Columnist Rob Pasbani has the latest on the status of John Cena, Sasha Banks, Miro, Big E, AEW’s new look and more.
Rapper Rick Ross had his big breakthrough in the mainstream music world over a decade ago, and now the rap mogul is breaking through in the wrestling game with two very memorable appearances in AEW under his belt. Ross has been affiliated with Swerve Strickland, who also happens to be a budding hip-hop mogul himself. Swerve has been embroiled in a story with “Limitless” Keith Lee where to duo make a great tag team in the ring, but just can’t seem to get on the same page.
A few weeks back, Rick Ross was brought in to mediate between the two, and while initially, it felt a little left of center, Ross’ charisma instantly translated to the world of pro wrestling. “The Biggest Boss” made his presence felt and created a viral hit shouting “Accusations! False accusations!” at Keith Lee last month.
This week, Rick Ross was back on this week’s show as tensions have reached an all-time high between Swerve and Keith Lee. And, yet again, with eight seconds, created another very viral clip, dropping an F-bomb on live cable television. The moment, again, was great.
Here’s the full segment, in context.
The rap star explained to Busted Open Radio his momentary lapse in judgement on yesterday’s program. “I got up close on Keith Lee and realized how big his traps was,” Ross said. “Me up close to him, he looks like he weighs between 360-370.”
“It was a gift for me to be there, but I love AEW but it was a huge gift and when I got in there, I may have had other things on my mind, but when Keith Lee turned his back to me and I realized the size and width of his shoulders and his trapezoids, I just had to express my heart. He is a big motherfucker. He really is.”
Ross teased that he will be back on AEW television saying “It’s a good chance that AEW will get more gifts. I like Tony Khan. Tony Khan is a cool motherf***er, you know what I mean? I feel the energy. One time for all the real wrestling fans. One time for all the true fans that stood out in the cold to make it inside that arena. The ones who wear their plastic masks, the ones who drag their belts on the cement as they walk into the arena. I love you guys.”
When Ross was asked if he was a fan, he responded “Of course, I am. What kind of question is that? I started watching wrestling…my grandmother used to have me watching wrestling. She used to chew snuff and watch wrestling back when the wrestlers were barefoot. They didn’t wear shoes if you know what I’m talking about,” and praised Jimmy Snuka as his favorite growing up.
As this backstage segment shows, Ross has the natural gift for wrestling gab and fits in perfectly with the newly-formed Mogul Affiliates. It will be fun to have him around.
As the year winds down, there isn’t much on television.
Smackdown tonight is pre-taped. Here are spoilers, and the card looks fun:
AEW Rampage is advertising a really fun Battle Royal among other matches tonight at 10pm on TNT:
According to Dave Meltzer, WWE is working under the impression that John Cena will be performing at WrestleMania. Cena has a very busy shooting schedule in February and March, filming outside of the country and will not be available to be on television during that time. Meltzer notes that Cena is actively trying to clear his schedule around the weekend of WrestleMania to be able to attend the festivities. Meltzer noted that Cena was originally penciled in to face Austin Theory at the biggest event of the year but those plans have likely changed. Cena’s next on-screen appearance will be at next week’s big Smackdown in Tampa teaming with Kevin Owens.
WWE big planned show in India on January 18th has been postponed, according to Dave Meltzer. SONY SIX, the company in India with whom WWE has the media agreement, is in the middle of a big merger and wanted to delay the event until after the merger was completed.
AEW filed trademarks for the terms “Wrestling Bowl” and “WrestleBowl.” I wonder if they plan to run parallel programming to the SuperBowl, or if this is a take on the old WCW concept of BattleBowl.
Miro rejected a program heading into Full Gear that would lead to him losing the feud, according to a new report from Dave Meltzer. He said AEW writers are working on a new storyline for him. Miro seems to be pushing back on this report. Miro was injured at the start of the year with a torn tricep.
Big E offered an update on his status after breaking his neck earlier this year. “I have to get some more scans at the one-year mark in March and we’ll see how everything is looking. We’ll see from there. My C1 is broken in two spots, so we obviously have to be very smart about that. I was very fortunate. I want to make sure I’m making the best decision for myself. We’ll see in March. I feel great, I’m really thankful for that. I don’t have any nerve issues, no strength issues, no impairment whatsoever. Obviously, to get back in the ring to do what we do, I want to make sure my C1 is rock solid. Other than that, I’m very blessed. I feel great.”
The former Sasha Banks, Mercedes Varnado, is already in Japan ahead of her rumored appearance at the January 4th WrestleKingdom show. Varnado is meeting with various companies for sponsorship opportunities, according to PWInsider.
Tony Khan confirmed to TV Insider that AEW Dynamite will have a new look at the start of the year. He said “I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag necessarily, especially so close to the big day. But at the start of 2023, we’re going to open the year on Wednesday, January 4 with the first Dynamite in Seattle, marking a full year of Dynamite on TBS. We’ll definitely have a new look, to say the least. I’m excited about it.” “I think it’s a nice thing to present to the fans, but frankly, I’ve found more so than ever, the more you talk about these things. When you build them up, you don’t want to create expectations that are impossible. I will say the set will be beautiful though.” Khan suggested Rampage will also get a new look, differentiating it from Dynamite, “The look of Rampage will also be different. This will affect the way people view AEW on Wednesdays and Fridays in terms of presentation with the set and the show with the same great action.”
NXT’s Edris Enofe is giving Cody Rhodes a run for his money with the announcement of his new WWE-logo chest tattoo.
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