Several reports recently have suggested that Charlotte Flair has become not well-liked backstage in WWE. Flair’s reputation with others in WWE was addressed recently in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that Flair has ruffled feathers with many on the roster and this sometimes has to do with match structure.

“One of the complaints is that Flair wants to be a heel, is a heel, but does babyface moves during matches,” Meltzer wrote. This includes doing moonsaults and similar moves. He noted that there is a belief backstage that it is hard for a babyface to get over working with Flair. Rhea Ripley was noted specifically as someone who could have been made a bigger star in her program with her.

“Other aspects were the feeling that Rhea Ripley should have been elevated to Raw women’s champion and not tag team champion and been cooled off as she was the young star on the way up who Flair should have made,” Meltzer continued.

Flair’s match with Nia Jax from late-August that devolved into a bit of a shoot fight was also addressed. Meltzer noted in his report that the WWE women’s locker room was supportive of Nia in that situation. The feeling is Nia stood up to Flair and showed she would not be bullied.

Flair and Lynch had been friends for much of their careers. Both are members of the 4 Horsewomen of NXT, but reportedly they have not been close recently.

More on the Charlotte Flair situation:

• Details On Sonya Deville Confronting Charlotte Flair Backstage
• Charlotte Flair Has Been ‘Increasing Difficult’ To Work With (Report)
• Charlotte Flair Escorted Out Of SmackDown After Becky Lynch Confrontation
• Nia Jax and Charlotte Flair Match Breaks Down into Shoot Fight on RAW
• Charlotte Flair And Becky Lynch Had Shoot Confrontation After SmackDown

Impact Wrestling 9/28 featured the fallout from Bound For Glory. Moose made his first appearance as the new Impact World Champion and Minoru Suzuki made his promotional debut.

Impact 9/28 Quick Results:

1. X-Division Championship
   Trey Miguel defeated Rocky Romero
2. Rachael Ellering defeated Tasha Steelz
3. Heath vs Joe Doering – No Contest
4. Ace Austin defeats Chris Sabin

Moose Cuts First Promo As Champion, Josh Alexander & Minoru Suzuki Interrupt

Moose cut his first promo as Impact World Champion to kick off the show. He alluded to champions from other promotions before stating that he is the greatest champion in all of pro-wrestling. The man he cashed in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet trophy against, Josh Alexander, hit the ring and attacked Moose, sending him running into the crowd. Just then, Minoru Suzuki’s music hit and he came to the ring. Suzuki and Alexander then came face-to-face. Alexander turned his attention back to Moose but Suzuki turned him around and the two began exchanging blows. Security eventually came out to separate Alexander and Suzuki.

Trey Miguel Successfully Defends X-Division Title, Attacked By Steve Maclin

Trey Miguel successfully defended his newly won X-Division Championship in the first match of the night against NJPW’s Rocky Romero. After a difficult match, Miguel was attacked from behind by Steve Maclin. Maclin hung Miguel up in the Tree of Woe and delivered a spear.

Later in the show, Maclin pointed out that Miguel’s never beaten him and nobody in Impact has defeated him. Scott D’Amore then said he would give him an opportunity to qualify for an X-Division title match next week.

Rachael Ellering Defeats Tasha Steelz

After a backstage confrontation between Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering and Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans, a match was made with Ellering taking on Steelz. After a back-and-forth match, Ellering picked up the victory with a back-slide after countering a cutter from Steelz.

Heath & Rhino Battle With Violent By Design

The feud between Heath & Rhino and Violent By Design continued this week. A match between Heath and Joe Doering was thrown out after Rhino and Deaner started brawling in the ring. Rhino was then going to get his hands on Eric Young but EY backed away, noting that he was still injured. It turns out Young is all cleared, however, as he would then get involved as VBD used the numbers advantage to take out both Heath and Rhino. Young gave Heath a piledriver to close the segment.

Madison Rayne Challenges Mickie James

Mickie James came out to cut her first promo since winning the Knockouts title at Bound for Glory. She praised Deonna Purrazzo for giving her the toughest fight of her life but was then interrupted by Madison Rayne. Rayne then challenged her to a title match next week, which James accepted.

Ace Austin Defeats Chris Sabin In The Main Event

The main event this week saw Chris Sabin and Ace Austin go one-on-one. It looked as though Sabin had the match in control but Madman Fulton then got involved from the outside. After a big punch from Fulton, Austin hit the fold on Sabin and got the 1-2-3.

Coming Up In Impact Wrestling

Next Week:

• Minoru Suzuki, W.Morrissey, and Moose vs Eddie Edwards, Josh Alexander, and Matt Cardona
• Knockouts Championship
  Mickie James (c) vs Madison Rayne
• X-Division #1 Contendership
  Rohit Raju vs Laredo Kid vs Black Taurus vs Steve Maclin
• Digital Media Championship #1 Contendership
  John Skyler vs Chelsea Green

Christian Cage lost the Impact Wrestling World Championship at Bound For Glory. He is not expected to receive a rematch for the title either. AEW wrestlers have not been taking part in recent Impact tapings and Impact talent have not been at recent AEW shows either.

