WrestleMania 38 will take place from Dallas, Texas’ AT&T Stadium. Several ideas have been discussed regarding the format for next year’s big event. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the idea of Mania being a 2-night event is not yet set in stone. If it is a 2-night event, Mania will be held on April 2nd and 3rd. Other ideas have been discussed as well, however.

“WWE contacted AT&T Stadium with several different potential ideas including the two-day Mania that has been talked about,” wrote Dave Meltzer. One of those ideas is a 2-night event on April 2nd and 3rd. Another is that Mania would be held on just the Sunday night. If they run with that idea, then the following night’s RAW would also take place from AT&T Stadium. There would be a smaller setup for RAW, however, hosting about 40,000 fans.

Roman Reigns vs. The Rock has been talked about as the main event for the show.

Earlier this month, a report from Fightful stated that WWE is planning on running a 2-night event for Mania again next year.

“After the reception of the last two years of WrestleMania being split up into two nights, Fightful has learned the working plan internally as of last week was for WrestleMania 38 in Arlington, Texas to also be split up into two nights. The shows are scheduled for Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3.”

Last night’s episode of Dark Side of the Ring focussed on the life and career of Chris Kanyon. In 2006, Chris Kanyon was on the Howard Stern Show and stated his belief that he was let go from WWE due to his sexuality. Ric Flair called into the show and said the reason WWE let him go was that he was not good enough.

The Dark Side of the Ring episode featured interviews with friends of Kanyon who noted how hard he took this conversation with Flair on the Howard Stern show. Flair released a statement last night before the episode went to air.

“Breaks my heart to hear later on that he took this so hard. Calling into guests that were seen as “hostile” to WWE was part of the job then. I should not have said that nobody had ‘ever’ been released; there’s no way I could have known that for sure,” Flair wrote.

“I was holding the company line,” Flair continued. “Love is love is love is love and everyone should be able to love whoever and however they choose without fear of reprisal. I wasn’t a huge Kanyon fan as a worker; but Chris Klucsarits was a hell of a good guy.”

On September 20th, Flair released a statement regarding allegations made against him on the Dark Side of the Ring episode on the Plane Ride From Hell. His statement is available in the below Tweet:

Impact wrestling on September 23rd was the first show since the promotion presented Victory Road over the weekend. It also started the build towards next month’s Bound for Glory. This week’s episode would also feature the return of Christopher Daniels to Impact for the first time since 2014.

Impact 9/23 Quick Results:

1. David Finlay defeated HIKULEO
2. Rohit Raju defeated Chelsea Green
3. Rich Swann & Willie Mack defeated Brian Myers & VSK 
4. Josh Alexander defeated Ace Austin

Josh Alexander Officially Cashes In Option C

Scott D’Amore kicked off the show and introduced Josh Alexander to come out and officially cash in Option C. Alexander commented on having left the business years ago and his neck injuries but said he is ready to be the face of Impact Wrestling. To do that, he must win the Impact World Championship. Christian Cage came out and told Alexander he will not be the face of the company, he will be another face in the crowd after talking about having had his career taken from him for 7 years.

Ace Austin and Madman Fulton then confronted both of them, bitter about Austin having lost the title match at Victory Road. A melee breaks out between all 4 and Austin hit Cage in the eye with his cane. It would later be revealed in the back that Cage was not medically cleared to compete tonight but Alexander would face Ace Austin in the main event.

ELP Returns, Bullet Club Has Strength In Numbers

David Finlay got a measure of revenge against Bullet Club this week when he pinned HIKULEO in singles action. The end of the match came when HIKULEO rebounded off the ropes and fell backward over top of a crouching Finlay, who then scored the pinfall with a cradle.

After the match, Bullet Club attacked both David Finlay and Juice Robinson but FinJuice was able to fend off the assault. Then El Phantasmo returned to Impact to give Bullet Club the numbers advantage and the edge in the melee. Impact’s Bullet Club faction looks to be growing and becoming more dominant with Chris Bey, HIKULEO, and El Phantasmo.

Rohit Raju Gets Help From Raj Singh To Defeat Chelsea Green

An inter-gender match took place last night on Impact. Green was holding her own and even appeared poised to hit her UnprettyHer, but the returning Raj Singh caused a distraction allowing Raju to score the pinfall on Green with a small package.

Rich Swann & Willie Mack Beat Brian Myers & VSK

This match was made after Brian Myers interjected himself into Swann and Mack’s backstage promo earlier in the night. Mack announced he was gunning for the now vacant X-Division title and Swann is entering the Gauntlet battle royal at Bound for Glory.

Myers said that none of the students in his Learning Tree faction were ready to be his partner for this match against Mack and Swann. So, Myers introduced VSK as his partner.

