Here'syour wrestling news for March 2nd 2022
And your headlines for today include
Tony Khan Has Purchased Ring Of Honor; Twitter Explodes After Huge Announcement!
Shane McMahon Name-Dropped On AEW Dynamite!
CM Punk Makes Several WWE References On AEW Dynamite!
Important Update About Vince McMahon- Pat MacAfee Interview!
Sad News Concerning Bayley’s WWE Return!
WWE Releases Global Talent Strategy & Development Manager!
Amari Miller Suffered Concussion During WWE NXT 2.0 This Week; Backstage Reaction Revealed!
MJF Believes WWE Will Do Whatever It Takes To Sign Him!
Major News Concerning Jon Moxley Bloodsport 8! And More!
We’re kicking off today with some truly massive news from All Elite Wrestling, as on this week’s Dynamite, Tony Khan made a rare on-screen
appearance and the huge announcement he had been promising certainly lived up to the hype.
Opening up the show, Khan spoke about starting AEW in 2019, and compared their success so far to the launch off Ring of Honor in 2002.
It was then that Khan made his announcement, that he had purchased ROH from Sinclair Broadcasting.
In only his second appearance on a live Dynamite, Khan certainly made an impression with his huge announcement, and on Twitter, his name quickly
got trending. On social media, fans gave their two cents on the matter, with many hailing the development as
huge, and some noting that ROH had been integral to AEW since the beginning, as it was Ring of Honor who had paid for the production of 2018’s All In.
Some argued that Khan’s announcement wasn’t as big a deal as it appeared, saying that the AEW President was just satisfying the current fanbase,
and buying ROH won’t bring any new eyes to the product. However you feel, all of Ring of Honor is now
is now All-Elite, and after weeks of teasing an announcement that would be huge for the wrestling world, Khan kept his word last night.
Khan’s announcement is a huge deal for AEW, who continues to prove themselves as an a lternative to WWE, but like many of his wrestlers,
Khan couldn’t help but take a jab at the other company. During his announcement, Khan said that
Shane’s not here,” a reference to the final WCW Monday Nitro where Shane interrupted Vince McMahon to unveil himself as WCW’s new owner.
Some have also seen it as referencing the rumours that Shane could be buying ROH now that he’s been released from WWE,
or the rumor of him possibly signing with the All-Elite promotion. In interviews since Shane’s WWE departure,
Tony Khan has said he would take a call from McMahon, but what did you make to this week’s reference to WWE’s Prodigal son? Let us
know in the comments.
Tony Khan wasn’t the only person who wanted to reference WWE last night, as CM Punk had plenty t o say about the company he last worked for in 2014.
Speaking ahead of this Sunday’s Dog Collar match with MJF, Punk compared his 2014 walkout to when Steve Austin left WWE in 2002 after learning he’d be
be losing a squash match on RAW to Brock Lesnar. Referencing JR’s infamous line at the time that
Austin “took his ball and went home,” Punk was comparing him being a fan of the Rattlesnake, to MJF blaming Punk for burying his dreams when
he left WWE.
Speaking to MJF directly, Punk says he’s done horrible things, including pouring alcohol down someone’s throat and mocking a wrestler’s
issues until he lost his job because of said issues. That’s a reference to Punk’s 2009 programme
with Jeff Hardy which only ended with Hardy being released by WWE due to his substance abuse problems.
Punk also spoke about covering a legendary wrestler’s body with the ashes of his dead manager, a nod to his 2013 feud with The
Undertaker which incorporated the real life passing of Paul Bearer. The segment ended with MJF, Wardlow and
Shawn Spears leaving Punk in a bloody mess in the ring, and what do you make to Punk’s comments? Did they build his story with MJF?
Or is this another case of AEW trying to reference a company they say they don’t pay attention to?
Now, later today, Vince McMahon will make a rare interview appearance when he sits down with Pat McAfee.
There’s a lot of buzz about this interview, which fans expect to be the catalyst to the rumored match between the Chairman and the SmackDown
commentator at WrestleMania 38.
McMahon will have countless stories to tell, but don’t expect too much build to the rumored Mania match.
That’s according to Sean Ross Sapp, who notes that while elements of the interview may be used to promote WWE, this sit-down with McMahon
and McAfee will be a “real interview,” as opposed to one filled with kayfabe. Sapp added that the interview “should be fascinating,
even if the pair don’t start throwing haymakers as part of the Chairman’s appearance. For what it’s worth, it’s said that if the Mania match
does happen, WWE will use ‘smoke and mirrors,’ with Austin Theory likely wrestling in McMahon’s place, and we’ll have to see what the
Boss and McAfee say later today
Last July, whilst attending a training session ahead of the return of live fans, WWE’s Bayley uffered a torn ACL that has kept her out of action ever since.
