MJF and Chris Jericho took advantage of their shot at AEW gold when they challenged The Young Bucks for the AEW Tag Team Titles.
The championship match took place at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event on Sunday night. The match was memorable as The Young Bucks started things off by getting some revenge on the heels before the heels took over.
There were various near falls throughout. At one point, Jericho went for the lionsault and the Bucks hit him with superkicks. The Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver to Jericho for the win.
#NickJackson almost won it for the team! Are you watching Revolution? There's still time to order!
The match was set up on the February 3rd edition of Dynamite when MJF and Chris Jericho won a tag team battle royal. Jericho was the last man standing in the bout when he ended up eliminating Darius Martin of Top Flight to win. The last three men in the ring were Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Martin.
The Young Bucks were also in the match but were eliminated when The Good Brothers helped Nick Jackson eliminate Isiah Cassidy of Private Party. Jackson started to argue with his friends and MJF ended up eliminating him due to the distraction.
What are your thoughts on The Young Bucks retaining the AEW Tag Team Titles? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.
The card for tonight’s (Sunday, March 21, 2021) AEW Revolution event has been finalized.
The company has officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place as the show will be headlined by AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley.
This show marks the first PPV of 2021 for the promotion, which features a stacked lineup. There are a total of nine matches booked for this show with three of them being championship matches.
As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special later tonight. Here’s the final card:
AEW Revolution: Card
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley – Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch
Sting and Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks – Street Fight
AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. MJF and Chris Jericho
Matt Hardy vs. Adam Page – the winner receives the loser’s first-quarter 2021 earnings
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Title Eliminator Tournament winner Ryo Mizunami
Cody Rhodes vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Lance Archer vs. Max Caster vs. TBA – Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match (winner gets shot at Darby Allin’s TNT Title)
Casino Tag Team Royale for a future Tag Team Title Shot: Bear Country, Alex Reynolds/John Silver, Evil Uno/Stu Grayson, Santana/Ortiz, The Butcher/The Blade, Private Party, Top Flight, PAC/Rey Fenix, 5 and 10, The Pretty Picture, Matt & Mike Sydal, Jurassic Express, Varsity Blonds, Natural Nightmares, SCU, and Gunn Club
Miro & Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor
Paul Wight to reveal AEW\’s big talent signing
Riho & Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker & Rebel – Pre-Show
Daniel Bryan will challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Title at the upcoming Fastlane pay-per-view event.
Last week’s episode of SmackDown saw Bryan do an opening segment with Reigns, which led to Bryan wanting a rematch against Reigns. However, a singles match between Bryan and Jey Uso was booked later in the night with both of them getting counted out.
Last Saturday’s Talking Smack featured a segment with Paul Heyman and Bryan in which set up a Steel Cage Match between Bryan and Jey on this week’s episode of SmackDown.
The stipulation along with the match was if Bryan won then he would get a title match with Reigns at Fastlane. However, if he lost then Bryan had to acknowledge Reigns as the Tribal Chief as well as say that Reigns is the very best wrestler on the face of the planet.
Bryan won the Steel Cage Match and will now be in the Universal Title match against “The Big Dog” at the Fastlane pay-per-view event on Sunday, March 21, 2021 from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida that will air on the WWE Network.
The match served as the main event of SmackDown with Reigns and Heyman watching on from ringside. Bryan won with the Yes Lock.
The betting odds for most of the matches that will take place at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place on Sunday (March 7, 2021) in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place appears to have been finalized.
Cody Rhodes is favored to win the Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match while the rest of the wrestlers are priced at the same +275. Kenny Omega is favored to retain the AEW World Title at -350 while Moxley is listed as +325.
Make sure to join us on Sunday for match recaps, and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by AEW.
Revolution Betting Odds
The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Here are the final betting odds:
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega (-350) vs. Jon Moxley (+325) – Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch
Sting and Darby Allin (450) vs. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks (+275) – Street Fight
AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (-250) vs. MJF and Chris Jericho (+175)
Matt Hardy (-350 ) vs. Adam Page (+225) – the winner receives the loser’s first-quarter 2021 earnings
Cody Rhodes vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Lance Archer vs.. Max Caster vs. TBA – Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match (winner gets shot at Darby Allin’s TNT Title): Cody +175, The Field -250
Miro & Kip Sabian (+120) vs. Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor (-160)
WWE recently went on a talent signing spree for the NXT brand by signing independent wrestlers and athletes to contracts.
