His 2018 return to WWE has left a sore taste in the mouth of Jonathan Coachman. The sports analyst is vowing to ‘never work with’ somebody like that again. The former WWE star talked about his experience of going back to the company in 2018 on the latest episode of his Ask Coach Anything Live podcast.

Coachman admitted that he has a very bad taste in his mouth from the sport of wrestling, claiming that at this point in his life he wants everything to be positive:

“I have a very bad taste in my mouth from the sport of wrestling right now. I’m at a point in my life that everything I do, I want it to be positive.”

The coach went in length to detail his frustrations with the promotion. He revealed that he is owed a lot of money for his XFL appearances. He discussed how WWE top brass fired many people from XFL and WWE as well during the coronavirus pandemic while making a lot of money from stocks. Jonathan Coachman then promised to never work with somebody like that again:

“I will never work with somebody like that again. So, the taste in my mouth from wrestling right now is very, very bitter because when you put in 20 years into somebody, a relationship to help them build their brand, and then they just turn your back on you over, to them, a little bit of money. To me, it was a lot of money. Then at the same time, they’re cashing in millions of dollars in stock, and laying people off the same day they are doing that is bad business.”

Jonathan Coachman continued his explanation mentioning how you cannot take money with you when you are gone and all you can take is your legacy. He also discussed being taken off Raw commentary team in September 2018. Coachman explained that while people saw it as a demotion, he didn’t feel the same. According to Coach, he was being paid the same amount of money while making only one appearance per month as a host for PPV pre-show panels.

• Free Agency Updates On Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman

Fans have not been happy with Jeff Hardy’s descend in WWE. A former WWE champion in his own right, Hardy has been seen among the group chasing the 24/7 championship on WWE programming in recent times.

The former world champion recently had an interview with Felger & Massaroti. He talked about things such as his goals in the company and more.

When asked how long he sees himself continuing his wrestling career, Hardy claimed that he has no idea and any match he wrestles can be his last:

“I have no idea. Every match I have now might be my last match. Sometimes, the little things kill. It’s so easy to get hurt. I just don’t know. I live week-to-week and match-to-match.”

• Jeff Hardy WWE Contract Update

Jeff Hardy On Relationship With Vince McMahon

Amidst the fan flare about his position within the company, Jeff Hardy was asked about his relationship with Vince McMahon. Replying to it, he labeled it as ‘business relationship’:

 “I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to be a WWE superstar and very thankful and grateful for every show that I’m on.

It don’t matter what I’m doing, I’m blessed to be part of WWE still. It’s a business relationship. I try to do the best I can for him and for WWE. Hopefully that’s enough.”

Apart from this, Jeff Hardy talked about things such as the return of live audience after a year, potentially becoming universal champion and more.

Bryan Danielson was revealed as the latest AEW signee after weeks of rumors during the All Out PPV. Latest report might have revealed the length of his contract with the promotion.

Dave Meltzer talked about the former world champion’s decision to sign with the company on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer first discussed how his signing brings a lot of new possibilities. He then claimed that if Danielson doesn’t like things in AEW, he can go back to WWE ‘in three years’.

A three-year deal would mean that the former champion would remain with the company through the Summer of 2024. He would have to make a decision about his future afterward.

• Bryan Danielson Won’t Dabble Into Business Side Of AEW

Bryan Danielson To AEW

Reports suggest that both WWE and AEW offered Bryan Danielson similar money. The ability to work with NJPW was an important factor in his decision

While WWE officials were ready to allow him to work with NJPW, the former WWE star also wanted to open the door for other talents to work for the Japanese promotion.

Since nothing came out of the talks between WWE and NJPW and the Asian wrestling promotion joined forces with AEW, Bryan made the decision to sign with them as well.

WWE has announced that they will be resuming the tradition of the post-Christmas live event from Madison Square Garden after their return to the arena this week.

The company made the announcement during the Super SmackDown this week. A graphic on the show confirmed that they will be holding a live event from the legendary arena on December 26:

WWE considers Madison Square Garden a home arena because they have been promoting shows there for more than four decades.

Madison Square Garden has held many televised and non televised events of the company over the dacades including PPVs such as SummerSlam and Survivor Series.

