AEW star Maxwell Jacob Friedman is happy to be back on TV with the promotion, as long as company President Tony Khan keeps paying him the big bucks.

MJF returned to AEW at All Out, winning the Casino Ladder Match as the Joker, earning an AEW World Championship opportunity.

Prior to this, MJF hadn’t been seen since the June 1, AEW Dynamite, where he cut a scathing worked-shoot promo on Tony Khan, daring Khan to fire him.

A New Deal

MJF has never shied away from teasing leaving AEW, even claiming during last week’s Dynamite that he could take the AEW World Championship to WWE.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani, MJF announced that he has a new deal with the promotion, one that is seeing him be paid more.

“I’m making a stupid, absurd amount of money now, and I didn’t have to sign a contract extension.”

MJF.

MJF had reportedly been against signing any new deal with the company which would have extended his current contract, which is set to expire on January 1, 2024.

Despite blasting Khan as a “f***ing mark” during his June 1, promo, MJF now says he loves the AEW President thanks to the new deal, but says he has Khan “by the balls.”

Double or Nothing

Before his three-month hiatus from programming, a lot had been said about MJF’s antics before May’s Double or Nothing Pay Per View.

Prior to the event, MJF had no-showed a fan appearance, and had not been responding to attempts to contact him by AEW management.

The self-professed ‘Salt of the Earth’ claimed that during his three months away, he vacationed across Greece with his girlfriend (now fiancee.)

MJF claimed that he told Khan “pay up or daddy doesn’t show up.”

Leaving AEW

MJF is pretty pleased with himself, and his new deal with AEW, but he may still leave when the time is right.

Speaking about the January 1, 2024, expiration date on his contract, MJF said that “the devil goes to the highest bidder.”

MJF reiterated later in the interview that his loyalty is to who will pay him the most in 15 months’ time.

“A lot of people think I’m leaning towards one place or the other. All I’m leaning towards is money. That’s all I live and die by. I go where the money is at. Whoever is going to offer me the most amount of money, that’s where I’m going to do. It’s that simple.”

AEW

MJF may still have one foot out of AEW (or at least wants people to believe that) but he did have some rare kind words for the promotion.

MJF put over some of AEW’s top stars, while still considering himself the brightest star of them all.

“[AEW] has a lot of great stars. Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho, Brody King. But if we’re being honest with ourselves, the show had a big gigantic void, and I was that void.”

MJF.

When asked, MJF said he could not discuss the current situation with CM Punk, who is serving a suspension and could be fired for his actions following All Out.

Kenny Omega will be missing Triplemania due to his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) suspension.

It was recently noted on Konnan’s podcast, “Keepin’ It 100,” that Kenny Omega will not be making the advertised TripleMania show for October 15. Omega was actually slated to headline the show, but due to his AEW suspension, that is no longer the case.

Konnan noted that both Omega and AEW head of talent relations Christopher Daniels confirmed “The Cleaner” will not be able to attend. Omega has found himself in the middle of a dicey situation in the AEW locker room.

Back at the AEW All Out pay-per-view (PPV) on September 4, then-AEW World Champion CM Punk made some disparaging comments about Omega and The Young Bucks in his post-show press conference.

This reportedly lead to a backstage brawl involving several people backstage, including Punk, Omega, and The Young Bucks, which latter led to several suspensions being handed out. Omega being one of the selected to be suspended.

After the fact, Punk was forced to vacate the AEW World Title, but this is more so due to injury. Also, Omega and The Young Bucks were stripped of the AEW Trios Championships after their suspensions.

It remains to be seen how much longer the group will be held off TV. However, it looks like Omega won’t be able to make any appearances for any promotion until the time is served out.

While he won’t be able to compete at TripleMania, other matches slated for the Mexico City event include Pentagon Jr. vs. Villano IV in a mask vs. mask match, Taya Valkyrie vs. Kamille for the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship, Hijo del Vikingo vs. an mystery opponent for the AAA Mega Championship, and Pagano vs. Cibernetico in a hair vs. hair match.

Kenny Omega has been seen in Japan with what is believed to be a bite mark stemming from the AEW All Out 2022 fight.

After the promotion’s latest Pay Per View, new-World Champion CM Punk had explosive comments about Omega, the Young Bucks, Colt Cabana, and ‘Hangman’ Adam Page.

Backstage, a fight broke out between the Elite and Punk with Ace Steel, resulting in all being removed from AEW programming.

The Bite

During the AEW All Out 2022 backstage fight, Ace Steel bit Omega on his left forearm, and pulled the hair of the former World Champion.

Last weekend, Omega was in Japan and appeared on a Capcom TV live stream, where a noticeable bruise could be seen where the bite is reported to have been.

