Maxwell Jacob Friedman is a humble young man, perhaps best known for his selflessness, kindness and compassion. Who are we kidding? He is a raging, egomaniacal narcissist who would probably marry himself if he could.
MJF now has the hardware to back up his grandiose feelings of self-satisfaction. As the reigning AEW World Heavyweight Champion, he’s more emboldened than ever. We’re just weeks into his MJF’s Reign of Terror and he’s already getting started reshaping the role of world champion in his own image.
Last week on Dynamite, we got a first glimpse at MJF’s custom AEW World championship belt. He also announced that he does not plan on defending the title as frequently as past champions, a stance some would call wise and others would call cowardly.
The Nickname
MJF appears will bre running with a new moniker, Mystic Max. On Tuesday, he posted a thread on Twitter showing off some of his biggest moments during his time in AEW. He included a caption containing a recent quote by who else but himself.
“Just call me Mystic Max because I have a feeling your happiness will soon turn into resentment, because you people are Fickle”
“Just call me Mystic Max because I have a feeling your happiness will soon turn into resentment, because you people are Fickle”- MJF pic.twitter.com/IyJSu1Vah1
Mystic is defined as, ‘inspiring a sense of spiritual mystery, awe, and fascination.’
Sounds just like our pal Max.
MJF’s next World title challenger is Ricky Starks, who won an eliminator tournament to earn a championship opportunity at Winter is Coming. MJF name dropped Eddie Kingston during his first promo since winning the world title, so a match between these two is likely in the works for early 2023.
Posted December 6th, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: MJF.
House of Black made their long-awaited return to AEW on Thanksgiving Eve. They took out Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, and The Factory. On the latest episode of The Sessions with Renee Paquette, Brody King delves into his band, working in Hollywood, and wrestling for AEW.
King didn’t want to be off television when Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews were away from AEW. “I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to take a break because I feel like I had a lot of momentum at the time. Not just that, I just felt like I was really getting in my groove in AEW and like showing who Brody King, the professional wrestler was.”
“I got to wrestle Darby twice. I got to wrestle Jon and I feel like those three matches really put me on the map where people were just like ‘oh, he’s just Malakai’s side kick’ to ‘oh, shit. He’s like a threat.’ And those were the moments I was waiting for. It was never me questioning if I could do it, it was like when I can do it.”
“And I feel like it all came at the right time and I was worried about it taking the momentum away. We made this return and it was awesome and the whole crowd was standing on their feet. And I feel like it was almost like we didn’t miss a step. I feel like that’s really rare in wrestling because fans are so — I don’t want to say fickle — but they forget about you quickly. For them to give us that reception was awesome.”
The return of House of Black
(AEW)
When asked about the faction, King declared its “us versus everyone. Kind of how we live our lives outside in the world. Like me and Malakai both come from hardcore music. He kind of dips more into black metal and stuff like that. Whereas I stay kind of in my lane, more hardcore punk, like death metal adjacent. (…) We have the same thought process when it comes to the world. Then, like how we conduct ourselves. We’re very much on the same page when it comes to that. So it makes it easy when we’re coming up with concepts of how we want to look, how we want to present ourselves.”
“I feel like when it comes to AEW, we are delivering a product that they don’t have. And I feel like in wrestling, we’re delivering a product that nobody has. There’s people that have the ‘spooky’ gimmick or whatever you want to call it. But it’s like, this is authentic to us. This isn’t us putting on a costume and pretending to like the music that we like. We have deep knowledge on all things that we’re doing, you know? Malakai reads all these weird, old books on witchcraft and black magic and stuff. I’m constantly reading comic books and playing Magic: The Gathering and listening to alternative music, so it’s like we never want to present something we’re not actually involved in.”
Brody King Talks About Adding Julia Hart
Photo Credit: Scott Lesh
King says they are not currently looking to expand House of Black. “I’d say right now, we are very much kind of a hive mind. We all kind of want the same thing and know the trajectory that we want to go in. Bringing in Julia was interesting because obviously on the outside –19 year-old cheerleader makes no sense to be with us — but then she joins the group and it’s like she fits in perfectly.”
“Even when it came down to making her music, my best friend, Colin — he plays drums and writes all the music in God’s Hate — him and his brothers have like, a million bands, but they’re known and very respected in the hardcore scene. Their band, Dead Body, actually wrote the new House of Black theme, he wrote Julia Hart’s theme, he wrote the theme that Evil Danhausen came out to. He’s like a massive wrestling fan too. He didn’t make it to be a wrestler, but to have his influence in wrestling now is really cool for him.”
