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AEW and NJPW to include clause for non-contracted stars for future joint shows

By
Colin Vassallo
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AEW logo

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling is reporting through his Select service that All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling will be including some clause in the future that would prevent wrestlers from appearing in joint shows to immediately jump ship to WWE.

The clause comes after Stephanie Vaquer went to WWE after she lost her NJPW Strong Women’s title to Mercedes Mone days before at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view in June of this year.

Non-contracted AEW and NJPW stars appear at joint shows such as Forbidden Door and the upcoming Wrestle Dynasty pay-per-view in January, so this is mainly for those wrestlers who are appearing on behalf of other promotions, such as CMLL and others.

Vaquer was wrapping up her deal with CMLL after Forbidden Door and actually quit the promotion before finalizing her remaining dates.

The Undertaker sits down with President Donald Trump for Six Feet Under podcast

By
Colin Vassallo
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President Donald Trump’s episode on The Undertaker’s podcast Six Feet Under was published just a few hours ago.

The one-hour interview featured an incredible amount of time talking about professional wrestling, including Trump turning the tables and asking Taker several questions about his wrestling career.

Trump also got in deep discussion about his WrestleMania 23 involvement with Umaga, Bobby Lashley, and Vince McMahon, telling Taker that he wondered to McMahon why did they have to follow Undertaker vs Batista instead of going before. He mentioned multiple times that WrestleMania 23 holds the record for the most WWE pay-per-view buys, something that Trump looked proud of.

The President also discussed his mugshot, how he got involved with professional wrestling, the assassination attempt, and of course, the upcoming election.

Donald Trump says The Rock called him after he was shot in the ear

By
Colin Vassallo
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Appearing on the Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway podcast, President Donald Trump told The Undertaker that The Rock called him after he got shot even though he thought the most electrifying man in sports and entertainment didn’t like him!

“I never thought he liked me, and I felt badly because I think he’s a terrific guy,” Trump said discussing The Rock.

“And then Dana White said, when I was shot…shot to the ear, Rock called Dana said and I wanna have his number, I wanna have his number,” Trump continued.

The WWE Hall of Famer and 45th President of the United States said that what Rock did for him was sort of incredible.

“It was very nice actually, The rock, so you might mention that I said that,” Trump told The Undertaker.

30% discount offer for Thanksgiving Eve Dynamite episode in Chicago

By
Colin Vassallo
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Dynamite logo

AEW is running a 30% discount on tickets for the Thanksgiving Eve episode of Dynamite which will be held at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, November 27.

Using the code AEWFALL on Ticketmaster will unlock $25.20 and $39.20 tickets, plus taxes and fees, in most open sections.

Seats up until row one and two are also still available, selling just over $200 per ticket.

Thanksgiving Eve Dynamite is a tradition in Chicago although ticket sales have been going down every year in what was once AEW’s favorite city.

Bo Dallas says Bray Wyatt selected all Wyatt Sicks members

By
Colin Vassallo
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In an interview to promote the new WWE 2K24 Bray Wyatt Edition, Bo Dallas spoke to USA Today about losing his brother and the Wyatt Sicks, revealing that Bray was the one who personally selected the members of the group.

“He wanted to work with them,” Dallas said. “He hand-picked them for reasons almost unknown to me. Like he just saw something and felt something in them.”

The members of the Wyatt Sicks include former Wyatt Family member Erick Rowan, Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, and Dexter Lumis. The group made their spectacular cinematic debut on the June 17 episode of Raw.

“Everything that’s going on up to this date and then going forward, if it’s not Windham’s idea, it has a piece of Windham’s idea in it,” Dallas continued, adding that this is exactly what he’s supposed to be doing for his late brother.

“I know this is what he wants,” Dallas said. “I feel the love from everybody watching this and that is a part of this, because it’s not just me, it’s everybody. Everybody’s in on this for Bray.”