Several outlets have reported that this bruising is from Steel’s bite on Omega, and is unlikely to have happened in a match, given the Cleaner’s suspension.

According to Fightful, the Capcom ‘live stream’ was filmed last week, so the bruise from a bite mark would still be visible.

Unmistakable

One source who saw Omega in Japan, who had seen the former World Champion after the fight said the bite mark was “unmistakable.” 

Another source told Fightful that Omega’s arm looked “disgusting” immediately following the fight.

It was also noted that Omega was “very verbal” after receiving the bite and furious over the situation.

Both sides have confirmed that the bite did occur, with a neutral source saying that the visible evidence on Omega’s arm means there’s no way Punk’s side could deny the bite happening.

Christopher Daniels is well-aware that he will soon have to hang up his boots for good after a lengthy career in professional wrestling.

The 52-year-old wrestler made his debut in the industry in April 1993, and has worked for several promotions over the decades.

While best known for his stint in Impact Wrestling, Daniels has also competed for Ring of Honor, WWE, WCW, Chikara, AAA, and others, before coming to All Elite Wrestling in 2019.

Daniels signed with AEW in January 2019, becoming one of the first names to be contracted to Tony Khan’s company.

The End is Near

Taking to Twitter, the ‘Fallen Angel’ reflected on his career and working for so many promotions throughout his tenure.

Daniels also addressed that he is getting “close to the end” of the “in-ring part” of his wrestling life.

The former Ring of Honor World Champion gave no specific time for when he plans on retiring from the ring.

Daniels’ most recent televised AEW match was in July, where he lost on Rampage to fellow Impact and ROH alum Jay Lethal.

He did compete this month at the Tokyo Games Show representing AEW, where he defeated Chris Brookes but later lost to Konosuke Takeshita

Life Outside of the Ring

Daniels’ time in the ring may be coming to an end, but he does have a large AEW role outside the squared circle.

In addition to wrestling, Daniels serves as AEW’s Head of Talent Relations, which was confirmed during a February 2019 episode of Being the Elite.

Daniels recently returned from a brief suspension, following his role in the AEW All Out 2022 backstage fight.

Brian Pillman Jr. thought that the addition of Julia Hart would have made The Varsity Blondes a great babyface group. He admits that he wasn’t happy with AEW management’s decision to take her away.

The AEW star recently made an appearance on Café De René with René Duprée podcast where he talked about a number of things.

Speaking about the creative decision to take Hart away from their tag team, Pillman mentioned that they lost their edge due to the call:

“As soon as we lost [Julia Hart], we lost our edge and our spark that made us a good babyface group that could’ve gotten over. But somebody came in and decided she would be better with [House of Black]. That’s just how it goes.

I definitely wasn’t happy with it to be quite honest.” said Brian Pillman Jr, “It is what it is. It’s business. I thought probably what really stopped us from seeing the true potential of the Varsity Blondes was that we lost her before we really got going.”

• AEW’s Brian Pillman Jr. Cast In Upcoming Action Movie

The Varsity Blondes originally consisted of Pillman, Griff Garrison, and Julia Hart. Hart however aligned herself with The House Of Black at Double or Nothing in May, leaving Pillman and Garrison behind.

Julia Hart remains with the AEW stable even without Malakai Black. The Varsity Blondes on the other hand have only made a total of 5 appearances since then, including appearances on AEW Dark.

Quotes via WrestlingInc

Maxwell Jacob Friedman, known to the wrestling world as MJF, has responded to a fan accusing him of playing a character in All Elite Wrestling.

MJF made his shocking return to the promotion at AEW All Out on September 4th. During the Casino Ladder Match, a group of masked men rushed the ring and attacked the participants. It was revealed to be Stokely Hathaway and “The Firm” faction (W. Morrissey, Lee Moriarty, Gunn Club, Ethan Page) working for MJF.

He came down to the ring in a devil’s mask to retrieve the chip guaranteeing a future title shot at the end of the match. MJF would go on to interrupt CM Punk’s victory celebration after his match with Jon Moxley at All Out. It was MJF’s first appearance since his legendary promo at The Forum on the Dynamite after Double or Nothing.

Time will tell if it was CM Punk’s final appearance in the company, as he suffered an injury during the match and brawled with The Elite during the All Out media scrum. CM Punk and The Elite have since been stripped of the AEW and Trios Championships.

MJF Responds To Criticism From A Wrestling Fan

MJF recently got engaged to his longtime girlfriend and shared the news on social media.

A wrestling fan responded to the news and claimed that it was “killing” MJF’s character. He brought up Sammy Guevara’s short-lived engagement that aired on the August 18, 2021 edition of Dynamite. The fan closed his tweet by misspelling Jamie Hayter’s name. Maxwell responded to the fan and pointed out the irony of his occupation being a lifestyle coach.