As for if the relationship between AEW & Impact is finished, a representative from Impact spoke to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and noted that the door is still open to work together. The plan had always been to conclude the storyline of an AEW wrestler holding the Impact title at Bound For Glory, however.

“It’s getting talked about like that but not quite accurate,” the source said addressing rumors the relationship between the two companies was done. “Cage dropping the title at BFG was the end of the story that started last December. That was the plan since the spring. Door is open to do more but nothing planned for short-term.”

The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) had frequently been appearing as members of the Elite on AEW programming. They have not been on AEW programming recently, however. It is not clear if they will be returning to AEW or not.

“Tony Khan didn’t comment on whether they would be brought back when asked,” wrote Dave Meltzer regarding the Good Brothers.

Bully Ray has a theory about why the promotion is currently in the state that it is.

The former ROH star and tag team wrestling legend shared his views on Thursday’s episode of Busted Open Radio. He recalled a conversation he had with an ROH executive around the time the Elite left the company.

“I was asked by a higher-up at Ring of Honor ‘moving forward what do you think we should do?'” he said on the show. “The number 1 thing I said is sign Cody and the Bucks.”

“I can take you to the office I was in, the chair that I was sitting in in the office at Sinclair broadcasting at their TV studio when I was asked ‘What should we do?’ I said you have to sign Cody and the Bucks. They are the most important people to your company right now. The most important talent.”

ROH Had The Elite

Bully Ray says Ring of Honor’s decision to low-ball Cody and the Young Bucks was a mistake that ultimately led to the company’s decline.

“And we know from interviews or discussions that Cody and the Bucks might have had, that they said the negotiations with Ring of Honor did not go the way they thought they were going to go because they felt they had earned the right to ask for the money that they were asking for and lord knows Sinclair had it.”

A clip of Bully’s comments can be heard below (via Putting You Over):

• Update On the Future of Ring of Honor

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. That’s something King Booker knows very well. When Booker T won the King of the Ring tournament in 2006, he transformed into an all-new character. With Queen Sharmell by his side, a new accent and a propensity for sticking his pinky finger in the air, Booker had a very successful run at the time.

2 months after winning the King of the Ring, Booker defeated Rey Mysterio to win the World Heavyweight Championship. He would later win a “Champion of Champions” match against WWE Champion John Cena and ECW Champion The Big Show.

Booker was recently interviewed by WrestleZone and offered some royal advice for the newly crowned King Xavier.

“He’s definitely in a position now to where it’s sink or swim, and with that character, that role, you’ve got to be able to step outside of yourself and become something totally different,” Booker said.

“Honestly, [Woods] might be the perfect person for this role because I go back to The New Day when they first started, and everybody hated them. Nobody got behind The New Day,” Booker said. “‘The New Day sucked,’ that’s the slogan around the arenas, and they said ‘We’re going to flip this, we’re going to make you love The New Day’ and they did that to the point that they are the most decorated tag team in WWE’s history.”

“If there’s anyone that’s willing to take that role and make it their own, it’s Xavier Woods,” Booker continued. “Let’s see exactly what he does with it.”

King Booker and New Day are no strangers. They once appeared in an entertaining segment together on Smackdown.

Bray Wyatt is teasing that the end of his 90-day no-compete window is almost up. The former WWE and Universal Champion took to social media last night with a simple Tweet that got a lot of his followers talking. Wyatt was released on July 31st, 2021, meaning his 90-day window is up tomorrow, October 29th, 2021.

In terms of where Bray Wyatt could end up, several possibilities exist. Recent reports suggested that Impact Wrestling reached out to him. It was also noted that a deal between the two sides has never been close, however.

It was also noted that Wyatt started following AEW President Tony Khan on Instagram this summer.

Tony Khan recently mentioned that he has yet to speak with Wyatt. The AEW President spoke about him during an interview with the New York Post.

“Yeah. I really like Windham,” said Khan. “I know him a little bit and I really enjoy him. The last time I saw him was at Chris Jericho’s birthday party and that was a long time ago.”

Wyatt also recently commented on his brother, the former Bo Dallas, starting a YouTube channel earlier this month:

“It makes me happy to see my brother do something that makes him happy. He inspires me to create. And create I shall.”

Ring of Honor’s future appears uncertain after Wednesday’s announcement that all talent has been released from their ROH contracts. The promotion is going ‘dark’ for approximately 6 months and will ‘re-conceptualize’ their operations.

On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reports that ROH’s television show on Sinclair has not been cancelled. If and when the company does relaunch in 2022, fans can expect some significant changes in how they operate as a business. One notable change is that talent will no longer be locked into exclusive contracts.

“They’re not going to be running with a contracted crew,” said Dave Meltzer. “So, they will essentially be an independent promotion and they will use whoever the top independent guys are that they can book on the nights that they have shows and the nights that they do television.”