The finish of this match came when Sam Beale attempted to help out his side by pushing Swann off the top rope. Unfortunately for Beale, Swann landed right on top of VSK and got the pin. VSK did not look pleased with Beale’s actions here.

Mickie James Calls Out Deonna Purrazzo For Bound For Glory

Mickie James came out for a promo. She talked about how she was glad that Purrazzo was part of the big NWA Empowerrr show but her actions that night are not something she’s going to let go. She called out the Knockouts champ and challenged her to a match at Bound For Glory.

Purrazzo denied James’ challenge and the two brawled. Scott D’Amore then came out and said Purrazzo doesn’t get to turn down James’ challenge and made a match between the two official for Bound For Glory.

Eddie Edwards vs W. Morrissey Street Fight Booked For Next Week

A show-long angle this week involved Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards looking for W. Morrissey. At Victory Road, Morrissey power-slammed Alisha Edwards and Eddie is out looking for revenge. Callihan and Edwards took a baseball bat and kendo stick to Morrissey’s run-in buddy Moose and searched all backstage for Morrissey. When they finally found him, however, security separated them but D’Amore made a street fight between the two for next week.

Gail Kim Announces Knockouts Knockdown Tournament

The Knockouts Knockdown event on October 9th will feature an 8-woman tournament involving 4 of Impact’s top talent against 4 wrestlers from outside the promotion. Gail Kim announced this backstage but was interrupted by The Influence who demanded a tag title shot. Kim said if they can beat Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering next week, they will get that shot.

Christopher Daniels Returns!

Josh Alexander defeated Ace Austin in the main event this week after delivering a C4 Spike. After the match, however, Austin and Madman Fulton attacked. Cage came out to make the save but then while he and Alexander were having a stare down, Austin and Fulton attacked again. Then “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels returned to the Impact Zone for the first time since 2014 to make the save.

Coming Up In Impact Wrestling

Next Week:

• X-Division BFG Title Match Qualifier
  Trey Miguel vs Laredo Kid vs Alex Zayne
• Street Fight
  Eddie Edwards vs W. Morrissey
• Knockouts Tag Team Title #1 Contendership
  The Influence (Tenille Dashwood & Madison Rayne) vs Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering

Bound For Glory (October 23rd, 2021)

• Impact World Championship
  Christian Cage (c) vs Josh Alexander
• X-Division Championship (Vacant)
  TBD vs TBD vs TBD

The Acclaimed’s Max Caster took to social media recently to challenge Tony Khan to a rap battle in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Last night, Khan came out to answer the Acclaimed’s challenge but also brought in a little help.

Between Dynamite and the taping of Rampage, the Acclaimed came out and again challenged Tony Khan to a battle rap. Khan came out and answered the call.

“I’ve written a lot of wrestling shows but never in my life have I written a rap song,” Khan can be heard saying to the Acclaimed in the video below. “I’m not going to start today so I brought somebody in to help me. Ladies and Gentlemen Lil Uzi Vert!”

Caster was off of AEW television for most of August following backlash to lyrics of one of his raps that aired on Dark. The episode was pulled, re-edited, and then re-posted. Khan spoke about the incident later on an episode of Busted Open Radio.

“Last night on Dark, Max Caster’s rap was terrible. I was not out there in the moment when he did it, it was not during Dynamite,” Khan said. “I had not heard it until last night, truthfully. In the editing process, it should have been caught. We deleted the episode and re-posted it with that edited out but it shouldn’t have aired.” 

“This would never have happened (on Dynamite) because Max’s raps, I have always gone over them with him,” he continued. “I don’t script or write wrestler’s promos, but the bullet points I give. In this case, it shouldn’t have happened and what will happen going forward is I will take over the editing of Dark and Elevation myself.”

According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Caster was sent to sensitivity training as a result.

“After what happened last week and the fallout, Max Caster has been sent to sensitivity training,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

The Inner Circle formed on the 1st ever edition of AEW Dynamite on October 2nd, 2019. Jericho was already the first AEW World Champion at this point. Jake Hager would make his debut that night as well. The faction has been a focal point of the promotion since it first debuted on TNT but according to Jericho, he recently pitched for it to be disbanded.

Jericho was speaking to Stephanie Chase when he mentioned that he pitched to Tony Khan that the stable be broken up.

“My idea was for us to respectfully disband and go on our own ways,” Jericho said (transcriptions via Fightful). “Tony didn’t want to do that. He said, ‘Why would you want to disband? You don’t have to be together all the time, but you’re still The Inner Circle.'”

