Here's your wrestling news for September 30th 2021
And your headlines for Afternoon include
What Happened After AEW Dynamite Ended?, Former WWE NXT Star To Appear Next Week!
Miro Breaks Silence After Losing His TNT Championship On AEW Dynamite!
MJF References WWE Senior VP Bruce Prichard On AEW Dynamite!
SHANE MCMAHON’s Return Date Confirmed!
Alexa Bliss Scheduled For Surgery; Also Teases Gimmick Change With Cryptic Post!
Former WWE Champion/ RAW Superstar Expected To Miss The WWE Draft!
Randy Orton Not Medically Cleared To Perform!
CM Punk Banned From Diving Into Crowd At AEW Dynamite!
Tony Khan Took Creative Control Away From AEW Executive Vice Presidents; Cody Rhodes And Other Unhappy!
AEW Starting Jon Huber Foundation In Memory Of Brodie Lee! And More!
We’re starting today with AEW Dynamite, which saw Sammy Guevara become the new TNT Champion, topping Miro in the main
event after his 630 Senton. Last night’s Dynamite aired from Rochester, New York, the home of the late Brodie Lee,
and the show was dedicated to the memory of the former TNT Champion. After the show went off the air, Guevara
addressed the New York crowd, and paid tribute to the former WWE and AEW wrestler who died last December. He said:
Now my goal is to be one of the best TNT champions there ever was. Rochester, I gotta be honest with you, we know who the
greatest TNT champion was.” This caused an eruption of Brodie chants from the crowd, and Guevara reponded saying
I will never be able to fill the shoes that you left behind. I mean, you had some big ass feet. But I’m going to do my damnedest and work as hard as I
hard as I can and carry this title with pride. No offense to Kenny’s belt, but this is the greatest title in professional wrestling!”
Asking those backstage not to play his music, the Spanish God asked the crowd to play him out with Brodie chants, a request the audience
happily obliged. Guevara only just became TNT Champion, but he already has an opponent lined up, as
during the commercial break on Rhodes to the Top, he challenged recent NXT releasee Bobby Fish to a title match next week.
PW Insider reports that Fish’s appearance isn’t expected to be a one-time deal for AEW, as he’ll seemingly be the next former Superstar to join
the company. As for Miro, he broke his silence after losing the title on Twitter, and after calling himself God’s
favourite Champion, said he and his God are going to talk. We’ll have to see what the Bulgarian does next
after losing the TNT title, but Guevara is already proving that he’ll be a fighting champion which his huge match next week.
Last night’s Dynamite also saw MJF threaten to quit if Tony Khan doesn’t start giving him opportunities, and there’s one place the cocky
heel is already eyeing up. Calling himself the past, present and future of AEW, and a future World Champion, MJF said
that Tony Khan is in his top 2 favourite Khans in wrestling, a reference to WWE President Nick Khan, and added:
If you don’t start giving me opportunities I deserve, I have other friends from back in the day. I have an old friend from my MLW days, and his name
is Bruce Prichard. And I got Brucie on speed dial.” Prichard of course, now works for WWE, as MJF teased leaving for Vince McMahon’s
company of Khan doesn’t give him what he wants. There’s no word on how Khan felt about this
segment, or if he agreed to it at all, but given that he wasn’t happy with MJF referring to ‘ VKM’ in a promo the other week, we imagine he
wasn’t’ pleased with this latest reference. Referring to two WWE personalities in one promo, AEW’s constant reliance on the
opposition needs to stop, as it should be the fans who praise AEW when comparing it to WWE, not the company itself.
After all, we don’t see WWE making reference to AEW each week, and given that RAW and SmackDown continue to get more viewers than
Dynamite or Rampage, there’s plenty of ammunition if WWE wanted to. After two years of referencing WWE and taking
snipes at McMahon, it’ll no doubt be difficult for AEW to stop this trend, but it’s something they should consider, especially if
they ever want to be seen as more than WWE’s runner-up.
In 2016, Shane McMahon made his shocking return to WWE, 7 years after he left the company for other ventures.
Since then, Shane has competed at WrestleMania, become the Best in the World, and even held gold, but now he’s out of the company.