However, one of the big issues with WWE’s roster is there are a number of wrestlers who are hovering around 40 years if not older. Fans have a problem with the older wrestlers getting more TV time than the younger stars, which means there are even more limited spots for the younger guard to get over, and thus, they don’t get pushes so down the line they can replace the aging talent.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is very aware of the aging aspect of their main and developmental roster. As a result, a doctrine has been laid out that states that they want to limit developmental signings to people under the age of 30.
However, there will be exceptions made for someone who is really good or has potential. This news comes after WWE recently signed former Impact Wrestling stars Taya Valkyrie and LA Knight (formerly known as Eli Drake), who are both in their late 30s.
It will be interesting to see which talent who are older get signed or doesn\’t just because of their age.
WWE issued a new notice to wrestlers and wants them to stop doing “thigh slaps” when throwing kicks.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there was a story going around about WWE fining wrestlers for doing this. The story goes onto state that WWE officials have sent a memo to NXT stars about doing the “thigh slaps” and no one has said a word about it since.
Fightful select reports that they were told that a sign was up at WWE events with big, bold letters that said \”NO THIGH SLAPPING.\” The memo was sent out to talent in February.
It dates back to the 50s when Mr. Wrestling II would do a back slap on his opponents when he would hit a knee lift. Many wrestlers have been known to slap their leg or opponents back.
Meltzer pointed out how Chris Adams did the thigh slap superkick when he came to the United States from the UK. Even WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, who is one of the key people in NXT, grew up watching Adams.
Doing “thigh slaps” or “leg slaps” in pro wrestling has received criticism on social media fans. In fact, Randy Orton tweeted about it and had words with Tommaso Ciampa over it after NXT Takeover: In Your House.
Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler def. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez
Cameron Grimes def. Bronson Reed thanks to help from LA Knight
Finn Balor def. Roderick Strong – non-title match
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
We Get A Big Title Announcement, Balor vs. Strong
Roderick Strong came out and cut a promo about how he demanded to see Adam Cole, who attacked him last week as the implosion of The Undisputed Era continues.
Instead, Finn Balor came out to the ring. Strong said that everything was fine until Balor showed up and blamed Balor for the chaos. Balor challenged Cole to a title match next week. He told Strong that he would never be a leader, but rather will always be a follower. Balor said that until Strong gets a killer instinct like him, he’ll never…Strong attacked Balor and Balor got the better of it until the referees came out to break it up.
A hot segment with a big random title match on a random episode of NXT. It’s interesting that WWE isn’t saving this for the TakeOver special next month.
Balor and Strong worked the main event, but it was a non-title match. Balor dominated the majority of it as it was a technical bout. They did some near falls down the stretch. Balor won with the 1916. Post-match, he had a staredown with Cole.
The Way\’s storyline with Dexter Lumis continued on this show as NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, Indi Hartwell & Austin Theory went to therapy.
This came after Gargano said last week he was sending Theory to therapy for having stockholm syndrome Theory was showing after being abducted by Lumis at TakeOver: Vengeance Day last month as he walked with the group to the ring, which featured Gargano retaining his North American Championship against Kushida.
Theory returned to NXT the following Wednesday but thought he had been on vacation for the past three days. Last week’s show saw Lumis defeat Gargano in a non-title match after Theory refused to hit Lumis with a steel chair.
The opening line of this segment was Theory telling Gargano that the place didn’t look like Chuck E Cheese. An older woman was their therapist. The whole group was there. Theory said he doesn’t have a Dexter Lumis problem and thinks he went on vacation. He said Dexter needed a friend. Gargano wanted Lumis arrested. Gargano freaked out and was kicked out. He sent text messages to Candice so both Candice and Indie got thrown out as well.
NXT Tag Team Champions Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher in a non-title match took place.
Of course, Lorcan & Burch were originally set to defend their titles against men\’s Dusty Classic winners MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) on the episode. That was nixed due to Lee suffering a broken hand.
While he injured the hand in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Classic last month, WWE did a segment where The Grizzled Young Veterans attacked MSK on NXT last week. Thus, WWE claimed Lee suffered his broken hand when The Grizzled Young Veterans used steel chairs in the attack.
After Thatcher defeated Ciampa in a Fight Pit match, the former rivals became partners as they teamed together since then. They fell short in winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
This match was solid with the champs going over with their finishers. Thatcher sold his left shoulder after the match. Imperium came out during the match to watch on, but they didn’t do anything past that.
Women\’s Dusty Classic winners Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez challenged Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for the WWE Women\’s Tag Team Titles.
The match took place right around the top of the second hour. There was a referee spot and Jax and Raquel brawled to the floor. Shayna locked in the rear-naked choke for the win after Adam Pearce came out with a new referee. It turns out that Kai wasn’t the legal person for her team.
