SEScoops

Author: Dylan Bowker

  • Jurassic Express Vie For a Big Pay Day at AEW WrestleDream

    Jurassic Express made a big comeback at All Elite Wrestling\’s last pay-per-view offering and have a big matchup lined up AEW\’s subsequent PPV. At AEW WrestleDream on October 18th, will mark the first in-ring outing at a tentpole event for the tag team comprised of Jack Perry and Luchasaurus. The team reuniting at AEW All Out in Toronto electrified the fanbase on September 20th but some hungry tag team competitors are not bringing out the welcome wagon for the anticipated return in the same way.

    The former AEW tag team champions will be clashing with a tandem who are also interwoven into the lineage of AEW tag team champions. The Young Bucks are the ex-AEW champs in question and tensions have been spilling out between the duos as of late. The last couple editions of AEW Dynamite has seen ever intensifying friction between Jurassic Express and the Young Bucks which led to the booking of the bout.

    Nick Jackson was the catalyst for this as he put out that declaration for the match on the microphone during AEW\’s latest televised episode of Dynamite with a man and his monster now being inserted into the crosshairs of the money challenged former EVPs. That piece ties into a match stipulation here as $500,000 will be on the line to give the financially addled Young Bucks some much needed capital.

    Jurassic Express, Young Bucks, and Big Cash coalesce at AEW WrestleDream

    The Young Bucks also recently garnered 500K, in storyline, when they teamed with the Death Riders recently to garner that prize by besting Brodido and The Opps on the September 10th instalment of AEW Dynamite. That money would come and go with an absurd promptness as Nick Jackson\’s gambling woes quickly put the brothers\’ collective balance back at zero dollars.

    Young Bucks and Jurassic Express do have prior history with one another and clashed in 2020 notably. That tag team showdown transpired at that year\’s AEW All Out offering with the Young Bucks adding one to the win column. Also at Full Gear 2021, Jurassic Express and Christian Cage bested Adam Cole with the Young Bucks in a falls count anywhere clash. Also of note, Perry and Lucahsaurus would best the Young Bucks and reDRagon at AEW Revolution 2022 in what was a hotly contested three way match as well as a big title defense for the duo.

  • Kevin Nash Blasts TKO for \”Rotten\” WWE Royalty Changes

    Kevin Nash was less than pleased to see his recent royalties coming in and touched on how much of a shift he\’s seen in that regard since Endeavor bought WWE in 2023.

    On his podcast Kliq This, Nash was speaking to his co-host Sean Oliver about a conversation that the former previously had with his WWE Hall of Fame peer Sean Waltman also known as X-Pac. Nash mentioned that he was chatting with Waltman for one of their weekly calls and the latter laughed on the phone mentioning that obviously \’Big Daddy Cool\’ had received his recent round of royalties.

    In responding to Waltman and then touching on how he had seen the signs of a shift in the wake of TKO\’s takeover of everything, Nash said:

    \”I said, ‘Holy f**k.’ I said, ‘The last one was good… this one was rotten.’ I mean, it was half… When I was making huge money in my royalties, it was broken down. It would say ‘nWo t-shirts’, ‘nWo women’s t-shirts’. Now it says ‘nWo intellectual property’ and there’s just a number.\”

    \”It got weird when they sold. It started when they sold, all of a sudden… the weirdness starts.\”

    Kevin Nash continues to expound upon his thoughts on recent TKO royalties

    Kevin Nash is not the only one noticing a change of the times with the major paradigm shift in WWE since merging with UFC under the TKO umbrella. It is a multi-pronged situation with many consumers also noticing seemingly ever growing price points with being a WWE fan. This comes across both in terms of wanting to attend live events but also for those watching the product at home.

    To revisit the Nash point, the former WWE and WCW champion said he could ultimately speak only to his situation but stated that the recent shift in royalty amounts is to the scale of several millions of dollars. Nash also pontificated on what the difference in that sense would be for figures like The Rock or Steve Austin who, per Nash, command greater percentages of their merchandising royalties and the like.

