Roman Reigns has an earlier commitment in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl, but he may be wearing one NFL team’s jersey come Sunday.
Reigns arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday ahead of the WrestleMania Kickoff Press Event going down this Thursday. First to step off the jet was Roman’s counsel, Paul Heyman before Reigns sauntered down, sporting a San Francisco 49ers track jacket. He may be called “The Tribal Chief” but that tribe does not reside in Kansas City.
Reigns may just be a 49ers fan, but at least one 49er is a fan of WWE. During the Super Bowl media days, 49ers tight end George Kittle cut a promo about how he feels about the notorious situation between Cody Rhodes and The Rock. Kittle proposed that The Rock special guest referees the showdown between Rhodes and Reigns, but is excited for the prospect of all that may unfold two months from now in Philadelphia.
The road to WrestleMania continues through Sin City before heading to the City of Brotherly Love and the Kickoff event is a first for this TKO era. The event will go down at the T-Mobile Arena, right across the street from Allegiant Stadium where the Super Bowl will take place. Scheduled to appear at the T-Mobile arena are Reigns and his assumed opponent for WrestleMania, The Rock as well as Rhodes, Triple H, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair and Montez Ford.
Cody Rhodes not facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania is at bare-minimum, bittersweet, but to a great deal of the WWE fanbase, it’s much more than that.
The Rock stepping the line to face his nephew had to feel like an “American Nightmare” scenario for Cody Rhodes fans on Friday. The full video clip of the segment on SmackDown has already become WWE’s most disliked YouTube clip of all time and so from a creative standpoint, that should give WWE a cause for pause if it hasn’t already. WWE clearly has a “Yes Movement Pt. Deux” on its hands. But as Cody mentor DDP once quipped, “that’s not a bad thing, but a good thing.”
Bryan Danielson was the fan-appointed favorite and for good reason. Just like Cody, the 2014 Daniel Bryan had synergy with wrestling fans and there was no denying riding with him was the move that should have been done. Poor Batista found himself in The Rock spot and he, along with Orton, became the unfortunate conduits for fan ire. Could that segment on SmackDown do the same for The People’s Champion?
The moment has gotten a lot of heat from fans, but how it was executed from all parties involved was beautifully done. Reigns immediately re-established the ability to hang with anyone behind the stick, but Cody became the main man to lay the groundwork for everyone involved. Sure, Roman went scorched earth on Rollins and his ‘Big Gold,’ but that can simply be chalked up to his manipulative ways. Plus, Seth did the same to Roman’s hardware on Monday, calling it a “Hollywood” championship.
It was Cody who helped bring Roman’s Title back to relevance, conjuring up the lineage from the Bruno Sammartino days. If WWE wants to make both titles feel equally desirable, a confrontation between Roman and Seth would do wonders.
Fans are hung up on Rhodes willingly calling an audible with The Rock usurping him in Philly, but Cody’s story ties perfectly into that match up that fans feel scornful of: the aspect of family.
Why does The Rock want Roman? His nephew has corrupted the Maivia and A’noai legacy and turned it into something self-serving. Cody knows all about legacy. The loving ties he has to his late father have been something fans have cherished throughout Cody’s story, so Cody would be the perfect man to understand The Rock’s intentions of wanting to end Roman’s reign. This is all the reason you need to have those respective matches at WrestleMania 40. Which leads me back to “Yes Movement Part Deux”
Can The Rock really be the recipient of boos in Philadelphia? The City of Brotherly Love have shown they aren’t above throwing batteries at Santa Claus, so yes, absolutely. However, it’s a match that has to happen and no matter what, despite what’s being said, it is the proper stage for it to go down on. The fans are who can ultimately change the course of what truly transpires at WrestleMania. Perhaps this feedback will force WWE’s hand in Cody really finishing his story, not just against Seth, but Roman too or maybe even The Rock.
At the very least, it will continue to add an unexpected chapter to Cody’s story: “‘The Thrill Of The Chase’ Continues” – a chapter Dusty originally penned. These hard times will pay off for The American Nightmare, because he has the fans on his side.
Maria Kanellis wants light to be shed on the darkness of the ongoing Vince McMahon allegations, which gets muddier by the week.
Just as WWE was set to celebrate Royal Rumble weekend, the Wall Street Journal released information on a 67-page lawsuit against McMahon and heinous allegations of sexual assaullt against former employee Janel Grant.
Kanellis, a former WWE talent, has already gave her thoughts on McMahon in the past, but offered a new response since John Laurinaitis’ legal counsel issued a statement, claiming that he himself was a victim of Vince’s power.