Hart had input on what she wanted her music to sound like. She told them she likes Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. When she told them that, King said “it was like, there’s more here than we think. Before All Out me and my wife took her to the mall to find something for her entrance gear. We’ve become like her wrestling parents. She found this black dress and then just picked up the hat and we’re like, ‘yeah, that’s it.’ Now people are calling her ‘Tiny ‘Taker’ and she has like this Stevie Nicks vibe. She was like this bubbly, sweet teenager and now’s she’s like the most Resting Bitch Face on Earth.”
House of Black Will Be Trios Champions
King believe it’s a matter of time before they have the Trios Titles. “We’re waiting for our time. It’s wrapped up in this best-of-seven series, but I feel like with time, you will see House of Black go after those titles and take those titles at some point.”
He also believes that he and Allin are destined to keep wrestling each other since they’ve been opponents in Evolve and PWG. His dream opponent is Samoa Joe. “Not to sound like a fanboy, but he’s probably my favorite wrestler of all time. (…) I think he is the perfect wrestler and I would love to test myself against him.” Outside of AEW wrestlers, he’d love to wrestle Shingo Takagi and Kazuchika Okada.
AEW Dark is coming back to Orlando after spending the past few months on the road, Fightful Select has learned.
It is reported that the “working plan” is for Dark tapings to return to Orlando’s Universal Studios on December 17, marking the first taping at the center since August.
From September 2021 to August of this year, AEW was at Universal Studios every four to six weeks to tape content for Dark.
Since August, has been taping Dark on the road in front of live audiences, allowing wrestlers more experience traveling and working in front of different crowds.
Several AEW Dark regulars who spoke to Fightful said they are hoping to pop back up on the tapings when they returned to the Orlando area.
Fightful said they have not been told whether tapings for Dark will stay in Orlando, or go back on the road in the new year.
When AEW films Dark on the road, it allows the promotion to get a better look at local wrestlers wherever they are at.
AEW Dark
Launching in October 2019, AEW Dark marks the second weekly show for All Elite Wrestling, after AEW Dynamite.
The show airs each week on AEW’s official YouTube channel, with 173 episodes having aired to date.
Justin Roberts and Dasha Gonzalez (both former WWE talent) share roles as ring announcers, while Excalibur and Taz call the action on commentary.
In March 2021, Dark got its own sister show AEW Dark: Elevation, which showcases the younger talent that may not quite be ready for Dark, Dynamite or AEW Rampage.
Matt Hardy has big plans for his final-ever match, including facing a WWE Hall of Famer.
Hardy’s wrestling career began in 1992 and has seen Matt hold gold in WWE, TNA/Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor.
In April 2020, Hardy made his debut for All Elite Wrestling where he competes to this day.
Retirement
With 30 years in the wrestling business, Matt is fully aware that his days as an active competitor are coming to an end.
Speaking on his ‘Extreme Life’ podcast, Hardy revealed that he wants The Hardy Boyz’ final match to be against Edge & Christian.
“Our rivalry is just so iconic. I feel like that would be a pretty amazing way to end it, having one last match with those guys.”
Matt Hardy.
No Mercy 1999
The Hardys and Edge & Christian faced off countless times in WWE, but perhaps their best-known match took place at No Mercy 1999.
In the finals of the Terri Invitation Tournament (or T.I.T as Jerry Lawler reminded fans on commentary), the two teams faced off in the first tag-team ladder match in WWE history.
With their win, the Hardyz (then known as the New Brood) won $100,000 and the managerial services of Terri Runnels.
In their memoirs, ‘Exist 2 Inspire’ the Hardyz wrote that the four celebrated the match backstage with beers, the first time either Matt or Jeff drank alcohol.
The death-defying spots would cement both teams as ‘legitimate’ in the eyes of fans, with John Powell of SLAM! Wrestling writing at the time that the match overshadowed the Triple H Vs. Steve Austin WWF Title main event.
Jon Moxley lost the AEW World Championship to Maxwell Jacob Friedman, aka MJF, in the main event of AEW Full Gear.
Moxley had put the company on his back following the disastrous media scrum after All Out in September. Jon lost the title to CM Punk in the main event but wound up getting it back at Dynamite: Grand Slam by winning the Tournament of Champions.
William Regal was the lead of the Blackpool Combat Club for a few months but is now on his way back to WWE. Jon entered into a rivalry with Hangman Page after he returned from injury last week.
This week on Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite, we'll hear from the 3-time #AEW World Champ @JonMoxley for the 1st time since the return of former AEW World Champion #HangmanPage, who has Mox in his sights!#AEWDynamite will be LIVE from Austin, TX this Wednesday @ 8pmET/7pmCT on TBS pic.twitter.com/yjAK9A0n6p
Jim Cornette on What is Next for Jon Moxley, Hangman Page as World Champion
Jim Cornette recently discussed former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley on episode 460 of the Jim Cornette Experience.