“After this year, the whole storyline was based around MJF wanting to join, Wardlow is in the Inner Circle, The Pinnacle, five-on-five and that sort of thing. It was a well told year long story with the five of us,” Jericho continued. “It’s good for us to go our own ways and not be in each other’s business every week. It’s good that we’re still aligned. For me, I thought it was a good time for us to go our own way, but we can still do that without officially disbanding the band or breaking up the band.”

Two members of the Inner Circle, Jericho and Hager, will face off against the Men of the Year in tag-team action on Rampage Friday night. Santana and Ortiz will also team with the Lucha Bros to take on the Hardy Family Office that show. Next week on Dynamite, Sammy Guevara will receive a TNT title shot against Miro.

CM Punk is not a fan of Hulk Hogan’s. He’s mentioned this in numerous previous interviews. In a recent appearance on the Rasslin with Brandon F. Walker podcast, Punk compared Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan’s careers and then offered up his opinion of Hogan.

Punk and Walker were talking about the biggest stars in wrestling’s history when Punk compared Austin and Hogan.

“A lot of this is subjective, though, right? Like, you can make the argument, ‘oh well, Hulk Hogan is a bigger star than Steve Austin’ but then you look at business periods and eras and box office receipts and all that other stuff,” Punk said on the show. “I think Hogan is a piece of s**t, so obviously I’m going to be like ‘Steve Austin, yeah!’ but that’s another podcast.”

The clip of Punk comparing Hogan and Austin can be heard in the player below:

Punk also responded to a Tweet from someone critical of his comments about Hulk Hogan.

“Brother, just tune in tonight. Just got off the phone with Arthur Ashe and he’s excited to host us tonight. Gonna party with Belushi in nyc after I slam Baba. Hope I don’t tear anything in my back. Metallica,” Punk wrote.

More examples of Punk giving his opinion on Hogan are available in the links below:

For years Christopher Daniels portrayed “The Fallen Angel” character. He recently released a video on social media teasing a return to the gimmick.

In the video, highlights of Kazarian and Daniels losing to the Young Bucks are shown. That was the last match Daniels has had in AEW. The loss meant that Kazarian and Daniels would never be able to team up again.

“I gambled everything and I lost it all,” Daniels can be heard saying in the video. “And now, I’m all alone. I’ve got no goal, no cause, no team, nothing to fight for except for the right to keep fighting.”

At this point the lighting of the video goes red and Daniels appears in his Fallen Angel attire.

“So, I fight. And since I’ve lost it all, I’ve got nothing left to lose. After 28 years, what I thought was the end might actually be a new beginning.”

Christopher Daniels Returns To Impact Wrestling

Daneils was also spotted at the most recent set of Impact Wrestling tapings in Nashville. He has not wrestled for the promotion since 2014. Daniels is a former 4x X-Division Champion in Impact Wrestling/TNA. His 280 days spent with the title ranks him 8th all-time in that category.

There could be a new championship introduced in AEW shortly. According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast, he’s heard that AEW is set to debut a secondary title for its women’s division.

“Hearing rumblings of a new title being introduced to AEW soon. It will be a secondary women’s championship,” Zarian wrote on Twitter.

The championship could potentially be similar to what the TNT title is to the men’s division. In fact, Zarian even hinted the title could be named in a similar fashion to the TNT title.

AEW does not currently have women’s tag-team titles as both Impact Wrestling and WWE do. They held the AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup last summer, however, which was won by the team of Ivelisse and Diamante.

There have also been rumblings that AEW could introduce trios titles at some point. Tony Khan addressed the idea of adding trios titles during a media call to promote All Out.

“I mean, we see matches sometimes that don’t always have title implications but absolutely, I think it would be great to add trio’s titles,” Khan said. “Right now, it’s a lot of stuff I’m getting in three hours, and I think a lot of probably trying to cover a lot, a two-hour Dynamite and then Rampage is very different. It’s a more focused one hour show, and they’re very different formats, and still get great wrestling in both shows, but I also cover a lot of stories in a Dynamite in a very different way than I would on Rampage, so it’s a lot right now.”

Becky Lynch returned to WWE at SummerSlam and promptly won the Smackdown Women’s Championship from Bianca Belair. She’ll defend her title this Sunday against the former champion at Extreme Rules. Ahead of Sunday’s title match, Lynch spoke with Metro UK. During the discussion, Lynch was asked about what she has learned throughout her career and the Man responded that one lesson she has learned is that connecting with a crowd is more important than wrestling moves.

“There’s so many lessons. One, I think, is that the connection with the crowd is the most important thing,” Lynch said. “It’s more important than moves, it’s more important than anything, being able to connect with an audience. I feel like that is something I got fairly early on – whether or not I was any good, it was just being able to connect with an audience.”