“All the news coming out is horrible. Many of us experienced or heard rumors of different levels of evil for years. Some tried to speak up to build momentum to change the culture in WWE. Many times we’ve been called bitter or crazy. Others have been paralyzed by fear. I just hope justice is served and I hope this brings some people peace. I pray for all of the victims, the ones that have spoke up, the ones no longer with us, and the ones that suffer in silence.”
It’s not just former employees who have commented on the McMahon allegations as Cody Rhodes, Shawn Michaels and Triple H have all been asked to address the matter. Michaels was the latest, stating that everyone in NXT is aware of the matter and called it an incredibly sad situation. Both Cody Rhodes and Triple H were asked about Vince during the Royal Rumble Press Conference on Saturday and gave their own degree of a response.
Sometimes, you just got to “let it go” and that’s what one AEW star decided to do with his hairdo.
Ariya Daivari decided to part ways with his hairline this week and decided to share his shave-off on social media. Davairi showed it all go down on Instagram through a time-lapse video to the music of “Let It Go” from Frozen, but did provide a little caveat to the song choice.
“Welp…BTW, I’ve never seen Frozen. ‘Let It Go’ was the only lyric I knew. This wasn’t meant to be some empowering post lol. S***’s not that big of deal.”
Ariya follows in the footsteps of his older brother Shawn Daivari who too once had a full head of hair before going the “Stone Cold” route. Ariya got a fair share of responses from his pro wrestling comrades with Matt Cardona simply calling him a “quitter” while others like Savio Vega and Brian Cage were a little more supportive.
However, Daivari may have inspired further change as it got recent TNA debutee and fellow 205 Live alum, Mustafa Ali considering the clippers himself responding in the replies with a simple statement.
“Might do the same soon.”
Drew Gulak actually wanted Ariya to go the extra mile and pull a Sean Waltman rib on himself telling him to “Now do the eyebrows.”
Davairi has been with AEW for over two years now and now works as a wrestler, producer and coach for the company. Meanwhile, his brother Shawn serves as a producer for WWE.
The head shaving hasn’t just been solely on the men in pro wrestling. Months ago before getting married, Shotzi also happened to shave her head as well.
The People’s Champ is taking his new TKO Board Of Directors role quite seriously as he took to social media to share some photos of himself visiting the new WWE headquarters. The Rock then reflected on making the stop and had a lot to say about the ‘mana’ that the new building carries.
“I needed to make one more final and most important visit – I wanted to come to Stamford, Connecticut to see our INCREDIBLE WWE HQ TEAM in person.
“To express to everyone my deepest gratitude for their commitment and talents, as well as my boundless excitement to go shoulder to shoulder with everyone to continue to build our company. Face to face. Eyes to eyes. Handshakes and hugs. I was completely blown away. You can FEEL the mana, energy, love and momentum!
“It’s a very exciting time for our companies and I’m forever proud to have played and continue to play a very small role in the growth of WWE. I’m honored to now sit at the table that my grandfather and my father helped to build. On the shoulders of giants, we stand. In the spirit of unity we grow. ~ Rock.”
The Rock has been plenty active on social media since becoming part of the board and has been putting TKO over big time since the news broke last week.
Not only does he have the new job title to be happy about, but Dwayne Johnson also has got to be electrified by finally owning “The Rock” trademark, something he also posted about on Instagram.
Shawn Michaels was well-aware of Jordynne Grace before she entered the women’s Royal Rumble match this past Saturday and even wanted her in the WWE fold.
Speaking with the media ahead of WWE Vengeance Day Shawn Michaels was asked about the possibility of TNA connecting with NXT in the future for a “When Worlds Collide” PLE down the line. HBK first took the moment to speak about Grace and her talent.
“I’ve always sort of seen her from afar, and I’ve always wondered, you know, I don’t know, ‘What if she’d be interested, coming down next year, coming to the WWE?’ But my fault for never reaching out because I assume if you’re with another company, you know, that’s not allowed.”
Grace impressed many with her performance in the match as she lasted over 20 minutes before being eliminated by Bianca Belair in epic fashion. Michaels did end up addressing the olive branch extended to TNA at Royal Rumble and noted that the move possibily opens up for cool opportunities down the line, even if he has zero say in the matter.
“I think some things that probably we were never even allowed to consider or look at in the past is at least something that we can begin to look at and think about in the future.
“I, for one, very excited about that again, but those are, once again, those are things on a corporate level that I don’t get to say so.”
