Randy Orton has been a top star in WWE since 2004 after being paired with Triple H, Batista, and Ric Flair. At 40-years-old, he still has plenty of years left as an active in-ring performer.
He was asked if he will get into acting once his in-ring days are over while speaking with Adam Glyn of the Adam’s Apple YouTube show.
“You know, I’m a homebody, I don’t think that would be the lifestyle for me,” Orton said. “I like my schedule with the WWE right now, so I see [me] riding off into the sunset, still wearing my wrestling boots.”
Regarding his in-ring future, Orton stated that he thinks he has another 10 years left.
“I just turned 40 a year ago, I got another decade in me, you know. We’ll see,” Orton said.
Finally, Orton was asked who he’d like to induct him into the WWE Hall Of Fame and a few names came to mind such as Triple H, John Cena, and Ric Flair.
“My wife actually just brought that up the other day, and we were thinking about it and it was kind of funny because we didn’t know who would be the guy,” Orton said. “Hunter came up, and Cena came up, Flair came up, but you know, I don’t know if I could get Cena to come in from Hollywood to do it. Maybe he could do it virtually, I don’t know.”
“Hangman” Adam Page made his latest title defense as the AEW World Heavyweight Champion against Adam Cole in the main event of the Revolution pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida at the Addition Financial Arena.
The match started off as a brawl. Page hit a powerbomb on the apron then a moonsault off the top rope. Cole caught him with a superkick as Page was attempting a moonsault. Page hit a tombstone for a near fall. Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish came out to distract Page so Cole could hit the panama sunrise from the apron to the floor.
There was a false finish when Cole hit a low blow to Page as the referee was distracted by Fish and Kyle, which allowed Cole to hit panama sunrise and then the running knee strike. Page hit the dead eye off the apron through a table. Page hit his finisher, but Cole grabbed the bottom rope. Page with a superkick then hit the running knee and buckshot lariat for the win.
Cole had a staredown with Page following “Hangman’s” successful title defense against Lance Archer last month on Dynamite. The following week, the match was set up during a promo segment where Cole confronted Page and stated that people had always called Adam Page the “other Adam”. Cole was about to leave when reDragon attacked Hangman from behind. This led Cole to join the beatdown.
Page beat Kenny Omega to win the AEW World Heavyweight Title at November’s Full Gear pay-per-view event. Originally, AEW was planning this match for the All Out PPV event, but the decision was made for Omega to defend the title against Christian Cage at this event instead as Page took time off for the birth of his child.
Regal came out after the Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley match at Revolution. The finish saw Danielson have him in a triangle choke and Moxley rolled over him as he passed out for the pinfall with Moxley coming out victorious. After they brawled until William Regal came out to stop them. He slapped Moxley to calm him down then did the same to Danielson. Regal told them to shake hands and they did.
The storyline was that Danielson wanted to be tag team partners, but Moxley said he would only team with someone he has wrestled so they booked the match.
After working around the world and in WCW, Regal went to WWE in 2000 where as an in-ring performer, he became a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Hardcore Champion, a four-time European Champion, a four-time World Tag Team Champion, and the 2008 King of the Ring winner.
He would later transition into the on-screen role of the General Manager of NXT that lasted from 2014through 2021. Regal also worked behind the scenes in NXT and as an independent scene scout. Regal was among the latest names to be released by the company in January that swept through the NXT brand.
Thunder Rosa was the latest wrestler to step into the ring with the longest-reigning AEW Women’s Champion in the history of the promotion, Britt Baker, to challenge her for the strap.
The match at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida featured Baker beating her down in the early going. It then turned into a back and forth match. Rosa with a superplex then hit a neck breaker. Rosa hit the tombstone, but Rebel distracted the referee. A clever near fall was when the referee was distracted and Baker with a curbstomp onto the title belt. Rosa with a spear through the ropes to Rebel. Baker with another curbstomp for the win.
In recent weeks, the two stars had reignited their feud as Baker hired Mercedes Martinez to take out Rosa. Once Rosa beat Martinez in a No DQ Match last month on an episode of Dynamite, Baker, Jamie Hayter, and Rebel jumped Martinez and beat down both her and Rosa.
