At TripleMania over the weekend, Kenny Omega defeated Andrade to retain the AAA Mega Championship. Shortly after, it was reported that AEW had asked AAA to not have Omega lose the title on the show. In an update to this story, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that AEW eventually did say Omega losing the title was fine but AAA decided to keep the title on him regardless.

“The original idea was that Andrade was going to win the championship. That was AAA’s idea and then AEW said originally that they would prefer that not to happen. It was not a contentious thing,” Meltzer said. The idea was that AEW didn’t want their champion losing in another promotion. AEW’s stance on this reportedly changed after the decision was made to have Christian Cage beat Omega for the Impact title on Rampage.

“Essentially what happened, there was plenty of talk and in the end, AAA did come to the decision to keep it on Omega.”

Omega was not aware that Ric Flair was going to be at the show. When he found out about Flair, Omega suggested that he lose to Andrade. Ultimately, Dorian Roldan decided to keep the title on Omega. Meltzer then speculated this was done because they have Omega’s next championship match planned.

“It may be Omega and Psycho Clown, but I’m not sure of that. There were things that hinted at that but they wanted to do that match. So, in the end it was AAA’s decision,” Meltzer concluded.

NXT star Ember Moon says she is not injured, despite a report that was circulating online last week.

Moon last appeared on NXT TV on July 13th, when she lost to Dakota Kai. She was scheduled to face Sarray on last week’s episode of NXT. Prior to bell time, however, WWE sent out a notice that she would be replaced by Dakota Kai in the match.

Moon commented on having to be pulled from the match, revealing that she’s been dealing with an “extremely rough month.” She was “angry and gutted” to miss last week’s NXT, but hopes to be back soon.

News site PWInsider ran a report that Ember Moon was dealing with an injury, but she’s setting the record straight. She tweeted on Monday:

Last fall, Moon was interviewed by Daily DDT and spoke about returning to NXT.

“I was like, ‘Man, I’m really digging this NXT vibe right now.’ Raw and SmackDown are doing great, but I’m sitting here thinking, ‘I don’t know if I fit in there anymore.’ I didn’t know if Ember Moon still belonged on Raw and SmackDown. I was looking at NXT and all my friends from the indies were there killing it. Not that any of the other girls weren’t, I’m just saying that when you’ve traveled the road for a hot dog and a handshake, you have a different friendship and admiration for those people than you do with coworkers.”

Jonathan Good, better known to wrestling fans as Jon Moxley, filed some interesting trademarks on August 11th. Moxley filed to trademark the terms “The Switchblades” and “Switchblade Conspiracy” for wrestling purposes.

The terms are former team names used by Jon Moxley and Sami Callihan. Joe Gacy has also been associated with them in the past. In 2010, Moxley and Callihan held the WXW tag-team titles for 310 days. They defended the titles for months in Germany before dropping them to the American Wolves on a show from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

Moxley and Callihan are set to team up for the first time in years this October. They will reform the Switchblade Conspiracy on a show for Callihan’s Pro Wrestling Revolver promotion.

In 2019, Callihan spoke about his relationship with Moxley on the WINCLY podcast.

“It’s a weird relationship of ‘little brother, big brother’ and it’s always the two of us striving to see who’s better. We’re both weird human beings and messed-up individuals. One day we’re gonna get back in the ring together as grown-ass adults and see who’s better.”

Some thought Moxley may have chosen Sami Callihan as his partner at NJPW Resurgence. Moxley teamed with Yuji Nagata on the show and lost to the Good Brothers, however.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that multiple wrestlers have been pulled from upcoming shows due to COVID-19 protocols. IWGP World Champion Shingo Takagi and BUSHI were both pulled after presenting with fevers. They are awaiting the results of PCR testing for COVID-19.

It was originally reported that the 6 wrestlers who were in the same match as Bushi and Takagi on Saturday would miss upcoming shows as well. Those 6 wrestlers are Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Gedo and Dick Togo. Naito, SANADA, EVIL and Takahashi all ended up working the Sunday show despite this, however.

Will Ospreay returned to NJPW at Resurgence in Los Angeles on Saturday. He commented on Takagi missing a show while he is now cleared to return.