Shawn Michaels was asked about the Vince McMahon allegations during the NXT Vengeance Day media call on Thursday and answered them head on.
The first three questions of the call were all in relation to the recent heinous allegations made about Michaels’ former boss. One of which was if he talked to his NXT roster about it after all the news broke last Thursday. Michaels said he hadn’t had conversations with the talent about it, but everyone is well-aware of all the controversy.
“It’s incredibly sad situation. I can sit here and go like, you know, ‘It sucks,’ but we have always again, and I’ve mentioned it to you all in the past that we take all of the youth that come through here incredibly serious because this is a tough line of work regardless of what’s going on, just leaving home and coming here and pursuing your dreams is, is a big thing that we take incredibly serious here.
The 4-time World Champion spoke about WWE prospects being vulnerable and knows the importance of continuing to attract the Superstars of tomorrow.
“We understand young men and women that come through our doors are impressible. So we absolutely certainly encouraged the openness and again, telling everybody to please again, tell us the truth, you know, and let us know how we can help, but that’s something that again has been here for a long time, and we continue to do our best to improve on that because it is, it’s one of the most important things to me is to be able to ask those questions.”
Michaels also went on to say that he doesn’t care if people think talent today are softer because of the positive culture he tries to cultivate down in NXT, but it’s for their own betterment.
Michaels did close out the call by saying this was toughest media call he’s done to date and understood that tough questions needed to be asked.
William Regal’s recent appearance on WWE NXT marks his first since returning to the company over a year ago and Shawn Michaels knows Regal is a fan favorite.
Speaking with the media on the NXT Vengeance Day media call, HBK was asked by Ella Jay of SEScoops if Regal’s passing of the torch to Ava Raine as the new NXT General Manager meant more things to come from the future WWE Hall of Famer.
“[Regal] is there for her counsel in any way he can help. So look, you know as well as I do here in NXT, when you have a staple and a foundational person like William Regal you gotta have more than just one shot with him here and there.
“I think everybody was extremely excited about his brief cameo on NXT television. I have no doubt that we will have some other cameos by William Regal in the future as well.”
Regal may have been off-television for an entire year since leaving AEW, but that was per stipulation of him exiting the company. A big reason for Regal wanting to return to WWE was that his son, Charlie Dempsey is a rising talent in NXT and he wanted to be part of his development.
Funny enough, Ava Raine is also following in her father’s footsteps as the very same week The Rock was announced as a member of the TKO Board Of Directors, Raine was appointed the new GM, a major role that she’s hoping to electrify in.
Please credit and h/t to SEScoops for the transcription.
Samoa Joe doesn’t tend to walk away from a fight, but from a high-flyer? Sign him up. During a recent interview with veteran journalist Justin Barrasso for Sports Illustrated, Joe was asked about a notorious spot he’s done in matches since his early days in the ring.
Whenever an opponent climbs the top rope and goes for an aerial assault, he casually walks out of the vicinity of the attack and leaves his foe looking foolish. Joe gave some common sense reasoning as to why he’s implemented such a magical moment in the ring.
“As a small youth in my younger days, if I saw something large or very destructive coming toward me, it was only natural to step aside,” said Joe. “It’s not rocket science.”
Joe says the inspiration behind the fan favorite spot draws from the early days of mankind.
“The cavemen understood this, too,” said Joe. “If you see a rock coming toward you from the top of the hill, move a little to the left.”
While he’s done the “nope” countless times in matches, a recent moment in AEW went viral during a squash match where Joe walked away and the talent was caught mid-air with a “WTF” expression on his face.
It’s not just enhancement talent who falls prey to Joe’s “walk away.” CM Punk became just another victim of Joe’s casual decision-making during his AEW matches with his long-time rival.
Adam Copeland may be at odds with Christian Cage on AEW television, but the former Edge appreciates what his best buddy is doing.
Speaking with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Copeland commented on Cage’s run as an ultimate heel and noted why the current TNT Champion is so good at what he does.
“He does this so well because he wants to be one,” said Copeland. “Somewhere along the way, that’s got lost. Heels became cooler than the babyface. That’s not how it should be. That’s not how he sees it, either. I mean, the man wears a cut-off turtleneck. There’s nothing cool about what he’s doing.
“He’s fully committed to it. He’s a Bond villain and loving it. It’s fun to be involved with.”
Copeland finally crossed pathes with Cage not just on AEW Dynamite but World’s End where the WWE Hall Of Famer actually defeated Cage for the TNT Championship, but quickly lost it back to Killswitch, who won a battle royal earlier in the evening. The belt went back to Cage who continues his heelish run.
