AEW has started taking pre-orders for the TNT championship replica on the ShopAEW.com website.
Pre-orders will be taking up until 11:59PM on Friday, October 21 and while both the red and black versions of the TNT title are available, the red version will only be available during the pre-sale period.
The title has simulated leather straps made from polyurethane and weighs approximately 9 pounds, fits up to a 45″ waist, and comes in a black cloth bag with the All Elite Wrestling Logo on it. It’s only available for U.S. orders and no international orders are accepted.
It expected to start shipping in Spring 2023. The price is $549.
The new VICE television series Tales from the Territories, produced by the people behind Dark Side of the Ring and Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions, starts its run tonight at 10PM EST.
The series was announced in August of this year after news started to come out that Dark Side of the Ring was not returning for a new season. VICE and producers Evan Husney and Jason Eisener refuted those claims but never specifically said that the new season was being done this year.
Instead, the company announced the involvement with Dwayne Johnson to create Tales from the Territories which, at least this year, will air instead of Dark Side of the Ring.
The first episode will tackle the Memphis territory.
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced today that as part of their 50th anniversary celebration they had planned to name Inoki as the Honorary Lifetime Chairman of NJPW, a role which the founder accepted.
He was officially named Honorary Lifetime Chairman on September 1, 2022 and the information was due to be made public on October 10 at Declaration of Power in Ryogoku Sumo Hall.
“It is to our deep sadness that this announcement cannot take place as previously planned. However, in accordance with Mr. Inoki’s wishes, all of us at New Japan Pro-Wrestling will continue to move forward and lead the professional wrestling world to the utmost of our abilities,” the organization said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in footage filmed on September 22, a bed-ridden and very fail-looking Inoki wanted to update his fans on his condition on his YouTube page. The footage was released on October 1 and the subtitles now have been translated to English. The heart-breaking footage can be seen below.
Friday Night Smackdown on FOX drew 2,207,000 viewers, down 328,000 viewers from last week’s two-year high. The show topped all of network television in the 18-49 demo with a 0.54 rating and was second in all of TV. The demo was down 0.09 from last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Finn Balor & Damian Priest VS. Rey Mysterio & AJ Styles
Prior to the match, Dominik says Rey Mysterio is not his dad and he hates him for lying to him his whole life.
While the match is going on, Rey and Dominik get into a verbal argument and Dominik again gets on his knees screaming at Rey to “hit me” but Rey turns to go back to the ring and Rhea Ripley knocks him down. Meanwhile, in the ring AJ is left with Priest and Balor who set AJ up for the Coup de Grace and get the win.
Winners: Finn Balor & Damian Priest
After the match, Rey crawls in to help AJ up and AJ pulls away and says I needed you and it is your fault and pushes Rey to the mat as the Judgment Day jump AJ from behind.
Bobby Lashley is interviewed in the back and says he wants someone with the same fire and desire that he has that knows what it takes to get to the top. Mustafa Ali says he has that desire and is tired of waiting in line for someone to call his number and Lashley tells him he sees him hustling to keep it up and he will make sure he gets his shot. Ali says he is demanding a shot and Lashley tells him they are getting too good at this disrespecting him stuff.
Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso in the back laughing about a burning couch with Solo and Jey walks up and says what is so funny. Sami says nothing important. They walk up to the Street Profits and Sami says look at these suckers and warned them the Tribal Chief will be there next week.
Bobby Lashley VS. Mustafa Ali for the United States Championship
Ali refused to submit but passed out to the hurt lock.
Winner and still United States Champion: Bobby Lashley
After the match, Lashley was helping Ali up and is attacked by Seth “Freakin” Rollins, one stomp then another on the US Championship. Rollins then walks out laughing then stomps Ali on the floor.
Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Matt Riddle go face to face and there is a no contact clause in place. Rollins said he is the king of the fight pit as Riddle reminded him he never fought in the Fight Pit before and vowed to hurt him.