Most notably, MSG was the home of the first-ever WrestleMania event in March 1985. The PPV returned to The Garden for its 10th and 20th anniversary in 1994 and 2004 respectively as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic had forced WWE to cancel a show from the arena scheduled for March 2020. They also had to halt the tradition of holding a post-Christmas live event from MSG last year.

Though the company returned to the legendary arena with a special episode of SmackDown this week. Now they have confirmed that they will be resuming the tradition for their post-Christmas special as well.

This week’s super SmackDown from Madison Square Garden featured multiple dark matches with names such as John Cena and Drew McIntyre competing in non televised matches. The first dark match took place before the show went on air. It saw Charlotte Flair retain her Raw women’s championship over Rhea Ripley. Flair won the match via submission.

The SmackDown episodes ended with Finn Balor reintroducing his demon persona and confronting Roman Reigns. This confrontation continued after the show went off air. It was a few minutes after the cameras had stopped rolling that the Bloodline left the ring. Balor was then cheering the crowd when Happy Corbin came out.

Corbin quickly backed out after entering the ring but Finn Balor chased and attacked the lone wolf. Finn put him down with a pair of slingblades. Drew McIntyre made his way out as Balor was leaving the arena. The former WWE champion faced Baron Corbin in the second dark match of the show. Though this bout ended in disqualification after Corbin hit McIntyre with a steel chair at ringside.

The duo then fought their way back into the ring. Drew McIntyre hit Corbin with the chair multiple times before ending the segment with a claymore to his opponent. The final dark main event of the night was a six man tag team match.

John Cena was part of this bout. He received one of the biggest pops of the night. The Cenation leader teamed up with Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio to face The Bloodline. Cena countered a spear of Roman Reigns into an attitude adjustment and he then delivered another AA to Jimmy Uso to end the match. You can check out some photos and videos of the unaired matches from the show below:

It appears that WWE had to edit the script for this week’s SmackDown on the fly and they nixed a women’s tag team match originally planned for the show.

According to reports from Fightful select, there were plans for a tag team match to take place on the show which would have seen Carmella teaming up with Zelina Vega.

The duo were expected to go against Liv Morgan and a partner whose name was not mentioned. The match was apparently cut from SmackDown due to time restraints.

The stars who were expected to compete in the bout reacted to this change on Twitter later on. Zelina Vega even posted photos of the gear she had prepared for tonight:

On a related note, the storyline with Naomi and Sonya Deville also appears to have been cut from this week’s SmackDown. There was no mention of the former SmackDown women’s champion on the show.

While it’s not confirmed, it’s likely that Naomi was expected to make her in-ring return at the show this week as the partner for Liv Morgan.

Since the officials made the decision to cut the tag team match from the show, they also had to nix any planned segments for Naomi as well.

• WWE SmackDown Results (9/10): Reigns & Brock Lesnar, Title Match, The Demon Returns

Ruby Soho was one of the surprise debutants for AEW that showed up at All Out and helped the PPV cross 200,000 buys. Tony Khan has nothing but praise for the former WWE star for her performance on the show. During his recent appearance on Busted Open Radio, the AEW president talked about things such as the TV ratings of the post All Out episode of Dynamite and more.

Discussing the debut of Ruby Soho during the Casino Battle Royal on the PPV this past Sunday, Khan revealed that he was the agent for that match. He also explained how Soho came prepared for the bout:

“I just have to say what an organized, intelligent, competent and professional Ruby Soho is. She was really well prepared and she had notes on everyone in the match. She knew what she was doing. I thought ‘wow this is a really hard working person’,

And also just a really good person who really has a lot of integrity and a lot of pride in what they do but she interacted really well with everyone. She interacted really well with everyone. It was her first day at AEW and she really really is a great fit. Her Dynamite debut was tremendous”

Ruby Riott was released from her WWE contract back in June this year. She decided to keep the name for her post-WWE career but had to change her last name due to WWE’s copyright. She made her debut for Tony Khan’s promotion during the All Out PPV earlier this month. Soho entered the Casino Battle Royal as the surprise Joker entrant and won the match.

Paul Heyman had an interview with New York Post ahead of this week’s super SmackDown from Madison Square Garden. He talked about things such as Becky Lynch’s heel turn and more. Naomi was recently moved to SmackDown. It made many wonder if this change can lead to her joining the bloodline stable with her husband Jimmy Uso and Roman Reigns.

