Columnist Rob Pasbani catches you up on Mercedes Moné, why Steve Austin didn’t wrestle at WrestleMania and what’s on TV next week.
AEW is gearing up to have a huge summer. With rumors surfacing last week of plans for CM Punk’s return this summer right before the big Forbidden Door show, there are now new details on the plan for his return, and they include a new primetime AEW show on Saturday nights.
AEW Collision is the expected name for the show, based on trademark filings. According to the Wrestling Observer newsletter, AEW has reserved Chicago’s United Center on Saturday, June 17th and that’s the expected debut date for the show, as well as when CM Punk would return. It would only make sense as Punk made his AEW debut at the United Center, for the premiere of AEW Rampage, which was monikered “The First Dance.” Would this be referred to as “The Second Dance?”
The Observer noted says people have said that Warner wanted Punk for the new show and that the deal may have been incumbent on his return.
The show is expected to be on TNT, and not TBS, which is notable due to how often it would likely get pre-empted for sports with the NBA and NHL finals. A split of the AEW roster is expected, with wrestlers appearing exclusively on either Dynamite or Collision. No word on what would happen to Rampage, Dark, Elevation, or the Ring of Honor tapings
There will be lot of competition on Saturday nights, as UFC runs almost every week, although their main matches would start after the AEW show ends. Once a month, Collision would compete with a WWE premium live event, which would certainly take out a chunk of their audience for that week. AEW typically runs PPVs on Sundays, but their November PPV is usually on Saturday nights. Would they push the start time of their PPV to 10pm? Or would Collisson air earlier and act as a pre-show? These questions will be answered very soon.
AEW is heating up!
Host Rob Pasbani talks to Islander vocalist Mikey Carvajal about how he and his band formed a true friendship with wrestling icon Sting, how Sting appeared in their video and how Mikey and Sting connected about their spirituality. Mikey also discusses how he got into wrestling and being in a band, some rare wrestling memorabilia he has, his thoughts on CM Punk’s upcoming return, AEW Collision and more.
Listen to the episode here or watch it below.
AEW Rampage is on a special night, TONIGHT at 10pm on TNT:
WWE RAW is Monday at 8pm on USA and announced:
AEW Dynamite on Wednesday at 8pm on TBS announced:
Impact next Thursday at 8pm on AXS announced:
WWE Smackdown next Friday at 8pm on Fox announced:
The card for WWE Backlash in two weeks on Peacock:
The former Sasha Banks, Mercedes Moné, has a big match in STARDOM in Japan tonight. Ahead of the show, she told Sports Illustrated “In the United States, you’re told what to do, what to say and how to say it,” says Moné. “Here, I’m creating every single moment. I feel so free. I’ve never been this confident. And it is significant to me because I’m inspiring people to follow their dreams. I’m not even in my prime yet. I’m just getting started. I’m finally getting to create the magic I’ve always wanted to create. My ideas aren’t being limited and I’m not constantly hearing no or that matches are being cut short. I’m not going to hold back.” As far as staying Japan, Moné says “This has become my second home. And I’m committed to staying here to make history.”
Steve Austin explained to Sports Illustrated why he didn’t appear at WrestleMania 39: “I haven’t spoken to this, but I’ll give you the story,” says Austin. “I met with some people from WWE. We talked about the possibility of me wrestling at WrestleMania 39. The biggest thing in my mind was the presentation and what kind of match it was going to be. Going back to 38, the way the KO thing was presented—I love KO—I turned that down three, four, five times until the creative finally came to what it ended up being. I didn’t want it constructed as a real match, per se. I needed something that could turn into one, and it did, but I think that’s why we got away with it. The Dallas crowd was very receptive. I hadn’t been around, so the timing was right. But to do a proper match, I’d have to be in off-the-charts shape. I told them, and this is the exact truth, I said, ‘Guys, I’m just fixin’ to go into production on this show, Stone Cold Takes on America, and until we start production, I don’t know what my life looks like. I can’t commit.’ Sure enough, there were technical issues before we finished. I was supposed to finish a month before we did. There’s no way, with the schedule I was doing—driving an RV all over God’s creation, doing all I was doing—that I would be ready. I had two 30-pound dumbbells, a 45-pound sandbag, and a 25-pound kettlebell. Working 15 hours a day, then getting in a 30- or 40-minute workout, that doesn’t get you ready for WrestleMania. And I was really protected at WrestleMania 38. This time, that wasn’t going to be the case. That was a true statement: Until this show was over, I couldn’t commit.” A&E’s Stone Cold Takes on America premieres Sunday, April 30, 2023.
The former Naomi, Trinity Fatu, was hoping to join Moné in STARDOM, but it looks like budgets are too tight for the Japanese promotions to be able to afford both. The wrestling division of Bushiroad, which owns both STARDOM and New Japan, were told to keep costs down, according to the Wrestling Observer.
Rey Fenix is taking some time off to recover from injuries. There is no timeline for his return, but he is expected back shortly.
Bandido finally resolved his passport issues, according to Dave Meltzer, so he should be back on AEW TV shortly.
Shawn Spears revealed in an interview recently that he’s been off TV dealing with the death of his mother and the birth of his son, Austin. He praised owner Tony Khan telling Chris Van Vilet “just what a sweetheart of a man, gave me all the time in the world when my mom passed. And now that Austin’s been born, I had all the time in the world to be home with my wife, cause it’s just us here. Just a good man, a busy man, but a good man.”
Lucha star Komander has signed full-time with AEW.
“Hangman” Adam Page is negotiating with AEW to extended his contract.
A rematch of Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo de Vikingo is expected in Mexico in the next few months.
Kota Ibushi gave some quotes to the Dark Puroresu Flowsion twitter account. Ibushi wants to be on ALL IN saying “I think something super special is needed. Especially if you want to fill out every seat. I believe I’m the essence that’s necessary & my mental and physical state is the strongest it has ever been so I’m very confident about it.” AEW is his first pick and he wants to help the next generation “I want to share my knowledge with them as much as I can in AEW. The reason is to spread wrestling. To make it more major. I will give my all to wrestling.”
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