WWE announced the release of six more Superstars on Wednesday morning. The news was first reported by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.
As of this writing, the following people have been released:
Bruan Strowman
Aleister Black
Lana
Ruby Riott
Buddy Murphy
Santana Garrett
WWE has since confirmed the news with a brief statement on the company website: “WWE wishes them the best in all of their future endeavors.”
Braun Strowman is the biggest name to get cut, but these releases are all about trimming fat (costs) from WWE’s budget. Strowman signed a monster 5-year contract in 2019, just as AEW was getting off the ground. The deal was estimated to be worth in excess of $1 million per year, making the ‘Monster Among Men’ a costly investment.
Reactions to WWE Releases
Aleister Black issued the following statement about his release:
Im gathering my thoughts as this was a complete left field for me as obviously we just started the dark father character but this was it, thank you so much WWE universe for allowing me to create and give you small bits of myself.
Here are some additional instant-reactions from the wrestling world:
The only way I can rationalize the kind of cuts is for an eventual sale. Several of these people signed big contracts before the pandemic when WWE were in talent hoarding, lock em up for years mode
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) June 2, 2021
What a horrible mismanagement of some really talented people. Sucks.
Braun Strowman was also a victim of booking. He was surprisingly successfully built into a monster in 2016/2017, and the trigger should have been pulled on him to beat Lesnar then. Instead, he consistently lost. Never recaptured that momentum, even when he won the title. #WWE
Aleister Black released by #WWE right as he was making his return. He deserves far better than he was ever given by that company and I hope he makes them choke on it. @WWEAleister will be an asset wherever he lands.
These names cut today so far by WWE definitely tells a story….you make cuts to maximize profits before selling a company and this has that look…..it may not be too long before we have new ownership of WWE
Jon Moxley will host an upcoming episode of his wife’s podcast, Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette.
Renee is 9 months pregnant and set to deliver their baby soon. She will be very busy in the weeks while she figures out the whole “mom thing.” The former AEW Champion is stepping up to the plate to ensure Oral Sessions doesn’t skip a beat when she takes a week off.
Renee is asking her Twitter followers to send relationship and general ‘life’ questions to her “darling husband” by using the hashtag #AskMox.
Alright guys. Big ask here- my darling husband @JonMoxley is going to be guest hosting an episode of Oral Sessions while I figure out this whole mom thing. Let’s ask him for relationship/ life advice to answer on the show! Use #AskMox@TheVolumeSportspic.twitter.com/pUk6WoMxJD
This week’s episode of Oral Sessions features a conversation with AEW star “Powerhouse” Will Hobbs.
SEScoops wishes Renee Paquette good luck with the remainder of pregnancy.
In addition to being soon-to-be-parents, Jon Moxley and Renee Paquette will both be published authors in 2021. Renee’s cookbook, Messy in the Kitchen, is now available. Jon Moxley’s autiobiograpy, MOX, is now available for pre-order and will be released later this year. You can get both books from Amazon:
Last week’s edition of AEW Dynamite drew only 526,000 viewers and did a 0.20 in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This was the ‘go home’ show before Sunday’s AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
The low numbers can be attributed to Dynamite airing in a different time slot than usual. The show was pre-empted due to the NBA playoffs on TNT. Instead of airing Wednesday night in prime time, Dynamite aired Friday at 10pm (Eastern).
The NBA playoffs are still ongoing and AEW will be pre-empted again this week. Dynamite will air this Friday, June 4th at 10pm (Eastern) on TNT. Additional scheduling changes are expected in the weeks ahead.
AEW is advertising the following items for this week’s show:
Christian Cage & Jungle Boy vs. Private Party
Joey Janela vs. Hangman Page
Mark Henry will discuss his new role with AEW
Dustin Rhodes will face Nic Comoroto in a Bull Rope match
New AEW Women’s Champion Dr. Britt Baker will have a Championship Celebration
See all the #DOUBLEorNOTHING Fall out LIVE! Get your Friday, June 4 #AEWDynamite Tickets as part of the June 3-Pack Combo Ticket $45 (plus fees.) Call or email during normal business hours. ?ticketing@boldeventsjax.com ?904-633-2000 pic.twitter.com/txe6GcPo2d
Mark Henry has signed a multi-year deal with All Elite Wrestling
He will pull “Double Duty” as Broadcaster and in Talent Development
WWE legend Mark Henry is All Elite. The World’s Most Dangerous Man made a surprise appearance on Sunday’s AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view. As announced by Tony Schiavone, Henry will serve as a broadcaster and ‘coach.’