This would mean any talent appearing on ROH television would be able to sign with another promotion at any given time.

“They are going to retain the TV,” Meltzer continued. “Sinclair did not cancel the TV like a lot of people thought.”

Following Final Battle, ROH will return WrestleMania weekend in Dallas. The feeling is they will be able to draw for that show. That event might be something of a re-launch for the promotion under its new business structure.

CM Punk takes on Bobby Fish tonight on AEW Dynamite. Ahead of their match, Punk tells DAZN that he’s not too familiar with Fish’s work. He didn’t watch NXT, or much wrestling at all, during his 7-year hiatus from the ring.

“I wasn’t paying attention to NXT or wrestling whilst I was gone,” Punk said. “I knew who he was and the group he was in but I can’t say I’ve watched him too extensively.”

“Looking at him now, he’s definitely an impressive person. I was there and to see him mix it up with Danielson a couple of weeks ago and it got the gears grinding here. He’s somebody I can’t wait to share the ring with.” 

Punk also commented on not being included in the AEW World Title Eliminator tournament that is currently ongoing. He noted that while he was disappointed not to have the opportunity, he knows his chances will come in time.

“Looking at the field and seeing the names that that that were in it, I definitely think I could have fit in there. It’ll come. You know, it’s not my time but it’ll come at a later date.”

CM Punk vs Bobby Fish

Bobby Fish will come into this match with a 4-2 record in AEW. He dropped his first match in the promotion to Sammy Guevara with the TNT title on the line. Fish would get his first AEW victory against Lee Moriarty the following week on Rampage. The next night on another edition of Saturday Night Dynamite he was defeated by Bryan Danielson. Since then, he’s rattled off 3 straight wins on episodes of Dark.

As for CM Punk, he’s 4-0 since debuting in AEW. He’s rattled off wins over Darby Allin, Will Hobbs, Daniel Garcia, and Matt Sydal.

Other matches scheduled for tonight’s show from Boston’s Agganis Arena include:

• TBS Championship Tournament (1st Round)
  Hikaru Shida vs Serena Deeb
• AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament First Round Match
  Jon Moxley vs #10 (Dark Order)
• The Elite (Adam Cole, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (w/Don Callis) vs. The Dark Order (Colt Cabana, Evil Uno, John Silver & Stu Grayson)
• CM Punk vs Bobby Fish
• TNT Championship
  Sammy Guevara (c) vs Ethan Page

Mick Foley presented the GCW Championship belt when Jon Moxley faced Nick Gage earlier this month. Foley recently spoke to Metro about the promotion and praised Moxley and Gage in particular. Foley says that they are carrying the torch that he lit with Terry Funk back in their day.

“Who am I to tell someone their style of wrestling is wrong? I had the type of stuff that I enjoyed watching. I can appreciate lucha [libre], for example, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do,” Foley said. “I like the wild matches and these guys have taken that torch that Funk and I lit, and ran a couple of laps on their own with it.”

Foley also noted that he would love to return as Cactus Jack and face Matt Cardona for GCW. He also noted he is not able to do so, however.

“Oh, can you imagine the heat that Cardona would have if Cactus Jack came back for one last match? I can’t do it – I’m just saying, imagine! That’d be great.”

Foley continued to praise GCW.

“There’s all different types of wrestling out there for all different types of fans, and then you find a product that caters to fans who really take their wrestling seriously – I tell you, GCW’s a great show!”

GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 7 Results

GCW’s latest event was Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport over the weekend. The results from the show are below:

1. Yoya defeated Starboy Charlie (3:48)
2. Zeda Zhang defeated KZT (7:05)
3. Clark Connors defeated Royce Isaacs (5:28)
4. Erik Hammer defeated Bad Dude Tito (4:26)
5. Marina Shafir defeated Masha Slamovich (4:22)
6. JR Kratos defeated Calvin Tankman (6:38)
7. Tom Lawlor defeated Alex Coughlin (9:01)
8. Davey Richards defeated Yuya Uemura (7:11)
9. Josh Barnett defeated Tiger Ruas (10:08)
10. Minoru Suzuki defeated Chris Dickinson (15:14)

Ring announcer Greg Hamilton has been released from WWE. Hamilton (real name Greg Hutson) was let go from the promotion earlier this week.

Over the weekend, Hamilton had been involved in a spat with Roc Nation rapper Westside Gunn for using samples of his voice on a track. More on that below.

Update: Greg Hamilton has posted a message on Instagram confirming he is no longer with WWE. Hamilton calls it a ‘mutual respect departure’ from a great company. Unfortunately, WWE’s grueling travel schedule became too much for him to manage.

“52 weeks a year became too much,” he admitted. “Without our mental health, we have nothing. But man…..what a ride….there are truly no fans like the WWE Universe. Wow. 6 continents over 6 years; embracing your love and passion has truly changed me as a person. I am forever grateful.”

Greg Hamilton & Westside Gunn

Hamilton posted several since-deleted comments about his voice being used on the track. He said he was looking for a settlement of up to $30,000.

