It is currently being reported that Ben Carter has signed or is expected to sign with WWE shortly. No official announcement has been made, however. According to recent comments on Wrestling Observer Radio, Carter’s decision had much to do with current international travel restrictions.
Due to Carter living in the UK and current travel restrictions, he would not be able to travel to independent shows as much as he would have been able to before COVID-19. Not being able to work the independent shows reportedly made his decision to sign with WWE easier.
“He’s already really good but he could get a lot better by wrestling a few more years in the indies,” said Dave Meltzer.
It is being speculated that Carter will be part of the NXT UK brand.
Carter broke out last month in matches on AEW Dark and the Late Night Dynamite special. Both AEW and WWE are said to have had interest in him although it is not clear if AEW offered him a contract as well.
News that Carter was likely headed to WWE was first revealed by Miro on a video game stream.
“We lost Ben Carter. Ben Carter is lost. He’s gone to the dark side,” said Miro. “I mean, good luck to Carter. All the best to him. I was really impressed with his stuff.”
Tino Sabbatelli is once again signed to a WWE contract. According to a report from PW Insider, the 37-year-old from Orlando re-signed with the company last week. The report also states that Ace Steel has been re-hired in a coaching role at the PC as well.
According to a report from Fightful, there are those in AEW who believe Sabbatelli was responsible for leaking news from AEW tapings. It is not clear if he did or not, however.
Shortly after Eric Bischoff’s appearance on an episode of AEW Dynamite was leaked before airing, accusations were made that it was leaked by an “NXT reject” who was at the tapings. Chris Jericho stated as much on an episode of his Saturday night live stream.
“For example, when we had the debate and Eric Bischoff, and it was announced on Reddit. We know who the spy is by the way, oh we know, and he’ll never be back in f*ckin AEW. NXT reject was the spy, so print that!” Jericho said.
Sabbatelli wrestled on an episode of AEW Dark this summer after having been released from his NXT contract this spring. He teamed with Brady Pierce in a losing effort to The Best Friends.
AEW recently announced a single-elimination tournament to determine a new #1 contender for the promotion’s world championship. AEW has confirmed that the entire 1st round of the tournament will take place on this week’s Dynamite.
Here are the 1st round matches that will take place on Dynamite this Wednesday night:
Penta El Zero M vs Rey Fenix
Colt Cabana vs Adam “Hangman” Page
Kenny Omega vs Joey Janela
Wardlow vs Jungle Boy
Additionally, the following has also been confirmed for this week’s Dynamite:
The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) vs. Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) – winner receives a tag-team title shot.
Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs TBA
Chris Jericho and Maxwell Jacob Friedman have a steak dinner.
The finals of the AEW tournament will take place at Full Gear on November 7th, 2020. Former tag-team champions Kenny Omega and Adam “Hangman” Page are on opposite sides of the bracket. If they were to face each other in the tournament, it would not take place until the finals.
AEW’s is advertising a season’s pass for upcoming shows at Daily’s Place:
Tickets for this Wed, Oct 21st & 3 additional live Dynamites available NOW with outdoor physically-distanced seating in compliance w/state/local regulations + CDC guidelines.
Season pass ONLY available via Email: ticketing@boldevents.com or Call 904-633-2000 pic.twitter.com/bBDDDPrHu8
Before the pandemic hit, AEW had planned a “Blood & Guts” match for a special episode of Dynamite. The match was supposed to take place inside 2-rings covered by a steel cage on March 25th, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey.
With fans not being allowed at shows, however, the decision was made to put off holding the match. The Young Bucks were recently interviewed by 411Mania and noted that they spent a lot of money purchasing the structure and still plan to use it, however.
“Obviously, the blood and guts steel cage match never happened. And we spent a lot of money building that structure. (LAUGHTER) But the good thing about it is that at least we now have it. So, we can pull the trigger on that at any time. I feel like we are saving that for fans. I think that is the biggest reason we haven’t done it,” said Nick Jackson.
AEW did hold a big team vs team match in May at Double or Nothing. Members of the Elite squared off with the Inner Circle in the Stadium Stampede match. Matt Jackson spoke about how the pandemic has helped the promotion to think outside the box.
“You got to remember without this pandemic, there may have never been a Stadium Stampede match, there may have never been that crazy tag team brawl match that we had with Butcher and The Blade. We really have had to think outside the box and one big thing that was said, if we are going to do this in front of nobody, let’s do things we have always wanted to do but wouldn’t have worked as well if there were people out there,” Matt Jackson said.
Ben Carter has had a very eventful last couple of months. He made his AEW debut in September, competing on an episode of Dark and in a match against Scorpio Sky on the late night Dynamite special. In late September he then tested positive for COVID-19.
