In this interview Ilja Dragunov talks about what he loves about AEW: “We love this craft. I’m the part of a company that loves this craft with all devotion and all the heart, and that’s the focus. Even the fans, when they approach AEW and watch Dynamite or Collisions or the pay-per-views, they want to see this craftsmanship at their highest level. So that’s a major change. The people come in, and they know what they’re coming in for.”
Here’s an update from Conrad Thompson on Jim Ross: “As you all know, J.R. had to do a little outpatient visit recently, and it turns out that he got a bit of a chest cold; he’s got some sort of infection in his chest. They said that his oxygen was low, so he spent the night in the hospital, but I’m happy to report that he is home and on the mend.” Great to hear!
WWE is planning “a loaded show” when NXT and AEW go head to head November 4th. (WO)
Track star Elly Finch has reportedly been signed to a WWE developmental deal. (PWI)
The lawsuit against Jon Moxley and AEW has a new development — the presiding judge denied a motion for a change of venue to Florida.
Tomoaki Honma just had successful elbow surgery. Best wishes to him!
Damian Priest says he’s in “a better place” now: “I’m feeling a lot better. I got some procedures done while I never took a day off, you know what I mean? So, I got some stuff done to ease pain and I feel a lot better. I think people can see it visually. I’m training differently, I’m getting back into the shape that I used to be in and it’s all because I feel better. I’m in a better head place too, you know – I got myself down and for somebody who likes to think positively of myself and my career, I started doing the opposite and I had to check myself a little bit. So that came with my health, physically and mentally. I’m in a good place now, man.”
In a sign the ongoing slow motion train wreck that is Crown Jewel in Riyadh is not getting off the tracks, the Raw at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in November 2nd has a new start time of 6 PM ET to tape SmackDown the same night then get the talent out of the country to Saudi Arabia. (FF)
Ari Emanuel has hinted there IS a backup plan: “Yeah, we have a whole team working on this, and kind of when, if that doesn’t happen, where we can move it. It’s a daily monitoring.”
Syko Stu recounts what happened with Raja Jackson: “So we came up with the angle, and we wrote it in after the beer can thing; you want to get your credibility back or whatever the case may be. So I believe it was supposed to be one punch and that was it. But I was out on the slam.” He says he has no memory of the beating he got and his memory of what happened before the show is hazy due to a TBI.
WWE house show results from Palm Desert, CA courtesy Wrestling Bodyslam are below.
- WWE US Championship: Trick Williams (c) defeats Damian Priest
- Tatum Paxley / Alexa Bliss / Chelsea Green defeat Jade Cargill / Michin / B-Fab
- WWE Tag Team Championship: The MFTs: Talla and Tama Tonga (c) defeat Bakusai: Kyoki and Shinsuke Nakamura
- Street Fight: Cody Rhodes defeats Randy Orton
- AAA Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Fenix (c) defeats Ricky Saints
- LA Knight / Oba Femi / Solo Sikoa defeat The Vision: Bron Breakker / Bronson Reed / Austin Theory (with Maxxine DuPri)
- Main Event: Undisputed WWE Championship: CM Punk defeats Champion Sami Zayn VIA DQ. Zayn retains the title
Jake Hager may need more surgeries to restore vision in his eye following Power Slap. (WO)
Last week’s Impact did 252,000 viewers and a 0.05 18-49. (Wrestlenomics)
Here’s the card for SmackDown tonight. (WWE)
- WWE Women’s Championship Match: Chelsea Green vs. Roxanne Perez
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Tatum Paxley & Alexa Bliss vs. B-Fab and Michin
- Street Fight: Giulia vs. Blake Monroe
- Bakusai vs. The MFTs
Here’s an early card for Impact next week. (TNA)
- TNA X Division Championship Match: Amazing Red vs. Cedric Alexander
- TNA Knockouts Television Championship Match: M by Elegance vs. Jada Stone
- John Skyler vs. AJ Francis
- Elijah vs. Ryan Nemeth
The updated Destination X card for November 15th is below. (TNA)
- TNA World Championship Match: Leon Slater vs. Trey Miguel
- TNA Knockouts Women’s Championship #1 Contenders Ultimate X Match: Competitors TBD
- TNA X-Division Championship #1 Contenders Ultimate X Match: Competitors TBD
- World X-Cup Match: Four Competitors TBA
- World X-Cup Match: Four Competitors TBA
- World X-Cup Finals: TBD vs. TBD
Here are last night’s ROH on Honor Club results. (WO)
- Bishop Kaun def. Oro. Kaun continued to assault Oro after the match until Bandido made the save
- The Rascalz’ Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz def. Cole Radrick & Matt Diesel
- The Dark Order’s Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds, Preston Vance def. Premier Athletes & Beef
- Bishop Kaun called out Bandido, issuing a challenge for the ROH World Championship
- Zayda Steel def. Xanti Li
- The Swirl def. Il Cartello Grillo
- Mina Shirakawa def. Isla Dawn
- ROH Pure Championship Match: Lee Moriarty def. Mance Warner
NXT this week did 0.10 and 655,000 viewers. (Wrestlenomics)