AEW sent out a press release on Tuesday providing more information on his roles.
Mark Henry joins the broadcast team for AEW Rampage, the new hour-long show premiering Friday, August 13th on TNT. Henry has transitioned from a hall of fame wrestling career to broadcaster. He is one of the regular hosts for Busted Open Radio on Sirius XM.
In addition to his new job analyzing the action on AEW Rampage, Henry is taking on some important functions behind-the-scenes. He’ll use his 25 years of experience in pro wrestling to coach and mentor AEW’s up-and-coming stars.
Last but not least, Mark Henry joins AEW as a talent scout. Henry brought several talented athletes to WWE over the years and will be a strong asset to AEW’s recruiting efforts.
Mark Henry on Signing With AEW
“I have been fortunate to experience a great deal of success in my pro wrestling career,” said Mark Henry. “From my own in-ring title runs and creative storylines, to identifying and scouting some of the top talent in pro wrestling business today, to my role as a broadcaster, I have long worked to stay ahead of the pro wrestling curve. The overall quality of professional wrestling has skyrocketed in the past few years, and I’ve been very impressed by the meteoric rise of AEW. I’m excited to join the broadcast team on AEW RAMPAGE, and I can’t wait to work with the incredible roster at AEW.”
Visit AllEliteWrestling.com to read the full Mark Henry press release, including quotes from AEW President Tony Khan.
After two years in production, Masked Republic has released their first full-length book today, Eat Like A Luchador. The book is published by Running Press, a division of Hachette Book Group, one of the three largest trade and educational publishers in the world.
Eat Like A Luchador Press Release
From the ring to the kitchen, celebrate lucha libre with popular Mexican dishes offering a modern twist from iconic athletes, legends, and superstars in this one-of-a-kind cookbook for wrestling fans and aspiring chefs alike now available from booksellers everywhere!
June 1, 2021 – San Diego, CA
Lucha libre—or, professional Mexican wrestling—is the most popular sport in Mexico after soccer and has become an international pop culture phenomenon all over the world. This officially licensed cookbook with the Legends of Lucha Libre includes more than 50 favorite Mexican dishes with a modern-day twist from the sport’s most celebrated luchadores and luchadoras including Solar, Super Astro, Penta Zero M, Rey Fenix, Tinieblas Jr., Lady Maravilla and Keyra. Professional wrestlers influenced by and whose roots trace back to lucha, including WWE Hall of Famer Amy Dumas (Lita) and Taya Valkyrie (new NXT Superstar Franky Monet) lead a number of international stars contributing their favorite Mexican dishes as well.
Mexico’s leading female lucha libre journalist, Mónica “Centellita” Ochoa, has interviewed some of the most well-known wrestlers in lucha libre, costume designers, and restaurant owners from around the globe to compile this must-have collection of recipes fit for hungry luchadores and their families.
Also included are fun stories and facts on championship details and family legacies, dozens of photos of wrestlers in the ring and in the kitchen, and illustrations of delicious food.
From Mónica’s introduction to Eat Like A Luchador:
Having grown up in a lucha family, one of my most favorite subjects to cover is that of the importance of family within the sport. While it is not uncommon for a child to follow in their parent’s footsteps in any career (many current WWE wrestlers in the United States are second- or third-generation wrestlers), in lucha libre, family and tradition are on a whole different level. Some families have ten or more members who have all become luchadores and luchadoras.
With this cookbook, I wanted to share the family traditions and favorite dishes of the stars of our incredible sport with recipe seekers and lucha libre fans and enthusiasts around the world. I wanted to collect the rich and varied stories of Mexico’s iconic sports entertainers—from multiple-branched lucha dynasty family trees and the luchadores who broke out of Mexico and became global stars in the 1990s to today’s hottest up-and-coming stars, to individuals who simply worked hard and per-severed to make it on their own, like my mother.
Masked Republic founder and CEO Ruben Zamora described the book as “1 part cookbook, 1 part lucha libre reference book (filled with bios, profiles and stories) and 1 part photo book. What it yields is a recipe for awesomeness!”
Kevin Kleinrock, Masked Republic President and COO added, “As we continue to expand our footprint in publishing, we could not have asked for better partners in producing our first full length book. The teams at Masked Republic and Running Press have truly put together a work of art well beyond any traditional cookbook. From the stories and histories to the images from more than half a dozen of the top photographers who cover the sport to the gorgeous illustrations by internationally acclaimed artist Bene Rohlmann, there simply is not another book on the planet like Eat Like A Luchador.”