Carter had reportedly draw interest from both AEW and WWE but it appears the young up-and-comer is headed to WWE.
Miro noted on a recent video game stream that AEW “had lost” Ben Carter to “the Dark Side”.
“We lost Ben Carter. Ben Carter is lost. He’s gone to the dark side,” said Miro. “I mean, good luck to Carter. All the best to him. I was really impressed with his stuff.”
Shortly after debuting for AEW, Carter spoke with Fightful about having played against Fulham F.C, the football club Tony Khan is the President of.
“I met him when for the first time when I wrestled Ricky Starks on AEW. It’s crazy that Tony [Khan] is basically the equivalent of Vince McMahon. Because he’s so easy to talk to and the fact that I’ve played soccer, at a high level all my life, I’ve actually played against [the Fulham Academy] when I was playing for my [island of Jersey], we went over and played [Fulham], the sports director of [Fulham]. So, I’m having these back and forth conversations just spitting football with him.”
Ronda Rousey is rumored to be gearing up for a WWE return. The former UFC and RAW Women’s champion was once again spotted training in a wrestling ring.
Former Impact Wrestling star James Storm, who says he was on his way to WWE before the COVID pandemic hit, posted a photo with Rousey and her husband Travis Browne. Storm was truly impressed with Rousey’s passion for the sport and likened her to all-time great Kurt Angle.
Big thanks to @rondarousey & @travisbrownemma for the invite to do a little wrestling around. I’ve met a lot of people that come from different sports but none besides @therealkurtangle that have the respect for pro wrestling like she does. pic.twitter.com/i0vjd5vQI2
There were also rumors recently that Ronda Rousey’s WWE contract had just months left on it. Paul Heyman recently hinted in an interview, however, that it’s possible Rousey and WWE have agreed to an extension.
“I don’t understand why people don’t realize that perhaps, just perhaps, Ronda Rousey’s contract has been extended or she has worked out a new deal and it would not benefit either WWE or Ronda Rousey to go public with that information. But why wouldn’t people understand that it would be kept secret?” Heyman said.
A report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently noted that Rousey is expected back for WrestleMania next year.
“Rousey is still under contract and was expected to do WrestleMania in Los Angeles,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
James Storm also recently commented on why he believes his deal with WWE fell apart.
“Once I seen that they were making all these cuts with all these different guys and stuff like that I just knew it was a matter of time before they retract the contract,” Storm said.
“All I can do is keep on keeping on and doing my thing and hopefully there’s another opportunity to come in the future.”
AEW’S use of Kenny Omega has been a frequent point of contention for some fans of the young promotion. According to recent comments from the Young Bucks, however, the next year of Dynamite will feature Omega in a bigger way.
“I think year two’s going to be all about Kenny Omega,” said Nick Jackson. “He’s been very … what’s the word I’m looking for … I guess “unselfish,” and he’s ready to explode. So I would keep my eye on him.”
Nick Jackson also listed Darby Allin as someone who coud really breakout further over the next year.
“Another one off the top of my head would be Darby Allin. He’s got so much potential to be such a massive star for AEW that we have to use him in the right way, and he’s definitely going to be a top player.”
Matt Jackson would say that Hangman Page will continue to be a major player in the promotion’s near future.
“I still think it could be ‘Hangman’ Adam Page,” said Matt Jackson. “The guy’s a star. He’s a sensitive dude who thinks about every little nuanced thing. He’s so interesting, and he puts so much thought into his stuff, and he’s one of my favorite people to collaborate with. He’s going to be a huge mega star. Obviously he’ll be a world champion one day. I don’t know if it’s this year; maybe it is. I don’t know.”
The full interview with The Young Bucks can be read here.
There have been rumors that Roman Reigns could possibly face the Rock at WrestleMania next year. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, The Rock’s Hollywood commitments may prevent it from happening.
The Rock is worth a lot of money in Hollywood and an injury during a wrestling match could potentially cause delays in shooting a major motion picture. After tearing his abdominal and abductor muscles at WrestleMania 29, there was concern that filming of the movie “Hercules” would have to be delayed.
“The issue has been insurance issues regarding other work he has coming up,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “It’s been an issue since the second Cena match. There have been at least three ideas, a singles with Lesnar, a singles match with HHH, and Rock & Rousey vs. HHH & Stephanie for him but none ever materialized.”
The Rock has several projects in the works at the moment, including “Black Adam” and the series based on his youth, “Young Rock.”
Roman Reigns recently spoke about possibly facing The Rock on ESPN’s First Take.
“It would be amazing, Reigns said. “I think for any Superstar of my generation to have someone on his level, someone that has done so much not only in sports entertainment, but the movie industry, entertainment in general.
