In this WrestleTalk News, real reason behind Miro’s AEW absence, a Big E injury update
and a star continues to tease a WWE return.
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During his appearance on AEW Dynamite this week rapper Rick Ross did the thing we all
do faced with someone tall or big, just sort of go gosh you’re tall.
Worr you’re big.
But not in those exact words.
The exact words he used were “big mother-f-er” and it’s the sort of salty language which
could get AEW in trouble with their broadcaster, and potentially some of the more sensitive
members of the audience.
Ross though appears unapologetic for his choice of words, even going so far as to phone into
Busted Open Radio with Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer to let them know to let them no that
no one tells him what to say:
“I’m taking you behind the scenes.
This is the biggest boss in the game, Ricky Rozay, so no one can tell me what to say.
You see, it was a gift for me to be there.
But I love AEW, but it was a huge gift.”
He went to explain exactly what drove him to say that about Keith Lee too.
“And when I got in there, I may have had other things on my mind, but like I said,
when Keith Lee kinda turned his back to me, and I realized the size and width of his shoulders,
and his trapezoids, I just had to express my heart.
He’s a big motherf****r.
He really is.”
He really is.
Speaking of large lovers of mothers, Miro has been absent from AEW television for some
time and many reports came out recently that suggested AEW creative had nothing for him
to do.
Which does seem mad.
Mighty earwig Dave Meltzer has heard something different though, saying on Wrestling Observer
Radio:
“In September, Tony Khan came to Miro and he had this idea, which would build to a match
on the November pay-per-view, and [Miro] didn’t want to do it.
It involved, it’s weird, a lot of the people who come from WWE are very leery, obviously
Bryan Danielson being the exception, about doing jobs.
And then it becomes very difficult to book when you don’t really want to do programs
where you’re gonna lose.”
But he did note that November was the start of a new cycle and chance for new storylines
to start up, so they could have something for Miro, until:
“his wife comes in and says Rusev Day is gonna come back and everybody goes back to
WWE.
And if I’m Tony Khan at this point...why waste my time pushing this guy?
I got 100 guys on the roster who want to be here.
And now you’ve got these guys who want to be in WWE.”
Whether Miro does want to rejoin WWE or that is just a rumor floating around remains to
be seen, but he’s not the only AEW star being tied to WWE by news stories today.
FTR’s Dax Harwood was on the latest Gentleman Villain podcast and talking up Cody Rhodes,
one of AEW’s founders and easily their biggest defector.
Dax said that while he initially had an issue with Cody Rhodes, after Cody made comments
about FTR practicing their matches, he said
"I got over it, He and I are very good friends now.
We talk all the time now.
I think that he is a visionary.
I think that he is too smart for his own good, and I hope to be able to work with him very,
very soon, because I think I could tear it up with him."
I mean, you know where you need to go to do that Dax…
Sticking with AEW and it’s time for a long overdue update on the health of Adam Cole.
Cole has been absent for the entirety of 2022’s second half following a very concerning concussion
sustained during his 4-way IWGP World Title match at Forbidden Door in June.
Not only that but at the time of the injury Cole was also dealing with a Torn Labrum,
something he decided not to get operated on.
Concern over Cole’s lengthy absence has led to rumors regarding his wrestling future,
with the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer stating in October that Cole’s return “could
be tomorrow, could be never” and further echoing concerns again in November.
However, now Meltzer has provided a much more positive update on Cole, tweeting:
"He's doing much better".
"The last I heard is they were being cautious.
Don't have any time frame for a return.
With concussions, you can't predict time frame."
So while Meltzer’s update hasn’t given us too much to go on, it is the first positive
bit of news regarding Cole in a while so we will definitely take it.
Continuing the theme of much appreciated injury updates and former WWE Champion Big E has
provided us all with an insight into his recovery journey.
The former WWE Champion, who has been out of action since suffering from a broken neck
on the March 11th episode of Smackdown, recently gave an update on his progress with These
Urban Times, stating:
"So I have to get some more scans.
The one-year mark is in March, and then we'll see how everything's looking."
On the possibility of an in-ring return in the near future Big E gave reassurance that
that is still the goal, albeit very dependent on his C1 vertebrae.
"It's My C1 that's broken in two spots, so obviously I want to be very smart about that.
I was very fortunate, so I just want to make sure I'm making the best decision."
“We'll see in March.
I feel great, I'm really thankful for that.
I don't have any nerve issues, no strength issues, no impairment whatsoever.
Obviously, to get back in the ring to do what we do, I want to make sure my C1 is rock solid.
Other than that, I'm very blessed.
I feel great."