“REAL champ returns. Interim champ has to miss a show. Coincidence. Just say the word NJPW,” Ospreay Tweeted. ““Interim” I’ll be on the first flight over.”

At NJPW Resurgence, Ospreay criticized NJPW for stripping him of the title when he only needed 4 months off. He unveiled his IWGP World Championship belt and claimed to still be the champion. He referred to Shingo Takagi as an “interim” title holder. Ospreay also announced he will not be participating in the G1 Climax tournament this year.

CM Punk is busy doing media rounds to promote the debut of Heels on Starz. He was recently interviewed by TV Insider and was asked his thoughts on the current state of pro-wrestling. According to Punk, the industry could use a shakeup, of sorts.

When asked about the current state of wrestling, Punk said he much prefers content from past genreations.

“I think it’s partly unfortunate that WWE owns the super good libraries in pro wrestling,” said Punk. “I think that stuff is classic and they don’t even put it on their network. They are sitting on it. I want to watch Austin Idol versus Jerry Lawler in Memphis.”

There’s Nothing Better

Punk would continue to talk about what wrestling needs right now. He would say that he believes there are people out there stirring the pot.

“I do think the landscape of pro wrestling in general really needs a kick in the d***. I think we are about there. I think there are people out there stirring the pot and causing trouble in a good way. It’s a fun world. There is nothing like it. Pro wrestling gets crapped on by a number of people. But when it’s done on a high level and it’s really good, there is nothing better.”

CM Punk’s return to pro-wrestling could only be a week away. He is speculated to return next Friday night when AEW presents The First Dance live from Chicago’s United Center.

Adam “Hangman” Page is due to become a father and will be taking some time away from AEW as a result. According to a report from PW Insider, this is the reason why Page is not facing Kenny Omega for the World Championship at All Out and why he was recently taken out by the Elite on AEW Dynamite.

“PWInsider.com is told that the plan was always for (Page) to take time off for family time in advance of his first child being born,” wrote Mike Johnson.

Page had a chance to earn an AEW World Championship match at Fight for the Fallen recently. Page teamed with the Dark Order and faced the Elite in a 10-man elimination tag-team match. If Page and the Dark Order won, Page would receive a world title shot and the Dark Order would get a shot at the tag belts. The Elite won the match, however, knocking Page out of title contention.

It was announced this week on Dynamite that Omega will defend his title against Christian Cage at All Out. Additionally, Omega will defend the Impact World Championship against Cage tonight on Rampage.

“Hey, we got a baby on the way! we’re excited, terrified, but mostly overjoyed. thank you,” Page posted to Instagram in early June to announce the news.

Page has wrestled 12 singles matches in AEW so far in 2021. He holds an 11-1 record. His only loss was to Brian Cage, who he then defeated at Double or Nothing.

Impact Wrestling on 8/12 featured a battle royal to determine a new #1 contender for the Impact World Championship. It also saw the return of Madison Rayne and FinJuice taking on Bullet Club in tag action.

Impact 8/12 Quick Results:

1. Tenille Dashwood defeated Taylor Wilde
2. Josh Alexander defeated Shawn Daivari
3. FinJuice defeated Jay White & Chris Bey via DQ
4. John Skyler defeated Matt Cardona
5. #1 Contender Battle Royal
   Winner: Brian Myers

Madison Rayne Returns, Helps Tenille Dashwood Beat Taylor Wilde

This week’s Impact kicked off with Tenille Dashwood taking on Taylor Wilde. Their rivalry stems from Dashwood allegedly calling border patrol agents to prevent Wilde from entering the United States to attend Impact’s shows for a couple of months. After Kaleb sprayed the referee in the eyes with hair spray, Madison Rayne ran in and threw Wilde into the ring post. Dashwood then finished her opponent off with the spotlight kick for the win. Rayne and Dashwood then celebrated together to end the segment.