He wondered what AEW should do with Jon Moxley after he’s lost his championship and Wiliam Regal is no longer with the company. Cornette said that Jon should be facing off against a young heel that wanted to rub in his loss at the PPV.
Now’s the time to get a guy that’s on the ascent, a young heel, to go in there and have a program. And Moxley can probably win some or most of those, as long as you keep the young heel credible.
But it make that guy a step up the ladder working with the ex-World Champion. And as a matter of fact, Moxley should go back after MJF, and that heel that I was just speaking of that doesn’t exist, because it’s Hangnail (Hangman Adam Page).
He should be the one to f*** Moxley out of a rematch or in his rematch. But the time to plan all that was before the guy dropped the title.
Cornette claimed that Hangman Page has added nothing to his presentation since his AEW World Championship run. Jim claimed that Hangman Page has been the most disappointing champion so far.
If this is what they figured out for it to be, bleh. They are rewarding Page again for pretty much starting this whole goddamn fiasco.
He’s worthless as an attraction to begin with because the only people that want to see that bland, boring-ass imitation cowboy face are the same people that want to see the EVPs, which is shrinking by the week.
It’s the whole clown club. Page was the biggest disappointment that they’ve had as a World Champion and he’s added nothing to make himself any more interesting.
You can’t even turn Page heel because he’s so bland and disinteresting.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Jim Cornette Experience and give a H/T to SEScoops for the transcription.
William Regal has reportedly exited All Elite Wrestling after just 9 months with the company.
He arrived at AEW Revolution and convinced Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley to work together in the Blackpool Combat Club. The group had such promise, but frittered into nothing over time.
Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson are involved in an interminable rivalry with Jericho Appreciation Society while Jon Moxley was AEW World Champion. William Regal betrayed Jon Moxley at AEW Full Gear by bashing him over the head with brass knuckles to gift MJF the title. MJF then betrayed William Regal on last week’s Dynamite and hit him with the brass knuckles. Regal was stretchered out of the arena as his send off.
Jim Cornette on the Rumors Surrounding William Regal’s Exit from AEW
ECIII claimed that Regal immediately regretted signing with AEW because of “maturity issues” within management. Cornette noted that William Regal is not the only legend the younger wrestlers apparently aren’t listening to as Rampage sets a new record-low rating this week.
Speaking on episode 460 of the Jim Cornette Experience, the legendary manager discussed the rumored comments by the former NXT GM.
Let’s see now, JR (Jim Ross) gave advice and was publicly ridiculed on Twitter and on social media by the young folks over there for trying to give advice.
Punk, said well you know nobody wants to listen to anybody’s advice. Ol’ Hangnail (Hangman Page) actually came out and said ‘no, I don’t look forward or listen to much advice’.
Do you think there might be something to this? A maturity issue within management. Almost like the people at the actual top of the company have never done any of this before.
But yet won’t take advice from people who have. It’s almost like that but that can’t be right because that is what we have been saying for quite some f***ing time now, is it not?
Jim Cornette noted that he wasn’t just talking about the talent being inexperienced.
Tony’s never done any of the sh** he’s trying to do before in his life except as we know now from his public comments, with his two other e-fed friends where they would book their e-federation for each other. And it was amazing that even though the fans in the arenas weren’t real they could get the feel of what was getting over.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Jim Cornette Experience and give a H/T to SEScoops.
William Regal is expected to return to WWE in the near future, but this is something that the NXT roster has been waiting on.
Regal was released in January of this year from his role with the gold brand, as part of sweeping cuts to the backstage crew in NXT.
The former WWE Intercontinental, European, and Tag Team Champion would debut for AEW at the Revolution Pay-Per-View in March 2023.
Discussion
After being written off AEW TV last week with an attack by MJF, it has been reported that Regal will be finishing up with the promotion this month.
One popular theory among fans is that Tony Khan had an agreement with Regal, stating that if Triple H took control of the company, then he’d be allowed to return.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez said that this idea has been discussed for months among the NXT roster.
“This is a story that goes back in NXT months, and months ago. They believed that story whenever it first happened. Some don’t believe it, but it’s a story that’s been going around NXT for MONTHS.”
Bryan Alverez.
Neither WWE, Khan, nor Regal have publicly confirmed reports that he is set to leave All Elite Wrestling and return to WWE.
Departure
Regal’s departure from AEW has come as a shock to fans, as the British legend has been featured prominently since arriving as part of the Blackpool Combat Club.
Speaking to Sportskeeda last week, EC3 claimed that what he was told is that Regal “immediately” regretted joining the promotion earlier this year.
It is claimed that Regal took issue with the “maturity issue” with management, though sources have labeled the rumor of AEW’s roster not listening to Regal as ‘completely inaccurate.’