WWE returns to the Capitol Wrestling Center tonight with an all-new episode of NXT on the USA Network.
We are now less than two weeks away from NXT Takeover: In Your House. The main event of that event will see Karrion Kross defend the NXT Championship. His opponent will be determined tonight on NXT.
The main attraction of this week’s broadcast is a triple threat match. We’ll see Johnny Gargano vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Pete Dunne. The winner will challenge Kross for the NXT title at Takeover.
NXT Tag Team Champions MSK will also be in action. They will defend against Legado del Fantasma’s Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde.
Check back Wednesday morning for our NXT Takeover Results & Takeaways.
The next NXT Takeover, In Your House, takes place Sunday, June 13th.
AEW Spanish broadcaster Willie Urbina was caught mocking Hikaru Shida’s Japanese accent during Friday’s edition of Dynamite.
Urbina was fired for the incident.
Shida and Tony Khan have addressed the controversy.
An unfortunate incident took place during Friday’s edition of AEW Dynamite. During a commercial break, Spanish broadcaster Willie Urbina was caught mocking former Hikaru Shida and her Japanese accent.
— ?Heels Pops Chairshots? (@HPCBadGuys) May 29, 2021
Urbina was swiftly fired by AEW when they became aware of the situation.
Hikaru Shida has since taken to social media to address her brush with racism. The former AEW Women’s Champion said that she did not want to address the incident on Friday night when it occurred, because she did not want to bring it additional attention before Double or Nothing.
Now that the PPV has come and gone, she is speaking her mind. “I don’t give a shit what other people say about my race because I love it and I proud of it, and because I know which is fool. I don’t even feel anger. So don’t need to worry about me. Thank you.”
I didn’t wanna talk about this before my big day, so let me tell you now. I don’t give a shit what other people say about my race because I love it and I proud of it, and because I know which is fool. I don’t even feel anger. So don’t need to worry about me ? Thank you.
AEW President Tony Khan also addressed the Willie Urbina incident at the AEW Double or Nothing post-show media scrum. Khan says there is ‘no excuse’ for his conduct.
“I was not happy with it, so after I heard what was said and having talked to the other commentators involved about what was said about her, who I also apologized to, I thought it was best for the company to make the decision that we made.”
AEW has signed several performers to new deals over the past few days.
First up are the tag team Bear Country, who have been wrestling for the company since December. The team is comprised of Bear Bronson and Bear Boulder. They’ve wrestled on Dynamite, Dark and Elevation.
In addition to Bear Country, Mark Sterling is also “All Elite.” Sterling first appeared on AEW television last August as MJF’s lawyer during his feud with Jon Moxley. This past week on Dynamite, Jade Cargill selected Sterling as her new manager after an extensive review process.
AEW All Out
We are just hours away from Double or Nothing, but plans are already in full swing for AEW All Out. According to Andrew Zarian, AEW will soon announce the upcoming pay-pere-view is returning to Chicago.
Anthony Ogogo faces Cody Rhodes this Sunday at AEW Double or Nothing. This will be the highest profile wrestling match to date for the former Olympic boxer. In addition to general bragging rights, there is also national pride at stake. Ogogo represents the United Kingdom, while Rhodes is fighting for the United States.
During an interview with Metro UK, Ogogo said that he injured himself during training this past week. “I’ve got a broken rib right now,” he revealed.
He quickly acknowledged that he was probably being a little too ‘open and honest’ about his condition.
“My rib’s broken because I did a move in training this week,” he said “I did it wrong, and I broke a rib. I’m now wrestling Cody, the best wrestler in the world, with a broken rib… And that’s real, that’s not me just saying that. My rib is f***ed!’
IMO Cody is the best wrestler in the world, on the stick, bell to bell, nobody can touch him.
Anthony Ogogo says that Cody Rhodes was instrumental in him joining All Elite Wrestling. Cody courted him to sign with AEW before he ever wrestled a single match. As of this writing, Ogogo’s pro wrestling record stands at only 2-0.
Despite his lack of experience, he feels the pressure is on Cody this Sunday. “I watched him when I was a kid – before I had hairs on my bollocks, I was watching Cody Rhodes on TV and I was a fan of Cody Rhodes. Now, I have lots of hairs on my bollocks and I’m facing Cody at Double or Nothing. So, I’m really happy, the pressure’s on him.”