Sting signs multi-year licensing deal with AEW

By
Colin Vassallo
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During an appearance on Kayfabe Friends podcast, Hall of Famer Sting revealed that he signed a multi-year licensing deal with All Elite Wrestling, keeping him tied to the promotion for the foreseeable future.

Sting said that the deal is for merchandise and appearances and does not include any in-ring wrestling. The deal is similar to what WWE calls the Legends deal.

The former AEW Tag Team champion retired from in-ring competition earlier this year, winning his final match along with Darby Allin defeating The Young Bucks. He stayed undefeated during his whole AEW run which started in December 2020.

He last appeared on AEW television at All In in Wembley Stadium, coming to help Darby Allin.

WWE announces NXT at 2300 Arena in Philly for November 6

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE today officially announced that NXT will take place from the ECW Arena, now known as 2300 Arena, on Wednesday, November 6.

Tickets for the show will go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, October 22 at Noon ET at 2300Arena.com. An exclusive pre-sale will start at 10AM ET using the code NXTLIVE.

“The city of Philadelphia has a rich wrestling history, and we are excited to bring a night of unforgettable action to such a storied venue,” said WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels.

The 2300 Arena was made famous by ECW back in its heyday, with many rowdy episodes of ECW television taking place there from 1993 to 2001. Built in 1920, the venue has a max capacity of 1,300 and ECW often exceeded the legal seating capacity of just over 1,000 during its residency.

WWE only held one show there when they revived the ECW brand in 2006. Tickets for that show were an instant sellout and featured RVD defending the WWE title against Kurt Angle.

NXT will move to Wednesday that week for one night only due to the U.S. presidential election the night before.

Sammy Guevara cleared, returning next week on Dynamite

By
Colin Vassallo
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Sammy Guevara has been cleared to compete after suffering a concussion during the ROH TV tapings earlier this month.

A video hyping his return aired on Collision, saying that the only way he can reach his destiny is to beat the best, and one of the best had a great debut last week: Shelton Benjamin.

“He’s a man I’ve watched since I was a kid. So I went to Tony Khan personally and asked for this match,” Guevara said in the video. “So this Wednesday, for the first time ever live on Dynamite, it’s Shelton Benjamin vs Sammy Guevara.”

The current ROH Tag Team title holder was stretchered out after his taped match against Serpentico when a mistimed spot led to Serpentico landing on Guevara’s face, knocking him out.

Anna Jay earns AEW Women’s title shot after winning eliminator match at BOTB

By
Colin Vassallo
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It’s very rare that AEW title eliminator matches are won by challengers, but yesterday at Battle of the Belts XII, Anna Jay broke that streak.

In her AEW Women’s title eliminator match, Jay defeated champion Mariah May clean via pinfall, earning herself a title match which she will cash in on the November 2 episode of Collision live from Philadelphia.

This is May’s first loss since winning the AEW Women’s title from Toni Storm at All In in Wembley Stadium this past August.

May vs Jay main evented the 12th installment of the series and likely the last one carrying the name as the show was not picked up again as part of the new media rights television deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Six former writers accuse Vince McMahon of hostile and sexist work environment

By
Colin Vassallo
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More problems are mounting on Vince McMahon as Rolling Stone published a story last night following six former WWE creative writers coming out to accuse him of creating a hostile and sexist work environment.

The former writers, who worked for the company at different times between 2016 and 2022, also accused other writers who were in a higher position in engaging in the same tactics in a bid to turn other members against each other, as well as sexual harassment.

Two of the writers who came forward are female and after they told HR about the problems in an online meeting, their superiors told them to stop acting like children and not to go to HR if they have future problems. One of the writers was fired afterward.

Another former writer, Michael Leonardi, told Rolling Stone that he was fired in 2016 after there was a change in script during the Martin Luther King Jr Day Raw episode where a former WWE Superstar – Neville – did not want to say a line which is associated with MLK and instead it was changed so R-Truth could deliver it.

