As advertised, Paul Wight, formerly known as The Big Show, made his AEW debut on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.
He will be Tony Schiavone’s co-host on AEW Dark: Elevation on Monday nights starting later this month. He was interviewed by his commentary partner on the stage where he cut a promo bout how he looks forward to working with the AEW talent and he looks forward to his new role on Elevation.
He then teased that a Hall Of Fame worthy talent will get hired at AEW Revolution. He did botch the line by calling it Elevation instead of Revolution, but that happens from time to time on live television. He added that this talent signing “is not who you think” and fans should tune in to find out who this person is.
This Sunday at #AEWRevolution find out who the Hall of Fame worthy talent is ?
As of this writing, it’s anyone’s guess who this person is. AEW does have an open spot left in the Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match at Sunday’s Revolution pay-per-view event. The winner gets shot at Darby Allin’s TNT Title at a future date. Cody Rhodes, Scorpio Sky, Penta El Zero Miedo, and Lance Archer are just some of the competitors.
Last month, it was announced that AEW and Wight had come to terms on a multi-year deal. WWE and Big Show were unable to come to terms on a new deal financially.
The Shaquille O’Neal & Jade Cargill vs. Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet match took place on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite. Originally, Rhodes was supposed to team up with his wife, Brandi Rhodes, in this match, but she was replaced by Red Velvet due to Brandi being pregnant.
The match featured Jade and Red working the majority of it with AEW saving spots for Shaq. Shaq and Cody did start things off with the NBA Legend getting in some chops and even performed a back body drop.
There was a spot where Cody knocked Shaq off the apron and this allowed Austin Gunn to him Shaq in the back with a chair, but Shaq did not sell it. He took Austin and his brother out as a result. At one point, Shaq hit a powerbomb only for Cody to follow up with a powerslam. There were two tables set up on the floor with Cody taking out Shaq over the top rope sending them both crashing through it. Jade hit her finisher to Velvet for the win. After the match, Shaq sold it as if he was knocked out.
Shaq in AEW
Originally, it looked like the match would take place at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view on March 7th. However, it was revealed that the reason Shaq was wrestling on Dynamite instead of the PPV is due to the NBA holding the All-Star Game on the same night as the Revolution PPV and he is needed to cover the NBA game.
AEW has a crossover with the NBA since All Elite Wrestling airs their weekly television show, Dynamite, on TNT while the network also airs NBA games.
Shaq first made an appearance on Dynamite back on the December 9th, 2020 episode to do a sit-down interview with Brandi. To show the drawing power of the NBA legend, the show did 995,000 viewers. It was a strong segment of the show as it did over 1.2 million viewers. The quarter featuring Shaq averaged 1,063,000 viewers and 618,000 viewers in 18-49.
Cargill later appeared and issued the challenge for this match. Shaq has stated in recent years that he wanted to wrestle Cody and now he achieved that goal. With Paul Wight, formerly known as The Big Show, now in AEW, perhaps that is the next match for the NBA Champion.
Former Lucha Underground star Marty “The Moth” Martinez has been training at the Nightmare Factory, which is operated by AEW star Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall.
Martinez, real name Martin Casaus, shared the news in a post on Instagram. He mentioned that he suffered a spine injury in his L4 and L5 by hugging a dog.
“Yes, I got injured hugging my adorable dog. Docs said I needed surgery. I opted for stem cells instead. I’ve spent the last 2 years relearning how to walk without pain from sciatica & muscle tension. I had to relearn how to run on the treadmill. Spent more time on rehab than heavy weights. My stream watched the struggle. I learned that progress is just as important as results. I had already beat sleep apnea, learned to manage my Lyme disease, & I spent way to much time fighting to be healthy that there was not a chance in hell I wasn’t chasing my dream with it.”
He had to learn how to run and walk again. He went on to state that he’s back in the ring training at what he calls the best school in the country.
Martinez added, “So I’m here training at the @nightmarefactoryga. You’re never done learning in wrestling & progressing everyday.”
Martinez made a name for himself while working for Lucha Underground from 2014-2018 where he won the world title. His last match came at an ASP show in October 2020.
Pat McAfee gave his reaction to the comments made by Cody Rhodes during today’s media conference call as the AEW Executive Vice President claimed McAfee has been trying to get a job with AEW.