    Kevin Nash did mention in a cursory way that he brielfy had the idea of involving forensic accountaunts for the purposes of a lawsuit. But after his co-host Oliver mentioned Nash was a TKO shareholder, the former NWO member mentioned that while his long time friend Paul Levesque was in charge that Nash would simply roll along with whatever is happening with TKO considering his connection to Triple H.

  • Bobby Lashley Would Excel in Bare Knuckle, Says BKFC Champ

    Bobby Lashley has teased an interest in competing for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and a BKFC champion he has some connectivity with has spoken on that. Jessica Borga is the combatant in question and she toiuched on this before her recent battle with Christine Ferea at BKFC 82 for the Queen of Violence championship.

    Borga appeared on Bare Knuckle Bowker ahead of that October 4th champ vs. champ clash with BKFC\’s flyweight champ and top women\’s pound for pound fighter. Bellator MMA was touched upon during the interview with the BKFC featherweight champion with both Lashley and Borga being alumni of the mixed martial arts promotion.

    Borga took part in a WWE RAW appearance where she was featured as one of Lashley\’s \”ladies\” circa 2021. Bobby Lashley and even David Feldman have referenced that there is some interest in him fighting for BKFC. When asked what she thinks Lashley\’s aptitude for bare knuckle would be, considering his MMA resume previously, Borga said [via Bare Knuckle Bowker],

    \”Yeah, definitely. I actually saw him I want to say the first Texas event that was just not long ago and I saw him sitting ringside. So I had an idea maybe that might be something he was interested in, but I think he would do great at it.\”

    AEW star reflects on portraying another lady in the life of Bobby Lashley

    Bobby Lashley has several important women in his life, as portrayed through WWE cannon, and an ex-AEW tag team champion looked back on when he filled the role of Lashley\’s sister. The wrestler in question is Max Caster and it turns out he is not necessarily opposed to revisiting that role of Lashley\’s sister, even though he may be opposed to revisiting his role as a rapper in AEW.

    In an appearance on Hey! (EW), Caster spoke about the sister role he filled in WWE and years later stepping into the AEW ring with Lashley as Caster said:

    \”I wrestled Bobby here at AEW [RJ: Did he acknowledge it or he was not going to?] No, if he acknowledged it in any way, it was through his aggression with which he spinebustered me.\”

    \”I genuinely am still hurt from that match, so when they say they hurt people, it\’s true….No, I mean, look, indie wrestlers, I was an unsigned wrestler at the time.\”

    \”We do a lot of things for money. So it\’s like, \’Okay, would you dress up as a woman and confront a MMA fighter and world champion wrestler?\’ Yeah, okay, for 500 bucks, I can be bought for that. At this point, I\’d probably still do it.\”

  • Andrade Fires Back at Dave Meltzer Claims “You Keep Killing the Business”

    Dave Meltzer had several comments regarding Andrade\’s return to AEW and the latter has responded to the tenured journalist in a fiery fashion. The October 1st edition of AEW Dynamite saw the return of the acclaimed competitor on the sixth anniversary of the promotion\’s flagship TV show.

    Dave Meltzer was recently pontificating on matters related to how El Idolo\’s initial AEW exit was handled when it transpired in 2023. The Wrestling Observer figurehead noted that wrestlers who are preparing to leave All Elite Wrestling are generally kept off of television or booked in a fashion whereby they take multiple losses on their way out. Andrade was the exception to this standard method of behaviour in Meltzer\’s eyes and the AEW returnee has refuted some of the claims from the journalist.

    Taking to his personal X page to address some of these recent observations from Meltzer, Andrade said,

    \”@davemeltzerWON You talk too much s**t without proof, and Sir, I\’ll only tell you one thing: when my contract with AEW ended, I personally went man to man to thank MR. TONY KHAN for the opportunity to be in AEW, and that\’s all I\’ll tell you.\”

    \”If I wanted to talk more, I would show you that you\’re wrong about many things. But you keep killing the business! Yo le deseo lo mejor!!\”

    Andrade\’s prior AEW departure and his return timeline with All Elite Wrestling

    Andrade did have showout performances in that Continental Classic tournament field prior to his departure from AEW a couple of years back. Through that stretch in the CC, Andrade earned several statement wins over the likes of Bryan Danielson, Brody King, as well as Daniel Garcia. The last AEW match of that prior tenure took place against someone who also would defect to WWE thereafter as Andrade took on Miro who would come back to WWE under his prior Rusev moniker.

