fightful

Another name backstage at AEW in Jacksonville

Jacksonville is a homecoming for AEW.

The once semi-permanent home of AEW is the host of Dynamite tonight. The show has a lot of people backstage that haven't been around in quite some time. Among them, we're told is Pac, who has been out of action for quite some time.

It should be noted that we don't know if there are plans for him on tonight's show. With many long term injuries in AEW, there's a long term, multi show process of getting then cleared.

Confirmation on an AEW signing

A top independent women’s talent isn't as much of a free agent as many think.

After last week's impressive performance against the debuting Mariah May,. many of our readers and viewers inquired about the contract status of Queen Aminata. 

Fightful Select was informed that several talent on the AEW roster were told that Queen Aminata was signed to All Elite Wrestling, though we aren't sure if it's full time or tiered per appearance. She’s been appearing for AEW for over tw...

The List Goes On 1/10

SRS and Jimmy Van's post show!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Az4wKxzGFcM

Select Portions: AEW Dynamite Backstage News

- For those asking, we have not heard anything to indicate that Mercedes Mone will be appearing tonight, though it was previously discussed.

- Fightful can confirm PWInsider's report that Young Bucks are at Daily's Place. We're told there are several people who haven't been around in a while who also wanted to be on scene for Daily's Place. 

- There was discussion of debuting the new AEW World Championship title belt tonight in Jacksonville. There are several cosmetic changes...

Select Portions: Raw Backstage News, Producers, More

- WWE filmed their 100th episode of NXT LVL UP Tuesday, Javier Bernal was on the first and 100th episode

- Berkeley Ottman was the timekeeper that got misted by Shinsuke Nakamura. He’s Cody Rhodes’ cousin, and the son of Fred Ottman, aka Typhoon/Tugboat/The Shockmaster.

- Thus far, no CM Punk segments have had producers listed on them for TV, as there hasn’t been physicality.

- Jack Carthwheel appeared as a medic on WWE Raw this week, after working this past weekend’...

NXT Scoops Thread (Includes Potential Spoilers)

Fightful Select's Corey Brennan has learned the following details planned for tonight's NXT.

Please note that as always, things are subject to change. We'll update these as we get more information

- Nikkita Lyons vs. Blair Davenport is scheduled to open. 

- It would appear Dragon Lee's visa situation got handled, as he is slated to defend the North American Title against Lexis King in the show's main event.

Also advertised:

- NXT Tag Titles: D'Ang...

AEW makes big internal hire

AEW has an important internal hire that is coming.

Fightful has learned that several within AEW have been notified that Kosha Irby will be joining the company, possibly in a COO role. Irby is a former Regional Director of Live Events for WWE. He's also worked with the Memphis Express of the AAF as President, Clemson Tigers as Executive Senior Associate AD and Chief Marketing Officer. 

He'd also done work with Georgia State, University of South Florida and Saint Louis.  2024-01-09 17:54:19 +0000 UTC View Post

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 1/8 | SUPER STREET FIGHTER

The Royal Rumble is three weeks away and I want it to be over already.

CM Punk made his return to Raw and talked some more.
(Eventually this WRESTLER you re-signed will have some WRESTLING matches, yes?)

Seth vs Jinder is happening for some reason.

Cody Rhodes gets to be Super Cody in a Street Fight against Shinsuke.
Cool, I guess.

R-Truth is everybody's favorite except for mine.

The Miz continues to be pushed as a babyface.

An ACTUAL babyface, Johnn...

WWE Raw Plans

Fightful has learned the following plans for tonight's WWE Raw, subject to change.

Please be cognizant of those who wish to avoid spoilers

- Drew McIntyre promo

- Tommaso Ciampa vs. Finn Balor

- Kofi Kingston vs. Ludwig Kaiser

- Nia Jax in ring interview with Michael Cole

- Women's Tag Title match: Chelsea Green & Piper vs. Katana Chance & Kayden Carter

- The Miz vs. JD McDonagh

- Seth Rollins promo

- Otis vs. Ivar

SRS Backstage Report (1/8): Mercedes, Trinity, Deonna, Rock

- Mercedes/AEW

- Deonna Purrazzo

- NJPW contracts

- TNA 

- The Rock

- Lots more news

Yet Another NJPW Contract Up In January

Another promising New Japan star’s contract is up this month.