“Well @westsidegunn @buffalokidsgallery let’s hope that since you STOLE my voice for your incoherent kindergarten fables, that you saved up enough delivering for Door Dash….because….You….are…. *****. You’ll be paying me for years….apologize and I’ll think about not collecting every dime for the rest of your life….or I can just get WWE lawyers….that’s ok too. Settle with my lawyer. And don’t EVER use my voice again….so wrong.”

“Tick… tock…..the longer this goes, the longer I have in court….you ready to settle or do you wanna dance with WWE lawyers? It’s a slam dunk. Price goes up by the day….,” Hamilton wrote. “It was 20k, but at noon eastern it’s $30k and we go to court.”

It is unclear if these comments are what led to his release, but the timing coincides.

Hamilton began ring announcing for NXT in 2015 and was later called up to the main roster in 2016. Prior signing with WWE, Hamilton had worked with the Orlando Magic and performed hosting duties for the Miss America organization.

AEW President Tony Khan recently appeared at the Monaco Streaming Film Festival. During the event, Khan spoke about growing AEW’s roster and mistakes WCW made in the past that he doesn’t want AEW to replicate. In particular, Khan feels that WCW burned through big matches and often had unsatisfactory match-endings, such as disqualifications or matches ending with run-ins.

“I think WCW built one of the greatest rosters ever in wrestling, and they were competing with WWF in the ’90s. And I thought one of the mistakes they made is they had so many exciting matches in WCW and it was like week, after week, after week they burned through them,” Khan said. “But not only did they burn through them, there were very unsatisfying conclusions. A lot of them ended in disqualification or something that wouldn’t make me that hungry to watch a rematch.”

Khan has also been very complimentary of WCW in the past. He noted during the interview that it is easy to talk about mistakes made with the benefit of hindsight.

“Despite all of this, I can talk with the benefit of hindsight about the business mistakes WCW made. They also rose to incredible heights and proved that it’s possible for a wrestling company to do this.”

Tony Khan and former WCW President Eric Bischoff have had an up-and-down public relationship. Bischoff has appeared on AEW programming and Khan has been complimentary of Bischoff’s contributions to wrestling in the past. Khan seems to have offended Bischoff recently, however, when he Tweeted that Ted Turner didn’t know “1% about wrestling” than he did. Bischoff has since made several comments critical of Khan and AEW.

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced a new weekly show on its English-language YouTube channel beginning Monday, November 1st. The show will feature an exclusive match each week not available anywhere else. Additionally, the show will feature news and highlights from NJPW action from both Japan and NJPW of America shows.

“Bringing together all the big news from NJPW rings around the world, Xtra will deliver highlights from action in Japan and on NJPW STRONG. Plus, fans can expect to see an exclusive match every week not available anywhere else!” A New Japan press release reads.

The exclusive match for the debut episode will be Jordan Clearwater, Kevin Knight, and The DKC vs Bateman, Misterioso, and Barrett Brown. The match was taped at the New Japan Resurgence show in August.

The November 8th exclusive match will feature Will Ospreay taking on Alex Zayne. That match was filmed at the promotion’s recent New Japan Strong tapings in Philadelphia.

NJPW Battle in the Valley – November 13th Lineup

Upcoming for NJPW’s American brand is Battle in the Valley in San Jose on November 13th. The following matches have been confirmed for the show.

1. NEVER Openweight Championship
   Jay White (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii
2. Will Ospreay vs. Ren Narita
3. Jeff Cobb & TJP vs. Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors
4. Fred Rosser, David Finlay, Rocky Romero, Alex Coughlin & Alex Zayne vs. Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson
5. Brody King & Chris Dickinson vs. Bateman & Misterioso

Broadcaster Charly Arnolt was with WWE from 2016 until earlier this year, when she decided to leave for ESPN.

Arnolt recently took part in an autograph session with East Coast Autographs and spoke about possibly appearing for AEW.

“I am a huge fan of Tony Khan,” she said during the appearance. “I’m a huge fan of Cody Rhodes and his wife Brandi. I have to imagine that whatever they are putting together over there is gold. I will make it a point to tune in and, who knows, maybe one day I’ll make a cameo or more than a cameo.”

Charly Arnolt is not the only former WWE announcer who has expressed interest in All Elite Wrestling. Renee Paquette recently said she’s never spoken to Tony Khan about working for AEW, but she’s “certainly open to the opportunity.”

Arnolt & Tony Khan

Charly Arnolt has been friends with AEW President Tony Khan for many years. In fact, she knew TK before she joined WWE.

“I’ve known Tony for years and years,” she added. “I was friends with Tony even before I took my job with WWE. Long-standing relationship right there.”

According to Arnolt’s Wikipedia bio, she was invited by Tony Khan to attend a WWE Smackdown show in 2016. It was there that she met WWE Director of Talent Relations Mark Carrano and Michael Cole. This led to her hiring with WWE. At the time, she had been working as a sports reporter in the Indianapolis area.

