On this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, the debuting Paul Wight, formerly known as
the Big Show in WWE, sent the wrestling world into speculation overload as he revealed that
at AEW Revolution this Sunday, AEW would be unveiling a brand new “Hall of Fame worthy”
signing.
The more logical among us speculated names such as Kurt Angle, Batista, or Mick Foley.
However a popular option, as commented on yesterday’s news episode by Safa Rehan and
Alec Paiva, was that he would reveal it to be none other than himself, turning heel in
classic Big Show fashion after debuting as a face.
However, Tony Khan seems to have put a dent in that particular option, as he spoke on
the AEW Unrestricted podcast, confirming that what Paul Wight was actually Paul Right:
“A major star in the world of wrestling—a huge, huge star—is going to come and sign
a multi-year contract with AEW on Sunday at the Pay-Per-View.
So I can confirm what Paul (Wight) said is true.”
Khan also revealed that the reason they are signing so many legends for Elevation is so
they can work with the younger talent to get them ready for TV.
As with any surprise related to AEW, fans automatically went to the CM Punk train of
thought, including our own Mr. Davis, the bloody mark:
But not so fast young Davis, because Punk himself has publicly, and repeatedly, denied
it’s him that will be going to AEW on Sunday.
Taking to Twitter in one of his semi-regular Q&A sessions, Punk denied he would be the
one appearing on Sunday in the opening tweet:
“Let’s try this again.
Q&A time!
Use hashtag #askpunk and no, it’s not me.”
But of course, that’s exactly what someone who was appearing on Sunday would say, so
again, Punk responded to a fan who had to clarify whether or not there was a possibility
of him appearing with “100% not me”.
And as it’s not him, he was asked who would be the best acquisition for AEW in his place,
to which he responded “I think they should focus on who they have.”
Which is not how you build WCW 2.
He was also asked whether he gets frustrated having to repeatedly shoot down rumours about
himself any time AEW teases a surprise of some sort, to which he said “Nah I get it.
It ain’t all about me!”
But what if it is, sleuthing internet fans did notice a similarity between a tweet Punk
put out and one of Tony Khan’s.
Khan tweeted: “I just had a long talk with a good friend & I’m going to make a significant
change to one of the matches for #AEWDynamite tomorrow night Live on @tntdrama!”
And on the very same day Punk posted a tribute to Eddie Guerrero saying: “Was just talking
to a close friend about all he taught me and we were breaking it all down.
“
What if they’re each other’s close personal friend?
WrestleMania season is a time to reap the rewards for all of those storyline seeds you’ve
been sowing throughout the year to create some of the most exciting wrestling matches
you can muster.
Unless some seeds someone else has been sowing get in the way of those plans.
Babymaking segway, I’m talking about Lacey Evans.
In an interesting new report from Fightful Select it was revealed that Lacey was set
for a huge road to WrestleMania before the announcement of her pregnancy took her out
of action.
First and foremost she was set to defeat Asuka at Elimination Chamber and win the Raw Women’s
Championship, an idea which can get in the bin in my humble opinion.
She was then to continue her feud with Charlotte Flair under the guise of bonking her dad until
at least WrestleMania, likely culminating in a huge match at the show, blonde on blonde
action for the honor of a Hall of Fame blonde it’s Vince’s wet dream.
Sadly, instead of that we’re getting the rematch between Asuka and Charlotte from Mania
34, and something tells me we’re going to get Chaz another run with the Raw Women’s
Title.
But before we get into that proper we’ve got Fastlane to get outta the way on the road
to WrestleMania.
And currently blocking the exit is a pile up around the Women’s Tag Team Championships
- because many people assumed after their match on NXT this week that Dakota Kai and
Raquel Gonzalez, who literally had a rematch clause baked into the finish, would get a
shot at Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler at the show.
Well, we are getting a rematch, it’s just from Elimination Chamber as WWE have announced
that the team of Jaxler will take on Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks at the pay-per-view
in two weeks.
The Bossiest teams last shot at the titles was overshadowed by various shenanigans with
Reginald the sommelier, which lead to the Smackdown Women’s Champion being pinned
on PPV two months before Mania.
As ever the theme is ‘how will they coexist’ but ‘this time it’s coexistier’ as Belair
officially challenged Banks to a match at Mania on Smackdown and Sash had the temerity
to say she was the best and you were second best hahahaha.