Lynch continued to talk about the importance of telling a story in a wrestling match and how this is what truly connects with an audience.

“And two, was story above all else. I think sometimes, as wrestlers who love wrestling, we want to have a good wrestling match in spite of story. Does that make sense?”

“It’s a story, and how that whole story makes you feel. And that’s what we do, we’re storytellers. I think I learned that fairly early on that that’s more important.”

Lynch is the inaugural holder of the Smackdown women’s title, having first won the belt in 2016. She’s held the title 4x, which ranks second all-time behind Charlotte Flair’s 5 reigns. Lynch has also held the title for 248 combined days, which ranks second behind Bayley’s 520 days with the belt.

Ric Flair has posted to social media in regards to Rob Van Dam’s comments about the Plane Ride From Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring. RVD has been posting to social media as of late as well attempting to clarify what he did and did not say on the episode.

“I can confirm I didn’t see that and I didn’t say that. Creative editing will have people hearing it different ways,” RVD said when asked about his comments on the episode.

Flair took to social media to respond to an article written on RVD clarifying his statements.

“A Man Tried To Destroy My Reputation Based On An Assumption. I Don’t Even Know What To Say Right Now,” Flair wrote.

He would also post a screen grab of RVD’s comments.

Rob Van Dam took to Twitter after watching the episode.

“Just watched DSOTR. Heavy,” RVD began. “Some insight for those who can handle it- 1) I haven’t seen Ric Flair’s dick. My comment about fans shouldn’t see him doing the helicopter was a response to DSOTR telling me that’s what they were told. They shouldn’t. I don’t want to see it either.”

“2) I said ‘trying to make her touch him’ referring to his body crowding her space and her backing up like bad breath was in her face. I thought maybe they were playing (from seeing a similar scene at the hotel bar) but I wasn’t interested in naked Ric. Still ain’t. I tried to sleep.”

MLW has announced that Warhorse will make his promotional debut at October 2nd’s Fightland event. The show will take place from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena. The event will air as a 1-hour special on Vice TV October 7th following a new episode of Dark Side of the Ring.

“It’s time to bang heads and crack skulls as Warhorse makes his MLW debut Saturday October 2 in Philadelphia at FIGHTLAND,” an MLW press release reads.

The heavy metal wrestler performs with GCW, Warrior Wrestling and many independent promotions but also wrestled Cody Rhodes for the TNT Championship on an episode of AEW Dynamite last year.

MLW Fightland Lineup

Alex Shelley, Tom Lawlor, Bobby Fish, Lee Moriarty Davey Richards, TJP, Matt Cross, and Calvin Tankman have all been announced for the Opera Cup tournament.

• MLW Heavyweight Championship
  Jacob Fatu (c) vs. Alex Hammerstone
• MLW Middleweight Championship
  Myron Reed (c) vs. Tajiri vs. Aramis vs. Arez 
• Nicole Savoy vs. Holidead.
• Opera Cup Quarter-Finals
• Opera Cup Semi-Finals

MLW Fusion Alpha Debuts September 22nd

MLW returns tonight with a special episode of the miniseries “Fusion Alpha.” The show will focus on Cesar Duran, the former Dario Cueto from Lucha Underground. A lot of mystery surrounds the show.

Tonight on AEW’s Grand Slam Dynamite in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson will face-off in non-title action. Ahead of tonight’s show, Omega and Don Callis spoke with Jim Ross.

“It could be a dream match for you, it could be a dream match for other people, to me, it’s just another Wednesday,” Omega said of his match with Bryan Danielson.

“People talk about dream matches,” Callis added. “Some people like to make people’s dreams come true, we like to crush people’s dreams.”

Omega also spoke about accepting Danielson’s challenge for a non-title match when he did not have to. He and Callis also spoke about people coming from other promotions and wanting to face top talent immediately.

“Here in AEW, we have a win-loss record thing going, I’m sure you’re aware of it,” Omega said to JR.

“It’s the arrogance of the Stamford Supermax people that come in here and say ‘we’re entitled’,” Callis said.

Omega continued to say that Danielson doesn’t deserve a title shot, and so he is not putting the title on the line.

“You came here thinking you deserve a handout, that you deserve something for free because everyone knows your catch phrases, everyone knows your face,” Omega continued.

This will be just the second time that Omega and Danielson have had a singles matching their careers. The first took place at a PWG show in 2009. Danielson won the match.

Omega and Callis’ comments can be heard in the Tweet below:

WWE will reportedly be bringing back the King of the Ring shortly. Previous reports have stated that WWE plans to bring back the tournament next month along with an inaugural women’s version. The plan is to begin the tournament in October and host the finals at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on October 21st.

