WWE NXT superstar Scarlett Bordeaux has confirmed her engagement with the former NXT champion and her longtime on-screen partner Karrion Kross.
The female star revealed the news on social sites earlier today. She posted a photo of the duo with a ring in her hand and told everyone to ‘pop the champagne’
A number of people have reacted to this news. Numerous wrestling personalities have responded to Bordeaux’s post on Instagram to congratulate the duo.
The list of names that have congratulated the couple includes past and present WWE stars such as Kayla Braxton and Matt Rehwoldt as well as AEW stars such as Sammy Guevara and more:
Scarlett Bordeaux and Karrion Kross have been dating since their time in Impact Wrestling. Both the stars had asked for their release from the promotion at the same time as well.
Though while Impact decided to release Bordeaux early, they kept Kross under contract. He was released about 6 months later than Scarlett back in December 2019.
The duo has since signed with WWE and they were paired together for their run in NXT as well. Kross was called up to the main roster earlier this year but there is no word yet on when officials are planning to bring Bordeaux up.
We have seen a good number of superstars leaving WWE to join AEW in the past couple years. If we believe Kenny Omega, then 90% of the current WWE roster would be interested in making this jump too.
The AEW champion recently had an interview with Tokyo Sports. He talked about things such as the state of pro wrestling during the COVID-19 pandemic and more.
While talking about his AEW Grand Slam opponent Bryan Danielson who recently left WWE for AEW, Kenny was asked if he thinks more WWE superstars will be jumping over to AEW to which he replied positively:
“There will definitely be a lot more of them coming over in the future. I feel that about 90% of the wrestlers in WWE would want to jump over to AEW.”
When asked if there is a particular WWE talent he would like to see joining the AEW roster, Kenny Omega took the name of the Universal champion Roman Reigns:
“There’s been quite a few already, so I’m not lacking in opponents. I don’t exactly have anyone I have in mind but….if I must say I’d love to go against Roman Reigns. It would be a great opportunity to show who’s the real World Champion.”
Omega also named a few Japanese stars he would like to see join their promotion. He listed people such as Kota Ibushi and Kazuchika Okada as talents he would love to see joining the AEW roster.
The name of CM Punk has been associated with the best in the world conversation for a long period. He even embraced this gimmick for a run in WWE. Though according to the former WWE star himself, the current time is the toughest to single out one wrestler as the best among others because there are so many greats.
Punk was asked who he thinks is the best wrestler in the world currently during an interview on Rasslin’ with Brandon Walker. Replying to it, the former WWE champion mentioned how he used to be able to choose one name in the past:
“You know, for the first time in I think a long time, the waters as muddy as it has been, I remember in 2002 – 2003, I was like, Eddie Guerrero is the best wrestler in the world, easily. I remember in 2004, Samoa Joe is the best wrestler in the world. It’s kind of the whole animus for the best in the world thing.”
CM Punk Thinks It’s Very Subjective Nowadays
CM Punk continued his explanation saying that if you had your finger on the pulse of wrestling, there was always a guy you could distinguish as the best. However, according to the AEW star, things have been the murkiest in a very long time because there are so many great athletes in different companies:
“Now, I think it’s so subjective too. You could say it’s Bryan Danielson. You could say it’s Kenny Omega. There’s an argument for Roman Reigns. I think now, in 2021, like I said, I think this has been the murkiest it’s been in a very long time.”
CM Punk then talked about the forbidden door and how you can see wrestlers from many different companies competing in AEW. He said that this crossover should be very appealing for someone who wants to find out who in fact is the best wrestler in the world right now.
Wrestling veteran and WWE Hall Of Famer “Superstar” Billy Graham has returned home after being hospitalized at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona due to some heart problems earlier this week.
The news of his hospitalization was revealed by the former WWE star himself. He noted on his Facebook page this past Sunday that he was headed to the hospital and was expected to be admitted.
The page was updated on Monday with a message from Graham’s wife Valerie. She noted that Billy had been hooked up to IV lasix to help get fluid out of his lungs.
The former WWWF champion then provided the latest update on his condition via another post earlier this Wednesday. In the post made on Facebook, he said that he appreciates all the wishes he has received.