Josh Alexander defeated Shawn Daivari Ahead Of Title Defence Against Jake Something

At Emergence on August 20th, Josh Alexander will defend his X-Division Championship against Jake Something. This week, however, Alexander agreed to a non-title match against Shawn Daivari and if Daivari can beat the champ, he’d earn a future title shot. Midway through the match, Jake Something appeared on the entrance ramp to get a better look. Alexander finished off Daivari with a double underhook piledriver and then the champ and Something had a bit of stare down.

Su Yung & Kimber Lee Abduct Kiera Hogan

Kiera Hogan came out this week to cut a promo on Tasha Steelz, who turned on her last week and ended their Fire N Flava team. While Hogan may have been cutting a promo on Steelz, it was Su Yung that came out to confront her. It was then Su Yung’s minion, the former Kimber Lee, who attacked Hogan and gave her the mandible claw. The two ghoulish wrestlers then dragged Hogan away.

Jay White & David Finlay Get Ready For NJPW Resurgence

At NJPW Resurgence this weekend, Jay White will defend the NEVER Openweight Championship against David Finlay. This week, Finlay’s FinJuice team took on White and the newest member of Bullet Club, Chris Bey. It looked as though FinJuice had the match won until White brought a chair into the ring and clocked Juice with it, leading to the DQ.

White and Finlay brawled after the match, with White throwing the chair right in Finlay’s face. White then delivered a Bladerunner to Finlay on the chair.

Christian Cage Is Coming Back To Impact Wrestling

AEW’s Christian Cage was interviewed by Alex Marvez this week. Cage talked about his history in Impact and how they gave him the opportunity to fight for world titles and improve as a wrestler. He promised to be in the Impact zone next week as the new Impact World Champion.

Rohit Raju Distraction Costs Matt Cardona Match Against John Skyler

A big upset took place this week on Impact when John Skyler pinned Matt Cardona. The finish of the mach was not without controversy, however, as Rohit Raju caused the distraction at ringside, allowing Skyler to hit a high-knee followed by a roll-up for the win. Cardona will no doubt blame Raju’s actions for the loss.

Brian Myers Wins Battle Royal To Earn Impact World Title Shot

Brian Myers will face whoever is the Impact World Champion at Impact Emergence on August 20th. That will either be Kenny Omega or Christian Cage depending on who comes away from the match on tonight’s Rampage with the belt.

This battle royal saw several rivalries continue or evolve, including Steve Maclin and Petey Williams, VOD & Willie Mack & Rich Swann, and Moose & Chris Sabin. The final 4 in the battle royal were Myers, Moose, Sabin and Sami Callihan. Moose eliminated Callihan and then locked up with his rival Chris Sabin. This allowed Myers to eliminate them both and win the match.

Coming Up In Impact Wrestling

Next week 8/19:

• Christian Cage to appear
• Melina vs. TBD
• Doc Gallows vs Joe Doering

Emergence 8/20

• Impact World Championship
  Kenny Omega (c) or Christian Cage vs Brian Myers
• Impact Tag Team Championships
  The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) (c) vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack vs. Violent By Design (Eric Young, Deaner, Joe Doering, or Rhino)
• X-Division Championship
  Josh Alexander (c) vs Jake Something
• Petey Williams vs Steve Maclin

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson recently responded to some comments from AEW’s Jake Hager on Twitter. Hager put out a Tweet saying he’d bet $20K that Steveson couldn’t take him down. Steveson eventually responded that he has never heard of Hager.

Jake Hager was recently angling for a fight with Fedor Emelianenko. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett spoke out about this, saying Hager was not good enough to be lobbying for such a fight.

Gable Steveson On WWE Ambitions

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Steveson spoke about his WWE ambitions.

“If I ever go to WWE, I’d be a ‘Paul Heyman Guy,’ ” said Steveson. “Heyman is a legend. We’d be two people doing great things, and that would be a tough team to beat.”

“And I’ve known Brock since I was in high school. He’s been there for me for a long time, making sure I do things the right way and put my best foot forward.”

“So many great organizations and teams have reached out. A scout from the Bills, there is a connection with the Ravens. The Olympic gold medal is helping me see the world, so my next step is going to be a big decision. I’m going to decompress now and think about it.”

Wrestling legend Ric Flair is considered to be “a lock” to be joining AEW, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest 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 Meltzer.

