Here's your wrestling news for May 31 2021
And your headlines for today include
Mark Henry Signs with AEW!
Former WWE Superstars Spotted At AEW Double Or Nothing!
AEW Reportedly Signs Three Stars!
AEW Books Bull Rope Match & More For Next Dynamite!
Multiple Time WWE Star Wanted Mick Foley To Take ‘Stunt Man’ Comment Personally!
Jim Cornette Compares Tony Khan’s Promo To A ‘Make-A-Wish’ Kid!
Pat McAfee Called Out By Miles Teller For Joking About His Recent Assault!
Shingo Takagi vs. Kazuchika Okada Confirmed For The Vacant IWGP World Heavyweight Championship At Dominion!
Two New Matches Announced For Monday’s WWE RAW!
WWE Fans Create Viral Trend For WWE Star To Get SmackDown Debut!
Kane Drops Epic Commercial For New Pro Wrestling School And more!
We’re starting today with AEW, as last night’s Double or Nothing saw WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry
debut for the company. Shortly before the Stadium Stampede main event, Tony Schiavone hit the
ring to promote AEW Rampage, which ’ll premiere on TNT on August 13th, and said the show will have a special
analyst: The World’s Strongest Man Mark Henry.
Henry, who’ll also be a coach for AEW, retired following WrestleMania 33 in 2017, but has recently spoken openly
about his desire to wrestle again, though that match, if it happens, won’t be in WWE. It’s unclear why exactly Henry made the
jump, but fans will have to wait until this Friday’s edition of Dynamite to hear the former World Heavyweight Champion
explain his actions.
Henry wasn’t the only former WWE name to debut at Double or Nothing, as the final spot in the Casino Battle Royal
was filled by a former Superstar. When the Joker card was drawn mid- match, Lio Rush appeared, much to the
delight of a packed Daily’s Place, who gave him a Lio chant as he worked.
The former Cruiserweight Champion didn’t win, as he was eliminated by the heel Private Party, which earned
a ton of boos from the crowd. Though fans were expecting someone like Bryan Danielson or Andrade, Rush
received a huge reaction at Double or Nothing, and will make a fine addition to the AEW roster, possibly in the TNT title
the picture, if a contract is finalised.
It was in Double or Nothing’s main-event that Shawn Spears performed in the Stadium Stampede, and the former Tye
Dillinger brought someone pretty important with him. Whilst facetiming a fan who happened to
be at Double or Nothing, Spears’ wife Cassie Lee could be seen backstage, aka former WWE Superstar Peyton Royce.
Lee was one of several releases on April 15th this year, and judging by the fact that she was eating, probably wasn’t
expecting to be photographed at that time. On their new podcast, Off Her Chops, both Cassie and Jessie McKay, aka Billie
Kay, discussed both AEW and Impact as their new possible companies to work in, and have said that AEW is a viable
option as they feel they can bring a lot to the company’s women’s division. It’ll be very interesting to see where the
IIconics go next when their 90-day non- compete clauses end, but one thing we know is that the team will be going together.
AEW Double or Nothing may have just ended, but the company continues, as they’ve reportedly signed three new stars.
According to PW Insider, AEW have signed Mark Sterling to a contract, who appeared as MJF’s lawyer during his
feud with Jon Moxley earlier this year. It’s also reported that AEW have signed Bear County, the tag-team of Bear
Bronson, who’ve appeared in AEW since December, and competed in Revolution’s Casino Tag-Team Royale.
As revealed by Cody Rhodes last year, it’s likely that Bear Country and Sterling were working under what’s called a
tier-0 contract, meaning a pay-per- appearance deal, but now AEW have long-term plans for all three wrestlers.
With Double or Nothing in the history books, the company is already looking to their next event, as a huge match has
been confirmed for this week’s Dynamite. On Dynamite, which’ll be on Friday, Dustin Rhodes and Nick Comoroto will
compete in a bull-rope match, after the two threw down during last night’s Casino Battle Royale.
