Ric Flair wants to help Jacksonville Jaguar fans support their home team this year. Flair recently posted a video to his official YouTube page featuring backstage footage of him recording the “Wooooo Cam” to be played at Jags home games. In the video, Flair asks fans to give “2 claps and a Ric Flair” to support the team.

The Jaguars are owned by Shahid Khan, father of AEW President Tony Khan. While Flair’s involvement with the Jags could lead to speculation he’s on his way to AEW, it appears Flair is hoping to film “Wooooo Cams” for a variety of different sports teams.

“Look For The WOOOOOCam To Hit All Sporting Teams In 2022!” a description of Flair’s video reads.

Ric Flair & The Jacksonville Jaguars

This is not the first time the 16x World Champion has supported the team. Before the 2017 NFL season, Flair sent motivation t-shirts to the Jaguars as well.

Flair also helped the Jacksonville Jaguars welcome #1 Draft Pick Trevor Lawrence to the franchise this spring. He spoke to the media about Lawrence’s potential in Jacksonville.

“I don’t know Trevor Lawrence,” Flair said to Outkick. “But if he lives up to only half the hype, it’s going to be great. It gives that organization some notoriety.”

Ric Flair To AEW?

While his filming of the Wooooo Cam for the Jags might be unrelated to his future wrestling contracts, recent reports have stated that Flair is expected to sign with AEW. His free agency was addressed recently in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“While nothing has been announced, the word going around is that it seems to be a lock Ric Flair will be headed here when he is legally able,” wrote Dave Meltzer. 

IWGP World Champion Shingo Takagi and Los InGobernables member BUSHI have been cleared to return. Both wrestlers had tested positive for COVID-19 2 weeks ago and were removed from the recent NJPW tour.

On August 15th, both Takagi and BUSHI were found to have elevated temperatures and were given PCR tests. On August 18th, NJPW announced that they had both tested positive for COVID-19.

Both wrestlers will return at the Wrestle Grand Slam events scheduled for September 4th and 5th in Tokorozawa’s MetLife Dome.

NJPW has also released the lineups for those two shows.

Wrestle Grand Slam – MetLife Dome – Night 1 – September 4th, 2021

• IWGP United States Championship
  Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb
• Provisional KOPW 2021
  No DQ, I Quit Match
  Chase Owens (c) vs. Toru Yano
• SHO vs. YOH
• Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
• STARDOM exhibition match (Pre-Show)

Wrestle Grand Slam – MetLife Dome – Night 2 – September 5th, 2021

• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
  Shingo Takagi (c) vs. EVIL
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
  Robbie Eagles (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
• IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
  Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
  Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo (c) vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
• Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan
• STARDOM exhibition match (Pre-Show)

Fans in Chicago this week for Dynamite, Rampage, and All Out have an option for entertainment on Thursday evening. The Acclaimed’s Max Caster has announced a concert for September 2nd from the Bottom Lounge in Chicago.

The show will begin at 10 PM and includes a performance and Q&A session. Caster took to social media recently to promote the event:

Max Caster’s Recent Absence From AEW Programming

Caster hasn’t performed for AEW since wrestling a dark match on August 4th. Earlier this month, an episode of Dark had to be pulled and re-edited after Caster made some insensitive comments during his pre-match rap to his opponents. In the next set of AEW top-5 rankings, The Acclaimed were removed after having previously been ranked #2.

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

Tony Khan also spoke about Caster’s rap during an episode of Busted Open Radio.

“This would never have happened (on Dynamite) because Max’s raps, I have always gone over them with him,” Khan said on the show. “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.”

NBA Champion Giannis Antetokounmpo was in attendance last week as AEW presented Dynamite from Milwaukee. AEW President Tony Khan presented the NBA Finals MVP with an AEW Championship belt during the live event. Giannis recently posted to social media about the experience and Tony Khan responded.

“The freak show!!” Giannis began his post. “Thank you Tony Khan but you know what the deal is…none of your crew wants to see me in the ring! The Greek Freak is ready to takedown everyone and anyone, let the Freak Show begin! Bring it on!!! This is my city!”

Tony Khan then responded to Giannis’ comments.

“Thank you so so so so much for coming to AEW Rampage, it was an honor and a pleasure, and congratulations to you sir, Finals MVP + WORLD CHAMPION!”

Milwaukee Bucks beat writer Todd Rosiak was in attendance for Dynamite this week and the following Rampage tapings. He posted a video of Giannis’ unannounced appearance in the below Tweet:

In 2019, Giannis called out the Rock but a match between the two is nothing Dwayne Johnson is interested in. The Rock responded that he’d much rather work out with the NBA star.