According to a recent report from PW Insider, WWE has produced a special on the King of the Ring that will air on Fox to build anticipation for its return. The special will air on Fox the weekend of October 1st to 3rd with timeslots varying across local markets.

“The special will air in different timeslots depending on your local market and will be a preview of the return of the King of the Ring tournament,” wrote Mike Johnson.

King of the Ring Winner History

Don Muraco was the first person to be declared the King of the Ring in 1985 when he won the inaugural tournament. Below is the history of King of the Ring tournament winners. This list does not include wrestlers such as King Haku or King Nakamura, who won the crown by defeating a King in a non-tournament setting.

• 1985- Don Muraco
• 1986- Harley Race
• 1987- Randy Savage
• 1988- Ted Dibiase
• 1989- Tito Santana
• 1991- Bret Hart
• 1993- Bret Hart
• 1994- Owen Hart
• 1995- Mabel
• 1996- Steve Austin
• 1997- Triple H
• 1998- Ken Shamrock
• 1999- Billy Gunn
• 2000- Kurt Angle
• 2001- Edge
• 2002- Brock Lesnar
• 2006- Booker T
• 2008- William Regal
• 2010- Sheamus
• 2015- Bad News Barrett
• 2019- Baron Corbin

AEW announces a partnership with the Owen Hart Foundation yesterday. The agreement will see AEW produce apparel and action figures featuring Owen’s likeness. He will also appear in the upcoming AEW console video game. AEW also announced the Owen Hart Cup tournament, something that reportedly has been in the works for some time.

Dave Meltzer addressed the creation of the Owen Hart Cup during a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

“They’ve been working on this for a long, long time,” Meltzer said. “It was months ago, I remember bringing up – and I don’t know if it was on a show, it may have just been in conversation – but I know that I brought up the idea to Tony Khan of a Brodie Lee tournament and he said ‘we have an idea for a tournament’ so this was the idea.”

“They are going to do an annual Owen Hart Cup. They are going to work with Martha Hart. it’s a win-win, there is nothing negative to say on this at all. It’s great, Martha Hart is a great person,” he continued. “I mean really a great person, it’s too bad people don’t get that but she really is.”

AEW may have considered the idea of naming the tournament “King of Harts” as they applied to trademark the term this summer.

Chris Jericho On Wanting AEW To Honor Owen Hart

Chris Jericho spoke to Sportskeeda last year about his hope that AEW will find a way to honor Owen.

“I think the family realises there’s other places to go other than WWE, there’s a lot of other Halls of Fame and a lot of other places where Owen could get some of the accolades that he deserves, 21 years later,” Jericho said. “I’d love to see (Martha) do something with AEW. I think the spirit of Owen Hart lives on in AEW for sure.”

Jericho also commented on Owen not going in the WWE Hall of Fame.

“I never thought Owen should go in the (WWE) Hall of Fame it’s just not right,” Jericho said. “I think anybody who had any problems with that should watch (The Dark Side episode on Owen) and will understand where the family’s coming from.”

Charlotte Flair was a guest on Alexa Bliss’ Playground last night on RAW. According to comments made by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, the segment was poorly received by the live crowd in North Carolina. Reportedly, fans left the arena “in droves” during it.

“This one, it really backfired,” Meltzer said of the segment. “They had about 8000 in the building, which is not bad, not good, I mean it’s fine. People were leaving in droves during this segment. I heard 1500 people left.”

“It’s not like they left, went to the bathroom, and came back, they left, went home at 10 o’clock,” Meltzer continued. “People were going home at 10 o’clock, which I have never heard of people going home in any numbers during a live RAW and this was the first.”

Update: Alexa Bliss is calling out Dave Meltzer for this report. She wrote on Twitter:

“Sorry Meltzer (or whatever) you can’t get clout off of our segment … move on #StopLying #LitterallyDidntHappen #YoureEmbarassingYourself”

– Alexa Bliss

Bliss and Flair will meet at Extreme Rules on Sunday with the RAW Women’s Championship on the line. Both Flair and Bliss hold all-time records with the belt. Bliss has spent more days with the RAW championship (398) than anyone dating back to the title’s inception in 2016.

Flair has won the title more times (6x) than anyone in history and held it for 274+ days, which ranks 4th all-time behind Bliss, Lynch, and Asuka.

Bryan Danielson will wrestle Kenny Omega at Dynamite Grand Slam tomorrow night. Ahead of his in-ring debut with AEW, Danielson penned an article for the Players Tribune thanking WWE.