Billy Graham revealed that he has returned to his home. He noted that he is still very weak and Graham said that he can ‘barely lift a spoon of soup to his mouth’.
Though the 78-year-old promised that he will overcome this hurdle. The retired wrestling star also claimed that doctors have confirmed that his past steroid use is not responsible for his current problems.
Billy Graham had multiple runs with WWE and NWA in the 70s and 80s. He had a 17-year long career during which, he won over a dozen titles in various promotions. You can check out his latest Facebook post below:
Bryan Danielson and CM Punk made their debuts for AEW only two weeks apart. However, despite being friends for a long time, the duo did not speak before signing with the promotion.
When asked if he had any communication with Punk before inking the AEW deal, Danielson claimed that they had ‘next to zero’ communication with each other:
“We’ve had next to zero communication, as a lot of my friends know, I’m a horrible communicator. I didn’t know about the [CM] Punk stuff until it happened right, but it seemed very fitting.”
Bryan Danielson Wants To Team With CM Punk
Now that both the stars are in the same promotion again, a future clash between the two is inevitable. Bryan Danielson also spoke about the possibility and recalled how he wrote about Punk in his 2015 book based on his WrestleMania main event:
“I wrote in my book that it makes me sad that that will most likely never happen, and then now here we are in 2021 and it’s a real possibility. I had heard him say in an interview recently that I hadn’t even thought of,
But it’s not just me against CM Punk, it’s teaming with CM Punk. He had said something about maybe me and him against The Young Bucks” recalled Danielson, “and I was like oh my God, that would be awesome.”
The former world champion also discussed how leaving WWE was a difficult decision for him but he ultimately chose to sign with AEW because there are many names in the roster who he wants to face.
WWE superstar Gran Metalik is the latest name to have asked for his release from the promotion, according to reports from lucha libre program Más Lucha. The reason for his request according to the report is the frustrations with his creative direction in the company. Though there is no word yet on how WWE officials will react to this request.
The 33 year old Metalik is a 16 year veteran in wrestling after making his debut back in 2005. He originally made his name wrestling for CMLL in the early stages of his career. He started wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling under the ring name Máscara Dorada in 2010. He signed a one year contract with the company in 2015, after a feud with La Sombra now better known as Andrade.
Gran Metalik was signed to a full-time contract by WWE for their cruiserweight division after he competed in the cruiserweight classic tournament in 2016. He was paired with Kalisto, and Lince Dorado in early 2018 after the cruiserweight division was moved from Raw. He has competed on various brands since then.
While the trio has been appearing regularly on WWE TV in the past couple years, they have rarely been given a spotlight moment. The group has mostly been used for filler storylines. The report says that the masked star intends to continue wrestling in US if granted his release. His current contract runs through 2023. It will be interesting to see if the WWE officials decide to let him go before that.
Former TNA and ROH star Homicide made his AEW debut during tonight’s Rampage tapings after AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam special.
The special 2-hour long Rampage episode dubbed Rampage: Grand Slam featured a lights-out tag team match between the teams of Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston and Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer.
Towards the ending of this main event bout on Rampage, the opponents handcuffed Mox and started hitting him with a trash can lid and kendo sticks. This is when the former TNA star made his debut.
Homicide came out to help Moxley and he freed the former AEW champion from the handcuffs. Kingston then placed a trash can over the head of Archer. Eddie Kingston proceeded to hit Archer’s head with a kendo stick over a dozen times.
He then pinned Lance Archer to pick up the victory for his team. The trio of Homicide, Kingston, and Moxley celebrated in the ring after the match was over.
Hometown star Eddie Kingston also cut a promo and claimed that New York is now AEW’s town. Making his pro wrestling debut in 1993, Homicide has a history with Kingston. The two were part of the LAX faction during their time in TNA.
The AEW champion took on his Twitter to comment on the bout that ended in a 30 minutes time limit draw. He claimed that there isn’t going to be a rematch between the two:
Tonight’s Dynamite episode saw the AEW world champion colliding with the former WWE champion in the opening match of the night. Both Omega and Bryan received an incredible ovation from the crowd.