Adam Copeland On AEW Being Different: “I Want More Choices”
When it comes to AEW being an alternative than WWE, Copeland pulled from his own fandom as a kid and getting access to different territories in wrestling.
“I remember growing up and dying to be able to get my hands on NWA tapes. It didn’t air where I lived, where there was WWF. I found International Wrestling from Montreal. I found All Star Wrestling from Vancouver. I found all these other shows, and I loved that. I’d get little snippets of guys I’d only seen in magazines. Then the show Pro Wrestling Plus with Ed Whalen, who was the announcer for Stampede, started, and I finally got to see wrestlers from the NWA and Continental. I just thought, give it all to me.”
Pat McAfee admits that he didn’t know every name involved with the 2024 Royal Rumble, but the NFL-punter-turned-WWE-commentator was impressed.
Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show, the new WWE Raw color commentator noted that he was unaware of some stars in the respective Rumble matches, one was current TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace, who shocked everybody with her appearance.
“Jordynne Grace. I had no clue who that was. As I was going through Gorilla to get up and out … I see her, and I’m like, because she had a title around her and she was facing away, I’m like, ‘Holy f***. Who is jocked, absolutely jocked?’ Then I come out there, and they’re like, ‘TNA Knockouts Champion.’ It’s like, ‘Holy s***.’”
Pat McAfee Admits to Not Recognizing Jordynne Grace at WWE Royal Rumble:
“There were some people that came out; I had no idea who they were. I had no clue. I was looking over at the trons, and I’m like, ‘What’s the name here? What’s the name here?’ And [Michael] Cole and Corey… pic.twitter.com/MMheEwDx0b
Grace didn’t eliminate anyone in the Women’s Royal Rumble match, but she did last over 20 minutes before being taken out by Bianca Belair. She also had a memorable run-in with Naomi, who just this past month dropped the Knockouts Championship to Grace at TNA Hard To Kill.
It was reported by PWInsider that Grace’s appearance in the match was actually an overture made by WWE to TNA with one source even believing that Triple H was the catalyst behind it all happening.
Grace also recounted the phone call she received from Scott D’Amore asking if she’d be interested in working the match to which Grace was shocked about it all occurring,
McAfee also happened to be an entrant in the men’s Royal Rumble match, but when he realized he was going to have to go up against Omos and Bron Breakker, he swiftly eliminated himself.
MJF no longer possesses his prized ‘Triple B’ AEW World Championship, but he’s wasting no time building up his resume in Hollywood. Following his work on screen and Executive Producing The Iron Claw, Maxwell Jacob Friedman will be returning to the big screen soon,
Deadline reports the 27-year-old wrestling prodigy will appear in the upcoming comedy film Floaters. The film also stars Jackie Tohn of GLOW, Sarah Podemski of Reservoir Dogs, Steve Guttenberg of Police Academy and former WWE Raw guest host Seth Green.
According to Deadline, the movie “follows struggling musician Nomi (Tohn) who accepts a last-resort job from her overachiever best friend Mara (Podemski): mentoring misfit campers, the “Floaters,” at their childhood Jewish summer camp. As the camp struggles to survive amidst competition with a longtime rival, Nomi, the Floaters, and Mara must overcome their differences to bring the community together and save the camp.”
The film recently finished filming in MJF’s backyard of New York City.
More about Floaters
Director Rachel Israel spoke about how The Floaters made certain to cast people of the Jewish faith.
“We are very proud to say that The Floaters boasts Jewish actors cast in virtually every role – allowing for an authentic portrayal and celebration of the diversity within modern Jewish communities. The Floaters resists tired cliches often attributed in the media to embrace a rich culture and explore multidimensional Jewish characters.”
There is no word as to a release date of the film or the specific role MJF will be playing, but the former champ is fresh off a very brief cameo in “The Iron Claw” as notorious faux Von Erich relative, Lance Von Erich.
MJF last appeared on television at December’s World’s End pay-per-view, where he lost the World Championship to Samoa Joe.
Posted January 31st, 2024 in AEW, News. Tagged: MJF.
Kazuchika Okada is going to be a free agent on Groundhog’s Day, and if one were to go by the 1993 movie with Bill Murray by that very name, one major wrestling company wants to tell “The Rainmaker” “I got you, babe.”