On a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, it was also mentioned that Flair and Tony Khan are long-time friends.

“Ric had a great contract with WWE, it was exceptional. Ric Flair is also friends with Tony Khan, I mean they’ve been friends for years.”

– Dave Meltzer

Khan was a guest when Ric Flair married Wendy Barlow in 2018 and the two have been photographed socializing several times over the past few years.

Ric Flair: I Will Never Retire!

Ric Flair was recently granted his release by WWE. He had previously expressed frustration with his creative direction (the Lacey Evans romance storyline) and also how his daughter Charlotte has been used in recent months.

The Nature Boy spoke with People earlier this month about the departure.

“We just didn’t see eye to eye on some business opportunities that I wanted to pursue, so I asked for my release,” Flair said. “There has been no animosity and everything has been on friendly terms.”

“It was a mutually agreed-upon decision and I will be moving forward to pursue other exciting endeavors such as my own line of wine, my own network, as well as comic books,” he continued. “I had to make this decision personally for my business and my brand.”

Visit f4wonline.com to subscribe to the Wrestling Observer.

After an episode of AEW Dark had to be pulled and re-edited due to controversial lyrics of a rap by Max Caster, the member of the Acclaimed has reportedly been sent to sensitivity training. The Acclaimed were also removed from the AEW top-5 tag-team rankings this week after having sat in the #2 position the week prior.

“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.

The Acclaimed had a match taped on August 4th that was supposed to air on the August 10th Dark but didn’t.

Anthony Bowens worked a singles match at Wednesday’s AEW TV tapings from Pittsburgh, PA. It will likely air on Dark next week. It’s worth noting that Bowens did not use the Acclaimed’s entrance music for the match.

Tony Khan Addresses Max Caster’s Rap

On Busted Open Radio recently, Tony Khan addressed what happened.

“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.”

A transcript of Caster’s rap is below:

“The Acclaimed kicking ass for miles, make you claim mental health like Simone Biles. The Sydals gonna pay the cost, I’m gonna treat those bitches like Duke lacrosse. The Blondes say they the best but those dudes are faker than a PCR test. And what’s that smell here in North Carolina, oh wait that’s Julia’s …”

NXT losing the Wednesday night war to AEW is reportedly being blamed on Triple H. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the loss to AEW has given Triple H’s detractors backstage ammunition.

“Levesque had been thought to be untouchable, but in failing to stop AEW’s rise, and eventually losing the war, it gave both his detractors and those who felt he would replace them the obvious ammunition,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

“The idea is he was in control and in a fight, and his vision for the product failed to attract younger viewers.”

It is also being reported that Triple H and Shawn Michaels were not given advanced notice about the roster cuts. This has reportedly led to morale issues in NXT.

“The idea is that Levesque had stocked NXT with too many wrestlers who had no main roster potential, in his being quick to sign independent talent as fast as possible if they showed potential, to stockpile and keep from AEW.”

In recent weeks, top NXT stars have been beaten on the main roster. NXT Champion Karrion Kross has lost to Jeff Hardy and Keith Lee. Also, Dakota Kai was beaten by Aliayah recently on Main Event.

Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano have announced that their family is about to get a little bigger. The couple revealed today that Candice is pregnant and the baby is due in February. It will be the couple’s first biological child, with all due respect to Austin Theory and Indi Hartwell.

Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae were married in 2016.

Candice hasn’t wrestled since the Green American Bash on July 6th, 2021. Along with Indi Hartwell she dropped the NXT tag team championships on that show to Io Shirai and Zoey Stark. Hartwell and LeRae held the titles for 2 months after defeating Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart for them in May.

Last fall, LeRae was interviewed by Daily DDT and spoke about what she loves about being in NXT.

“I’m very biased, but I love NXT. I really love the environment, and for me, so much of it is feeling a certain way when you’re wrestling as a fan and there’s something about NXT for me that feels like home and I feel like I belong in NXT. It makes me so happy and I always feel like the talent there push me to be my best because no matter how long I’ve been doing this, I’m always trying to get better.”