“Before this next part of my career gets fully underway, there’s something I need to express: THANK YOU, WWE,” Danielson wrote. “Thank you to the incredible superstars with whom I’ve shared both the ring and the road. For Savate-Kick Saturdays and locally roasted coffee. For being family when we’re away from family. For making me look good when I didn’t feel good. For deep conversations and pointless debates. For making me laugh — both in the best of times, and the worst. For all the small things that make life as a wrestler just a little bit more fun.”

Danielson also wrote a paragraph thanking “The Big Man” who one might assume is Vince McMahon.

“Thank you to the Big Man, who I know hates to be acknowledged. I won’t say much, but thank you for the conversations, the life lessons (about both what to do and what not to do), and the best hug I’ve ever received. I wish more people could see you how I see you.”

Danielson continued to say that he hopes his fans from WWE will follow him to AEW, but he understands if they don’t.

“I hope you will continue to follow me in AEW, but I completely understand if you don’t. You’ve given me more than enough — more than I could ever repay. Thank you for all of it,” Danielson continued. “I loved my time in WWE. Needless to say, it changed my life.”

Bryan Danielson’s WWE Career As Daniel Bryan

Danielson was with WWE from 2009 until 2021, with a brief departure in 2010 after he choked Justin Roberts with his tie during a Nexus invasion. During that time, he won the WWE Championship 4 times. He also won the World Heavyweight Championship once. He is a 1x Intercontinental Champion, 1x United States Champion, a 1x WWE tag-team champion along with Kane, and a 1x Smackdown tag-team champion along with Rowan.

Bryan won the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2011. He is the 6th WWE Grand Slam title winner under the current format, and 15th all-time. Bryan is also a 12x Slammy Award winner, with some awards being serious (such as 2013’s Superstar of the Year) and some not-so-serious (such as 2013’s Beard of the Year award).

Bryan was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2016.

Rob Van Dam was featured prominently in the recent Dark Side of the Ring episode on 2002’s Plane Ride From Hell. RVD recently took to Twitter to clarify some of the comments he made on the show.

“Just watched DSOTR. Heavy,” RVD began. “Some insight for those who can handle it- 1) I haven’t seen Ric Flair’s dick. My comment about fans shouldn’t see him doing the helicopter was a response to DSOTR telling me that’s what they were told. They shouldn’t. I don’t want to see it either.”

“2) I said ‘trying to make her touch him’ referring to his body crowding her space and her backing up like bad breath was in her face. I thought maybe they were playing (from seeing a similar scene at the hotel bar) but I wasn’t interested in naked Ric. Still ain’t. I tried to sleep.”

RVD also responded to several responses he received on Twitter as well. He clarified that people may be misconstruing what he said due to how the episode was edited.

RVD also wrote that the flight attendant could not get by Flair without touching him. This is what he was referring to during the episode.

“I enjoy the communication,” RVD also said in a Tweet last night. “Being famous means having haters. Haters that think they have better life skills than me is something I like to share with everybody because I’m sure their life is nothing I’d trade for. I win.. what’s that make them?”

Busted Open Radio’s Dave LaGreca briefly addressed Tommy Dreamer’s status with the show on today’s episode. Dreamer has been a longtime co-host of Busted Open but has not appeared on it since the airing of a recent Dark Side of the Ring episode focussed on 2002’s Plane Ride From Hell.

LaGreca noted that Dreamer is off the show for the time being but he does not know how long Dreamer will be gone for.

“As far as Tommy’s future on Busted Open, he’s off the show. How long? I don’t know. I don’t know how long Tommy is going to be off the show,” said Dave LaGreca (transcriptions via WrestlingNewsCO).

Dreamer took to social media recently to apologize for the comments he made on the Dark Side of the Ring episode. His statement is below:

Dreamer was also suspended by Impact Wrestling. He was sent home from the promotion’s recent tapings in Nashville.

“We are aware of Mr. Laughlin’s (Tommy Dreamer) comments on ‘Dark Side of the Ring.’ The views expressed by him in the interview are completely unacceptable. We can confirm Mr. Laughlin was suspended this morning with immediate effect, pending further action,” reads a statement released by Impact.

AEW announced a partnership today with the Owen Hart Foundation. The agreement will honor the legendary wrestler’s memory and contributions to the wrestling industry.

The promotion has also announced the creation of an annual tournament named “The Owen Hart Cup”. The tournament winner will receive a trophy referred to as “The Owen.”

“AEW’s relationship with the Hart family dates back to our inaugural pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing in 2019, and Owen’s influence is still felt today,” said Tony Khan, AEW CEO, GM, and Head of Creative. “To extend his memory and his legacy even further through this agreement is a powerful and meaningful moment for the entire wrestling community.”