If none of that was getting you excited for this match up consider this, this is also
the third match between these pairings and continues the trend of the Women's Tag titles
being used as a heater for singles feuds.
One silver lining could be that Kai and Gonzalez might get their second go round at a different
show.
NXT Takeover Mania edition is just around the corner, currently booked in for Thursday
April 8th, two days before the first night of WrestleMania kicks off on the Saturday.
And apparently WWE officials are considering something they’ve never done before the
show, according to Mike Johnson for PW Insider the company are considering holding their
first ever two night edition of the event.
Saying: “There has been talk of the show being the first-ever ‘two night’ Takeover,
with part one airing on WWE NXT TV on the USA Network on Wednesday 4/7 and then Part
Two continuing the next night on the WWE Network, but with a month to go, that idea could change
or evolve.”
That would certainly leave plenty of time to book a Kai and Gonzalez vs ShayNia rematch
for one night of the PPV.
With reports also circulating that NXT is moving to Tuesdays after Mania this could
also be the final edition of NXT on a Wednesday night so going out with a bang would be the
way to go.
We’ve already discussed it here but WWE’s booking heading into Mania feels a bit like
“what?!
Really?!” this year” and for the last few years there’s definitely been a last
minute air to the direction they are going in with their biggest show.
And we’re not the only ones to notice it, former Raw GM and one of the greatest wrestlers
of all time Kurt Angle also spotted the trend during his time there.
On his podcast, the Kurt Angle Show, he talked about what it was like creatively in the company
during the busiest season of the year.
“It was really hard to guess who was going to wrestle who, things weren’t structured
out as neatly as in prior years.
They usually have the WrestleMania cards by December at the very latest, this one it wasn’t
ready for quite some time.
I don’t think they put together the whole card entirely till the week before [WrestleMania
35].”
If you were wondering why the builds these days seem rushed or truncated then there is
your answer right there, stories back in the 90s and early 2000s had a little more room
to breath because they were decided earlier.
Let’s hop the fence and talk AEW now, as they have a huge show coming up this weekend
in Revolution and it’s a blockbuster weekend for Darby Allin who teams with his long lost
father Sting against Team Taz.
While career-wise teaming with the Icon is a big moment, it’s actually a night off
defending the TNT Championship for Darby as his next competitor will be decided during
the face of the revolution ladder match earlier in the night.
The showdown with this new number 1 contender would then be set for Dynamite next week,
but adding a bit of drama and a bit of a caveat for Allin who has a tendency to do quite dangerous
stuff, especially in street fight type matches was Tony Khan.
Who said on the AEW Unrestricted podcast that if Allin is unable to defend his TNT Title
for any reason come next Thursday he will be forced to forfeit the belt.
Could be nothing but it could also be sowing the seeds for something that happens during
the street fight, Team Taz have recently carted Darby off in a body bag, so if they kidnap
him again ahead of Dynamite there is definitely some will he/won’t he concede excitement
to build into Dynamite.
Elsewhere on AEW this week, Shaq had his big tag match against Cody, which helped Dynamite
score its biggest viewership of 2021 so far, pulling in an average of 934,000 viewers,
an increase of 103,000.
Meanwhile NXT managed an average viewership of 692,000 viewers, a drop of 42,000.
Interestingly, AEW’s 18-49 rating actually dropped by .02 to .33, despite increasing
massively in viewership.
It seems the added viewers that were pulled in were outside the usual 18-49 audience.
Meanwhile, NXT’s 18-49 demo rating actually went up by .02 to .20, despite dropping overall
viewership.
But with Revolution this Sunday, you’d expect the viewership and demo to pop back up again
for AEW next week.
One of the matches on that card is The Young Bucks defending their Tag Team gold against
the team of Chris Jericho and MJF, and ahead of that match, MJF appeared on last night’s
Wrestling Daily, where he ripped into the viewers, Alex McCarthy, but most importantly,
Louis Dangoor, after he mentioned the name Sammy Guevara twice in front
of MJF...
You can watch the full episode, including much more swearing and ripping into Louis,
by clicking the video on the right, and subscribe to Wrestling Daily while you’re there.
And you can press the video below that to find out more about this ‘Hall of Fame’
worthy signing coming to AEW.
Subscribe here for daily wrestling news videos, I’ve been El Fakidor Laurie Blake, your
Jam That Jampion.
Jam That Jam.