Here's your wrestling news for August 26th 2021
And your headlines for today include
CM Punk Drops Massive Daniel Bryan Teased During AEW Dynamite Multiple Times!
Booker T Trends After Controversial Take On CM Punk’s AEW Promo!
Matt Hardy Suffers Bloody Injury During AEW Dynamite!
Impact Wrestling Is After An EX WWE Champion In A Big Way!
Adam Cole’s Obligations In WWE Before His Contract Expiration Date!
Mandy Rose Possibly Injured During WWE NXT Television Tapings!
Are FTR On Their Way Out Of AEW?
Nick Khan Has Been Warned About AEW By Vince McMahon!
An Underwhelming AEW Dynamite Segment Ahead Of All Out!
Contract Status Of Pete Dunne, What Happened Over The Weekend!
Charlotte Flair Reacts To Getting MAJOR Heat From Fans For Attending TripleMania!
A Very BAD AEW Booking And More!
We’re starting with AEW, as last night’s Dynamite was the first Dynamite for CM Punk, who had plenty to say on the show.
Punk is a huge signing for the company, but he’s not the only big WWE name tied to AEW, as it’s been reported that Daniel Bryan is set
to debut very soon. During an in-ring promo with Tony Schiavone, in which he said that his WWE moniker as the
“voice of the voiceless” is dead, Punk listed off some future opponents, as Yes chants erupted from the crowd, causing the former World
Champion to give a very interesting tease. In response to the chants, Punk said that ‘Yes!’ is someone else’s schtick, and that fans will
have to be a little more patient. That line got a huge pop from the crowd in Milwaukee, as they knew exactly who he
was talking about, and Punk’s teasing of Bryan joining AEW didn’t stop there.
On Instagram, the Best in the World shared a very popular photo of him and Bryan in the ring together during their Ring of Honor days
focussing closely on the handshake between the two wrestlers. Bryan, who last competed on the April 30th
SmackDown, is expected to debut for AEW at All Out on September 5th, and if he does, then AEW will have one of the best wrestlers in
recent memory on their already impressive roster.
Punk’s debut last Friday earned him universal praise from audiences, but one person who’s been critical of his AEW tenure so far is Booker T,
who didn’t appreciate how the Best in the World brought up WWE.
On his show, Booker discussed Punk’s first promo for the company, saying:
I just don’t think CM Punk delivered the way he could have, as far as a promo goes. I didn’t feel a promo. I felt like a guy talking about WWE
When you’re talking about the other side, the only thing you’re doing is giving them air-time.”
This opinion didn’t go down well with fans, as many accused Booker of being shamelessly biased because he’s employed by WWE.
This may be the case, but if so, it’s no different than an AEW star bashing WWE and praising AEW, something that plenty of All-Elite wrestlers
are guilty of. Other fans noted how frequently Booker has been under fire for his controversial wrestling
opinion, and that even the highly-critical Jim Cornette had nothing but praise for Punk’s debut.
This all led to Booker T’s name to trend on Twitter, as fans didn’t appreciate what he had to say, and though Punk’s debut has
gone down well with most people, not everyone is a fan of what he had to say.
More from AEW next, as Matt Hardy and Orange Cassidy kicked off this week’s Dynamite, but it wasn’t a good time for Big
Money Matt. Taking a stiff shot from Cassidy, Hardy bled like a sieve, and it appeared that Matt may have
broken his nose during the match. The bleeding didn’t stop and before long, both he and Freshly Squeezed were covered in
blood in a gruesome way to kick off Dynamite. Ultimately, Matt lost the match, and this is hardly the first time he’s suffered a serious injury
in AEW, as fans haven’t forgotten about his fall at last year’s All Out. We’ll have to wait for a medical report on
Hardy’s condition, but for now we’re sending our best to the AEW star after another gruesome injury this week.
Last month, WWE made the bizzarre decision to release Bray Wyatt, bringing an end to his 11-year run with the company.