Visit Metro UK to read their full interview with Anthony Ogogo.
Tom Phillips is the latest person to be let go by WWE. The news was first reported by Sean Ross Sapp for Fightful. We have since confirmed the story independently.
Phillips was with WWE since 2012. During his time with the company, he worked on virtually all of their shows, including NXT, 205 Live, Main Event, SmackDown and Raw. He’s also been on-air for various WWE Network and YouTube programs. More also been involved behind-the-scenes as a producer and served as a Senior Manager of on-air talent.
Adnan Virk replaced Tom Phillips as the lead announcer of Raw the night after WrestleMania 37. That stint lasted just over a month. Earlier this week, Virk was let go from the Raw commentary team. Veteran MMA journalist Jimmy Smith will start in that role this coming Monday.
WWE is in the midst of a major staffing shakeup, both in the office and on camera. WWE’s film, TV and social media divisions saw extensive cuts this week in the Connecticut and Los Angeles offices.
Tom Phillips is unquestionably a very talented broadcaster. At only 32 years old, he’s got a bright future in the world of professional wrestling, if he chooses to stay in the industry. He’s already updated his Twitter handle to reflect his birth name, @TomHannifan.
AEW star Dax Harwood of the FTR tag team had this to say about Tom Phillips’ WWE release. Interestingly, he tells Tom, “I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”
For my money, @TomHannifan was the best commentator I had the pleasure of working with. He worked so hard w/ us to get our story across. He put the words to our music. Maybe his biggest “downfall” was he enjoyed calling actual professional wrestling…
WWE returns to the Capitol Wrestling Center tonight with a live episode of NXT on the USA Network.
The main event of this week’s broadcast will see NXT Champion Karrion Kross defend against former champion Finn Balor. WWE released this preview video hyping the bout:
WWE also released this vintage poster promoting Cross vs. Balor:
In addition to the main event, tonight’s NXT will also feature:
Franky Monet will make her “world premiere” in-ring debut
Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzales face Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon in a #1 contender’s match. The winners will earn a shot against NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions, The Way.
Bobby Fish returns to action against Pete Dunne
Finally, Cameron Grimes will have a “Million Dollar Faceoff” with Ted DiBiase and we’ll hear from new NXT North American Champion, Bronson Reed.
Alexa Bliss’ pet pig, Larry-Steve, has sadly passed away.
On Monday, Bliss posted a message on Instagram asking if anybody knew of an emergency veterinarian that specifically works with pigs.
“Larry is very ill, can’t move or walk. In a lot of pain,” she wrote. “His usual pig vet said she is not comfortable treating him in his current condition. Most vets are not comfortable treating pigs. If anyone knows of a pig vet please let me know.”
Tuesday morning, she broke the news that Larry-Steve ‘gained his angle wings’ the day before his 4th birthday.
“This morning Larry-Steve gained his Angel wings. I’m so sorry we couldn’t find you the help you needed in time. Some people didn’t understand. But I want you to know Larry, YOUR LIFE MATTERED. We are completely heartbroken.”
Alexa Bliss and Larry Steve
Alexa Bliss was backstage at Monday’s Raw, but did not appear on television.
She posted the following photo on Twitter remembering her beloved friend.
Former WWE Superstar Velveteen Dream (Patrick Clark) has issued a lengthy statement about his release from the company. He also defends himself against the sexual misconduct allegations that he feels derailed his wrestling career.
Velveteen Dream wrote on Instagram, “The allegations from April 20, 2020 have effectively derailed any upward momentum I had professionally. And has ultimately resulted in my termination with WWE. My name is Patrick Clark, not the Velveteen Dream. Velveteen Dream is a character that I have spent years developing and trying to bring to life. The success of the Dream character relied heavily on kayfabe, my ability to blur Patrick Clark from Tough Enough with this over the top personality.”
He says his character was conceptualized the day legendary pop music star Prince passed away on April 21, 2016. He says he knew “nothing” about Prince at this time, but recognized Prince’s image could be leveraged to produce a captivating wrestling gimmick.