It was revealed on January 30 that Okada’s merchandise on Pro Wrestling Tees had been removed from the website and it led many to wonder what that could mean for the NJPW legend. Considering that PWTees has a strong relationship with AEW, the initial thought may be this is a sign that Okada is WWE bound, however, a new report from PWInsider thinks otherwise.
According to Mike Johnson, Okada evidently has a strong relationship with Matt and Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks and due to that, his sources lead him to believe that The Rainmaker will eventually become All Elite.
Okada’s agent happens to be pro wrestling super agent Barry Bloom. Bloom also represents The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page and recent AEW signee Will Ospreay. Ospreay didn’t spend long at all on the free agent market and AEW was quick to ink him to a deal.
While Okada will be a free agent on Tuesday, he still has a major obligation to finish up with NJPW. On February 11, he’ll be facing off against long-time rivl and current NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi has recently stated he wants to become the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion once again and additionally, has big plans for NJPW moving forward.
Seth Rollins further makes his case for Cody Rhodes to challenge him instead of Roman Reigns at WrestleMania and Ric Flair has taken note.
Rollins continued his campaign for Cody on social media as a compelling video package was put together by WWE with Rollins doing the narratiion and asking Rhodes what road he wants to take in finishing his story.
“Cody Rhodes – look in your heart and ask yourself what kind of champion do you want to be? Do you want to be like the Ultimate Warrior or do you want to be like The Nature Boy Ric Flair? Tell me, Cody, what kind of champion do you want to be?”
During the clip, it was highlighted how “The Nature Boy” was a staunch defending champion of the “Big Gold” during his Jim Crockett Promotions prime and although unprompted, Ric Flair looks to be in support of Cody choosing Rollins over Roman.
“The answer to that question is obvious! Just look at how Cody Rhodes styles & profiles! WOOOOO!”
During WWE Raw this past Monday, Rollins interrupted the 2024 Royal Rumble winner right before he was going to stake his claim for the WWE Undisputed Universal Title and pitched himself to The American Nightmare as the appropriate opponent for him at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia.
While The WWE World Heavyweight Championship doesn’t have direct lineage to the original World Heavyweight Title in WCW, it sure bears a resemblence. Rollins may have invoked Ric Flair’s name during the video package, but he also spoke of Dusty Rhodes as someone whom held the “working man’s” title.
Dutch Mantell has always gotten bad vibes when he was around Vince McMahon and the Memphis wrestling legend thinks with the latest allegations where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
On his “Story Time with Dutch Mantell” podcast, Mantell and his co-host covered the 67-page legal document of the horrific allegations McMahon has been accused of.and Dutch thinks with all the NDAs signed that where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
“If he’s already paid out that much money, he’s guilty.”
Mantell then pulls from his personal experience with Vince McMahon and how he got some different energy from McMahon.
“I think he’s guilty of all of this and Vince is not right. I’ve always detected a vibe around Vince that something is off.
“I didn’t know exactly what it was, but even talking to him sometimes, he’d look at you and you’d think, ‘What the f*** is he talking about?’ And then you get up and leave the room and you may not have even gotten an answer to the question you asked, but you got a lot of Vince’s vibe cause when he would walk into the whole room, the attitude in the room would change.”
Mantell then addresses the allegations that McMahon used sex toys on the victim, Janel Grant, named after WWE Superstars. Dutch believes this certain detail is so unique that nobody could conjure something up like that.
“This is only a detail that she would know. I mean, if I was a woman and I was making up stuff, I couldn’t even make that up so that’s what makes me think it’s real, that it really happened because that does sound like Vince.”
Mantell goes on to add that he doesn’t believe that we’ll see this matter go to trial and a settlement will be reached because other parties don’t want to be implicated and the damage is already done.
Please credit “Story Time With Dutch Mantell” and h/t to SEScoops for the transcription.
Becky Lynch is going around to make towns for her forthcoming book.
With her autobiography, “Becky Lynch: The Man” coming out on March 26, Lynch. revealed that she’ll be hitting several book stores to sign copies of the book in person with fans. Lynch posted the following on social media.
“I can’t wait to share my story, in person, when The Man’s book tour comes around starting March 26th!”
Lynch is set to appear at the following book stores starting on March 26, the day the book hits stores.