Since his departure, there’s been plenty of talk about the former Universal Champion joining AEW, as they’re reportedly interested in
bringing him in, but they’re not the only option for the former Fiend. On the Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast,
Dave Meltzer said that Impact Wrestling Officials are “really after” Wyatt, but there’s no word on if the feeling is mutual
Wyatt’s 90-day non compete clause ends on Friday, October 29th, a week before AEW Full Gear on November 6th, and time will tell where
the former Universal Champion calls home later this year.
One person who may be out of WWE soon enough is Adam Cole, who’s current deal will end at midnight this Friday.
This deal is just a short-term deal, as Cole’s main contract expired last month, but WWE is getting their money’s worth out of the former
NXT Champion. Later today, Cole will be part of Mattel’s product reveal on Amazon live, one day before his deal
expires, and will be joined by fellow huge toy fan, Johnny Gargano. This isn’t a TV appearance for Cole, but it is an
assignment he’s been given as an official representative of the company, in what may be his very last role with the WWE.
Cole’s contract expires this Friday, and despite reports that WWE will offer him at least one more deal, the company isn’t expecting
him to re-sign. That’s according to sources who spoke to Fightful Select, who report that Cole isn’t
expected to be part of the main roster soon, and that the company aren’t making any plans for him whatsoever
This is a far-cry from just a few weeks ago, when it was reported that a meeting between Cole and Vince McMahon went well, and the
Chairman had instructed writers to come up with plans for his call-up. That’s not the plan now, as WWE have
seemingly given up hope on Cole re-signing, and though anything could happen between now and Friday night, it appears time is up fo
for the former NXT Champion.
In late July, Mandy Rose was drafted to NXT in a trade for Aliyah, but she hasn't competed in an NXT ring yet.
In fact, Rose's last televised match was back at Wrestlemania 37 Night one, and she's now hit another snag in her career.
According to bodyslam.net, Rose had her return match during this past Mondays NXT tapings, and was reportedly injured in the
process. They report that during her match with Sarray, the Japanese Superstar dropkicked her off
the apron, and Rose landed badly on the outside. Immediately after, Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne covered her in a towel and helped her to the
back, with the match ending in a count out. There's no word on what kind of injury Rose suffered, or if it's a kayfabe injury given that
featured her stable coming out to ringside. We'll keep following this story for any further updates, but the last thing Rose needs is for
real injury to derail her career after months out of the ring.
Since returning from retirement in early 2020, Edge has been one of WWE’s best-booked Superstars, earning a victory over Seth Rollins
at last Saturday’s Summerslam. For the past year, Edge has been featured on SmackDown, feuding with Rollins and Roman
Reigns, but this week, there was speculation he was moving to RAW. On WWEShop.com, the Hall of Famer is now
listed as a RAW Superstar, but fans shouldn’t expect him on the red brand yet.
According to sources, Edge has always been listed on the site as a RAW Superstar, even during his tenure on SmackDown, and the site
was simply never updated. Perhaps Edge will get moved to RAW soon, maybe in the upcoming draft scheduled for
October, but for now, the Rated-R Superstar remains on team blue.
More from AEW next, as FTR have established themselves in the company, already becoming AEW World Tag Team Champions, but not
everything has gone right for the former Revival. For the past few months, the pair have been feuding with Santana and Ortiz, which
included a clash on Dynamite a while ago, which resulted in Cash Wheeler getting a nasty cut on his forearm.
On Twitter, Dax Harwood shared a video about Wheeler’s condition, saying he’s been gone from AEW TV to mentally rehab
himself, and even teased the pair leaving AEW. It’s hard to tell if this was a shoot or simply part of a storyline, and whatever the case,
it made for some great viewing on social media from the former AEW World Tag Team Champions
More from WWE, and since joining the company as it’s President, Nick Khan has been a major influence over the product.