Rosa and Baker last wrestled each other last year in a bloody unsanctioned main event match on an episode of Dynamite, which was highly praised.
Tony Khan stayed with his reported plans back in August of wanting to save the match for a major PPV or episode of Dynamite in early 2022, which is exactly what happened.
match. Punk wrapped the chain around his knee and hit him in the face.
Punk with a tombstone on the apron. MJF hit a superplex through thumbtacks. After Wardlow couldn’t find the diamond ring, Punk hit the GTS on MJF, who landed in thumbtacks. Wardlow placed the diamond ring on the mat and left. Punk with a right hand while wearing the ring for the win.
These two stars have been feuding since after November’s Full Gear show. Punk had to go through the majority of MJF’s Pinnacle stable to get to MJF. Their first match took place in Chicago on February 2 in the main event of Dynamite where MJF won thanks to Wardlow giving him the diamond ring and hitting Punk in the face.
The following week, MJF said that he would give him a rematch should he find a friend that wasn’t Darby Allin or Sting and defeat FTR in a match. Punk ended up teaming with Jon Moxley to get the win and ultimately the rematch.
Punk came up with the gimmick for the match as MJF constantly references Roddy Piper so he thought of Piper’s famous Dog Collar Match with Greg “The Hammer” Valentine.
“Swerve” Shane Strickland is All Elite as the former WWE star made AEW debut at Sunday’s Revolution pay-per-view event when Tony Schavione revealed a special free agent signing.
Strickland came out and said that he could talk about everyone he will get to wrestle and all the titles he plans to win, but he just wanted the fans to acknowledge whose house it is now.
This was expected as it was first reported by Fightful that Swerve had signed with AEW and could be making his promotional debut as soon as this show. He was spotted at the AEW concert on Saturday.
While in WWE NXT, Strickland held the Cruiserweight Title once and formed the Hit Row group alongside B-Fab, Top Dolla, and Ashantee Thee Adonis. They were later called up to the main roster and placed on SmackDown, but Vince McMahon didn’t do much with them before he let them go last November.
When Strickland was first let go by WWE, it was reported there were multiple companies, including major ones such as AEW, who had shown interest in bringing him in. Since his release from WWE, Strickland had been booked for dates in GCW and numerous high-level independent companies, including NJPW.
All Elite Wrestling held its Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match at this year’s Revolution pay-per-view event, which was won by Wardlow. Other competitors in the contest included Powerhouse Hobbs, Keith Lee, Ricky Starks, Orange Cassidy, and Christian Cage.
The match was wild as expected. Cage hit a reverse DDT off a ladder on Hobbs. Orange stood on a ladder held by Wardlow and Lee at one point. Starks with a spear from the middle rope through a ladder to Cage. Lee tossed Orange out of the ring and he overshot Cage and Starks who were supposed to catch him. Wardlow powerbombed Starks off a ladder onto another ladder and then grabbed the ring.
As a result of this win, Wardlow has earned the right to challenge TNT Champion Sammy Guevara for the title on the Dynamite episode later this month in San Antonio. Guevara recently retained the TNT Title on Rampage by defeating Andrade El Idolo and Darby Allin in a three-way. He will make his next title defense on this Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.
All of the wrestlers had to earn their way into the match. Wardlow pinned Max Caster with his Powerbomb Symphony to advance while Hobbs defeated Dante Martin with a spinebuster, Starks defeated Preston \”10\” Vance, Cage defeated Ethan Page, and Cassidy defeated Anthony Bowens on episodes of Dynamite and Rampage.
Over the past two years at Revolution, the promotion has held a ladder match. In 2020, Brian Cage made his promotional debut and won the match while in 2021, Scorpio Sky won the match while Ethan Page made his AEW debut.
AEW World Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) had the odds in storyline stacked against them when they made their latest defense in a triple threat match against reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O\’Reilly) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event.