The man has what a billion followers online and stuff. To be able to put that type of spotlight on our current generation and what we do within our product in WWE would be amazing and just sharing the ring with him.”
Lars Sullivan is scheduled to have his first match in 494 days tonight on Smackdown. He’ll face Jeff Hardy in his first match since June 10th, 2019. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the reason Sullivan was gone for so long is that he developed an infection in his knee after surgery.
“Sullivan had major knee surgery, and it got infected at one point keeping him out even longer. But he has been ready for some time and they waited until this week to bring him back,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
Sullivan made his surprise return on the first night of the draft. He then attacked the Miz and John Morrison this week on RAW. He was announced as having been drafted by Smackdown on night 2 of the draft.
Sullivan was fined $100,000 for comments he made on message boards and social media before being signed to WWE. The company was aware of his past comments before he was signed. Sullivan is said to have apologized to numerous people backstage and has been working with Titus O’Neil to become a better person.
“People automatically called for him to be fired, called for him to be ostracized,” Titus said on the E&C podcast about Lars last year.
“I looked at a man that was humbled, very apologetic, really very misguided as well,” Titus continued. “We dwelled and we talked about some things. Not to say there is ever an excuse but until you know somebody’s story, until you know someone personally, you can’t take it personally, and you can’t come up with your own conclusions. Because there is a conclusion and there is a reason why people get to a certain point and do certain things.”
Titus O’Neil’s book “There’s No Such Thing As A Bad Kid” can be purchased here.
“I believe in my heart that this situation with Lars will be a teachable moment for everybody from all walks of life,” Titus continued. “And I’m willing to put my name on this situation, just going with my gut and my heart, simply because of how he came to me as a man and came to other people as a man.”
During the 2020 WWE Draft, a big angle from Monday Night RAW was moved to Friday Night Smackdown. The Rey Mysterio-Seth Rollins feud that also involves Murphy and the Mysterio family has switched brands.
The move leaves Smackdown with several key angles: Roman Reigns as the Tribal Chief, Mysterio-Rollins, and Bayley-Sasha Banks. Daniel Bryan is also set to return to Smackdown on tonight’s show.
According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the reason WWE has these big angles on Smackdown and not RAW is that they have more motivation to keep Fox happy than the USA Network.
“It was noted to us by one key person in WWE that having the three big angles all on Smackdown was on purpose because Raw is a lock on USA no matter what because they need the show or USA Network collapses in the ratings,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “FOX doesn’t need Smackdown.”
RAW does still has several big angles on the show. After the draft, the Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss angle was moved to Monday nights. The Retribution angle with Mustafa Ali as the leader of the group (and T-Bar on social media) is also a major angle exclusive to RAW. Braun Strowman, AJ Styles, and Matt Riddle all moved to RAW from Smackdown as well.
Ronda Rousey is still under contract to WWE. Paul Heyman also recently hinted that WWE and Rousey may have secretly signed an extension. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Rousey is expected back for WrestleMania next year.
“Rousey is still under contract and was expected to do WrestleMania in Los Angeles,” wrote Dave Meltzer. Los Angeles is currently scheduled to host WrestleMania 37 but recent reports have suggested WWE could move the event.
“That’s another funny thing about people who don’t discuss their business in public forums, everyone presumes that Ronda Rousey’s contract expires at a certain time,” said Heyman. “I don’t understand why people don’t realize that perhaps, just perhaps, Ronda Rousey’s contract has been extended or she has worked out a new deal and it would not benefit either WWE or Ronda Rousey to go public with that information. But why wouldn’t people understand that it would be kept secret?”
Impact Wrestling will present Bound For Glory on October 24th, 2020. Several big matches are confirmed for the show including a Call Your Shot Gauntlet match. Scott D’Amore recently revealed to Rhino that if neither him nor Heath win the match, they will be gone from the promotion.
Impact recently announced 10 wrestlers who will participate in the gauntlet match:
Heath
Rhino
Hernandez
Acey Romero
Larry D
Tenille Dashwood
Taya Valkyrie
Brian Myers
Tommy Dreamer
Havok.
“At last year’s BOUND FOR GLORY, Eddie Edwards emerged victorious after a brutal struggle in the inaugural Call Your Shot Gauntlet. Eddie bided his time until this past July’s Slammiversary, picking exactly the right moment to strike and win the World Championship,” said Scott D’Amore in a press release.
“As you can imagine, everyone on the roster wants to win the Call Your Shot Gauntlet and we’re excited to announce the first 10 participants.”
The rest of the participants will not be revealed until the day of the show.