“The character was conceptualized the day Prince passed, April 21, 2016. I knew nothing about him at that time, but my thinking was that I could use my interpretation of Prince to create an onscreen personality vastly different from who I am as a person. *Cue Velveteen Dream: A Sexually Ambiguous, Gender Fluid, Self Absorbed Diva. And as I learned more about Prince I began to tame certain aspects of the character. Aspects that I deemed way too over the top and inconsistent with who Prince was as a performer”
Velveteen Dream Addresses The Allegations
“The night of April 20, from my verified Instagram account I [posted] a story to my followers letting them know that my DMs had been open. I received a few different messages ranging from support, to heckling, and some inquiring about how to get started in pro wrestling. I responded to a few, but not all, and in their conversation Jaccob shared his interest in working as a wrestler one day and asked what steps would be required. I messaged a short list of things he should consider if he was serious: Physique and Promo to start, Physique, because as an independent contractor no-one is going to make you train and eat in a way that creates the aesthetic of a believable pro wrestler. And promo because our job is to sell drama, and you can’t rely on someone flipping channels to stop to watch a choreographed fight, you’re more likely to grab their attention looking into a camera with a strong impassioned 30 second monologue. I also inquired about which schools he was closest to in relation to wrestling training, his weight, and his height.
Jaccob explained how anxious he felt messaging me and asked me to verify it was really me. I did find it strange, because I have a blue check, but as a lifelong fan I remember meet and greets and the days I would message wrestlers hoping to be seem, so I chalked it up to his innocence and sent a voice message in my Velveteen Dream voice, as to keep kayfabe, The full voice message has me asking Jacob about his height, weight, where he trained, and what school he attended. Which Jaccob answered back with a voice message and I continued to answer his questions until I politely wrapped up the conversation. April 21 I woke up to notifications of tags of created screenshots and videos of a conversation I didn’t have with Jaccob. I immediately contacted WWE’s talent relations and social media departments as to begin an investigation. Even after the investigation, WWE released a statement maintaining my innocence. The part that hurt for me was having a personal picture that I’ve used in my personal life, on apps, being used to label me as a predator. I am in now way of the word a predator. This is the first and only time I’ve been accused of solicitation to anyone.
Until I was accused of grooming by Joshua Fuller, unlike Jaccob, I know Josh. I met Josh after my stint on Tough Enough in (2015) at a meet and greet. And we developed a friendship through a mutual trainer at GXW. Josh shared to Twitter screenshots of the first time we communicated through text (2016), and autographed picture from when we met, and an extremely contradictory story. Josh alleged that I made him feel uncomfortable but contradicts himself twice by saying I was never sexual towards him. For those willng to research Josh’s tweet accusing me: Josh’s messages are in blue and mine in grey. Josh claimed that he was a 16-year-old high school graduate and that he takes “yearly trips” with his friend to Orlando, FL.
I doubted that when he told me, yet I kept my replies diplomatic and professional. The reality of the situation is that I was very helpful and respectful to Josh. Josh lives with his grandparents in rural southern Maryland. Josh got a concussion (2017) and against my advice, insisted on wrestling. My worry came from Josh severaly injurying himself, specifically his brain. I suggested he take time off from training to see a doctor. He declined because he believed he could work through the concussion, and I cut all communication with him in 2018 because I didn’t want to be partially responsible had he worsened his injury. So to have him accuse me of predatory behavior because I chose not to help was spiteful.
Josh and Jaccob are 2 of MANY people that I’ve helped. Yet these are the only two who have found me to be malicious and predatory in how I go about helping others. What wasn’t shared at the time
Josh Fuller reached out to Jaccob over social media before Josh put out his own accusation. When this came out Josh Fuller temporarily deleted his Twitter account @joshfullerpw
Which is important because in all the social media confusion, Josh Fuller is the only one who suggested that an investigation had not been done and that he had not been contacted.
Jaccob deleted his social media after he was outed for being a member of an anti-black group chat.
There is a public forum, wwe lpsg stars where people are buying, selling and sharing explicit photos and videos of multiple wrestlers and no-one has done anything to have this site taken down.
All in all this entire experience defamed my character and ultimately accomplished what it sought out to do and that was to see me released. My hope is that over time people can put 2 and 2 together and realize that all the allegations surrounding me were baseless and untrue from jump. I felt strongly about not needing to defend myself on social media for a while now, but I understand the audience I work for and those who know me deserve clarity. I’m thankful for the opportunities afforded to me and the memories I have as a receipt. GOD HAS ALWAYS HAD ME AND HE ALWAYS WILL. DREAM IS OFFICIALLY OVER BUT Patrick Clark LIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY”
Credit to Liam Winnard of WrestleTalk for transcribing Velveteen Dream’s Statement
Velveteen Dream has been released by WWE. The news was first reported by PWInsider and we have since confirmed the news independently.