Kai & Gonzalez defeated Aliyah & Jessi Kamea in the first round of the tournament, Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter in the semifinals, and Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon in the finals at the NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day special.
WWE set up this feud two weeks ago on NXT as the two teams did a face-off where Jax and Baszler looked down on the fellow heels. In fact, on Monday, Jax put out an Instagram post noting that they were going down a level to face them.
The encounter for the #WomensTagTitles ended in a bit of controversy…
As advertised, Paul Wight, formerly known as The Big Show, made his AEW debut on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.
He will be Tony Schiavone’s co-host on AEW Dark: Elevation on Monday nights starting later this month. He was interviewed by his commentary partner on the stage where he cut a promo bout how he looks forward to working with the AEW talent and he looks forward to his new role on Elevation.
He then teased that a Hall Of Fame worthy talent will get hired at AEW Revolution. He did botch the line by calling it Elevation instead of Revolution, but that happens from time to time on live television. He added that this talent signing “is not who you think” and fans should tune in to find out who this person is.
This Sunday at #AEWRevolution find out who the Hall of Fame worthy talent is ?
As of this writing, it’s anyone’s guess who this person is. AEW does have an open spot left in the Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match at Sunday’s Revolution pay-per-view event. The winner gets shot at Darby Allin’s TNT Title at a future date. Cody Rhodes, Scorpio Sky, Penta El Zero Miedo, and Lance Archer are just some of the competitors.
Last month, it was announced that AEW and Wight had come to terms on a multi-year deal. WWE and Big Show were unable to come to terms on a new deal financially.
The Shaquille O’Neal & Jade Cargill vs. Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet match took place on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite. Originally, Rhodes was supposed to team up with his wife, Brandi Rhodes, in this match, but she was replaced by Red Velvet due to Brandi being pregnant.
The match featured Jade and Red working the majority of it with AEW saving spots for Shaq. Shaq and Cody did start things off with the NBA Legend getting in some chops and even performed a back body drop.
There was a spot where Cody knocked Shaq off the apron and this allowed Austin Gunn to him Shaq in the back with a chair, but Shaq did not sell it. He took Austin and his brother out as a result. At one point, Shaq hit a powerbomb only for Cody to follow up with a powerslam. There were two tables set up on the floor with Cody taking out Shaq over the top rope sending them both crashing through it. Jade hit her finisher to Velvet for the win. After the match, Shaq sold it as if he was knocked out.
Shaq in AEW
Originally, it looked like the match would take place at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view on March 7th. However, it was revealed that the reason Shaq was wrestling on Dynamite instead of the PPV is due to the NBA holding the All-Star Game on the same night as the Revolution PPV and he is needed to cover the NBA game.
AEW has a crossover with the NBA since All Elite Wrestling airs their weekly television show, Dynamite, on TNT while the network also airs NBA games.
Shaq first made an appearance on Dynamite back on the December 9th, 2020 episode to do a sit-down interview with Brandi. To show the drawing power of the NBA legend, the show did 995,000 viewers. It was a strong segment of the show as it did over 1.2 million viewers. The quarter featuring Shaq averaged 1,063,000 viewers and 618,000 viewers in 18-49.
Cargill later appeared and issued the challenge for this match. Shaq has stated in recent years that he wanted to wrestle Cody and now he achieved that goal. With Paul Wight, formerly known as The Big Show, now in AEW, perhaps that is the next match for the NBA Champion.
Bobby Lashley had his big crowning achievement by winning the WWE Title.
He did just that this past Monday night on Raw when he beat The Miz in the main event. The newly crowned champion spoke with FOX Sports to talk about it.
During it, he looked back on what WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told him after the big win. He began by noting that Booker T told him one time that he should be in the main event and realized to stop just having fun, but strive to get more of his career.
Lashley stated that McMahon doesn’t want you in the promotion to have fun, but rather wants to get in an argument with you because you’re fighting for something that you want. He said McMahon wants you to step out of the box and do something bigger such as a spot at WrestleMania and the crowd to form them to give you the title.
“When I was able to go through that curtain [after winning the WWE Championship] and give Vince a hug, he grabbed me and he held me for a while and was like, ‘Man, I’m proud of you.’”
There’s still no word yet on who he’ll defend the WWE Title against at Fastlane on March 21st.
Former Lucha Underground star Marty \”The Moth\” Martinez has been training at the Nightmare Factory, which is operated by AEW star Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall.