The match was wild as it started when Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus got the better of the heels. However, everyone started to attack the champions. Jungle Boy hit an outside dive to take everyone out. After Jungle Boy got the hot tag to Luchasaurus, the big man cleared house on the heels with various impressive moves including a moonsault off the apron to take out Fish and O’Reilly.
Nick with a Canadian Destroyer to Luchasaurus. Moments later, Luchasaurus hit a double chokeslam to The Bucks. The champions hit the Doomsday Device on Matt for a near fall. Jungle with a shooting star press to Fish, but Nick broke up the pin attempt with a dive. Jurassic Express hit their tag finisher for the win.
The two teams earned their way into the match by winning battle royales. reDRagon won the first match, which led to an argument with The Young Bucks post-match. The Young Bucks later won a second battle royale.
All Elite Wrestling presents AEW Revolution 2022 tonight on pay-per-view from Orlando, FL at the Addition Financial Arena.
The company has announced the main event of this event that takes place in Orlando, Florida at the Addition Financial Arena, which is Adam Page vs. Adam Cole for the AEW World Heavyweight Title. The full card is available here: AEW Revolution 2022 Match Card.
Pat McAfee will take on Austin Theory at WrestleMania 38. WWE confirmed the match during this week’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown when Theory came out to cut a promo on him by stating that McAfee had been set up by Vince McMahon when McMahon was on McAfee’s podcast on Thursday afternoon.
Theory walked to the announce table to inform McAfee that he was McAfee’s opponent for WrestleMania. He then slapped McAfee, which stunned him as Theory took selfies and left.
During McMahon’s appearance on Thursday’s episode of The Pat McAfee show, he offered McAfee a match at WrestleMania with McAfee accepting. As of last Thursday, it was reported a match between McAfee and McMahon was in the internal WrestleMania 38 schedule. It’s possible that McMahon will still be part of the match.
WWE presents the WrestleMania 38 event on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3, 2022 in Dallas, Texas at AT&T Stadium that will air on Peacock. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.
It appears WWE is bringing in SmackDown\’s Roman Reigns for an appearance on Raw in advance of his main event match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 next month in Dallas, Texas at AT&T Stadium.
WWE is advertising Reigns for the Monday, March 28 episode of Raw at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This will be Raw\’s go-home show for WrestleMania 38. Lesnar is also advertised for the final Raw before WrestleMania.
Lesnar will wrestle Reigns in a winner-take-all match to unify the WWE Championship and Universal Championship.
Reigns did appear last September on an episode of Raw as he wrestled twice as he teamed with The Usos in a six-man tag match against The New Day and later faced Big E and Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match.
Moving along to November, Reigns & The Usos also faced Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods in a dark match after an episode of Raw in Long Island, New York.
Both Reigns and Lesnar will be in action at Saturday\’s WWE house show at Madison Square Garden in New York City as they\’re both supposed to defend their titles against unknown opponents.
AEW is off to a good start for its Double or Nothing pay-per-view event thanks to first-day ticket sales.
The promotion will hold the show on Sunday, May 29th in Las Vegas, Nevada at the T-Mobile Arena. Tickets for it went on sale today and the promotion reached its first-ever $1 million gate. AEW President Tony Khan announced on Twitter Friday by writing.
“It’s Friday, you know what that means: #AEWRampage Live TONIGHT on @TNTdrama on the Road to Revolution this Sunday, and tonight we’re celebrating a milestone because today #DoubleOrNothing 1st day sales just gave us our 1st EVER $1 Million gate! Let’s celebrate tonight @ Rampage!”
WrestleTix noted that AEW has set up the venue for 14,000 seats. The entire lower bowl is sold out, which helped the promotion get to the $1 million gate as those are the most expensive seats.
The ticket map is now up for Double or Nothing. I will be working on this soon. I grabbed a count for a max possible capacity if every section was open and it's a little over 14,000. Right now, not every upper deck has opened. The entire lower bowl has been sold. https://t.co/Ta95c069kB
The Dynamite and Rampage shows leading up to the pay-per-view will take place in the city at the Michelob ULTRA Arena, formerly known as the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
AEW presents its next pay-per-view event this Sunday with Revolution, which sold out the the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida.
