Here's more wrestling for June1st 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
WWE ready to sign MJF! Not deterred by recent backstage issues
NWA World Champion Matt Cardona suffers torn biceps! May have to vacate the title
New promotion founded by former WWE Superstars already running into major problems
Long time WWE employee makes over $1 million selling company stock
Edge teases major future WWE prospect for The Judgement Day
Released WWE Superstar says he “begged” for the chance to wrestle before being cut
NXT’s Thea Hail announces University pick after graduating from High School
Chris Jericho says fellow AEW star saved his life in Abu Dhabi And more!
We’re kicking off today with MJF, who appeared at Double or Nothing 2022, but there was a long time where it looked like he was going to miss the show.
MJF didn’t appear at a meet and greet ahead of the event due to his issues with Tony Khan, which despite speculation of being a work, seems to be very real.
The salt of the earth has made it clear that his current contract expires in January 2024, and despite these recent issues with management, WWE is still very interested in him.
That’s according to Wade Keller of PW Torch, who reported this week that Vince McMahon is not deterred by the backstage issues MJF is having with AEW management, and is prepared
to make a lucrative offer to the young wrestler. Keller added that WWE is not only impressed by MJF, but recognise that the need young, talented
wrestlers, something MJF clearly is, and that they’re happy to look past his recent incidents behind the scenes. Multiple sources close to the situation have told Keller that MJF
is very impressed by WWE, and that the treatment of Cody Rhodes has given the 26-year-old wrestler a good feeling about working for the company.
It’s no secret that MJF is a long-time WWE fan, having even auditioned for 2015’s Tough Enough, and it now looks like seven years later, the Salt of the Earth is more than ready to jump ship.
Since being released from WWE in 2020, Matt Cardona has gone on to become a major star of the independent scene, including being the reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Now though, the former Zack Ryder is facing a serious setback, as the Champ is set to go under the knife.
In a Tweet, Cardona confirmed that he has a torn biceps after working a match at GCW Downward Spiral last Saturday night during a match with Blake Christian.
In a tweet immediately after the match, Cardona said how he thought he suffered some kind of arm injury, and now an MRI has confirmed his worst fears.
Cardona was scheduled to defend the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title against Nick Aldis at the June 11th NWA Alwayz Ready pay- per-view, but those plans are now off the table.
The big question now is to whether Cardona will be stripped of the NWA World Championship, but for now, all we can do is wish him the best on a speedy recovery.
Earlier this year, the Authors of Pain announced their new promotion ‘Wrestling Entertainment System’ and promised a heavily-stacked card for their first show.
The June 4th show in Nottingham, England was meant to feature former WWE talent including Adam Scherr, Nia Jax, CJ Perry and more, but that isn’t happening as planned.
In a tweet from the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, it was announced that the show has been postponed, and said the decision came from the events organisers, AOP.
It’s believed that this postponement is because of this week’s events, as her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the second will mark her Platinum Jubilee and 70 years on the throne,
which has led to massive celebrations across the nation. The new date for the show is July 9th, but that may not be the case either.
According to Chelsea Green, who is one of the several names advertised for the event, WES’s first show has been cancelled, and she tagged several names who are announced, as well as Fite TV.
Nothing has been confirmed by FITE or WES themselves, and tickets are still available for as low as £27.69, but the upstart promotion has already run into their share of problems.
Now, Kevin Dunn is one of the most powerful people in WWE not named McMahon, but this week, the company veteran sold off a ton of his stock.
Selling off over 10,000 shares, Dunn made around $1,000, 500 according to SEC filings, though this shouldn’t be seen as a sign of a potential departure.
Just last year, Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon sold off big chunks of their stock in the co mpany, and all have remained with WWE in a variety of capacities.
There was a time where Kevin Dunn was seen as Vince McMahon’s second-in-command, but that was before Nick Khan stepped in, and while Dunn remains with WWE, he made himself a whole lot richer this week.
For weeks now, Edge has teased various names as potential recruits to The Judgement Day, including Ciampa, Paige and the currently-injured Bayley.
Edge has even teased AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Liv Morgan, the group’s opponents at this weekend’s Hell in a Cell event, but now the Rated-R Superstar has promised another potential recruit.
On Instagram, Edge shared a photo of Ava Raine, aka Simone Johnson, and like all other teases, gave no caption explaining the reason behind his post.
The daughter of The Rock, Johnson would certainly make headlines by being associated with the group, but given that she’s not had any professional matches yet, it’s unlikely WWE
will want to pull the trigger on her just yet.
For what it’s worth, it’s been reported that Finn Balor will be the group’s fourth member, turning his back on Styles and Morgan, but don’t expect Edge to stop teasing potential recruits anytime soon.
In late 2021, WWE called up Hit Row to the main roster, but their time on SmackDown was incredibly short lived.
B-Fab was released by WWE on November 4th, two weeks before the rest of the group was cut, and now we’re learning more about WWE’s reluctance to push the group.
Despite being a popular act in NXT, WWE was incredibly hesitant to use Hit Row on SmackDown, as AJ Francis, aka Top Dolla, explained recently on the Public Enemies podcast:
They never had nothing for us, man. Even after Briana [B-Fab] got released, we went to Connecticut and we had to beg John Laurinai tis to put us on the Christmas tour. We were like, ‘Yo, we wanna
work house shows. We want to work on our craft.’ We \ went out of our way to tell them that.”
It’s incredible that WWE hired wrestlers, who had to literally beg to be given the chance to work, but given the company’s track record with their talent, it’s not all too surprising.
Ultimately, Francis’ pleas were in vein, as he and the rest of Hit Row were cut before the holiday tour, and he was never given the chance to work on his craft on the main roster.
Over to NXT 2.0 next as Thea Hail, a new recruit to WWE, only recently graduated high school, and she’s now confirmed that she will be attending Chase University.
On last night episode, Hail had a makeshift press conference, in which she teased joining Notre Dame before deciding to join Chase U.
Hail only graduated from high school last week, and is already making an impression in NXT 2.0, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes next for her, both in the ring and in her education.
And we’re ending today with Chris Jericho, who has gotten into all sorts of scrapes in his 30+ year career as a wrestler, and nearly lost his life in 2012.
During an episode of AEW Dynamite last year, Jericho spoke about Jake Hager, saying that the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion had his back when he was threatened with
assassination, and now has opened up about what exactly happened. On the latest episode of Talk is Jericho, which featured the
Jericho Appreciation Society, Chris said that during a 2012 tour of Abu Dhabi, he confronted a man who had been yelling and screaming whilst they were at a bar.
That seemed to be the end of things until the man confronted Jericho outside, as Y2J explained
He goes ‘My dad owns 27% of this company. And I’m putting a bounty on your head. In the next 24 hours, you are going to be killed. “I remember Jake going, ‘Don’t do it man. This is the wild west.
They will kill you here. They’ll f*cking string you up, they’ll hang you.’ The only reason I didn’t take a wild swing with my stupid key was because Jake told me not to… would have [fought] him
knows what would have happened, so therefore, in pro wrestling logic, Jake Hager saved my life!” In 2012, WWE did three dates in Abu Dhabi which line up with
Jericho’s timeline, so at the time, Chris would’ve been feuding with then-WWE Champion CM Punk, while Hager was the WWE United States Champion.