“Hey Joey. I don’t play a character. Never have. I’m MJF 24/7. MJF has a fiancé now. I see you’re a life coach. Pretty ballsy move considering you don’t have a life of your own. F*** off and die. Respectfully, Maxwell Jacob Friedman.”

Malakai Black has broken his silence in regards to the rumors surrounding his release from All Elite Wrestling.

House of Black competed in a 6-man tag team match against Miro, Darby Allin, and Sting at AEW All Out on September 4th. Sting spit mist in Malakai’s eyes and Darby followed it up with the Last Supper for the pinfall victory. Following the match, Malakai blew a kiss to fans and took a bow on the entrance ramp.

Malakai was reportedly granted a conditional release from All Elite Wrestling following the PPV. AEW president Tony Khan revealed during a conversation on Busted Open Radio that Malakai Black had almost five years remaining on his deal.

He addressed the crowd after his match at a Prestige Wrestling show this past weekend. Malakai said he needs a few weeks, or months, to recalibrate himself and put the past two decades into perspective. Black added “I promise you this is not a goodbye, it’s we’ll see each other soon”.

Malakai Black Issues Statement

In addition to addressing fans at the Prestige Wrestling event over the weekend, Malakai released a statement on his Instagram account. He said that he asked for his release from AEW due to several setbacks, including the suicide of a close friend and injuries. The 37-year-old added that he’s taking some time to “recalibrate” the last two decades of his life.

You can check out his entire statement below:

All.

Firstly thank you all for your messages, know they are being read and appreciated. With all the turmoil going on in the landscape of Professional Wrestling I took the time to think of my words but also needed to wait until conversations between mine and AEW’s camp had come to a conclusion.

Firstly, I dislike reading parts of my private conversations between myself and AEW in regards to my mental well being on the internet. These conversations were private and not meant to be shared with the public. As by now most people realize I am a very private person and do not feel the need to have stuff like this out on the internet.

If you’ve been following me longer than a cup of coffee you’re aware I’ve spoken about them prior but would like to be the one deciding when this finds it’s way to the public and not through someone else’s mouth, as with anything through the lips of someone else: that story gets distorted.

Secondly, to be in line with the above, they also need context:

I did indeed ask for my release, the last 2 years of my life have lended to a lot of set backs. Both me and my wife have been affected by uncontrollable actions from the outside that resulted in loss of life, medical set backs, career jeopardizing, the suicide of a close friend and a close family member almost losing their life, then experiencing an injury that I was sure was the end of my career.

I spend every week going through several sessions of rehab, dry needling and therapy just to be able to walk and compete. Now this being the tip of the iceberg and with the combination of the promises in my professional field that were not upheld which resulted as a combination of all of these to a complete demoralization of life and career. This decision had been in my mind for the past six months.

It’s hard to really put a finger and say “this was the moment it all went wrong.” But I can tell vou after many years that I have learned from a rational point of view to see when I need to hit the breaks; which is what this is.

Perhaps once my mind settles on certain things and processes the last 2 years a bit better I will convey (via a different platform than written out) what the exacts were that happened, and have a more informed conversation about them.

For now know that I am good, and am taking, for the first time in 22 years, a few months to recalibrate the last 2 decades of my life.

Lastly, I have read a few narratives online in regards to my “release”, mental health and my personal life that I can summarize swiftly; if it didn’t come from me, it didn’t happen. Stuff about conditional releases, stuff in my marriage or using said mental health to leverage the other when as I said before that part wasn’t even going to be part of the public conversation are false. My marriage is fine, I am fine. It is just time to make sure those things stay that way.

Once again, I appreciate your support and we will see each other soon enough.

MB

AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa has a long road back to the ring ahead of her as she continues to recover from her injury.

During the pre-All Out episode of AEW Dynamite, Rosa confirmed that she is injured, and will be unable to defend the Women’s World Championship.

Despite the injury, Rosa has remained champion, with an Interim AEW Women’s World Championship created in her absence, which is currently held by Toni Storm.

Recovery

Speaking during her latest vlog, Thunder Rosa discussed her recovery and the process she’s undergoing.

“I’m here at the South Texas Spine & Joint Institute with Dr. Kaiser. He is the one who helped me out, find out that I had a back injury. I’ll be coming here pretty often. I’ve been treated by him for over four years so he knows me very well.

“I just had my first treatment. It’s gonna be six weeks, just to start. I’m going to be here four times a week.”

Rosa added that not being on the road has already made a huge difference to her injured back.

“I’m doing my first physical therapy session today. This is after six weeks of being injured. Not traveling has actually made a huge difference.”