Solo Sikoa vs. GUNTHER (formerly known as WALTER) was booked on this show.
Last week, Imperium went after The Creed Brothers and Maclom Bivens during a celebration ceremony. Sikoa ran in to make the save. Sikoa managed to prevent Imperium from getting near Bivens so in a backstage segment, Bivens thanked him backstage, but Sikoa was not interested in it.
The match saw Solo get in some offense, but it was GUNTHER who won with his finisher. This snapped Solo’s undefeated streak.
Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Bron Breakker took place as the opening match.
This match was set up last week when Ziggler with the help of Roode beat Ciampa to earn the right to be called the #1 contender for the NXT Title, currently held by Breakker.
Post-match, a brawl broke out until Bron ran out to make the save for Ciampa as he has respect for him considering they wrestled twice before and Bron beat Ciampa to win the NXT Title.
The match was fun and the fans were into the back and forth action. The finish saw Ciampa hit his finisher on Ziggler.
Scott Hall has been hospitalized. This is according to Jerry Jarrett via PWinsider.com, who shared the news on his Facebook page. Hall fell and broke his hip and is currently in the hospital.
The WWE Hall of Famer has been announced for WrestleCon on WrestleMania weekend in Dallas next month. As of this writing, it’s unclear whether this injury will force a change to that scheduled appearance.
Hall found success in the AWA and other promotions before going to WWE where he made a name for himself under his Razor Ramon gimmick. He later changed the business alongside Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan when they formed the nWo in WCW.
His last notable run came in 2010 as a member of the TNA roster where he had a short-lived reunion with Nash and X-Pac as The Band.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame for the first time in 2014 and then part of the nWo-headlined 2021 Hall of Fame ceremony.
The latest betting odds have been released for the AEW Revolution event. The card for the show that takes place this Sunday is nearly finalized as 9 matches have been announced.
So far, four AEW titles are on the line with only one expected to change hands. Some of the more notable odds include Thunder Rosa favored to beat Britt Baker for the Women’s Title.
Wardlow is the current favorite to win the Face of the Revolution ladder match for a TNT Title shot and Jurassic Express is expected to retain their Tag Team Titles in a triple threat match.
AEW Revolution Odds
As a reminder, we will be providing coverage of the show this Sunday. The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Here are the final betting odds, courtesy of BetOnline:
AEW World Heavyweight Champion “Hangman” Adam Page -345 (champion) vs Adam Cole +225
AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker +190 vs. Thunder Rosa -278
CM Punk -250 vs MJF +175 – Dog collar match
Chris Jericho +175 vs. Eddie Kingston -250
Jon Moxley -162 vs Bryan Danielson +115
AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill -500 vs Leyla Hirsch +300
Matt Hardy, Andrade El Idolo and Isiah Kassidy +175 vs. Sting, Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara -250 – Six-man tag team match
WWE booked the latest match for WrestleMania 38 as Edge will wrestle AJ Styles on either Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3, 2022, in Dallas, Texas at AT&T Stadium.
During the main event segment of Monday Night Raw, the WWE Hall Of Famer called out anyone to answer his WrestleMania challenge and out came Styles. Edge said that they’ve both been wanting this match and so do the fans.
He said he doesn’t want the tag team b**ch that AJ has been for the last year, but the pitbull. This led to Edge attacking Styles and a brawl broke out. Styles missed the Phenomenal Forearm and Edge hit a low blow. The WWE Hall Of Famer later connected with a Conchairto.
Styles has publicly talked about wanting this match and now his wish was granted.
Kevin Owens opened up on his decision to re-sign with WWE during an appearance on FOX Sports\’ Out of Character with Ryan Satin.
It was reported in December that Owens had signed a new multi-year contract with WWE as his previous contract was set to expire at the end of January. The deal is reportedly for three years and in the range of $2-3 million per year.
Owens was asked whether re-signing was a fairly easy decision to make. \”I mean, WWE really didn\’t let me think about it much in terms of — they made it clear they wanted me to stay.”