Rhodes was asked about NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal stating that his AEW match alongside Jade Cargill against Rhodes and Red Velvet would top all other celebrity matches in pro wrestling.
Rhode stated he likes that Shaq made the comment because it raises the bar when another match like this happens.
“I think….I didn’t see this particular comment, especially from Pat, which is super bizarre because….just bizarre because I’m pretty sure Pat’s trying to get a job at AEW like every other day, but that’s another conversation.”
McAfee reacted to the comments made by Rhodes during The Pat McAfee Show.
“Cody Rhodes just said I’ve been trying to get employed by the AEW, or whatever, every other day. So I’d like that to be known, that is not true. OK, I’ve actually talked about retirement here more than I’ve ever contemplated going to AEW.”
McAfee then brought up his Twitter exchanges with AEW star Miro regarding the Shaq interview comments. He plans to watch the match, but made it clear, “I am not [trying to get hired by AEW]. I’d just like that to be very clear.”
I heard @CodyRhodes said I've been trying to get a job..
All Elite Wrestling Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes took part in a media call this afternoon to promote Sunday’s AEW Revolution pay-per-view.
You can listen to full audio from the 45-minute call here.
SEScoops asked Cody about the second AEW show coming to TNT some time later this year. Will the show have a different format from Dynamite, and if so, what can fans expect?
“I think all of our shows will end up with a different format,” said Cody. “It’s a bit of a braintrust in forming those formats. Right now the focus is AEW Dark: Elevation, how we can make that different, and how we can feature our younger stars to get to know them. I’ll tell you one thing we won’t do with AEW Dark: Elevation, we’re not going to bait and switch. We’re not going to give you a show on night one that doesn’t reflect what that show will be like the rest of the year.”
Cody Rhodes once again was careful to state that the additional hour of content on TNT is not a third hour of AEW Dynamite. AEW officials have already decided upon a name for the second TNT show. Cody expects the cat will be out of the bag by the time AEW hosts its next media call.
“When it comes to the additional hour of content on TNT, and I’m careful to say third hour since people sometimes think we’re going three hours, which we are not. When it comes to that, I can only tell you that it has a name and I love its name, but I can’t tell you what it is. Hopefully, on the next media call, we’ll be talking about it, but it will happen in 2021.
He also teased that AEW talent will be appearing on another high-profile show that is part of the Warner Media family.
“In addition to that, there’s some other news featuring some other AEW talent regarding another show that is also in the Warner Media family.”
Cody Rhodes teams with Red Velvet against Shaquille O’Neil and Jade Cargill tonight on AEW Dynamite.
The wrestling world was dealt a giant blow this winter with the untimely death of Brodie Lee. An outpouring of tributes and respect for the man has followed in the time that has passed since. John Silver recently took part in an interview with Chris Van Vliet and shared some of his memories of Brodie Lee including how Brodie purchased ring gear for him to help make him a bigger star.
“He was the man. He was such a happy good guy,” Silver said. “There was no negativity, he was always laughing, he would always have this big smile, especially with this big beard he had going on. But he’s just a good guy. He bought the ring jacket I have just because it would help me look more like a star if I had it. He also bought me matching gear that I wore at the Brodie show.”
Silver continued to talk about Brodie purchasing ring gear for him.
“It was just supposed to be for the BTE sketch, and then I asked him he’s like I want to buy you this stuff it’s going to be cool. I’m like that’s so cool what’s the sketch. He’s like I don’t know, we’ll think of something. He didn’t have a real idea in mind, but he thought it would be funny if Silver dresses like me one day. It wasn’t cheap gear, altogether it cost over $1,000 that he spent on me that he didn’t have to, I didn’t ask for it. Just because he thought it would be good for BTE and for me and the skits we do.”
Silver also said that when they were filming BTE sketches, Brodie would always try and get him to laugh.
“We’re trying to get through these sketches, and he would purposely try his absolute hardest to make me laugh. If I laugh, we’ve got to do it again. You see so many sketches of him getting right into my face and screaming sh*t at me, and just trying to make me laugh. It always worked, which is why we had to start pretending we were crying because we were always laughing.”