“Love this dude. It’s why he’s an [NBA] beast & the Bucks are #1 in the E,” he wrote. “But you don’t want this smoke, cuz I will slap your lips off into next week, son. And by that I mean, let’s just get a workout in and enjoy some tequila after.”

Mickie James and the NWA presented Empowerrr last night from the Chase ballroom in St. Louis. Ronda Rousey was watching the show and posted her comments to social media throughout the evening.

Rousey was particularly impressed with the Knockouts championship match between Deonna Purrazzo and Melina. Purrazzo was able to make Melina tap after focusing on Melina’s leg for much of the contest.

Melina responded to Rousey’s comments as well.

Following the Knockouts title match was the finals in the 4-team tournament for the NWA Women’s Tag Team Championships. The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) came out the victors and new champs after defeating Red Velvet and KiLynn King.

The nights main event was the NWA Women’s Invitational Cup. The 10-person Gauntlet match was won by Chelsea Green. Rousey sent out her congratulations to Green and praised the PPV overall.

The NWA returns to PPV tonight. The NWA 73rd Anniversary show will also air from the Chase Ballroom in St. Louis.

• NWA World Heavyweight Championship vs Career
  Nick Aldis (c) vs Trevor Murdoch
• NWA World Women’s Championship
  Champion vs Invitational Cup Winner
• NWA National Championship
  Chris Adonis (c) vs James Storm
• NWA World Tag Team Championships
  Aron Stevens and JR Kratos (c) vs. La Rebelión (Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf 450)
• Thom Latimer vs. Crimson vs. Tim Storm
• Tyrus, The Masked Man, and Jordan Clearwater (with Austin Idol) vs. Da Pope and The End (Odinson and Parrow)
• #1 Contender National Championship
  12-Person Battle Royal

What’s AEW Dark doing in the Impact Zone?!

With All Elite Wrestling shows back on the road and Rampage airing on Friday nights, the promotion is preparing to make some changes to AEW Dark. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the show will be moving to a studio setting.

“They are going to be doing studio tapings for Dark most weeks now since Rampage is being taped on most Wednesday nights going forward,” wrote Dave Meltzer. The report continued to say that the format will typically be Dark Elevation filmed before Dynamite and then Rampage being filmed after.

Episodes of Rampage will take place live from time to time, however. While this week’s show was taped, Rampage will air live from Chicago on September 3rd. The next live episode of Rampage to air after that is currently scheduled to be October 15th from Miami.

According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast, Florida’s Universal Studios could be the studio AEW films in.

“Hearing that the possible new home for AEW Dark will be in Universal Studios in Orlando at a Sound Stage similar to what IMPACT use to do,” Zarian Tweeted.

Dave Meltzer has since confirmed that Universal Orlando is the future home of All Elite Wrestling’s AEW Dark tapings.

3 matches will air on Rampage tonight that were taped following Dynamite in Milwaukee this week. The Lucha Bros will face Jurassic Express. Tay Conti will take on the Bunny. Christian Cage will also team up with Frankie Kazarian to take on Kenny Omega and Brandon Cutler.

Shinsuke Nakamura is denying a report that he has signed a contract extension with WWE. An article in Nikkan Sports published a report stating that Nakamura had extended his deal with the company but Nakamura replied to say that this is not the case.

“‘King’ Shinsuke Nakamura extends contract with WWE, period unknown US media coverage,” a translation of the headline reads.

Nakamura then responded with “Soreusodesuyo” which according to Google translate means “That’s a lie.”

In terms of what led to this report, it appears multiple outlets may have misconstrued comments made by Andrew Zarian on the Mat Men podcast. Zarian says he was referring to a contract extension that Nakamura signed in 2019, not a new one signed recently.

Reports of Nakamura signing a contract extension with WWE in 2019 were originally made by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

It has been a successful summer for Nakamura. He defeated Baron Corbin for the “King of WWE” title in June. That ended up sending Corbin on quite the downward spiral. Nakamura then defeated Apollo Crews to win the Intercontinental Championship on the August 13th episode of Smackdown. He is a former 2x NXT Champion, 2x United States Champion, and 2x and current Intercontinental Champion. Nakamura also won the Royal Rumble in 2018.

Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee are now known as Iinspiration (FKA Billie Kay & Peyton Royce, the Iiconics). The Australian duo have recently announced their return to pro-wrestling. They had both been released from their WWE contracts in April after having been with the company since 2015.

Both Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee took to Twitter recently to announce their returns to pro-wrestling. They have announced “The Iinspiration Tour” with dates and cities to be announced soon.

WrestleCade has announced them for their event at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in late November:

News that the team are returning to pro-wrestling comes after they had both discussed having problems obtaining work visas after being released from WWE.

