Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall’s Nightmare Factory wrestling school sent in the following press release Thursday evening:
Nightmare Factory, the premium training facility owned and operated by AEW’s Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall, today announced its new development camp to propel the next generation of professional wrestling talent.
Starting on Monday, Sept. 21, the inaugural class of 25 aspiring male and female wrestlers will experience the unparalleled three-month curriculum at the world-class Nightmare Factory facility in Norcross, Ga. The premium Nightmare Factory facility, which encompasses 43,000 square feet, includes four wrestling rings and a complete Olympic style weight room. AEW filmed several closed-set DYNAMITE shows at the Nightmare Factory earlier this year.
Designed by head trainers Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall, the rolling curriculum incorporates programming never before presented in a wrestling school. In addition to customized workouts and fitness regimes, students will engage with prominent nutrition counselor Carolyn Fazio to develop meal plans, and participate in exclusive seminars on topics such as HD makeup, the history of American wrestling and “Wrestlenomics,” an in-depth look at the past and present of the wrestling economy.
Aspiring wrestlers can apply for the first Nightmare Factory camp at www.NightmareFactoryGa.com. Camps are limited to 25 athletes and open to men and women of any level of wrestling experience. New camp sessions will begin every three months. The opening camp commences on Sept. 21, followed by the second session in early January 2021.
“I’ve had the best trainers throughout my career, and now I feel a responsibility to pass on the fundamentals and traditions of our sport and entertainment medium to aspiring wrestlers,” said Cody Rhodes, co-head trainer of Nightmare Factory and EVP of AEW. “What I love the most about the Nightmare Factory is its push towards the future and innovation, as well as its focus on the history of wrestling and how it has shaped our current business climate.”
To ensure the safety of all athletes and staff, temperature screenings and COVID-19 tests are required to enter the facility. Refer to www.NightmareFactoryGA.com for policies and information.
About Nightmare Factory
Nightmare Factory is a premium training facility owned and operated by Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall. Located in the Atlanta suburb of Norcross, Ga., the 43,000 square feet facility includes four wrestling rings and a comprehensive Olympic-style weight room. Its new three-month development camp launches on Sept. 21, 2020. For more info, check out @NF_Training (Twitter) and www.NightmareFactoryGa.com.
AEW Dynamite scored another decisive win over WWE NXT this week in total viewers and the key Adults 18-49 demographic. Courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
AEW: 773,000 viewers, 0.30 rating (6th on cable for the night)
NXT: 707,000 viewers, 0.18 rating (28th on cable for the night)
NXT narrowed the gap in viewership this week, but Dynamite nearly doubled the WWE brand in the key demo.
By comparison, Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.62 million viewers with a 0.47 demo. Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline points out that AEW & NXT combined did more viewers than the third hour of Raw, which sunk to an all-time low of 1.46 million viewers.
AEW and NXT combined beat the third hour of RAW in viewers this week.
AEW viewership slipped 8.5% from 845,000 last week. Dynamite saw Jon Moxley & Darby Allin defeat Brian Cage and Ricky Starks, MJF deliver his State of the Industry address, a successful title defense by Kenny Omega & Hangman Page, Cody’s lstest TNT Championship defense against Warhorse, the debut of Matt Cardona and much more. (Results & Takeaways)
NXT viewership was up a nice 15% from last week’s 615,000. Top matches included Dexter Lumis defeating Finn Balor & Timmothy Thatcher in a North American title qualifying match, Johnny Gargano defeating Roderick Strong, Imperium in action and Isaiah Scott beating Jake Atlas. (Results & Takeaways)
In what’s becoming a running joke, AEW executive VP Cody referenced that Dynamite outdrew celebrity chef Guy Fieri’s show Guy’s Grocery Games in the key demo.
AEW’s commentary booth was without Excalibur this week. The masked former luchador’s absence was addressed on Wrestling Observer Radio. According to comments from Dave Meltzer, it’s possible Excalibur missed the show due to a controversial wrestling angle he participated in a long time ago. The angle involved using the N-word in reference to a Black wrestler.
Before addressing Excalibur’s absence, Dave Meltzer noted he had not heard any concrete reasons as to why the announcer missed the show. He did offer speculation as to a possible reason, however.
“There was an angle, I’m not sure if it was in 2003 or 2005. It was a long, long time ago,” Meltzer said.
“In that angle, Human Tornado, who was kind of being pushed as a top babyface and he would often ask for guys to do heavily-racial promos on him and he asked them to use the word. From what I was told, Kevin Steen was very reluctant and Human Tornado convinced Kevin Steen.”
“I don’t know if Excalibur and Disco Machine were reluctant or not. The person who was there said he doesn’t know what they were. But they all knew after they did it, and this is again like 15-17 years ago, they all knew after they did it that they f***ed up big time.”
“I have no idea what the story is as far as is he gone? Is he off for a couple of weeks? I know he took the trip to Florida for the show and was not used. And that’s all I really know.”
A lot of things involving people aligned with Arn Anderson took place last night on Dynamite. Double-A was called into FTR’s contract-signing on the show as the team’s tag-team advisor. It appears Anderson will likely be aligned with the new signees moving forward.
Anderson also manages Cody Rhodes and the Nightmare Family. This week on Dynamite, Cody was rescued from a Dark Order attack by the debuting Matt Cardona (FKA Zack Ryder). Next week on Dynamite, Cardona, and Cody will team up to take on John Silver & Alex Reynolds. The rest of the Dark Order will then take on FTR, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega & Hangman Page.