Silver also spoke about working the Brodie Lee tribute show and how difficult it was to do.
“I’m a pretty emotional guy, so that was difficult, but I thought I was going to be worse. The whole day was difficult, being around people. It was good too, but I’m like I can’t stop thinking about this.”
Silver actually missed a Dark Order entrance during the show. He also detailed what happened with that during his discussion with Chris Van Vliet.
“The match itself, if you look at the first match [Colt Cabana and The Young Bucks vs Matt Hardy and Private Party] If you look, I wasn’t there for the entrance, I come in late because I went to the back. I went to my room and I was not in a good mood. I forgot Colt was up and I forgot I had to do the entrance. When I heard the music and I thought screw it, I started running. You don’t see me coming out with them, but when Colt eventually does the pose, I’m there.”
The full interview is available in the player below:
At AEW Full Gear 2019, Chris Jericho defeated Cody Rhodes in a match that carried a significant stipulation in addition to the world title being on the line. As a result of the loss, Cody can never challenge again for the AEW World Championship again. This has led many fans to wonder if AEW will stick to its guns and adhere to the stipulation for the long haul.
In a recent interview with WFAN Sports Radio, Cody commented on his desire to stick to the stipulation. He also noted, however, that ultimately it is Tony Khan’s decision.
“I’m going to stick to my word on the AEW Title, but ultimately, that decision will rest on AEW owner Tony Khan. It’s the easiest heel turn in wrestling if I was to break it,” Cody laughed. “I love that we’re disciplined and conservative, and presenting wrestling backwards.”
Rhodes would continue to say that he hopes he never “needs” to hold the title.
“I don’t want to sound braggadocious or egotistical, but my goal is to never need the World Championship. Yeah, it sucks to watching Kenny Omega or Jon Moxley with the title when I consider myself the 1A of the group, but I gave my word.”
Cody has a big match tonight with no titles on the line. He will team with Red Velvet to take on Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill.
Tonight on AEW Dynamite, Shaquille O’Neal will team with Jade Cargill to face Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. Shaq has long been around the wrestling industry, and even performed in the 2016 Andre the Giant memorial battle royal. Tonight will be his first time in a tag-team match, however, and his first match in AEW.
Shaq spoke to the Associated Press about what fans can expect from him once he gets in the ring.
“I’m not a professional wrestler, but I’ve been in a match before,” Shaq said. “I’ve got a lot of moves in my arsenal. When you step inside somebody’s world, you have to stick to what you’re masterful at. I’m not acrobatic. I’m not going to be jumping off the ropes. I’m coming with the power game. When I get hands on him, I’m going to display this power.”
“I’m the type that if I have a look and see you do it, I got it,” Shaq continued.
Shaq On What He Said To Hulk Hogan
Shaq also mentioned what he said when he met Hulk Hogan during the interview.
“I told him, ‘you broke my heart when you body-slammed Andre the Giant,’” O’Neal said. “I cried as a kid. I really did.”
Shaq also said that his match tonight will blow away all other matches by retired athletes.
AEW EVP Cody Rhodes confirmed last night that his match against Shaquille O’Neal will be opening Dynamite tonight. Appearing on the NBA on TNT Tuesday postgame, Cody said that he and Red Velvet will be taking on Jade Cargill and Shaq to open the TNT show as it goes on the air.
There had been speculation that the bout would be ending the show. With AEW’s Revolution PPV taking place this Sunday, tonight’s episode of Dynamite is the ‘go home’ show for that event. There’s a chance that AEW have something planned for the end of the show to lead into Sunday’s PPV and try to get some extra buys ahead of the show.
The mainstream coverage of tonight’s match has been significant. There have been many outlets reporting on Shaq getting in an AEW ring tonight for the very first time. The match itself will be intriguing to say the least, as Jade Cargill and Shaq’s in-ring abilities are as of yet untested on television.
Darby Allin is a creative guy, which may partially explain his popularity. The film school dropout has a big match upcoming this weekend at Revolution. He’ll team with Sting in a street fight against Team Taz’s Brian Cage and Ricky Starks. Allin recently spoke with the Independent and a frequent topic of the discussion centered around creativity in wrestling.
“The biggest advice I’d give to anyone entering wrestling is to bring your outside world into wrestling because there are so many people [who] only know wrestling, and it gets so boring,” Allin said.