Owens then opened up on having the contract talks directly with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
\”No,\” Owens said. \”Vince McMahon, I dealt with Vince directly and he made it clear he wanted me to stay, and we made an agreement right then and there. It wasn\’t — I\’m a big believer in…my career is going to go the way it goes and I\’m going to do my best with it. I\’m there now for a couple more years and I\’m going to do my best to get opportunities and knock them out of the park and reap the benefits. As I\’ve documented before, there\’s ups and downs to this thing — to WWE, to wrestling, to the industry. I feel like I\’m on a really great upswing right now and I\’m enjoying what I do, like I\’m really enjoying myself a lot lately. So that\’s great, and hopefully it keeps going that way. If it eventually stops feeling that way and I feel like I\’m on the downswing, then it\’s up to me to try to find a way back up. I\’ve always taken that outlook. Yeah, I\’m really having a great time these days.\”
Owens has been recently trash-talking about Texas on WWE TV and social media, which is reportedly due to him facing Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38. This would mark Austin’s first match in 19 years if he does come back.
More information regarding the WWE 2K22 Roster has been released.
The game features a staggering number of wrestlers who are no longer with the company. Out of the 149 playable characters in the game, 59 wrestlers (nearly 40%) are no longer with WWE – either legends or simply released.
It’s been reported that WWE’s decision to release over 80 wrestlers last year had a big impact on the game’s development and the drastically affected plans for DLC.
There are several wrestlers featured in the game that work for WWE’s rival promotion, AEW, such as Keith Lee, Kyle O’Reilly and Buddy Matthews (Murphy). Here’s the full list:
Alexander Wolfe
Andre The Giant
Ariya Daivari
Big Boss Man
Billie Kay
Bruan Strowman
Bret Hart
The Brian Kendrick
Cesaro
Chyna
Danny Burch
Diesel
Ember Moon
Faarooq
Fandango
Gran Metalik
Hulk Hogan
Isaiah Swerve Scott
Jake Roberts
Jeff Hardy
Jim Neidhart
John Morrison
Johnny Gargano
Kalisto
Kane
Karrion Kross
Keith Lee
Kevin Nash
Kyle O\’Reilly
Lana
Lince Dorado
Macho Man Randy Savage
Mia Yim
Mickie James
Murphy
Nia Jax
Oney Lorcan
Papa Shango
Peyton Royce
Razor Ramon
Reckoning (Mia Yim, again)
Road Dogg
The Rock
Roddy Piper
Samoa Joe
Scott Hall
Slapjack
Steve Austin
Ted DiBiase
Tegan Nox
Timothy Thatcher
Toni Storm
Trish Stratus
Tucker
Tyler Breeze
Ultimate Warrior
Undertaker
William Regal
X-Pac
The game is scheduled for a worldwide release on March 11, 2022, and is currently available for pre-order.
Fans have been wondering about how Vince McMahon’s return to the ring at WWE WrestleMania 38 is going to be booked as he is putting his health at risk by taking bumps at 76-year-old.
He also hasn’t taken bumps in years, but it turns out that WWE is planning to avoid the Chairman from taking many bumps when he wrestles Pat McAfee at the show in Dallas, Texas.
Dave Meltzer reported today on F4WOnline.com that it will be a “smoke and mirrors” match. This would mean there could be various things happening in the match such as outside interference so the person helping McMahon would take the majority of the bumps.
WWE did this for Bret Hart in 2010 at WrestleMania 26 in his match against McMahon. Since November, WWE has booked Austin Theory in backstage segments with McMahon and Theory looks up to McMahon as a mentor in storyline in addition to trying to impress the boss.
Meltzer also stated that WWE is doing some out-of-the-box things this year because they know they need to increase ticket sales as they have more than 20,000 unsold tickets for both nights of the show. Thus, with McMahon wrestling and the company trying to get Steve Austin to return to the ring for a match against Kevin Owens, it should increase sales.
As noted, the storyline will kick off this Thursday on The Pat McAfee Show when McMahon makes an in-studio appearance.
Jeff Hardy has walked back his recent comments about his pro wrestling future as he says he’s not going to AEW, just yet.