When asked about it during the talk, Paul Heyman said that he doesn’t look at any specific person as a potential addition. They instead do a daily assessment of what their TV presentation requires:

“I don’t look at only one person as a potential addition to The Bloodline. I think there is a daily assessment as to what The Bloodline needs and what the presentation requires on television. At the moment I think we are addressing the enormous box office attractions that are now coming back seemingly all the time against the Tribal Chief,

And the fact that The Usos, who are reigning defending SmackDown tag team champions, are being pushed to the limit by the best tag team to come along besides The Usos in the past 20 years, the Street Profits.”

• Paul Heyman Discusses Becky Lynch’s Heel Turn

Heyman continued his explanation saying that just because someone is not on TV with them at the moment; it doesn’t mean that they are not within their eyesight:

“We’re telling quite a few stories right now. As the year continues and we get into 2022, are there more stories to tell involving other personalities? I’m sure that there are. And just because someone is not on television with us doesn’t mean they’re not within eyesight of The Bloodline and doesn’t mean they’re not a member of The Bloodline. It just means we’re not presenting them on TV as such.”

After staying away from WWE programming for a month, Naomi made an appearance during the August 27 episode of SmackDown and revealed that she has been moved to the blue brand. Apart from this, Paul Heyman talked about things such as his 2012 match against Ryback at Madison Square Garden, doing commentary on a WWE show after 9/11, and more.

Samoa Joe recently had an interview with Alex McCarthy of TalkSport. During the discussion, they touched on topics such as the recent WWE tryout in LA, former UK champion Walter possibly facing Joe, and more.

The Samoan submission machine has not only become the face of the black and yellow brand once again after winning the NXT championship, but he is also helping recruit new talents behind the scenes.

Due to his new backstage role, Joe is well aware of the new directive from the upper management. During the interview, he confirmed that the new orders come straight from the boss Vince McMahon himself:

“As for the directive, yeah, there is a directive and they do come straight from Vince [McMahon], Vince says, ‘hey, this is what we want.’  But, the directives, it’s weird. They’ve been around forever.  I worked for WWE in developmental when I very, very first started in California, and these directives existed.

But, they change. It changes based on the needs of the company. It’s funny, I read the articles – I know exactly what you’re talking about – I read the outrage about the directive, and I’m like, this is nothing different. And then next week, the directive will be different.”

• Nick Khan Confirms NXT Rebrand, Distancing From Indie Wrestlers

‘A Little Bit Younger And More Athletic’

Samoa Joe claimed that the company has had cycles where different types of people come in from independent talents to athletes. He explained that the directives change based on the needs of the company:

“The directive right now is probably a little bit younger and looking for a little more athletic, which isn’t terrible whatsoever, but that directive will invariably shift as the needs as the company shifts. So yeah, there is a directive, it comes from Vince, we all follow it and we get the job done for him. We’re happy to do so,”

Samoa Joe later compared the role of talent relations to a casting agency in Hollywood. He explained how agencies get requests for different kinds of talents at different times. Their job is to find suitable people according to the need.

The WWE release of the former Universal champion Braun Strowman shocked the fans. Members of the WWE roster also had a similar reaction, according to former 205 live star Ariya Daivari.

The former WWE star recently appeared on Insight With Chris Van Vliet. He talked about things such as growing up watching wrestling with his brother Shawn Daivari, working Cruiserweight Classic, and more.

Daivari discussed the string of WWE releases that have shocked the fans over the last few months. He revealed how people backstage reacted to the release of names such as Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe:

“When Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman got released, the whole roster from top to bottom, RAW, SmackDown, NXT was like’oh s**t. If they are letting guys like Braun and Samoa Joe go, it could be anybody.’”

Ariya Daivari also talked about his own WWE release in June saying that he wasn’t expecting it for at least 4-5 months. He then said that he is happy that his brother Shawn Daivari was brought back by the company recently.

Samoa Joe has already made his return to WWE as part of the NXT brand. Braun Strowman on the other hand seems to be heading in a surprising direction. You can check out the latest report about his future here.