Last week, she made a deal with a former WWE Superstar who happens to be a big Kansas City Chiefs fan. Since the two teams were facing off yesterday, the two made a fun bet.
Mojo Rawley’s wager was that if the Chiefs won, Paquette would have to dress up as him and act like him on her podcast. If the Bengals won, Rawley would have to wear a hot dog costume on her show.
Bet Wager Between Renee Paquette and Mojo Rawley
Mojo Rawley (Photo: WWE)
The Brodough app sponsored their bet. With the app, you can create bets with others while raising money for charity. Fans could get involved with this bet by using donation links and whomever raised the most money wins the challenge and the proceeds go to the winner’s charity. Rawley’s charity of choice was Mental Health America, while Paquette chose the SPCA of Cincinnati.
In the end, the Bengals held on in a thrilling victory with a final of 27-24. Paquette quickly took to Instagram to celebrate via her Instastory. She also posted a reel highlighting her day.
No date has been set for when Rawley has to pay up.
All Elite Wrestling and its roster’s attitude toward coaching has been a hotly debated subject since the All Out “Press Conference From Hell,” when CM Punk vented frustrations – among a number of subjects – at Hangman Adam Page for not being open to coaching from the former AEW, WWE, and ROH champ.
The latest controversy was from Ethan Carter III, who said William Regal was frustrated with talent not taking up offers to coach them prior to AEW shows and said management had maturity issues.
Several AEW sources said the story wasn’t true and blasted Carter for floating it. One source with the company described it as, “completely inaccurate.” One source noted Carter and James being frustrated themselves at not landing jobs in AEW and neither them or Russo have ever been with the company.
“There was no formal coaching session, where it was something that was scheduled or anything like that. Usually he would go down to the ring to help someone, and word would spread, like, “Hey, Regal is down in the ring.” The source said Dustin Rhodes trains younger women’s wrestlers on the roster. He also said Danielson has worked with people regularly and sessions included talent that appeared regularly on Dynamite or Rampage.
“I can’t believe this is a story,” another source said. “It’s complete bullshit. There was never some schedule you had to be down at the ring and people blew it off, and (Regal) was never going to flat tell someone they had to come to the ring so he could coach them. Regal would work with someone, people would go down and show up, a lot of people took advantage of it. Other vets do it all the time. It’s always the younger women and men. Sometimes someone would work with someone one on one, other times there could be quite a few people down. It was totally informal.”
“Regal would even sit in the stands with guys to talk about the fans point of view, or the point of view of watching on TV,” another source said. “He would tell you about making sure to know how you are looking to fans as you come to the ring or how you would look on TV. He said to make sure you’re always really nice to the camera guys, they’re the ones who make you look good (laughing).”
Regal was the on-screen manager of the Blackpool Combat Club since debuting with AEW in March. Several wrestling news sites have reported Regal will be leaving AEW for a return to WWE and would begin work there in 2023. Regal was released by WWE nearly a year ago.
Since then, his friend Paul Levesque has been named head of creative after Vince McMahon was investigated for multiple sex scandals and subsequent payoffs within the company. His son, Charlie Dempsey – who had wrestled as Bailey Matthews was brought to NXT from NXT UK in August. Dempsey scored his first win in the company early last month. Regal’s contract status is unknown, but it’s been speculated he will exercise an out clause. Regal’s relationship with Levesque goes back to the early 1990s in WCW, when Regal mentored him when the two were tag team partners. The two have been close friends for 20 years. Levesque was instrumental in bringing Regal to WWE in the early 2000s and making him a mainstay in WWE’s developmental system after he retired from wrestling.
AEW has been criticized for running the same markets every few months, but that will be changing next year. The reason for AEW having this past strategy was to save money on production cost for its weekly shows.
Except for the Dynamite show on January 11 from The Forum in Los Angeles, CA, AEW has announced new market dates for its 2023 touring schedule thus far.
For their remaining 2022 shows, the markets they are heading to haven’t had shows there since earlier this year. The last time they went to Cedar Park and San Antonio was in March while they last ran Garland in April 2022. They haven’t held a show in Broomfield since March 2020.