After all, it’s Khan who has been orchestrating the recent mass releases of talent, all in the name of budget cuts, and has previously said
that he doesn’t see AEW as competition to WWE, saying that his company focuses on it’s own work.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained that though Khan may not see AEW as a threat, many people in WWE do, and that
when he accepted the job as company President, Khan was “warned about AEW being competition to WWE
Meltzer added that Khan was told this by someone in the company, but everyone else would tell him that competition against
AEW doesn’t exist, but that isn’t the case at all. With CM Punk, Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley all on their roster, with Daniel Bryan, Adam
Cole, Bray Wyatt and Ruby Soho rumoured to join, AEW is proving that they can hang with WWE as competition, whether Khan believes
that to be the case or not
At AEW All Out, QT Marshall will face Paul Wight in the latter’s in-ring debut for the company, a match that everyone and their
mother expects Wight to win. With the result a foregone conclusion, you’d think AEW would try and make Marshall at
least seem like a credible threat, but instead, he took the loss on this week’s Dynamite, further diminishing his position on the card
Marshall is a seasoned performer, and understandably wants to give the younger talent a rub, but him taking the loss so
close to All Out isn’t doing anyone any favours. If Marshall can’t beat the youngsters of AEW,
what hope does he have against a former WWE, WCW, ECW and World Heavyweight Champion, who’s expected to eviscerate Marshall on
September 5th.
At the end of this month, Pete Dunne’s contract with NXT will end, something that came as a surprise to WWE officials.
That’s according to Fightful, who report that many in WWE were unaware about his deal ending so abruptly and that like Adam Cole, the former
UK Champion has been presented with a contract extension. This extension was offered during Summerslam
weekend, but there’s no word on how long it’s for, or whether the former UK Champion has agreed to it or not.
This week, Dunne stepped up to new NXT Champion Samoa Joe, implying that he’s the new number one contender for the title,
and this certainly implies that he’s re-signed a deal, something that’ll come as good news for WWE at a time when so many stars are
leaving for AEW.
As a 12-time Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair is extremely loyal to WWE, but recently, the Queen requested some time off from
the road. That was so she could attend TripleMania and watch her fiancé Andrade face AAA Mega
Champion Kenny Omega, but unlike her father, she didn’t appear on screen. Instead, Charlotte watched the show backstage
but that didn’t stop WWE from advertising her for a live event in Charlotte the entire time, a decision that left some fans irritated
Speaking on Oral Sessions, Flair discussed the negative fan reaction to her brief hiatus, saying:
“I actually thought people would be more like, ‘Wow, that’s how much her relationship means to her’. I was actually like, people are like
thinking that I’m ruining my career? Part of my career is who I am in my real life. Part of my career is Manny (Andrade El Idolo) helping
me and pushing me and supporting me and all these different experiences in my life. That makes me grow as a performer.
Charlotte added that fans weren’t surprised about her dad showing up, and said that Andrade means a lot to the Nature Boy, and was
genuinely proud to be out there with his future son-in-law. The RAW Women’s Champion also said that Ric
considers his friendship with Andrade as a passing of the torch, as the former NXT Champion will be the man who takes care of
Charlotte after he’s gone. Given that Flair has won another Women’s Championship since her trip to AAA, WWE
clearly isn’t mad with her for taking a break, though the same can’t be said for the fans in Charlotte, North Carolina, who were expecting
to see her.
And we’re ending today with Dynamite, which saw Malakai Black and Brock Anderson in the main event.
That wasn’t too bad and it was cool to see Arn block one of Black’s deadly kicks, only to be hit in the nether region.
But what did stand out was the awkward way the show ended, as Malakai Black, the price of dark forces who has been unstoppable,
ran away when Lee Johnson appeared. Johnson hasn’t been presented as a top star until this point, and isn’t seen as on Black’s
level, and yet he was able to scare off the former NXT Champion. It was a bizzarre way to end Dynamite
but the segment showed that Arn Anderson can still take a bump, as the legendary horseman has still got it, all these years later