“People are like, ‘what are going to do now?’ Well, nothing, because I can’t legally work in the country and people think that you apply for the green card and it comes in the mail,” said McKay on Oral Sessions. “This stuff takes years and we’ve been through the ringer with this, getting stuff denied and switching the process because of the pandemic. It keeps backing up, year after year. We’re almost there, but almost there could still be a year away. We just don’t know.”

The IIconics became the second team to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships after they were brought back in 2019. They won a 4-way match at WrestleMania 35 to win the belts from Sasha Banks and Bayley.

CM Punk, Becky Lynch, and Brock Lesnar all returned to pro-wrestling after varying lengths of absences recently. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE brought back Brock Lesnar and may have sped up the return of Becky Lynch due to pressure to appease Fox after CM Punk debuted for AEW.

“FOX was very upset that WWE didn’t make a big offer to Punk to keep him from going to AEW, and politically, WWE felt the need to get Lesnar and Lynch to Smackdown right away,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

Fox and CM Punk are said to have a good relationship stemming from his time on WWE Backstage.

In terms of Becky Lynch, she was likely always returning at SummerSlam, anyway. For Lesnar, however, his deal was said to have been made very last minute. Meltzer noted that those close to the situation are “saying it was literally a last-minute deal that was put together for a number of reasons, all in some form related to FOX, C.M. Punk showing up in AEW and John Cena leaving.”

It was also noted that the reason Lesnar looked leaner than usual is that he did not have advanced notice he’d be returning. Both Lesnar and Lynch will be headed to the Smackdown brand with Lesnar challenging Reigns for the Universal title and Lynch now the Smackdown Women’s Champion after defeating Bianca Belair on Saturday.

There have been several reports in recent weeks regarding WWE’s approach to scouting and hiring talent. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE will no longer be scouting talent from independent wrestling promotions.

“Several in the company have told us that the word from the top is no more independent talent as far as scouting and such,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

“They are back to the feeling of scouting by looks and not because guys have gotten over elsewhere and teaching people with the right look to be wrestlers.”

The report continued to say the plan is to bring in a lot more athletes with backgrounds in other sports for tryouts.

WWE has dozens of former independent wrestlers on the main roster, in NXT and at the Performance Center. What does this new philosophy mean for the Adam Cole’s, Johnny Gargano’s and Ricochet’s of the world?

WWE’s New Talent Scouting Policy

WWE’s Nick Khan recently spoke about WWE’s approach to scouting and hiring during an interview with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport.

“In terms of an NXT rebrand, look for it in the next couple of weeks. It’s going to have a whole new look. It’s going to have a whole new feel, and we believe because a lot of the ‘indie wrestlers,’ if you will, have come through our system and are in our system with SmackDown and RAW now, we don’t want to just keep doing that same thing. We want to look elsewhere for great young talent. The look of the show, the production of the show, everything’s gonna’ change.”

AEW President Tony Khan reacted to the Nick Khan’s interview with Ariel Helwani, specifically his comments about WWE looking to recruit a very specific type of athlete.

Visit f4wonline.com to subscribe to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Impact Wrestling on 8/26 featured the Good Brothers vs Willie Mack & Rich Swann in the main event, Mickie James was there to promote NWA Empowerrr this weekend, and Christian Cage returned to the Impact Zone.

Impact Wrestling 8/26 Quick Results:

1. Chris Sabin defeated Sami Callihan
2. Chris Bey defeated David Finlay
3. The Influence (Tenille Dashwood, Madison Rayne, & Kaleb with a K) defeated Taylor Wilde
4. Willie Mack & Rich Swann defeated The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows)

Chris Sabin Beats Sami Callihan

The opener this week saw two of the promotion’s top-ranked singles wrestlers and former world champions go one-on-one as Chris Sabin faced Sami Callihan. Sabin somehow found the strength to kick out after Callihan hit him with a curb stomp and piledriver. Shortly after, Callihan just barely got his shoulder up on a pin attempt. He probably shouldn’t have taken a moment to confirm with the referee that it was only a 2-count, however, as Sabin quickly hit his Cradle Shock finish for the win after.

After the match, Moose attacked and was about to inflict more damage on Callihan when Eddie Edwards made the save.

Deonna Purrazzo, Melina, & Mickie James Build To NWA Empowerrr

The Knockouts title will be on the line this weekend from St. Louis. Deonna Purrazzo will face Melina on the NWA Empowerrr show Saturday night. The Virtuosa and Mickie James came face to face this week, with James warning the champion not to underestimate Melina. She reminded Purrazzo that she will not have Drama King Matt’s help at Empowerrr like she did at Emergence. Purrazzo attacked James but Melina and Trey Miguel came out for the save.