Here’s an updated look at AEW’s touring schedule through March 2023. Head over to AEWTix.com if you’re located in any of these markets and interested in attending
AEW Dynamite and Rampage: December 7 – H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, TX
AEW Dynamite and Rampage (Winter is Coming): December 14 – Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas
AEW Dynamite and Rampage (Holiday Bash): December 21 – Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas
AEW Dynamite and Rampage: December 28 – 1STBANK Arena in Broomfield, CO
AEW Dynamite: January 4 – Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA
AEW Rampage and Battle of the Belts: January 6 – Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, OR
AEW Dynamite and Rampage: January 11 – The Forum in Los Angeles, CA
AEW Dynamite and Rampage: January 18 – Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA
AEW Dynamite and Rampage: January 25 – Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY
AEW Dynamite and Rampage: February 1 – Nutter Center in Dayton, OH
AEW Dynamite and Rampage: February 8 – El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, TX
AEW Dynamite and Rampage: February 15 – TBA
AEW Dynamite and Rampage: February 22 – Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ
AEW Dynamite: March 1 – Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA
AEW Rampage: March 3 – Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA
AEW Revolution: March 5 – Chase Center in San Francisco, CA
Thunder Rosa says her injury rehabilitation is going “really well,” but don’t expect her back in All Elite Wrestling any time soon. She’s jogging, is finally able to lift weights again, but still has done any in-ring training.
Rosa has been on the sidelines since August 2022 when an undisclosed injury put her on the shelf. A lot has transpired since then, when she was the reigning AEW Women’s World Champion.
A tournament was held to crown an interim champion during her absence. Toni Storm won the tournament at All Out, but lost the interim title to Jamie Hayter at Full Gear. AEW has since stripped Rosa of her championship, retired the interim title and declared Hayter the official Women’s World Champion.
Several AEW stars have been critical of Rosa during her hiatus, including former champions Storm and Dr. Britt Baker.
Rosa has provided an update on her recovery. She’s back in the gym doing squats with 2-pound dumbbells, which she considers a huge win after so many months without lifting.
“The recovery is going really well,” Rosa said. “This week I was just able to do squats with a two-pound dumbbell. I haven’t done any lifting for the last four or five months so this is huge.”
She also participated in a 5k race two weeks ago. Doctors are not allowing her to do any running, but she jogged half of it and walked the rest. Despite these recovery milestones, she still has a ways to go.
I have not been able to be in the ring yet so we’re working on that.
– Thunder Rosa Injury Update
Rosa is as tough as they come. Her injury and long road back to AEW are further reminders that pro wrestlers put their bodies and health on the line every time they step through the ropes.
Claudio Castagnoli has spoken about the reports regarding William Regal’s wrestling status as he is expected to leave AEW to make a return to WWE.
Castagnoli became a member of the Blackpool Combat Club at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door when he replaced Bryan Danielson against Zack Sabre Jr and made his promotional debut. Regal founded BCC alongside Jon Moxley and Danielson.
Regal is reportedly leaving AEW and returning to WWE as his AEW contract reportedly expired in December, where he will be working in a backstage role again.
“I mean, I guess we have to … we have to wait and see. You know, we’re still talking, I think we have to have a little group meeting to figure out what’s next, or if there’s a next. So yeah, I’ll leave it at that,” he said.
Claudio also talked about what it means to him to work with Regal since he arrived in AEW. He said he never stopped learning from Regal and he was the reason he got into WWE in the first place. He was also the man to end Regal’s in-ring career.
Claudio is set to challenge Chris Jericho for the ROH World Title at ROH Final Battle this Saturday.
AEW filed a new trademark application last week. On Wednesday, November 30, filed an application on the phrase, “Hat Trick.” These trademark applications often provide a glimpse what wrestling companies and wrestlers have planned in the coming months.
According to the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) database, the Attorney of Record for the live trademark is Bradley M. Stohry.
The Goods and Services usage description for the Hat Trick trademarks includes:
Entertainment services in the nature of live wrestling performances; Entertainment services in the nature of production of television shows and multimedia entertainment content featuring wrestling programs and events;
Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a group or individual wrestlers;
Hat Trick is a phrase that means, “three similar successes” and is often used in sports when three goals are scored in a game/match.
AEW has utilized sports-related phrases for its special events, including Grand Slam and The First Dance, so it could be an event name. There’s also Jake Hager of the Jericho Appreciation Society, who really likes his purple hat.
Wrestling Trademarks
Here’s some more recent news about pro wrestling trademarks:
Former WWE NXT GM William Regal is reportedly returning to WWE following a short stint with AEW.
Regal formed the Blackpool Combat Club with Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson. It appeared that AEW was onto something with the group but the booking quickly made them an afterthought. Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson chased after the ROH Championship and have been feuding with Jericho Appreciation Society for an eternity while Moxley was doing his own thing as AEW World Champion.
William played a prominent role in the AEW World Championship match at Full Gear. Regal betrayed Jon Moxley and slid him the brass knuckles. MJF would then betray William Regal on this past Wednesday’s edition of Dynamite and bashed him in the back of the head with the brass knuckles.
There have been reports of AEW talent questioning the decision to have Regal be the focal point of the AEW World Championship storyline when it was known he was leaving the company.
Former WWE Superstar EC3 joined former WWE writer Vince Russo and Dr. Chris Featherstone for the latest edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling’s The Wrestling Outlaws Show.