On Wednesday, an interview with Hardy came out where he stated that he’s going to AEW and he’s excited about it. The former WWE star posted the following statement on Twitter where he claimed his comments were taken out of context and nothing is official yet:
“Nothing is official, http://SocialMedia.It can’t be right now. I’ve simply set a goal for myself & I will achieve it…eventually? The main thing is, Don’t get excited!”
Hardy’s “official” remark is in reference to his non-compete clause still being in play as he cannot sign anywhere else until the 90-day clause runs out on March 9 following his WWE release on December 9th.
It should be noted that POST Wrestling later reported that the interviewer, Jared Myers, told them that Hardy was very clear in stating he would be going to AEW when the non-compete expires, but not that he had signed a contract yet.
In recent weeks, Matt Hardy has addressed his brother’s status now that he’s no longer with WWE. Matt has stated you can “never say never” about seeing the Hardys back together in AEW. The brothers have already lined up several independent dates including at Big Time Wrestling’s live event on March 12.
Brian Cage will be sticking around in All Elite Wrestling. Fightful Select reported today that the word going around backstage at Wednesday\’s AEW Dynamite event was that Cage had told those close to him that AEW picked up his option year on his contract. AEW nor Cage has confirmed this.
Cage was reportedly surprised by this as he thought just like most people on the AEW roster that the promotion would simply not pick up the option and the deal would expire. The report also noted that they hadn’t heard anything in regards to when he could be brought back to TV or if there are even any plans for him.
Cage hasn’t worked a televised match for AEW since October 6th on Rampage when he wrestled Ricky Starks. He was sent on the Chris Jericho cruise that same month where several AEW stars wrestled.
While not being used by AEW, Cage continues to work the independent scene for the likes of Revolver, Warrior Wrestling, among others.
In 2020, Cage made his AEW debut in the Casino Ladder Match at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida. He was later paired with Taz as his manager and held the FTW Title.
Cage’s wife, Melissa Santos, did confirm in November 2021 that her public comments regarding the way AEW had been booking her husband did get him some backstage heat:
The free-agent market just became more interesting as Cesaro is no longer under contract with WWE.
PWinsider.com reported today the WWE star has quietly left the promotion after his current contract expired. Per the report, the two sides were in talks, but couldn’t come to terms on a new agreement. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful also confirmed the news.
Due to his deal expiring, he’s free to sign with any promotion he wants as he isn’t under a 90-day non-compete clause.
Cesaro earned a reputation for being a great worker under his real name Claudio Castagnoli and found success as one-half of the Kings of Wrestling with Chris Hero in ROH, Pro Wrestling NOAH, CZW, and CHIKARA.
Cesaro signed with WWE in 2011 where he went to work in FCW before being called up to the main roster. While with the company, he became the first-ever Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner at WrestleMania 30 in 2014. He also held the United States Championship in addition to the Raw and SmackDown Titles with Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Tyson Kidd.
His last WWE match came against Baron Corbin on the February 11th edition of SmackDown.
Buddy Matthews, former WWE star Buddy Murphy, made his promotional debut on AEW Dynamite this week when he appeared as the House of Black were attacking Penta El Zero Miedo and PAC.
The heels had just lost a tag team match. At first, Matthews teased helping Penta and PAC but he attacked them, which revealed he is now part of Black’s stable. Matthews stomped Penta’s face into a steel chair as part of the attack
For months, Matthews had been rumored to be AEW-bound and even teased it on social media. Outside of the ring, Matthews, Black and Brody King are also close friends outside of the wrestling ring so this pairing makes perfect sense.
His ring name is a combination of keeping Buddy as his first name but also using his Matthews as his last name considering his real name is Matthew Adams.
He signed with WWE in 2013 and held the Raw and NXT Tag Team Championships as well as the Cruiserweight. Buddy was part of the names to be released by WWE in June 2021.
AEW is bringing in another free agent. Former WWE Superstar Shane \”Swerve\” Strickland is expected to ink a deal with the promotion.
Fightful Select reported on Wednesday the former NXT North American Champion expected to sign the contract. He\’s expected to start with AEW in early March, which is coincidentally when AEW Revolution takes place.