TripleMania

Thunder Rosa is keeping positive about her recovery, but it’s not just her bookings for AEW that have been effected.

AAA have confirmed that Rosa will not compete at Triplemania XXX: Mexico City on October 15.

Taya Valkyrie had previously been set to defend her Reina de Reinas Championship against Rosa but will now defend against NWA Women’s World Champion Kamille.

All Elite Wrestling has proven to be incredibly popular with fans around the world, and could be heading to Japan if Konisuke Takeshita gets his way.

Since launching in AEW, Tony Khan’s first foray into professional wrestling has operated entirely within North America.

Takeshita and AEW

AEW has yet to have an official show in Japan, but the company was recently featured at the Tokyo Games Show.

AEW was part of the event to promote AEW: Fight Forever, the promotion’s first console video game which fans are hopeful will release this year.

Multiple matches were hosted as part of the Games Show, and on Twitter, Takeshita expressed his desire to have an official event in his home country.

This earned a response by AEW’s Lee Moriarty, who is on board with the idea.

The Games Show also featured a playable demo for Fight Forever.

Takeshita has previously wrestled for AEW, including challenging ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli at Battle of the Belts III last month.

AEW and Japan

AEW is home to several prominent Japanese stars, such as Riho and Hikaru Shida, and has developed a large following overseas.

In June, the AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door crossover event proved to be a hit with fans, despite receiving just over a month of promotion.

Forbidden Door will be an annual event, according to Tony Khan.

In August, it was reported that AEW is planning on sending talent to work at Wrestle Kingdom next January.

Wrestle Kingdom 17 will take place on January 4, 2023, the first time in four years that the show will be a one-night event.

CM Punk going off at Colt Cabana and the AEW EVPs turned out to be the biggest story coming out of the All Out PPV. One of the strange things about Punk’s promo were the shots he tried to take at his former best friend.

Punk revealed some previously unknown details about his court case with Cabana. During the scrum, he also strangely mentioned that the wrestling star, real name Scott Colton shares a bank account with his mother.

While Colt Cabana hasn’t responded to his former friend’s rant directly, he did make a reference to it recently. During a Twitch stream, the AEW star noted that his brother also shares a bank account with their mother:

“My brother is the director of family guy, you can look up his name, he also shares a bank account with my mother.”

– Colt Cabana

We haven’t heard from CM Punk or The Elite since the media scrum and the locker room fight. The only update has been that both Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks have been suspended from the promotion until the investigation is complete.

Punk has undergone surgery for a torn triceps in the meantime which means that he won’t be returning to the company anytime soon, if ever.

• CM Punk is Probably Not Returning to AEW

The recent backstage drama has spiked people’s interest in the behind the scene happenings of AEW. Many stories have come out about how both CM Punk and The Elite handle things behind the scenes. Atleast for Anthony Henry, Punk has treated him well the couple of times they have interacted.

The wrestling star who primarily competes in AEW Dark recently had an interview with WrestlingInc. Speaking about the Straight Edge star, Henry noted that Punk has been nice to him:

“I have talked to Punk a couple of times; he was very nice to me. Actually, when I came in, he introduced himself to me. Which – very nice. That’s a rare thing that usually doesn’t happen. But he just walked up to me like, ‘Hi, I’m Phil.”

Anthony Henry stressed that he hasn’t had any in-depth conversations with Punk so far, but to him the former AEW champion has always seemed like a ‘cool guy.’

Apart from this, Henry also talked about the AEW locker room and compared it to his experience in WWE. He said that he felt the pressure of people judging you in Vince McMahon’s promotion. According to him, it’s not the case in AEW and here everybody wants everyone else to do well.

AEW held their annual Revolution pay-per-view earlier this year from the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando Florida, a show that saw CM Punk battle MJF in a dog-collar matchup, and “Hangman” Adam Page retain the AEW world title over Adam Cole in the main event.

The year prior AEW was running Revolution out of their home-base in Daily’s Place due to the COVID-19 outbreak. That event saw the first-ever Exploding Barbed-Wire deathmatch in the company’s history. Now it looks like AEW will be bringing the fourth ever Revolution to a place the promotion has never been since they launched in 2019.

Revolution 2023 Potentially Headed To San Francisco

According to Fightful Select, AEW is looking to run the Cow Palace in March for Revolution 2023. The venue is located in San Francisco, and is known in the pro-wrestling community.

However, the Cow Palace has not had a wrestling event at it since the 2019 NJPW G1 Special. WWE has not run the venue in over ten years so it could be good timing for AEW to try and claim it as the California market for pro-wrestling has always been strong.

AEW made their debut in California earlier this year with shows in Ontario and Los Angeles. AEW has yet to officially confirm Revolution’s location, nor will they until after their next annual pay-per-view, Full Gear.