The audience was very excited for this bout. Both the stars put in a great effort to make Bryan’s first match in AEW after his All Out debut a memorable encounter.
However, while both the stars gave everything they had, neither of them could keep the other down for long. The match between Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson ended in a 30 minutes time limit draw.
The Elite ran out to the ring after the match as Danielson tried to continue the fight. Adam Cole and The Young Bucks ended up delivering a triple superkick to the former WWE star. The trio of Christian Cage and Jurassic Express then came out.
They saved Bryan Danielson from the post-match attack at the hands of The Elite. While Kenny Omega is claiming that there will be no rematch, it’s more likely that we will see these two colliding inside an AEW ring once again sooner rather than later.
AEW has announced that the TNT champion Miro will be defending his title against Sammy Guevara at next Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite after their confrontation at last week’s Rampage.
The main event of last Friday’s episode of Rampage saw Miro facing Fuego Del Sol in a title vs. car match. Miro won this match to become the new owner of Fuego’s car.
However, the TNT champion continued his attack after the match was over. He put the masked star into a camel clutch. Sammy Guevara finally had enough and he came out to help his friend.
As Miro retreated, he left his title behind. Guevara picked up the championship to tease a future match between the two. The show ended with Guevara standing tall.
AEW then announced during tonight’s Grand Slam special of Dynamite that Miro will have to defend his championship against the spanish god at next week’s episode of the show. Guevara has promised to buy Fuego a car after winning the belt.
This title match is the only thing that has been announced for next week’s show from the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY so far. Though more segments are expected to be announced over the week.
AEW presented another eventful episode of Dynamite tonight with their Grand Slam special which gave people plenty to talk about. Though the show wasn’t over when the cameras stopped rolling.
After the show went off air, The Acclaimed came out on the stage. The duo called out AEW president Tony Khan for a rap battle in front of the live audience.
Khan came out after Dynamite and said that while he has written a lot of wrestling shows, he has never written a rap song and he is not going to start doing that today.
However, the AEW owner then brought out rapper Lil Uzi Vert, who was in attendance for the show for some assistance. Khan went on to deliver a couple of short verses for The Acclaimed.
Tony Khan brought out Lil Uzi Vert to help him in a rap battle, AEW is crazy. ?https://t.co/xbU9z9dYav
At one point Tony joked about the reports of Max Caster’s suspension saying that he was suspending them for ‘another 30 days’.
Though he later came out again and clarified for ‘all the clickbait sites’ out there that he wasn’t actually suspending the duo.
The AEW president eventually brought out the Varsity Blonds. Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr had a short brawl with The Acclaimed to culminate the segment.
Cody Rhodes has named the four people who he’d put on a Wrestling Mount Rushmore.
Cody wife Brand recently took part in an ‘AMA’ Q&A session for Bleacher Report. They answered questions related to a number of different topics including a potential heel turn for Cody and more
When asked if their company was always going to be called All Elite Wrestling, the former TNT champion revealed that they first thought about calling it only ‘All Elite.’
“There were other names kicked around.” said Cody, “We considered ‘All Elite’ and Tony had the foresight and said ‘it’s a wrestling company, we need initials’… Dynamite is what Tony wanted and he saw it through.”
Brandi added that AEW was always on their mind. The debate they had was about the name of their weekly show before settling for Dynamite.
Wrestling Mount Rushmore
“Wrestling Mount Rushmore” (Photo: Bleacher Report)
When a fan inquired the duo who they would include in their Mt. Rushmore, Cody Rhodes interestingly took the name of both Vince McMahon and Tony Khan, before adding Dusty Rhodes and The Rock to the list.
Brandi said that she would have Sherri Martel, Ms. Elizabeth, Mae Young, and Madusa in her own Mt. Rushmore of wrestling.
Apart from this, the duo also answered questions related to things such as the origin story of AEW, advice for aspiring businessmen, and more.
You can check out all the questions they answered here.
While the 30 days non compete clause of Bronson Reed has expired already, the former NXT North American champion is taking his time in deciding where he wants to wrestle next and he has two possible destinations in mind.