Chris Bey Defeats David Finlay

David Finlay was likely wanting some revenge against Bullet Club here after dropping his match against Jay White at NJPW Resurgence recently. After a competitive and action-filled match, Bey rolled up Finlay and gained leverage by putting his feet on the ropes for the win.

Christian Cage Returns To The Impact Zone

Christian Cage returned to the Impact Zone this week. His next challenger for the title will be Ace Austin at Victory Road but Christian sounded quite confident that the former X-Division Champion doesn’t represent a significant threat to his title. Tommy Dreamer then came out and let Christian know that he wants to face him down the line but plans on earning his opportunity first. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton then came out and a melee ensued between the 4 men.

Later in the show, Scott D’Amore announced that next week Ace Austin will face Tommy Dreamer in singles action. If Dreamer wins, he’ll be added to the match at Victory Road.

Eric Young Blames Rhino For Loss At Emergence

Rhino took the pin at Emergence, costing his Violent By Design faction a chance to regain the Impact tag-team titles. Eric Young was not happy about this. A vignette aired this week featuring Young telling Rhino he needs to cleanse him in the holy waters of change.

Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering Come To Taylor Wilde’s Rescue

Taylor Wilde had a tough task this week. She faced all 3 members of The Influence, Madison Rayne, Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb (With a K) Konley. Although Wilde got in some offence, she was eventually hit with a Spotlight Kick and pinned. After the match, the 3 Instagram-savvy wrestlers kept up the attack on Wilde until former tag champs Rachael Ellering and Jordynne Grace made the save.

Su Yung & Kimber Lee Take Brandi Lauren’s Soul

Brandi Lauren was being interviewed in the back when things took a turn. The lighting changed and it became clear that Su Yung and the now somewhat demonic Kimber Lee were going to attack. Gia Miller exclaimed that they needed to get out of there but it was too late. Kimber gave Lauren the mandible claw and took her into a room with Yung to end the segment.

Willie Mack & Rich Swann Beat The Tag Champs

Willie Mack and Rich Swann have likely earned a future shot at the Impact tag team championships after defeating the champs in non-title action this week. After a competitive match, Swann countered Karl Anderson’s Gun Stun into a pinning combination and got the 3-count. The Good Brothers were not good sports about the loss. They attacked Swann and Mack after the match. They tossed Swann into the steel post and gave Mack a Magic Killer before power-bombing him through a table. The Good Brothers stood tall to end the show despite losing the main event.

Coming Up In Impact Wrestling

Next Week:

• Tommy Dreamer vs Ace Austin (If Dreamer wins, he’s added to the world title match at Victory Road)
• The Influence (Tenille Dashwood, Madison Rayne, & Kaleb with a K) vs Taylor Wilde, Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering
• Rohit Raju & Shera vs Matt Cardona & Chelsea Green
• X-Division Championship
  Josh Alexander Open Challenge

Victory Road (September 18th)

• Impact World Championship
  Christian Cage (c) vs Ace Austin

Chris Jericho will put his in-ring career on the line against Maxwell Jacob Friedman at All Out on September 5th. The match was made official last night on Dynamite. With Jericho’s in-ring career in jeopardy, many fans have wondered how much time is left on his AEW contract.

Jericho’s contract was addressed recently on Wrestling Observer Radio. According to Dave Meltzer, Jericho’s deal with the promotion has essentially one and a half years left on it.

“There is a 1-year option. So in a sense, it’s up at the end of next year. So, a year and a half basically left,” said Dave Meltzer.

Jericho has wrestled 47 matches in his AEW career. His overall record is 34-12-1. So far in 2021, Jericho is 9-3. He is also the promotion’s inaugural world champion. Jericho held the title for 182 days between August 31st, 2019 and February 20th, 2020. He defended the title successfully against Darby Allin, Cody Rhodes, and Scorpio Sky before dropping it to Jon Moxley.

Chris Jericho’s in-ring career being put on the line at All Out struck a chord with WWE producer Shane “Hurricane” Helms. He posted the following to Twitter shortly after the match stipulation was made.

At Fight for the Fallen last month, a match between Santana & Ortiz and FTR went to the finish early following a gruesome injury suffered by Cash Wheeler. A hook from the turnbuckle post caught his arm and tore into it. Doctors attended to Wheeler as Harwood ended up winning the match for his team.

Wheeler recently took to Twitter to share some gruesome photos of the injury. He also offered further details on how it has impacted him.

“August 28th I had a hook stab into my arm and rip it open. For almost a month I’ve been dealing with loss of grip strength, loss of feeling/nerve damage, and wondering if this is even worth it anymore. If this is the end, we’re taking a pound of flesh with us,” Wheeler wrote on Twitter.