Becky Lynch Book Tour Dates & Cities
March 26 at 123:00 PM ET: Barnes & Noble, Fifth Ave., New York, NY
March 27 at 6:00 PM ET: Bookends, Ridgewood, NJ
March 28 at 7:00 PM ET: Washington, DC
March 29 at 12:00 PM ET: RJ Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT
April 2 at 6:00 PM ET: Barnes & Noble, Philadelphia, PA
April 13 at 2:00 PM PT: Barnes & Noble, The Grove, Los Angeles, CA
I can't wait to share my story, in person, when The Man's book tour comes around starting March 26th! pic.twitter.com/th7atUuHOr
Lynch was one of the few favorites to win the Royal Rumble and “The Man” made her run-in at #21 and lasted over 20 minutes in the bout before being eliminated by a returning Naomi and a debuting Jade Cargill. The winner ended up being Lynch’s fellow Four Horsewoman, Bayley who entered the match at #3.
Where Lynch may land for WrestleMania is currently undetermined, but with Bayley likely challenging her current Damage CTRL teammate Iyo Sky for her title, Rhea Ripley still needs an opponent.
Wrestling legend Kevin Nash believes former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley is in a different class than everyone else in All Elite Wrestling.
The nWo founder spoke about AEW on the latest episode of his Kliq Thispodcast. Nash acknowledged he’s gotten heat for not watching AEW, but was able to watch last week’s AEW Dynamite due to a shift in his schedule.
Nash didn’t hold back while reviewing each match and segment of the show along with co-host Sean Oliver. He took issue with several creative decisions, but one segment in particular left him wanting more.
Jon Moxley brings realism to AEW
According to Nash, Jon Moxley’s pre-recorded backstage promo was the best part of the entire show. He’s seen it all throughout his legendary career and knows talent when he sees it. AEW has a lot of talented wrestlers, but Nash says Moxley is the only one who comes across like it’s real.
“There was a promo he cut a couple weeks ago where he was bloody and he was talking s*** about all the different, uh, belts that are out there and ‘he lost and he didn’t get one tonight.’ And it’s just like..
Moxley gets it. I think Moxley’s the only one that gets it on that show and he owns it. He comes across f******, like, real.”
Nash mentioned how bummed he was that that particular segment was the only thing Moxley was in the entire night. Elsewhere on the show, Nash appreciated the presentation of AEW World Champion Samoa Joe, but felt that HOOK came across as minor league due to the way he was dressed.
Moxley has been with AEW since the beginning and has stepped up for the company countless times throughout tumultuous times.
Despite not being seen on AEW television for a long time, the company has re-signed one of it’s stars during the COVID-19 era.
Anthony Ogogo revealed on the latest episode of AEW Restricted that he has signed a new deal with All Elite Wrestling and believes that Tony Khan has a lot of confidence in him as a star.
“There’s working there (on the independents) and there’s working AEW. So I’m in a weird situation now where I think there’s a lot of potential around me and Tony Khan has signed me and he’s re-signed me. So he obviously sees something in me and I have this aura which people haven’t got because they haven’t done what I’ve done in real life.”
Ogogo did make an appearance in his home country at AEW All In in London, but in a segment with Paul Wight and Grado. The former rival of Cody Rhodes questioned the prospect of working on the independents to get more experience, but also believes he’s ready for the main stage.
“I don’t wanna be patient… I don’t wanna be patient anymore. I wanna show my worth. I just wanna show what I can do… If I didn’t think I could deliver, I wouldn’t be saying this. But I know what I can do, I know what I have. I just wanna contribute.”
The former boxer admitted that his initial run in AEW hasn’t met his expectations, but realizes he has to put in the work.
“All I can do is work hard and give it my all and when the call comes, hopefully the call will come, to show up and turn up and that’s what I’m doing.”
Please credit AEW Unrestricted and h/t to Andrew Thompson of POST Wrestling for the transcription.
Aside from his friend turned enemy in Christian Cage, Adam Copeland has his toughest competition forthcoming this week on AEW Dynamite in Minoru Suzuki.
In light of the first-ever battle between two long-established veterans, Copeland took a moment to comment on the fight. AEW shared a clip of the former TNT Champion lamenting for his eagerness to step into the ring with a legend of NJPW.
“Minoru Suzuki vs. ‘The Rated R Superstar.’ Man, I get goosebumps just thinking about it. We are gonna beat the hell out of each other – two grizzly gnarled evil bastards beating eachother up and I can’t wait.
“Suzuki I know what you’re going to bring, I hope you know what I’m going to bring. I’m gonna sum this match up in three words for all of you. Grit your teeth.”
Minoru Suzuki has squared up against several top stars in AEW including Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston and current AEW World Champion Samoa Joe. Back at Forbidden Door, Suzuki also stood across the ring from a different WWE Hall of Famer in Sting as he teamed up with Jericho and Sammy Guevara to battle The Icon, Darby Allin and Tetsuya Naito in trios action.