The former NXT star recently appeared on Busted Open Radio. Among other things, he also provided an update on his future after recent WWE release.
Reed claimed that he is in talks with the ‘major promotions’ before saying that he doesn’t think the AEW roster has what he has to offer in the ring:
“I’m in talks with the major promotions, I can’t say any which way that I’m leaning towards. I do think that what I do offer, I don’t think AEW really has that. Impact do have some bigger talent, but no one that is really my mold.
I think it’d fit in Impact or AEW.” said Bronson Reed, “I am a huge fan and I did wrestle in Japan. That is somewhere I would like to work again.”
The former WWE star continued his explanation revealing that he is currently working on his immigration status. He said that he will hopefully have an answer for his fans about his future in a few weeks.
Bronson Reed was released from his WWE contract on August 6. Being a development star, he had a 30 days non-compete clause which has already expired. He recently shared a theory about his WWE release which you can check out here.
While many fans have discussed the possibility of Cody Rhodes turning heel for a while now, the AEW star himself is against changing his current character. The former TNT champion recently took part in an AMA of Bleacher Report. He answered questions such as what was the inspiration for him to join AEW and more.
Cody was then asked about the toughest challenge he has faced in his career. Replying to it, Rhodes said that the music has broken his heart far more than it has cheered him:
“The music has broken my heart far more than it has cheered me up so far. I started a bit smaller and today in our industry I’m like a giant. Currently, I’m in a position where they think I book the show and book myself which has created tension for some fans. I’m of the belief that if you pay your money you can cheer, boo, etc.”
Cody Rhodes Will Retire Before Turning Heel
Cody Rhodes continued his explanation saying that going from a warm to adversarial reception from the fans has been a challenge for him. Though the former WWE star promised that he will retire before turning heel:
“To go from a warm reception to an adversarial reception…I’ll retire before I become a heel. I’m not going to make decisions that are bad for our youth to see. That’s the challenge, how do I maintain where I’m at when the crowd wants to get a different flavor.”
Cody Rhodes teased his retirement after losing a match to Malakai Black on the August 4 episode of Dynamite but Black stopped him with a post-match attack. The Rhodes to the top star is set to make his in-ring return at the Dynamite: Grand Slam special this Wednesday in a match against Black.
Kofi Kingston recently had an interview with SportsKeeda. Among other things, he also responded to the fan criticism over the New Day vs. The Bloodline match. WWE has been trying to get better ratings in wake of their recent losses to AEW by giving away big matches. However, many fans believe that this big six men tag team match should have been saved for the Survivor Series.
Kingston was asked if he is surprised that this match is happening so soon during the talk. Replying to it, the former WWE champion claimed that nothing surprises him:
“Oh, nothing surprises me; I think the great thing about WWE is that you don’t know what’s going on. I think a lot of people get upset when they can’t predict what’s happening, you know? You want to talk about how to build a show. How about just enjoy the match you’re about to get sooner than later?”
Kofi Kingston then responded to the fans who believe that the bout should have been saved for the upcoming PPV. He said that you never know what is going to happen. Kingston teased that they might do an even better rematch:
“You don’t know what’s gonna happen at Survivor Series. We might do it again and do it even better! The way that we do things is we work towards a great product in terms of telling the story. So sit back and relax and enjoy the story that’s being told to you.”
The match between the Bloodline and The New Day saw Bobby Lashley attacking members of both the teams. This distraction allowed Roman Reigns to spear Xavier Woods for the pin. There is no word yet on if we are going to see a rematch between these two groups at Survivor Series.
Former NXT Champion Keith Lee has a new moniker that pays tribute to a WWE Hall of Famer from the 1950’s.
Lee competed in yet another dark match before this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw. He defeated a local talent in a squash match. What’s interesting to note about his latest appearance is that he was billed as Keith “Bearcat” Lee during his entrance.
You can see footage of Lee’s introduction in the clip below:
Keith Lee’s new “Bearcat” moniker is a reference to popular African American pro wrestler from the 1950s, Bearcat Wright. Wright was posthumously inducted into the legacy wing of WWE Hall Of Fame in 2017.