Vince McMahon allegedly did not like the change and tore Leonardi a new one, firing him for not being proper for the role.

Legal representatives for Vince McMahon denied all the accusations and in a statement said, “Scores of writers could share tales of what an enjoyable, creative and freewheeling environment the WWE writers rooms were. This handful of (obviously disgruntled) individuals aren’t representative in any way of the consensus — or of the truth.”

Trying to tie this story to the Janel Grant lawsuit, none of the six former creative writers admitted that they have direct knowledge or information related to Grant and McMahon.

WWE in talks to return to Perth in 2025

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE logo

The West Australian is reporting that WWE is in negotiations again with the local government to bring another WWE event to Perth in 2025.

The Cook Government is “remaining tight-lipped” about the show, says the news outlet, but rumors are that a show is being proposed to TKO for the second half of 2025, once again to be held at the Optus Stadium.

The Optus Stadium held the Elimination Chamber premium live event in February of this year, an event which had an attendance of 52,590.

Perth is particularly expensive to get to even for those living in the massive country as it’s the most western city. It’s around a five hour flight from Sydney, four hour flight from Melbourne, and nearly a six hour flight from Brisbane, making the location not the most ideal one for Australian fans.

AEW changing approach how to promote upcoming shows and matches

By
Colin Vassallo
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AEW logo

AEW has started to change the way they promote upcoming events and matches since the current way of doing it has not been working very well.

For the past several months, AEW has taken to social media only to promote matches at events, and typically announces them just days away from the show, with “long-term booking” seemingly out of the window.

Live event attendance has pretty much crumbled from past years and advertising – including local ones – is being blamed for the collapse.

But AEW has noticed it has to change their approach and already started announcing matches for shows a few weeks in advance, giving them importance by announcing them on television during shows rather than on social media, where only a smaller percentage of fans will see them.

They also went a step further last night during the Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling debut event Forged in Excellence, which had several AEW stars on including Don Callis as commentator. During one of the breaks of the show, commentator Mauro Ranallo gave a quick run down of the matches that are coming to Dynamite next week and the Fright Night Dynamite later this month.

“Where the Best Wrestle + support their friends,” Khan replied in a post on X showing the video of Ranallo running down the card.

Collision and Battle of the Belts XII live tonight on TNT

By
Colin Vassallo
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It’s a three-hour block of AEW action tonight on TNT as Collision returns after a one-week absence and immediately following that comes what might be the last Battle of the Belts.

Seven matches have been announced for Collision, including Ricochet vs AR Fox, Blackpool Combat Club vs Top Flight and Action Andretti for the AEW Trios titles, Kyle Fletcher vs Atlantis Jr, The Outrunners vs LFI, Hayley Cameron vs Kris Statlander, Premiere Athletes vs Daniel Garcia and Private Party in a trios match, Orange Cassidy vs Bulk Bronson, and two other matches featuring House of Black and Jamie Hayter.

Battle of the Belts XII will follow with Mariah May vs Anna Jay in an AEW Women’s title eliminator match and Kazuchika Okada vs Kyle O’Reilly for the AEW Continental title.

Michael Cole misses Smackdown, replaced by Wade Barrett

By
Colin Vassallo
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Raw’s Wade Barrett had to temporarily move to the blue brand yesterday and re-join his former broadcast colleague Corey Graves due to Michael Cole missing the show.

It’s unclear why Cole missed the show but Graves said that he was on a “special assignment” whatever that might mean.

The voice of WWE had a fantastic streak going of never missing a show from 1997 until 20 years later, where he had to miss a broadcast due to his son getting married in 2017. Apart from that, the only other show Cole has missed was last October for the Raw season premiere and was replaced by Kevin Patrick.

Piers Morgan Uncensored tackles Vince McMahon and WWE in latest episode

By
Colin Vassallo
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The latest episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored tackled Vince McMahon and WWE, jumping on the popularity of the Mr. McMahon Netflix series and the news of the Janel Grant lawsuit.