IMPACT World Championship Eric Young (C) vs. Rich Swann
Knockouts Championship Deonna Purrazzo (C) vs. Kylie Rae
X-Division Championship: 6-Way Scramble Match Rohit Raju (C) vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Willie Mack vs. TJP vs. Chris Bey vs. Trey Miguel
World Tag Team Championship The Motor City Machine Guns (C) vs. Ace Austin & Madman Fulton vs. The North vs. The Good Brothers
Unsanctioned Match Moose vs. EC3
Ken Shamrock (with Sami Callihan) vs. Eddie Edwards
Call Your Shot Gauntlet Heath, Rhino, Hernandez, Acey Romero, Larry D, Tenille Dashwood, Taya Valkyrie, Brian Myers, Tommy Dreamer, Havok … and more to be announced.
Beginning October 25th, 2020, the WWE Network will air a new documentary on the Undertaker every Sunday for 5 straight weeks.
In an effort to build upon the success of “The Last Ride” docs-series, WWE has announced “30 Days of the Deadman.” You can see a trailer for ’30 Days of the Deadman’ in the video player embedded below:
The first documentary on the Undertaker will be an episode of “WWE Untold” titled “The Phenom and the Legend Killer”. The episode will focus on classic matches between the Undertaker and Randy Orton.
The second documentary in the series is titled “Meeting Mark Calaway” and will air on Sunday, November 1st. This documentary will focus on interviews with WWE Superstars as they tell stories about the first time they were introduced to the Undertaker.
The 3rd documentary will air on November 8th. It is titled “The Mortician: The Story of Paul Bearer”. This documentary will focus on the life and career of Taker’s long-time manager William Moody, aka Paul Bearer.
The 4th documentary is titled “Brothers of Destruction” and will air on Sunday, November 15th. This episode will focus on the longtime rivalry and alliance between Kane and the Undertaker.
Finally, the 5th instalment of the “30 Days of the Deadman” will air on Sunday, November 22nd. The Undertaker will return to 3:16 Gimmick street for another session on “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s Broken Scull Sessions for this episode.
Roman Reigns says he doesn’t see his character as a babyface or a heel. According to comments he made recently during an interview with CBS Sports, Reigns just considers his character as someone in a storyline who has to make tough choices.
“A lot of people want to say, ‘Oh, he’s a heel.’ And, ‘Oh, he was a babyface,” and this and that. I try not to look at it as that. I try to look at it as this being a character in a storyline and he has choices like anyone else.”
“Some of his choices are going to be perceived as good, some of them are going to be perceived as bad and some of them people won’t understand because they won’t understand where he’s coming from,” Reigns said.
Jey Uso Feud
Reigns echoed sentiment recently expressed by his cousin about their feud. He said that the real-life aspects to their angle have helped them connect with the audience.
“I’ve taken these real-life qualities and experiences and put them in a storyline. That has been able to connect with our audience in a really cool way because they’ve seen me grow and they’ve seen my path and they’ve seen me operate on this top tier of WWE for a long time. For me to actually emote and explain the dimensions of it, I think they dig that and the feeling that the fourth wall is down from time to time. To me, this is Roman. He’s not Joe. I’m able to connect to everything I’m doing now way stronger than anything I’ve done before.”
Reigns is scheduled to defend the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman on Friday’s Smackdown season premiere. During a recent interview with ESPN, Reigns said he doesn’t know why the match is even happening.
“To be honest, I don’t think Braun Strowman deserves the opportunity,” Reigns said. “I beat him, I pinned him, I took the Universal Championship from him.”
Multiple wrestlers have tested positive for COVID-19 after performing at the Collective series of independent wrestling events in Indiana this weekend. As a result, Ring of Honor will reportedly not be using wrestlers who took part in the shows for their upcoming set of tapings.
The Collective social media account has released a statement on the matter as well. They are asking fans who attended the shows to get tested for the virus.
“Thank you to all the fans that attended #TheCollective in Indianapolis! On behalf of the 8 participating promotions, we thank you for your energy and enthusiasm at a time when we all needed this feeling of normalcy.
Not only did you attend but you followed guidelines and were respectful and mindful of the safety of not just yourselves, but also of those around you and for that we are grateful.
With that being said, over the last 24+ hours, we have learned of a handful of positive COVID tests from those who attended The Collective. We have been in contact with some of them and will continue to be and offer our support as they navigate through the coming days and weeks.
We encourage everyone who attended the events in any capacity to get a test as soon as possible and notify those they may have interacted with of their situation.”
Dan the Dad posted the following about his COVID-19 test results:
Ring Of Honor Will Not Use Talent Who Performed At The Collective
As a result of the positive tests, ROH reportedly will not be using talent who worked the shows on upcoming tapings.