Anderson spoke about the upcoming matches his guys have against the Dark Order on this week’s Coach’s Corner segment. He said he knows they can trust the debuting Cordona, as he and Cody go way back.
“They’ve got the numbers. What do they got, 20-30 guys in that Dark Order?” Anderson asked. “Sides have been chosen. Now, Matt and Cody go along way back, I know we can count on him. I’m going to have to move some chess pieces around to make this thing fly because I’m going to expect the unexpected, I’m going to expect it to be at its worse.”
Anderson then issued a message to the Dark Order.
“Boys, you jumped on Cody at a time when he should have been shaking Warhorse’s hand who gave him a hell of a fight,” Anderson continued. “But now the focus has changed and it’s changed totally. Now, we’re on the attack and you’re going to be in the crosshairs.”
AEW Dynamite aired live from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Kenny Omega & Hangman Page defended the AEW Tag Team Championships against Evil Uno & Stu Grayson of Dark Order. Cody put the TNT Championship on the line against Warhorse tonight as well. FTR signed their contracts and will be hosting Tag Team Appreciation Night on the August 12th edition of Dynamite.
The official contract signing of FTR with a few unique stipulations and a familiar guest joined the party.
Best Friends, Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy, Orange Cassidy def. Inner Circle
Cody def. Warhorse to retain the TNT Championship
Hangman Page & Kenny Omega def. Dark Order to retain the AEW Tag Team Championships
Hikaru Shida def. Diamante
Jon Moxley & Darby Allin def. Brian Cage & Ricky Starks
Here are takeaways from this week’s show:
Matt Hardy Cost Inner Circle The Match
Inner Circle battled Best Friends, Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, and Orange Cassidy in a 10-man tag team match to begin the show.
Match Recap: Jericho tagged in Hager right away and Orange Cassidy greeted him with a couple lazy kicks. Jake lifted Cassidy in the air but Orange escaped and Dropkicked Hager. A brawl then broke out and Jericho booted Cassidy to the outside. Chuck flipped onto Inner Circle outside the ring and Trent followed it up with a Moonsault. Jungle Boy hit Santana with a Hurricanrana and then Luchasaurus hit a Splash onto Inner Circle.
Back in the ring, Trent went for a Splash on Sammy but Hager broke it up with a forearm to the face. Jericho tagged in and planted Trent with a Suplex. Ortiz hit Trent with a DDT outside the ring. Trent hit Jericho with a Dropkick and tried for a tag but Ortiz stopped it. Hager tagged in and applied a Headlock to Trent in the middle of the ring.
Luchasaurus tagged in and beat down Hager in the corner. Jake hit a massive Clotheslien and then turned around into a Superman Punch from Orange Cassidy. Ortiz hit Cassidy with a Powerbomb and then turned around into a boot to the face from Trent. Jericho hit Trent with a Codebreaker. Sammy hit Jungle Boy with a GTS and then got leveled by a kick to the face from Luchasaurus.
Jericho grabbed the baseball bat but Orange Cassidy threw him over the barricade. Guevara made his way to the top rope but Matt Hardy’s theme hit. Hardy shoved Sammy off the turnbuckle and Luchasaurus hit Sammy with a kick to the face for the pinfall victory.
Later on Dynamite, Jericho challenged Orange Cassidy to a debate next week and announced that they will have a rematch on the August 12th episode.
Opinion: Matt Hardy and Sammy Guevara have unfinished business that got put on hold due to Sammy’s suspension. I’m sure that will be a fun match whenever it goes down. However, I absolutely hated this entire match. I thought it was a total mess, had no flow, and there was hardly any noise from the wrestlers playing the role of the crowd.
Match Recap: Warhorse chopped Cody across the chest in the corner of the ring to start the action off. Warhorse rolled up Cody for a two count and then hit Cody with an Arm Drag. Warhorse followed it up with a Clothesline that turned Cody inside out for a near fall.
The TNT Champion rolled out of the ring to try and regroup as Dynamite went to a commercial break. When Dynamite returned, Cody had Warhorse in a Half Crab in the middle of the ring.
Warhorse reached the ropes to break the hold. Cody went for a Figure Four but Warhorse quickly reversed it. Cody broke free but Warhorse sent him to the corner with a Dropkick. Warhorse hit the champ with a couple of Clotheslines in the corner and then another one in the middle of the ring.
Warhorse made his way to the top rope as Cody rolled out of the ring. Warhorse hopped down to the apron and hit Cody with a Double Stomp to the back. Back in the ring, Warhorse made his way to the top rope and hit Cody with an Elbow Drop for a two count.
Cody went for the Figure Four again but Warhorse countered into a roll-up for a two count. Cody hit Warhorse with a Dropkick to the knee and then went for the Figure Four again. Warhorse blocked it for a moment but Cody was able to lock it in the for the submission victory.
After the match, Dark Order rushed the ring and attacked Cody. Arn Anderson got in the ring before Matt Cardona (formerly Zack Ryder in wWE) made the save. Cardona shared a hug with Cody and posed witht he champion to end the segment.
Opinion: Warhorse is freaking awesome and I hope he winds up a part of AEW’s roster. Cardona looks jacked out of his mind and I can’t wait to see what AEW has in store for him.
Kenny Omega & Hangman Page defended their AEW Tag Team Championships against Stu Grayson and Evil Uno of Dark Order tonight. Colt Cabana joined commentary for the match.