“It’s like ‘tell me who you are and what you’re about’ and they say ‘I grew up loving professional wrestling, it’s all I ever wanted, it’s my dream.’ That is so generic that you don’t bring anything to the table. There’s a whole world out there, and so many are so small-minded in wrestling that it’s not even funny.”
“There’s the whole world and I want to explore that world. I don’t want to be in a small bubble with all these people, so I don’t associate with a whole bunch of people, I just like to do my own thing.”
Darby Allin Teaming With Sting
Darby Allin has been aligned with Sting since the legend made his AEW debut at Winter is Coming. This Sunday at Revolution will be Sting’s first match since losing to Seth Rollins at Night of Champions in 2015. During a recent interview, Tony Khan confirmed that Sting has been medically cleared to wrestle.
“He’s been cleared, he’s been fully cleared,” Khan said of Sting. “He’s been training with Darby and sparring partners and he’s been fully cleared to wrestle. In his training, one thing he’s done to get ready with his sparring partners is a powerbomb. In terms of getting ready for this, I was more than fine with it and in fact called it.”
WWE and its owner Vince McMahon are known for incorporating the personal issues of their superstars into various storylines over the years and Hall Of Famer Jake Roberts is no stranger to this tactic from the company.
The promotion has previous used the veteran’s troubles with alcoholism into a controversial storyline which also involved Hall Of Famer Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler back in 1996. Lawler even force-fed his opponent a bottle of bourbon after their match at SummerSlam that year.
Roberts opened up about the controversial angle during his recent interview with Inside The Ropes, and he blasted Mr. McMahon, calling him an ‘a**hole’:
“Well, I thought it was a horrible thing for McMahon to ask me to do, It was cheap, it was disrespectful,” said the wrestling veteran, “It didn’t prove a damn thing other than the fact that Vince McMahon’s an a**hole, so there you go. Lawler, he’s in the same boat. Both a**holes.”
Jake Roberts has since turned things around. His win over his battle with addiction was chronicled in the 2015 documentary, Resurrection of Jake The Snake. He also talked about his efforts to get clean during the interview and the current AEW star explained that he wants to be around for long to spend time with his grandkids. You can check out his full interview here.
AEW Star MJF recently appeared on the Wrestling Perspective podcast. Maxwell Jacob Friedman discussed a number of topics during the show, including how he learned from Jim Cornette whilst working in MLW.
“So I worked with Jim Cornette more than I think people realize when I was in Major League Wrestling” MJF began. “And getting to go back and forth with him — look, is he a fan of guys on my roster? Absolutely not, but if I’m being honest, neither am I.”
MJF on Jim Cornette
“But he’s a very smart guy” MJF continued. “He understands how to manipulate an audience. I loved his work, I loved Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan’s work. Even Grand Wizard. He might not have necessarily been the greatest promo of all time? But the guy understood how to manipulate a crowd without even speaking.”
MJF finished by praising one of WWE’s biggest managers/special councils. “I mean, there’s been so many great managers of the past. Paul Heyman obviously. We’re both Jews, we’re both very affluent. And we’re both very good at speaking and we’re both from New York. so Paul Heyman also another guy who is most certainly a big influence on me.”
MJF and Chris Jericho will be taking on The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution in March.
AEW currently airs Dark on Tuesdays and Dynamite on Wednesdays, but starting March 15th, Dark: Elevation will be airing every Monday night on YouTube as well.
When this was first announced, some thought this was supposed to be the second show on TNT that was confirmed when AEW signed an extension with the network in 2020, but that’s not the case.
AEW President Tony Khan later stated on Twitter that a second AEW show on TNT would still be coming in 2021. He then did an interview on Thursday with Wrestling Observer Radio where he further commented on their programming for this year.
He started out by noting that he thinks it’s very appropriate to have two television series and two streaming shows as some of the most successful wrestling companies of all time have had a couple of flagship shows and then a couple of shows that are more for developmental talent.
“So, you’ll have the two Dark properties and the two TNT properties and I’m really excited about it. I think we’re ready for it.”