Once seen as one of the hottest prospects in NXT, Velveteen Dream was accused of sending lewd messages to a minor last year. WWE officials stated on multiple occasions that they took the allegations seriously, but their internal investigation was inconclusive.
Velveteen Dream has been off television for some time, but was backstage at a recent WWE Raw taping. This led to speculation that he’d be joining the main roster soon, but it was not meant to be. His last televised match took place on the December 23rd, 2020 edition of NXT.
Velveteen Dream's career projection is absolutely insane.
Was seemingly destined for a call-up, and checked off most boxes.
Then everything fell apart, and quickly. Pretty crazy. #WWE#WWENXT
Velveteen Dream (real name) Patrick Clark signed a developmental deal with WWE in 2015. He had previously competed on the 6th season of the Tough Enough reality show competition. He debuted the Dream gimmick in May of 2017.
Earlier this week, WWE also released several people from NXT, including referee Drake Wuertz, Jessamyn Duke, Vanessa Borne, Skyler Story, Ezra Judge, Alexander Wolfe and Kavita Devi. WWE has yet to publicly acknowledge any of the cuts.
Randy Orton and rapper Soulja Boy had some heated exchanges on social media earlier this year. It began when Soulja Boy tweeted that the rap game is ‘faker than WWE.’
Several WWE Superstars took issue with his tweet, including Orton. He fired back with a barrage of insults, calling Soulja Boy “nuthin but a bitch ass” and said Bad Bunny actually had the guts to check out the world of pro wrestling instead of just running his mouth.
Ps @sanbenito would beat the fuck outta you. Why? How? Because he’s seen our world. Respects it and knows what it takes and finds himself lucky to be a part of it. You wanna talk fake? Pawn that cheap ass chain and come work for it you one hit wonder ass mutha fucka https://t.co/zJPMmuqskr
Click here to see a full recap of their their social media beef.
Soulja Boy Comments On Randy Orton Beef
Soulja Boy joined Ebro in the Morning on Hot 97 on Thursday and discussed his beef with Randy Orton. Host Peter Rosenberg pressed Soulja Boy to give us the real story of what went down. The 30-year-old Chicago rapper said he actually likes WWE, but is not going to take back anything he said to Orton.
“I said what I said about the WWE, he has a right to speak on how he feels, so I can’t knock him for that, but i’m gonna defend myself,” he began. “People know I like the WWE. Back in the day, with Stone Cold and The Rock, at the end of the day, I said what I said. I’m not gonna take it back.”
Ebro asked Soulja Boy to recap how the beef began. He said he was in the studio one day and came up with the rhyme about the rap game being faker than wrestling. He said Orton got mad and went off on him. “We went back and forth, but it wasn’t anything too serious. It was entertainment, this is wrestling.”
Rosenberg pushed Soulja Boy to clarify if their beef was just a misunderstanding. Soulja Boy replied, “That’s exactly what happened.”
Ebro suggested that Soulja Boy make things right by getting back in the studio and producing music featuring some Randy Orton quotes and send it to him.
“I’m gonna get back in the lab and try to cook something up,” he added. Rosenberg is ready to broker a peace deal and said, “I’ll connect you guys, let’s do it.”
Check out Soulja Boy talking about his beef with Randy Orton:
AEW dropped some bombshell news on Wednesday. Two years after the announcement of AEW Dynamite at the 2019 TurnerMedia up-fronts, AEW President Tony Khan reveals that All Elite Wrestling has negotiated its relationship with its television partner. The main developments:
AEW Rampage is the new television show launching Friday, August 13th. Rampage will air Friday nights at 10pm (Eastern) on TNT.
AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage are moving to TBS in 2022.
AEW will present quarterly specials on TNT in 2022. Think, Blood and Guts, Beach Break, Winter is Coming, etc.
Here’s the official word from Tony Khan:
"I didn't wanna do 3 hours of Dynamite…it came up about a 3rd hour & I said, 'I really believe on doing it another night'."