The rematch between the two teams is scheduled for next week’s edition of Dynamite.

Both Wheeler and Harwood have dropped hints about possibly coming to the end of their wrestling careers.

The #4 ranked team in AEW have only lost one match this year. That was the Stadium Stampede match where the Inner Circle defeated the Pinnacle at Double or Nothing. They are 6-0 in 2-on-2 tag-team matches so far in 2021.

Following Dynamite last night, AEW taped this Friday’s episode of Rampage. After that, CM Punk came out and spoke to the live crowd in Milwaukee.

“It’s cool to be here,” Punk said. “It’s cool that you all came here and to stay, I know it’s late, I know sometimes these shows can be long but you sit in your seats and you’re enthusiastic and you give everybody here everything you’ve got because everybody, at least that I’ve seen so far, gives you everything that they have.”

“I just want to say that I’m super grateful and I know eventually the luster will kind of wear off,” Punk continued. “Just know that until it does wear off, I’m going to keep doing it and I’m going to keep trying to soak it in as much as I can.”

Christian Cage than got on the microphone and noted that it was a big deal that Punk was in AEW.

“It’s a big f***ing deal that you’re here,” Christian says in the video.

Twitter user @allELITExmtz posted video of Punk addressing the crowd in Milwaukee:

He also posted a second video that features Frankie Kazarian come out and speak to both CM Punk and Christian Cage.

As CM Punk made his entrance in the United Center for The First Dance, numerous fans had an emotional reaction. Several people could be seen in the audience with tears coming down their face. The image of one fan in particular seemed to sum up just how emotional a moment it was, however.

Tommy Dreamer spoke about wanting to find the fan to give back to him as a thank you for his passion. It took a few days but Dreamer was able to get in contact with the man, who appears to just be a nice and humble guy who loves wrestling. Below is what Dreamer said on Busted Open Radio about his conversation with the fan.

“I offered to fly him to Bound For Glory, talked to Tony Khan, Tony Khan said he’ll take care of him for tickets. CM Punk, spoke to him, said he’d take care of him for a meet and greet,” Dreamer said of all the people who want to do something nice for the man.

Dreamer noted that it took a few days to reach the fan. The person is not a “social media guy” so he was harder to track down.

Tommy Dreamer Speaks With Passionate CM Punk Fan

“What a wonderful fan,” Dreamer said of the man. “Does not want any fame, doesn’t really want anything, which is good cause I was going to fly him on my miles.”

Dreamer continued to say that things are still being arranged for the fan, however.

“I asked him to come on this show and he’s like ‘I have a job and a wife, 2 kids and I just really appreciate professional wrestling’ and he didn’t want anything. I still arranged for it to happen and good o’l Judge Jeff Jones made sure all the stuff with Tony Khan and CM Punk, it’s all going to happen for him.”

“It was really cool to hear his response and just his fandom for professional wrestling,” Dreamer continued. Dreamer also said the fan was very happy to speak to him and excited to get to meet some other wrestlers.

Unfortunately, Dreamer also mentioned that 3 different impersonators tried to hit him up for free stuff while pretending to be the fan.

Tony Khan was a guest on the Dan Le Batard & Friends podcast recently. During the discussion, he spoke about the deal he made to bring CM Punk to AEW. Khan said he feels the deal was one of the best he’s ever made.

“I believe this was one of the best deals I’ve ever done in my life and I don’t think it was really all about money,” Khan said.

Khan would continue to talk about how he and Punk got to know each other throughout the pandemic by speaking regularly on the phone. He feels the trust they built is what led to the deal being completed.

“I spent a lot of time talking to him on the phone getting to know each other better and building trust with each other. So, this was a long time coming, we’ve been talking a lot for about a year and a half.”

Le Batard then asked Khan if Punk paid for himself on his first night.

“Yeah, I do think so. In terms of what this has done for our business, I really believe as soon as we saw the results from this, before we even got started I knew this was the best deal we could have possibly done.”

Tony Khan Talks Deal To Bring CM Punk To AEW

Khan also spoke about how Punk was very generous with his time backstage with wrestlers on Friday night.

“He was also really cool about going backstage and offering really, really kind advice, being very good with his time with the wrestlers.”

Khan also spoke about how the idea with The First Dance was that fans would be confident Punk would be there, but not 100% sure.

“The idea by the time the show started is that all the fans would be 99% sure CM Punk is going to be there, but that 1% doubt is what made it that much better than just advertising it,” Khan said.

The full conversation with Tony Khan can be heard in the player below:

NJPW’s KENTA has noted on Instagram stories that he recently tested positive for COVID-19. He did experience symptoms, including a fever and loss of smell but is doing better now.