Stay tuned.

Chris Jericho will look to add another World Championship to his impressive collection when he faces ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli next week.

Castagnoli is in his first reign as champion, having dethroned Jonathan Gresham at the ROH Death Before Dishonor event this past July.

The match, scheduled for the Grand Slam Dynamite, was confirmed on last night’s AEW Rampage, and marks Jericho’s first shot at the ROH World Title.

Grand Slam Dynamite

Jericho Vs. Castagnoli will be a huge match and just part of a packed event.

The AEW Grand Slam Dynamite card so far is as follows:

• ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defends against Chris Jericho
• AEW World Trios Champion PAC defends his AEW All-Atlantic Title against Orange Cassidy
• AEW Interim Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Britt Baker, Athena and Serena Deeb in a Fatal 4 Way
• AEW World Tag Team Champions Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland defend against The Acclaimed
• Grand Slam Tournament of Champions Finals: Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley for the vacant AEW World Title

Ramage

In addition to Jericho Vs. Castagnoli, it was announced during last night’s Rampage that Darby Allin and Sting will face Brody King and Buddy Matthews next week.

The House of Black members attacked Allin last night following the former TNT Champion’s victory over Matt Hardy.

After the attack, King and Matthews challenged Sting and Allin to a No-Disqualification tag match with the duo accepted.

Last night’s Rampage also saw Eddie Kingston cut a promo on Sammy Guevara, and a match between the two being confirmed for Rampage.

A Rampage Golden Ticket Battle Royale will take place, with the winner getting a shot at the AEW World Championship.

The AEW Grand Slam Rampage card is as follows.

• FTW Champion Hook and Action Bronson vs. Matt Menard and Angelo Parker
• Sting and Darby Allin vs. Brody King and Buddy Matthews in a No DQ match
• ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe and AEW TNT Champion Wardlow vs. Tony Nese and Josh Woods
• AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Diamante
• Eddie Kingston vs. Sammy Guevara
• Rampage Golden Ticket Battle Royale (winner receives a future shot at the AEW world title)
• Rey Fenix vs. Jungle Boy

One thing that attracts a lot of people towards AEW is the creative control the promotion offers. The company does not employ any writers and people are allowed to write their own promos. According to Chris Jericho, it’s the one thing that he hated about working for WWE.

Y2J discussed a number of different topics on the latest Talk Is Jericho. Speaking about the difference between Vince McMahon and Tony Khan, Jericho explained how Khan has a clarity to his vision. He then mentioned that in WWE, it wasn’t Vince McMahon who he hated working with:

“The one thing in WWE was, a lot of times they’re like ‘Draw me a picture.’ [I’m like] ‘What would you like a picture of Vince?’ ‘A cow.’ ‘Okay.’ ‘Ugh, Make it a horse.’ ‘Uh, Okay,’ ‘Umm make a dragon.’ ‘Oh okay.’ With Tony it’s like ‘We need a dragon.’ It might be a green dragon. It might be a red dragon. It might be a fire dragon.” said Chris Jericho, “At least we know where we’re going with it.

I loved working with Vince, and I did work with Vince, but it’s writers [that I don’t like]. Every Sunday, the writer would call you and say, ‘Here’s what you’re doing this week.’ That to me is just like, ‘I f*cking don’t like that, man. I don’t want to be told what I’m doing.'”

More Originals From SEScoops:

• Bayley Comments On New NXT Logo
• ‘This Guy Looks Like A Jobber’: Chris Jericho Recalls Initial Reaction To AEW Star
• Chris Jericho Discusses Cody Rhodes’ Decision To Never Challenge For AEW Title
• Claudio Castagnoli Opens Up About WrestleMania 34 Loss To Nicholas
• Bully Ray On How The Elite Should Have Reacted To CM Punk’s Rant

If you use any quotes from the article, please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

This article has been edited for clarity

At one point, Keith Lee was seemingly on the cusp of being WWE’s next breakout Superstar, starting off 2021 with a WWE Championship match against Drew McIntyre.

After a lengthy hiatus from the ring, partly due to COVID-19, Lee returned in July 2021, but was released from the promotion that November.

Body Shape

Since his release, there has been speculation about why Lee fell from prominence so quickly, and was eventually cut from WWE.

A popular theory is that Lee was cut before of his weight, with some claiming that Lee refused to lose weight, forcing WWE to end their push of the ‘Limitless’ one.

In April 2022, Lee denied a claim that his weight was a factor in his release, describing the idea as a “fallacy.”

Mia Yim Fires Back

Many fans have compared Lee’s situation to Gunther, who lost a considerable amount of weight during his WWE tenure.