That’s according to reports from both Fightful\ and Wrestling Inc, who say the Prodigal Son is no longer involved with WWE.
McMahon’s last match came at WrestleMania 37, as the culmination of his bizarre feud with Braun Strowman, where he made fun of the giant’s
intelligence. The WWE Universe wasn’t impressed by this childish angle, and as a result, were pleased
see Strowman get the win at WrestleMania’s steel-cage match, ending this chapter of Shane’s on-screen career.
In their report, Fightful says he’s no-longer involved with the company, and Wrestling Inc note that Shane isn’t under any contract with WWE.
Sources in the company have explained that Shane has been busy with his own company, Ideanomics, and has been focussing on that
since vanishing from screens after WrestleMania. Ideanomics is a global electric vehicle company that is focused on driving the adoption of
commercial electric vehicles and associated sustainable energy consumption, so it’s hardly surprising that Shane is kept busy with this
venture. Shane may be gone, but he won’t be gone for long, as sources have also revealed that he’ll
returning to TV on the December 12th RAW, which’ll be the first RAW after WWE TLC and will air from Chicago Illinois.
Shane will reportedly be a regular on-screen character upon returning, and though it’s too early to tell if he’ll wrestle, the plans are for him
to be on-screen until WrestleMania 38. WrestleMania has always been a big night for Shane, as he’s faced Strowman, the Undertaker
and even his own father, and whether he’s wrestling or not, the Best in the World will be back on TV soon after his ongoing hiatus
from WWE
Extreme Rules news next, as last Sunday didn't go as Alexa Bliss had hoped, losing her RAW Women's title match with Charlotte Flair.
Post-match, the Queen destroyed Bliss' doll Lilly, an act that had the demonic goddess literally frothing at the mouth.
Bliss wasn't on this week's RAW, and it's been reported that she'll be off TV for a while, and she may be a much different character upon returning.
On social media, Bliss teased a character change with an Albert Einstein quote, saying that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed from
one form to another. PW Insider is reporting that Bliss’ change will be quite literal, as they note:
Alexa Bliss was written off TV as of the Extreme Rules PPV as she is scheduled for an upcoming sinus surgery.
This surgery means she’ll miss the draft, but after spending so long as a top star in the company, with tons of merchandise to her name,
we expect the former Women’s Champion will be a top pick for either RAW or SmackDown. After a year under her current demonic form,
many believe that Bliss' character doesn't have much left, and only time will tell what changes the Goddess has made when she
eventually returns to TV following this sinus surgery.
Speaking of surgeries, Sheamus has been wearing a protective face mask for some time now, but it didnt do the job this week.
Facing off against U.S. Champion Damian Priest in a No-Disqualification title match, the Celtic Warrior suffered a smash to the face that has
rebroken his nose. Although some may have believed that this was part of the show, Sheamus logged onto Twitter to
drop a photo from his hospital bed, confirming that this second nose breakage is very real.
Calling himself the "2x WWE Nose Job Champion, " the Celtic Warrior was able to see the funny side of things as he prepped for yet another surgery.
There's never a good time to get injured, and having two broken noses in a matter of months might label Sheamus, or at least his
nose as 'injury prone.' That being said, Vince McMahon is a huge fan of Sheamus, so we can only imagine the former
World Champion will get a huge spotlight when he can make an in-ring return once more. T
his is a tough break, literally and figuratively for Sheamus, who will now have to undergo a slow rehabilitation process on his nose,
and odds are he'll have plenty of pent-up frustration when he's able to get back in the ring.
As a former WWE World Champion, Sheamus is no-doubt a priority for both RAW and SmackDown in the upcoming draft, but don’t
expect to see him appear on tomorrow’s SmackDown or next week’s Raw. In an update from PW Insider, it’s reported that
Sheamus is expected to be out for a few weeks after his second broken nose since late May.
There’s no word on how WWE will handle Sheamus’ absence, but whatever the case, he won’t be wrestling on either brand for quite
some time.
This week, Randy Orton wasn’t on RAW, in his latest absence from WWE during the past week.
Orton was also missing from Extreme Rules, and didn’t appear at a live event despite being advertised.
It’s previously been reported that Orton’s absence is due to personal matters, but now PW Insider is reporting that the Viper isn’t
cleared to perform either. With one-half of the RAW Tag Team Champions out, the WWE will have to make
make a decision on the titles soon, and with the draft starting tomorrow night, it’ll be interesting to see how WWE handles what would be
high-profile pick for either show.
More from AEW now, as CM Punk remains to be one of the company’s hottest signing ever, getting a massive reaction each week from the
audience. Appearing last week at AEW’s Grand Slam, Punk continued to electrify the crowd just like
he’s done since debuting, but his typical stage dive into the audience didn’t happen. On Twitter, the former WWE Champion explained
why there was no dive, saying the New York State Athletic Commission doesn’t allow stage dives
This is all part of the measures in New York to help slow the spread of C-19, and the last thing anyone wanted was Punk’s mingling with the
audience to lead to more positive cases. Last week’s show at the Arthur Ashe Stadium also required fans to provide proof of their
vaccination before being let in, and as long as the C-19 situation continues to be a factor, fans will simply have to make-do with catching
a glimpse of Punk from their seats, because he won’t be jumping into their laps.
More from AEW, as Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks all share the title as Executive Vice Presidents, but it’s ultimately
Tony Khan who’s the decision maker in the company. Founding AEW In 2019 was Khan’s first jump into
the world of promoting wrestling, and the company’s creative process has changed a lot since then.
That’s according to Bodyslam.net who report that the Executive VPs were once in charge of creative, but that’s not the case anymore,
as they report: Sources within the company have told me that creative was essentially completely taken away
from the EVP’s, as basically everything now comes through/down to Tony Khan.” Wrestlers are “allowed and encouraged” to
pitch whatever idea they may have, but it’s Khan who decides what makes it to TV and w hat doesn’t.
Interestingly, this isn’t too different to Vince McMahon, as the company’s Chairman is also the decider when it comes to creative, as the two
billionaires aren’t too different after all.
Cody Rhodes may be an EVP like Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, but that doesn’t mean that they all work well together behind the scenes.
Thanks to Bodyslam.net, new information has come out about the quartet of EVPs and their roles, and it seems Cody is the outsider in the equation.
Their report notes that Cody is the only Executive Vice President who regularly attends office meetings and is an office regular, adding that
the former TNT Champion doesn’t have much of a relationship with the Bucks and Omega, saying:
“The others are still great friends, but Cody is very much on the outside looking in.”
Matt Jackson takes care of assisting his wife Dana with merchandising, whilst his brother Nick handles being the Elite.
As for Omega, his focus is on AEW’s Games division, which the company invested several millions in to get going, but Tony Khan has said
he doesn’t regret that investment one bit. Not only has Khan taken control over creative, but one source said that TK ha “pulled back
on the reins” when it comes to hiring talent, saying that Omega, Rhodes and the Bucks are EVPs in name only, with no final say in creative
or signings. In the past it’s been said that if Vince McMahon could do every job in WWE then he would,
and it’s the same case for Khan, a man who’s already received comparrisons to a young Vince McMahon.
AEW may be seen as the alternative to WWE, but the two companies a ran in very similar ways, and with Cody reportedly very upset with the other
Executive Vice Presidents, chaos and controversy backstage isn’t just reserved for WWE.
And we’re ending today with the late Brodie Lee, who’s legacy continues to live on after his passing last December, and now his legacy will
help others through the Jon Huber Foundation. This week, AEW revealed the start of the Jon Huber Foundation, dedicated to the wrestler
which will give support to people in creative fields, who haven’t been able to go as far as they’d hope due to family obligations
This is a personal matter for the Huber family, as Brodie Lee almost gave up his wrestling career when his son was born, and in a statement
Jon’s widow Amanda said: “The mission of the Jon Huber Legacy Foundation is to honor the in-ring and
out-of-the-ring legacy of Jon Huber by supporting creative individuals ready for the next step in their careers, who have not taken
that step due to family obligations. The foundation will provide a cohort of selected fellows with mentorship, connections, practical
skills, and financial support to take the next step in their careers.” This foundation will help many people follow
their dreams creatively, as Brodie Lee was able to accomplish his dream of becoming a wrestler, and we’re confident that the former
TNT Champion would be thrilled to see his legacy celebrated in this way.