He noted that he thinks you can get a lot of or most of the viewing experience by just watching Dynamite and the PPVs. He brought up how there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people watching Dark every week. He noted that there’s an audience for Dark and will be the same for Elevation, which turned out to be an idea by TNT.
“It was TNT’s idea, I’ll be 100% honest. I originally had the title Elevation and they’re right, the executives made a great point to me, ‘You don’t want to create confusion with different brands.’ Elevation is an extension of Dark so they essentially said, ‘Call it AEW Dark: Elevation.’ And I said that’s a great idea.”
Paul Wight, formerly known as The Big Show, and Tony Schiavone will be doing commentary for Dark: Elevation.
Zelina Vega could be receiving a phone call with AEW President Tony Khan in the near future.
Khan said he’s interested in talking with the former WWE star during an appearance on the Thursday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. He was asked about his interest in her, which he thought that she was still under a 90-day non-compete clause, which he has been waiting to pass before he could legally speak with her.
“When we get through his (Women’s title eliminator tournament) and through (Revolution), I would be interested to see where she’s at,” he said.
Last November, she was released by WWE after having issues with the company’s new policy regarding talent making deals with third party companies like Twitch.
Vega has an OnlyFans account, which is for cosplays only, and streams on Twitch. At the time, Sports Illustrated reported that it was due to her breaching her contract. It was later clarified that wrestlers can use the likes of YouTube and Twitch, but must use their real names to do so.
It was reported by Fightful Select that her non-compete clause expired earlier this month, which means she’s free and clear to sign with any promotion that she wants whether that’s to be a wrestler or a manager.
Scorpio Sky is scheduled to take part in the upcoming ladder match at AEW Revolution. He hasn’t wrestled since January 7th, when he defeated Nick Comoroto on an episode of Dark.
As it turns out, Sky has been out of action with a torn meniscus. The match at Revolution will mark his return to the ring after 2-months on the shelf dealing with it.
“First match back coming off a torn meniscus,” Sky said. “I like to dive into the deep water and see if I can swim without getting wet. People like to think of things today as a TV business and the TV matches are most important. As an old-school guy, pay-per-view is where it’s at and I’m excited to be back on pay-per-view in a marquee match.”
Scorpio Sky on Revolution Ladder Match
Scorpio Sky knows this is a big opportunity to catapult himself right back into the top of AEW’s rankings. “It’s a huge opportunity,” he said. “You can’t turn down a match like this. If I had to cut my leg off and crawl into the ring, I would do it. Anytime you’re attached to the name Cody Rhodes, it’s big.”
AEW Revolution takes place Sunday, March 7th and airs live on pay-per-view.
Watch Scorpio Sky’s comments about the AEW Revolution Ladder Match:
It was reported earlier this month that Sammy Guevara had been sent home from recent Impact Wrestling tapings. The tapings took place in Nashville from February 9th-11th. Various reports have suggested that creative differences are what led to him not taking part.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Guevara was scheduled to win 3 matches during the tapings. He is also said to have pitched to win the X-division title and not lose it before returning to AEW. There was an update on this in the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“Regarding the Sammy Guevara stuff here, there were losses proposed and beatdowns scheduled and while he was to win his last match, it involved a post-match beatdown that he wasn’t coming back to get revenge for,” wrote Dave Meltzer. The report continued to state that Guevara did propose winning the X-Division title.
“Guevara did propose to Impact that he win the X title which (Impact) didn’t plan for,” Meltzer continued.
It was also noted that Jimmy Jacobs is the current head of creative for Impact Wrestling. Jacobs reports to D’Amore who ultimately has the final say but for the most part, Impact’s television is booked by Jacobs, Robert Evans, and Tommy Dreamer.
Hikaru Shida, the current AEW Women’s World Champion, has beaten an impressive record that was previously set by former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley. The record in question, is of holding a championship for the longest duration in the company. Moxley won the title back in February 2020 at the Revolution 2020 event by defeating Chris Jericho. He held the title for a notable 277 days, but this record has been beaten by Shida’s reign which has surpassed a total of 278+ days.
Wow? I am the longest reigning champ in AEW history!!!!!
