of >40 years & in <2 years we’ve made up more ground from scratch than anyone in wrestling history. Let’s FN GO TONIGHT. Let’s make #AEWRampage #1 on cable TONIGHT! https://t.co/JRzlBkiZce
AEW Dynamite managed to beat Raw in the much talked 18-49 demo in the past two weeks. It narrowly missed on extending this streak to the third week with this Wednesday’s Grand Slam special of the show.
The show still saw a significant increase in viewership. It created another record with the third-highest viewership number since Dynamite premiered. As Tony mentioned, it also ranked #1 on cable on Wednesday for the fifth week in a row.
The Elimination Chamber was originally supposed to be a WarGames match but Vince McMahon changed it because its association to WCW, according to Chris Jericho. The former AEW champion welcomed Adam Cole on the latest episode of his Talk Is Jericho podcast. The duo discussed Cole’s time in NXT and more during the episode.
Talking about NXT’s version of WarGames, Jericho revealed that the Elimination Chamber match was originally supposed to be WarGames. He explained why the boss did not want to do it:
“Just a little tidbit, Elimination Chamber was originally going to be WarGames, but Vince didn’t want to do WarGames because he said it was too WCW, So then we created our own. Hunter (Triple H) always wanted to do WarGames, and then he brings it to NXT and there you go.”
AEW has introduced its own version of the classic WarGames match dubbed Blood and Guts. Chris Jericho was part of the first Blood and Guts match and his Inner Circle competed against MJF’s The Pinnacle in a losing effort.
The Elimination Chamber was first introduced on WWE programming back in November 2002. Y2J was part of the first-ever Elimination Chamber match that took place at Survivor Series 2002 as well
Another member of the Lucha House Party faction in Lince Dorado is unhappy with his position within the WWE, according to reports from PWInsider.
It was reported earlier this month that Gran Metalik was not happy with his booking and the high flying star had asked for his release from the promotion.
Now the site has confirmed these reports. They noted that both Metalik and Lince Dorado have been seen at multiple TV tapings trying to express their unhappiness to the management over their bookings.
Though while his tag team partner has taken the step, there is currently no word yet on if Dorado has also requested his release from the company.
Lince Dorado signed a contract with WWE after working the Cruiserweight Classic tournament back in 2016. He was paired with Kalisto and Gran Metalik to form the Lucha House Party in early 2018.
While the Lucha House Party has been making regular appearances on WWE TV since its inception, the trio has rarely been part of any significant storyline.
There is still no word on how WWE officials are reacting to Metalik’s release request. We will have to see if Dorado follows in his footsteps and asks for release as well.
The newest AEW star Adam Cole recently joined Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette podcast. The former NXT champion talked about things such as finally being in the same company as his girlfriend Britt Baker and more.
After the recent big signings, AEW seems to be in line to acquire another major talent in Kevin Owens once his contract expires earlier next year.
Discussing the possibility of Owens joining the promotion as well, Cole said that he wants KO to do what makes him happy. Though he also admitted that he loves the idea of a potential reunion for their Mt Rushmore faction from PWG:
“I mean this because I’m friends with Kevin. I want Kevin to do what makes him happiest, I really mean it; I mean it in my soul. However, of course I would love the idea of him joining me, and the Young Bucks, and everyone else here.
That would be incredible. However, I do want Kevin to be happy.” said Adam Cole, “So there’s no part of me that would be angry or upset with whatever his decision is.”
The current WWE contract of Kevin Owens is set to expire on January 31, 2022. The former NXT champion has already teased moving to AEW once his current deal ends.
Apart from this, Adam Cole also talked about his friends in WWE and revealed what was the hardest part about leaving the company. You can check out his comments on the matter at this link.
Vince McMahon changed the originally announced New Day vs. The Bloodline main event on Raw to a triple threat because the triple threat match received a good reaction during live events before the show.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently talked about the company changing the original script for the episode. He confirmed that the six men tag team match was originally going to main event the show.
