Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager cruise is gearing up to set sail once again. The fourth Jericho cruise, dubbed Four Leaf Clover, will take over the Norwegian Perl once again.
It all goes down February 2-6, 2023 when the Jericho Cruise sails from Miami, FL to Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. You can visit the cruise website for booking information and more details of what to expect on board.
Four Leaf Clover will feature 4 days of wrestling matches presented by AEW and the main event has now been signed.
Chris Jericho and Danhausen, collectively known as Jericho Hausen, will face The Gunns (Austin and Colton Gunn). More matches will be announced in the weeks ahead.
Wednesday’s Winter is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite featured a surprise upset that many fans are comparing to the 1-2-3 Kid’s memorable win over Razor Ramon from May 1993.
After losing the ROH World title to Claudio Castagnoli this past weekend at Final Battle, Chris Jericho said he wanted a tune-up match against a ‘jobber’ – insider wrestling lingo for a competitor who rarely wins their matches.
Jericho got his wish in the form of Action Andretti, a competitor we’ve seen on AEW Dark, but was largely unknown to the AEW audience. It was an exciting match with several close calls, but in the end, Andretti stunned Jericho (and everyone else) by scoring a surprise victory via roll-up.
Jericho was in utter disbelief over the loss. Later in the show, he was shown backstage throwing a tantrum. No matter how he refuses to accept the outcome, a win is a win.
How did Action Andretti go from a relatively unknown to pinning Chris Jericho live on national television?
As it turns out, this match and the shock outcome have been planned for months – and it was all set up by Chris Jericho. On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained how it all went down.
Back in October, Andretti wrestled QT Marshall on a match that aired on AEW Dark. Jericho was watching the match backstage and was blown away by the young high-flyer. Jericho saw the potential for Andretti to be a star, but he just needed a break. Jericho had a few ongoing storylines in the works, but he decided then that he wanted to wrestle Andretti on the big stage when his schedule cleared up.
Shortly after the match concluded, AEW President Tony Khan announced on social media that Action Andretti is All Elite and earned himself a contract with the promotion.
Congratulations! It's official! @ActionAndretti is ALL ELITE!
Saraya is neither confirming nor denying the reports that Sasha Banks will make her debut for AEW next month as her mystery partner.
The former Paige debuted for AEW at September’s Dynamite: Grand Slam and had her first match at Full Gear, defeating Britt Baker.
This also marked Saraya’s first match since a neck injury suffered at a December 2017 WWE Live event ended her in-ring career.
Sasha Banks
During that infamous WWE Live event, Saraya’s injury happened after she took a kick to the back of the head by Sasha Banks.
It was reported this week that Banks is ‘done’ with WWE, after being suspended in May for walking out of an episode of Raw.
During an interview with Forbes, Saraya responded to speculation that the former Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion could team with her in AEW.
“I feel like anytime there’s a mystery, everyone always goes straight for Mercedes (Sasha Banks). They’re like—straight away—it’s her! There’s plenty of women out there, I’m not going to say yes or no to anybody, but there’s a lot of exciting prospects for a potential tag partner.”
Saraya.
Saraya and a mystery partner will face AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker on the January 11, 2023, episode of AEW Dynamite.
Banks in Japan
Banks could be in AEW soon enough, but that’s not the only promotion with an eye on the Boss.
Chris Jericho said he was going to get a tune up on Dynamite when he wrestled an enhancement talent. He far underestimated his opponent.
Action Andretti was the lucky one to face “The Ocho” in his first match since dropping the ROH World Championship last Saturday at Final Battle. Andretti would not allow Jericho to look past him. He forced offense and even forced Jericho to wrestle in picture-in-picture.
Nine and a half minutes later, Andretti shocked the AEW Galaxy when he upset the former champion. He drew comparisons to the 1-2-3 Kid. He took notice.
Did we just witness the BIGGEST. UPSET. in the HISTORY of professional wrestling?!?! @ActionAndretti just BEAT @IAmJericho in his #AEWDynamite debut!!!!
After that performance, fans on Twitter were calling for Andretti to be signed. Minutes later Tony Khan tweeted out the #AllElite graphic with “Congratulations! It’s official! Action Andretti is ALL ELITE!”
Congratulations! It's official! @ActionAndretti is ALL ELITE!