AEW Dynamite this week sure has a stacked card on Wednesday. Not only do fans get Copeland vs. Suzuki, but will get to see Swerve Strickland vs. Jeff Hardy and Hangman Page take on Penta El Zero Miedo in singles action. Additionally, the aforementioned Sting and Darby Allin will be in attendance
Tony Khan may think some wrestling legends are rooting against him and AEW, but that’s extremely far from the case. All of his critics with any sort of credibility have benefited from competition and know that AEW being a success is only better for pro wrestling, including WWE.
Randy Savage notoriously said, “the cream always rises,” and the cream was rising for AEW for the first couple of years, but many factors have put a lid on that cream. Now it’s sitting in the fridge behind a carton of week-expired egg whites.
The AEW President needs to take any assumed vitriol out of his head and take heed of what the veterans are saying, especially if he wants AEW to catch that momentum it once had.
Khan and former WCW President Eric Bischoff have gone back and forth on X which is nearly as entertaining as the Monday Night Wars (and unfortunately, more engaging than the current AEW product), but a narrative is getting spun that is pretty inaccurate.
In a recent interview, FTR claimed that Bischoff has been critical of AEW because Khan didn’t give Bischoff a job with the company. On his podcast, Eric has stated several times he never wanted to work for AEW and that his original bone of contention with Khan began back when Tony took shots at Ted Turner. On top of that, Bischoff has made clear he wants AEW to succeed. Bischoff is blunt and abrasive in his criticisms at times, but his insight is always constructive. FTR and Khan just aren’t getting a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.
Another name to get arrows slung his way is Bully Ray. On Busted Open Radio, the Dudley Boy has implored Khan to put his phone down and step away from social media. Additionally, he’s been very open about his criticisms of officiating and admits that he has to look at AEW with a different set of eyes than he does with WWE because AEW offers an alternative in wrestling. He noted that Khan didn’t grow up underneath the learning tree of a wrestling promoter, therefore he’s not technically a booker, but a matchmaker.
A third legend to give some sound advice has been Konnan. Much like he does with Bischoff, Khan has a contentious social media relationship with Konnan’s K100 co-host, Disco Inferno. After Khan posted some harsh words towards the former WCW star after Disco said the company needed a “reset” the two friends discussed it on their podcast with Konnan stating that Khan needs to listen to the constructive criticism thrown his way, filtering all the helpful feedback from the negative.
One name who is genius, but one can completely understand Khan steering clear from is Jim Cornette. Cornette is perhaps the most polarizing name out of all legends critical of AEW and does so with his signature venomous vernacular. Many fans simply tune in to hear Cornette crack back at AEW, but Khan would really have to void himself of all emotion to accept what Cornette has to say. Cearly one could get something beneficial from his input, but while Bischoff offers no sugar, Corny offers a spoonful of salt (to the wound). That being said, if Khan appointed someone to listen to the show, the AEW President would have plenty to garner and harvest.
Nuance and context have never coincided with the cesspool that can be social media. Just like it’s important to anyone dabbling in the dark arts, if the very busy Khan had the time to do further dive into what gets said about him and his company, he’d learn a lot about himself and the legends who only want what’s best for business.
If one were going by the live crowd reaction, Joe was tremendously over to start the fight, but two-thirds into the battle, Joe and HOOK got the audience completely over on the challenger’s side.
Speaking on an episode of “My World,” Jarrett talked about how it takes a rare talent to be able to do that for their opponents. Joe did just as much during his undefeated streak in TNA.
“My default answer was, ‘Joe can win and still help get guys over.’ That’s an art. That was taught to me in many different ways from my dad and Jerry Lawler, but it is so true, and if you can’t really do that, I don’t think you can really get to the next level. It’s easy to win and get yourself over. It’s even more difficult to win and get your opponent over, but Joe could do it.”
How TNA Ended Joe’s Undefeated Streak In TNA
Jarrett admitted there was no end in sight for Samoa Joe to lose to anyone in TNA, but then Kurt Angle came along and signed with the company.
“…then that quick conversation to Orlando from Dave Hawk, who is Kurt’s manager, and said, ‘Hey man. I think you’ve got a shot if you want to have Kurt come on board ‘ and how all that came together, and then the Kurt and Joe trilogy.”
Please credit My World and h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
Randy Orton can be a world title contender at any moment and The Viper will be one of three Royal Rumble weekend, but what about WrestleMania?