However, according to the wrestling journalist, Mr. McMahon changed the plans for this bout after he received good word about the triple threat match when it was contested in house shows from North Charleston and Augusta:
“What happened on the weekend shows in North Charleston and Augusta, they did a three-way between Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, and Big E, and Vince [McMahon] got the word that the matches were very good.”
The boss decided to shake up the script for the show on the day of the event. He apparently made the decision to use the six-man tag team match to set up the triple threat bout on Monday afternoon.
The New Day vs. The Bloodline match opened this week’s episode of Raw. Roman Reigns won the match for the Bloodline after a run-in from Bobby Lashley. This set up a triple threat match between Roman, Big E, and Lashley for the main event of the show. It was won by Reigns.
Drew McIntyre does not care which brand he ends up on during the upcoming WWE drafts as long as he gets to be part of fresh rivalries.
The former WWE champion recently had an interview with Eat, Sleep, Suplex; Retweet during a press event in Glasgow, Scotland. Among other things, he also talked about the upcoming WWE draft.
McIntyre, who is rumored for a move to SmackDown, said that he has worked with everybody that he wants to work with on Raw. Speaking of a potential move to SmackDown, he claimed that he is excited for things to get mixed up:
“I think I’ve pretty much worked with everybody that I want to work with on Raw and I’m excited for things to get mixed up now and get into some good programs. That’s what I care about, the story.
I know there’s some good stories that I could be able to tell on SmackDown.” said Drew McIntyre, “So be it if I go there or if they come over to Raw, I don’t care. I’m just excited for the future feuds.”
The former NXT champion gave the example of people like Seth Rollins and Edge as talents he wants to compete against. He mentioned how he feuded with Rollins before when he was a heel but now their roles have been reversed.
WWE Draft this year is set to take place during the October 1 episode of SmackDown and October 4 episode of Raw. There is no word yet on which stars could change brands during the upcoming shakeup.
Would you like to see Drew McIntyre move to SmackDown during the upcoming WWE Drafts? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Becky Lynch made her surprising return at the SummerSlam PPV and in typical WWE fashion, she hadn’t been told about it a couple of days before the show. The SmackDown women’s champion recently had an interview with BT Sport. She talked about things such as her upcoming match against Bianca Belair and more.
When asked about her SummerSlam return and how it came together, Lynch revealed that she was clued in on Monday. However, Becky wasn’t entirely sure that she would be appearing on the show until a day before the event took place:
“So I actually really only knew what I was doing, probably, that I was going to have that match probably a day or two before. I got a call on Monday, SummerSlam happened on Saturday, that there was a possibility that I was needed to fill in for a match, but I didn’t know entirely until Friday,”
"I'm excited to show people it wasn't a fluke."
"I'll give her props, @BiancaBelairWWE is the most athletic woman we've ever had."
"Trusting me was her first mistake. It's not personal, it's just business."
Becky Lynch also praised Bianca Belair saying that she is the most athletic woman WWE has ever had and claimed that her rival will have a bright future. Though this is not the only time The Man’s return had been discussed. She confirmed previously that the company had discussed plans for a WrestleMania return for her before those talks were nixed.
WWE has released dozens of superstars from their contracts in the past few months. The company has let go stars in multiple waves, with each wave featuring at least a few surprising releases.
One such wave of releases on June 25 saw the company end the contracts of people such as Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, Killian Dain, The Singh Brothers, Marina Shafir, Arturo Ruas, Curt Stallion, Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Ever-Rise, and August Grey.
Some of these names had a development contract with a 30 days non-compete and they have already become free agents. Others, whose contract had been upgraded had to wait until today before their 90 days non-compete clause expired.
A few such stars, who became free agents today, took on their social media to comment on this change and discuss their future after WWE.
The Singh Brothers indicated the return of their Bollywood Boys name and said that they are ready to represent the people of both India and Canada once again.