Rollins then starts talking about Riddle not being allowed to see his kids anymore and as they begin to argue more, Daniel Cormier, who is going to be the special referee for this match this weekend, is shown on the big screen and tells them to stop that everyone is tired of them bickering and he will see them both Saturday.
The Miz is shown on the phone with who he says was Maryse and Dexter Lumis is shown peaking in his door.
Candace Lerae VS. Dakota Kai
With the interference help of Damage Control, Kai gets the win.
Winner: Dakota Kai
In the back, Johnny Gargano is walking and walks by Dexter Lumis holding the Miz in his lap and Gargano stops and turns around and Miz is laying there and Johnny pokes Miz. Miz jumps and says, “Don’t touch me” and a picture is laying on the Miz and he drops the picture and gets up and walks away while Johnny laughs.
Otis with Chad Gable & Austin Theory VS. Johnny Gargano
After getting hit with the Money in the Bank briefcase by Theory, Otis slams Gargano for the win.
Winner: Otis
After the match, Alpha Academy and Theory continue to beat on Gargano and Strowman comes out for the save.
Braun Strowman VS. Chad Gable
Gable hung in the match as long as he could after the help of Otis and Theory, but Strowman got Gable with a powerbomb.
Winner: Braun Strowman
Bobby Lashley is in the back, Kevin Patrick asks him how he is doing and Lashley says after Riddle gets done with Seth Rollins Saturday, he is putting his title on the line next week and going to put Rollins in the hurt lock.
Contract signing for the Raw Women’s Championship match between Bayley and Bianca Belair is next. As they begin to argue, Bayley said she wonders how her girls are doing as it was time to go out to eat. In the back they are shown attacking Asuka and Alexa Bliss and instead of going after Bayley, Bianca runs to the back to help them. She arrives after Sky and Kai stomp Asuka’s leg in a chair and Alexa looks in the camera and says, “This isn’t over, I want Sky in the ring tonight”.
Solo Sikoa VS. Angelo Dawkins
Sami Zayn and Jey Uso are up on the apron arguing and it distracts Dawkins who gets a superkick, but the referee is still trying to get the two down. Solo only gets a two count. Dawkins takes everyone out over the top rope and argues and slaps Sami, but Dawkins gets hit with a spinning Solo and gets pinned.
Winner: Solo Sikoa
Edge is shown and says he is responsible for Judgment Day, and he has to end them, and he says all four of them can’t hurt him enough to say “I Quit.”
Alexa Bliss VS. Iyo Sky
After hitting Twisted Bliss, the referee was distracted by Bayley and Bianca pulls Bayley out of the ring and throws here into the ring steps. Bliss then flies over the rope taking out Kai and Bayley. But inside Sky got up and ends up hitting the moonsault for the win.
Winner: Iyo Sky
After the match, Damage Control continue to beat down Alexa and Bianca. Asuka comes limping out with a kendo stick but was quickly kicked down by Damage Control.
They then began using ladders to beat down Asuka, Alexa and Bianca, who are all now laid out in the ring.
The latest White Rabbit teases on Raw were another set of interesting clues and they point to one location: Extreme Rules this Saturday.
The WWE.COM page hosting the new clue features a photo of the Samson and Delilah painting. Scrolling over with the mouse on the photo, the left side reveals “399012n” and opening it up on a mobile device, the other side reveals “751720w.” Those represent the coordinates of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 39.9012° N, 75.1720° W.
The page, which has the URL of 01000111_01000001_01000011_01011001, is a binary number that when converted it reads GACY. That could mean that the next clues will be on tonight on NXT during a Joe Gacy appearance, like when last week’s clue read BELAIR and the code appeared during Bianca Belair’s segments.
Also, during the past two Alexa Bliss matches, there were “production mishaps” and Bliss was present when the QR code showed up in a backstage segment. Bray Wyatt had posted a similar photo of Samson and Delilah after Bliss turned on him before he vanished from WWE television the last time around.