Former WWE Superstar Tony Nese appeared in the crowd during AEW’s Saturday Night Dynamite broadcast from Orlando this weekend. He was billed as, “one of the hottest free agents in pro wrestling.”

The 36-year-old grappler from Long Island, New York would later make his AEW in-ring debut over the weekend at the latest set of Dark tapings from Universal Studios in Orlando, FL.

Tony Nese is All Elite

Nese’s situation with AEW was addressed recently on Wrestling Observer Radio. According to Dave Meltzer, Tony Nese has signed with the promotion. This has not been made official, however, and it is being speculated that this is due to an angle AEW has planned.

“On the show on Saturday, they showed him in the stands so obviously he’s signed,” said Meltzer. “But they won’t announce it because probably they are doing something. They did the Dark tapings yesterday in Orlando and he wrestled, I think he wrestled in more than one match. He’s signed, that’s the deal.”

Nese signed with WWE in 2016 to take part in the Cruiserweight Classic. He would later become a regular with the 205 Live brand.

Nese won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on the WrestleMania 35 Kickoff Show in New Jersey. He defeated Buddy Murphy to win the title. Nese would hold the championship for 77 days before dropping it to Drew Gulak.

He was released from WWE on June 25, 2021.

Some spoilers have become available from the recent Impact Wrestling tapings from Sunday in Las Vegas have become available.

According to a report from PW Insider, Minoru Suzuki’s first angle with Impact took place on Sunday night. Suzuki is said to have gotten into a brawl with Josh Alexander. Alexander had won the Impact World Championship at Bound for Glory briefly before Moose cashed-in his “Call Your Shot” trophy and won the title from him moments later.

According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, several other events took place which should air on this coming Thursday’s broadcast:

• Mickie James retained her newly won Knockouts Championship against Madison Rayne. Mercedes Martinez then came out and challenged James to a match at Turning Point.
• Ace Austin defeated Chris Sabin.
• Laredo Kid became the new #1 contender for the X-Division Championship after winning a fatal 4-way. He’ll face new champion Trey Miguel for the title at some point. It hasn’t been revealed who is opponents were, however.
• A match between the Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) vs FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) went to a no-contest after interference by all 3 members of Impact’s Bullet Club faction (El Phantasmo, Chris Bey, & HIKULEO).
• Eric Young returned from injury and won a squash match over Jai Vidal.
• Heath defeated Violent By Design’s Joe Doering, but after the match VBD attacked both Heath and Rhino.
• The new Knockouts Tag Team Champions the Iinspiration (Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee) watched a match between Decay and the Undead Bridesmaids from the stage area. There was said to have then been a small altercation after the match. It is not clear who won this match, however.

Impact Wrestling was advertising that Monday’s show would feature a match between Josh Alexander and Minoru Suzuki.

Last week, the G1 Climax Final match between Kota Ibushi and Kazuchika Okada was stopped early after Ibushi suffered an injury. After missing a Phoenix Splash attempt, Ibushi was attended to by ringside physicians and the match was stopped and Okada was declared the winner.

NJPW1972.com released an update on Ibushi’s condition today.

“The evaluation revealed a right anterior dislocation of the shoulder, and joint lip damage. Recovery is expected to take two months,” reads NJPW’s update.  

If all goes well in his recovery, Ibushi will be able to return in time for 3-night Wrestle Kingdom on January 4, January 5, and January 8, 2022.

NJPW Power Struggle Lineup

The next big event for NJPW in Japan will be Power Struggle in Osaka on November 6th. Below are the announced matches for the card.

• Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
• Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask vs. Tanga Loa, Gedo & Jado
• Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI)
• NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships
  Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI (c) vs. EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi
• KOPW Trophy
  Toru Yano (c) vs. Great-O-Khan
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
  Robbie Eagles (c) vs. El Desperado
• IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship
  Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. KENTA
• Title Shot at Tokyo Dome
  Kazuchika Okada (G1 Winner) vs. Tama Tonga
• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
  Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Zelina Vega is the winner of the first-ever Queen’s Crown tournament in WWE. She recently spoke with Sports Illustrated about what the win means to her and what Vince McMahon said to her after the tournament final.

“Vince walked up to me after the match in the back and said, ‘You walked in here queen, and now it’s official,’ ” Vega said. “I almost lost it.”

Vega won the match with a Code Red, which she says was a tribute to her cousin, Amazing Red.

“It was me representing my family,” Vega said of using the move. “That’s my cousin’s move. Amazing Red deserves so much credit for what he’s done, so that was for him. That was for my dad, too. And that was for me, to solidify my place and show that I belong here.”

“Queen Zelina, it feels so incredible to say that,” Vega continued. “I’m bringing it to Spanish, too—La Reina, that’s me. It feels absolutely right to say that. This is me, and it is mine.”

“It’s been a hell of a journey, and I’m looking forward to continuing my story as Queen Zelina. Every time I step into the ring, I feel like I have to prove myself. I take this opportunity in WWE very seriously. This is my time, and it starts now.”