Fightful Select has learned that Gabe Kidd’s contract with NJPW is set to be up at some point in January. Kidd has quickly ascended in New Japan as a part of the Bullet Clubs War Dogs stable.

Kidd has been with NJPW for the last four years, debuting in January of 2020. He’s also been a Rev Pro regular, both in 2019 and in the past couple of years. Kidd recently had a highly praised match at RevPro with soon-to-be ...

Fightful Weekender (1/7): MLW Kings Of Colosseum, TNA Hard To Kill Predictions, MLW SPOILERS, PRESTIGE, NXT LEVEL UP, NWA, AJPW, NCL, ROH SPOILERS

STEPHEN JENSEN is back with a new edition of the WEEKENDER!

- MLW: "Kings of Colosseum" results

- MLW: "Reload" *SPOILERS* (22 min-28 min)

- PRESTIGE: "Roseland 7" results

- NXT Level Up (1/5) results

- NWA: "Powerrr" (Ep 140) results

- TNA: "Hard To Kill" predictions

- AJPW: "New Year Giant Series" (1/3) results

- NCL: "Slamfest" results

- ROH *TV TAPING SPOILERS* (62 min-end)

Details on WWE and the possibility of working with other companies

There has been a lot of talk of WWE working with other companies.

In relation to rumors of WWE and Stardom, WWE sources we spoke to hadn’t heard of that yet but were looking into it. After doing so they claimed that no deal had been in place, and they were not aware of conversations. Numerous WWE sources noted that the company was in a new era and things could be done a lot differently.

One source indicated that the WWE-AJPW deal moving forward is a “wait and see how it goesâ€...

Steve Maclin Talks TNA Rebrand, His Time There, WWE, More

Fightful Select recently sat down with former IMPACT World Heavyweight Champion Steve Maclin at WrestleCade in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Maclin discussed a few different topics with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp.

Steve mentioned that Fightful’s Joel Pearl is not putting him over like he used to on the Fightful IMPACT Review Show. He said at first Joel was kissing his ass a lot, but now whenever Joel talks about his match or segment, Joel will blow over it.

Sean mentioned to S...

Another NJPW contract set to expire this month

A New Japan Pro Wrestling name has a contract set to expire this month.

NJPW talent Alex Coughlin’s contract with the company is set to expire in January as of now, Fightful Select has learned.

Coughlin has been a member of Bullet Club War Dogs, and has been a part of NJPW for over five years. As of now, we have not learned if New Japan has approached Coughlin for a new deal. Several members of the stable have contracts set to expire ahead of a major announced match with United ...

Select Portions: Smackdown News, AOP, Bate, More

- As mentioned on the Fightful post show, AOP and Ellering have been signed for well over a year. We're told that Ellering being a part of their presentation was important to them.

- Samackdown was the highest grossing WWE event in the history of Vancouver, per internal live event reports

- When we asked if Tyler Bate's appearance was an official call up, a WWE source claimed we would see more of Tyler Bate on the main roster.

- LA Knight was busted open during the match, bu...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: SmackDown Review & Rampage WatchAlong 1/5 | Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

An almost perfect episode of SmackDown, right until the very end.
Too bad. According to SGS By-Laws, that means it sucks.

Rampage might be fun, though. I honestly have no idea what's on it, but it might be fun.

Everything sucks. Let's talk about it.

WWE Smackdown New Year's Revolution SCOOPS THREAD

Fightful has learned the following plans for WWE Smackdown New Year's Revolution, subject to change.

Please be cognizant of those who wish to avoid spoilers

- US Tourney Contender Final: Kevin Owens vs. Santos Escobar

- Lashley and Street Profits promo

- WWE Women's Title: IYO SKY vs. Michin

- Butch & Partner vs. Pretty Deadly (SPOILER BELOW)

- Top Contender Match: LA Knight vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

Backstage News<...

Latest on WWE/Giulia

The rumors of WWE and Giulia have heated up.

Fightful Select has confirmed the long standing rumors that WWE has maintained interest in Stardom standout Giulia, but the claim for months was that nothing imminent was to be announced or determined. We’re told that Giulia has obligations with Stardom up until March that were very important to her that she wanted to prioritize. Those we've spoken to claim that Observer's report that Giulia informed Stardom she wouldn't be signing an exten...

POTENTIAL SPOILERS for tonight's Smackdown

Several wrestlers that aren't advertised for the show are in Vancouver at the location of WWE Smackdown.