Martinez, real name Martin Casaus, shared the news in a post on Instagram. He mentioned that he suffered a spine injury in his L4 and L5 by hugging a dog.
“Yes, I got injured hugging my adorable dog. Docs said I needed surgery. I opted for stem cells instead. I\’ve spent the last 2 years relearning how to walk without pain from sciatica & muscle tension. I had to relearn how to run on the treadmill. Spent more time on rehab than heavy weights. My stream watched the struggle. I learned that progress is just as important as results. I had already beat sleep apnea, learned to manage my Lyme disease, & I spent way to much time fighting to be healthy that there was not a chance in hell I wasn\’t chasing my dream with it.”
He had to learn how to run and walk again. He went on to state that he’s back in the ring training at what he calls the best school in the country.
Martinez added, “So I\’m here training at the @nightmarefactoryga. You\’re never done learning in wrestling & progressing everyday.”
Martinez made a name for himself while working for Lucha Underground from 2014-2018 where he won the world title. His last match came at an ASP show in October 2020.
Pat McAfee gave his reaction to the comments made by Cody Rhodes during today’s media conference call as the AEW Executive Vice President claimed McAfee has been trying to get a job with AEW.
Rhodes was asked about NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal stating that his AEW match alongside Jade Cargill against Rhodes and Red Velvet would top all other celebrity matches in pro wrestling.
Rhode stated he likes that Shaq made the comment because it raises the bar when another match like this happens.
“I think….I didn’t see this particular comment, especially from Pat, which is super bizarre because….just bizarre because I’m pretty sure Pat’s trying to get a job at AEW like every other day, but that’s another conversation.”
McAfee reacted to the comments made by Rhodes during The Pat McAfee Show.
“Cody Rhodes just said I’ve been trying to get employed by the AEW, or whatever, every other day. So I’d like that to be known, that is not true. OK, I’ve actually talked about retirement here more than I’ve ever contemplated going to AEW.”
McAfee then brought up his Twitter exchanges with AEW star Miro regarding the Shaq interview comments. He plans to watch the match, but made it clear, “I am not [trying to get hired by AEW]. I’d just like that to be very clear.”
I heard @CodyRhodes said I've been trying to get a job..
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.884 million viewers with a 0.58 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This is down from last week 1.889 million viewers with a 0.57 rating).
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday night:
The first hour did 1.918 million viewers and a 0.58 rating (A18-49).
The second hour did 1.916 million viewers and a 0.60 rating.
The final hour of the show had just 1.817 million viewers and a 0.57 rating.
WWE Raw last night on USA Network was watched by 1,884,000 viewers. It did a P18-49 rating of 0.58 (757,000 viewers). It ranked #1 on the day on cable.
P18-34 was up an astounding 49% from last week. Additionally, this is a rare occasion where Raw exceeded Smackdown in P18-49. pic.twitter.com/wTGErfuNwa
This episode featured The Miz vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE Title as well as the return of Drew McIntyre, who hadn’t been seen since dropping the title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event. WWE saved the title match for the main event.
The last time the company booked a WWE Championship Match on Monday Night Raw was back on the January 4th edition as McIntyre successfully retained against Keith Lee. This show had an increase in viewership due to it being Legends Night as that show did over 2 million viewers.
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.145 million viewers. This is down from the 2.217 million viewers on FS1 that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.54 rating in the 18-49 demos, down from the 0.59 rating the previous week’s show. The episode drew an average of 2.051 million viewers in the overnight ratings, down from the previous week that did 2.071 million viewers.
The first hour saw it pull in 2.090 million viewers while hour two did 2.012 million viewers. The show did 2.038 million viewers in hour one while hour two did 2.105 million viewers two weeks ago.
The Miz made unsuccessful title defense as WWE Champion on Monday’s episode of Raw against Bobby Lashley.
WWE kept delaying the time of the match as originally it was supposed to be at the top of the second hour, but Miz claimed he was sick and got it delayed another hour, but Miz ran away when the bell rang and Lashley won by count-out. Finally, the match with a few minutes left in the show after it was rescheduled took place with some lumberjacks around the ring.
Miz tried to get DQ’d by hitting Lashley with the title, but Lashley blocked it. Lashley got a hold of him and hit the flatliner before locking in the Hurt Lock for the win.
WWE set up this contest after the opening segment of last week’s Raw when Lashley told Miz that he demanded Miz to give him a title shot because he laid out McIntyre ahead of Miz cashing in the MITB briefcase.