Zelina Vega In WWE

It has certainly been an up-and-down ride for Zelina Vega in WWE. She began her career in 2010 and had a run with TNA from 2011-13 (under the name Rosita). After multiple appearances with WWE in the coming years, she eventually signed a contract with the promotion and reported to the WWE Performance Center in 2017. She was paired with Andrade as a manager and would be called up to the main roster in 2018.

In 2020, Vega was released from the promotion under controversial circumstances. She was vocally opposed to WWE’s ban on talent earning revenue from 3rd parties such as Twitch. Vega would return to the promotion in July of 2021 after 8 months away, however. She would then lose her first 8 matches back with the promotion. Vega has since won 4 straight, however. She defeated Liv Morgan on the 9/24 Smackdown before winning 3 straight in the Queen’s Crown tournament against Toni Storm, Carmella, and Doudrop.

WWE has released its PPV schedule for 2022. 9 events have been confirmed thus far. WWE has also noted that there will be additional PPV dates announced in February and October, bringing the total to 11 events.

• Saturday, January 1 – Day 1 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta
• Saturday, January 29 – Royal Rumble at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis
• Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 – WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium in Dallas
• Sunday, May 8 – Pay-Per-View at Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I.
• Sunday, June 5 – Pay-Per-View at Allstate Arena in Chicago
• Saturday, July 2 – Money In The Bank at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas
• Saturday, July 30 – SummerSlam at Nissan Stadium in Nashville
• Saturday, September 3 or Sunday, September 4 – Pay-Per-View at TBD location
• Saturday, November 26 – Survivor Series at TD Garden in Boston

Nick Khan, WWE President & Chief Revenue Officer, had this to say about WWE’s 2022 PPV Calendar:

“Since returning to live events this past July, our fans have graciously expressed a tremendous appetite to attend WWE shows. As they begin to make plans for next year, we wanted to make sure that the 2022 schedule and locations of our pay-per-views was made available to them.”

AEW vs WWE PPV Clash Over Labor Day Weekend 2022?

Of note regarding WWE’s PPV schedule, is the planned event listed for either September 3rd or September 4th over Labor Day weekend 2022. The PPV is unnamed and the location is listed as TBD.

AEW has run its All Out PPV over Labor Day weekend dating back to 2019. The ROH/Elite “All In” PPV also ran over Labor Day weekend in 2018. This year, AEW ran the PPV on a Sunday.

In 2020 and 2019, however, the event ran on a Saturday. All In in 2018 ran on a Saturday as well.

Becky Lynch was not the only person angry with Charlotte Flair following the title-exchange segment on Smackdown. According to a report from PW Insider, Sonya Deville confronted Flair as well.

“Two different sources described Sonya Deville as ‘mad enough to want to fight Flair’ and at one point, also having an argument with Flair backstage at Smackdown,” wrote Mike Johnson.

The report continued to say that Flair made it clear she thought the booking of the segment made her and the championship look weak. Flair is also said to have ruffled a few feathers in other instances in the past few months. These include a visibly stiff confrontation with Nia Jax during a live match on RAW. A further report from Wade Keller states that Flair has been “‘increasingly difficult to work with’ over the course of the year.”

One source, speaking to PW Insider under the condition of anonymity, said that Flair has been very protective of her position in the company as of late.

“Let’s be honest, that’s what stars do,” the source reportedly said. “They make sure their star power remains the same or greater.” 

Another source stated that resentment towards Flair has been building and it was “just a matter of time” before something happened.” Flair was escorted out of the building on Friday night.

Flair was also reportedly not backstage at AEW’s show in Orlando on Saturday night. Although she has accompanied Andrade el Idolo in the past to AEW events.

More on the Charlotte Flair situation:

• Charlotte Flair Has Been ‘Increasing Difficult’ To Work With (Report)
• Charlotte Flair Escorted Out Of SmackDown After Becky Lynch Confrontation
• Nia Jax and Charlotte Flair Match Breaks Down into Shoot Fight on RAW
• Charlotte Flair And Becky Lynch Had Shoot Confrontation After SmackDown

Eric Bischoff and Tony Khan have been having a bit of a public back and forth recently. It started earlier this month when Tony Khan sent out a Tweet stating that Ted Turner didn’t know 1% of what he does about wrestling.

Former Turner employee, Eric Bischoff, appears to have taken offense to these comments. He noted on his 83 Weeks podcast that Khan should be quiet about WWE and focus on his own show. Khan then appeared on Busted Open Radio and said that he didn’t ask to go head-to-head with Smackdown on Friday night.

WWE and AEW Are Not Head-to-Head Competition

Recently on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff noted that AEW and WWE are not in head-to-head competition with each other. He also accused Khan and AEW of “manipulating ratings data” to make AEW appear competitive with WWE.