    Speaking of Andrade\’s own WWE return efforr, reports would emerge that were tied to his September 13th release from the promotion centred on multiple violations of the wellness policy. The former WWE United states titleholder left the promotion without a non-compete clause which facilitated his quick turn around AEW comeback on the last Dynamite episode.

  • Hikaru Shida Announces Big AEW Re-Signing

    Hikaru Shida has been one of the more standout women\’s wrestlers in All Elite Wrestling dating back to it\’s inception and the former AEW champion has signed a new contract with the promotion. That was announced by Shida on her personal social media and was also something she touched on during a recent livestream on her YouTube channel.

    While she has been absent from the AEW stage for almost a year now, Shida has been active on the Japanese wrestling circuit and also participated in a stage production in the role of a wrestler preparing to hang up their boots. Articulating on her YouTube channel that this was not a case of art imitating life, Shida said [via Vice],

    \”It’s about a wrestler [the stageplay]. The title was ‘Retirement’ and this is the story of the wrestler [who] just announced her retirement, and that’s me.\”

    \”Actually, after the show many fans asked me like ‘Are you retiring or is it just a play?’ And of course it’s just a play. I’m not retiring.\”

    Hikaru Shida \”I\’m not retiring\”

    The 37-year-old has been kept outside of the United States over the last several months due to visa related complications but the former multi-time AEW titleholder is still very much All Elite. The social media statement she dropped, referenced above, related to her visa situation as Shida stated [via Vice],

    \”I just renewed my Visa and contract, so I’m not retiring. But fans asked me so that means my acting was too good.\”

    Hikaru Shida is a three time women\’s champion second only to Toni Storm who has four reigns and Shida\’s last AEW match, as of this writing came last November against current divisional titleholder Kris Statlander, who has been praised during her reign.

    With Storm and Statlander competing for the latter\’s AEW crown at the looming WrestleDream card, some are mulling over the idea of the native of Japan making her triumphant return with the aim of tying Storm\’s overall record for cumulative AEW Women\’s title wins.

  • Dave Meltzer Names the Worst Investment Tony Khan Has Made in AEW

    Dave Meltzer had a less than flattering characterization of a former TNT champion in the context of Tony Khan least advisable financial decisions while helming AEW. The wrestler in question is Miro who eventually left the All Elite Wrestling fold to return to WWE under his prior moniker, Rusev. Reports around Miro while he existed within the AEW cannon was that he became a bit of an issue creator backstage with insinuation centred on the idea that he was averse to putting people over with any regularity.

    Those aforementioned creative differences and some injury hurdles created a fairly start and stop run for Miro in the company during an episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said:

    \”That was the most ill-spent money Tony Khan probably ever did, or among them. I shouldn\’t say the most, but among them was that one.\”

    \”because it\’s like this guy wouldn\’t do anything in AEW and then he goes to WWE and he\’s putting over Dominik you know? I mean, he wouldn\’t put over guys twice as good as Dominik in AEW.\”

    Miro leaving AEW, the Rusev loss to Dominik, and the path since returning to WWE

    The post-AEW journey of Rusev has been a curious one as he got back into the company fold on the heels of WrestleMania 41. Curiously enough, Rusev also seemed to encounter some issues in his WWE return that were reportedly issues while in AEW insofar as not being thrust into significant, prevalent storylines.

    The 39-year-old suffered a loss recently, which was mentioned by Meltzer above, to Dominik Mysterio where Rusev fell short in his pursuit of capturing the intercontinental title following some chicanery in the former of a low blow from \’Dirty Dom\’ which led to his win. The native of Bulgaria seems to now be on a path toward that IC gold and a program with Mysterio considering the nature of how their WWE Raw match wrapped up this past Monday and how the last few weeks of episodic programming has played out between the two.