AEW has been interested in signing Shane Strickland since the company was formed in 2019. He wound up going to WWE/NXT instead, but things have come full circle. He began negotiating with AEW shortly after his 90-day non-compete ended.
Aside from him being a world class pro wrestler, people in AEW see Strickland as having \’crossover\’ potential that could see him getting involved with television and movie projects.
Swerve\’s Road to AEW
Last November, Strickland and the rest of Hit Row (Top Dolla, B-Fab and Ashante \”Thee\” Adonis) were among the names to be let go just six weeks after the group was called up to the main roster as part of the 2021 WWE Draft.
They formed in NXT and quickly got over as a top act. Strickland won the North American Title from Bronson Reed (JONAH) where he held it for over 100 days before losing it to Carmelo Hayes.
Strickland will be a busy man over the next few months as he’s booked for Thursday’s Terminus event as well as an upcoming DEFY match against prodigy Nick Wayne, and several matches during WrestleMania weekend.
The February 22, 2022 episode of WWE NXT 2.0 aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Grayson Waller (w/Sanga) def. LA Knight.
Io Shirai & Kay Lee Ray def. Lash Legend & Amari Miller
Duke Hudson def. Dante Chen.
Cameron Grimes def. Trick Williams.
Nikkita Lyons def. Kayla Inlay.
Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro def. Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley
Dolph Ziggler def. Tommaso Ciampa
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Bron Breakker Speaks
NXT Champion Bron Breakker opened the show to talk about his win over Santos Escobar last week on a special Vengeance Day edition of NXT.
He said Santos was a tough opponent and he can’t wait to defend the title once again at Stand and Deliver on WrestleMania weekend. He promised to walk in and walk out of that weekend still as the NXT Champion. Dolph Ziggler came out to interrupt him.
Ziggler said Bron will never forget his first title win. He questioned if Bron will make it to Stand and Deliver as champion and he doesn’t think so. He said tonight he will stomp out Tommaso Ciampa tonight. He said that when he wants his title it will be his. He wanted Ziggler to get into the ring. Ziggler declined and called Bron a hot head and is the guy in Orlando. He said that he became the biggest star in NXT once he walked through the door. He told Bron to take the night off and to sit in the back and watch him win tonight.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Tommaso Ciampa with the winner becoming the next #1 contender for the NXT Championship was saved as the main event.
These guys worked very hard and the fans were into the back and forth action. There was a camera guy who hit ciampa with the camera and Ziggler hit the superkick for the win. The cameraman was Roode. Post-match, Bron challenged Roode and Ziggler to a tag team match next week. A brawl broke out to close the show.
This feud started on social media then Ziggler crashed a championship summit with Breakker and Santos Escobar on NXT two weeks ago in addition to Ciampa getting into a brawl with Ziggler last week after Breakker retained his NXT Championship against Escobar. Ziggler got involved so Ciampa took him out.
Last week on Raw, caused Ziggler & Robert Roode to lose to The Street Profits. This past Monday on Raw, Ciampa and Finn Balor beat Roode and Ziggler.
LA Knight vs. Grayson Waller in a singles match took place. The match was the first bout of the night with Waller getting the majority of the offense. LA made a comeback and went for his finisher, but there was outside interference by Sanga and Waller rolled him up for the win.
Post-match, LA attacked Waller and hit his finisher to Sanga then to Waller.
These two stars have been feuding for a few weeks now. Last week, Waller and bodyguard Sanga tried having Knight arrested for violating his restraining order, but it was revealed that Waller violated the order first, and police left without arresting anyone.Knight laid out Waller to end the segment.
Second Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Match
Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley vs. Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro in Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Match took place.
It was fun while it lasted until Paxley got pinned. Post-match, Ivy Nile attacked Tatum Paxley.
Now, Nile and Paxley will face Io and Kay Lee Ray. The rest of the bracket will see Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta vs. Wendy Choo & Dakota Kai and Cora Jade & Raquel Gonzalez vs. Yulisa Leon & Valentina Feroz.
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