The remarks of Booker T about CM Punk’s AEW debut promo did not go over with the fans. AEW commentator Mark Henry believes it’s because the former WCW champion did not watch the full segment. The world’s strongest man addressed the comments made by the former world champion on a recent episode of Busted Open Radio.

Henry claimed that he doesn’t think Booker actually watched the whole thing. According to him, somebody must have told the former WWE star about it:

“I don’t think Booker T actually watched the whole thing. I don’t think that he watched it from beginning to end. I think somebody told him about it because Booker T knows that if you have ’em, and this is a wrestling insider thing, I’m going to work with all of you behind the curtain, when you got ‘em, you sit there and you allow it to happen. You don’t have to do nothing.”

Mark Henry mentioned how he has been at the ringside for some of the biggest moments in wrestling and heard some of the loudest pops. He then explained that the WWE reference was a very small part of Punk’s promo:

“When he grabbed the microphone and he started talking, he talked more about ROH. He referenced the WWE, not saying words, not mentioning nobody in particular. ‘I’m probably wrong.’ Yes, you’re wrong Book. I love you like a play cousin, but you’re wrong.”

For those who don’t know, Booker T had criticized CM Punk’s promo on his AEW debut during the August 20 episode of Rampage. T had claimed that he wouldn’t have thought about the other side as much and instead focused on the current moment. You can check out his comments in detail here.

While Mickie James served as an executive producer for NWA’s all-women EmPowerrr PPV, she is still a free agent according to president Billy Corgan. The wrestling promotion posted a video of Corgan chatting with the former women’s champion on their YouTube channel ahead of their historic PPV this Saturday night.

During the interview, the NWA president revealed James’ status with the promotion. Billy Corgan claimed that Mickie has not signed a talent deal with his company:

“What people don’t understand is that Mickie James is a free agent. Our deal here with the NWA is Mickie’s coming in to co-promote this event, and we will be co-promoters on this event. But, you have not signed a talent deal with the NWA.

And that is not a work, that’s straight-up shoot. Because that is what you want. and as her friend, I said ‘I think that makes sense’. because you should have all the power and you should do as you wish and what’s best for your family”

• Awesome Kong Announces Retirement From Wrestling On NWA EmPowerrr

The female star was released from her WWE contract back in April this year. She made her NWA debut in June and was announced as the executive producer for NWA’s first-ever all-female event.

This revelation makes things interesting as it means that James is free to do other things after tonight’s EmPowerrr event. We will have to wait and see if she continues her relationship with the company after this or shows up at a different promotion.

Daniel Bryan is heavily rumored to make his AEW debut very soon. Tony Khan’s comments on the matter are only going to fuel the speculation about his future.

The AEW president was recently interviewed by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. They talked about things such as the All Out PPV, CM Punk, and more.

When asked for his comments on rumors surrounding the former world champion, Khan claimed that while it’s fair to ask, he cannot answer the question right now:

“I can’t answer that question. It’s fair for you to ask that question but it’s not anything I could address on the Observer today but it’s fair enough for you to ask it. He’s one of the all-time greats.”

While Tony Khan did not comment on Daniel Bryan specifically, he did claim that they are going to make multiple additions to their roster over the next 4 to 6 months.

The reports of Bryan Danielson joining the AEW roster after leaving WWE first came out last month. AEW has since started dropping hints about the former WWE star. The first of them were seen on Being The Elite

CM Punk also recently teased Bryan during his promo on Dynamite. Latest reports suggest that Danielson is set to make his AEW debut very soon. It’d be interesting to see what he does on his first appearance.

Eva Marie had been rumored to make her WWE return since last year. She finally made her comeback to WWE programming earlier this year in June. The All Red Everything recently appeared on Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions podcast. She discussed things such as her career outside of the promotion and more.

Discussing how her WWE return was made possible, Marie revealed that it actually started with a conversation with none other than the boss, Vince McMahon.

“I had a conversation with Vince,” she began. “We basically… emails. So that’s basically how it started, just because of always keeping in contact via email of things I was doing outside of WWE, making sure that he was fully aware of Eva Marie is willing and ready to come back whenever you see fit. And that door is open on my end.”

Eva Marie: “Go Get It”

Eva Marie thinks her decision to keep in touch with Vince McMahon directly lead to her WWE return. She advises other people to be proactive with their own careers and don’t be shy about advocating for yourself.