Former Sanity member Killian Dain thanked people for their support. He said that he cannot wait to get back in the ring. Though Dain also mentioned how he still has a few legal hurdles to go through before he can compete.
Other reactions included Tony Nese mentioning how his free agency has begun and Ariya Daivari saying that he is looking forward to the future. You can check out the reaction of all the stars below:
Today, I'm officially a free agent. I'm looking forward to the future. New promotions, new opportunities, new fans and new goals! Thank you all for the support. pic.twitter.com/RxhMwvSuqw
While everyone believed for a long time that Adam Cole’s next destination will be AEW, the wrestling star himself took a good while before making the decision. The former WWE star recently appeared on the Oral Sessions podcast of Renee Paquette. He talked about a number of things including his time in the company and more.
Discussing his call to make the jump from WWE to AEW, Cole revealed that he was making his peace with the decision even a couple of days before his AEW debut:
“I’ll never forget it, but it was a couple days before All Out, where I was still kind of making my decision. It had gotten to a point where we were getting press close. Don’t get me wrong, I was pretty sure from the gate that AEW was where I wanted to go. But it was still not an easy decision to make. 9 year old me fell in love with pro wrestling because of WWE, so it was a ‘oh, what do I do?’”
Adam Cole Reveals Which Was The Hardest Part About Leaving WWE
Adam Cole also discussed how he will miss interacting with various people in the WWE locker room. He claimed that not being able to be part of DaParty on UpUpDownDown was probably the hardest part about leaving WWE:
“Very hard. That was probably the hardest part of the decision I think, I really formed a close bond with Woods and Swiss (Cesaro) and Breeze over the pandemic.
DaParty is a video series on the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic last year. It saw the team of Adam Cole, Xavier Woods, Tyler Breeze, and Cesaro playing various games together.
Later in the interview, Adam Cole revealed that the four have a group chat and they talk to each other every day. He said that it makes him feel like he hasn’t lost that connection but he still misses being part of their videos.
‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll has been announced for making his wrestling return for indie promotion CWA for a show in San Juan, Puerto Rico next month.
The promotion posted a teaser promoting the former ROH star’s appearance on their Instagram channel. It confirmed that the wrestling star will be a part of their Halloween Fan Fest on Saturday, October 23.
Scurll has been away from wrestling for over a year after being named in the speaking out movement last year. He has not competed in a match since March 2020.
Prior to the controversy, the former Bullet Club member was set to become the head booker for ROH after re-signing with the promotion back in January 2020.
However, these plans were scrapped and Marty Scurll went on a hiatus from pro wrestling after being accused. Ring Of Honor then announced that the two parties have parted ways in January this year.
The former ROH TV champion also shot a storyline for NJPW Strong during a taping in January. Though his segments never aired after backlash from fans.
There is no word yet on what Marty Scurll will be doing at the upcoming show. It would be interesting to see how fans react to his return.
AEW Dynamite saw a significant increase in the viewership for their Grand Slam special. Though it narrowly missed on another victory over Raw in the key demo.
This week’s episode of the show featuring the match between the AEW champion Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson among others drew a total of 1.273 million viewers according to Showbuzz Daily.
This is an 8.34% increase in viewership compared to last week. Last week’s episode of Dynamite featuring the tag team match between Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston and 2point0 in the main event had drawn 1.175 million viewers.
The much-hyped episode drew a 0.48 rating in the 18-49 demographic. This is also an increase of 9.09% compared to last week’s episode which had done a 0.44 rating.
However, Dynamite narrowly missed beating Monday Night Raw in the key demo which drew 0.49 ratings in the 18-49 demographic. This ends Dynamite’s two-week streak of beating Raw in the key demo.
AEW’s flagship show ranked #1 in the cable top 150 for the 18-49 demo for the fifth week in a row. The show ranked #22 in the overall viewership for the night on cable.
This was the third-highest audience in the history of Dynamite and the second-highest rating for the show this year. The Grand Slam special also created a record for the largest live audience in the company’s history with over 20,000 fans in attendance.