An hour later, Miz said that he need more time, which led to Braun Strowman coming out and demanding a title shot. Lashley beat Strowman in a singles match last week. The match had a stipulation of if Strowman had won then he would’ve been added to this title match and turn it into a three-way.
After last week’s match, The Miz attempted to attack Lashley, who saw it and laid out the WWE Champion with a spinebuster and spear, standing strong to close out the show.
Bobby Lashley is currently being pushed as one of the top stars of WWE Raw, but at 44-years-old, some fans are curious as to when he plans to wrap up his pro wrestling career.
He spoke about retirement while doing an interview with Bleacher Report. According to Lashley, he has a few years left.
“I know with my career that it\’s not going to be a thing where I have 10, 15, 20 more years. Some of these guys do, so mine is kind of a sprint right now. I don’t mind that. I don’t mind ramping it up a little bit because, like I said, I don’t have 10 to 15 more years. I have a few more years left. There’s a lot of goals I want to accomplish, so I have to go hard. My body’s been able to take the abuse I’ve given it, and I knew I could keep going, so I knew it was my time.”
Lashley has had two stints with WWE, the first being from 2005-2008. He then went to TNA Wrestling in 2009 and lasted a year there. He then returned to the promotion as it’s now called Impact Wrestling in 2014 until 2018. In total, he held the World Title four times. He returned to WWE in 2018.
Lashley is coming off an impressive United States Title reign, which ended at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event, and currently in a feud with The Miz for the WWE Title.
As advertised, Bianca Belair made the reveal for her opponent at WrestleMania 37 on Friday Night SmackDown.
WWE announced earlier in the day that she would make her WrestleMania 37 decision on the show. Belair came out to the ring for a promo. She declared that she would challenge SmackDown Women\’s Champion Sasha Banks for the strap. Banks came out and they trade words. It\’s a babyface vs. babyface build for now.
Belair won this year\’s women\’s Royal Rumble match after entering at number three and she battled it out with various stars for nearly 57 minutes before last eliminating Rhea Ripley to get the win.
This past Sunday night at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Belair and Banks teamed up but fell short when they challenged Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler for the Women\’s Tag Team Titles. Belair has interacted with Banks several times since winning the Royal Rumble, but though she did also have an interaction with Raw Women\’s Champion Asuka.
It’s official.
We’re getting Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair at WrestleMania ?
WWE holds WrestleMania 37 on April 10th and 11th in Tampa, Florida from Raymond James Stadium. WWE previously confirmed Edge will challenge Universal Champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania.
Edge speared Reigns at Elimination Chamber, which was a declaration he was challenging for Reigns\’ title at WrestleMania 37.
WWE has been on a signing spree as they’ve signed over two dozen independent wrestlers and athletes.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Bobby Steveson is set to start working with WWE soon. He is a former University of Minnesota heavyweight amateur wrestler. Per the report, he’s slated to start with WWE with the next class of recruits as he’s been training at the WWE Performance Center as of late.
In 2017, he was an NCAA Qualifier and a two-time Letterwinner at the University of Minnesota.
He won his first two career open tournament appearances at the 2015 Cobber Open and the 2015 Buena Vista Open, and then finished runner-up at the 2015 UNI Open. In addition, he was a Redshirt Senior with an overall record of 4-3 for the 2019-2020 season.
His younger brother, Olympic heavyweight wrestling hopeful Gable Steveson, is expected to come to WWE after he finishes college.
Steveson has been backstage at a few different WWE shows as he documented on Instagram. He was with Triple H and Paul Heyman at a Raw show in August 2019 and even got the chance to meet Brock Lesnar at a WWE live event on March 9, 2018 in Minneapolis:
AEW currently airs Dark on Tuesdays and Dynamite on Wednesdays, but starting March 15th, Dark: Elevation will be airing every Monday night on YouTube as well.
When this was first announced, some thought this was supposed to be the second show on TNT that was confirmed when AEW signed an extension with the network in 2020, but that’s not the case.
AEW President Tony Khan later stated on Twitter that a second AEW show on TNT would still be coming in 2021. He then did an interview on Thursday with Wrestling Observer Radio where he further commented on their programming for this year.
He started out by noting that he thinks it’s very appropriate to have two television series and two streaming shows as some of the most successful wrestling companies of all time have had a couple of flagship shows and then a couple of shows that are more for developmental talent.
“So, you’ll have the two Dark properties and the two TNT properties and I’m really excited about it. I think we’re ready for it.”
He noted that he thinks you can get a lot of or most of the viewing experience by just watching Dynamite and the PPVs. He brought up how there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people watching Dark every week. He noted that there’s an audience for Dark and will be the same for Elevation, which turned out to be an idea by TNT.