Match Recap: Evil Uno sent Omega to the corner and hit him with a chop to the chest. Grayson tagged in and booted Omega in the face. Kenny knocked Uno off the apron and hit Stu with a Backbreaker. Hangman tagged in and hit Grayon with a Moonsault for a near fall.
Hangman leveled Evil Uno with a big boot and followed it up with a Fallaway Slam. Page hit Stu with a Crossbody but Evil Uno sent him flying into the ring post. Uno launched Omega into the barricade as Brodie Lee looked on from next to the commentary table.
When Dynamite returned from a break, Omega hit Grayson with a Moonsault for a near fall. Omega sent Stu flying out of the ring but turned around into a big boot from Evil Uno. Evil Uno hit Omega with a Senton off the top rope for a near fall. Grayson hit Omega with a 450 Splash and went for the cover but Kenny kicked out at two.
Hangman leveled Grayson with a Clothesline and then planted Uno with a Powerbomb. Omega hit Uno with a V-trigger for a near fall. Hangman and Omega then hit Evil Uno with the V-Trigger and Buckshot Lariat combo for the pinfall victory. Omega and Page are still the AEW Tag Team Champions.
Brodie Lee demanded that Colt Cabana and Anna Jay leave. Brodie flipped out on Stu Grayson and Evil Uno before grabbing a microphone. Young Bucks came to the ring as Brodie Lee said that the Dark Order is everywhere. Brodie told Hangman Page that he pissed him off for the last time and now it is time he pays. Several members of Dark Order surrounded the ring before FTR made the save. A massive brawl broke out with FTR and The Elite standing tall.
Opinion: This was a great match and the Dark Order has really grown on me as of late. Omega and Hangman still have friction and it seems like Page is gravitating towards FTR. AEW’s tag team division is ridiculous and it is only a matter of time before Page and Omega drop the belts.
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida faced Diamante tonight in a non-title match.
Match Recap: Shida went right after Diamante to start off the match and beat her down against the ropes. Diamante leveled Shida with a chop and unloaded several punches to the AEW Women’s Champion. Diamante knocked Shida out of the ring and went after her. Hikaru hung up Diamante on the barricade and connected with a running knee to the face.
Back in the ring, Shida climbed to the top rope and hit Diamante with a Dropkick for a two count. Shida followed it up with another knee to the face that sent Diamante to the apron. Diamante hit Shida with a series of chops in the corner that knocked Hikaru to the mat. Diamante hit Shida with a Stunner and went for the cover but the champ kicked out at two. Hikaru connected with a Falcon Arrow and went for the cover but Diamante kicked out at two. Shida followed it up with a running knee to the face for the pinfall victory.
MJF Challenged Jon Moxley To A Title Match At All Out
MJF made a presentation on the state of industy tonight on Dynamite. MJF stated that he has been given a ton of time to force feed the everyone information. MJF asked the fans to use the #MJF2020 and #notmychampion as the crowd chanted “you suck!”.
He referred to the wrestlers in the audience as “bench warmers” and bitched about not being spotlighted two weeks in a row on Dynamite. MJF said it is time for a change of leadership and that one man in particular called for a “paradigm shift”.
MJF claimed AEW has went from an a revolution to a dictatorship and that is why Moxley isn’t his champion. He complained about how everyone just perform gymnastics instead of actually wrestling on the show. MJF mocked Moxley as trying to cosplay Stone Cold and then brought up ratings.
MJF said that he draws better ratings than “Dictator Jon” and that AEW is meant to be the land of opportunity and Moxley has squandered that. MJF vowed to carry AEW on his back because his talent outweighs Moxley’s talent and he is the guy that is going to be leading this company for the next 25 years. He then challenged Moxley to a title match at All Out.
.@The_MJF will address the state of the industry next on Dynamite!
Opinion: MJF cut an awesome promo tonight as usual and I’m looking forward to his feud with Moxley. The ridiculous entrance was great and the Stone Cold line was epic. It is incredible how talented he is already and I would have zero issue with them putting the belt on him at All Out.
Jon Moxley Will Defend AEW Championship Against Darby Allin Next Week
Jon Moxley and Darby Allin faced Brian Cage and Ricky Starks in a Tornado Tag Team match in the main event. Darby Allin hit Starks and Cage with a Coffin Drop before the match started.
Match Recap: Starks hit Darby with a Clothesline as Moxley hit Cage with some chops to the chest outside the ring. Cage leveled Jon with a kick to the face and then caught Allin as he went for a Crossbody. Moxley hit Cage with a Suicide Dive and grabbed a trash can from under the ring as Dynamite went to a break.
When Dynamite returned, Cage hit Allin with a German Suplex for a near fall. Moxley launched a chair into Starks face and then hit Brian with a knee to the midsection. Starks hit Allin with a Spear but Moxley dropped hit him with a Cutter.
Jon hit Cage with a Belly to Back Suplex and then followed it up with a Piledriver for a near fall. Starts hit Moxley with a Dropkick to the face for a two count. Starks and Cage hit Moxley with an Alabama Slam on top of a trash can and went for the cover but Darby broke it up at two.
Allin sent Starks into the ring post and then made his way to the top rope. Moxley and Allin hit a Paradigm Shift/ Coffin Drop combo on Cage for a near fall. Darby grabbed his skateboard that had tacks on it. Allin leaped onto Starks as Moxley had Cage in an Arm Bar. Allin pinned Starks for the victory as blood poured down Ricky’s back. It was announced after the match that Moxley will defend the AEW Championship against Darby Allin next week.
Opinion: Aside from the opening match, this week’s Dynamite was wildly entertaining. I thought MJF’s promo and the TNT Championship match were the highlights of the show.