“So, it’s one of those things to where if you want something, go ask for it or go get it and make sure that other person or avenue kind of knows about it,” she added.

The female star also talked about her pairing with Piper Niven who has been dubbed as Doudrop on the main roster. She praised Niven saying that she is phenomenal.

Eva Marie discussed her relationship with her on-screen protégé revealing that they exchanged messages before actually meeting in person. They hit it off with their first conversation and knew that they were going to work together.

Liv Morgan appeared on this week’s episode of Talking Smack where she discussed her fatal four way match on this past Friday’s episode of SmackDown and more.

Talking about the SmackDown women’s champion Becky Lynch, the former Riott Squad member revealed what she told her before going on maternity leave last year:

“You wanna know a little secret? When Becky left, I gave her a hug goodbye.” said Liv, “She whispered in my ear, ‘When I come back, you are going to be champion.’ I’ve thought about that every single day.

She’s back, and I’m not champion. But I’m looking so, so, so forward to proving her right. Maybe, not on her timeline, but I’m going to be champion, and I’d love to take it off of Becky Lynch.”

Liv Morgan competed in a fatal four-way elimination #1 contenders match against Bianca Belair, Carmella, and Zelina Vega on SmackDown. Morgan eliminated Carmella from the bout before being pinned by the winner of the match Belair.

Becky Lynch announced her pregnancy on an episode of Raw in May last year. She went on a hiatus from WWE programming after this. The Man made her surprise return to WWE TV during SummerSlam, where she defeated Bianca for the SmackDown women’s title.

Veteran wrestling star Awesome Kong has announced her retirement from pro wrestling during a surprise appearance at NWA EmPowerrr. TNA Hall Of Famer Gail Kim made an unannounced appearance during the all-women PPV. She tried to cut a promo but Kim was confronted by Taryn Terrell, Jennacide, and Paola Blaze.

Kong, who has had several feuds with the veteran TNA star over the years then also made a surprise appearance on the show. She made the save for Gail Kim and took out the three interrupting women.

After this segment, the former WWE star grabbed a mic and told Kim that she was her greatest foe. The former Knockouts champion claimed that there was no other way to end her career than being in the ring with Gail Kim. She then announced her retirement saying she was done:

The 43-year-old started her wrestling career in 2002. Awesome Kong went on to wrestle for promotions such as Ring Of Honor, All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling, and more. Though she is probably best known for her stints in Impact Wrestling and WWE between 2007 to 2016.

She competed under the ring name Kharma in WWE but didn’t win any titles. She had a couple of runs with the Knockouts title in TNA under the ring name Awesome Kong. She also made several appearances for AEW in the past couple of years.

Big E has spent a lot of time grooming himself to be a top performer. Though the former NXT champion believes that he doesn’t need any more time and he is finally ready to be the face of WWE. The New Day member recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated. He first admitted that he didn’t always feel confident about himself and credited people like Daniel Bryan and Kenny Omega for helping him.

Big E explained how his hunger for a world title is different than people like John Cena or Brock Lesnar. Mr. Money In The Bank claimed that he doesn’t need another year to grow and the time for him is now:

“I have a different perspective than a Brock or a Cena, who’s trying to become a 17-time world champion. I’m trying to get one. It has a different feel, and I’m not saying those guys don’t want it, too, but this might be my only opportunity. So I’ll show up ready and make some noise. I don’t feel like I need another year to grow. The time is now.”

E then discussed the responsibility that comes with a world title. The former IC champion said that he isn’t worried about the task of being the face of the company but he is ready to face whatever comes in front of him:

“I’m not worried about this gargantuan task of being the face of the company because I’m too focused on doing my very best to be entertaining with whatever I’m given. I’m all about handling what’s right in front of me, and I feel like I can handle whatever is in front of me. I’m ready, and I’ve been ready.”

While there is no word yet on what the plans for the Money In The Bank briefcase are, previous reports have suggested that WWE may move Big E to Raw during the upcoming Draft. It would be interesting to see if E ends up cashing his contract on Bobby Lashley instead of Roman Reigns.