Hikaru Shida won the AEW Women’s World Championship in a No Disqualification and No Countout match at the promotion’s Double or Nothing event by defeating Nyla Rode back in May 2020. She has successfully defended the title six times against the likes of Penelope Ford, Thunder Rosa, Big Swole, Nyla Rose, Anna Jay and most recently Abadon during the January 6, 2021 edition of Dynamite. She will be defending the title for the seventh time against the winner of the ongoing AEW Women’s Eliminator tournament at the upcoming Revolution PPV on March 7. Rose, Yuka Sakazaki, Ryo Mizunami have already emerged as the semifinalists and a fourth competitor among Rosa and Riho will be determined in a special airing on Sunday, February 28.
The AEW women's eliminator tournament ends w/ the champion as the overall winner will take on the AEW women's world champion @shidahikaru at #AEWRevolution. Who will Shida defend her title against? Tickets for Revolution go on-sale TOMORROW at 10am EST ?? https://t.co/UN1cNj1kQqpic.twitter.com/UFT72QHUgY
Meanwhile, Jon Moxley as the AEW World Champion defended the title a total of nine times. Starting with Jake Hager back in April 2020, Moxley successfully defended against Brodie Lee, Brian Cage, Darby Allin, MJF, Eddie Kingston, The Butcher, Lance Archer and Kingston again at Full Gear in November. He lost the title to Kenny Omega on the December 2, 2020 episode of Dynamite. Moxley will try to capture the title again from Omega at Revolution in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch, no less.
Jon Moxley has one WWE legend that he wants in AEW.
All Elite Wrestling has seen a few former WWE stars jumping ship to the rival promotion since its launch. Most recently, the company was able to bag in Big Show. He just signed a multi-year deal with AEW to work as a broadcaster and wrestler.
Jon Moxley recently spoke with Inside The Ropes and was asked who else he’d like to see join AEW. Moxley said that he’d like to see Christian on AEW’s roster.
Christian, a World Champion in multiple promotions, made a surprise appearance at last month’s WWE Royal Rumble. He has also signed a part-time contract with WWE, reportedly.
Jon Moxley said, “I’ll tell you, a guy I’d like to see here is Christian. I don’t know if that was a one-off for him in the Royal Rumble but he looked frigging good to me. He looked like he was in great shape, he looked sharp, man.”
Jon Moxley on Christian
Moxley continued, “I tell you, he’s one of the guys that’s — the wrestlers know it more so than anybody — Christian is so good. Like, his brain and his execution, and his mind for wrestling is just like next-level.
“First time we worked with him, you know, we’d come in and we’re doing these six-mans with The Shield, really pushing the pace and trying to make the most exciting matches. We’re pushing these guys to like, all these dream team guys. We’re pushing them to be like, ‘No, let’s do another thing and another thing, let’s add more to do another save and another thing, and let’s do a triple this,’ or whatever,” he later added. “And we’re really pushing the pace, you know, and like thinking, like, ‘All right. Yeah, nobody can keep up with us. This is awesome.'”
Christian’s return to the WWE was kept quiet from everyone backstage. Only a select few knew about his involvement ahead of time. Edge was one of them, who even said that they drew to the Rumble in his car together. Christian reportedly signed to appear with WWE on a part-time basis.
Christian had to hang up his boots in 2014 after a history of suffering concussions. In a similar case to Daniel Bryan, Christian was medically cleared years after he was told that he couldn’t wrestle again.
Sting was recently fully cleared for physical activity ahead of his first match in several years.
Sting had to retire from wrestling due to him having spinal stenosis in 2015. He joined AEW and is slated to do a cinematic street fight when he teams up with Darby Allin against Brian Cage and Ricky Starks at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event.
Last week on Dynamite, Sting took his first bump in nearly six years as he took a powerbomb by Cage. AEW President Tony Khan spoke about the spot during an interview with Mike Johnson of PWinsider.com.
“He’s been cleared, he’s been fully cleared,” Khan said of Sting. “He’s been training with Darby and sparring partners and he’s been fully cleared to wrestle. In his training, one thing he’s done to get ready with his sparring partners is a powerbomb. In terms of getting ready for this, I was more than fine with it and in fact called it.”
Khan mentioned that Sting has been taking them in training and it was time to do it in front of a live crowd. He noted that Sting has been completely cleared to do it and wanted to do it and he wanted to get out there and wrestle.