“While Ring of Honor does not publicly discuss specific internal decisions, ROH is taking every measure to preserve the integrity of its rigorous health and safety protocol for the upcoming tapings,” Koff said in an email to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Danhausen posted the following about having tested negative:
Hello, I was tested Tuesday morning and my results were negative, I was just given another test today and was also negative. As an abundance of precaution @ringofhonor is being extra safe and responsible and I am going home today. Thank you for having me & caring about our safety pic.twitter.com/Qfz5WaHDem
Eddie Kingston has certainly made an impact in AEW in the short time he’s been with the promotion. He answered Cody’s open challenge for a TNT title shot in July and has since become a pivotal part of the show. Kingston attacked Jon Moxley following the main event of Wednesday’s Anniversary show. He then cut a promo that continued after Dynamite went off the air.
“Excalibur, you want to talk bad about me again? I’ll rip your tongue out of your face,” Kinston said to the commentary team.
“This is what you want huh? Big bad Jon Moxley. Ladies and gentlemen boo me all you want but this son of a b*tch sold out. He said to me the day he signed that contract to go to the land of the sports entertainers, you low life, you told me that the inmates were going to run the asylum,” Kingston said.
Kingston continued to bash Moxley for having worked in sports-entertainment while he was a pro-wrestler.
“You son of a b**ch, you’re going to pay for leaving me behind,” Kingston continued.
Footage of Kingston’s promo can be viewed in the tweet embedded below.
A fan urged AEW President Tony Khan to the promo on a future episode of Dynamite. Khan assured him that Kingston’s promo will receive a wider audience.
Of course. While I hugely value the socially distanced fans wearing protective masks who attend our shows, cheer from their seating pods & add so much to the show & inspire the wrestlers in their matches, bless you all, I also assure you that promo wasn’t only for the live house
All Elite Wrestling just celebrated the 1-year anniversary of Dynamite on TNT. Tony Khan spoke to Bleacher Report this week and revealed that several other networks were interested in carrying the show before they reached a deal with Turner Sports.
“It was a long process,” he said about finding a television partner. “It was probably about a year from when I started pitching the show to when it got picked up. There were other networks interested in it, but I think we ended up at the best possible place for us.”
Khan continued, “TNT is where I always wanted to go. From a marketing standpoint, there was such a great promotional push around the debut and they [TNT] were so happy with the results that we got a four-year contract extension all within the first four months. It was a very successful debut, but it was a long road to get there.”
Khan has been a lifelong wrestling fan. He was an avid ‘fantasy booker’ in his teen years and always dreamt about having a wrestling show on TNT. “I’ve been writing shows in notebooks, Microsoft Word files and even Word Perfect going back to 1995.”
TV Rights Fees
AEW has actually produced more episodes of Dynamite in the pandemic-era than before it. With live crowds restricted in most places, the TV rights AEW receives for Dynamite plays a more important role in the company’s bottom-line.
Khan also spoke about how just because they can have packed crowds in Florida now, doesn’t necessarily mean they will do so.
“Live events have changed in the past year, more so probably than in all the previous years combined. TV rights now more than ever are the most important revenue stream. Now all of a sudden, things are possible to do legally. That doesn’t mean you should try to pack the place.”
The full interview with Tony Khan can be read here.
Paul Heyman has had many roles in WWE. He is currently the “Special Counsel” to Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Heyman says they are just scratching the surface of what is possible with the angle of Reigns as the “Tribal Chief”. He also says that fans don’t appreciate how truly great Reigns is.
“I think Roman Reigns and I both continue to be quite unappreciated by the sports, the entertainment and the sports entertainment world. But we’re starting to get there now,” Heyman said to Ryan Satin of Fox Sports.
Heyman would continue to say that it is the fact that fans don’t appreciate Reigns as they should which led to the two becoming aligned.
“This is part of the convergence of circumstances that led to Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman appearing together on television, is the fact that Roman Reigns is so remarkably unappreciated,” Heyman continued. “That so many people have taken Roman Reigns for granted over the years and don’t really acknowledge the level of performance that he brings forth in WWE.”
Heyman then continued to say that they are just scratching the surface of where the angle with Reigns can go.
“We’re just beginning to scratch the surface of what Roman Reigns is capable of presenting. He returned at the end of August. We’re now in the middle of October. We’re about six weeks into this. Imagine where we’ll be six weeks from now. Imagine where we’ll be six MONTHS from now.”
Reigns has a big match upcoming tomorrow on the season premiere of Smackdown. He’ll face Braun Strowman with the Universal title on the line.
Pro-Wrestling Illustrated’s annual top-100 women’s wrestling rankings issue is now available for pre-order. The top rankings for the last year have been announced and Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley has claimed the top spot.
The publication has unveiled which wrestlers are in the top-5 positions this year. The 4 Horsewomen of NXT are joined by Asuka in the upper echelon of women’s wrestling.