Here is a brief Twitter thread giving a little background on WWE Hall of Famer Bearcat Wright:
Real quick history lesson everyone. "Bearcat" Wright was a black pro wrestler active from the 1950s through the 1970s. He was a wildly popular figure, and immensely strong. He took a stand in the early '60s and said he would not wrestle in segregated matches. 1/3
His father was a boxer also called Bearcat Wright (both their real first names were Edward) and he boxed himself before he went into wrestling. Here he is wrestling Big Moose Cholak in 1961. 3/3https://t.co/ooeshrAQNJ
Keith Lee was last seen on WWE TV during the August 2 episode of Raw where he won a match against Karrion Kross. He returned to the road with WWE during the Raw brand supershow live event this past weekend.
The heavyweight star defeated Akira Tozawa at the supershow event. What’s interesting to note here is that the former champion played the role of a heel in his match against Tozawa.
Lee has also been growing a beard. There is speculation that it could be a preparation for turning him heel when he finally returns to WWE TV. Though when that may happen is not known.
WWE has confirmed that the United States championship match announced for the Extreme Rules PPV will now be a triple threat among Jeff Hardy, Sheamus and the current champion Damian Priest.
Tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw featured Jeff Hardy facing Sheamus in a one on one match. The stipulation for the bout was that Hardy would be added to the championship match if he won against Sheamus.
The ending of this match saw Hardy trying to deliver a Swanton bomb but his opponent got his knees up. Though as Sheamus looked to capitalize, Jeff managed to counter. He rolled Sheamus up for the win and got added to the Extreme Rules match.
It’s been rumored that the US title match at the upcoming show will be a tables match but WWE has not confirmed this stipulation as of now.
Extreme Rules Matches
WWE has also confirmed that the Universal championship bout between Roman Reigns and Finn Balor is going to be an Extreme Rules match. After the latest change, here is the updated Extreme Rules match card:
Extreme RulesUniversal Championship Match: “The Demon” Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns
Raw Women’s Championship Match: Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte Flair
SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch
WWE United States Championship Match: Sheamus vs. Damian Priest vs. Jeff Hardy
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The Street Profits vs. The Usos
Singles Match: Carmella vs. Liv Morgan
WWE Extreme Rules this year will be taking place from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio this Sunday on September 26.
Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley became the new WWE women’s tag team champions after defeating Natalya and Tamina Snuka on tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
The title match on tonight’s episode of the red branded show saw Nikki and Tamina starting the bout for their teams. Though Tamina attacked Ripley early in the fight when she came in the ring to break a pin.
The champions worked on Nikki A.S.H. for the majority of the bout while tagging in and out themselves. Tamina delivered a Samoan drop to Nikki at one point.
Snuka then went to the top rope for the superfly splash but Nikki managed to get her knees up in time. Though she couldn’t tag in Ripley who was still down at the ringside. Natalya managed to tag in and unloaded on Nikki.
The ending of the bout saw Ripley finally coming to her sense and attacking Tamina at the ringside. Natalya tried to lock Nikki in the sharpshooter but she got distracted by Rhea delivering a riptide to her partner into the edge of the ring apron.
The distraction allowed Nikki A.S.H. to roll Natalya for the pin and win the match for her team, marking the start of the title reign for Ripley and herself.
Natalya and Tamina had won the tag team titles from Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler during the May 14 episode of SmackDown. Their reign lasted for 129 days.
Now that Adam Cole is in AEW, he is really excited to face some of the names on the roster including none other than CM Punk. The former NXT champion recently had an interview with News 12. During the talk he discussed the different wrestling personalities who have been on his list of dream opponents. He first mentioned how he has been able to check off some of these names:
“Very fortunate to check off a lot of those guys off the list in the sense of getting to have Shawn Michaels as my mentor, someone who I still have a great relationship with, is a dream come true. Getting the chance to step in the ring with Christian is gonna be really really cool. He has been running his mouth a bit too much so I am gonna make sure I fix that but aside from that if I look at it like 9 year old me, it’s pretty cool.”