“I got COVID last few weeks,” he wrote. “First of all, I apologize to everyone who had to [change plans] because of me. Fortunately, my symptom was not too bad. Just [had a] fever a few days (102 F) and lost my smell. But now I’m totally fine. And got [a negative test]. Stay safe and healthy, everyone.”

KENTA hasn’t wrested in a month. His last match was the 22-man New Japan Rando match at Wrestle Grand Slam in the Tokyo Dome on July 25th. The night before he lost a singles match to Hiroshi Tanahashi at Summer Struggle in Nagoya.

On August 15th, NJPW announced that several wrestlers had been pulled from shows due to COVID-19 protocols. KENTA was not on the tour by this point, however. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi was pulled from the tour and hasn’t wrestled since August 14th.

In NJPW, KENTA is a 1x Never Openweight Champion and won the USA Cup on New Japan Strong in 2020. In Pro Wrestling NOAH, KENTA is a former 1x GHC Heavyweight Champion and 3x Junior Heavyweight Champion.

KENTA responded to CM Punk’s return to pro-wrestling on Friday night’s The First Dance event:

Ruby Soho (FKA Ruby Riott) has released a new video on social media. It’s the second video she’s released, the first having been posted last Tuesday.

In her latest video, Ruby steals a car from a gas station and drives away. She then narrowly avoids an accident. The video ends with the words “The Runaway” and “To Be Continued.”

The video can be viewed in the Tweet below:

In her previous video, Ruby is shown just missing a train. She had a train ticket that read she was traveling from Orlando to New York’s Penn Station.

The video she posted last Tuesday is below:

Where Is Ruby Soho Expected To Go Next?

According to a report from Fightful, Ruby is expected to sign with AEW at some point. She was released from her WWE contract on June 2nd, 2021. If she was under a 90-day no-compete clause, she will be free to sign with another promotion at the beginning of September.

Vickie Guerrero specifically mentioned Ruby Soho as someone she would like to see in AEW.

“I think the one that comes to mind is Ruby. You know she was formerly with WWE; I would love to have Ruby on the roster for AEW,” said Guerrero on the Thoughts Count Anywhere podcast. 

“She was really underutilized, and I love her. She was on my podcast and just a great talent and a good wholesome human being.”

Former NXT Champion Adam Cole will be a free agent by the end of this week. Following his loss to Kyle O’Reilly at Saturday’s NXT Takeover 36 event, Cole will be free to negotiate with other wrestling promotions as early as this weekend.

As we’ve covered here in recent weeks, WWE officials were recently caught off guard when they discovered Adam Cole’s WWE contract had expired. There was a scramble to tie him up in a short-term extension, so he could compete at NXT Takeover 36, as advertised. Fightful notes that Cole will be a free man on Friday, August 27th.

According to multiple sources, the prevailing belief is that Cole has wrestled his final match for WWE. You can be sure the company will go to great lengths in an effort to re-sign Cole. He’ll have a lot of thinking to do over the next several days.

Talk Sport reports that an important stipulation of Cole’s short-term WWE contract extension is that he would NOT be held to a non-compete clause. afterwards. “As part of the extension, Cole also managed to ‘kill the non-compete clause’ he would have had to fulfill.

Theoretically, he would be free to sign with a different company this weekend and appear on “the other channel” as soon as next week. That could present a lot of interesting options for Cole.

Cole’s girlfriend, AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker, just did an interview discussing the possibility of a mixed tag match featuring Baker & Cole vs. CM Punk and AJ Lee. It seems outlandish, but that match could happen this year in an AEW ring.

More on that story here:

Adam Cole’s Choice

Adam Cole joined WWE and NXT back in 2017. He’s been one of the franchise players of the black and gold brand over the past several years. He’s done everything there is to do in NXT, so he’ll need to decide if he envisions himself on WWE’s main roster.

Cole is an avid streamer of video games on the popular Twitch platform. WWE has a policy that talent cannot have their own channels on services like Twitch. However, Cole recently stated that his Twitch channel is not going anywhere.

“There’s been a lot going on lately and I want to make sure everyone knows that this is going nowhere,” he said. “It’s going absolutely nowhere.”

More on that story below.

Paul Wight and Shaquille O’Neal had a stare down during the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32. It was assumed by many after this that a match between the two would happen at some point in WWE. It never did, however, and now both are in AEW.

During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Wight spoke about if he thinks a match against Shaq will happen now that both are in AEW.

“I think that will happen now because there is not as much red tape,” Wight said. “He’s already competed with Cody Rhodes. It was him and Jade Cargill vs. Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. That was an incredible showing for Shaq, so hopefully we’ll be able to cut some more red tape and make it happen.”

Wight also noted that he’s aware Shaq has been training and putting on size as well.

