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Welcome to today's edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's AEW News & Rumor Roundup. A popular former WWE name was backstage during an AEW show. Mercedes Mone had a surprise involving Dakota Kai, and a top star refused to win the AEW World Title. So without further ado, let's begin.
Tony Khan revealed that Bryan Danielson refused to win the AEW World Title
In 2023, Bryan Danielson announced his plans to step away from the ring the following year. Hence, when he put his career on the line against Swerve Strickland at AEW All In, many fans believed it was The American Dragon's final match. However, Danielson won the World Title from Strickland.
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He then announced he would walk away from the ring when he lost the World Championship. He eventually dropped the title to Jon Moxley at WrestleDream 2024. However, it now looks like Danielson's title win almost didn't happen.
Speaking on the Way of the Blade podcast, Tony Khan revealed that Bryan Danielson didn't want to win the World Title and tried to talk him out of it multiple times. The veteran felt he didn't need the gold at that point in his career.
"With Bryan, he’s another person – much like with Sting – […] It was another time I felt strongly that I wanted to do something and have a moment with somebody and their family and all the fans. Bryan tried to talk me out of it many times along the way, that I shouldn’t give him the moment – that he didn’t need a moment like that, but it just – to me – is something the fans will always look back on." [H/T: ewrestlingnews]
AEW may have given a hint regarding Mariah May's future
Mariah May arrived in All Elite Wrestling last year and was immediately involved in a program with Toni Storm. After eventually betraying Storm, May won the AEW Women's World Championship from Timeless Toni at All In 2024. She held the gold for a few months before dropping it to the former WWE star at Grand Slam: Australia. The 26-year-old got another shot at the title at Revolution 2025, but was defeated by her former mentor. Since then, she has not been seen on TV.
There were recent reports that Mariah May was not going to re-sign with the Jacksonville-based promotion when her contract reportedly expires in November this year. There was also speculation that she was interested in joining WWE. Now, All Elite Wrestling may have given a big hint regarding her future. Max, which streams all of the promotion's shows, has removed May from its latest Collision poster, indicating that she was perhaps not going to return anytime soon.
Maven was spotted backstage at a recent AEW show
Maven signed with WWE after winning season one of Tough Enough. He made his debut on the October 4 episode of SmackDown against Tazz and tapped out to the Tazzmission. The 48-year-old also won the Hardcore Championship three times and was involved in some major storylines with the promotion.
Maven left WWE in 2005 and has since been working the independent scene. Currently, he has a YouTube channel where he talks about his time in the Stamford-based promotion and provides some insights about the wrestling business.
According to reports from PWInsider, Maven was backstage at a recent AEW Collision show in Atlanta. The former Hardcore Champion has previously shown interest in working for both World Wrestling Entertainment and All Elite Wrestling, stating that he would answer the phone if either promotion gave him a call.
Mercedes Mone photoshopped Dakota Kai's face on Natalya's body
Dakota Kai first signed with WWE in 2015 and wrestled in NXT for several years. However, injuries have always plagued her career, which likely held her back. She was initially released from the promotion in 2022 before she made her return to the company the same year and joined Damage CTRL with Bayley and IYO SKY. She also won the Women's Tag Team Championship twice.
Recently, WWE announced its latest round of roster cuts. Among those let go were Dakota Kai and Shayna Baszler. Meanwhile, AEW star Mercedes Mone took to X/Twitter to post an edited picture of herself with Baszler, Shotzi, Natalya, and Toni Storm from their time together in WWE. The CEO photoshopped Dakota Kai's face over The Queen of Harts' body. This could be Mone's way of showing her support for the recently released stars.
Real reason why AEW changed Undisputed Kingdom's name
Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong formed the Undisputed Era in NXT. They dominated the brand for several years until they eventually split. When Cole, O'Reilly, and Fish came to All Elite Wrestling, they formed Undisputed Elite with The Young Bucks.
In late 2023, Cole formed the Undisputed Kingdom with The Kingdom, Wardlow, and Strong. Recently, Kyle O'Reilly settled his differences with Adam Cole. Now, Cole, O'Reilly, and Strong are called Paragon.
According to reports from Fightful Select, Undisputed Kingdom was renamed to Paragon due to creative plans and potential concerns over similarities with Undisputed Era, which is a WWE-owned trademark. Sean Ross Sapp also noted that while Kyle O'Reilly reunited with Adam Cole and Roderick Strong, the promotion did not plan for Matt Taven and Mike Bennett to join their group, as they were intended to be kept separate from Paragon, which is also a reason behind the name change.
It will be interesting to see if Paragon will add Matt Taven and Mike Bennett to their ranks in the future.