Goldberg’s latest WWE storyline with Bobby Lashley also involved his son Gage. The young star got physical during the WWE championship match at SummerSlam PPV.

The former Universal champion recently appeared on the CarCast podcast. Talking about his SummerSlam match, he said that he was feeling “dazed and confused and continually limp” after his bout.

Speaking about Gage’s involvement at the show, Goldberg revealed that he actually choked his son at one point to stop him from smiling in the ring:

“I didn’t see shit. I was choking him. He goes, ‘Dad, when you came over and grabbed me, you were choking me.’ I was like, ‘I saw you smiling man, I had to get the smile off.’

The kid is impervious to pressure. He did four hours of homework before he went out” explained Goldberg, “And jumped in the ring with a 290-pound monster who was beating his dad up. It didn’t bother him one bit.”

The WWE championship match at the SummerSlam PPV ended when the former WCW champion couldn’t continue due to a knee injury. Though Bobby Lashley kept attacking his opponent even after the bout.

Gage came to the aid of his father but Lashley put him down too with a hurt lock. The segment ended with Goldberg checking on his son and threatening Bobby Lashley.

Cameron Grimes still has a long career ahead of him but the NXT star already knows what he wants to do once his career inside the squared circle comes to an end.

The 27-year-old recently spoke to WWE El Brunch where he discussed a number of topics. When asked about his life after wrestling, the former Impact star said that he wants to stay at the performance center and help the next generation of wrestlers:

“My dream is to stay here for the rest of my life. When I can’t wrestle anymore, I want to continue to be here in the Performance Center.

I want to help train the next generation of wrestlers or anything that requires me to work here,” said Cameron Grimes, “I want to be here,”

The former PWG star also talked about his big win at the Takeover 36 event earlier this month. He defeated LA Knight to win the Million Dollar championship during the show. Though the title was later taken away from him by Ted DiBiase.

Speaking about his victory, Grimes mentioned how it was not only his first championship in WWE but his first singles win at a TakeOver event as well. He claimed that it was absolutely incredible.

John Cena was asked for his reaction about Batista declining to work with him or The Rock in a movie during his recent interview with Esquire. Replying to it, John said that he is sad about it because Batista is a great actor. Though later Cena claimed that he understands the sentiment behind the comment:

“I think when someone makes a statement like that, I think the important thing is to try and look at things from their perspective. Dave has worked so hard on his craft. And he is so dedicated to his characters. And really wants to put forth a body of work that gives him his own identity. I 100 percent understand that.”

John Cena doubled down on his comments about Batista saying that he cannot fault the fellow former world champion for wanting to be recognized for his work:

“He really just wants to be identified and recognized for his work. And I cannot fault him for that. I applaud him for it. To be brave enough to say something like that kind of allows him to go forth on his own and I appreciate that.”

Batista Doesn’t Want To Work With John Cena Or The Rock

Batista got wrestling fans talking earlier this year when he claimed that he doesn’t want to share the screen with fellow wrestlers turned acting stars John Cena and The Rock. The discussion kicked off when a fan suggested that these three should join forces for a movie but Batista declined the possibility. He clarified his remark explaining that he is a character actor and not just an action star:

What did you make of Batista’s comments about sharing screens with Cena or The Rock? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

This week’s episode of SmackDown saw Finn Balor officially being announced as the next challenger for Roman Reigns’ Universal championship.

Though this match was announced for next week’s episode of the show, leaving fans confused about the fate of the title for the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV.

PWInsider provided some updates on the situation. The site noted that the word backstage before the show was that Balor will indeed be challenging Reigns for his title next.

According to the site, the former NXT champion is expected to be the one to face the Tribal Chief in the SmackDown brand main event at the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV.

This will allow the company to save the much anticipated Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar match for the Crown Jewel in October or Survivor Series in November.

Based on these reports, we can expect next week’s Universal championship match to set up a title match for the next WWE PPV with some sort of stipulation.

There is no word yet on when can we expect Brock Lesnar to be back on TV after his SummerSlam return. It’s likely that we will not see him on WWE TV before Extreme Rules on September 26.

Bryan Danielson, better known to WWE fans as Daniel Bryan, is reportedly set to make his AEW debut at the upcoming All Out PPV from Chicago on September 5. The news comes from Cassidy Haynes of BodySlam.net, who was the first to report about the leader of the Yes Movement joining Tony Khan’s promotion.