“AEW is not in head-to-head competition,” Bischoff said. “They are just not. They are in the same industry. Now, you can say, ‘Well they came at us, they extended that half hour into our time slot and that was an aggressive move’, and that would be a fact. But to somehow spin that and try to suggest that you are a more popular product, you are a more successful product, you are winning some kind of a ratings war that only exists in the minds of dirt sheet writers and people that want to try to spin reality, that’s not right.”

Bischoff then continued to say that Khan’s claim that AEW is winning a ratings war because of certain demos is not correct. He referred to it as “data gymnastics.”

“All I’m suggesting is, rather than claiming you’re competing against, and somehow you’re competing favorably because you’re comparing a percentage of your demos on your Wednesday night show to a percentage of the demos on Monday Night RAW, notice they don’t talk about SmackDown too much. But on Monday Night RAW, when they go against Monday Night Football, which probably has the highest concentration of male 18-49 year old than just about anything else on TV in any given week, is a false equivalency. It just isn’t real. It’s data gymnastics.”

Eric Bischoff has been active on Twitter as of late responding to fans commenting on this issue. In some cases, he has been congratulating people for getting blocked by certain wrestling journalists.

H/T to WrestlingNews for transcriptions.

Britt Baker will defend her AEW Women’s World Championship against #1 contender Tay Conti at Full Gear next month. Conti came out to make the save after Baker continued to attack Anna Jay after their match on Rampage Friday night. Then on AEW Saturday Night Dynamite, Baker cut a promo on Conti stating that “All [Conti] has done since arriving in AEW is show everyone [her] ass.”

Baker’s promo led to responses from both Conti and #2 contender in the AEW Women’s division, Jade Cargill.

Conti opted to compare how certain parts of their actions figures look in her response:

Jade Cargill, who received a first round bye in the TBS Championship Tournament, responded to an earlier Tweet from Baker as well.

Baker then answered back with the following:

“Your tweets are as bad as your promos. I was the baddest bitch on the block before you even decided you wanted to play wrestler. No one mentioned “looks” but that’s literally all you have so I get it. If that was an attempt to body shame my ass, go ahead and kiss it.”

Cargill then answered back with a couple more Tweets.

“BODY SHAME!?! The Queen of talking about everyone else is playing the victim. Brittney please, I can’t help that God blessed me with great looks!”

Jade Cargill will face the winner of Red Velvet vs the Bunny in her first match in the TBS Championship tournament.

AEW broadcaster Jim Ross recently stated he believes WWE’s booking has gotten stale. The 69-year-old made the comments on his Grillin Jr. podcast recently. He did also mention, however, that WWE does appear to be trying to build new stars.

“I think the WWE’s booking has just gotten a little stale,” Ross said. “They’re trying desperately, as you see on NXT and so forth, to get younger. I think Big E, he’s not a young pup but he’s a new face in that role, and I think that’s what they’re trying to do. It’s like starting the race a little late in the game, it’s going to take a little while to catch up and develop young stars.”

Ross then continued to compare WWE’s booking with AEW’s. He spoke about how many of the names on AEW programming aren’t necessarily young, but they are being presented in a fresh environment against new opponents.

“[AEW] is fresher,” Ross continued.”“Even though they see Adam Cole, they haven’t seen him in this environment. They haven’t seen Adam Cole against CM Punk yet or Bryan Danielson yet. All these matches are there at Tony Khan’s disposal whenever he wants to use them. Tony Khan has done a great job of getting these talents who aren’t necessarily young, but new and fresh, and therefore, their marriages/matches with other guys is going to be fresh.”

JR also noted on Twitter that he was impressed with Bryan Danielson’s match against Dustin Rhodes on Dynamite this Saturday night. The American Dragon picked up the victory and moved on in the AEW World Title Eliminator tournament. Danielson will face Eddie Kingston in the semi-finals.

Jim Ross Battling Skin Cancer

Unfortunately, “Good O’l JR” recently revealed on social media that he has been diagnosed with skin cancer. He had recently underwent a CT scan and the results confirmed a cancer diagnosis. No treatment protocol has been recommended as of yet, but Ross noted he will most likely need radiation.

SEScoops wishes all the best to Jim Ross and a speedy recovery.

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for transcriptions.

Many fans who tuned in last night to Bound for Glory may have been expecting Braun Strowman to show up. Last week, PW Insider reported that Strowman was all but locked down to debut with the promotion. As it turns out, however, no deal has been signed and it is not clear if one will be.

According to a report from Fightful Select, the two sides have talked but no deal has been made. It is not clear if Strowman will end up there or not.

In terms of Bray Wyatt possibly debuting for Impact Wrestling, he was reportedly contacted by the promotion but a deal between the two sides has never been close. It does not sound like there are currently plans for Wyatt to end up in Impact, although things could change.

Bronson Reed was also reportedly booked to be part of the upcoming Impact Wrestling tapings. He was later unbooked, however. No reason for the change has been reported.

Impact is bringing in Minoru Suzuki for this week’s tapings in Las Vegas, however.