AEW X The Owen Hart Foundation

In addition to the Owen Hart tournament, AEW will also market merchandise featuring Owen Hart’s likeness. This includes apparel and Owen’s inclusion in the upcoming AEW console video game. Owen Hart action figures are also part of the agreement.

“The Owen Hart Foundation is extremely pleased to partner with AEW in this wonderful joint venture to honor Owen’s substantial international wrestling career and the lasting influence he and his craft has had in the sport. AEW’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament serves as a tremendous tribute to Owen and provides an incredible way for professional wrestling enthusiasts to celebrate his work in a most fitting way. We trust that Tony Khan and his amazing AEW team will do a brilliant job with this highly anticipated project. This OHF/AEW partnership is my special gift to all of Owen’s magnificent loyal fans who forever remember him and his inspiring repertoire of talents,” said Dr. Martha Hart.

The Owen Hart Foundation’s mandate is to help those who have “limited resources but unlimited potential”. Programs offered by the nonprofit include helping people with limited resources obtain homeownership and scholarships for disadvantaged youth.

AEW’s press release is below:

Testing positive for cannabis without a medical prescription is against WWE’s Wellness Policy. Currently, a positive test will result in a talent being fined $2,500. According to comments the Godfather recently made on the Midnight Hustle podcast, however, Vince McMahon is not anti-cannabis and Shane McMahon even owns a cannabis business.

“What you are failing to realize is that’s a big corporation and they answer to a lot of people so if they let people smoke weed, it’s not federally legal and you’re still breaking the law no matter if it’s legal in states,” Godfather said on the show. “If it was up to Vince, Vince would have everybody smoking. Vince is no fool but he has people to answer to and it’s a big company. He just can’t say it’s okay to smoke weed because what happens if you go to a state where it’s not legal? They bring the police in, they test you and there’s a lot of legal things. It ain’t because Vince don’t want to. The second it becomes legal, Vince would be the first one on that wagon.”

Godfather continued to say that Shane McMahon even owns a large cannabis co-op in California.

“I mean Shane owns a [Cannabis] co-op in California. A big co-op. [Vince is] not against weed, he’s a businessman. I’m telling you, I know this 100 percent, he would much rather see people smoke cannabis than all this other stupid sh** if it was up to him, believe me.”

Shane McMahon’s Cannabis Business Ventures

Shane investing in a California-based cannabis co-op is not the first time he’s been involved in the cannabis industry. In 2017, the NY Daily News reported on Shane McMahon’s investment in another cannabis-based company.

According to the report, Shane invested half a million dollars into a cannabis startup in Connecticut. The company was called EnviroGrow. When McMahon went to tour the company’s facilities, however, he found their operations to be “virtually nonexistent”. He filed suit to have his investment refunded. Documents pertaining to Shane’s lawsuit against the company can be found here.

Under the WWE Wellness Policy, testing positive for cannabis does not result in a suspension. It still results in a fine of $2500, however. A WWE talent may receive an exemption provided cannabis is prescribed by a physician, however.

“A WWE Talent may request a Therapeutic Use Exception (“TUE”) for a prohibited drug under the Policy if (i) such use is for a legitimate medical purpose given pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed and treating physician of the WWE Talent,” WWE’s Wellness Policy reads.

H/T to WrestlingNewsCo for the transcribed quotes

Impact Wrestling is currently taping shows from the Skyway Studios in Nashville. One of the shows taped yesterday was the Knockouts Knockdown event and during the event, Impact inducted a new member to its Hall of Fame.

After officially retiring from the ring at NWA Empowerrr, Awesome Kong was inducted into the Impact Hall of Fame, according to a report from Fightful. Kong said she dedicated her induction to Daffney. A special Daffney memorial Monster’s Ball match will take place to honor her on the Knockouts Knockdown event as well.

Awesome Kong is a 2x Knockouts Champion and also won the Queen of the Knockouts tournament in 2015. Her long-running feud with Gail Kim is often considered one of the greatest programs in the history of the promotion. Kim was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame Members

Impact Wrestling’s Hall of Fame dates back to 2012 when Sting was the inaugural inductee. 

1. Sting (2012)
2. Kurt Angle (2013)
3. Team 3-D (Bully Ray & Devon) (2014)
4. Jeff Jarrett (2015)
5. Earl Hebner (2015)
6. Gail Kim (2016)
7. Abyss (2018)
8. Ken Shamrock (2020)
9. Awesome Kong (2021)

Impact Wrestling presents Victory Road tonight on the Impact Plus App. Christian will defend against Ace Austin in the main event.

Impact Wrestling is currently taping shows in Nashville. Victory Road airs tonight on the Impact Plus app. According to a report from Fightful, Christopher Daniels is at the tapings. Daniels hasn’t wrestled for Impact Wrestling in over 7 years, having last performed for the promotion in 2014.