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) May 19, 2021
Tony Khan on Busted Open
The announcements were made during Tony Khan’s weekly appearance on Wednesday’s episode of Busted Open on SiriusXM. Here are some additional highlights of Khan’s conversation with Dave LaGreca and Mark Henry:
Tony ran down the card for tonight’s AEW Dynamite. Top matches he’s excited for include AEW World tag team champions The Young Bucks will defend against the Varsity Blonds, Moxley & Kingston vs. The Acclaimed, Serena Deeb vs. Red Velvet, Christian Cage vs. Matt Sydal, Anthony Ogogo vs. Austin Gunn and more.
He called MJF the ‘Bret Hart of the Create-a-Pro dungeon’ (wrestling school) on Long Island, NY. Tony said C.A.P. has produced many talented AEW stars, including The Acclaimed, Kris Statlander, members of the Dark Order and more.
Max Caster has a killer rap lined up for The Acclaim’s entrance tonight on Dynamite. Luckily, Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston have thick skin.
Catch Busted Open weekday mornings from 9-12pm (EST) on Sirius XM Fight Nation (Ch. 156).
Impact Wrestling has announced that this year’s Slammiversary will take place Saturday, July 17th from Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The event will air live on pay-per-view.
This will be the 17th installment of Impact’s annual anniversary event. The event trailer, seen below, features flashes of former Impact stars such as Samoa Joe, Mickie James, Chelsea Green, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, and The Great Muta.
The show’s tagline reads, “Our world changes again.”
Impact will begin promoting Slammiversary next week, after this weekend’s Under Siege special event on Impact Plus.
Here is the lineup for Impact Under Siege:
Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers vs. Eddie Edwards & FinJuice
#1 Contender’s Match: Chris Bey vs. Matt Cardona vs. Chris Sabin vs. Sami Callihan vs. Moose vs. Trey Miguel. The winner of this match earns the right to challenge Kenny Omega for the Impact World Championship.
Knockouts Tag Team Champions Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering vs. Fire N’ Flava.
AEW tag team The Acclaimed are gearing up to drop a mixtape this Friday, May 14th.
“Critically Acclaimed” Volume 1 will be available this Friday on all major streaming platforms. The mixtape will feature the raps of Max Caster and is hosted by Anthony Bowens.
Critically Acclaimed Vol. 1 will begin streaming Friday, May 14th on major streaming platforms.
Watch Bowens and Caster announce The Acclaim’s first mixtape:
“Critically Acclaimed” Vol. 1 drops this Friday on all music streaming services! It includes all of @PlatinumMax’s hits hosted by your’s truly! ????
Bayley has not forgotten her not-so-friendly interaction with Bella Twins at WWE WrestleMania 37.
During a segment that saw Bayley talking trash to the newly-minted Hall of Famers, Bayley got physical and attempted to strike Nikki. The Bellas fired back by roughing up Bayley and leaving her for dead as they celebrated on the stage.
You can see the segment in the video embedded below:
Bayley addressed this situation on Tuesday’s episode of WWE’s The Bump digital series. The former Women’s Champion wants revenge and promised the Bellas that they’ll be seeing her sooner than later.
“You know how many videos that I had to see after WrestleMania of people adding music to that roll? You know how embarrassing that was? You hear those fans booing in the crowd? That’s right, that’s because it was ridiculous.”
Bayley Calls Out the Bellas
She continued by officially calling them out directly for embarrassing her on WWE’s grandest stage.
“So, Bella Twins, this won’t be the last time that we see each other because you embarrassed me and on one of the hardest weekends of my life. You embarrassed me and put a little salt in the wound. So, I’m not going to forget that, Bella Twins, yeah, I’m calling both of you out.”
You can see Bayley’s message to the Bella Twins in the tweet embedded below:
It’s Wednesday and you know what that means. All Elite Wrestling returns with an all-new episode of AEW Dynamite from Jacksonville, FL.
History will be made tonight when Japanese wrestling legend Yuji Nagata challenges AEW star Jon Moxley for the IWGP United States Championship. It will be the first time a championship sanctioned by New Japan Pro Wrestling will be defended in AEW.
We’ll also get a #1 Contender’s match to determine Kenny Omega’s next challenger, Cody Rhodes has an announcement related to Double or Nothing and much more.
AEW Dynamite Matches for May 12th
The following matches are scheduled for AEW Dynamite:
Darby Allin defends the TNT Championship against Miro
Jon Moxley defends the IWGP US Championship against Yuji Nagata
The Young Bucks defend the AEW World Tag Team Championships against SCU. Kazarian and Daniels have vowed to dissolve their team if they lose.
Orange Cassidy vs. PAC in a #1 Contender’s match. The winner will challenge AEW World Champion Kenny Omega at Double or Nothing later this month.