For those fans that watch Dark, Andretti is someone they’ll recognize. Back in October, he had a tag team match against Tony Nese and Josh Woods. The next night, he would have a seven minute match against QT Marshall.
He regularly wrestles for MCW and just successfully defended the MCW Heavyweight Championship against Speedball Mike Bailey. He’s also competed in GCW and CZW.
Andretti had a memorable debut and it’ll be fun to see where he goes from here.
MJF won the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley in the main event of Full Gear. William Regal betrayed Blackpool Combat Club member Jon Moxley and slid Friedman the brass knuckles.
Max bashed Moxley over the head with them to capture the title. MJF would then betray William Regal a week later and hit him over the head with the brass knuckles as well. He is set to make his first title defense against Ricky Starks at Dynamite: Winter is Coming.
Ricky earned the match by winning the World Title Eliminator Tournament. Starks also won the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale last week and will challenge MJF for the Dynamite Diamond Ring tonight in a Winner Takes All match.
Speaking with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, the AEW World Champion hyped tonight’s match and as two homegrown talent fighting for the most important title in the business.
People have been waiting for fresh and new. They’ve been begging for it. Now, in the main event of AEW Dynamite, the MJF show, you get two homegrown guys wrestling for the most important world title in professional wrestling.
This is a chance for people to witness history. I’m hearing Ricky Starks is going to be the next big star. That’s interesting. Why are people talking about Ricky Starks? It’s because he got to share a ring with a generational talent. That’s me.
MJF on defending the AEW World Championship against Ricky Starks tonight
MJF continued to reference Bryan Danielson and it appears that will be his next rivalry. Friedman used the word “fickle” in one of his recent promos and mocked Danielson for not showing up to Dynamite last week after his attacked William Regal. Danielson left with Regal in the ambulance on the November 30th edition of Dynamite. Maxwell used “fickle” once again to describe AEW fans who want to see him wrestle for the promotion more.
I’m not going to go out and kill my body for people who are fickle. One second, you’re beloved. Then you’re hated. That shows you how fickle, disgusting and putrid mark wrestling fans are.
AEW President Tony Khan has secured the rights to “Roundball Rock,” the iconic theme song NBC used for many years for their NBA broadcasts.
Khan announced the news on Twitter and also noted that it’s his favorite song. Khan tweeted: “We got the rights to my favorite song! See you tomorrow for Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite on @TBSNetwork at 8pm ET/7pm CT for Winter Is Coming!”
AEW Dynamite: Winter Is Coming Card
(AEW)
AEW has loaded up the card for this show with two title bouts featured, including the fourth match between Death Triangle and The Elite in their AEW World Trios Championship best-of-seven series. Also, MJF will defend the AEW World Heavyweight Title against Ricky Starks in the likely main event.
Here’s the full card:
AEW World Championship and Dynamite Diamond ring winner takes all: MJF (c) vs. Ricky Starks
House of Black in action
AEW World Trios Championship best-of-seven series: Death Triangle vs. The Elite (Death Triangle leads 2-1)
Ruby Soho vs. Tay Melo
Chris Jericho in action
You can hear the song below in the preview video for the special edition of Dynamite:
We got the rights to my favorite song! See you tomorrow for Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite on @TBSNetwork at 8pm ET/7pm CT for Winter Is Coming!
Since making a name for himself in the NWA and finding more success in AEW, fans have compared Ricky Starks to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Although there are some similarities as Starks carries himself and looks like the former WWE Champion, he is his own man.
Starks will challenge MJF for the AEW World Title this Wednesday at Dynamite: Winter is Coming. Last week during their promo exchange on Dynamite, MJF stated that Starks was a “dollar store, Dwayne.”
For Stars, he knows who he is and opened up on the comparisons while doing an interview with ComicBook.com’s Liam Crowley.
The Comparisons
(AEW)
“I tell this all the time, The Rock wasn’t my favorite wrestler. He was like my number three favorite wrestler,” Starks said “That’s not to discredit The Rock from any type of talent he has, but I say that to say he wasn’t a big inspiration.”
“I always tell this: I don’t hate the comparisons,” Starks continued. “What I do hate though, is being discredited for my natural creativity in lieu of someone saying, ‘Well, you’re just literally copying The Rock,’ which isn’t true at all.”