“It was TNT’s idea, I’ll be 100% honest. I originally had the title Elevation and they’re right, the executives made a great point to me, ‘You don’t want to create confusion with different brands.’ Elevation is an extension of Dark so they essentially said, ‘Call it AEW Dark: Elevation.’ And I said that’s a great idea.”
Paul Wight, formerly known as The Big Show, and Tony Schiavone will be doing commentary for Dark: Elevation.
Zelina Vega could be receiving a phone call with AEW President Tony Khan in the near future.
Khan said he\’s interested in talking with the former WWE star during an appearance on the Thursday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. He was asked about his interest in her, which he thought that she was still under a 90-day non-compete clause, which he has been waiting to pass before he could legally speak with her.
\”When we get through his (Women\’s title eliminator tournament) and through (Revolution), I would be interested to see where she\’s at,\” he said.
Last November, she was released by WWE after having issues with the company\’s new policy regarding talent making deals with third party companies like Twitch.
Vega has an OnlyFans account, which is for cosplays only, and streams on Twitch. At the time, Sports Illustrated reported that it was due to her breaching her contract. It was later clarified that wrestlers can use the likes of YouTube and Twitch, but must use their real names to do so.
It was reported by Fightful Select that her non-compete clause expired earlier this month, which means she’s free and clear to sign with any promotion that she wants whether that’s to be a wrestler or a manager.
The February 24, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Dexter Lumis def. Johnny Gargano
Tyler Rust vs. Leon Ruff ended in a no contest due to an attack on Ruff by Isaiah Scott
Io Shirai def. Zoey Stark
Xia Li def. Kacy Catanzaro via referee\’s decision
The Grizzled Young Veterans def. Drake Maverick and Killian Dain
Karrion Kross def. Santos Escobar.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Io Shirai vs. Zoey Stark
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Zoey Stark in a non-title match took place.
The match was lengthy with Stark getting plenty of offense. Io went over with her finisher. A strong showing for Stark. After the match, Toni Storm came out and did a promo about how Io is willing to fight anyone, but her.
She said that last week she kicked Io’s head off. She recalled not being pinned at TakeOver and Io can’t beat her. Io said that she will fight her any time, any place, and anywhere. Toni said Io is scared of facing her. Toni told Io to make the match happen.
Stark made her WWE debut while working the women\’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic as she teamed with Marina Shafir, but lost to Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon in a first round match that aired on 205 Live. She then made her NXT debut by defeating Valentina Feroz last week.
NXT GM William Regal put out a video while praising Stark\’s performance in her debut and gave her the opportunity to face Shirai in a non-title match. On the flip side, Shirai retained her NXT Women\’s Championship by defeating Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm in a triple threat match at TakeOver: Vengeance Day. Fast forward to last week’s NXT, WWE did an angle where Storm attacked Shirai while Shirai was taking part in a photoshoot.
Adam Cole Addresses His Actions
Adam Cole broke his silence regarding his recent attacks.
Cole did a promo about how he had intentions of explaining his actions and he feels sick to his stomach with it. He said that the NXT Title means everything to him, but he doesn’t like who he has become. He said that he was upset with Kyle O’Reilly getting title shots, but it doesn’t excuse his actions. He said he’s ashamed of himself. He said that he wishes he could have this chat in person, but they can’t because of himself.
He said he was wrong for what he did and he hates himself for it. He said he’s going to try to fix it. Roderick Strong came out and questioned Cole for feeling bad over the last week until now. Strong was upset with Cole and said the group was built on brotherhood. Strong told him that Kyle is going to heal, but he’s not sure what Kyle will do to him when he does. NXT Champion Finn Balor came out and attacked Cole. Strong tried to make the save, but he got attacked as a result. Cole caught Balor with a superkick. Strong punched Cole and looked upset about it. Cole apologized and started crying. Strong apologized as well and they hugged it out. Cole hit a low blow to Strong then ripped the Undisputed Era necklace and connected with a superkick to close the show.
This comes after he took out NXT Champion Balor and O\’Reilly with superkicks after Balor retained his NXT Championship against Pete Dunne in the main event of TakeOver: Vengeance Day.
The following episode of NXT, WWE played it up as Cole thought O’Reilly betrayed the Undisputed Era for showing respect to Balor after they had saved him from an attack by Dunne, Oney Lorcan, and Danny Burch. O’Reilly attempted to get answers from Cole on NXT, but instead, teamed up with Roderick Strong and Balor against Dunne, Lorcan & Burch for the main event.