“Sting’s cleared to wrestle and he wants to wrestle and this is how he wanted to end his wrestling career in-ring was in AEW and come in and go out the way he always wanted to go out with great matches.”
Khan stated that he expects Sting to have a great performance at Revolution and Sting has high expectations for it. He added that the spot got people talking in a positive way.
Posted February 24th, 2021 in AEW, News. Tagged: Sting.
AEW World Champion and 2.Show host Kenny Omega returns with a special guest, Brandon Cutler. The guys will have some development updates to share. AEW is also teasing the reveal of a “MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!”
AEW currently has three video games in development:
AEW Console Game
AEW Elite General Manager
AEW Casino: Double or Nothing
Check out the teaser announcement for Episode 2 below.
AEW’s new show on YouTube will air Monday nights at 7 PM est. AEW Dark: Elevation will feature the newly signed “Big Show” Paul Wight and Tony Schiavone as commentators.
“Complementing AEW Dark on Tuesdays, AEW Dark: Elevation will air on Mondays at 7 p.m. ET on AEW’s YouTube channel, and will showcase AEW’s established and rising stars, as well as the top independent wrestlers within the industry, competing against each other in the ring in pursuit of wins,” reads AEW’s press release.
“AEW Dark: Elevation will also maintain continuity with AEW DYNAMITE, AEW Dark, AEW pay-per-view shows and streaming events, with wins and losses factoring into each wrestler’s ranking in the company.”
It’s been over 20 years since I’ve worked with @PaulWight and I’m PUMPED that we will team together to bring you AEW Dark: Elevation beginning Monday 3/15 on our YouTube channel. We will also hear from Big G next Wed live on #AEWDyanmitepic.twitter.com/m9tazNQ2I7
The length of episodes of AEW Dark increased following the onset of the pandemic. Khan recently explained on Talk is Jericho why the show length increased so much.
“We bring in people to give them tryouts, and we are giving a lot of independent wrestlers work, in addition to the tryout people that we want to get a look at and put in specific matches. There are other people – we are trying to put the top people from Dynamite in get-over matches on Dark.”
“You want to get some local people and keep them working because there’s no independent shows for all these people around Florida and Georgia like there used to be.”
In a “giant” move likely to send ripples through the wrestling world, “Big Show” Paul Wight has signed with AEW. The 49-year-old had been with WWE since leaving WCW and signing there in 1999.
In addition to returning to the ring, AEW is stating Wight will also serve as a commentator on the new YouTube show, AEW Dark: Elevation.
Big Show commented on the blockbuster news, noting that it’s been “amazing” to see what AEW has built in just a couple of years. He’s excited for his new role as commentator for AEW’s newest series, AEW Dark: Elevation.
“AEW Dark is an incredible platform to hone the skills of up-and-coming wrestlers, but I also love that established AEW talent can build out their personalities and showcase themselves in new ways on Dark,” said White. “It’s no exaggeration when they say that AEW is boundless.”
Big Show Will Wrestle, Commentate & More
“Big Show” Paul White is All Elite
Tony Khan, AEW’s President and Head of Creative, also commented on the news of Big Show’s signing. He touted White’s experience and detailed what his multiple roles will entail.
“Paul Wight is one of the most recognizable and impressive professional athletes in the world,” said Khan. “He wanted to come to AEW because he believes that we’re the best promotion in wrestling, and we believe that he has a lot to offer us, both in the ring as a wrestler, and also outside the ring as a commentator, host and ambassador for AEW.”
“Paul is one of the most experienced stars in all of wrestling, and he’s eager to work with our diverse roster,” added Khan.
Tony Khan added that Big Show joins AEW as a licensed wrestler.
“He can benefit and guide our young talent with his mentorship, and his expert commentary on AEW Dark: Elevation will educate and entertain our fans, and also educate the younger wrestlers on the roster. Furthermore, Paul enters AEW as a licensed wrestler, and he’s very much looking forward to studying our talent firsthand from the commentary desk in preparation for his return to the ring!”
Reactions to Paul White Joining AEW
Here are some reactions to Big Show Paul White signing with All Elite Wrestling:
Tony Khan says AEW fans can expect some new faces to show up on Dynamite soon. Khan was recently a guest on Wrestling Observer Live and spoke about some surprises he has upcoming.