2021 has seen plenty of shake-ups to several backstage roles in WWE. Molly Holly received a tryout as a producer backstage this spring, and evidently, it went well. According to a report from PW Insider, Holly had been on the road with Smackdown but is now working as a producer backstage at RAW tapings.

“Molly Holly, who had mostly been on the road for Smackdown tapings since returning to the company for her tryout as a producer, has been at several Raw tapings of late working as a Producer,” wrote Mike Johnson.

Additionally, Pat Buck has been taking on several duties backstage that had previously been performed by Drake Wuertz. Buck is now in charge of booking extras and indy talent for WWE events as part of WWE’s Talent Relations department. Wuertz was released from WWE this spring.

Shawn Daivari is also reportedly being praised for his work as a producer in WWE since returning. Daivari was one of several names released in April 2020 but was brought back this June. While away from WWE, Daivari wrestled for MLW, Impact, and NWA. He made his NWA debut on this week’s episode of Powerrr. His matches for these promotions were taped before he returned to WWE, however.

Brian Knobbs has been hospitalized with what is being referred to as “major stomach issues.” He was rushed to the hospital recently and doctors are advising that he will likely need to remain there for months.

A GoFundMe has been created to help Knobbs with medical expenses.

“Brian was rushed by ambulance to the emergency ward where he is going through a battery of tests to determine the severity of his major stomach issues,” the GoFundMe reads. “His doctors have expressed extreme concern and told Brian that he will probably remain in the hospital for at least the next couple of months.”

Along with his partner Jerry Sags, the Nasty Boys were 1x WWF tag-team champions and 3x WCW tag-team champions. Knobbs was also a 3x WCW Hardcore Champion.

“Losing his ability to hit the road and make a living, and having Limited insurance to cover his mounting medical and household bills, Brian is humbly reaching out for help with a GoFundMe campaign. He’s not looking for a hand out, but rather asking for a hand up to help him heal.”

Knobbs has also been bothered by knee issues recently. Doctors are also saying he will need surgery to be able to walk again. A link to the GoFundMe is here.

CM Punk was recently interviewed by Jason Agnew for Sunday Night’s Main Event. Agnew asked Punk about the rumors surrounding him, AEW, and a big show from Chicago’s United Center on August 20th. Punk answered the questions, though he avoided saying much.

When asked about his plans for next Friday night, CM Punk played coy.

“When was that?” Punk said “Let me look at my calendar. When did you say it was? The 20th? I think I actually might be doing a screening – this isn’t confirmed yet, so I probably shouldn’t blast this out everywhere – but we’re talking about doing a screening of episode 3 of HEELS at an AMC in Chicago and that was one of the dates that has been proposed, so hope to see everyone there.”

CM Punk also addressed Darby Allin using the line “Best in the World” on a recent episode of Dynamite.

“Best in the world? That could be anybody.” He joked that he thinks ‘Bryan’ [Danielson] when he hears the phrase, Best in the World.

Punk also spoke about his opinions of Darby Allin during the discussion.

“I think Darby Allin is great. I think everyone in the wrestling world needs to never do a dive again because you can’t do it better than Darby.”

CM Punk’s Negotiations with Tony Khan

CM Punk was also asked about early conversations he may have had with Tony Khan before AEW started.

“I talked to Tony (Khan),” he said. “My perspective on this and I said this to Tony’s face, I am a guy who has constantly heard ‘hey, I got a money guy. Hey, I got tv.’ I’ve heard that at least once or twice a year for 15-20 years in my wrestling career. I’ve gotten bounced cheques from those gentlemen.”

If you use any of these transcriptions please credit Sunday Night’s Main Event with a H/T to SEScoops for the transcriptions.

Matt Riddle says he and John Cena are “bros” but at first they didn’t quite see eye to eye. Riddle spoke to Sportskeeda recently and talked about his “bro-off” segment with Cena as well as Randy Orton’s reaction to it.

“John Cena is pretty cool. Originally, when we first met, we didn’t see eye to eye. He didn’t really understand what a bro was, but now he gets it. We’re bros. After John did that little promo with me on the mic, we bro’d off to each other, Randy (Orton) hit me up, and he goes, ‘I don’t know if you know this kid, but John Cena just gave you the rub.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I know what the rub is Randy,’” Riddle said (transcriptions via Wrestling Inc.).