PWI Women’s Top-100 Rankings for 2020:
Bayley
Becky Lynch
Asuka
Charlotte Flair
Sasha Banks
The top-10 from last year’s edition were:
Becky Lynch
Charlotte Flair
Ronda Rousey
Shayna Baszler
Tessa Blanchard
Bayley
Natalya
Io Shirai
Mercedes Martinez
Nicole Savoy
This is just the 3rd time Bayley has cracked the top-5. She finished 5th in the rankings in 2016 and 2017.
Now if only I got the cover all to myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Bayley-bration, 500 days of Bayley, the year of the Bayley, it just keeps getting better ? https://t.co/Dpjvryrm0O
“One of the things we heard a lot was, ‘We can always count on you.’ We believed they could count on us to run the whole company. It took a lot of proving, but that’s what we’re doing now. We are very vocal about what we believe is right and what we want to do to help the company and help the division. It’s finally being able to shine through, and it’s very rewarding.”
Posted October 15th, 2020 in News. Tagged: Bayley.
Cody recaptured the TNT title from Brodie Lee on a recent episode of AEW Dynamite. He was the inaugural holder of the title and defended it 8 times before dropping it to Brodie Lee in August.
Cody sat down for an interview with AEW’s Canadian broadcast partner, TSN, and talked about the success of the title. He even teased that the promotion could introduce a “TSN title” somewhere down the line.
“It’s really so rare and makes me really happy to be partners with our partners here in the States and in Canada – there should be a TSN title now that we’re talking!” Cody said to TSN.
Cody On The Success Of The TNT Title
He also spent time talking about the success of the TNT title. He noted that they never envisioned it as a mid-card belt.
“It was never intended to be middle of the pack and a lot of people thought, ‘Oh, it’s a workhorse belt’ or ‘Oh, it’s a television belt.’ No, it’s this. And the reality is, it’s none of those things. It’s the first time a network partner wanted a title in their own likeness and looked at a bunch of people they thought would be great fits for it. I can’t wait to tell the full story of it one day.”
Cody also said that the title has exceeded the expectations that had for it.
“I don’t want to jinx it, but it’s superseded what we anticipated and I think it’s superseded the general expectation,” Cody said. “I don’t want to blame people if they want to put identities on things before they happen and that’s just because WWE has been unopposed for 20 years, so they might be used to how WWE does things, but the TNT title was never going to be a midcard title.”
TNT Title Statistics
Cody become the inaugural champion at Double or Nothing 2020 by defeating Lance Archer in the finals of a single-elimination tournament. He then defended it 8 times against Jungle Boy, Marq Quen, Ricky Starks, Jake Hager, Sonny Kiss, Eddie Kingston, Warhorse and Scorpio Sky.
Brodie Lee defeated Cody for the belt on the Saturday Night Dynamite special in August. Lee then successfully defended the belt against Dustin Rhodes and Orange Cassidy. He would then drop it back to Cody on October 7th.
Cody fought to a time limit draw with Orange Cassidy this week. They will face each other again in 2 weeks.
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns appeared ESPN’s First Take Wednesday morning. The Tribal Chief spoke about football, his match against Braun Strowman this Friday night and which wrestlers he looked up to growing up.
When asked which wrestlers he looked up to as a kid, Reigns named WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart.
“Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart was kind of my guy,” he said. “A lot different than [larger than life characters, such as] Ultimate Warrior. There’s just something I respected. He was like a journeyman, like a blue-collar sports-entertainer.”
Reigns praised Hart as, “that pro-wrestler, go in there and wrestle for 30-minutes every single night. He just put a different dynamic on what the top looks like and I like to think that we have a little of all that nowadays.”
Reigns battles former Universal Champion Braun Strowman this week on SmackDown. Despite Strowman’s imposing stature, Reigns said he’s not intimidated by the big man.
“To be honest, I’m not nervous. I’ve been this, I’m tenured, I’ve been doing this so long. Like I said, I’m on a different level and I’m displaying it week in and week out.”
“To be honest, I don’t think Braun Strowman deserves the opportunity. I beat him, I pinned him, I took the Universal Championship from him.”
WWE.com covered Roman Reigns’ comments about Braun Strowman during the ESPN First Take appearance. Reigns replied, stating that these weren’t “hot takes” – he’s just telling the brutal truth.
No hot takes here, just the brutal truth. There are levels to being in the position I am and why I am who I am!!! #Smackdownhttps://t.co/NKIQ2Kboq7
Impact Wrestling 10/13 continued the build to Bound For Glory on October 24th, 2020. Doc Gallows faced Madman Fulton, Kimber Lee faced Kylie Rae and more.