Starks pointed to his hometown of New Orleans for how he talks and doesn’t look to Rock as a mentor but respects him for having a great business mind and everything he has done in wrestling.
Starks added, “If some by chance, somebody thinks that I’m Rock-lite, then that’s cool.”
Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks returned at AEW Full Gear after being suspended for over two months for their part in the brawl with CM Punk following All Out.
The Elite lost to Death Triangle at Full Gear but as it turns out, it was just the start of a Best of 7 Series for the Trios Championships. Death Triangle and The Elite will meet in Match 4 of series tomorrow night at AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming. Death Triangle currently leads the series 2-1. MJF will put the AEW World Championship on the line against Ricky Starks tomorrow night as well.
Wrestling Twitter account GrappleKlips sent out a video showing RVD and Omega hitting the same move sequence.
Omega replied and revealed the ECW legend and former WWE Champion influenced his career, along with many other wrestlers today.
Rob Van Dam captured the WWE Championship from John Cena at ECW One Night Stand in 2006.
Rob Van Dam recently spoke with former WWE Superstars Rene Dupree and Paul London about working with CM Punk following his rant targeting the AEW EVPs, Hangman Page, and Colt Cabana following winning the title at All Out.
I think there is a good chance that CM Punk, just from feeling his energy, probably has as big of an ego as anybody that I’ve interacted with in the business.
Those are the guys that get ahead, the guys that really believe in themselves. But then at the same time, it is really hard for me as another guy in the locker room, I think they believe in themselves too much. Some of it can be like natural heat, like The Miz. It’s just so easy to hate him.
When someone comes back through the curtain after their character could have given the most believable speech that got all the heat in the world, if they can come back through the curtain and be humble, and realize that they are one amongst many, that is a really good place to be in.
In October of last year, Eric Bischoff made headlines, while also probably making an enemy of AEW owner Tony Khan, when he told Khan that he should “Shut up and wrestle.” It started a bit of a war of words between the two men and, coincidentally, Bischoff hasn’t been seen on AEW TV since.
Many criticized Bischoff for his stance, while many others commended him. But now, Bischoff has clarified his statement and offered the reason as to why he said it in the first place.
Bischoff discussed the ‘Shut up and wrestle’ comment on the most recent episode of his podcast, 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff, in which he compared Tony Khan to Diamond Dallas Page.
“Going back to my first kind of negative comment about Tony, when I basically said ‘Shut up and wrestle; quit comparing yourself to WWE and creating an illusion because in the process, you’re gonna lose goodwill,’” Bischoff stated. “That was my point. No, I didn’t make that point in my comment, but that was my reason for going ‘Shut up and wrestle, dude. Just put out a better product. Then let the audience put your product over. Don’t put your own product over.’”
Bischoff said Tony Khan’s penchant for calling out WWE from time to time reminded him of when Diamond Dallas Page was trying to become a star in WCW.
Diamond Dallas Page
Bischoff Compares Tony Khan to Diamond Dallas Page
“I used to say that to DDP all the time,” Bischoff said. “Because when DDP was really starting to transition from that over-the-top, super gimmick character; trying to be a little bit of everybody – he was Superstar Billy Graham, he was Jake the Snake Roberts – he was like 15 different characters all rolled up into one, right?
“And once he started making that transition to becoming that blue-collar, all-American dude that anybody could relate to, I used to tell him in his promos ‘Man, don’t put yourself over.’ Because the minute you put yourself over, you’re taking away any need or desire by your fan base or your audience to do it for you. It’s you going out and getting the audience to put you over, because the audience putting you over makes all the difference in the world. Otherwise, you’re just another wrestling personality out there trying to get yourself over, and people tune that out. But when you quit trying to put yourself over, focus on your character and your work, all of a sudden, the audience is doing it for you. And the audience putting you over is worth tenfold you trying to do it yourself.”
It’s good advice, really. Even if Bischoff didn’t exactly make his intentions known with his original comments.
“That was my point when I made that comment about ‘Shut up and wrestle,’” Bischoff reiterated. “It’s just, ‘Quit putting yourself over and let the audience do it, because that creates goodwill.’ But the more you put yourself over – in this case, Tony – the more Tony put himself over or put AEW over and, in the process, belittled WWE who is a monster, you know? They’re Goliath and you’re not. But by constantly taking shots at them and trying to convince the audience that you’re better than they are, you’re not taking advantage of the goodwill that you have automatically. That was my point.”