Later in the interview, Cole mentioned another potential future opponent for him in CM Punk. He first discussed how having Punk on the AEW roster is really cool. Adam Cole then went on to explain how the former WWE champion influenced his wrestling persona during his early years:
“I think the biggest one for sure is CM Punk. The fact that he is here is really cool. I have been very open just on my personal Mt. Rushmore of who means the most to me within wrestling, CM Punk is on that list for me. He is the guy who made me decide I really wanna focus on promos. I wanna make sure I get good interviews and stuff like that because he was so captivating. He is the guy who introduced me to companies like Ring Of Honor and the independent wrestling scene.”
Vince McMahon doesn’t shy away from getting inspiration from any place, even if it’s a movie like the Suicide Squad, according to Ruby Soho.
The former NXT star recently appeared on the Talk Is Jericho podcast. During the episode, she talked openly about her time in WWE among other things.
Discussing her main roster debut as part of the Riott Squad, Soho revealed an interesting rumor she had heard about where the boss Vince McMahon got the inspiration for the faction:
“I don’t know how much truth there is to this, Vince [McMahon] watched the Suicide Squad and wanted a Joker, a Harley Quinn, and a beast in a female faction.”
Chris Jericho chimed in saying that Mr. McMahon probably didn’t even watch the Suicide Squad in full. Ruby Soho then explained the apparent logic behind the choice of the members for her faction:
“Maybe it was just a trailer he watched? I’ve always wondered what made him put that group together, the three of us, he wanted a Joker, which was me. A Harley Quinn, which was Liv Morgan and a beast, which was Sarah. make sense.”
Ruby Soho, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan all made their main roster debuts as The Riott Squad in November 2017. The group stayed together before being drafted to different brands during the 2019 Superstar Shakeup.
Stephen Amell appeared on the latest episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast. During the interview, the Arrow star reflected on his wrestling journey so far.
The acting star first recalled his match against Christopher Daniels at All In. He remembered the big table spot and said that he wishes he would have taken some more time in between spots.
Amell then discussed his very first outing in the wrestling world at SummerSlam 2015. He revealed the advice Triple H had given him at the time before his match:
“And I just think back to before I went out at SummerSlam, just think back to Hunter, Triple H coming up to me and going, ‘If you think you’re going too fast, just slow down. If you think you’re going too slow, slow down more.
And when you’re absolutely positive that you’re going way too slow, slow it way f——— down.’ And it’s such great advice” said Stephen Amell, “and I didn’t listen to it at all.”
The Heels star teamed up with Neville to compete against the team of Cody Rhodes then known as Stardust and Wade Barrett at the SummerSlam 2015 event.
Stephen Amell stated recently that he will be attending the upcoming Dynamite: Grand Slam event this Wednesday and he has also promised to bring his wrestling gear for the show.
Sean Waltman has been talking about wanting to make a wrestling return for a while now and he is ready to compete at Royal Rumble next year if WWE calls him.
The former WWE star provided some updates on rehab of his knee on the latest episode of his Pro Wrestling 4 Life podcast. He revealed that while he is a little behind the schedule, everything seems to be coming along nicely.
Waltman then mentioned that his goal is to be ring ready by the time for Royal Rumble just in case the officials decided to give him a call to compete on the show:
“Just in case, I would like to be ready by Royal Rumble time. That’s not something that is my main goal to go do Royal Rumble, but if they call me, I would do the Royal Rumble. “
A Lot Of People Have Reached Out To Sean Waltman
Though later in the episode, the former X-Pac said that he has already had ‘a lot of people’ reach out to him, in case the call from WWE does not come:
“I love WWE, regardless of what’s going on, I love it. I would like for them to be the ones that host my return matches. If not, there are plenty of other people that will. I’ve already had a lot of people reach out.”
WWE has not announced the official details for next year’s Royal Rumble yet. It’s expected to be held in St. Louis, Missouri and there has also been some talk of the event being held in February this time.
Do you think WWE should bring back Sean Waltman for the big event if he is ready to compete by then? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
AEW Dynamite beating WWE Raw ratings in the 18-49 demographic has been the major story of the wrestling world for the past couple of weeks and Tony Khan is very happy about it. The AEW president recently had an interview with Bloomberg Business of Sports. Among other things, he talked about the AEW TV audience in detail.