Joining Morgan for this episode are former WWE Superstar Maven, former announcer Jonathan Coachman, former creative writer Vince Russo, and former backstage interviewer Charly Arnolt. They were also joined by chief McMahon critic Phil Mushnick, who Piers brought in as a surprise and who got into a massive argument with Russo.

The 46-minute show also discusses Donald Trump’s association with WWE, drugs and steroids, who the real Vince McMahon is, and more.

Hayes vs Andrade series to end next week on Smackdown

By
Colin Vassallo
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The final match of the best of seven series between Carmelo Hayes and Andrade will take place on next week’s Smackdown.

The two have been facing each other for a few months, with the series tied at three wins each. Their first match was back on July 19.

To spice it up, their last match will have a special guest referee, none other than United States champion LA Knight, who promised to be impartial and call it down the middle.

With both having history with Knight, it’s almost safe to say that whoever wins this will get the next crack at the United States title.

The Undertaker, Kane, and President Trump respond to Dave Bautista’s election choice

By
Colin Vassallo
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The Undertaker, along with Kane and former President Donald Trump, appeared in a quick video dissing Dave Bautista and the Democratic nominees for the U.S. presidential election.

The three, who were involved in the taping of The Undertaker’s podcast Six Feet Under, were responding the video that Bautista did for Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week, where the former WWE champion ripped Trump by calling him a “weak tubby toddler” who wears more make-up than Dolly Parton and who’s barely strong enough to hold an umbrella.

“November 5th, election mania, the choice is yours,” Taker said. “You can go with President Trump, Kane, and The Undertaker, or you can take Kamala Harris, Dave Bautista, and Tim Walz.”

Taker then urges his viewers to “choose wisely” because the nation depends on it.

“And that should be an easy choice,” chimed in Trump, sitting in between the two.

The images used to show Harris, Bautista, and Walz were not very flattering, especially Bautista’s who was shown in the photo wearing the odd pearl necklace at a recent movie opening.

Motor City Machine Guns make their WWE debut on Smackdown

By
Colin Vassallo
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The Motor City Machine Guns made their WWE debut last night on Smackdown.

Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley were shown earlier in the day in a video on social media being welcomed by Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis, who then informed them that their debut match will be in a triple threat against Los Garza and A-Town Down Under.

Sabin and Shelley, one of the most decorated tag teams in pro wrestling, won that match and will face DIY next week, who themselves defeated The Street Profits and Pretty Deadly, to determine who will face The Bloodline for the tag team titles next.

WWE to have show at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, believed to be for NXT

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE logo

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that WWE has booked the 2300 Arena, formerly known as ECW Arena, in Philadelphia for a show which is believed to be the November 6 episode of NXT.

NXT will air on Wednesday that week, head-to-head with Dynamite, due to the U.S. presidential election which takes place the day before on the usual NXT night.

While the booking of the arena is confirmed, Meltzer adds that the November 6 date has not, but moving NXT to the ECW Arena for the first time ever would probably generate enough curiosity for fans to tune in and try to beat Dynamite on their own night.

Donald Trump rumored to tape podcast with The Undertaker this week

By
Colin Vassallo
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In a story published by Politico.com titled ‘Inside Trump’s push to win over the ‘bro’ vote,’ it was stated that the 45th President of the United States will be sitting for The Undertaker for a taping of his Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway podcast.

Politico’s Alex Isenstadt wrote that Trump will be taping the interview “this week” as per someone familiar with the situation, but did not specify when.

If this indeed does happen, it would be Trump’s second podcast hosted by someone associated with WWE, as he already taped a podcast with Logan Paul for his Impaulsive show.

The Undertaker has openly declared multiple times in the past that he supports Donald Trump so this would be an easy day for the two WWE Hall of Famers!

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