It’s a good point, and perhaps its advice that Tony Khan has taken, even subconsciously. Despite a brief, tension-fueled breakdown at the All Out press scrum, in which he said that he was ‘Tired of [WWE’s] f*ckin sh*t,’ he hasn’t really spoken too much about the company up north.
Michael Mansury is the latest person to become ‘All-Elite’ after honing his production skills for years as part of WWE.
Mansury is expected to begin his new job as AEW’s Senior Vice President and Co-Executive Producer with this Wednesday’s Dynamite, PW Insider reports.
Starting with WWE in 2009, Mansury was with the promotion for eleven years before leaving on his own accord in May 2020.
Michael Mansury
While he’s a name most fans will be unfamiliar with, Mansury had significant influence over WWE Premium Live Events and TV shows for years.
Upon his departure in 2020, it was reported that many saw Mansury as the successor to Kevin Dunn, who has worked for decades as WWE’s Head of TV production.
After Vince McMahon’s retirement in July of this year, it was suggested that Dunn would be on his way out of the promotion, though that did not happen.
Triple H is said to be a big fan of Mansury’s work, though a source who spoke to Fightful said that there there wasn’t much farther he could go above his position in WWE unless Dunn stepped aside.
Reaction
In their report, Fightful adds that both AEW and WWE are happy about Mansury’s hiring by Tony Khan.
The belief is that Mansury will go a long way in helping AEW’s content, with one WWE source saying he’s in touch with AEW’s core demographic.
One WWE source that has heavily criticized AEW has said that he saw this as AEW’s biggest hire this year.
Sting is still going strong after decades of being in the pro wrestling business, but from time to time, he needs to repair his body.
Two years ago this month, Sting made his debut for All Elite Wrestling at ‘Winter Is Coming’ and to promote the third annual Winter Is Coming event on Wednesday, Sting appeared on The K&C Masterpiece.
Sting revealed that he underwent surgery six or seven weeks ago to have his knees cleaned out.
“I just had surgery. It’s been six, seven weeks ago now. Basically just a clean out on my very old knees.”
Needed a Clean
Sting
Sting was most recently in action for AEW at Full Gear, where he and Darby Allin scored a win over Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.
Sting recalled a story about how he blew his shoulders out in a match against Kurt Angle in TNA Wrestling and the surgeon telling him that it looked like a bomb went off inside of his shoulder.
His recovery from surgery may explain why he didn’t accompany Darby to the ring for his TNT Title match on December 7th.
Ricky Starks faces the biggest challenge of his career later this week. The former FTW Champion looks to etch his name in the history books when he challenges MJF for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship at Winter is Coming.
Sparks spoke with DAZN about a number of topics, including the opportunity to work closely with CM Punk and William Regal in AEW over the past year.
Punk name-dropped Starks during one of his first promos after returning to pro wrestling. He thinks the ‘Punk thing’ really helped the way fans perceive him, but he’s a bit annoyed they never got to work together in the ring.
“It’s not to stroke my own ego, but it’s about iron sharpening iron,” he said. “I’m definitely a type of person that would be able to benefit from that in terms of just excelling in my talent.”
Starks says he learned a lot from working with Punk and Regal behind the scenes. Punk’s AEW status remains questionable at best, but Starks is still hopeful they’ll get to wrestle at some point down the line.
“I am hopeful that down the line I do get that matchup. If not, then I get it. That’s how the business is. But it would be nice (smiles). It would be nice to be able to work with somebody of that caliber because besides Sting, I’ve yet to work with someone of such a high caliber.”
Catch Ricky Starks vs. MJF this Wednesday on TBS when AEW presents the special ‘Winter is Coming’ edition of Dynamite.
Taz has called out the UFC for taking one of his ideas, and that idea is the FTW Title, which he first introduced in ECW.
His son, HOOKis the current FTW Champion in AEW. Taz recently accused UFC of ripping off the FTW title. In a post on Twitter, Taz noted the FTW Title belt had had a buzz around it from the ECW years, negative or positive.
He thinks the most important thing is that the belt is still around while all the others that wrestlers created are long gone. Taz claimed that the UFC BMF concept is a complete ripoff of the FTW title.