Danielson was originally scheduled to debut on the September 22 episode of Dynamite from Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City but the officials have changed their minds.

The plans were changed due to the growing internal concern over increasing COVID-19 cases in the country and the tightened restrictions around New York City.

The company is also looking to maximize the buzz around new developments on the heels of CM Punk’s recent AEW debut. It’s one of the reasons why they have pulled Bryan’s debut closer.

Bryan Danielson’s Road to AEW

The former world champion has asked for fewer dates and comparable money in his AEW contract. The ability to work in Japan and having creative input were his demands which the promotion has apparently agreed with.

Daniel Bryan has not been seen on TV since the April 30 episode of SmackDown. He lost a career vs. title match to Universal champion Roman Reigns as a way to write him off TV when his contract expired.

There is no word yet on what he will be doing at the upcoming PPV. Though one thing is confirmed that the former WWE star’s debut will make All Out one of the most memorable AEW shows till date.

• Daniel Bryan Sporting A New Look Amidst Hints He’s AEW Bound

Daniel Bryan is gearing up for his apparently imminent AEW debut by abandoning his traditional appearance and opting for a brand new look instead.

Brie Bella recently shared photos with the former world champion on Instagram. In the pictures as seen below, the leader of the yes movement is seen sporting a brand new hairstyle:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brie Bella (@thebriebella)

Daniel Bryan opted not to renew his contract with WWE when his last deal expired in April this year. He was written off TV after losing a career vs. title match to Roman Reigns during the April 30 episode of SmackDown.

Daniel Bryan To AEW?

While the former champion himself has been pretty quiet about his future plans since his WWE departure, multiple reports suggest that he is AEW bound already.

The wrestling promotion has also been dropping hints about his future. Daniel Bryan action figures were recently shown on an episode of Being The Elite

This week’s episode of Dynamite saw CM Punk teasing Daniel Bryan’s arrival during his promo. When showered with yes chants from the fans, the straight edge star said “That’s somebody else’s shtick and you might just need to be a little more patient,”

When the star known as Bryan Danielson outside the WWE realm may make his return to wrestling is anyone’s guess. Though the AEW teases have certainly excited fans about the prospect of many interesting future rivalries for the American dragon.

Former WWE superstars Braun Strowman and Buddy Murphy are both likely heading to Impact Wrestling after their release from the company earlier this year, suggests Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer talked about the future of some recently released stars in the latest edition of the Newsletter. He noted that both the former WWE talents are likely headed to the Impact Zone:

“It appears that the former Braun Strowman and Buddy Murphy will be here, with Murphy as Buddy Matthews (his real name is Matthew Adams) and not sure what name Strowman will use. Scott D’Amore did a Twitch show from a baseball game and mentioned the term Braun for Glory.”

Meltzer also reiterated his comments about the company officials being interested in bringing in Bray Wyatt as well. Though he noted that it’s one situation that can go in many different directions.

Braun Strowman has not provided a lot of hints about his future since his WWE release. Buddy Murphy on the other hand has been very active on social media. He has been posting vignettes teasing his next move.

Since both the stars were released on June 2, they are expected to become free agents once their non-compete clause expires at the end of this month. It would be interesting to see when they make their first appearance for Impact.

While CM Punk only made his official return to pro wrestling last Friday during AEW Rampage, he knew in his mind that he will be coming back long before that.

The former WWE champion recently had an interview with Variety to promote the pro wrestling drama series Heels. He talked about his character on the show and more.

Punk also talked about his return to wrestling. He admitted that he had some idea about making his AEW debut while shooting the show in late 2020 and early 2021:

“It wasn’t 100%, but I knew that’s what I was doing, if that makes sense. It was just fortuitous, I guess. Here I am in a wrestling ring for this acting gig and I know, in the back of my head,

I’m getting back into the ring in a few months anyway, so I figured it was two birds one stone. I got a little out of camp training.”

CM Punk had been away from wrestling for more than 7 years after quitting WWE in 2014. He finally made his return during the second episode of AEW Rampage.

Heels airs on the Starz network on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. This week’s episode of the show will feature the debut of Punk’s character named Ricky Rabies.