During the conversation, EC3 stated that Regal’s value is in a developmental system where the talent listen and that was not the case in AEW.
He’s too valuable to not be in a developmental system. And I know we can say ‘oh he’s there mentoring the people in AEW’, the thing is they are not listening.
The talent doesn’t listen to veterans for the most part. The ones that do are knocking him in the back of the head with brass knuckles and are the World Champion.
The other ones are doing moves all the way from Dynamite to Rampage to Dark, and nobody cares.
His value is grooming future generations in NXT, like I think he loved it there. I think he was super comfortable. If people are paid money to listen to him, well maybe they will actually listen to him.
EC3 added that he heard William Regal immediately regretted joining All Elite Wrestling once he signed with the promotion. The former WWE star claimed that he heard those words verbatim.
The word was he said ‘I immediately regret this decision, there’s very much a maturity issue here within management’. Verbatim.
Cargill did not name the show or when fans will get to hear her in the unnamed role.
Voice Over Work
Bret Hart berates Mr. Burns in a 1997 episode of The Simpsons after the evil billionaire loses his fortune.
Cargill is the latest wrestler to provide voice-over work for a non-wrestling project but is far from the first.
Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart voiced an animated version of himself in The Simpsons episode ‘The Old Man and the Lisa,’ buying the home of Mr. Burns and picking a fight with neighbor ‘The Shrieking Sheik.
Fellow WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley lent his voice to his role as ‘The Boulder’ in Avatar: The Last Airbender, playing an earth-bending wrestler who competes in tournaments.
Even WWE’s Tribal Chief Roman Reigns has done voice-over work, playing the Kizin, the antagonist of one episode of the Disney show, Elena of Avalor.
Reigning AEW TNT Champion and Ring of Honor World Television Champion will voice King Shark in the upcoming DC Comics video game ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.’
Jade Outside of Wrestling
This voice-over role is a big score for Cargill, who is continuing to make her name outside of wrestling.
In recent weeks, Cargill has had a (mostly online) feud with rapper Bow Wow, and the Baddies confronted him during a fan event.
Some believe that this will culminate in a match between Cargill and Bow Wow, given that the latter has expressed an interest in wrestling in the past.
Last month, the former WWE Intercontinental Champion stated that he has about a year left on his contract with AEW.
Dustin Rhodes: A Retrospective
Years before becoming Goldust in the WWF, Rhodes worked for the promotion under his real name from 1990 to 1991, where he was aligned on-screen with his father Dusty.
It wouldn’t be until 1995 that Rhodes would don his iconic face paint, wig, and bodysuit, but would occasionally ditch the persona in the promotion.
In 1999, Rhodes would return to WCW, this time as ‘Seven’ but would immediately break character to bash the character.
Returning to the WWF in 2002, Rhodes would remain for a few more years before joining TNA Wrestling as ‘Black Reign.’
It was Rhodes’ final return to WWE in 2013 that would see him team with his brother Cody, winning the WWE Tag Team Championships from The Shield in October of that year.
In addition to competing for AEW, Rhodes also works as a coach backstage for the promotion.
“You know I’ve done a lot in Japan, but I need to prove myself in America and if I’m going to be a superstar on television, then I need that ROH Television title around my waist. Joe, you may be the ‘King of TV’ now…kings get dethroned.”
"You may be the king of TV now… Kings get dethroned" Former 3X IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson is issuing a challenge to @SamoaJoe!#AEWRampage is on TNT! pic.twitter.com/So3ou5xfXe
AEW was rumored to have signed Robinson last month, with the company having interest in him for several months. He was last seen in the company where he wrestled then AEW World Champion Jon Moxley in a World Eliminator Championship match. Robinson lost and therefore did not earn a shot at the title.
Last year, Robinson and his former tag team partner, David Finlay spent time in IMPACT Wrestling. Under the tag team name, FinJuice (given to them when they were in NJPW’s World Tag League), they feuded with Good Brothers. FinJuice held the IMPACT Tag Team titles for two months.
Robinson is currently feuding with Blake Christian, who is also signed to AEW under the ROH brand, in NJPW Strong. He joined Bullet Club in May at NJPW’s Wrestling Dontaku show when he showed up after allegedly leaving the company to attack Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Robinson was briefly in ROH from 2018-2019 where he was the in Lifeblood. The faction featured Finlay, Bandido, Tracy Williams, Tenille Dashwood, and Mark Haskins.
Final Battle will take place in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, December 10 at 4 PM ET.
The House of Black proved that they are back and better than ever after this week’s AEW Rampage went off the air.
In September, both Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews announced they were taking separate breaks from AEW, which some believed at the time was a sign of a WWE return.
Instead, both men returned on the November 23, 2022, episode of AEW Dynamite, realigning with Julia Hart and Brody King.