Please navigate away if you want to avoid spoilers, and we will likely have Smackdown plans ahead of the show. 

Fightful can confirm that Akam, Rezar and Paul Ellering were to be featured on Smackdown moving forward, as soon as tonight. The trio is planned to start a stable with Karrion Kross and Scarlett.

In addition, we've learned that Gable Steveson is in town, bu...

3 ET: SRS LIVE Q&A

YOU KNOW YOU WANNA ASK!!!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/CO2hjNz6pDk

Select Portions: Deonna Purrazzo, TNA, Ospreay, More

- Fightful Select now has Spotify support for our audio, at the request of our audience

- Will Ospreay's Assassin's Creed inspired entrance was in the works for Wrestle Kingdom for quite some time.

- AEW upgraded their ring lighting for this week's episode of Dynamite, as many noticed.

- Our interview with Steve Maclin will go up ahead of TNA Hard To Kill. It was filmed before Deonna Purrazzo's AEW debut.

- Purrazzo's video, music and other elements were finalized in a...

NJPW talent's contract recently expired

A New Japan Pro Wrestling talent has been working without a contract.

Fightful Select has confirmed that Bullet Club War Dogs member Clark Connors worked New Japan Wrestle Kingdom this week without a contract. We’re told that his contract actually expired with NJPW while he was still IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, before he and Drilla Moloney lost them to Catch 2/2.

We’ve heard that New Japan Pro Wrestling and Connors have been in active negotiations, but we don’...

The List Goes On 1/3

SRS keeps things going with free agent news!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Xcri3L-dXHQ

Deonna Purrazzo has had talks with AEW

Deonna Purrazzo is set to be a major free agent in 2024, and already has some interest from companies, and some talks.

Fightful has learned that before Purrazzo’s contract officially expired, there had already been interest expressed by multiple companies. Numerous sources indicated to Fightful that there have been some internal discussions with Purrazzo and AEW, and they’re hopeful they can land her in free agency. We’re told that was her preferred landing spot when finishing up ...

Select Portions: The Rock, WWE Producers, Becky Update,

- Based on what we've heard, Ortiz's story of Santana being adamant about not working with him was accurate. 

- CM Punk was backstage at the show.

- Shawn Bennett was the referee in the Imperium match who was quick acting in taking care of Giovanni Vinci.

- R-Truth and Miz teamed for the first time since June 2019. Before that, they'd teamed against the Shield on a 2013 live event, but hadn't teamed since the Survivor Series match against The Rock & John Cena. ...

NXT notes for tonight

Fightful's Corey Brennan has learned some notes from tonight's NXT.

- Lyra Valkyria vs. Blair Davenport is set to open the show.

- Ilja Dragunov vs. Trick Williams is set to close the show.

- Carlito was at the venue this afternoon.

- Ridge Holland's promo was scheduled to be a pre-tape.

- There were some issues with the shuttles that led to many fans ubering over to the venue. 

Trinity/Naomi Expected To Return To WWE, Barring Unforeseen Circumstances

Trinity Fatu could be on the open market soon, and a major player is looking to land her.

Fightful Select has learned from sources within TNA Wrestling, that the longtime Knockouts Champion is expected to be a free agent very soon.  Trinity debuted in IMPACT Wrestling last April 28, and quickly ascended up the card. By July, she was IMPACT Knockouts Champion, which she’s held for months. It is expected that Trinity is finishing up with TNA soon, but we haven’t heard whether or ...

Plan for LWO's partner tonight on NXT

POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW:

Please navigate away if you wish to avoid spoilers.

Dragon Lee is facing visa issues, which caused a conflict for NXT. 

The Latino World Order has been scheduled to face Quarter Catch Club on tonight's episode of NXT. However, it was revealed that Dragon Lee was off of tonight's show, and is no longer planned for the episode.

Fightful Select's Corey Brennan has learned that Carlito is at today's episode of NXT and wa...

Fightful Select Awards Voting 2023!

Hey guys, voting is now open! 

Don't yell at us, these are your nominees! The ones that got the most were added to the ballots.

We don't have a date set for the awards show yet, as we're going to try to maximize acceptance speeches and physical awards!

Voting runs through Friday!!

If you would like to sponsor an award (complete with ad read, listing in our description, and in the announcement thread the night of) contact SRS, Kate, or drop a message here on Patreo...