Orton will join AJ Styles and LA Knight as challengers for Roman Reigns’ big gold in one of the featured fights. Before that, Orton was a special guest on WWE’s The Bump and was asked about potentially becoming WWE Champion again. This prompted Orton to mention the name of a long-time rival.
“A dream match for me would be to somehow find myself in a situation where I’m fighting Cena at WrestleMania for the title. I don’t know how you get there. I’m not saying it’s gonna happen, but I have never wrestled John at WrestleMania in a singles match. We had some wars back in the day, so being able to revisit that after all this, I think it’s not only something that I would want, I think the fans would eat it up too.”
To Orton’s point, The Apex Predator saw Cena in the ring nearly countless times over a decade ago. The rivalry was taken to the well so many times that it notoriously became a match-up that fans would get sick of.
Cena made his return to WWE over the summer, but Orton and he crossed like two ships in the night as Orton made his return at Survivor Series.
At Royal Rumble, the initial belief was that Orton would likely challenge Roman Reigns one-on-one for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship, but a report from Dave Meltzer stated Styles and Knight were added to the fight in order to prolong that singles fight for a battle down the road.
Please credit The Bump and h/t to Fightful for the transcription.
Samoa Joe is known to be a hard-hitter, but the AEW World Champion named three other names who pack their own special kind of power. However, none of them hit as hard as he does.
The champ was asked about who he would name as the hardest hitters in wrestling. Joe named two Japanese legends before naming three modern talents that devastate with their own power.
“The list is a Mount Rushmore of some of the most dangerous people in the world,” he said. “You start from [Kenta] Kobashi and [Mitsuharu] Misawa. Young Wardlow. He hits like a truck. Brock Lesnar hits like a truck. Roman Reigns hits like a truck.”
There’s tons of people around the sphere of wrestling who all hit hard, and I’ve felt all that power, but they don’t hit as hard as me.”
Reigns and Lesnar have had their fair share of championships, but the AEW World Title is the first World Championship Joe has held since his TNA days.
Gage Goldberg is looking to be “Da Man” for Deion Sanders. The son of Goldberg made the announcement on social media on Tuesday that he is committing to University of Colorado as he joins a collegiate football program that was white hot to start the 2023 season.
“After a great conversation, I am honored to announce that I am committing to the University of Colorado to continue my football and academic career!”
Bill Goldberg, a WWE Hall of Famer, happened to be NFL teammates with Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders as both played for the Atlanta Falcons over three decades ago.
Gage Goldberg certainly had some moments on the main stage of a WWE ring as he accompanied his father on several occassions as Goldberg continued his unstoppable reign in pro wrestling.
Speaking with TMZ, Gage revealed that his father actually got in contact with Sanders about his son joining his team for 2024. Gage, a star linebacker in high school, said that he originally wanted to commit to the University of Alabama, but he had a change of plans when legendary coach Nick Saban announced his retirement from the game.
“We already looking at property in Tuscaloosa,” Bill Goldberg laughed, who praised Saban for not just his coaching legacy in football, but the character and integrity he brought to the game. He also went on to praise his former teammate Deion.
“Let’s be perfectly honest, Deion and I are great friends. I love the man like he’s my brother. I’d do anything for him. I say that when I was his teammate, I say that now.”
Lexis King goes by a new name, but John Cena made it clear you make your own name in pro wrestling.
King, real name Brian Pillman Jr., made his WWE debut at NXT Halloween Havoc and revealed in a new interview with Chris Van Vliet that John Cena came down to visit the roster down in Orlando, FL.
“He actually came and did a seminar with us at the PC. I thought, ‘Okay, I’ll see what’s going on.’ I’m so glad I went. It was the most enlightening…it wasn’t just little questions that people would ask. We were getting into it. We were talking about contract negotiations and all this different stuff. It was amazing, the amount of questions we were able to ask and get answered.”
King, however, noted about the one very intriguing piece of advice Cena gave to the the hopeful future WWE Superstars sitting under his learning tree.
“One of the coolest things he said was, ‘You can’t control the booking and who is wearing what belt, but you can be the best version of said character.'”
Cena told the NXT roster that he believes it not to be beneficial to pitch ideas to WWE as they have a staff for doing that. Just focusing on the character you’re given to portray is key.
King noted that in AEW he made successful pitches to the company, but he won’t do it again while in WWE. He also opened up about how he really questioned his own value in wrestling while apart of the AEW roster.
Please credit Chris Van Vliet and h/t to Fightful for the transcription.