Deadline.com is exclusively reporting that Holt McCallany has been cast to play the role of Fritz Von Erich in the upcoming Von Erichs biopic titled The Iron Claw.
The movie has already cast Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson and Jeremy Allen White. Sean Durkin is writing and directing while Tessa Ross, Derrin Schlesinger and Harrison Huffman are producing it.
“Based on the true story of the Von Erichs, the film follows the rise and fall of the family dynasty of wrestlers who made a huge impact on the sport from the 1960s to the present day,” Deadline says about the movie.
Two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan commented on the death of Antonio Inoki in a post on Facebook, joined by an old photo of the two of them together in Japan.
“It seems like I spent half my wrestling career working with New Japan, after many years I became accepted and traveled on the Japanese bus,worked out, lived, and sometimes fought the Americans,” Hogan wrote. “Inoki was truly ICHIBAN, rip my brother, love you Ax Bomba.” ‘Ichiban’ means number one in Japanese.
The Hulkster beat Inoki via knockout in the IWGP League 1983 final, becoming the first champion. Inoki eventually defeated Hogan in the IWGP League 1984 to win the title himself after Hogan carried the belt for 378 days. This was the title that was defended annually and was replaced in 1987 by the one which is used now.
Hogan appeared several times in NJPW between 1980 and 1985 even while he worked for the then WWF.
Tickets for the Royal Rumble at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, are selling very well and Dave Meltzer of the Observer is reporting that as of today, there’s over 25,000 tickets sold.
The Alamodome is currently set up for 40,000 fans as only approximately half of the stadium is being used for the show. It is easily expandable if there’s more ticket demand leading up to January 28.
Day one ticket sales, including the pre-sale, had the most activity of any Royal Rumble in previous history, contributing to the large number of seats sold so far.
This will be the third time that the stadium will host a Royal Rumble, with the 1997 and 2017 versions taking place there as well.
Former AEW TNT champion Miro might not be getting a lot of screen time on AEW television at the moment but he will be appearing regularly on CBS’ new drama series East New York which started yesterday.
East New York is a series which features the officers and detectives of the NYPD’s 74th precinct headed up by a new Deputy Inspector.
Miro will be in multiple episodes as he is a recurring character on the series playing Nikolai Dushkin and filming of this show is the reason why he was absent from AEW television for several months. He is credited under his real name of Miroslav Barnyashev.
East New York has Amanda Warren, Jimmy Smits, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Kevin Rankin, Richard Kind, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Olivia Luccardi, and Lavel Schley as main cast.
WWE Hall Of Famer Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will be teaming with FTR for his first match back in 12 years at an event promoted by Big Time Wrestling under the name of Return of the Dragon.
Steamboat and the ROH, AAA, and IWGP Tag Team champions will take on Jay Lethal, Brock Anderson, and a mystery partner. Arn Anderson will be in the corner of his son, Lethal, and whoever ends up being the third person in that team.
The 69-year-old recently turned down the opportunity to be part of Ric Flair’s Last Match event as he said he prefers for fans to remember him against Jericho in their last WWE match instead. He last wrestled in 2010 at an FCW show, teaming with his son Richie to take on Trent Beretta & Caylen Croft.
Steamboat last appeared on television for AEW in August for the House of Dragon themed episodes.
Return of the Dragon will take place on Sunday, November 27 from the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The wrestling world is in mourning following the announcement that Japanese legend Antonio Inoki passed away at the age of 79 yesterday.
All the major wrestling promotions released tributes to him on social media, with WWE even announcing his death on Friday Night Smackdown. Several of his peers took to social media to honor their friend, colleague, and often rival.
His death was even covered by ESPN, who called Inoki a “combat sports trailblazer, influential politician and larger-than-life figure in his native Japan.” A profile about his life was published at https://es.pn/3UQLj30
NJPW: “New Japan Pro-Wrestling is deeply saddened at the passing of our founder, Antonio Inoki. His achievements, both in professional wrestling and the global community are without parallel and will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with Inoki’s family, friends and fans.”