  • Mercedes Moné Booked for Big Sophomore CMLL Title Defense

    Mercedes Moné has her next CMLL championship defense lined up in her looming return to Mexico. CMLL Informa officially announced the return of the prolific belt collector to their ring as Moné will enter Arena Mexico on October 17th. The multi-promotion champion will aim to defend her crown against Persephone. The news about this matchup was also imparted by the champion in question through her Moné Mag newsletter.

    Moné initially captured the CMLL strap in June and has since notched one defense of that specific strap since garnering the gold in the Summer. The former singles and tag team champion from WWE captured the CMLL title from Zeuxis at the AEW Grand Slam Mexico show. The first defense of the CMLL strap came in a matchup with La Catalina. That was a matchup that transpired a mere two days after first capturing the hardware and lucha libre enthusiasts will presumably be elated for the CMLL champion\’s return months later.

    Mercedes Moné, Persephone, and the road to this CMLL title bout

    Mercedes Moné has so much hardware now that the AEW standout has her own belt boys to display how many promotions she is simultaneously helming. Beyond her TBS and CMLL straps, Moné also the RevPro British women\’s title, the Queen of the Southside Championship, the Owen Hart Cup, the EWA Women\’s Championship, the Prime Time Wrestling Women\’s Championship, the BestYa Wrestling Women\’s Championship, and the Discovery Wrestling Scottish Women\’s Championship.

    Now known to some as Mercedes nine belts, she presently holds an amount of titles that is equal to the cumulative amount of reigns that the former Sasha Banks had during her WWE tenure.

    Persephone and Moné have previously shared a ring together and in an AEW specific context. This came at August\’s Forbidden Door card as the two comprised half of a four-way matchup for the TBS championship. The other two participants in that championship showdown was Alex Windsor and Bozilla with Moné leaving the cross-promotional Summer card still in possession of the TBS crown.

  • Orange Cassidy Says \’Blame Sting\’ for their Viral AEW Moment

    Orange Cassidy has been a fixture in AEW since their inception and heading into an AEW title bid on the sixth anniversary of AEW Dynamite, OC has a lot of iconic moments to reflect back on. One of those moments involved an encounter with the legendary Sting with Cassidy\’s playful interaction with the former TNA and WCW champion turning into a viral clip online.

    During a recent interview with The Sportster, the former AEW international champion covered several subjects as Cassy steps into the ring in pursuit of Kyle fletcher\’s TNT title on tonight\’s milestone Dynamite episode. Touching on the widely popular moment with the since retired Sting that blew up the internet wrestling community when it happened, Cassidy said,

    \”I didn\’t tell Sting anything, and Sting just did it. He made our locker room better. He was a great leader, and for him to play with me was an honor. I didn\’t tell him to do anything. He\’s the one who did it. Blame him. Blame him for that.\”

    Orange Cassidy Reflects on AEW Journey and Dynamite\’s 6th Anniversary Match

    Orange Cassidy was one of the earlier signings in the company\’s nascent days in 2019. Right away, the sloth-like persona juxtaposed with a high octane in-ring style connected with fans of All Elite Wrestling and Cassidy really vaulted into the broader consciousness of the pro wrestling world during AEW\’s run at Daily\’s place during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

    Reflecting on how beneficial that period of time was to his development, in that same interview with The Sportster referenced above, as he heads into an opportunity tonight to add even more AEW gold to his resume, Cassidy stated,

    \”We spent a year and a half or two years, I don\’t even remember at this point, in Florida during the pandemic. To me, Jacksonville and Daily\’s Place is like, I think the first time I really felt like I was wrestling weekly.\”

    Cassidy credits an AEW legend with helping establish him as a household name.