Impact Wrestling Bound For Glory Results

Here are the results from last night’s Bound For Glory show from Las Vegas.

1. Knockouts Tag Team Championships
   The IInspiration (Cassie Lee & Jessie McKay) defeated Decay (Havok & Rosemary) (c) (8:58) – New Champions
2. X-Division Championship
   Trey Miguel defeated El Phantasmo and Steve Maclin (13:23) – New Champion
3. Heath & Rhino defeated Violent By Design (Deaner & Joe Doering) (w/Eric Young) (5:59)
4. Call Your Shot Gauntlet Match
   Moose defeated Ace Austin and Alisha and Brian Myers and Chris Sabin and Eddie Edwards and Johnny Swinger and Laredo Kid and Madman Fulton and Matt Cardona and Melina and Rachael Ellering and Rich Swann and Rocky Romero and Rohit Raju and Sam Beale and Savannah Evans and Tasha Steelz and The Demon and W. Morrissey (29:38)
5. Impact Tag Team Championships
   The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) (c) defeated BULLET CLUB (Chris Bey & Hikuleo) and FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) (9:56)
6. Knockouts Championship
   Mickie James defeated Deonna Purrazzo (c) (13:21) – New Champion
7. Impact World Championship
   Josh Alexander defeated Christian Cage (c) (18:53) – New Champion
8. Impact World Championship (Call Your Shot Gauntlet Cash-In)
   Moose defeated Josh Alexander (c) (0:07) – New Champion

Following last night’s edition of AEW Dynamite from Orlando, CM Punk and several others appeared in front of the live crowd. PW Insider is reporting that following Dynamite going off the air, Cody Rhodes remained in the ring after defeating Malakai Black in the main event and kickstarted a post-show segment.

Rhodes asked the fans if they had a good time and also noted that his father was buried in Orlando. He then called out Brodie Lee Jr. (-1), Fuego Del Sol, Griff Garrison, and TNT Champion Sammy Guevara. He was then interrupted by the Acclaimed who rapped about Cody and Fuego and also blamed Tony Khan for them not being on Dynamite again. This brought out Tony Khan who said that the people didn’t pay to see the Acclaimed, they paid to see CM Punk. Punk’s music then hit and the babyfaces took on the heels in a melee.

Fuego hit a tornado DDT on Max Caster and Punk hit the GTS on Anthony Bowens. Brodie Jr. then pinned Bowens with the crowd chanting along with the count.

Footage of the post-event segment can be viewed in the Tweets below:

Earlier in the evening, CM Punk came out to rescue Anthony Greene. Bobby Fish had just defeated Greene in singles action but continued the attack after the match. Punk vs Fish has been booked for this Wednesday’s Dynamite.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated has named Bianca Belair as the top women’s pro wrestler in the world. The EST has secured the top spot on the PWI Women’s Top 150 list.

Women’s wrestling has grown even more popular this year, so PWI expanded the annual Top 100 list to 150.

This PWI Top 150 was assembled with input from experts in the field. Several factors were used as ranking criteria, including wins & losses, quality of competition and cultural impact.

The evaluation period ran from October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

PWI Women’s Top 150

With Bianca Belair in the top spot, Utami Hayashishita (Stardom), Deonna Purrazzo (Impact), Britt Baker (AEW), and Thunder Rosa (AEW) round out the top five.

Here’s a look at the Top 10 list:

1. Bianca Belair (WWE)
2. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom)
3. Deonna Purrazzo (Impact)
4. Britt Baker (AEW)
5. Thunder Rosa (AEW)
6. Sasha Banks (WWE)
7. Syuri (Stardom)
8. Io Shirai (NXT)
9. Tam Nakano (Stardom)
10. Raquel Gonzalez (NXT)

SEScoops correspondent Ella Jay is here to break down the list:

Previous Winners

PWI has been ranking the world’s top women’s wrestlers for over a decade. Here’s a look back at previous winners:

• 2008: Awesome Kong
• 2009: Mickie James
• 2010: Michelle McCool
• 2011: Madison Eagles
• 2012: Gail Kim
• 2013: Cheerleader Melissa
• 2014: Paige
• 2015: Nikki Bella
• 2016: Charlotte
• 2017: Asuka
• 2018: Ronda Rousey
• 2019: Becky Lynch
• 2020: Bayley

PWI’s Top 10 Women’s Wrestlers for 2020

Bianca Belair was not ranked in the top 10 last year, which makes her achievement even more impressive.

1. Bayley
2. Becky Lynch
3. Asuka
4. Charlotte Flair
5. Sasha Banks
6. Hikaru Shida
7. Tessa Blanchard
8. Riho
9. Io Shirai
10. Mayu Iwatani

PWI’s Top 10 Women’s Wrestlers for 2019

Becky Lynch secured the top honor in 2019.

1. Becky Lynch
2. Charlotte Flair
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Shayna Baszler
5. Tessa Blanchard
6. Bayley
7. Natalya
8. Io Shirai
9. Mercedes Martinez
10. Nicole Savoy