Neither man won the match, as that accolade went to Jungle Boy, but the pair can settle the score in what could
be a very bloody match. This Friday’s Dynamite will also see new AEW Women’s World Champion Britt
Baker celebrate her title win, Cody Rhodes and Lee Johnson face QT Marshall and Anthony Ogogo and the
Young Bucks face PAC and Pent El Cero in a jampacked post-Double or Nothing edition of Dynamite.
Throughout his legendary career, Mick Foley’s body received a lot of punishment, though not everyone was amazed at
Foley’s hardcore antics. In his book ‘To Be the Man’ Ric Flair called Foley “a glorified stuntman,”
which really rubbed Foley the wrong way, a reaction the Nature Boy was counting on.
Speaking on A&E’s biography of Foley this week, Flair discussed this infamous diss, saying:
“When I wrote in my book, and I said, you’re a 300-pound stunt man,’ I wanted him to take it personally.
You know, his wife is beautiful. His kids are young and beautiful. You know, we get hurt enough.”
At the time of the book’s publication, Flair was an active competitor, and a heel on-screen, so it made sense to him to
lash out at one of the most beloved Superstars of all time. Foley did slow down, but not before he
took a tremendous toll on his body, even feuding with Ric in 2006, and whilst Flair wasn’t the only one who wanted to
to see Mick take a less destructive path, the Hardcore legend made his own choices.
More from AEW, and recently, Tony Khan cut a promo, poking fun at WWE’s ongoing talks with New Japan, and
saying that he, not WWE President Nick Khan, is the only Khan who should be in the wrestling business.
WWE is attempting to become the exclusive North American partner of New Japan, which would see some
WWE Superstars compete over in Japan, which’d also mean AEW would lose their working relationship with the
Japanese promotion. Whilst many fans were pleased to see Tony Khan’s promo, yet another shot
from AEW at WWE, Jim Cornette wasn’t so thrilled, as he called Khan a ‘Make- A-Wish Kid’, pretending that this was a
Make-A-Wish Kid’, pretending that this was a promo from a fan that AEW had allowed to happen.
Cornette certainly knows how to raise some eyebrows with his comments, which are consistently against AEW
and Tony Khan, and despite what either man has to say, it’s ultimately up to New Japan and WWE to see if they can come
to a deal, one that would have major ramifications on the wrestling world.
WWE recently announced that WrestleMania 38 will take place on April 3rd, 2022, at the AT&T Center in
Arlington, Texas, but those plans may soon change. According to a report from Fightful,
the past two WrestleManias, which both took place over two nights has been considered “a hit” by WWE themselves,
as both talent and staff have enjoyed the two-night events. It was also seen as beneficial that fans
didn’t go exhausted at WrestleMania 37, something that would’ve happened if the show had been over seven hours long.
Fightful noted that WWE have been considering having next year’s show be a two-night event, and with a two-night
show meaning more tickets are sold, and the Superstars and staff reportedly vocal about preferring a two-night event,
April 3rd may not be the only night fans tune in to watch WrestleMania 38.
Back to AEW, and last night, Sting and Darby Allin defeated Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky, but that match was
was impossible just a few years ago. For years, Sting was signed to WWE, but only had a handful of matches
before his forced retirement in 2016, and this week, the Icon spoke about the long-rumoured match against the
the Undertaker. Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Sting said that he made it clear to WWE he
wanted to compete against the Deadman, saying: “I wanted that to happen. I was very
clear publicly, and I was very clear with WWE, as well. I wanted my last hurrah against Taker. For whatever reason,
it just never materialized. To this day, I don’t know why. Maybe Taker never wanted to work with me. I have no idea.
. I mean, I’ve had good conversations with Taker and we’ve always got along. I don’t know why the match never
happened, but it should have happened. Because it wasn’t going to happen, and I knew it, and that wasn’t the
only reason why I left WWE, but it’s one of the reasons why I left. I wanted that one last match.”
Sting wanted that match with the Deadman to happen, which is impossible given that the Undertaker
is retired now, and both are in different companies, and perhaps we’d have never have seen the Stinger in AEW,
had WWE given him what he’d wanted.