Triple H: One of the most important figures in the history of our business, and a man who embodied the term “fighting spirit.” The legacy of WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki will live on forever.
Tony Khan: RIP Antonio Inoki, a pioneer in the pro wrestling industry. Inoki’s influence and his achievements will live on forever in the wrestling world; he’s an inspiration to all of the dreamers. Thank you sir.
Impact Wrestling: “Impact Wrestling would like to extend our condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Antonio Inoki. We are saddened to learn of his passing and know his legacy will live forever.”
NWA: “The National Wrestling Alliance sends its condolences to the friends and family of pro wrestling pioneer Antonio Inoki. An NWA Tag Team and United National Champion and most importantly, a legend that will forever be remembered in our business and beyond.”
Ric Flair: “Rest In Peace Antonio Inoki! Thank You For The Great Matches & Memories My Friend!”
Sting: “It was an honor and a privilege to share the ring with Antonio Inoki. A true legend and a great loss.”
Samoa Joe: “I found my road… Thank you for everything Inoki-sama Rest in Power.”
Taz: “Very sad to hear the passing of a true icon of Professional Wrestling worldwide. Antonio Inoki inspired so many wrestlers for so many decades including me in my in ring days. I had the opportunity to wrestle on several tours for Inoki in NJPW – he truly changed the game. RIP”
Adam Cole: “RIP Antonio Inoki…a legend in every sense of the word.”
Iron Sheik: “ANTONIO INOKI ONE OF THE GREATEST EVER. I WAS HIS TEACHER. WE SOLD OUT THE GARDEN AND LOVED EACH OTHER LIKE FAMILY. RESPECT THE INOKI FOREVER”
William Regal: “Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Mr Antonio Inoki, the legendary Japanese Pro Wrestler. Mr Inoki chose to Wrestle me in 1994 and then we became friends, kept in touch and was always very kind to me. My deepest condolences to his family & fans.”
Mick Foley: “Very sorry to learn of the loss of Antonio Inoki. What a towering presence in our business! I loved his matches – especially his classic brawls with Bruiser Brody.”
This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV drew 100,000 viewers, up 18,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show did the same 0.01 rating in the 18-49 demo that it has been doing for the past few weeks ever since NFL started.
TV broadcaster Space has removed AEW programming from its schedule from several countries in South America, including Mexico, with Brazil seemingly the only country surviving the cut.
“To our fans in Mexico, South America, Central America, and the Carribean… we want to thank you for watching AEW on Space. However, we have an update to share. As of September 30, AEW content will no longer be available on Space, with the exception of Brazil,” AEW said in a statement.
“Starting October 1, you can continue watching AEW programming on AEW Plus. AEW Plus will exclusively stream all of AEW’s weekly shows including AEW Dynamite, AEW Rampage, AEW Dark, AEW Dark: Elevation, and Battle of the Belts.”
The AEW Plus streaming service is run by FITE TV and gives fans the ability to watch all of AEW programming if their country has no TV deal with them.
A mask vs career match has been announced for next week’s live Rampage from Washington, D.C.
With Andrade El Idolo rumors floating around that he wants to leave, AEW is playing up to the speculation by booking El Idolo’s career vs The Dark Order’s 10 mask. If El Idolo loses, he is gone from AEW for good while if 10 loses, then he has to lose the mask that Brodie Lee gave him.
The whole angle is a continuation of El Idolo trying to get 10 to leave The Dark Order and join his faction.
El Idolo has continued to be vague on social media by doing posts and adding #FreeElIdolo to them. He also retweeted a few tweets from fans which weren’t exactly pro-AEW, one of which was how the company omitted him and Thunder Rosa from the Hispanic Heritage Month graphic that they published.
El Idolo, one of the first to jump ship from WWE to AEW, hasn’t been used much lately and it’s been a few months since he had a singles match on television.
AEW President Tony Khan has said that no one is getting their release from the company, especially if they plan to join WWE, so that might give a hint at where the result of the match is going.