While Dunne, Lorcan & Burch defeated O\’Reilly, Strong & Balor, Cole made the headlines when he hit a brainbuster to O’Reilly on the steel steps. After the match, Cole superkicked Balor and posed with Balor\’s NXT Championship.
Johnny Gargano vs. Dexter Lumis
NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano vs. Dexter Lumis in a non-title match was booked as the opening contest.
Candice LeRae had attempted to attack Lumis, but he caught her and tossed her onto the apron, which led to Gargano getting the edge. Gargano tried to use a chair, but Lumis stopped him. Then, Austin Theory tried to do so, but he was stopped and Lumis locked in his submission finisher for the win.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." – Michael Scott #WWENXT
Gargano retained his North American Championship against Kushida at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day earlier this month, which is also where this feud really caught fire between Gargano and Lumis. Theory was abducted by Lumis as The Way (Gargano, LeRae, Indi Hartwell, and Theory) as they were coming out to the ring.
Last week, WWE followed up the angle by having Lumis arrive to the building with Theory in a white van as during LeRae and Hartwell\’s match against Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon. Gargano went and got Theory.
Tag Team Match
The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Drake Maverick and Killian Dain was booked in a tag team match. This was the first time each team has wrestled since their losses in the Dusty Classic.
The match was fine and strong down the stretch. The finish saw the vets hit their finishers for the win.
Although The Grizzled Young Veterans made it to the finals of the men\’s Dusty Classic, they lost to MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day earlier this month. To get to the finals, Gibson & Drake defeated Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel), Kushida & Leon Ruff, and Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher.
It's a hard-hitting tag team collision as #GYV clashes with Killian Dain & @WWEMaverick!#WWENXT @ZackGibson01 @JamesDrake_GYT pic.twitter.com/3I9CfcmkP5
On the flip side, Maverick & Dain defeated Curt Stallion & August Grey in the first round of the Dusty Classic but lost to MSK in the quarterfinals.
Karrion Kross vs. Santos Escobar
Karrion Kross vs. Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar in a non-title no DQ match took place.
It featured them brawling in the parking lot with Escobar hiding in an equipment truck. Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde came out to attack Kross. This turned out to be a Falls Count Anywhere Match.
They brawled from the parking lot to the ring with Kross taking out Escobar’s associates. Escobar worked over the left shoulder of Kross throughout it. Kross won it with his finisher.
The match was made official last week by NXT general manager William Regal after Scarlett appeared in his office and asked for the match. He told him that she was there because it wouldn\’t be good if Kross was there instead.
Later in the show after finding out the news, Escobar ordered his Legado Del Fantasma stablemates Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde to make sure Kross doesn\’t make it for the match. However, they were laid out backstage then Kross sent a warning to him that he\’ll do the same thing to him. The feud started when Kross randomly challenged him to a match.
“For those that have been on this decade long journey with me, you know how badly I have wanted this,” she wrote. “I’ve sacrificed and dedicated my life to this. Moved across continents, learned languages, immersed myself in new styles, cultures and experiences with the over all goal of making it one day to the @wwe. I have worked my butt off and today my dream has come true.
I promise to work harder than I ever have, to show the world who I am as a performer and human being. I love my life and take absolutely nothing for granted. I’m hungrier than I have ever been and now the work begins. Thank you to all those that have supported me, and to those that don’t like me…welp, too bad [shrugs emoji] I know my worth, my talent and I will always strive to be better. Now buckle up because this is going to get interesting. LETS GET TO WORK!!”
She had been under contract with Impact Wrestling from 2017 to the end of 2020 where she was positioned as a top star in the women’s division during her entire run. Taya had the longest single-reign in Impact Knockouts Championship history.
Before she left Impact, she had also been a big star in Mexico with AAA. She worked for Lucha Underground from 2016-18. Valkyrie got her start in the business after being trained by Lance Storm at the Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Earlier this month, Randy Orton expressed his interest in working with Karrion Kross.
Since Kross signed with WWE and joined NXT last year, he’s been positioned as a top star. He was fast-tracked to the top of the card and the only reason he’s not the NXT Champion right now is due to him suffering a shoulder injury that resulted in him being put on the sidelines.
He noted that he laughed about it at first as he was done doing his morning cardio and saw it on his phone.
“My first, immediate reaction, because I saw what time it was tweeted, I was like, ‘What?!? What is this?’ It was very late in the morning. I was like, ‘I clearly missed a very good time last night.’ But, yeah, it was very flattering and I thought it was awesome, and I think the world of him.”