They did a segment on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite where FTR was with two legal counsel members and Tony Schiavone. FTR brought in Arn Anderson, who will be their adviser.
Arn looked over the contract and brought up how they got their signing bonus, a 10-second rule for double-teaming, and a tag rope.
It was also revealed that there will be a tag team appreciation night on August 12th that they’ll be hosting. Adam Page came into the meeting with some whiskey and poured shots. Anderson poured his shot into another glass. Page had poured himself an entire glass and joked that he might’ve poured himself a little too much.
FTR signs with AEW, with guidance from Arn Anderson
AEW President Tony Khan sent out a tweet following the segment by writing the following:
“Welcome to #AEW officially, #FTR @CashWheelerFTR and @DaxHarwood. Thank you for signing your multiyear contracts tonight on #AEWDynamite!”
This comes hours after FTR had an exchange with Khan on Twitter about not being included in the tag team rankings. Khan told them to sign their deals.
FTR made their promotional debut back on the May 27th episode of Dynamite and has been working matches since then.
Zack Ryder (well, Matt Cardona) is all elite. The former WWE wrestler made his AEW debut on this week’s episode of Dynamite in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place on TNT.
Cody Rhodes successfully retained the TNT Championship over Warhorse. After the match, two members of The Dark Order ran out and attacked Rhodes and Warhorse. Arn Anderson got into the ring and was ready to throw down.
This is when Ryder walked out to the ring, looking jacked, and made the save. He hit his finisher to both guys to clear the ring. He hugged it out with Rhodes to end the segment.
Cody and Matt Cardona (AEW Dynamite, 7/29/20)
Fans won’t have to wait long to see Matt Cardona’s in-ring debut. It was announced that next week on Dynamite, Cody and Cardona will team up against the Dark Order in tag team action.
You can see footage of Matt Cardona’ AEW Dynamite debut here:
Zack Ryder’s Road to AEW
Ryder, real name Matt Cardona, was released by WWE due to budget cuts related to the coronavirus back in April. Just like all of the other wrestlers who were released by the company, he had to wait until July 15th until he could sign with another promotion. Ryder was a longtime wrestler for the company.
Leading up this debut, there had been speculation that he might be headed to AEW due to his friendship with Rhodes. That answer has been made. Now, it will be interesting to see where this leads him.
Cody Rhodes addressed whether AEW has any interest in signing new talent to join their loaded roster.
Following the mass talent firings done by WWE back in April, there are several notable wrestlers on the free-agent market right now. While some talent such as EC3, Eric Young, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson have joined Impact Wrestling, there are other wrestlers who are still not under contract with any promotion.
That includes Rusev and Zack Ryder. These two stars have been spoken highly about by Rhodes. The AEW TNT Champion did an interview with ESPN where he discussed whether the promotion has any interest in signing them.
“I think there are two free agents that are on a lot of people’s radar, that being Miro — formerly Rusev — and Matt Cardona, who was Zack Ryder. Obviously, those free agents should be on any radar. They have literally drawn money. They have TV experience. They have high-profile experience. They have locker room experience. The pros heavily outweigh the cons.
Those are two great free agents. I’m not going to go as far to say that if I had to sign anybody, those would be the two that I would sign. But I think they’re great free agents. I think if they have the passion for pro wrestling, they’re going to continue to succeed.”
Rhodes continued by talking about how AEW only has a few hours of programming each week with a lot of their roster that hasn’t been fully seen by its fanbase. Thus, he wants to make sure that he honors their existing roster while considering bringing in other wrestlers.
Another talent who is on the free-agent market right now is Tessa Blanchard, a former Impact World Champion who recently departed from the company.
Rhodes stated that he doesn’t know about the current situation between Blanchard and Impact. He noted that this would be a decision left to be made by Kenny Omega, Brandi Rhodes, and Tony Khan, who oversee the women’s division.
“She was part of All In for us. And anyone who was part of All In has a place in my heart. On a personal level, I always want all the second- and third-generation wrestlers to have the best experience.”
He added that she’s talented and he is sure that is something that the three other executives have talked about.
Rhodes did acknowledge his respect for Rey Mysterio but knows that Mysterio is currently in talks with WWE for a new deal. Thus, he didn’t give much of a comment about him.
Conspicuously absent from the tag team rankings are FTR, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler. The omission was not lost on Wheeler, questioned, “Hello? Anyone there?”
This prompted a response from AEW President Tony Khan, who revealed that Harwood and Wheeler have yet to sign their AEW contracts.
As I’ve told your attorney, you each need to sign your contracts before we can rank you in the top 5.
Dax Harwood then noted he and Cash will make a decision on the matter today.
“Mr. Kahn dropping personal information on twitter. We’ll make our decision today,” Harwood Tweeted in response.
AEW Tag Team Rankings
FTR are 4-1 thus far in AEW. They have defeated Butcher and the Blade, SCU, The Lucha Bros, and Peter Avalon & Brandon Cutler. Their only loss came at Fyter Fest when they teamed with the Young Bucks and dropped an 8-wrestler match to the Lucha Bros and Butcher and the Blade.
Cody faced Eddie Kingston for the TNT title last week on Dynamite. He is scheduled to face Warhorse on tonight’s card. Cody has said he plans on defending the title frequently and against competition not necessarily signed to AEW. During a recent interview with ESPN, Cody named two non-AEW wrestlers who he’d like to face for the belt.
Cody mentioned both Ethan Page from Impact Wrestling and Nick Aldis from the NWA as potential title-challengers.