Feeling her knee pop during the training, Bayley’s absences has been notable, especially after she dominated SmackDown for over a year, but fans
hope she’ll soon be back on our screens. It was recently reported that Bayley would likely be back in time for WrestleMania 38, and could
could even have some role on the show, but it a ppears that isn’t the case anymore. When Mike Johnson reported on several inactive
WWE talents, he discussed Bayley, saying: “The current plan is for her to return to TV regularly after Wrestlemania.”
There’s no word on what WWE has planned for the Role Model, or how they’ll bring her back to TV, but fans wanting to see Bayley before WrestleMania
should prepare to be sorely disappointed.
For the past two years, WWE has been releasing employees, both on-screen talent and those not on camera, a part of seemingly never-ending
budget cuts. Now, another person has lost their job, as Mike Johnson reports that Lisette Pineda, the now
former manager of Global Talent Strategy and Development, has been released by the company.
Starting of in January 2020, Pineda worked closely with Triple H, who is the Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy and Development.
In a statement, WWE attributed her departure to the changing landscape of NXT 2.0, and thanked Pineda in a generic statement which didn’t
mention her by name. With William Regal released in January, alongside the likes of Samoa Joe and Road Dogg, it seems
nobody if safe if they’ve worked with Triple H, and now Pineda will have to find work outside WWE.
Yesterday, we reported on Amari Miller, who's appearance on this week's NXT 2.0 didn't go as planned.
After her match with Lash Legend, Miller was stretchered to the back, though this happened during a commercial break.
We now know more about her condition as on Twitter, Miller confirmed that she suffered a concussion and thanked everyone who had sent
her support.
WWE thankfully takes concussions very serious these days, and there's no word on when fans can expect to see her back in the ring.
For now, Miller's focus is recovering from this week's scary incident and we'd like to send the young NXT Superstar the best on her road back to the ring.
Speaking of NXT 2.0, Duke Hudson has been a fixture of the show since last July, but his actions as of late have garnered him a reputation no
wrestler wants. On Twitter, a clip from last week’s NXT 2.0 was shared in which Hudson hits Dante Chen with a
modified Razor’s Edge and in response, Lance Storm called his use of the move unsafe and said that Chen could’ve gotten a concussion.
Storm’s tweet was liked from various big names, including Edge, Mick Foley, James Storm and AEW’s Brian Pillman Jr, who said that Chen’s head
hit the mat hard. Big Swole also responded, saying that as soon as she saw the move she knew something was wrong.
Being branded unsafe is possibly the worst thing a wrestler can be called, and with Hudson nowhere to be seen on this week’s episode, his WWE career
may be in jeopardy.
Since coming to AEW, MJF has established himself as a true star of the company and is considered one of the most hated heels in wrestling today.
With AEW having such a loyal fanbase, part of MJF’s tactics for getting booed is to openly say he’d be willing to go to WWE, a similar move to the heel Rob
Van Dam during his time in WCW. Speaking this week to Freddie Prinze Jr on the ‘Wrestling with Freddie’ podcast, the Salt of the
Earth reiterated his claim that he’ll go to wherever the money is after his current AEW deal expires in 2024, and is confident that WWE recognises his
talent, saying: “I genuinely believe WWE is going to be willing to do whatever it takes to get me to jump ship
because to have me is to pretty much take a sniper rifle and shoot the heart of All Elite Wrestling, because that is exactly what I am. I’m the glue
because everybody around me hates my guts. Everybody wants to punch me in the face. I am the top tier guy that everybody has a problem with
When you take your biggest antagonist – even though, personally, I feel I’m a protagonist – when you take your biggest antagonist and you take them away
what do you have? What is the Batman without The Joker? He’s nobody. He is boring and has no intrigue whatsoever.
There is just no success without having that thorn in your side. I got no problem being that thorn because it takes me a sh*t ton of money. So,
to answer your question, Fred, yeah, I do believe that these people are going to shill out a lot of cash for me.”
It feels like MJF’s stock continues to rise with each passing week, and WWE will no-doubt be looking to sign him when they get the chance, but we’ll
only know for sure what his future holds in two years time.
And we’re ending today with Jon Moxley, as the former AEW World Champion has been confirmed for GCW’s next Bloodsport event.
Bloodsport 8 will happen on March 31st at Fair Park in Dallas Texas, and it’s been confirmed that Moxley will take on Biff Busick, formerly
known as Oney Lorcan. In a tweet from Josh Barnett, he said that this match will see “a mat clinician take on a human
tsunami,” in what’ll be a huge match for the show that’ll air on FITE during WrestleMania week