Former UFC Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will be refereeing the Fight Pit match at Extreme Rules between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle next Saturday.
The news was broken by MMA/wrestling journalist Ariel Helwani, a former colleague of Cormier.
“The Rollins-Riddle feud has gotten very intense and personal. There’s only one person qualified enough to oversee this brutal match at Extreme Rules and it’s me. I’ll see you guys in Philly next Saturday,” a statement from Cormier read.
WWE then announced that more information will be revealed on Monday Night Raw.
Cormier is a huge WWE fan and often attends events and premium live events. There was a video of him which went viral when Rollins cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase at WrestleMania 31.
WWE gave its biggest hints that the White Rabbit is indeed associated with Bray Wyatt last night on Smackdown with a new QR code that revealed a lot of information.
Wrestling fans went to work quick to decipher the latest teaser after a QR code flashed quickly across the screen during a Karrion Kross promo. The link, which led to www.WWE.com/1911, featured several cartoon shots of Porky Pig, Little Red Riding Hood wolf, a slaughterhouse, a morse code and also an audio message.
The choice of 1911 in the URL was interesting because Bray Wyatt wore a hat with a 19/11 card on it when he portrayed the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland in a skit a few years back on WWE television.
The morse code which was translated by several users on Twitter translates to Azazel Reborn.
The audio message is heard if you dial the phone number which is embedded in the source code of the page. The message is played backwards and says Bravo, Echo, Lima, Alpha, India, Romeo. Interesting to note is that one Twitter user raised the pitch by six times on the video and it’s clearly Bray Wyatt’s voice narrating the message. The Bravo, Echo, Lima, Alpha, India, Romeo initials make up the word Belair, which some suggest it refers to the Fresh Prince of Belair, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, where Extreme Rules is set to take place next Saturday.
The source code also has another clue which reads “DRINK MORE OVALTINE” at the top, although at this point that remains a mystery at what it refers to.
On the WWE.COM website, if you put your mouse over the the White Rabbit icon, “TS_S10E6” shows up. Episode six of season 10 of The Simpsons features the song White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane, the song which WWE keeps playing at every event off camera.
Also, someone carrying a sign which read “REVEL IN WHAT YOU ARE” was shown when the camera was on Smackdown commentators Michael Cole and Corey Graves. That exact wording was used by Wyatt in a tweet in 2019.
A four-year lawsuit brought forward by Catherine Alexander against WWE, 2K Sports, 2K Games, Take-Two Interactive Software, Visual Concepts Entertainment, Yuke’s Co., Ltd. and Yuke’s LA Inc., over the unlicensed use of Randy Orton’s tattoo in the WWE 2K video game was settled by a jury trial in favor of the plaintiff.
PWInsider.com reported that Orton’s tattoo artist won the case after the jury voted in her favor after she argued that Orton’s tattoo which she designed, was her trademark and WWE and 2K had no rights to use the tattoo in any of their video games along the years.
WWE originally tried to settle for $450 years ago, a sum which was shot down by Alexander. And while she won the case, the amount of money the jury entitled her wasn’t a big sum either: just $3,750!
Randy Orton testified in person this week in the case. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois.
AEW’s newest arrival, Saraya, got some flack from fans on social media for saying that she finally has a boss that listens during her in-ring promo on Wednesday night.
That, plus the fact that Saraya was a bit “rusty” on the mic, drew the trolls which gave her a hard time.
“I say how my current boss listens to me and all of sudden it’s “So hAtE yOu WwE”. No I don’t. I loved my time there,” Saraya wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “I appreciate the time and the opportunities I was given. Especially in my NXT days with Triple H. I’m happy now in AEW though. Tribalism in IWC is so bizarre to me.”
She then posted, “Touch grass and get off the internet. Then you won’t have to stalk my account for whenever I post so you can further be miserable.”
The former WWE Divas and NXT Women’s champion got a huge pop from the crowd at Dynamite: Grand Slam when she made her debut.