Taz’s Claims
(via AEW)
“Correct. Some fans don’t like it or feel it should be around, but that’s ok to me! It has had buzz around it from the ECW years, negative or positive..don’t matter. FTW belt is STILL here, all the others that wrestlers created been long gone.”
Taz followed up with another tweet that read: “Yes, that BMF concept is a complete ripoff of the FTW title… I really don’t give a shit because fans who know the history know that’s the vibe I started with the FTW title in late 90’s….”
The UFC BMF (Baddest Motherf*cker in the Game) belt was commissioned for a UFC 244 fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz in November 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Rock awarded Masvidal the championship when he beat Diaz.
Correct. Some fans don’t like it or feel it should be around but that’s ok to me! It has had buzz around it from the ECW years, negative or positive..don’t matter. FTW belt is STILL here, all the others that wrestlers created been long gone. https://t.co/tCkex1FS4e
Yes, that BMF concept is a complete ripoff of the FTW title… I really don’t give a shit because fans who know the history know that’s the vibe I started with the FTW title in late 90’s…. https://t.co/vhbKpivt46
Thunder Rosa’s back injury and her absence from AEW programming has made more headlines than her women’s title reign did. Though even after recent events, it doesn’t appear that we will be seeing her back in the near future.
Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline recently provided some update on the former champion’s recovery. He noted that the female star was hoped to be back in February:
“The last word we’d heard was she hoped to be back in February. There were a lot of people who thought she would be Saraya’s mystery partner against Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter on 1/11 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, but the last word on her return was February.”
Thunder Rosa originally announced back in August that she will be taking time off due to injury. She was the AEW women’s champion at the time.
Since there wasn’t a solid timetable for her recovery at the time, Tony Khan made the decision to keep the title on her and move forward with an interim champion.
This decision however was reversed last month. It was announced during the November 23 Dynamite that Rosa had relinquished her championship.
The former champion herself also provided some updates on her recovery recently. She revealed that she wasn’t allowed back in the ring yet which coincides with the belief that the AEW star won’t be returning before next year.
It’s common to hear wrestling personalities talking about how storylines from the Attitude Era got them hooked on wrestling. However, we have seen the rise of a new generation of talent in recent years which grew up watching the programming of the more recent times. Britt Baker is one such star who actually became a fan of wrestling after watching one of the most popular storylines from the PG era of WWE.
The former AEW Women’s Champion recently had an interview with The Ringer. She talked about things such as her rivalry with Thunder Rosa, the women’s division of AEW, and more. Speaking about how she became a fan of wrestling, Britt Baker revealed that Bryan Danielson’s WrestleMania XXX story was the one that made her obsessed:
“The first story line that made me immensely obsessed with wrestling and gave me the bug to want to do something like this and want to do this because of how the story made me feel, it was the Bryan Danielson storyline at WrestleMania XXX,”
Bryan Danielson defeated Batista and Randy Orton in the main event of WrestleMania XXX to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It was the culmination of the Yes! movement that helped him reach the top of the pro wrestling mountain. Per Britt Baker, it was the coolest thing in the world for her:
“How the fans really decided the storyline. To me, that was one of the coolest things in the world—that the entire wrestling universe got behind this one wrestler who was a massive underdog and should not have been in the spot he was in, but the fans made sure of it.”
The AEW star later explained that there is no other sport where fans get to decide which star will go over. So it was really cool to see the effect of fans in leading Bryan to the huge success.
The AEW roster was left fighting for their professional livelihoods in the fall out of the All Out braw, Chris Jericho has claimed.
After the now-infamous September Pay-Per-View, new AEW World Champion CM Punk bashed several members of the roster during the post-show media scrum.
Backstage, a fight broke out, which pitted Punk and Ace Steel against The Elite.
Fighting
Chris Jericho was present at All Out, as he had defeated Bryan Danielson on the Pay-Per-View and was far from impressed from the backstage brawl.
On the latest Talk is Jericho, the first AEW World Champion recalled the negative publicity the company faced following what happened.
“We were fighting for our lives at that time. There was so much bad publicity on the company and kind of a black cloud, a haze over it, and dude, we were fighting back.
“We kind of took charge, [Jon Moxley] and Bryan and I and let them know the sky wasn’t falling, that things happen, and we gotta keep the show rolling.”
Chris Jericho
Jericho had been critical of Punk after the brawl, telling the now-suspended AEW wrestler that he is a “cancer” to the locker room.
