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Hello and welcome to today's edition of the AEW News Roundup. We aim to bring you news about the events around the Tony Khan-promotion. Last week was a major one for AEW as they officially got back on tour, presenting a special episode of AEW Dynamite: Road Rager. The show was a roaring success for multiple reasons.
Aleister Black aka Tommy End made his blockbuster debut under the name Malakai Black, interrupting an Arn Anderson promo. Black opened up about his debut and how he kept it a secret on his Twitch stream. Former WWE tag team champion Matt Hardy has revealed his picks for WWE and AEW wrestlers of the year.
Jim Ross spoke about his infamous botch, wherein he referred to AEW Dynamite as WWE Dynamite and how people got too cynical with their criticism. AEW announced that tickets for All Out 2021 had sold out, shortly after being made available.
Lastly, various big names like Darby Allin and Matt Hardy are set to feature in the upcoming AEW Dark: Elevation episode.
Let's jump right into it.
#5. Malakai Black opens up about AEW Debut
Malakai Black made a heart-stopping debut at AEW Road Rager. He wasted no time as he took out Arn Anderson and Cody Rhodes with his vaunted finisher, the Black Mass. The debut was made all the more surprising as he hadn't fulfilled what most believed was a typical 90-day no compete clause following his release from WWE.
Even then, in the age of the internet and dirt sheets, it's a challenge to keep anything under wraps. Black explained how he managed to do it and how very few people knew about his debut, praising AEW and their crew.
It was a hassle to keep under wraps. Once I found out that my contract was a tad different than the usual, I just came up with this idea. I had already made the character movie and I came up with this idea and the company liked it so we ran with it. It was all very last second. I feel like, in modern day wrestling, there are few moments to make a genuine surprise and get people to look your way. For me to sneak in, not be seen, dip and dive so they wouldn't see me, that took some skill. Kudos to AEW and the entire crew. What a great operation they have there. (H/t: Fightful)
Black further went on to call his debut one of the top three moments of his career and how the excitement kept him awake the night before the debut:
Last night was top three one of my favorite moments of my career. I slept for three hours because my adrenaline was so high. It was the cumulation of months and months and months and having this big payoff was worth the pain, chaos, and perseverance.
Malakai Black is a top tier talent and the possibilities in AEW for him are endless.
#4. Matt Hardy names AEW and WWE stars as his picks for Wrestler of the Year
AEW's Matt Hardy gave his picks for who he believes are the MVPs for 2021. A topic like Wrestler of the Year is sure to spark a debate and there can never be a unanimous decision. The subjectivity of the topic leads to different answers from everyone.
On his Twitch AMA, Matt Hardy named 3 superstars, one each from AEW, RAW and Smackdown. Showering tons of praise on the AEW World Champion, Hardy said:
The first person in AEW, I would say its Kenny Omega. I think he has done great. There's bunch of guys that have really elevated themselves, you know, with the help of the company and other people as well on a young guys which they're doing a great process of building as like MJF and Jungle Boy, even Orange Cassidy, its interesting to see the reaction that he gets. Now that we're back in front of like legitimate crowd and you know, a real fans like a true barometer.
For the WWE brands, Matt picked two names: Drew McIntyre from RAW and Roman Reigns from Smackdown.
I would say on the RAW show is probably Drew McIntyre and on SmackDown it would be Roman Reigns.
It's hard to argue with his choices as all three members have been huge assets for their respective brands.
#3. AEW commentator Jim Ross addresses 'WWE Dynamite' debacle
A recent episode of AEW Dynamite saw the legendary commentator slip-up when announcing the name of the show. Botches are a staple in professional wrestling. Nobody likes it when they happen, but they're inevitable both in the ring and at the commentator's table. Errors on commentary are always hilarious, and legendary AEW announcer Jim Ross was the unfortunate victim of a spectacular one.
During the closing moments of AEW Dynamite's final show at Daily's Place, JR infamously called AEW's flagship show, 'WWE Dynamite'. People on social media had fun, while others defended the iconic commentator. Former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho jumped to the defense of JR, as did other eminent wrestling personalities.