Moose finally found EC3 this week in the final segment of the show. EC3 was holding the TNT World title that he called a false title for a false idol. He put the title down and dared Moose to fight him, which Moose quickly obliged to. The two brawled in some undisclosed location, just as they will at Bound For Glory.
Moose got the better of the exchange and walked away from a bloody EC3 with the TNA World title in his grasp.
Rich Swann Cleared To Compete At Bound For Glory
Eric Young closed out this week’s episode with a promo. He asked Scott D’Amore to officially announce that Rich Swann would not be medically cleared for Bound For Glory. Young attacked Swann again last week in a gym. D’Amore announced that Young had done extensive damage to Swann’s ankle last week but he would be cleared to compete at the PPV.
Young then attacked D’Amore but Rich Swann came out for the save. He hit a springboard cutter off the ropes, seemingly not favouring his ankle at all. Young escaped the ring and Swann celebrated with the title to end the segment.
Doc Gallows Defeats Madman Fulton In No DQ Match
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGHwpPrJ3u8
Before this match could begin, the Good Brothers cut a promo. They noted they are happy they signed with Impact but that they need to become the tag-team champions. They will have that opportunity at Bound For Glory in the 4-team tag match. This week, Gallows would face Madman Fulton, who will team with Ace Austin at Bound For Glory.
Fulton and Gallows were first counted out but the match was restarted as a no-dq no-countout match. Gallows finished his opponent off with a double-handed chokeslam onto two tables for the win.
Kylie Rae Shows A More Vicious Side Ahead Of Bound For Glory Title Match
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuEUljInQKw
Kylie Rae will face Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts title at Bound For Glory. This week she took on Purrazzo’s run-in buddy, Kimber Lee. Rae scored the victory with the Smile To The Finish submission but the newly aggressive Smiley Kylie wouldn’t let go of the hold.
Purrazzo hit the ring and attacked her challenger from behind but Kylie fought back and took the champ down with a superkick. Rae mounted the champion and reigned down the blows but Purrazzo found away to escape to end the segment.
Heath Or Rhino Need To Win Call Your Shot Gauntlet To Remain In Impact
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M5HBnEepGY
After contract negotiations between Impact and Heath broke down last week, a new deal was worked out between Rhino and Scott D’Amore this week. They agreed that Heath would be entered into the Call Your Shot Gauntlet on the PPV but if neither Heath or Rhino win, then Heath will be given no more opportunities in Impact and Rhino will forfeit his contract as well.
This week a 10-person tag was scheduled with the winning team facing each other next week in a 5-way match. The winner of that match will be given the #20 spot in the gauntlet on the PPV.
Heath picked up the win for his team by pinning Johnny Swinger with the Wake-Up Call.
Havok Agrees To Help Re-Incarnate Father James Mitchell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHY7jtUIqXA
The Knockouts division seems to have several tag-teams working together at the moment. This week’s opening match featured 3 of them. The team of Rosemary & Taya Valkyrie might be busy planning for the Demon Assassins wedding but they were able to focus their efforts enough to pick up the victory here.
The finish of the match came after Taya had taken out Neveah, Havok, and Kiera Hogan on the outside. This left Rosemary in the ring with Tasha Steelz. Rosemary hit a spear followed a double undertook sit-out slam type move.
After the match, Rosemary and Taya stared down Havok & Neveah in the ring while Hogan and Steelz watched on from the ramp.
Rosemary needs Father James Mitchell to officiate her wedding to John E Bravo. For this to happen, she needs Havok’s (who helped murder Mitchell) help. Later in the show, Havok and Rosemary agreed to a match for next week. If Rosemary wins, the Sinister Minister will be brought back, if Havok wins, he will not be.
Crazzy Steve Picks Up Victory Over Fallah Bah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peLnu0YoKvQ
There is a wad of cash that is flowing through the Impact Wrestling roster like the sisterhood of the traveling pants (unless I misunderstand what that movie is about). This started when Hernandez and Rhino were feuding over gambling debts and arm-wrestling. Then last week Fallah Bah obtained the cash in the backstage shower area. This week Fallah Bah and Crazzy Steve met in singles competition with the wad of cash playing a significant role.
Steve kept trying to get Fallah Bah to take his shirt off, potentially revealing the wad of cash’s location. The finish of the match came when Steve ripped Bah’s shirt off and revealed he was keeping the cash attacked to a necklace. Steve hit a schoolboy on the distracted Bah and picked up the 3-count. Bah escaped to the back still with the cash, however. Josh Matthews noted on commentary that Hernandez will now know for sure it was Fallah Bah who stole the cash from him.