Khan mentioned how they have the ‘youngest skewing audience’ of all sports programming. He then discussed how both Dynamite and Rampage are doing great in the 18-49 demo on their respective nights:
“Well, it’s the youngest skewing audience of all sports programming on all of television, there have been more weeks than not in the past several months where we’ve beaten every major sporting event in terms of having the youngest skewing audience. Our Wednesday night show and our Friday night show have both been rated as the number one show on cable in the 18-49 demographic.”
‘More Affluent Fanbase’
Tony Khan added that their audience is consistent and you can count on AEW fans to watch the show every Wednesday. He didn’t forget to mention how the AEW audience is more likely to be a college-educated audience and it’s attractive for advertisers.
“We have a more affluent fanbase than other wrestling organizations, but really, people from all kinds of backgrounds. They are more likely to be a college educated audience. They’re a very attractive audience to an advertising base — particularly, with the age demographic that they add.”
Tony continued his explanation saying that having such a young and engaged audience is really important for them. He also revealed that the male-to-female split of the AEW audience is currently about five to three. Apart from this, the AEW official opened up about the vaccination policy of the promotion. You can check out his comments on the matter at this link.
Jeff Hardy has not given up on his Willow The Wisp gimmick and he wants to portray it on television one more time before hanging his boots for good.
The former world champion recently had an interview with the Culture State podcast. He talked about things such as being part of the first ever TLC match and more.
Discussing the possibility of bringing back The Willow character, Hardy revealed that he recently talked to the guy who originally made the mask for the gimmick:
“Speaking of Willow, I was just talking to the guy who makes the mask, who made it back then, he’s an awesome mask maker and making a new Willow mask
And talking about the possibility of Willow entering the scene once again before my career is over. There we go, it’s gonna happen,”
Jeff Hardy created Willow The Wisp character during the very early stage of his career. He has since brought it back a couple of times, including for a brief 2014 run in TNA.
Though the chances of WWE officials allowing him to use an outside character on their programming are slim.
The possibility of AEW allowing the use of the gimmick is far greater, that is if Jeff joins the promotion in the future as his brother Matt Hardy hopes.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. hasn’t been let go by WWE and he is still with the company despite mostly being inactive since his re-signing with the promotion a few months back, according to latest reports.
Mike Johnson of PWinsider was recently asked about the former MLW star. Replying to the question, the wrestling journalist confirmed that he is still with the company:
“He (Davey Boy Smith Jr.) signed with WWE but is yet to be officially assigned to a brand. So, he’s in “hurry up and wait” mode, but he’s 100% with the company.”
The former NJPW star signed a new contract with WWE back in April this year. Talents were reportedly told to keep quiet about his status until he made his in-ring return.
He finally returned to the ring for the company in July. Smith Jr. teamed with Austin Theory in a dark match before the July 16 episode of SmackDown. They defeated Odyssey Jones & Xyon Quinn in a tag match.
However, the former tag team champion hasn’t been used by WWE ever since and people have been puzzled about his status with the company.
There is no word yet on why they have kept him off TV but it could be a case of creatives not being able to find the right opportunity to reintroduce him on the WWE programming.
Mia Yim recently commented on the rumors about her absence from WWE programming. The former NXT star confirmed that she is not suffering from any kind of injury. The former Reckoning of retribution took on her Twitter earlier yesterday to comment on her health. While she didn’t provide a lot of update on her status, she wrote: “I’m not injured”
After working as an enhancement talent for WWE in 2014-15, Mia Yim returned to the company to compete in the Mae Young Classic tournament in 2017. She then impressed the officials with her performance in the second Mae Young Classic as well. The female star was signed to a development contract back in September 2018.
Following a couple years in NXT, Yim made her main roster debut as part of the Retribution stable in September 2020. Though she hasn’t been seen on WWE TV in a regular capacity since walking out of the group at Fastlane in March this year.
She was moved to the Raw roster in July but has yet to make an appearance for the brand. There is no word yet on why WWE has kept the former NXT star away from the programming. Though it could very well be another case of the creatives having nothing for her.