He noted that he thinks people should have more fun with social media instead of being serious while using it. Kross doesn’t know him, but has heard that Orton has a sense of humor.
“I’ve been aware of that for a time and as flattering as it was, I know he’s only kidding around. But, I can’t wait to work with him in the future. I’m definitely interested in doing that. In order for him to hit the RKO, he’s going to have to give me his back, and a lot of bad things can happen. Just thought I’d throw that out there for peace of mind.”
Orton is currently in a feud with Bray Wyatt while Kross took on NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar on Wednesday’s episode of NXT.
Sting was recently fully cleared for physical activity ahead of his first match in several years.
Sting had to retire from wrestling due to him having spinal stenosis in 2015. He joined AEW and is slated to do a cinematic street fight when he teams up with Darby Allin against Brian Cage and Ricky Starks at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event.
Last week on Dynamite, Sting took his first bump in nearly six years as he took a powerbomb by Cage. AEW President Tony Khan spoke about the spot during an interview with Mike Johnson of PWinsider.com.
“He’s been cleared, he’s been fully cleared,” Khan said of Sting. “He’s been training with Darby and sparring partners and he’s been fully cleared to wrestle. In his training, one thing he’s done to get ready with his sparring partners is a powerbomb. In terms of getting ready for this, I was more than fine with it and in fact called it.”
Khan mentioned that Sting has been taking them in training and it was time to do it in front of a live crowd. He noted that Sting has been completely cleared to do it and wanted to do it and he wanted to get out there and wrestle.
“Sting’s cleared to wrestle and he wants to wrestle and this is how he wanted to end his wrestling career in-ring was in AEW and come in and go out the way he always wanted to go out with great matches.”
Khan stated that he expects Sting to have a great performance at Revolution and Sting has high expectations for it. He added that the spot got people talking in a positive way.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.889 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This is up from last week (1.810 million viewers with a 0.57 rating).
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday night:
The first hour did 1.978 million viewers and a 0.60 rating (A18-49).
The second hour did 1.926 million viewers and a 0.57 rating.
The final hour of the show had just 1.765 million viewers and a 0.53 rating.
This was the second straight week that Raw was up after doing its 2021 low. Last week was the go-home edition of the red brand for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event.
This episode featured the fallout from the event and likely got more intrigue than most due to The Miz’s shocking Money in the Bank briefcase cash-in, which led to him beating Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title.
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.217 million viewers. This is up from the 1.990 million viewers on FS1 that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.59 rating in the 18-49 demos, up from the 0.57 rating the previous week’s show. The episode drew an average of 2.071 million viewers in the overnight ratings, up from the previous week that did 1.883 million viewers.
The first hour saw it pull in 2.038 million viewers while hour two did 2.105 million viewers. The show did 1.905 million viewers in hour one while hour two did 1.862 million viewers two weeks ago.
Jon Moxley is the latest person from AEW to address whether there would ever be a working relationship between All Elite Wrestling and WWE.
AEW President Tony Khan and top AEW Executive Cody Rhodes seem to think that a possible collaboration is possible. However, the former AEW World Heavyweight Champion doesn’t seem to think so.
“That would never happen. That’s not even worth wasting any mental energy to… You know. I mean, if you want to fantasy book some cool s**. You know, maybe you could fantasy book it for, like, fun magazine, stuff,” Moxley stated in a recent interview withInside The Ropes.
“You know, Like back in the day, in magazines, you used to always have, like, ‘Dream match. Bill Goldberg versus Steve Austin,’ in ’98. But that ain’t gonna happen.”
He continued, “It’d be cool to think about the cool s**t that could happen, you know, like a big summit at the Tokyo Dome, AEW, NJPW, WWE or some s**t but that s**t ain’t going to happen. So, you know, they do their thing. They stay over there.”
All Elite Wrestling currently has a working relationship with Impact Wrestling and NJPW.
Current AEW World Champion Kenny Omega also commented on such a relationship being possible as he thinks the final forbidden door will be opened.
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2021/03/pjimage-2021-03-03T210035.803.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2021/03/pjimage-2021-03-03T113228.550.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2021/03/pjimage-2021-03-03T113233.805.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2021/03/MatchGraphic_NXT_feedcard_WomensTT_Tonight-8871c957ddea5e9ec662cc3e7c7d92a8.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2021/02/pjimage-2021-02-24T154527.589.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2021/02/pjimage-2021-02-17T171207.864.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2021/02/pjimage-2021-02-24T154532.712.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2021/02/pjimage-2021-02-24T154530.969.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2021/02/pjimage-2021-02-17T171159.568.jpg\")