Gunther was called to the main-roster earlier this year and is currently the Intercontinental Champion, which fans have cited as proof that Lee’s WWE run would have been better had he lost weight.

Responding to a tweet comparing Lee and Gunther, in which it was again claimed that Lee “refused” to lose weight, the Limitless One’s wife Mia Yim fired back.

Yim, another WWE alum, said that even if Lee’s weight was a factor, that his medical issues during his WWE time could have cost him his life.

Yim explained that doctors told him that he could die if he elevated his heart rate, so working out wasn’t an option.

Lee After WWE

Keith Lee did not find the success on WWE’s main roster many expected for him, but he has bounced back in AEW.

In February 2022, Lee joined AEW, defeating Isiah Kassidy to qualify for the “Face of the Revolution” Ladder match at Revolution, which was won by Wardlow.

In July, Lee, alongside fellow WWE alum Swerve Strickland, captured the AEW World Tag Team Championships.

Former AEW world champion CM Punk will be returning to MMA commentary amidst the ongoing drama that has stemmed from his media scrum comments.

Cage Fury Fighting Championships or CFFC recently announced their return to Parx Casino in Bensalem, Penn on October 8.

They revealed that the event will be main evented by a fight between Greg Velasco and Kevin Sears for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.

The press release also confirmed that the AEW star will be a part of the show and he will call the action alongside John Morgan:

“Former All Elite Wrestling champion and two-time UFC veteran CM Punk calls the action at CFFC 113 alongside Mixed Martial Arts.com editor-in-chief John Morgan on UFC FIGHT PASS.”

The Straight Edge star has been absent from AEW programming since he called out the AEW EVPs in the All Out post-media scrum. The comments led to a backstage fight between Punk and The Elite.

• CM Punk Fallout: Backstage AEW Blowup was ‘Only a Matter of Time’

Kenny Omega and others have been suspended from the company as a result. Punk was subsequently stripped of the AEW world title as well. His suspension, however, hasn’t been confirmed by any source.

The former champion has gotten surgery for a torn tricep in the meantime and he is expected to stay out of action for the foreseeable future.

All Elite Wrestling star MJF is engaged to be married.

The 26-year-old took to social media to make the announcement and wish his fiancé, Naomi Rosenblum, a happy birthday. N

Naomi made an appearance on AEW television during a February episode of Dynamite when MJF was carried to the ring on a throne.

MJF made the announcement by writing “Hbd to my fiancé or whatever”. Naomi posted

“I said yes :). And yes I forced him to smile for pics (after he told me I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”

MJF sent out another message to all the ladies that are devastated to hear the news.

“Ladies panicking on my TL don’t worry. Just cuz there’s a goalie doesn’t mean you can’t score. Strive for greatness. #Saltoftheearth”

MJF Wants The AEW Championship

On last night’s episode of Dynamite, MJF revealed that Stokely Hathaway’s stable is called “The Firm” and they will help him out when needed. MJF kept insulting the fans but they wouldn’t stop cheering his name. Maxwell responded to Moxley’s promo from last week and claimed that he was one demon that Jon cannot slay.

Stokely, W. Morrissey, Gunn Club, and Lee Moriarty all interfered in the Casino Ladder match. A masked man then marched down the entrance ramp as The Joker entrant, climbed the ladder, and captured the chip suspended above the ring that guarantees a future title shot. MJF was later to be revealed to the man under the mask.

After the AEW Championship was vacated following the media scrum brawl after All Out, Tony Khan announced the Tournament of Champions. Jon Moxley will battle Bryan Danielson in the finals of the tournament to determine the new AEW Champion at Dynamite Grand Slam next week at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

One thing that AEW excels at is bringing the spotlight to talented workers who haven’t received a break in the industry. One such name is Eddie Kingston. He had been wrestling for 18 years before he was brought into the limelight by the company. Chris Jericho, who has been feuding with the AEW star recently admits that he hadn’t even heard of the Mad King before he joined the promotion.

Y2J talked about it on the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho. Chris noted that at the first look of Eddie Kingston, he thought Kingston to be a jobber:

“When Cody first brought him in, I thought it was Eddie Edwards that he’s bringing in. I didn’t know who Eddie Kingston was.” recalled Chris Jericho, “[I was like] ‘Eddie Kingston, is that Eddie Edwards?’ [Cody said] ‘No, it’s Eddie Kingston. [I said] ‘Which guy is that, who is this?’

So he walked in there. Just looking at him I was like ‘God this guy looks like a jobber. Who is this guy?’ Then I watched his match and it was good, but then he did a promo and I was like, ‘Holy shit. This guy’s f*cking great. Where’s this guy been for 25 years of my wrestling career. Why do I not know this guy?’ So I kind of watched his stuff. I told him from [day one] ‘You are gonna be a huge babyface in this company.’ [Eddie’s like] ‘No I’m not [a babyface]’ I said ‘You’re babyface, just trust me.'”