Jericho, Moxley, and Danielson
Following the AEW All Out backstage fight, Punk, Steel, the Elite, and others associated with the fight were suspended.
In their absence, the trio of Jericho, Jon Moxley, and Bryan Danielson assumed roles as locker-room leaders.
Before the first Dynamite after All Out, all three men, as well as AEW President Tony Khan, spoke at a talent-wide backstage meeting.
At the meeting, talent were told to “keep their personal issues personal” and were encouraged to move on from All Out.
In a Fightful report, it was said that Danielson was a “calming” presence, Jericho was praised for his professionalism, and Mixley was “adored” for being a reliable name in the company.
AEW World Heavyweight Champion MJF will be in attendance at UFC 282, which takes place on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The top AEW star previously traded shots with UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett on social media, where MJF called Paddy a “dollar store Connor McGregor.” He also claimed he wouldn’t last two seconds in a wrestling ring.
Pimblett told MJF to meet him when AEW travels to England in 2023, which led to MJF stating that he’s more than game to knock Pimblett out. Marc Raimondi of ESPN first reported on Friday that MJF would be at the UFC 282 pay-per-view event following the exchange.
The Confirmation
(AEW)
MJF seemingly confirmed the news in a tweet of his own as he told Pimblett that he’d see him in Vegas, as seen below:
At the event, Pimblett will fight Jared Gordon. With a win, he would continue his undefeated streak in the UFC.
For MJF, he is scheduled to defend the AEW World Championship against Ricky Starks on the December 14 episode of AEW Dynamite. After winning the title with help from Wiliam Regal when he beat Jon Moxley for it at Full Gear, MJF turned on Regal by attacking the respected wrestler.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TBS and TNT that airs AEW programming, has cut more prominent leaders.
Variety has an article looking at the company releasing HGTV and Food Network chief Jane Latman and “D-Nets”/”T-Nets” exec Nancy Daniels, both of whom were well-liked at the company and served as longtime legacy Discovery execs.
Travel Channel’s Matthew Butler and D-Nets/T-Nets’ head of franchise series expansions and tentpole programming Scott Lewers are also gone.
The Moves
Latman served as the home and food content president at HGTV and Food Network. Her content programming responsibilities will move under execs Betsy Sanner Ayala (for Food Network) and Loren Ruch (for HGTV).
Daniels had overseen content across “D-Nets” Discovery, Animal Planet and Science Channel on the legacy Discovery side and recently took over content for Warner Bros. “T-Nets,” TNT, TBS and truTV,
Daniels is handing the reins over to TLC and Travel Channel exec Howard Lee for the D-Nets, while Jason Sarlanis of ID and HLN crime content will oversee the T-Net side.
These are notable cuts as AEW President Tony Khan has praised Nancy Daniels and Scott Lewers as advocates for the promotion. AEW’s TV deal with Warner Bros. Discovery expires at the end of 2024.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. networks chief Kathleen Finch announced the changes in a memo to staff Friday. This is the latest post-merger cost-cutting move made at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Although the build-up to the show was criticized for being lackluster, AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in June 2022 ended up being one of the best PPVs of the year and did good business for the promotions.
A second Forbidden Door show has been speculated about, but a new report suggests Forbidden Door II could be set for 2023.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer was talking about AEW/ROH President Tony Khan’s recent pre-ROH Final Battle media call, particularly Khan’s claims that 2022 was AEW’s strongest year for PPV buys.
During the call, Khan was asked about the possibility of AEW adding more PPVs to their yearly rotation.
The Plan
Meltzer wrote: “When asked if he’d add more PPV shows, he didn’t give an answer but said that he wants to not do so many that they aren’t special, but that they just finished their best PPV year in their history, and the adding a fifth event worked out (the plan is for another Forbidden Door show coming year).”
Khan noted on the call that they would internally discuss the right number of PPV shows per year.
The 2022 event did over $5 million on pay-per-view after drawing over 100,000 buys and over $1 million in ticket sales. Jon Moxley became the interim AEW World Heavyweight Champion when he beat Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event.
Back in June, Jeff Hardy was arrested for DUI among other charges just days after Double or Nothing. Since then, his court dates have been pushed back several times. Hardy did enter alcohol rehabilitation.