AEW star Ricky Starks recently fractured his neck. The best dressed member of Team Taz will miss around three months of action, but will most likely not require surgery. The news was first reported by Voices of Wrestling.
The injury occurred on the April 21st episode of AEW Dynamite. During a match against Hangman Page, Starks took a german suplex and hit his head on the mat during the landing. He worked the rest of the match, which is quite a feat in hindsight.
The video below does not include the spot that caused the injury, but it’s amazing to see how Starks continued to work with a broken [freakin’] neck.
Ricky Starks wrote the following about the outpouring of support for his recovery:
The 2-time Women’s Tag Team Champion competes against Naomi on this week’s edition of Main Event.
She was drafted the the Raw brand back in October 2020. She last appeared on WWE television on February 1st, when she lost a singles match to Alexa Bliss.
WWE Main Event airs Thursdays on the Hulu streaming service.
Nikki Cross: Underutilized
Nikki Cross remains a fan favorite, despite WWE’s reluctance to feature her prominently. Back in January, she cut an impassioned promo expressing her anger and annoyance that she has “no momentum” in WWE.
“It may not be now, it may not even be in the near future, but one day, you’re all going to realize what exactly it is about me that got me to this point. So let me finish with this. I’m gonna be around in this industry for a very long time and I’m gonna go down as one of the best. And I am so done and I am so finished with not realizing that myself!”
WWE 2K22 is the next WWE video game currently in development by Visual Concepts, a 2K Studio. We got a first look at the title during WrestleMania 37 weekend. You can see that 30-second teaser video here:
2K sent in word that the developers of WWE 2K22 will be providing an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” at the game’s production.
WWE 2K20 was plagued by technical issues and universally panned by critics and gamers.WWE 2K21 was scrapped entirely so the franchise could be reimagined from the ground up.
2K and Visual Concepts will chronicle the development of WWE 2K22 with a “social media content series providing ongoing access to work-in-progress production and development.”
“AEW DYNAMITE” IS BACK ON THE ROAD WITH LIVE, TICKETED EVENTS IN MIAMI, AUSTIN, DALLAS
— Rescheduled Dates Announced for St. Louis and New Orleans Shows —
May 10, 2021 – After safely hosting 27 live, ticketed events throughout the past nine months at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Fla., AEW is bringing the excitement of its flagship show AEW DYNAMITE to Miami, Austin and Dallas this summer. AEW will become the first major wrestling promotion to safely return to a traveling schedule since March 2020.
The dates for the live shows in Miami, Austin and Dallas are:
Wednesday, July 7: James L. Knight Center in Miami.
Wednesday, July 14: H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas (greater Austin area)
Wednesday, July 21: Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas (greater Dallas area)
General tickets for the three shows will go on sale this Friday, May 14, at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT via AEWTIX.com. At the same time, tickets for the Miami and Austin shows will be available via Ticketmaster.com, while tickets for the Dallas show can be purchased at CurtisCulwellCenter.com. Tickets start at $30 (not including service charges or fees).
Each event will be held in compliance with state COVID safety guidelines, and seating capacities will adhere to state and local mandates.
“We’re so appreciative of our fans in Jacksonville who have been with us these past nine months, ” said Tony Khan, CEO, GM and Head of Creative of AEW. “Their support and incredible energy have lifted us week after week, and viewers have fed off their enthusiasm and support. Daily’s Place will always be our home.
“Looking ahead, we’re thrilled to welcome our fans back to become part of the action in Miami, Austin and Dallas. We’ve missed touring cities, meeting the fans and hearing their roar during our live shows. Please be assured, we are working closely with the venues to comply with state and local regulations in each city. Miami, Austin and Dallas are the first of many as we gear up the trucks to travel around the country again! ”
In the near future, AEW will be announcing additional live events for the late summer.
The company also announced two rescheduled dates for St. Louis and New Orleans:
• The show at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on June 23 has been rescheduled for Friday, November 5, 2021. The live event will be an AEW TNT television taping.
• The show at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans has been rescheduled for Wednesday, January, 12, 2022, as an AEW DYNAMITE event.
Fans who have already purchased tickets to either show will have their original tickets valid for admission to the respective rescheduled show, or they can receive a refund via the point of purchase.
As AEW continues to deliver the best matches and most entertaining moments in professional wrestling today, be sure to tune into AEW DYNAMITE every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on TNT.