It is being speculated that Daniels could wrestle as part of the tapings, something he hasn’t done since the May 12th episode of Dynamite. Daniels and Kazarian lost an AEW tag title shot to the Young Bucks on that show.

Daniels is a 4x X-Division Champion with Impact Wrestling/TNA Wrestling. His 280 days spent with the title belt ranks him 8th all-time in that category. He also twice held the Impact tag-team titles along with Kazarian. He also held the NWA tag-team titles 6x while a member of TNA.

Victory Road Lineup

Impact Wrestling presents Victory Road tonight from Nashville. The lineup for the show is below:

1. Impact World Championship
   Christian Cage (c) vs Ace Austin
2. Impact Tag Team Championships
   The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) (c) vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack
3. X-Division Championship
   Josh Alexander (c) vs Chris Sabin
4. Knockouts Tag Team Championships
   Decay (Rosemary & Havok) vs Tasha Steelz & Savannah Evans
5. Chris Bey & Hikuleo vs FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson)
6. Moose & W. Morrissey vs. Eddie Edwards & Sami Callihan
7. Steve Maclin vs. Petey Williams vs TJP
8. Taylor Wilde vs. Tenille Dashwood (with Kaleb with a K)
9. Matt Cardona (with Chelsea Green) vs. Rohit Raju (with Shera)

WWE has teased that Brock Lesnar could be drafted to RAW in the near future. The upcoming WWE Draft is scheduled to take place on the October 1st edition of Smackdown and the October 4th edition of WWE RAW.

During last night’s edition of WWE Smackdown, Kayla Braxton approached Paul Heyman and stated that she has heard Lesnar could be headed to RAW. Heyman blew her off, however, and downplayed the “rumors.”

WWE’s TV Partners Want Big Attractions

According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast, the Fox and USA networks have both requested that WWE book RAW and Smackdown equally, with neither show being considered the B-show.

“From speaking a lot of my friends at the networks, they’re alluding that when you see something big happen on one, expect something big to happen on the other. Maybe not the following week, but they have to treat them weekly, that’s true,” Zarian said on the podcast.

There have also been rumblings that Drew McIntyre could be switching brands during the draft. Zarian Tweeted out an image of a match graphic featuring Roman Reigns facing Drew McIntyre for the Universal title on an episode of Smackdown.

The fallout from Thursday’s Dark Side of the Ring episode on 2002’s Plane Ride From Hell has been swift. A national advertising campaign for Carshield featuring Ric Flair has now been paused due to the allegations made against Flair in the episode.

According to PWInsider, the ad campaign has been paused “pending additional investigation and decisions.”

Intermedia, the ad agency that runs the campaign issued the following statement addressing their decision to put Flair on ice:

“We take these matters very seriously. As of right now, we are pausing the campaign and we will do our due diligence.”

– Intermedia

Ric Flair has yet to release a public statement since the Plane Ride From Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring aired Thursday night. However, he did speak with Renee Paquette about the situation on a recent episode of her Oral Sessions podcast.

“We’ll see how it plays out, because I was there and I don’t care whose name I gotta drop if the heat falls on me. I know who was where and what and who and what took place. I know the whole story,” Flair said on the podcast.

Ric Flair is not the only person facing negative ramifications this week. Tommy Dreamer has been suspended from Impact Wrestling as a result of his comments on the episode defending Flair’s actions.

Tommy Dreamer has been suspended by Impact Wrestling “effective immediately” following his appearance on this week’s Dark Side of the Ring episode about the Plane Ride from Hell. Dreamer’s defense of Ric Flair’s behavior on the infamous plane ride has drawn backlash online.

PWInsider reports that Ed Nordholm of Anthem Sports and Entertainment sent an email to the Impact roster today addressing the matter. Nordholm called Dreamer’s comments “out of line with our core values.”

Impact confirmed news of Dreamer’s suspension:

“We are aware of Mr Laughlin’s (Tommy Dreamer) comments on “Dark Side of the Ring”. The views expressed by him in the interview are completely unacceptable. We can confirm Mr Laughlin was suspended this morning with immediate effect, pending further action”.

In addition to periodically wrestling on the show, Dreamer was a member of Impact’s creative team. As of the spring, Impact’s creative team reportedly consisted of Scott D’Amore, Tommy Dreamer, RD Evans and Jimmy Jacobs.

Impact is in Nashville currently for tapings at the Skyway Studios. Dreamer was reportedly in Nashville but was asked to leave by Nordholm. On Saturday, Impact will present Victory Road on the Impact Plus App. Christian Cage vs Ace Austin will headline the show.