In September, Matt Hardy said on his podcast that Jeff had been improving. “I feel like his mentality is that he knows he has to make changes and do what’s right and I feel like he’s at the point where he will this time around. I’m excited to have him back.” That quote gave some the impression that he was on his way back to AEW, but he still has legal issues to contend with.
Jeff Hardy is ‘In a Good Place’
(via AEW)
During this week’s episode ofThe Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Matt did a Q&A episode where he provided an update on his brother.
“He’s basically doing the same thing he’s been doing, he’s doing exactly what he needs to be doing to get where he needs to be in life. More or less, we just have to get these legal issues behind him before we can move forward. So, that’s kind of where we’re at with Jeff. We’re hoping that happens sooner rather than later.”
“He seems to be in a really good place. It’s very nice and refreshing to see. Hopefully, that continues and we get him back to where he belongs.”
Matt didn’t provide further information on when legal issues might be behind Jeff. There is still no timetable for his potential AEW return.
Ricky Starks had some harsh words for AEW World Champion MJF this week, but these weren’t planned in advance.
During AEW Dynamite, the two had a back and forth, with MJF borrowing from The Rock to call Starks a “roody poo candy a**.”
In response, Starks vowed to become the new AEW World Champion with some choice dialogue.
“I’m slapping that mole off your neck, I’m stomping an a**hole into you, and I’m taking that title.”
Ricky Starks.
Off Script
Starks certainly got the attention of fans with his promo this week, but it wasn’t what was originally planned.
During Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez noted that Starks did have a promo written down which was not used.
“I heard from multiple people yesterday that, apparently, he had a whole thing written down. It wasn’t like scripted or anything, but he had a thing written down that he was gonna do. And then he got out there and he just went off [Script.] He just went with it, and he went wild.”
Bryan Alvarez.
MJF and Starks will battle for the AEW World Championship on next week’s Winter is Coming edition of Dynamite.
The match will also be for MJF’s $150,000 Dynamite Diamond Ring.
Winter is Coming
This huge main event is just part of a stacked show that will take place next week.
The show will also feature the fourth match in the best-of-seven series between The Elite and AEW World Trios Champions Death Triangle.
The Champions currently lead over the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega by 2-1.
The House of Black will also be in action next week against opponents yet to be announced.
It was reported earlier today that Sasha Banks is heading to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show of the year.
Mike Johnson of PW Insider reported that Mercedes Varnado (Banks) is reportedly set to appear at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4th at the Tokyo Dome.
“While it is unknown whether Varnado will be appearing before the live crowd, we are told that NJPW is bringing Varnado in to the event.”
According to a new report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, AEW talent is excited about the possibility of The Boss coming to All Elite Wrestling.
AEW aired a segment on Rampage to set up a tag team match between Britt Baker & AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter versus Saraya & a mystery tag team partner for the January 11th episode of Dynamite in Los Angeles.
Sasha Banks has been rumored to be the mystery superstar a couple of times now. Many fans hoped that she would be the final superstar on Team Bianca at Survivor Series WarGames in her hometown but it was Becky Lynch instead. Now some fans and AEW talent are hoping that she’s Saraya’s partner on January 11th.
Fightful spoke with several AEW talent after the news earlier today about Mercedes reportedly appearing at Wrestle Kingdom. One source told Fightul that Sasha Banks joining AEW would be huge and referred to her as a potential anchor of the women’s division. The source added that Sasha Banks joining AEW would kickstart interest in the company and help viewership “significantly”.
The Boss will be appearing on an upcoming episode of Barmegeddon on January 2nd, 2023. The celebrity game show airs after WWE Raw on the USA Network.
Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of WWE during the May 16th edition of Raw. Sasha recently teased that the date she has been waiting for is coming and “something crazy” is going to happen.
In September 2021, Satnam Singh signed with AEW. When he made his television debut in April 2022, he attacked Samoa Joe and aligned himself with Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal. Singh has had a few tag team matches, but had yet to have a singles match.
Dutt gets to speak Punjabi every week with Singh. “Obviously, his English is good. He’s been here since ’13 or ’14 he’s been here experiencing the NBA and whatnot. But, I understand –I kind of empathize with him in that he’s still in a strange place. He’s still surrounded by people that he — his sister finally got her visa and finally got to move to Canada, so she’s a little closer. It was great. He was telling me and he was crying. It was an emotional moment for both of us. I felt for him. But most of the time, we strictly speak Punjabi.”