“He’s been hitting the gym lately, Shaq is pretty big right now. He’s huge Shaq, that’s the best way of looking at it. I think he is nervous about me so he is putting on a bit of size. Whereas I am “Tall Paul” the car salesman [laughs].”

Shaq teamed with Jade Cargill and defeated Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet on the March 3rd Dynamite earlier this year. Rhodes ended up putting Shaq through some tables but Cargill pinned Velvet to secure the victory for her team.

The full interview with Paul Wight can be viewed in the player below:

CEO of Anthem Sports and Entertainment (Impact’s parent company), Len Asper, recently noted online that a new distribution deal for Impact Wrestling is coming soon. Impact currently airs on AXS TV, which is also owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment. In many regions outside the United States, Impact airs on the Fight Network, another Anthem-owned company.

“Hey y’all I am here. Was busy trying to keep up with Impact Wrestling launching so many new channel streams and products! Getting pumped things thank you for watching in insanely increasing numbers! Big new distribution deal coming soon!”

Recently, Impact launched a new subscription service on YouTube. Subscribers to Impact Wrestling Insiders can watch Impact’s weekly program commercial-free on YouTube beginning at 830 PM on Thursday evenings. The level-one tier subscription costs only 99 cents per month. The show no longer airs on Twitch.

With names like Christian Cage, Kenny Omega, and Jay White appearing on the show in recent weeks, Asper sounds thrilled with the show’s “increasing numbers” across the various platforms it airs on.

Why Asper decided to make this announcement in response to a Tweet about the Steve Maclin vs Petey Williams match at Emergence is unclear. Maclin won the match on the show, however.

The Good Brothers vs Willie Mack & Rich Swann is being advertised for this week’s show.

WWE is currently taping episodes of NXT that will air on Tuesday nights for the next few weeks. The brand is expected to return to live episodes next month after upgrades are made to the Capitol Wrestling Center/Performance Center. A report from PWInsider has spoilers for tonight’s NXT and the next 2 weeks of 205 Live.

NXT Spoilers: Airing August 24th

• The show starts with Cameron Grimes and Ted Dibiase celebrating Grimes winning the Million Dollar Championship at TakeOver. Nobody interrupts them and LA Knight appears to begin a program with Johnny Gargano later in the show.

• Ridge Holland defeated Timothy Thatcher

• After the match, Holland, Dunne, Oney Lorcan, Thatcher, and Tommaso Ciampa all began brawling. Then Danny Burch made his return from injury to help Holland, Dunne and Lorcan.

• The wedding of Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell is scheduled for the September 14th episode of NXT.

• Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter defeated Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne.

• Raquel Gonzalez began cutting a promo on Kay Lee Ray but was interrupted by the Robert Stone Brand, who said they want to take the NXT Women’s title from her.

• Kay Lee Ray defeated Valentina Feroz

• NXT Champion Samoa Joe cut a promo about beating Kross at TakeOver. Several people came out to claim a title shot. These included Pete Dunne, LA Knight, and Kyle O’Reilly. Ridge Holland, Pete Dunne, and Tommaso Ciampa get involved as well and a wild brawl erupts.

• Carmelo Hayes defeated Odyssey Jones to win the NXT Breakout Tournament.

• After the match, Hayes said it was too early to decide which title he will challenge for.

• Xyon Quinn defeated Boa.

• Boa had been distracted by Mei Ying, leading to his loss.

• Johnny Gargano is seen asking William Regal to call off the wedding between Dexter and Indi, although what authority Regal has to do this is unclear. LA Knight then interrupted this conversation and began arguing with Gargano. So, it appears something could be starting between those two.

• Malcolm Bivens cut a promo claiming that Roderick Strong is the uncrowned cruiserweight champion due to KUSHIDA being on the shelf.

• Ridge Holland vs Tommaso Ciampa is announced for next week’s show.

• Legado del Fantasmo defeated Hit Row in trios action.

• Santos Escobar pinned Swerve Scott. Before the end of the match, however, B-Fab was attacking Escobar while the referee was distracted and an unknown woman came out and attacked her with a weapon.

205 Live Spoilers

Airing August 27th

Drake Maverick was on commentary for the opening match of this show.

• Grayson Waller defeated Andre Chase
• Ikemen Jiro defeated Trey Baxter

Airing September 3rd

• Amari Miller defeated Cora Jade
• Joe Gacy defeated Josh Briggs

Kofi Kingston was not on the road with WWE this weekend. He had originally been scheduled to join his New Day partner Xavier Woods in a segment at SummerSlam with John Morrison and the Miz. Woods was dressed up as Scott Hall and sprayed a water gun at the Miz and Morrison but Kofi ended up not being involved. The segment was a promotional spot for Pure Life Purified Water, one of SummerSlam’s sponsors.