After Rampage
In the main event of last night’s Rampage, AEW All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy retained his title in a Lumberjack match against QT Marshall.
A huge brawl broke between the lumberjacks after the match and when the lights went out, the House of Black emerged and cleared the ring of the performers.
After the show, the beatdown continued, with Brandon Cutler, who was taping the action on his Cutler Cam being singled out by the stable.
Brody King attacked Cutler from behind and put him through the table with a huge powerbomb.
Black told the fallen Cutley that while he has no problem with him, he has problems with those he associates with.
The trio walked away with Excalibur noting on commentary that the House of Black has declared war on AEW.
Ring of Honor Final Battle will air on December 10th from College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Chris Jericho will defend the ROH Championship against Claudio Castagnoli in the main event. Mercedes Martinez will defend the ROH Women’s Championship against Athena at the PPV.
Another title match was added to the card during tonight’s edition of AEW Rampage. Former IWGP Champion Juice Robinson appeared in a video promo during Rampage and challenged ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe. Juice noted that Joe may be the “King of Television” for now but he will dethrone him.
Samoa Joe captured the TNT Championship as well at AEW Full Gear on November 19th. Former TNT Champion Wardlow interrupted Joe on this past Wednesday’s edition of Dynamite and warned him that he’s coming for the TNT Championship. It was also announced that Samoa Joe will be defending the TNT Championship against Darby Allin on next week’s Dynamite.
Renee Paquette interviewed AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed tonight on Rampage. They said they wanted to fight the best and the crowd chanted “FTR!”. Gunn Club, Jeff Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Singh, and Jay Lethal interrupted but The Acclaimed ignored them. ROH Tag Team Champions FTR made their way to the ring and shook The Acclaimed’s hands. It was later announced on Rampage that The Acclaimed will defend the AEW Tag Team Championships next week on Dynamite against FTR.
AEW talent have reportedly been left scratching their heads over a recent booking decision made by Tony Khan.
At AEW Full Gear, William Regal turned on Jon Moxley and the Blackpool Combat Club to help MJF become the new AEW World Champion.
During this week’s Dynamite, MJF turned on Regal, and mocked the British wrestling veteran for making a deal with ‘the Devil.’
Questions
This week’s attack on Regal is being seen by many as the way he’ll be written off of TV, and the former King of the Ring is not expected to return.
It has been reported that Regal’s contract is expected to expire soon, which is something those high up in the company have known for some time.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer questioned why Tony Khan put so much emphasis on Regal’s turn and alliance with MJF, knowing he would be leaving soon.
According to Meltzer, several others in AEW have also questioned the decision of making a big deal about Regal and not having a big payoff.
“I can’t understand putting so much heel steam to the point of being the point man in stealing the title on Regal, when it was known by the key people by this point he was gone in a few weeks. I mean, story or not, the guy was leaving. A lot of talent has questioned that in the same way now that everyone knows he’s leaving.”
Dave Meltzer.
Regal is expected to return to WWE when the time is right after being released in January of this year.
MJF’s Title Win
MJF’s AEW World Championship victory at Full Gear was a long-time coming in the eyes of fans, as the Devil has been a highlight of the promotion for years.
In the Observer, it was reported that there were other pitches for his title win, with some not involving Regal as much, though there was always the need to write him out.
Meltzer writes that the core plan that has remains the same was for MJF to be champion, Bryan Danielson to be challenging and for Regal to be out of the picture.
Saraya is headed to the dentist’s chair just weeks after her first match in over five years (against a dentist) and yes, she sees the irony there.
On Thursday evening, Saraya noted on Twitter that she just landed home and was going”straight off the plane to the dentist.”
She’ll be undergoing oral surgery, but it’s unrelated to anything that happened in the ring. She’s having her wisdom teeth removed, a procedure that most people recover from within two weeks.
Landed from work. Straight off the plane to the dentist to get my wisdom teeth out. This all start just before I had to wrestle a real life dentist. The IRONY. ?
Saraya has been feuding with Dr. Britt Baker since arriving in All Elite Wrestling. After their match at Full Gear last month, she had positive things to say about her rival. During the post-PPV media scrum, she stated bluntly, “Britt carried me through the whole thing.”
It will be interesting to see if Saraya continues her feud with Baker, or if she moves on to a program with someone else. It’s likely too soon into her run to jump into the title picture. Other heels in the AEW women’s division include Anna Jay, Nyla Rose, Red Velvet, Serena Deeb and Tay Melo.
In an unrelated note, Saraya has been outspoken about wanting to work with Sasha Banks again in the future, which is interesting on several levels. She recently revealed that she spoke with Banks after announcing she was medically cleared to wrestle again.