“It’s a connection me and Satnam have. And you know, hopefully he can feel a little more at home when he’s around me at work.”
Sonjay Dutt on His Connection with Satnam Singh
Dutt has really enjoyed getting to know and work with Singh. He and Paqutte discussed Singh’s warmth and his presence. “I love him as a person. Me and him obviously have this bond where we’re both from the same place with the same background. We speak the same language and there’s not many of us in professional wrestling. That connection kind of brings us together right off the bat. We have this connection and he wants to excel at this.”
“And Lethal and I have kind of taken a hand in kind of cultivating his in-ring stuff whenever we can. Anytime there’s tag matches with he and Lethal — he hasn’t had a singles match so we’re getting to that point. I think we’re getting real close. Anything we show him, anything we tell him, he soaks it up. He utilizes stuff that we tell him to utilize; ‘hey, do this differently.’ And I didn’t think that would be the case. I’ve worked with other Indian giants and that was not the case at all.”
“So, you know experiences with him is cool because I always tell people yes, he’s seven-foot-four. Yes, he’s giant or whatever you want to call somebody of that stature. He’s got size 20 feet, but he’s an athlete. That’s the difference between him and anyone else of his size that’s gotten in professional wrestling. He’s a legitimate athlete, so anything we show him or tell him, bam! He pulls it off.”
“And I love that and he’s got such a bright future in wrestling. He’s 26, Renee. Let’s not forget that. He is a kid. So, I always kind of keep that in the back of my mind every week when we’re kind of talking to him, that ‘hey, he’s still a kid.’ He’s 26 and he’s working in this new world that he probably had no clue about before he stepped in it. So for him to excel this quick in something he probably never even watched as a child, that says a lot about his character and his athletic prowess.”
Paul Wight Mentoring Satnam Singh
Paul Wight (Photo: AEW)
“Paul Wight has taken a lot of interest in Satnam and they kind of hit it off. So when it comes to tape study and stuff, I tell Satnam, ‘whatever Paul tells you, just listen and do that.’ And I appreciate Paul taking that time, effort, and energy that he spends with Satnam because there’s just some days where Lethal and I don’t have time get in the ring with him, but Paul does.”
“I’ve kind of told Satnam, ‘Paul will be your ticket to success if you just listen to what he’s telling you to do. He is experienced.’ If there’s anyone in AEW that can empathize and sympathize with Satnam’s issues and problems and kind of excelling at something like this, it’s Paul.”
“So that’s why I tell Satnam a lot of times, ‘look, Lethal and I will tell you our perspective, but our perspective is going to be way different than his. His perspective and his insight will be more centered and gear to you. So, whenever he wants to sit with you, just sit down and listen and soak it all in.’”
AEW World Champion MJF confronted Ricky Starks after he won the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale last night on AEW Dynamite.
Maxwell accused Starks of ripping off The Rock and called him a “Dollar Store Dwayne”. MJF continued with the insults and referred to Ricky as “The Pebble” and vowed to skip him back to “Billy Corgan’s NWA so he can wrestle on YouTube where he belongs”.
Ricky Starks responded with the promo of his life and insulted everything about MJF from his spray tan to his attitude. Starks became a star last night and has a chance to become the face of AEW when he battles MJF for the AEW World Championship next week at Dynamite: Winter is Coming.
MJF Blames Ricky Starks for Low Dynamite Rating
According to Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics, AEW Dynamite brought 840,000 viewers with a 0.29 in the key 18-49 year old demographic. Last night’s show ranked #3 in the demo behind the NBA on ESPN.
Dynamite ranked #3 in P18-49 among cable originals for the day, according to Showbuzz Daily. #14 incl broadcast primetime.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer noted that Spectrum cable had issues with TBS and TNT last night during the Dynamite broadcast and that negatively impacted the rating.
MJF suggested that Ricky Starks is to blame for the low rating because he was the one that took out the spectrum boxes after their segment so he could look like a star.
I have inside information Ricky Starks took out all the spectrum boxes after our scuffle to ensure he seemed like a ratings draw in comparison to the rest of the show. This man is selfish and yet you love him?!? Sad.
I have inside information Ricky Starks took out all the spectrum boxes after our scuffle to ensure he seemed like a ratings draw in comparison to the rest of the show.