    \”That program with Chris Jericho, it defines some of my career, so I\’m grateful for those moments, and it\’ll be nice to get back to give the Florida fans and the state of Florida who were there to support us during that time.\”

  • Orange Cassidy Praises Kris Statlander\’s Historic AEW Title Win

    Orange Cassidy has had his ups and downs with Kris Statlander but the former did take time to acknowledge the historic moment recently generated by the latter. At AEW All Out, Statlander unseated then-champion Toni Storm from her throne in a fatal four way match. It was a feat that not only saw Statlander claim the AEW women\’s title, but she became the first woman in company history to hold the women\’s world title and the TBS championship.

    Cassidy recently returned to the AEW fold after Statlander accomplished this feat and while The Best Friends had a public, bitter breakup last year, the former AEW international champion was clearly watching from afar to take in Kris Statlander\’s big accomplishment. Speaking to The Takedown on SI about Statlander\’s history making christening in Toronto, Cassidy said,

    \”She is the definition of working hard. She works very, very hard. And personally, you know, she\’s going through some stuff and she\’s made some decisions, and I\’ll never hold that against her.\”

    \”She hasn\’t lost my phone number, and, yeah, I personally really have a special place [for her]. And I don\’t think it\’s really hit to anybody yet that she\’s the first ever person to get both the TBS and the Women\’s [World Championship]. That\’s incredible. She\’s had two knee [surgeries]. She works very, very hard. It\’s nice to see when people that work hard get success.\”

    Orange Cassidy\’s road to returning and his own pursuit of a second singles title in AEW

    Orange Cassidy addressed the injury related hinderances that Kris Statlander recently overcame but the man who is freshly squeezed had his own difficult road that kept him sidelined. A torn pectoral muscle kept Cassidy out of the ring since April and he made his AEW return on last week\’s instalment of AEW Dynamite in a winning effort alongside compatriots, Mark Briscoe and Hologram. The trifecta got the victory over The Don Callis Family and guides OC toward an important opportunity to claim even more singles gold within All Elite Wrestling.

    Orange Cassidy will test skill with Kyle Fletcher for the latter\’s TNT championship on the next episode of AEW Dynamite which celebrates the six year anniversary of the television program. Cassidy and Fletcher have a bit of a longer history with one another clashing for AEW gold although the champion and challenger roles will be reversed in this next meeting.

  • Jack Perry Opens Up About Unexpected Length of AEW Absence: “I Didn’t Know I’d Be Gone So Long”

    Jack Perry\’s AEW return at their All Out card drew an uproarious reaction from the Toronto crowd but Perry expected to be back in All Elite Wrestling far sooner than he was. This was expressed by the former TNT champion during a recent exclusive interview conducted with Vice. It has been close to nine months overall that Perry has been out of wrestling and a year since he was seen specifically inside an AEW ring.

    Speaking to Haley Miller for Vice about how his idea of what he thought his comeback timeline would look like versus what ended up transpiring, Perry said:

    \”I did not know I was gonna be off for as long as I was. I thought I was gonna be off a month or two and then be back. But then things just change a lot and that’s how it goes. I will say, Luchasaurus and I were always going to be back together doing something. We knew that from the day that we broke up as a tag team the first time. I also felt I had such a good run the year before. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to top that right now.’ We concluded this is probably the best time for us to do this.\”

    Jack Perry & Luchasaurus: History and Reunion

    Jack Perry getting the band back together with a returning Luchasaurus at AEW All Out delighted longtime fans of the promotion who still had that soft spot for Jurassic Express.

    The 28-year-old and his daring dinosaur carved out a path that saw them eventually become AEW tag team champions. The California native just seems excited to return to the fold with a familiar compatriot as Jack Perry stated [via Vice],

    \”I feel great to be back. Especially under these circumstances with someone who’s one of my best friends, and I mean, so much has happened. It’s something that was always gonna happen, us coming back together. So many things have gotten in the way so for it to finally come to fruition and then get that kind of response feels great.\”

    With Jack Perry and Luchasaurus reunited, their renewed partnership looks set to mark the beginning of a new chapter in the tag team division, bringing fresh energy to their longterm storyline.