Above all else it’s great to hear Big E’s positivity continue despite his extremely
challenging 2022.
Here’s hoping for more good news in the new year.
We at Wrestletalk would like to extend our well wishes to both Big E and Adam Cole in
their recoveries.
Switching gears to two individuals that could be joining Big E in WWE very soon, that being
husband and wife pairing Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green.
Reports have swirled regarding Trips’ interest in the pair, with Green and Cardona fueling
the speculation via social media posts and interview comments in recent months.
Cardona has spoken publicly on his desire to win the WWE Championship, while Green has
spoken of her “unfinished business” in the company.
Green has also this week drawn attention by removing her OnlyFans page, leading some to
believe that this is related to her signing with WWE.
This was backed up by Dave Meltzer on yesterday’s Wrestling Observer Radio, where Meltzer claims
that Green removing her account suggests that she could be set for a main-roster debut instead
of NXT, where there is more leeway over OnlyFans and other similar pages (but not too much
leeway as we have found out with Mandy Rose).
Green herself has now dropped a curious tweet of her main roster debut match against Charlotte
Flair, adding to the expectation that she is WWE bound.
As for Cardona however, things are far less cut and dry.
Already, Cardona’s 2023 is looking pretty packed to the gills with him being advertised
for a January 13th Impact Tag Title shot at the promotion’s Hard to Kill Event.
While across in NWA he has been announced to be facing off with NWA World Champ Tyrus
for a contract signing on the January 31st edition of Powerrr, a whole three days after
WWE’s Royal Rumble on the 28th.
So yeah, maybe we’ll have to wait a bit longer for Green and Cardona to be reunited
in the E.
Staying with the topic of WWE and returning ex-stars and former four-time World Champ
Alberto Del Rio has been in the news this week by revealing that he had held talks with
the ‘old WWE regime’, particularly John Lauranitis regarding a possible return to
the company.
Del Rio even labeled himself one of “Johnny’s Boys”, something that nobody should ever
proclaim these days.
Despite the contact with Johnny Ace, Del Rio revealed it never went very far, something
backed up by a new report from Fightful Select that even the old regime, and more specifically
Lauranitis never had real interest in bringing the controversial star back, saying there
was “no f*cking way that will happen”.
So how about the ‘new regime’?
Any chance they’d welcome Del Rio back on board?
Unsurprisingly…
nah.
According to Fightful’s WWE higher-up source, the WWE-Del Rio interest was and has recently
always been a one-way street, with Del Rio contacting Lauranitis to gauge interest rather
than the other way round.
So, despite all the returning faces Trips’ has brought in, it’s highly unlikely Del
Rio will be one of them.
Moving away from WWE now and this week’s edition of Dynamite saw the debut of yet another
AEW faction, with Swerve Strickland’s Mogul Affiliates, serving Keith Lee with a severe
case of the beats, all while being narrated by the truly amazing Ricky Rozay.
While fans will (maybe) recognise Parker Boudreaux, who has been with the company since August
as a member of Ariya Daivari’s forgettable Trustbusters faction, Swerve’s other muscle
was a true unknown for many.
Well, that is unless you’re a baseball aficionado that is.
Yes, according to Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp, the heavily tattooed individual
is Granden Goetzman, a former pro-baseball player and student of fellow AEW star Jay
Lethal’s wrestling school.
While Goetzman and Boudreaux seem like a bit of an odd fit with Swerve, we’ll refrain
from passing too much judgment till we have seen more from the group.
Oh but for all of you Trustbuster’s fans out there don’t you fret, as the group’s
founder Ariya Daivari has clarified that despite Boudreaux jumping over to Mogul Affiliates,
he will always be a Trustbuster for for for life.
(NWO Hand Symbol)
And to finish up today, it seems that along with debuting new factions AEW could be set
to debut at least one new PPV in 2023.
According to Fightful, on December 19th AEW filed to trademark the terms “Wrestlebowl”
and “Wrestling Bowl” with the intent of "covering the categories of conducting entertainment
exhibitions in the nature of wrestling exhibits and performances by professional wrestlers."
If this leads to another AEW PPV it could potentially take their total to six PPV’s
in a calendar year, with Tony Khan confirming that he’s “almost certain” 2022’s
new addition of Forbidden Door will continue in 2023 back at the ROH Final Battle media
scrum.
The change seems to also align with comments Khan made on Busted Open Radio regarding the
hiring of Jeff Jarrett as the company’s Director of Business Development, with Khan
stating at the time that Jarrett’s role could see AEW expand their live event calendar
in the coming year.
Do you like AEW’s original four PPV a year format or do you want more?
Let us know in the comments below.