“The ‘forbidden door’ is open. The forbidden door means that anybody from any company can show up anywhere now. The gloves are off and I’m really excited about it,” Khan said. He continued to say the travel restrictions currently limit this, however.
“Hopefully, we can do some exciting things with this forbidden door now that it’s been opened, I think we can and we will,” Khan said. “There’s going to be people showing up, could be people from New Japan, could be people from Impact, could be people from other companies. Could be new faces, old faces, but there’s going to be a lot of changes and I’m really excited about it and that’s important in wrestling, bringing new people in and consistently changing up the card.”
Khan also spent some time talking about people he had to convince to sign with AEW. He noted that he spent a lot of time convincing Trent to sign with him instead of remaining with NJPW.
“Trent was probably the hardest person for me to convince that actually came,” Khan said. “I spent a lot of time on the phone with a few people who really needed the extra convincing, people I believed in and put the full-court press on.”
Khan then said there were some people who didn’t listen to him. He didn’t say “The Good Brothers” by name, but one can make some assumptions.
“There are a couple of other people who didn’t come, who made a huge mistake,” Khan continued. “(They) should have listened to me, and they didn’t.”
Khan also praised Tay Conti during the interview.
“Tay Conti is a great example of somebody who I always thought looked like a star,” Khan said. “I went to a house show, an NXT house show, 4 years ago in Jacksonville and I thought Tay Conti looked like she’d be a great star then.”
The interview with Tony Khan can be viewed in the player below:
AEW Champion Kenny Omega recently commented on the in-ring abilities of WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar. The former ‘Next Big Thing’ and WWE Champion has been away from the company since losing to Drew McIntyre at last year’s WrestleMania.
With Kenny Omega recently making comments about a potential WWE/AEW crossover; there has been discussion and clamouring from fans to see potential dream matches between the two biggest promotion in North America, if not the world.
A fan asked Kenny Omega on Twitter what his thoughts were on Lesnar. Omega replied to the prospect of having a ‘dream’ match against the former UFC fighter.
Kenny Omega on Brock Lesnar
“Brock is one of the greatest athletes and performers of all time” Kenny Omega wrote. “I’d need more friends if I were to face him.”
There was previously rumblings of Lesnar potentially joining AEW. Lesnar’s WWE contract was up for renewal and there was speculation that All Elite/Tony Khan had contacted Lesnar. With UFC now no longer on Lesnar’s radar, it is possible that he/his team were using potential AEW talks to negotiate a better deal with WWE. It has not been confirmed if Brock Lesnar is still signed to WWE at this point.
Former WWE Superstar Jon Moxley also recently discussed the potential of AEW and WWE working together. With Moxley having intrinsic knowledge of the company, he said it wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon.
“That would never happen” Moxley told to Inside The Ropes this week. “That’s not even worth wasting any mental energy to… You know. I mean, if you want to fantasy book some cool s**. You know, maybe you could fantasy book it for, like, fun magazine, stuff.”
Here are some of our recent articles related to Brock Lesnar & AEW:
Jon Moxley is the latest person from AEW to address whether there would ever be a working relationship between All Elite Wrestling and WWE.
AEW President Tony Khan and top AEW Executive Cody Rhodes seem to think that a possible collaboration is possible. However, the former AEW World Heavyweight Champion doesn’t seem to think so.
“That would never happen. That’s not even worth wasting any mental energy to… You know. I mean, if you want to fantasy book some cool s**. You know, maybe you could fantasy book it for, like, fun magazine, stuff,” Moxley stated in a recent interview withInside The Ropes.
“You know, Like back in the day, in magazines, you used to always have, like, ‘Dream match. Bill Goldberg versus Steve Austin,’ in ’98. But that ain’t gonna happen.”
He continued, “It’d be cool to think about the cool s**t that could happen, you know, like a big summit at the Tokyo Dome, AEW, NJPW, WWE or some s**t but that s**t ain’t going to happen. So, you know, they do their thing. They stay over there.”
All Elite Wrestling currently has a working relationship with Impact Wrestling and NJPW.
Current AEW World Champion Kenny Omega also commented on such a relationship being possible as he thinks the final forbidden door will be opened.