Here is what Cody had to say about potentially facing Ethan Page.
“There’s maybe two guys that I hear a lot about. One is my good friend Ethan Page [of Impact Wrestling]. I’ve kind of watched his glow-up continue,” Cody said. “He maybe doesn’t have the God-given talent, but just absolutely will outwork you and will continue to grow up, glow up and mature, which is the key if you’re going to make wrestling your life’s work.”
Cody has performed for Page’s Alpha-1 promotion in Hamilton, ON, Canada on numerous occasions.
The TNT Champion once traded the NWA World Heavyweight title with Nick Aldis. Cody won the title at All In in 2018 but then dropped it back to Aldis at the NWA 70th Anniversary show. According to Cody, Aldis would make an excellent challenger for the TNT title.
“That guy and I, we couldn’t be any farther from friends, but there’s this natural bit of respect between us because we did do the two NWA matches and they did have a really warm following. The match at All In, that was one of my favorite moments of my life as a wrestler. And we never finished this. We were 1-1.”
Cody also noted that he’s surprised MJF hasn’t answered his open challenge. Additionally, he made a point to note that he is 1-1 against Kenny Omega as well.
All Elite Wrestling has released the latest AEW Rankings for the week of Wednesday, July 29th, 2020.
We are now less than six weeks out from the All Out pay-per-view scheduled for Saturday, September 5th. With Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen in the rear view mirror, expect these rankings to have big implications on the championship matches we’ll see at the PPV.
The following are this week’s rankings for AEW’s three divisions. Win/loss records displayed are for this year.
Men’s Singles Division
AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley (14-0)
TNT Champion: Cody (16-1)
MJF held on to the top spot this week. He will be holding a State of the Industry Address tonight on Dynamite and is the frontrunner to be Jon Moxley’s opponent at All Out. This week’s Top 5 rankings are unchanged from last week.
Top 5 Rankings:
MJF (8-0)
Lance Archer (10-1)
Brian Cage (6-1)
Brodie Lee (5-1)
Darby Allin (7-4)
Women’s Singles Division
AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida
Abadon enters the Top 5 women’s rankings this week. She bumps out Kris Statlander, who is out of action and will soon undergo surgery to repair an ACL tear.
Top 5 Rankings:
Nyla Rose (7-2)
Big Swole (5-3)
Penelope Ford (5-4)
Dr. Britt Baker (4-4)
Abadon (2-1)
Tag Team Division:
AEW Tag Team Champions: Kenny Omega & “Hangman” Page (10-0)
This week’s tag team rankings are very similar to last week’s. The Young Bucks swapped places with the Jurassic Express after their victory over Butcher & Blade last week on Dynamite. The Dark Order challenges for the AEW tag team championships tonight on Dynamite.
Tonight on Dynamite, independent wrestling standout Warhorse will challenge Cody for the TNT Championship. Cody has been defending the belt against wrestlers from outside AEW as of late, including last week’s tilt against Eddie Kingston.
Warhorse spoke to SI.com about the upcoming match.
“I’ll be head banging like nobody’s business on TNT,” Warhorse said to SI.com. “People are going to see independent wrestling is alive and well. That’s the most important part of this match to me. Indie wrestling is going to rise to the occasion.”
Warhorse would also say during the interview that he treats his career like wrestlers did during the territory days. Instead of using television as his platform, however, he uses the internet. Warhorse continued to say he’ll be looking to get on the mic as soon as possible on Dynamite, something Kingston did as well.
“I’ll be looking for a mic as soon as I walk in the building,” said Warhorse. “My personality, that is how I have a connection with the fans. And I’ve got a lot to say.”
As for how the match itself will go, Warhorse says he’s got a plan.
“My plan is to get in the ring and move faster than a bullet, with twice the firepower, and beat the ever-living s— out of Cody Rhodes.”
Responding to a fan via social media, Cody shared that the championship design will be completed on August 12. He also added how he has seen a video of the plates, describing them as being “very elegant.” He accompanied his comment with a diamond emoji.
The TNT Championship was first presented to Cody Rhodes following his Double of Nothing victory. He beat Lance Archer in the finals of the TNT Championship tournament that night to claim the belt. It would then be presented to him by boxing legend “Iron “Mike Tyson.
Debuting to a mixed reaction from fans, AEW commentators explained that the championship was, in fact, “incomplete” at that time. It was revealed how the production of the belt had unfortunately been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Created by belt maker RED Leather for AEW, the company previously addressed the ‘in progress’ status of the championship:
“Unfortunately due to Covid-19 the platers I used are working on skeleton crews and can only work on respirators / emergency equipment. Once regular business resumes this belt will get some much needed highlights in nickel and gold as well as a relief TNT logo.”
Cody Rhodes is set to defend his TNT Championship this week on AEW Dynamite. He faces off against Warhorse.
All Elite Wrestling World Champion Jon Moxley has explained how he dealt with the “pressure” of delivering scripted promos at the behest of a “74-year-old madman.”
Speaking with Busted Open Radio, Moxley opened up about how AEW gives him creative freedom on the mic. According to Moxley, the promotion simply doesn’t give him a script to work off of. Moxley then juxtaposed this experience with his time in WWE.
He shared how, “If I had to boil it down to one thing that drove me crazier than anything was the fact that I got handed a script and told what to say.”
He recalled how the first time it happened was when he was in The Shield with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Moxley revealed they had never been handed a script before, even in developmental. Hearing the term “scripted promos” blew his mind the first time he heard it.