Next Week On Impact Wrestling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1llCwNe5bE
The following matches are scheduled for next week’s show:
Hernandez vs Cousin Jake vs Rhino vs Alisha Edwards vs Heath
Eddie Edwards vs Sami Callihan
Chris Bey, Rohit Raju & Jordynne Grace vs TJP, Willie Mack & Trey Miguel
The North vs The Good Brothers
Updated Card For Bound For Glory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQW1A6W9GyM
The following matches are scheduled for Bound For Glory:
Impact World Championship Eric Young (c) vs Rich Swann
Knockouts Championship Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs Kylie Rae
Impact Tag Team Championships The Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs the Good Brothers vs The North vs Ace Austin & Madman Fulton
X-Division Championship Rohit Raju (c) vs Jordynne Grace vs TJP vs Chris Bey vs Trey Miguel vs Willie Mack
AEW has released new rankings ahead of tonight’s special Anniversary episode of Dynamite. All championships will be on the line tonight.
AEW Men’s Singles Division
AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley (19-0) TNT Champion: Cody (19-2)
Lance Archer (13-1)
Brian Cage (9-1)
MJF (9-1)
Brodie Lee (8-2) (TNT champion last week)
Scorpio Sky (8-2)
The only movement in the men’s singles division this week sees Cody reclaim his spot as the TNT Champion. After losing the title in a dog-collar match, Brodie Lee drops to #4, the exact spot Cody was ranked at last week.
Two big title matches take place in the division this week. Cody will defend against unranked Orange Cassidy. Jon Moxley will also look to defend the AEW World Championship against #1 ranked Lance Archer.
AEW Women’s Division
AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida (17-1)
Nyla Rose (11-2)
Big Swole (10-3)
Penelope Ford (9-5)
Abadon (5-1)
Dr. Britt Baker (5-6)
There was no movement in the women’s singles division this week. #1 ranked Nyla Rose sent a message on Dark, however. Vickie Guerrero said that Rose won’t wrestle on Dark anymore until she gets another shot at champion Hikaru Shida.
#2 Big Swole will get a title shot tonight on the Anniversary show as well.
AEW Tag Team Division
AEW Tag Team Champions: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (11-0)
Best Friends (17-6)
Young Bucks (7-3)
The Natural Nightmares (8-2)
Butcher and the Blade (9-5)
Santana & Ortiz (8-5)
There was no movement in the men’s tag-team division this week. Last week on Dynamite, FTR successfully defended their belts against the unranked TH2.
Tonight on Dynamite, the titles will again be on the line as FTR look to defend against the #1 ranked Best Friends.
Mandy Rose defeated Sonya Deville at SummerSlam this August. The match carried a stipulation that the loser would leave WWE. Despite Rose ending her career, Deville says the two have made up after Rose apologized. She took to Instagram to announce their reconciliation, which evidently took place on a boat.
Deville also recently celebrated “National Coming Out Day”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGNp57ennDq/
Where Is Sonya Deville?
Shortly before SummerSlam, Deville and Rose were staying at Deville’s Florida home when an intruder broke in. The suspect has been denied bond and is currently in prison awaiting trial. He is believed to have sent several disturbing messages to Deville’s social media.
According to reports from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the reason Deville vs Rose at SummerSlam was changed from hair vs hair to career vs career is because Deville’s legal team didn’t think it was a good idea for her to appear in court with a shaved head. Deville is believed to have been scheduled for time off after SummerSlam regardless, due to acting opportunities.
“The original idea was not to shave her bald, but to cut off most of her hair for some sort of an acting role. No word on how long she’ll be gone but she’s not leaving WWE,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
Alberto Del Rio is set to go to trial early next year on charges of aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault. He was arrested in May after a woman came forward and stated she had been held captive by Del Rio for a period of several hours.
According to a recent report from PW Insider, Del Rio has received a trial date of January 25th, 2021. The trial will be held in San Antonio, Texas.
His accuser is alleging that Del Rio sexual assaulted her and physically beat her during the kidnapping as well. If convicted, Del Rio is looking at a possible lengthy prison sentence.
How Much Possible Prison Time Is Alberto Del Rio Facing
Aggravated kidnapping in Texas carries a sentence of 5 to 99 years in prison. Del Rio is also looking at a possible fine of up to $10,000.
“A conviction for aggravated kidnapping is generally punishable as a felony of the first degree, which can result in a prison sentence ranging from five to 99 years or life imprisonment and/or a fine up to $10,000,” the law firm of Dunham and Jones’ website states.
If a defendant can prove they dropped the victim off at a safe location, however, the charge would be reduced to 2nd degree kidnapping. This crime carries a possible penalty of 2 to 20 years in prison.
The penalty for sexual assault in Texas is also 2-20 years and a $10,000 fine.
