Here's your wrestling news for February 24th 2022
And your headlines for today include
Former WWE Superstar makes AEW debut on latest Dynamite
Update on Tony Khan’s ‘massive’ announcement. Do we already know what it is?
WWE Hall of Famer says he’s “not surprised” Cody Rhodes Left AEW
Cody says he has a brand new look ahead of rumored WWE return
Former Universal Champion says he hated other wrestlers using his finishing move
Hall of Famer recalls walking out on Ring Of Honor after shocking demand
AEW makes reference to William Regal! Is he the next to join the company And more!
We’re kicking off today with AEW, as last night’s Dynamite saw the debut of one of wrestling’s hottest free agents.
When Malakai Black and Brody King were attacking Penta and PAC, the lights went out, and when they came back on, Buddy Mathews made his AEW debut.
It first appeared that Matthews was going to oppose Black and King, but he wound up joining them in their attack on the Death Triangle.
On Twitter, Tony Khan made it official by welcoming the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion to the company, confirming that Matthews is All Elite.
Interestingly, it was earlier this month that it was first reported that AEW wasn’t interested in Matthews, but more recent reports noted that
he was expected to make his way to the company. After several years in WWE, where he held the Cruiserweight title and both the NXT and RAW Tag
Team Titles, Matthews is now the newest member of the House of Black, and we’ll have to see how he fares in the All-Elite promotion
Earlier this month has also seen Tony Khan promise a massive announcement for AEW, but has given no clue as to what he’ll be announcing in the near future.
With how many former Superstars AEW has signed over the past year, many assume that this announcement will be another former WWE talent
such as Bray Wyatt, but that won’t be the case. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that according to his sources, Khan’s
announcement won’t be a signing, and that it’s far more likely to be some kind of business deal for the company.
If AEW aren’t announcing a new talent, the most popular theory is that Khan has agreed some kind of super-show with other promotions such as
Impact and New Japan Pro Wrestling. All three promotions have worked together in the past, with both Kenny Omega and Christian Cage
holding the Impact World Championship last year, and the IWGP United States Championship being defended on AEW TV in the past.
Khan has said that his announcement will not just be big for AEW, but “massive for wrestling,” as a Supershow that WWE isn’t invited to could very
well happen this year.
We don’t know for sure what Khan’s massive announcement is, but the AEW President has given an update on the situation so far.
Prior to this week’s episode of Dynamite, Khan said he can’t reveal the announcement just yet, but reiterated it is “something massive” and that the
legal team has him under a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Khan said it’s not like the announcement of Rampage
The First Dance, where he can put an exact date on when It’ll be made public, but called whatever he has planned “a little bit different to
anything we’ve done before.”
Whatever Khan’s announcement is, we hope it’s worth the wait after all this time, but for now, the AEW President is keeping quiet about what exactly is going on.
Whatever AEW has planned, it will have to go on ahead without Cody and Brandi Rhodes, as its been a week and a half since the pair left the company,
reportedly over a dispute over pay and booking between Cody and Tony Khan Three years after founding AEW as an alternative
to WWE, almost everyone is shocked that Cody could soon be back working for Vince McMahon, but Eric Bischoff isn’t surprised.
On his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff said that he’s not shocked by Cody’s decision to leave AEW, and is more shocked that he chose to leave WWE in the
first place, adding: “You’re 30 years old, on the biggest stage in the world in your particular industry and yeah, you
might be saddled with a character or gimmick that you don’t particularly like but you’re making damn good money.”
Cody left WWE in 2016, creatively frustrated over the Stardust character, and it’s safe to say he’s proven himself outside the company.
It’s been reported that Vince McMahon will treat Cody as a “huge deal” should he return, in order to entice other AEW stars to jump ship, and time will tell if the
Chairman is true to his word should Cody sign to come back.
We don’t know when exactly Cody Rhodes will appear next, though its reported to be in time for WrestleMania 38, but he may be sporting a new
look upon his return to the company.
On Instagram, the former TNT Champion said he’d changed his look by growing an “amazing goatee” and compared it to Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr.
That being said, Cody said that Brandi disagreed with the look, and left it ambiguous as to whether he still has it or if he’s already shaved it off.
However Cody looks, we’re pretty sure he’ll get a thunderous pop from the crowd should he appear on WWE programming, but with several references
made to him on the latest episode of Monday Night RAW, it may not be long before Rhodes and his new look are back on TV.
Over to WWE now, as Bill Goldberg wrestled his last match on his latest contract with the company at Elimination Chamber, losing to Roman Reigns.
This match was two years in the making, as the two masters of the Spear were meant to collide at WrestleMania 36 in 2020 before Reigns withdrew
from the show. Reigns isn’t the only Superstar to have used the spear after Goldberg, as Edge, Bobby Lashley and
many more use the move, and that once didn’t sit right with the Hall of Famer. Speaking to Dr. Beau Hightower, Goldberg said he
used to hate other wrestlers who used the move, saying that there’s about 15 to 20 in WWE today who use it, but now he’s okay, believing that
people know him as the “master” of the move. Whether Goldberg uses the spear again remains to be seen, as there’s no plans for him to wrestle at
at WrestleMania 38 or after this April’s event, but should he compete again, we’re sure he’ll use the Spear.
Last August, Ric Flair chose to leave WWE after being unhappy with his booking and the booking of his daughter and hasn’t exactly been praising his former
employer. With WWE distancing themselves from Flair in the wake of Dark Side of the Ring’s coverage of the
Plane Ride from Hell, Flair has routinely bashed the promotion, and has shown no signs of letting up. This wasn’t always the case however, as during
the latest episode of Woooo Nation Uncensored, Flair discussed a vow he made to never badmouth WWE, which even cost him a spot with Ring of Honor.
Flair explained that during negotiations for an appearance with ROH, he was asked to bad mouth WWE and promote Ring of Honor as just as big as the
Sports Entertainment Juggernaut, something the Nature -Boy refused to do. Flair has since broken his vow, as just last week he said
WWE is “the most insensitive company in the world” when nobody from WWE called him after his split with Wendy Barlow
Despite his comments, Flair has remained adamant about one-day working his way back into WWE, and we’ll have to wait and see if the company
ever brings the two-time Hall of Famer back into the fold.
And we’re ending today with Bryan Danielson, who appeared on this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite, and had some praise for a certain legend of wrestling
who’s currently a free agent. Ahead of his match with 2 Point O’s Daniel Garcia, Danielson spoke to Tony Schiavone, and said that
while Garcia is a good wrestler, he had a great mentor in William Regal. It was great to see Regal get the love and appreciation
he has so rightfully earned after over two decades in WWE, and years of wrestling before Vince McMahon’s company in other promotions
In contrast to AEW’s usual M.O, Regal has said he won’t bash WWE, and has thanked the company for keeping him employed at a time where he was dealing with
several personal problems, but perhaps this week’s shout out is a sign of things to come for the former General Manger of NXT.