Jon Moxley’s Script Pressure
When first going over the script, he was surprised at how detailed and specific he needed to be. At first, Moxley had assumed the writing was more of a “suggestion.”
After approaching the writer with some ideas to add, he quickly found out how he was expected to recite the lines verbatim.
“I remember having this feeling in the pit of my stomach, like oh my God, I made a terrible mistake…I’ll tell you what pressure is. Pressure is having a two-page script written by a 74-year-old madman that makes no sense to you that’s going to make you look stupid and your on worldwide TV live and you have to memorize every single line and somehow try to pull it off and not look like a total jackass. That’s pressure.”
Jon Moxley added how he felt he managed to pull it off most of the time. He did acknowledge there were plenty of times where he wasn’t able to. With AEW, however, Moxley will “never have to be in that situation again.”
Kris Statlander is slated to undergo the knife this week.
The AEW star first revealed that she suffered an ACL tear back in June in a post on social media. However, at the time, she didn’t mention when the surgery would actually take place.
That has changed. Statlander took to her official Twitter account where she noted that she’ll be getting the surgery done on Tuesday. She wrote the following:
“Tomorrow is surgery day and I’m either going to spend my night watching #AEWDark or sleeping. Luckily I’ll be entertained Wednesday as well on my first day of recovery knowing #AEWDynamite is LIVE Wednesday at 8/7c pn TNT. Who’s watching with me?”
We wish her a speedy recovery. She was last seen in action back on the June 10th episode of AEW Dynamite when she teamed with Hikaru Shida to take on Nyla Rose & Penelope Ford. The injury happened when she did a dive onto Kip Sabian.
Clearly, there’s no word yet on when fans can expect to see Statlander back in action by making a return from injury. Before the setback, she had been on the rise and played a role as one of the regulars in the AEW women’s division.
In fact, she won the AEW Women’s Title at AEW Revolution pay-per-view event in February but fell short.
Despite being sidelined and not working a match in over one month, Statlander is still the number four ranked competitor in the official AEW women’s rankings.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman (aka MJF) is currently the #1 ranked wrestler in AEW’s men’s singles division. He has yet to be pinned or submitted in the promotion.
AEW is now promoting that MJF will address the state of the wrestling industry this Wednesday night on Dynamite.
BREAKING NEWS@The_MJF will appear on Dynamite this Wednesday, to address the state of the industry.
MJF also sent out the following Tweet with just the words “40 days”. 40 days from today will be Saturday, September 5th, 2020. AEW’s “All Out” PPV is currently scheduled for that date.
MJF has been making various ominous comments about AEW World Champion Jon Moxley as of late as well. Could MJF be lobbying for a title shot at All Out? It seems we could find out on Wednesday night.
MJF has wrestled 18 times for All Elite Wrestling. He is 1-2 in battle royals, 0-1 in fatal 4-ways, 3-1 in tag matches, and a perfect 10-0 in singles matches.
5/25/19: 21 Man Casino Battle Royal (won by Hangman Page)
6/29/19: Hangman Page defeated Jimmy Havoc vs Jungle Boy vs MJF (Fyter Fest 2019- 4-way match)
7/13/19: Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Sammy Guevara & Shawn Spears defeated Darby Allin, Jimmy Havoc & Joey Janela (Fight for the Fallen 2019)
10/2/19: Maxwell Jacob Friedman defeated Brandon Cutler
11/20/19: Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal won by Hangman Page and MJF (final 2 participants would meet the following week for the Dynamite Diamond Ring.)
11/27/19: MJF defeated Hangman Page
1/15/20: The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) & MJF defeated Diamond Dallas Page, Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall (AEW Bash at the Beach)
1/21/20: MJF defeated Joey Janela
2/12/20: MJF defeated Jungle Boy
2/29/20: MJF defeated Cody (AEW Revolution)
3/11/20: MJF & The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) defeated The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus & Marko Stunt)
5/13/20: MJF defeated Lee Johnson
5/20/20: MJF defeated Marko Stunt
5/23/20: MJF defeated Jungle Boy (Double or Nothing)
5/27/20: TNT Title #1 Contender Battle Royal won by Jungle Boy
6/11/20: MJF defeated Billy
7/1/20: The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) defeated MJF & Wardlow
Independent wrestler Warhorse will challenge Cody for the TNT Championship on Dynamite this week. Recently on the Arn Show, Conrad Thompson asked Arn Anderson how Warhorse got on his radar.
“Well, just because I’m illiterate where computers go, I have advanced this far, I can look on my phone, go to a Twitter account, go to an AEW twitter account, go to Conrad’s Twitter account. My go-to ones that I have to go to, I can go to and that name when the fans are talking wrestling and what they hear on our show, the name started to pop up.”
Anderson continued to talk about how Warhorse’s name kept popping up on his feed.
“Apparently this Warhorse kid has developed a pretty good following out there in the independent world. If you think about it, 90% of the talent on the AEW roster was in the same position he was in. They were making the indies, making the circuit, earning their stripes, and paying their dues.”
He continued to talk about how Tony Khan has challenged him with finding wrestlers such as Warhorse to challenge Cody.
“He’s on the radar screen and in this day and time, for a lot of guys who would like to be in that spot, that’s good enough.”
Brandi Rhodes has provided some new information about All Elite Wrestling’s upcoming ‘Deadly Draw’ women’s tag team tournament.
AEW’s Chief Brand Officer spoke with Christy Olson this week for CHRISTYreports. Brandi discussed a wide variety of topics, including her role as an AEW executive, the #SpeakingOut movement addressing sexual misconduct in pro wrestling and much more.