As of late, Pat McAfee has been a blast on SmackDown’s commentary team, but one of his most recent comments
got him in trouble. On Twitter, McAfee responded to a video from the recent Usos Vs. Street
Profits match, saying that even Miles Teller didn’t eat a shot that hard, referring to the actor who recently
was attacked which on vacation in Hawaii. Teller, who’s perhaps best known for
Whiplash and the 2015 Fantastic Four movie, didn’t appreciate McAfee’s joke, responding:
“I got jumped by two guys in a bathroom. Never met them before in my life but ya cool wrestling segue bud.”
This led to McAfee apologising for his comment, saying he didn’t know the whole story, but insisted it was a pretty
good segue. The man who attacked Teller has claimed that he’s a wedding planner owed
60,000 by Teller for a 2019 wedding in Maui, and whatever the truth may be, the actor didn’t appreciate the punch, or
McAfee’s comment.
Over to New Japan, and though Will Ospreay’s future remains in question, after an injury forced him to vacate
the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, we do know who will hold the gold next. On Twitter, New Japan Global confirmed
that Shingo Takagi and Kazuchika Okada will face at Dominion on June 7th, with the vacant World Championship on the line.
Takagi is the last person Ospreay defended the title against before vacating, whilst Okada is the person
he was meant to challenge next, and one of them will become the third-ever I WGP World Heavyweight Champion.
RAW news now, and two huge matches have been confirmed for tonight’s show.
WWE looks to be billing this week as ‘Tag Team Week’ as the RAW Tag Titles will be on the line when AJ Styles and Omos
defend against Elias and Jaxson Ryker, tonight, mere days before the SmackDown Tag Titles are defended this Friday.
Tonight’s RAW will also see Xavier Woods face Randy Orton, as the New Day-RK-Bro feud continues,
and with tonight’s show seeing a number-one contender’s match between Kofi Kingston and Drew
McIntyre, and the return of The Miz, WWE is making some major moves on the road to Hell in a Cell.
One person fans probably won’t see this week is Mia Yim, despite her reportedly being moved to SmackDown
several weeks ago. Yim was originally meant to make her SmackDown debut before
WrestleMania-Backlash, but her call-up has repeatedly been pushed back, and now fans are getting tired of waiting for
the talented Superstar. On Twitter, fans started a #WeWantMia Yim movement, as fans shared their
stories of how badly they want to see Yim on SmackDown and wrestling again.
Yim’s last match in WWE was a loss to Nikki Cross, who only just returned herself, on the December 31st edition
of Main Event, and hopefully fans won’t have to wait much longer to see Yim back in the ring, this time on Friday Nights.
More from AEW now, as Dynamite will be moving to TBS in January 2022, but that doesn’t mean the TNT Title will
undergo a name change. Whilst the TNT title won’t become the TBS title, some fans have suggested that a
new TBS title could be coming soon, something that Cody Rhodes recently discussed on a media call.
On the call, Rhodes didn’t say much about a potential TBS title, but teased a different title, saying:
“The TBS title has not been discussed yet, but another title has. A lot of people can guess the title that has been more
discussed about potentially coming in the future. I’ll let y’all speculate on what that is. Hint hint, we have a lot of people, teams,
on the roster.” The fact that Rhodes promoted AEW’s roster size, especially their teams,
implies that it could be new titles, possibly the six-man tag-team titles Kenny Omega has said he’d like to see.
We’ll have to wait and see when these six-man-tag titles happen, if they ever do but for now, it certainly sounds like
more gold is coming to the All-Elite promotion.
And we’re ending today with Kane has done everything from being World Champion to Knox County’s Mayor,
and now he can add being a trainer to his impressive resume. On Twitter, Glenn Jacobs posted a video
on the JP Wrestling Academy, which is run by Dr. Tom Prichard, and the Devil’s Favorite Mayor confirmed that he’ll be
doing some of the training at the academy. That video highlighted some of the
names trained by Dr. Tom, including Edge, The Rock, Bray Wyatt and Shane McMahon, as well as current Champions
like Natalya, Tamina Snuka and Roman Reigns. Natalya herself fired off a glowing
recommendation for anyone to train under Dr. Tom, and although there’s no shortage of wrestling schools out there,
having Kane on his side is a major win for Dr. Tom Prichard and his school.