Riddle continued to say that sometimes Orton speaks to him as if he hasn’t been wrestling long. He says he has to explain to Orton that he’s been around for awhile and recognizes what Cena did for him during that segment.

“Randy talks to me like I don’t know what wrestling is sometimes, and I have to be like, ‘Randy, I’ve wrestled on the indies. I’ve been in WWE a couple of years, not at your level, for sure, but I know what I’m doing. I know what the rub is. I know what Cena did. We’re cool. I got this,’ but I was very excited about that. John doesn’t have to and didn’t have to do that, and he went out of his way to make it part of the show and we did it. So made me happy and then we even tagged together later that night on the darker part of the show, where it was off-camera. It was a lot of fun.”

It was a big episode of WWE RAW this week for Riddle and Orton. Most of the episode centered around Orton telling Riddle they were no longer a team. Orton would face AJ Styles in the main event, however, and Riddle came out to prevent Omos from getting involved. At the end of the night, after Riddle had come to Orton’s aide, Orton gave Riddle an RKO. It’s still not clear if they will continue teaming together.

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson says that if he ever goes to WWE, he wants to be a “Paul Heyman Guy.” The University of Minnesota alumni has a history of training with another of Heyman’s proteges, Brock Lesnar.

Steveson recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about the influence both Heyman and Lesnar have had on his WWE ambitions.

“If I ever go to WWE, I’d be a ‘Paul Heyman Guy,’ ” said Steveson. “Heyman is a legend. We’d be two people doing great things, and that would be a tough team to beat.”

“And I’ve known Brock since I was in high school. He’s been there for me for a long time, making sure I do things the right way and put my best foot forward.”

“WWE has been so great to me,” Steveson continued. “Triple H, Brock, Heyman, Ric Flair and so many others have been so supportive. So have people from UFC, like Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones and Henry Cejudo, who have also sent me congratulations.”

While Steveson could potentially start his WWE career soon, he has several other organizations attempting to recruit him.

“So many great organizations and teams have reached out. A scout from the Bills, there is a connection with the Ravens. The Olympic gold medal is helping me see the world, so my next step is going to be a big decision. I’m going to decompress now and think about it.”

When the NWA presents Empowerrr from the Chase in St. Louis on August 28th, it will be headlined by the Women’s Invitational Cup. Mickie James recently released the rules for the competition on Twitter.

“Rules of the 1st EVER NWA Women’s Invitational are simple,” James Tweeted.
10 women have been selected by myself & my team of advisors. The Top 10 Women we think would & could make incredible Women’s Champions to compete in the main event of Empowerrr to become not only the 1st cup holder but will then go on to Face the NWA Women’s Champion the very next night for a chance at #TheBurke on NWA 73″

James also mentioned that the NWA Women’s World Championship (aka The Burke) will be on the line at Empowerrr. Kamille will defend the title against Leyla Hirsch, who earned the right after defeating The Bunny last week on AEW Dynamite.

James continued to explain the rules of the Women’s Invitational.

“2 women will start. Order to be determined by myself & my badass team! Madusa, Gail Kim, and Jazz.”

“Every 2 minutes a new woman enters. Eliminations only by Pinfall or Submission. There will ONLY be 1 winner annually.”

Confirmed Entrants In The Women’s Invitational Cup

Entrants already confirmed for the match include:

1. Chelsea Green
2. Lady Frost
3. Debbie Malenko
4. Bianca Carelli
5. Tootie Lynn
6. Jamie Senegal

Also confirmed for the show will be a 4-team tag-team tournament, Deonna Purrazzo defending the Knockouts title against Melina and Kamille vs Leyla Hirsch.

Renee Paquette recently revealed that her non-compete clause with WWE has almost expired. Her last show with the company was SummerSlam 2020. Recently Paquette expressed that she is not closing the door on possibly working with WWE again somewhere down the line.

“I still have a good standing relationship with WWE,” Paquette said to Wrestling Inc. “There’s no ill-will or bad blood or anything like that.”