More Originals From SEScoops:

• Chris Jericho Discusses Cody Rhodes’ Decision To Never Challenge For AEW Title
• Claudio Castagnoli Opens Up About WrestleMania 34 Loss To Nicholas
• Bully Ray On How The Elite Should Have Reacted To CM Punk’s Rant
• Mark Henry On How They Handled Backstage Fights The ‘Old School’ Way
• Bianca Belair Comments On Importance Of Representation

If you use any quotes from the article, please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

AEW star Claudio Castagnoli thinks Vince McMahon’s criticisms of his charisma during his WWE days were wrong.

Back in 2014, Vince McMahon was a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast. During the podcast, McMahon talked on a number of big topics.

Two of the biggest stories that came out of that interview, where the firing of CM Punk, and some criticism McMahon had about Cesaro, now known as Claudio Castagnoli.

McMahon noted that he felt Cesaro was lacking charisma, verbal skills, and a connection with the audience. Many seemed to disagree with McMahon, including Castagnoli himself.

Speaking during an interview with Chris Van Vliet recently, Castagnoli offered his thoughts on his former boss’ comments.

“I thought he was wrong. Yeah, I feel that charisma comes in very different forms, shapes and sizes. Not everybody has that over-the-top Ultimate Warrior shaking the ropes and running around crazy, yelling and screaming charisma.

“Not that I’m sitting here telling you all how awesome my charisma is, but I felt like I had a connection with the fans, with the WWE Universe, whatever you want to call it, in the United States and all over the world.

“While other people were known for long promos that get translated into many other languages and doesn’t necessarily come across, mine was about the in-ring work and people can connect with that. It may take a bit longer, but I did connect with the fans and they were behind me.

“I don’t know if that was not what he was looking for, but the end effect brought me here and you get to see that.”

Castagnoli ran with WWE from 2011 to 2022. During that time, he had one run with the United States Title, five as RAW Tag Team Champion, and two as SmackDown Tag Team Champion. He also won the 2014 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

Sadly, he never got the opportunity to hold a singles World Title despite many fans supporting him for such a push. Castagnoli would then debut with AEW in June of this year, and currently reigns as the Ring Of Honor (ROH) World Heavyweight Champion.

Quotes via 411Mania

AEW delivered another banger for the main event of this week’s episode of Dynamite. The match saw Bryan Danielson going up against Chris Jericho in the semi-finals of the tournament of champions.

At one point during this bout, Danielson got suplexed on the floor. The doctors checked on the AEW star after this spot and it looked like Bryan hurt his ankle.

The ending of the bout saw Bryan Danielson trying to roll up Chris Jericho. Jericho countered and hit a dragon screw on his opponent.

This allowed Y2J to put the Figure Four leglock but it didn’t last for long. Danielson transitioned it into the LeBell Lock. He forced the former AEW champion to submit to win the match.

After Bryan Danielson’s win, the other tournament finalist Jon Moxley came out and confronted the fellow BCC member. The show ended with the two shaking hands and exchanging words.

What Happened After Dynamite

While both Mox and Jericho went back to the locker room after this, Bryan Danielson took some time. The crowd applauded him as he got out of the ring.

Danielson stopped by the AEW world title that was at the ringside. He picked up the championship belt to a huge pop from the crowd.

The former WWE star re-placed the title before heading to the back. William Regal came forward to help him but Bryan declined the support. He went to the locker room on his own while selling the injury:

The biggest story in the world of pro-wrestling over the last two weeks has been the comments made by CM Punk at the AEW ALL OUT media scrum, and the backstage melee that ensued between the Second City Saint and The Elite. This led to a number of suspensions for both talent, and backstage executives who tried to stop the fight.

One of the suspensions was for VP of Talent Development Pat Buck. He missed last week’s AEW Dynamite in Buffalo, which was the first episode following the events of ALL OUT weekend. However, a new report has surfaced stating that Buck’s suspension is officially over.

According to PW Insider, Buck is backstage for this evening’s episode of AEW Dynamite from Albany. It was noted that Buck was integral in helping break the fight up between Punk and The Elite. A third-party investigation is still ongoing and will determine the future of Punk and his longtime friend Ace Steel.

Follow Sescoops for updates on the situation.

Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.

The AEW women’s division has been the subject of much criticism since they launched back in 2019, but the promotion has done a lot to improve that portion of their roster, which includes bringing in marquee names like Athena, Ruby Soho, and current interim champion Toni Storm, and utilizing some top prospects from the independent circuit.