Last week on Dynamite, AEW announced the Women’s Tag Team Cup tournament is happening this summer. We know that 8 teams will be competing, but additional details have been hard to come by.
Brandi says that the full picture will become “crystal clear” this week on AEW Dynamite. She and Allie have been announced as the first two participants in the tournament, but Brandi reveals that they might not be teaming together as the Nightmare Sisters.
“We’re going to explain how the teams come together and then you might see a team or two come together,” said Brandi. “There is the factor that [the Nightmare Sisters] could maybe not be together in the tournament, since that hasn’t been clear. So we will also see on Wednesday with the rules what that means for the Nightmare Sisters. I’m honestly hoping that we are together, because again, I feel like we’ve just gotten our footing so it would be kind of sad to tear us apart at this point.”
As for whether or not this is a one-off tournament or not, Brandi is hopeful this will be the first of many.
“I think that’s how you look at a lot of things. You try things, you see how they go. I, of course, am very hopeful that this tournament is something that can continue to happen as it’s going to bring great opportunities to a lot of women who don’t normally get to be seen on Dynamite or on AEW Dark as often as we’d like to.”
“There’s a limit to what I can handle of people sending me pictures of their genitalia. So I’m not open publicly to DMs anymore.”
For more of Christy’s interview with Brandi Rhodes watch the full video here:
Brian Pillman Jr. recently wrestled a couple of matches on AEW Dark. He dropped bouts to Shawn Spears and Brian Cage. He is currently signed to MLW and has been involved with the new Hart Foundation stable in the promotion. Pillman recently spoke to Talk Sport about the help he’s received in his career from numerous wrestling legends.
Pillman was asked about his relationship with AEW’s Chris Jericho:
“Me and Chris have been close for a long time. That was also somebody that was pulling for me in the company [AEW] and he helped me get the opportunity at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view about one year ago. That was May 22, 2019,” Pillman said.
“So it’s been about a year since I’ve been there, so it’s been a long time. they wanted to see how far I have come and what improvements did I make and I think they were all happy with that.”
Brian Pillman Jr. On Advice From Steve Austin
Pillman also noted he got to speak with Jericho at the tapings as well.
Additionally, Pillman spoke about the guidance he’s received over the years from his father’s former tag-team partner, Steve Austin.
“Steve has offered me advice on several, several occasions,” Pillman said about Austin. He continued to say he asked Austin if he should go into the wrestling business.
“He just told me ‘You can do whatever you want to do. Your father would want you to do what’s passionate to you.’”
Pillman also spoke about his relationship with Bret Hart, Pillman’s father’s former stablemate in the Hart Foundation.
“He’s definitely someone that if I ever needed anything, he would be right there for me. Whenever I’ve seen him, he’s been nothing but family to me,” Pillman said of Hart.
All Elite Wrestling’s TNT Champion Cody Rhodes has responded to fan criticism regarding the promotion during a recent Q&A Session under the hashtag #AskCody.
When asked about AEW’s detractors and why they might find it so difficult to relax and enjoy wrestling without constantly comparing promotions and shows, Cody replied explained AEW’s show is still so new and unknown. He added how Dynamite is “aggressive in delivery and it’s marketing.”
He acknowledged how the Monday Night Wars that took place between WWE and WCW offers a template that people often revert to as a reference point. Cody added how “respectfully that ecosystem doesn’t fit ours. This is very new territory & it’s fan made.”
It’s new. It’s unknown. Its also very aggressive in delivery and it’s marketing.
I think the late 90s’ template for the current situation is the only reference people have sometimes, but respectfully that ecosystem doesn’t fit ours.
Cody On Providing An Alternative & Equal Entry Contracts
Cody Rhodes also responded to a fan who stressed how they wanted an alternative to WWE, not alternative WWE. The fan pointed at Marko Stunt as an example of how AEW’s product is embarrassing, to which Cody replied:
“Show is great man. It’s a 2hr gritty/atheltid/and often fun weekly presentation. Seems odd to form an opinion about the entire brand based on you disliking short people. Not the end of the world though man, you can’t please everybody and trying is the first step down.”
When challenged over the starting contract rates between male and female talents, Cody was quick to correct a fan who believed men were on a higher entry rate than the women. He explained how AEW’s “entry contracts are the same, regardless of gender. It’s 2020 man.” He added how AEW stressed the importance of this initiative at its first press conference, and how they’ve delivered on it ever since.
That’s already real bud. Entry contracts are the same, regardless of gender. It’s 2020 man. We told the world this at our first presser. Real now as it was then.
No. That’s a Nielsen statistic and a scapegoat one that post movers thrive on. It dismisses global penetration(major growth) and fiscal equity. We just signed an extension. Have more content coming to the network.
This is a wild ride and it’s not anything we’ve seen before.
All Elite Wrestling’s Chris Jericho has explained why he isn’t interested in returning to WWE. The former AEW Champion shared his reasoning during a recent live stream of Saturday Night Special.
Jericho proclaimed how a return to WWE simply isn’t going to happen. He explained how he’s really enjoying being in AEW before adding how he loved his WWE experience. Jericho also stressed how he loves Vince McMahon.
He noted how he learned a lot and had a lot of fun in WWE but, ultimately, felt how he couldn’t “stay in the same place forever.” If he did, he believes he would have eventually become stagnant—something he never wants to become.