She continued to say that she has plenty of friends in WWE. Paquette doesn’t see any reason why she would not pop up and be part of something if they reached out to her.

“So many of my friends are all in WWE,” Paquette said.

“There’s definitely no reason for me to not pop up and do stuff, or not be part of stuff if they want to reach out and do some stuff,” Paquette continued. “Either it works or it doesn’t work, but there’s no obligation. I always have love for WWE.”

In the same interview, Renee spoke about getting back into wrestling once her non-compete clause with WWE has expired.

“My non-compete with WWE is nearly up,” Paquette said. “I don’t ever want to separate myself from professional wrestling, I know that’s where my fanbase comes from.”

Matt Clemente (FKA Tyler Breeze) does not believe the time is right for him to sign with AEW. The 33-year-old was released by WWE in June and is fine with taking a little time away from wrestling.

Breeze spoke to Chris Van Vliet recently about his hesitation to go to AEW.

“If I go (to AEW), I don’t know if it would make a massive impact,” Breeze said (transcriptions via WrestlingNewsCO). “Now it’s kind of the norm. People are going over there, and there might be some big names going over there. Nobody knows what is happening, but I don’t think now is the right time for me to go there.”

Breeze continued to say that he’s not currently taking bookings but is getting in a lot of work at his wrestling school. Along with Shawn Spears, Breeze runs Flatbacks Wrestling school in Florida.

“I have wrestled for 14 years straight.  I’m Ok with taking a little bit of a break.  My body likes it, and I am getting enough wrestling at the school to keep my body good.  I’m not currently taking any bookings. 

Breeze also mentioned that he’s been smart with his money. When he got the call that he was released, it was not a long conversation and he was not worried about where his next pay cheque would come from.

“Luckily, I prepared and got ready for this, and when it happened, it was literally the shortest conversation of all time.  ‘Bad news.  Unfortunately, we’re going to have to let you go.’  ‘Ok, cool.’  ‘Do you have any questions?’  ‘No, not really.  Thanks, man.’  I immediately started streaming again.  I fired up everything and went into hustle mode. I’m ok with it all.”

Bully Ray recently spent some time on Busted Open Radio comparing WWE’s treatment of NXT to its treatment of ECW. According to Bully, there are many similarities between the two situations.

“There are many of us who believe that Vince McMahon brought ECW back for one reason: to kill it,” Bully said on the show. “He was going to get as much blood out of that stone as possible and then he was going to kill it because he could not stand to hear those letters E-C-W anymore. And guess what? It was his to kill.”

“Vince owns NXT,” Bully continued. “Hunter doesn’t own NXT, Shawn Michales doesn’t own NXT, Vince McMahon owns NXT. And I will do whatever I want to do with it, thus what’s going on lately. I do not think Vince is doing backflips over the fact that NXT ‘lost’ to AEW on Wednesday nights. That is a perception thing and if there is one thing that I learned from Vince McMahon one-on-one, is that perception is reality, Bubba. Nobody gives a damn about the truth in wrestling, it’s all about the perception.”

“NXT almost became an ECW for Vince, another thorn in his side. Do you really think that Vince McMahon wants NXT to be a better product or a more liked product than RAW or Smackdown?”

Bully’s comments can be heard on the Busted Open Radio podcast below:

Over the last few days, several stories regarding the future of NXT have broken. These include the 13 names released from the brand on Friday night, rumors of sweeping changes to the look and format of the show, and news that Adam Cole could be headed to the main roster shortly.

According to comments from Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast, sources from within the USA Network are disappointed with the recent news.

“Personally I’m disappointed with how this is going,” is what a source from the USA Network reportedly said to Zarian.

NXT Releases and Rumored Changes

According to reports from PW Insider and the Wrestling Observer, sweeping changes are expected to take place in NXT. These will include a returned emphasis on producing talent destined for the main roster. Reports are the company wants to focus on larger and younger talent that could “one-day main event WrestleMania.”

“The wording is ‘no more midgets, no one starting in their 30s, they want people who can be box office attractions and main characters’ so that’s what they are looking for now,” Meltzer said. 

“This is the aftermath and this is the new direction. And the new direction is younger guys and bigger guys,” Meltzer continued. 

