AEW News Roundup: WWE legend Mick Foley wants to officiate a match involving popular shield member, Chris Jericho reveals who came up with the idea of MMA fight, and more (2nd July 2021)

Welcome back to another exciting edition of the AEW News Roundup, where we bring you the biggest news stories coming from the world of All Elite Wrestling.

We'll begin today's article with Mick Foley, who has expressed his desire to officiate a match involving a former Shield member. Chris Jericho reveals the mastermind behind the MMA fight that took place in AEW.

Ethan Page reveals unknown facts about his debut in Tony Khan's promotion. A recently injured AEW female star provided an update on her in-ring return.

And last but not least, Sammy Guevara has shared a heartfelt message with his fans.

That said, let's now get started with the latest AEW News Roundup.

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#5. Mick Foley wants to officiate a match involving top AEW star

Mick Foley!

Hardcore wrestling legend Mick Foley recently expressed his desire to play the role of a referee in a match involving AEW star Jon Moxley.

Atsushi Onita, a well-known Japanese wrestling legend, revealed that he wants a legit deathmatch with Jon Moxley. The Japanese star was seemingly impressed with Jon Moxley's recent revival of the death-match wrestling rules during his feud with Kenny Omega in 2019 and 2021.

Jon Moxley holds a tremendous amount of respect for Atsushi Onita. He even uses the Japanese legend's "Wild Things" theme song for his entrance, out of respect for Onita.

It is unclear if the match will ever become a reality, but if it does, WWE legend Mick Foley wants to be a part of it.

Taking to Twitter, Mick Foley stated that if Jon Moxley and Atsushi Onita ever get to collide with each other, he would like to be a special guest referee for that match,

"If an Onita vs Moxley match were to happen, I’d like to be the referee. I always felt the “American Onita” label given to me by the Japanese press and fans was a huge honor," Foley tweeted.

Mick Foley also acknowledged that Japanese media and fans used to call him the "American Onita" back in the day for his violent style of wrestling. He stated that he felt grateful to be labeled with that tag.

Since AEW has always opened a forbidden door, fans can see this epic clash involving extremely violent rules.

#4. Chris Jericho reveals the mastermind behind MMA Rules Cage fight in AEW

Jake Hager and Wardlow!

AEW star and leader of the Inner Circle Chris Jericho revealed some revelations about the recently produced MMA fight on Dynamite last month.

The company booked a first-time-ever MMA Rules Cage match between Jake Hager and Wardlow on the June 18th episode of AEW Dynamite.

Appearing on Wrestler Observer Radio, Chris Jericho discussed numerous topics, including who came up with the idea of having an MMA fight in AEW.

The Demo God stated that his on-screen rival Wardlow pitched the idea of having this cage match. He further added that they had to reschedule the bout every time due to untimely roadblocks coming their way:

"That was a suggestion by Wardlow months ago. We had it scheduled two separate times and things just changed. One time, somebody was hurt or couldn’t make it. The other time, it didn’t fit the angle where we had it slotted. The funny thing is, we had to do that match before we went back on the road because obviously you have to build that cage and we wanted an actual MMA cage and wanted it as close to an MMA fight as possible because Jake is an MMA fighter,” said Jericho. (H/T - Fightful)

The bout certainly lived up to the hype due to the presence of Jake Hager's legit MMA tools. The former WWE superstar also went on to win the match.

#3. AEW star Ethan Page reveals how his debut was kept a secret

All Ego!

AEW star Ethan Page recently stated that he had to train in an isolated wrestling center to keep his debut in Tony Khan's company a surprise for fans.

The former IMPACT Wrestling star made his shocking appearance on Revolution 2021, where he was revealed to be a mystery participant in the Face of the Revolution ladder match. Surprisingly, Scorpio Sky won the bout, and who would have thought back then that these two men would ally in the future.

Appearing on the latest edition of AEW Unrestricted, Ethan Page discussed numerous topics, including how his AEW debut was kept a secret until Revolution pay-per-view. Ethan Page stated that he had to get back in shape quickly after his last appearance for IMPACT Wrestling was pre-taped:

"The hardest part was between my previous employment, which was all pre-taped," said Ethan Page. "So, the last thing I did in the ring was in November and then I had to pick a ruse in early March. So there was a huge downtime, about four months, not being active in the ring. I had to book private sessions in a closed down wrestling school during a pandemic, and Canada is very high restriction level so I had to manage that."

AEW star Ethan Page further added that the last thing he wanted to do was to get spotted before his AEW debut, so he trained in a closed-door wrestling center:

"I had to come all the way from Canada to Jacksonville and not be spotted." Page continued, "I think this was one of the first real openings for the crowd when they had people traveling into Jacksonville, because I did get spotted at the airport and felt like such a d**k that I just ignored this fan and they started walking and thank goodness the masks were there too."

In an amusing bit, Ethan Page stated that he felt bad about ignoring fans, but it was necessary to keep his return a secret.

#2. AEW star Anna Jay on when fans can see her back in action

AEW's young sensation!

AEW star and member of the Dark order Anna Jay recently stated that she is hopeful of returning inside the squared circle sooner rather than later.

Anna Jay last wrestled on the January 6th, 2021 edition of AEW Dark, where she defeated Alex Gracia in a singles match. Soon after, she was supposed to partake in the AEW Women's Championship Eliminator Tournament but couldn't after suffering from a shoulder injury that kept her on the sidelines for months.

In an interview with the Oral Sessions podcast, Anna Jay discussed numerous topics, most notably the timeline for her in-ring return:

"I don’t really know. I know everything is going on track how it should. Of course the doctors don’t really want to say because it could change. I don’t really know. But yeah, everything is going as it should. Obviously I’m hope sooner than later, but then again I’m also not rushing it. I don’t really have a timeframe yet so we’ll see. I had surgery on March 11, so it’s been about three months now. I feel really good. Everything pretty much feels normal now, but obviously it’s not. It’s not wrestling normal I guess.” said Anna Jay (H/T - Wrestlinginc)

AEW's young sensation stated that she felt better after undergoing surgery back in March and made it clear that fans can expect her to be back soon.

#1 AEW star Sammy Guevara shares heartfelt message with his fans

The Spanish God!

AEW star and member of the Inner Circle Sammy Guevara is determined to make an emphatic comeback after coming up short this week on Dynamite.

On Wednesday, Sammy Guevara competed with MJF during the show's main event. Both men lived up to the hype and gave fans a pay-per-view-worthy match. In the end, MJF emerged victorious thanks to his stablemates Wardlow and Shawn Spears for making timely interference.

Following the defeat, the Spanish god took to Twitter to share a heartfelt message with the fans. Sammy Guevara stated that he has been giving his all for the past 11 years and will continue to do so since wrestling is in his blood:

"I gave it my all. Every time I got the opportunity to wrestle I give it my all. That's all I ever known how to do. All or nothing. This will be my 11th year doing this professionally. A lot of bumps, bruises, blood, sweat, tears and so so much more than anyone will ever see have gone into this. I feel pretty banged up, yesterday wasn't my night but that doesn't mean tomorrow won't be. So I will continue on this path. I will heal up and be back. And mark my words Sammy Guevara will be Champion in AEW," wrote Sammy Guevara.

AEW star Sammy Guevara concluded the long message by saying that his hard work will pay off, and he will become a champion in the company one day.