“If you do and I think you need to push yourself to do something new and the fact that AEW was live without a net when I first showed up and all of us have done such a great job of promoting this brand and promoting this company.”
Chris Jericho then stressed how his current claims of being a “demogod” are real. He was quick to add, however, that it’s not just him contributing to AEW’s success “[…] even though I’ve never been beaten in the demo for my segment this week. The friggin Young Bucks did over a million viewers. And not only that, The Butcher and The Blade, how about that?”
Chris Jericho teamed with Jake Hager in a winning effort against Jurassic Express during last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite that saw the return of Inner Circle member Sammy Guevara.
Chris Jericho hit a home run by getting into the sparkling wine business. He partnered with Stephen Amell, star of the CW superhero series Arrow.
He launched the brand, “A Little Bit of the Bubbly” last year. He took to his official Instagram account where he noted that sales of the sparkling wine are going well.
More than 40,000 bottles of A Little Bit of the Bubbly have been sold in 7 months. You can see his post here:
A Little Bit of the Bubbly is a sparkling Riesling produced exclusively by Nocking Point Wines.
Jericho made the “A Little Bit of the Bubbly” catchphrase extremely popular with fans that ended up going viral last Summer after he beat Adam Page at the All Out pay-per-view event. He said the catchphrase in his post-match celebration for winning the first AEW World Championship.
Pre-orders were made available late November 2019 with bottles of Jericho’s sparkling shipping in December.
Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, Luchasaurus, and Jungle Boy vs. Jericho, Jake Hager, Santana, Ortiz, and Sammy Guevara in a 5-on-5 match has already been confirmed for next week’s AEW Dynamite episode.
Cody Rhodes says his character is neither a babyface nor a heel. There has been some debate about this as of late considering how many of his TNT title defenses have gone. There also may have been some hints dropped as of late that Cody’s character might be turning full heel somewhere down the road.
Cody responded to a recent comment by Disco Inferno on Twitter asking if he is a heel.
“Is Cody Rhodes a heel? This is like the old school angle where you have a list of worthy contenders and they are just a bunch of indy workers that don’t even work for the company,” Disco Tweeted.
Cody responded with the following:
“I’m neither. I’m a competitor & a reigning champion. Tired old tropes are even more insulting to the viewer considering I’ve been on their TV since I was 20. It ain’t black and white, it hasn’t been in forever. Circumstances of the match dictate who we cheer for, beautiful thing.”
Is Cody Rhodes a heel? This is like the old school angle where you have a list of worthy contenders and they are just a bunch of indy workers that don't even work for the company. #warhorse
Cody has defended the title 6x since winning it at Double or Nothing in May. He’s defeated Jungle Boy, Marq Quen, Ricky Starks, Jake Hager, Sonny Kiss, and now Eddie Kingston. He is scheduled to face Warhorse next week.
This past Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite was a big show in terms of match quality and viewership.
AEW President Tony Khan mentioned in a response to Dave Meltzer on Twitter that the last 5 minutes of the Falls Count Anywhere Match did over a million viewers.
The Young Bucks went over The Butcher and Blade on this episode from Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place on TNT. It also did over 500,000 viewers in the all-important 18-49 demographic. Khan wrote the following to tout the impressive numbers:
“Yes, #AEWDynamite was over a million total viewers for the final 5 minutes of the @youngbucks v. Butcher & Blade Falls Count Anywhere match, from 8:55pm ET to 9pm ET with 1,018,000 viewers total and 502,000 in the key 18-49 year old demographic! Thank you to everyone who watched!”
Dynamite drew 845,000 total overnight viewers while also doing a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demos. They also finished in the top 5 for the top 150 shows on cable for the night.
Next Week’s AEW Dynamite Card
AEW World Tag Team Champions Hangman Page and Kenny Omega vs. Evil Uno and Grayson
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Diamante Non-Title Match
Darby Allin and Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks with Taz – Tornado Tag Match
Cody to defend AEW TNT Championship against War Horse
Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, Luchasaurus, and Jungle Boy vs. Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Santana, Ortiz, and Sammy Guevara
AEW has announced Warhorse has answered Cody’s Open Challenge and will face him for the TNT Championship next week.
Cody’s coach Arn Anderson has been teasing Warhorse as an opponent for Cody over the past few weeks. The champ has already defended the TNT title 6 times since winning it at Double or Nothing. He’s defeated Jungle Boy, Marq Quen, Ricky Starks, Jake Hager, Sonny Kiss, and Eddie Kingston thus far.
You asked for it, AEW is giving it to you??
(but I predict this won’t be long, he doesn’t get outside of 5 minutes with me)
Earlier this year, Kenny Johnson produced the following short documentary on Warhorse:
In the documentary, Warhorse describes the creation of his character:
“I was reading this book by KISS and essentially, they talked about how they did everything different. They wanted to be the band they never got to see, and they love comic books and horror movies and all these things, so I thought ‘Okay, I love heavy metal. I love 80’s style wrestling, I love the big over-the-top personalities.’ And if you listen to most of the old-school vets, they’ll tell you that a character will get you farther than anything else.”
Cody vs. Warhorse rounds out a stacked lineup for next week’s AEW Dynamite:
#AEWDynamite live next week with a huge card! -Tornado Tag@JonMoxley/@DarbyAllin v Brian Cage/Ricky Starks -World Tag Title Hangman/Kenny v Dark Order -Inner Circle v Best Friends/Jurassic Express/@orangecassidy -Cody TNT Title Challenge v. A Top Indie Wrestler -Shida v Diamante pic.twitter.com/Bwo2XmtpCx