“What happened happened and now they want to get it back to what it was.”

William Regal and Bobby Eaton were both members of the Blue Bloods in WCW. Regal and Triple H were the first members of the group but after Triple H left for WWE, Regal suggested he be put with Bobby Eaton.

The Alabama-born Eaton was seemingly a poor fit for the team. Regal “knighted” him, however, and renamed him “Earl” Robert Eaton. Regal also taught Eaton the Queen’s English and typical “Blue Blood” etiquette. “Squire” David Taylor would also be added to the group.

Bobby Eaton passed away at the age of 62 last week. Regal spoke to Sports Illustrated about his old tag-team partner’s passing.

“I was a huge fan of Bobby, even before I had ever met him,” Regal said. “It was so hard to watch American wrestling when I was growing up, but I ended up with these NWA tapes with Bobby on them. I remember thinking, ‘I like this fella.’ I only had a grasp of wrestling back then, but I could already tell his high flying was just spot-on.”

Ric Flair was booking WCW at the time Eaton and Regal were put together. Regal noted that he suggested to Flair he be put with Eaton. They clicked immediately.

“When I started teaming with Bobby, immediately, we clicked. Everything we did, in the ring and out of it, I learned so much. As a travel partner, he was a complete and utter joy to be around. It was incredible for me. I got to learn tag wrestling from Bobby Eaton,” Regal continued.

The Blue Bloods never did win the WCW tag titles. Regal won the TV title 4x while a member of the faction, however.

“I was so in awe of him. He was incredible to watch. His work will never go out of style. It will never run its course. If you put those matches on today, it will still draw a reaction. Bobby’s tag matches are timeless.”

Last night on AEW Dark: Elevation, Joey Janela turned on Sonny Kiss. It had seemed as though the team had patched up their differences but this was all a rouse by Janela. Before their scheduled match on Dark: Elevation, Janela delivered a superkick to Sonny and later gave him a piledriver on the outside. He then took to Twitter to explain his actions.

“I did what I did not because Sonny, it’s because most mainstream wrestling “fans” are absolute losers, mutant scum!” Janela Tweeted. “Always arguing about ratings, what’s wrestling & what’s not, who’s dating who, body shaming, & what’s going on backstage.. now you have a reason to really hate me!”

“This comes from the heart, if you stood by me through the years Thank you! If not & you’ve partook in any of these activities you belong in a hole!”

Janela had previously blamed the bad influence of Alex Marvez for causing problems within the team.

Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss

In 2021, Janela and Sonny Kiss racked up a 3-4 record in 2-on-2 tag-team matches. Their victories were over enhancement talent but they dropped matches to teams such as The Acclaimed, Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky, Santana & Ortiz, and Brian Cage and Ricky Starks.

Sonny Kiss is 3-6 in AEW singles matches in 2021. Joey Janela is 5-3 in AEW singles matches in 2021

Randy Orton is returning to television on tonight’s WWE Raw from Orlando, FL at the Amway Center.

The Viper announced that he will open the show at 8pm (Eastern).

Orton’s return should make Matt Riddle very happy. The other member of RK-Bro has been having a rough time dealing with the Viper’s absence. He Tweeted out the following earlier today in the hopes that Orton would return:

It had been reported by Fightful that he was scheduled to return on last week’s show but this did not happen. It is not clear what delayed Orton’s return by one week. He has been absent from WWE programming since June 21st. It is not known what has led to Orton being off television since then.

Orton’s RK-Bro teammate Riddle spoke to Talk Sport recently about the pairing.

“Randy is amazing. He’s awesome,” Riddle said. “I love that guy, I love that man of mine, Randy Orton [laughs]. I mentioned probably around WrestleMania time and I was like ‘hey, how good would it be if Randy and I tagged up, partnered up and were RKBro?’ 

He also spoke about Orton’s reaction to the RK-Bro team name.

“He was like ‘Hey, this RKBro thing you mentioned, it actually sounds pretty cool.’ And I was like [speechless expression]. Nobody else thought it was cool, the only people who really thought it was cool was Randy and me. And I was like ‘no way!’