Just days after Full Gear, Saraya name-dropped Banks again:
Punk also has appeared in multiple films, and was critically acclaimed for his role in 2019’s ‘Girl on the Third Floor.’
Going Back…
CM Punk may have options outside of wrestling, but moving on from AEW may lead to going back to WWE.
Punk walked out of the promotion in 2014 and was sent his termination papers on his wedding day, an unfortunate coincidence according to former WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
It has been reported that Triple H is open to working with Punk, realizing the huge deal that having arguably AEW’s biggest star on his roster would be.
While the Game is open to discussing a Punk return, others in WWE absolutely do not want him back.
Malakai Black, Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart, aka the House of Black, recently returned to AEW television after an extended absence from the promotion.
The House of Black was rumored to be released and on their way back to WWE at one point, but at the end of the day, they came back to All Elite Wrestling on the November 23rd edition of Dynamite.
Speaking on episode 459 of the Jim Cornette Experience, the WWE legend reviewed House of Black’s return on last week’s Dynamite. The group showed up following Orange Cassidy and Jake Hager’s match.
Then they had a blackout, and then spooky music came on, and then to a big pop from this crowd, on the stage was Stevie Nicks, I’m sorry Julia Hart.
She looks just like Stevie Nicks in the day and that is never a bad thing. When the lights come on, the House of Black is in the ring behind the pudding gang (Best Friends and Orange Cassidy).
I mean there’s Pockets (All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy) there’s Muffin Top Taylor, there’s Trent, whoever else is in that crowd.
And they beat up, the House of Black did, all of the pudding gang while QT Marshall’s The Factory was in the ring too, and they stood there and applauded it. So then the House of Black beat up The Factory too.
Cornette pointed out that the AEW fans were chanting “welcome back!” at these “satanic heels” after they beat everyone down.
And the people cheered and chanted welcome back at these satanic heels. So you had a match with a guy facing Jake Hager from the Jericho Appreciation Society.
And the guy Pockets, and his crew won the match, and then stayed in the ring so that the House of Black could come and beat them up. The Factory came down so they could get beat up too.
Through all of this heat-getting stuff, the people chanted “welcome back!” to the heels that worship satan. And then Malakai Black spoke and it all went to bleh.
Then they went to break. This is like the first season all over again. This is like they are trying to get the Dork Order (Dark Order) over again.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit The Jim Cornette Experience with a H/T to SEScoops for the transcription.
Freddie Prinze Jr. recently appeared on the Insight podcast with Chris Van Vliet and said he has a friendship with AEW World Champion MJF.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman has stated on numerous occasions that he will be a free agent in 2024 and is expecting the biggest contract in wrestling history. Prinze is reportedly starting his own promotion and recently made an offer to a big name in WWE.
Last night on AEW Dynamite, MJF introduced a new title called “BBB” (Big Burberry Belt) and brutally attacked William Regal. This was apparently a way to write William Regal out of AEW as he’s expected to return to WWE.
Speaking on the Insight podcast, Freddie praised MJF and said he meets with him every time the AEW World Champion visits Los Angeles.
I’ve gotten to know Maxwell over the last two years. Every time he comes to L.A., we make it a point to go to dinner. And I try to take him to a different sushi spot every time.
I’m not the most experienced and educated wrestling cat in the world, but I did work for the WWE and I did ask a million questions to the Pat Pattersons of the world, to the Freebirds of the world, to the Arn Andersons, the Dean Malenkos – all these old school people, and everything they taught me this dude has in spades.
Freddie added that it cool MJF gets to see people give him his flowers while he’s such a young performer.
It’s like Bruce Lee out there, man. It’s crazy, I know – I’m speaking about him like he’s a poet or Picasso, but that’s what he is … And the good thing is, he’s been appreciated within his lifetime, instead of long after he’s gone.
CM Punk has greatly reduced how much he posts on social media since the incident at AEW All Out, where he ripped Hangman Page, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Colt Cabana at the post-event press conference and then got into a brawl with The Elite.
Wrestling Inc previously reported that members of Punk’s camp alleged that Larry’s teeth were knocked loose accidentally when the door to the wrestler’s locker room was kicked open. The report stated the teeth had to be pulled days later by a vet.
The Photo
Punk recently shared a photograph of his dog, Larry, to his Instagram story that shows Larry missing several teeth, seemingly confirming the report.
This photo is only a few things he has shared as of late in addition to occasional promotion for his wife AJ Mendez’s Netflix movie “Blade of the 47 Ronin.”
Punk had undergone surgery for a torn left triceps shortly after All Out during his AEW Championship match against Jon Moxley. The injury will likely keep him out of action for at least eight months.
As previously reported, there have been talks between Punk and AEW about a contract buyout. However, there’s been a hang-up on the non-compete clause period.
Posted December 1st, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: CM Punk.