However, some took the issue too far. On his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross went spoke at length about the fallout from his error. He apologized for his mistake and was grateful to the fans for supporting him for so many years.
I don’t know much more I can say when I addressed it. I made a mistake, it was inadvertent and I’m very sorry I did it obviously, it’s embarrassing. All of a sudden out of that one or two second bite, here’s what comes out of that for some wrestling fans and I say some wrestling fans because I’m still a devotee of our business, I have great respect for the fans. They have supported my efforts undeniably for years, through Jan’s death, leaving WWE. Whatever it may be, they’ve always stood fast. I think the criticism I’ve received has been from a vast minority of defiant young males and some females who ascertain these points.
Some fans took it too far, wishing for ill things on JR and speculating unnecessarily if he had medical issues.
[People said] I’ve had a stroke, by the way I’ve never had a stroke but that’s been diagnosed on the internet from my faupaux, I’ve had a stroke. I’ve had a battle with Bell’s Palsy, I’ve actually had three bouts with Bell’s Palsy. That I have onset dementia, which wouldn’t surprise me, it’s going to happen to everybody some ways or another. But man I got everything on that thing from people wanting me to die. Here’s what’s sad about that deal, it’s not about my mispronouncing, this is a much bigger issue in my opinion. That’s all this is folks, my opinion. It’s the flavor of the country right now, it’s just where we are and it’s sad, I don’t even know what you call it, the cancel culture. It was a little rugged.
It's sad that a historic personality who's given so much to wrestling has to bear with this. We all hope to continue to enjoy the remaining years of commentary.
(H/T for all quotes WrestlingInc)
#2. AEW All Out 2021 tickets sold out
AEW's brief move to Friday night brought about a drastic change in their television ratings, leading people to speculate if their popularity was waning and if they could sell out arenas.
Those doubts were demolished when All Out tickets were sold out moments after they were made public. Both AEW and Chris Jericho confirmed it on Twitter and Busted Open Radio respectively. The event, taking place at the NOW Arena in Chicago, Illinois, is expected to house 9500-11000 fans.
Ticket sales began on Thursday morning and sold out immediately, including a trio package comprising of AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage episodes taking place in Chicago the same week.
The trio ticket will give fans access to 3 shows in the All Out week, starting September 1 with AEW Dynamite, moving on to AEW Rampage on September 3 and then the pay-per-view AEW All Out on September 5. All three shows will take place at the NOW Arena, previously known as the Sears Center Arena, in front of what is usually a raucous Chicago crowd.
#1. Multiple matches announced for AEW Elevation
Plenty of big names have been announced for the upcoming episode of AEW Dark: Elevation. The most notable ones are Darby Allin, Brian Cage, Thunder Rosa, Matt Hardy, Jungle Boy, Tay Conti, Riho, Hikaru Shida and Scorpio Sky.
The most intriguing match is the one between Matt Hardy and Fuego del Sol. Fuego del Sol's losing streak came to an end in a crowd-pleasing moment in last week's AEW Elevation. His victory was reportedly one of his final appearances for the company, causing fans to flood Twitter asking AEW to sign him.
He now faces a daunting challenge in the form of Matt Hardy. Former AEW Tag Team Champion Scorpio Sky takes on Shawn Dean. Former NWA Women's Champion Thunder Rosa faces Dreamgirl Ellie.
FTW Champion Brian Cage takes on Dark Order's Alan "5" Angels while his Team Taz colleague Powerhouse Hobbs battles Baron Black.
The rest of the lineup for AEW Elevation looks like this:
- The Acclaimed and Chaos Project vs. Gunn Club and Varsity Blonds
- Hikaru Shida vs. Julia Hart
- Riho vs. Amber Nova
- Red Velvet vs. Leila Grey
- Dreamgirl Ellie vs. Thunder Rosa
- Lee Johnson vs. Jungle Boy
- Tay Conti vs. Labrava
- KiLynn King vs. Yuka Sakazaki
- Angelico (w/ HFO) vs. Darby Allin (w/ Sting)