According to a report from PW Insider, Kofi is not cleared to compete and that is why he was not used this weekend. The original plan was for him to dress up as another member of the NWO. WWE is currently marketing a New Day parody NWO t-shirt.

It is not clear why Kingston has not been cleared to perform. His last match was on the August 16th RAW. In a dark segment, New Day defeated Miz and Morrison on the show from San Antonio.

New Day are 8-3 in televised tag-team matches in 2021. They are 1-2 in title matches as well. They won the RAW tag belts in March and then lost them to AJ Styles and Omos a WrestleMania.

Video of Xavier Woods, John Morrison, and The Miz from SummerSlam is below:

The National Wrestling Alliance announced last week that Ric Flair was “coming home” and would be at the upcoming 73rd Anniversary show. The NWA has two big shows upcoming from St. Louis. NWA Empowerrr takes place August 28th from the Chase Ballroom and the promotion’s anniversary show takes place from the same venue the night after.

Corgan was recently on the Battleground podcast and spoke about how the deal to have Flair appear on the show came together. According to Corgan, Conrad Thompson played a role in brokering the deal.

“NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, Nick Aldis had had lunch not too long ago with Conrad Thompson,” Corgan said on the show (transcriptions via Fightful). “Everybody knows Conrad from his success in podcasting but Conrad’s also a member of the Flair family via marriage.”

Corgan continued to say that there was likely some poking around that took place during that lunch meeting to see if Flair was interested.

“I believe it was right around the time that Mr. Flair had left his relationship with the WWE, so I think maybe there was some poking around during that lunch about, ‘Do you think this is something Ric might be interested in?’ So, I think that opened up the channel to talking behind the scenes about whether or not we could put it together, and obviously, it did happen, and I’m very excited.”

NWA Empowerrr and NWA 73 Lineups

The lineups for both NWA shows from St. Louis this week have been revealed.

NWA Empowerrr – August 28th

• NWA Women’s World Championship
  Kamille (c) vs Leyla Hirsch
• NWA Women’s Invitational Gauntlet Cup
  Bianca Carelli vs. Chelsea Green vs. Debbie Malenko vs. Lady Frost vs. Jamie Senegal (with Pollo Del Mar) vs. Jennacide (with Taryn Terrell) vs. Kiera Hogan vs. Masha Slamovich vs. Tootie Lynn vs. Thunder Kitty
• Knockouts Championship
  Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs Melina
• Chik Tormenta vs. Diamante vs. Kylie Rae
• NWA Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals
• NWA Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament Semi-Finals
  The Hex (Allysin Kay and Marti Belle) vs. Hell on Heels (Renee Michelle and Sahara 7)
• NWA Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament Semi-Finals
  Red Velvet and KiLynn King vs. The Freebabes (Jazzy Yang, Hollyhood Haley J and Miranda Gordy)

NWA 73 Lineup – August 29th

• NWA World Heavyweight Championship
  Nick Aldis (c) vs Trevor Murdoch
• NWA Women’s World Championship
  Kamille/Leyla Hirsch (c) vs Winner of Invitational Gauntlet
• NWA World Tag Team Championships
  Aron Stevens and JR Kratos (c) vs. La Rebelión (Bestia 666 and Mecha Wolf 450)
• Thom Latimer vs. Crimson vs. Tim Storm
• Mickie James vs. Kylie Rae
• Tyrus, The Masked Man, and Jordan Clearwater (with Austin Idol) vs. Da Pope and The End (Odinson and Parrow)
• 12-Man Battle royal to determine the #1 contender to the NWA National Championship

CM Punk’s appearance on AEW The First Dance on Friday night was quite possibly the biggest moment in the young promotion’s history. According to comments Punk made to ESPN today, it was the greatest moment of his career. Emily Pratt of FanByte recently noted that Punk had two sets of initials printed on his shoes during the show. Fan theories as to what the initials could stand for are running wild.

One set of initials Punk had printed on his shoes are “A.C.” With rumors of Adam Cole signing with AEW rampant after his loss to Kyle O’Reilly at Takeover 36, some believe he is the “A.C” referenced on Punk’s shoes.

The other set of initials Punk had printed on his shoes was “C.F”. Some have suggested the initials could stand for Charlotte Flair, but other suggestions have been presented as well:

Of course, the initials could have nothing at all to do with wrestling as well.

CM Punk’s long-awaited return to pro-wrestling continues this Wednesday night. On Rampage, it was confirmed that Punk will be on this week’s AEW Dynamite. The show will emanate from UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Punk did his MMA training in the city with Duke Roufus. Milwaukee is about a 90-minute drive from Chicago.