One of those prospects is Skye Blue, who has been regularly featured on AEW programming for over a year now, mainly on episodes of their Youtube series Dark and Dark: Elevation, but occasionally on their flagship shows Dynamite and Rampage. She even wrestled in the Casino Battle Royal at ALL OUT 2021, and challenged Jade Cargill for the TBS championship last October.

What Kind Of Deal Is Skye Blue Under?

Skye Blue has yet to receive the official “All Elite” graphic from president Tony Khan on Twitter, but that doesn’t mean that she’s not under contract with AEW.

According to Fightful, Blue has signed an agreement to compete for the promotion, although it is uncertain whether it is full-time or some sort of tiered deal. The report adds that indie events that have tried to book Blue have to get approval from AEW First.

Blue, who is 22 and from Chicago, last competed on this week’s Dark where she scored a tag team victory.

MJF has hit back at ex-WWE referee Jimmy Korderas for his recent comments about All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and their promos mentioning WWE.

Recently, Korderas took to his latest “ReffinRant” on Twitter and discussed MJF’s promo on AEW Dynamite after All Out.

During the promo, MJF made several references to WWE, indicating he’d win the AEW World Title and take it to a “real” wrestling company – referencing WWE.

He also made a mention of Triple H, calling him his favorite wrestler, and teased following his good friend Cody Rhodes. Korderas took issue with this, suggesting AEW and their stars shouldn’t mention WWE so frequently in their promos.

MJF isn’t the only AEW star to reference WWE stars in promos on AEW TV. Even the likes of CM Punk has done so.

However, Korderas noted that AEW is making mistakes similar to that of WCW, who ultimately folded and went out of business.

Now, MJF has taken to social media to respond to Korderas’ comments. It’s safe to say he doesn’t agree with the ex-WWE referee’s opinion.

With his victory in the Casino Ladder match as The Joker, MJF now has a guaranteed shot at the AEW World Title. He’ll likely wait to use it until after the current AEW World Title tournament has concluded.

Kenny Omega got the opportunity to reunite with Kota Ibushi recently in Japan.

Omega is currently dealing with a suspension from All Elite Wrestling (AEW) due to his involvement in the backstage altercation that took place after the All Out pay-per-view (PPV). However, he’ll still be making an advertised appearance in Japan soon.

“The Cleaner” is slated for the Tokyo Games Show and was spotted in Japan recently ahead of the event. During his time there, Omega apparently got the chance to reunite and hang out with his friend and former Golden Lovers tag team partner, Kota Ibushi.

Ibushi posted the following photos of himself and Omega out enjoying themselves. Check them out here:

As noted, Omega is currently dealing with a suspension after being involved in a brawl that broke out after the All Out PPV earlier this month. Omega and The Young Bucks confronted CM Punk backstage following Punk’s comments about them in his post-show press conference.

That apparently led to a physical altercation in which Kenny Omega found himself getting physical with Ace Steel. It was later reported that Omega and The Young Bucks were all handed suspensions for their involvement.

As for Punk, who has since been forced to vacate the AEW World Title, it remains to be seen if he’ll even remain with the company moving forward.

Cody Rhodes was one of the top stars of AEW when the company kicked off. Everybody was sure that he would be a world champion in the promotion one day until he made the decision to never challenge for the title. The former AEW EVP announced this stipulation for his match against Chris Jericho at Full Gear 2019. His loss has left a lot of people puzzled to this day.

The latest Talk Is Jericho episode was a recording of The Jericho Chronicles from Glasgow. Chris spoke about Cody’s decision to never challenge for the top title of the company he helped build. Jericho mentioned that Rhodes probably wanted people to understand that he wouldn’t take advantage of his power:

“He was adamant. I’m still not too sure why he you put that rule that he can never challenge for the world title again. For whatever reason, that was completely his idea.” said Chris Jericho, “I guess maybe he wanted people to know that he wasn’t just gonna win the title. He wanted to be the face of the company.

We’re all faces of the company but he really embraced the EVP part of it. The other guys kind of did it in the shadows, but he was doing it on camera and all that sort of thing. So I think he wanted people to understand that he wasn’t gonna take advantage of this position that he was in and he did the ‘I’ll never fight for the world title.'”

Cody Rhodes has admitted in later interviews that the call was a mistake. It probably was the inspiration behind Rhodes’ decision to leave AEW and return to WWE.

More Originals From SEScoops:

• Claudio Castagnoli Opens Up About WrestleMania 34 Loss To Nicholas
• Bully Ray On How The Elite Should Have Reacted To CM Punk’s Rant
• Mark Henry On How They Handled Backstage Fights The ‘Old School’ Way
• Bianca Belair Comments On Importance Of Representation
• Claudio Castagnoli Reveals When He Wants To Retire

If you use any quotes from the article, please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription