Here's more wrestling news for September 9th 2021
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Dark Order Continues To Disintegrate On AEW Dynamite!
Kenny Omega Pulls Down Number One Spot In PWI 500; WWE Fans Complain!
"I Got Into A Fight In A Bar" - Ex-WWE Superstar On Why Major Match With The Undertaker Never Happened!
Britt Baker Had Huge Surprise For Adam Cole After AEW All Out Debut!
Excalibur Missing From AEW Dynamite This Week!
AEW Reveals New Gameplay Footage For Upcoming Console Game!
Ryback Reveals His Unusual Relationship With Vince McMahon’s Brother! And More!
We’re starting today with Ruby Soho, who made her Dynamite debut this week by beating Britt Baker’s sidekick Jamie Hayter,
in a fun, if not slightly botchy match. After Soho picked up the win, she was beaten down post-match, but it was Riho
and Kris Statlander who made the save, setting up a six-woman tag-team match for Dynamite this week.
This angle is vertically identical to what happened with Bryan Danielson on last night’s show, as he too was attacked by
a group, only to be saved by a group of faces, setting up a multi-wrestler match in the future.
That may be, but Soho is already off to a big start in AEW, even if it doesn’t seem like she’ll be the one to dethrone the AEW
Women’s World Champion.
As both AEW World Champion and AAA Mega Champion, Kenny Omega knows all about being a winner, and now he has another
accolade to his resume. This week, Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked their top 500 wrestlers of the past year,
and for the second time in his career, Omega is number 1. Omega’s last time in the number one spot
was in 2018, shortly after he captured the IWGP Heavyweight Champion to end his legendary feud with Kazuchika Okada
In this year’s rankings, it was Universal Champion who took 2nd place, with WWE Champion Bobby Lashley taking Bronze,
and Drew McIntyre who was fourth, and Kota Ibushi 5th. Omega has dominated AEW since becoming
World Champion last December, and already believed he was the best wrestler alive today before this year PWI 500 list, but now the Belt
collector has the proof to back his claim up
Kenny Omega has had an incredible year, but he’s not the only person who’s dominated over the past 12 months.
On Twitter, several fans called on PWI to acknowledge the Tribal Chief, arguing that Roman Reigns deserves the top spot over Omega.
One fan said how Reigns’ doesn’t need multiple titles to be the hottest wrestler in the industry, a dig at Omega’s status as the Belt-Collector,
whilst another said that Reigns is the best thing for WWE and Sports Entertainment. Many fans pointed out how Reigns has been
Universal Champion for over a year, far longer than Omega, and has dispatched of some of wrestling’s biggest names, like Edge and
John Cena to keep the gold. Reigns has definitely been WWE’s biggest star of the past year, and is a former PWI-500 winner
himself, but for now, even the Head of the Table couldn’t match-up the AEW World Champion.
In 2006, Kevin Fertig debuted his Kevin Thorn character in WWE, a gothic vampire that seemed like the natural success to Gangrel.
This wasn’t Fertig’s first tenure on WWE TV though, as In 2004 he was Mordecai, an all-white-wearing supernatural force, who s
seemed destined to one-day feud with the Lord of Darkness, The Undertaker. After picking up wins over the likes of Scotty
2 Hotty and Hardcore Holly though, the character was dropped, and in an interview this week with Sportskeeda, Fertig discussed
what went wrong for Mordecai. He said: "I was supposed to go against The Undertaker [and] Eddie Guerrero. I was supposed to do a
lot of stuff. But I ended up being an idiot and I got into a fight in a bar and it just didn't work out - just didn't work out that way, man. So,
live and learn." There had been plans for Undertaker Vs. Mordecai at WrestleMania 21 in 2005,
but after the character was scrapped, Randy Orton faced the Deadman, kicking off their incredible 2005 feud that ended
at December’s Armageddon inside Hell in a Cell. As for Fertig, he would eventually make it
to WrestleMania, competing in an eight-man tag at WrestleMania 23, a far-cry from the planned ‘Taker feud that he threw away
over a bar-fight.
More from AEW, as Adam Cole’s debut at All Out was a huge night for the company, but it was an extra special night for the former
NXT Champion, thanks to Britt Baker. Speaking during the post-All Out media conference, Cole revealed that his girlfriend
made the night even more meaningful, by bringing his brother and mother to the show without him knowing about it. He added:
“Sunday was one of the greatest nights of my life. It was my favorite night of my career… Britt deserves a ton of credit for that. She
surprised me, she didn’t even tell me she was going to do that.” Adam Cole couldn’t be happier to be working
in AEW alongside his best friend and girlfriend, and we’re confident he’ll have even more great nights now that he’s working for Tony Khan.
Cole made his Dynamite debut this week, but last night’s show from Cincinnati Oho didn’t feature Excalibur on commentary.
Instead, Taz filled in for him behind the desk, but there’s a great reason why Excalibur wasn’t on the show.
As Jim Ross explained during the intro, Excalibur is getting married in a few days, and AEW gave him time off to prepare for his impending nuptials.
We’re not certainly how much time Excalibur is getting off work, but there doesn’t seem to be any heat with him from AEW, and the next
time the fans see the masked announcer on TV, he’ll be a married man.
Video game news now, and it was in June this year that fans last saw footage from the upcoming AEW console video game, which
showcased Darby Allin, but we’ve now got more footage from the new game. This footage from the AEW Games YouTube
channel features Allin and Jungle Boy, showing some of their signature moves and Jungle Boy’s signature pose.
The video posted was of a live show held by Jungle Boy, Aubrey Edwards, The Buny and Evil Uno, and the game footage got a positive
reception from the live crowd. AEW has been working with Yukes on the new game, the developers behind several
WWE games before they signed a deal with 2K, and we’ll have to see what comes next for AEW’s first console game in the coming
months.
Since leaving WWE in 2016, Ryback has had plenty of harsh words for the company, who he claims without evidence has been
illegally supressing his social media accounts. The former Superstar has had especially harsh words for Vince McMahon, infamously
branding the WWE Chairman a pimp, but he’s not the only McMahon Ryback has encountered.
Speaking on the Two-Man Power-Trip of Wrestling podcast, Ryback spoke about an unlikely relationship with Vince brother Rod
McMahon during a tanning session after a workout. Claiming that he and Rod sparked a friendship
that lasted until Rod’s passing earlier this year, the Big Guy added than when he told Vince about their meeting, saying he and Rod
look alike, the Chairman allegedly stormed off, saying they look nothing alike. Ryback added
Later that night, Vince came back up to me, and by the way, the finish got put on me for the tag match. Vince said, ‘I really want you
to meet my mom.’ I’m thinking he’s going to have a bunch of talent to go meet his mom. His mom was 90-something at the time. I
I go into this room. Somebody brings me into this room. It’s me and Vince’s mom and nobody else. I’m thinking ‘What’s going on?
She said, ‘Nice to meet you.’ The first thing she said was, ‘My son’s going to live for a long time.’ I’m thinking, ‘What the actual
going on?’ Did he put her up to this? It's worth noting that we’re only hearing one side of the story here, and the idea that
McMahon could’ve brought his mother to a show so quickly seems unbelievable, but it’s what Ryback is claiming.
Despite claiming that he’s not done as a wrestler, Ryback has had just a handful of matches since leaving WWE, and after
five years of constant negativity at his old employers, we doubt the Big Guy will ever get back in a WWE ring
And we’re ending with NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida, who hasn’t wrestled since the July 21st 205 Live, and we now
know where he’s been. On a video posted on Instagram, Kushida announced that he and his family have all
tested positive, which is why his August title defence against Roderick Strong was pulled from the card.
Kushida hasn’t given a timetable on when he’ll be back, and whatever the future holds for him, we’re sending our best to the Champ and his family.