fightful

Interesting creative name backstage at AEW Dynamite

AEW might be getting some more help on the creative end.

Fightful Select has learned that longtime wrestler-turned-creative writer Jimmy Jacobs is backstage at AEW Dynamite today in Washington, DC. We’re told Jacobs was a surprise face popping up, and exchanged hugs and pleasantries with numerous people at the show.

Jacobs has signed with AEW as All Elite Wrestling has expanded with Collision debuting Saturday. Bryan Danielson has also been brought on to help, in addition to the...

Latest on Elite's AEW contract talks

The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Adam “Hangman” Page have all been negotiating new AEW contracts this year.

When we asked for an update this week, we were told that the deals aren’t done yet. However, both sides have felt like several deals had been close, with one side noting that could have been said for several months, and not a lot had changed on that front. Those we spoke with in AEW were confident they’d retain the Elite, despite CM Punk returning to the company. We’ve n...

The POST SHOW With SRS!

SRS breaks some news!!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/BZ5KTEjmm7g

AEW inked talent to deal months ago

EJ Nduka is no longer a free agent, and hasn’t been for quite some time.

The former WWE and MLW talent became a free agent at the start of 2023, when he amicably left Major League Wrestling upon his contract expiring.

Fightful has learned that Nduka has signed with All Elite Wrestling after making his company debut back in January, facing Konosuke Takeshita. Nduka hasn't been in the ring since then, but was seen around WrestleMania weekend festivities. We're told he's been under...

Alex (& Kate's?) SOUR GRAPS: Raw 6/12 | Mami Issues

(STARTING 10 MINUTES AFTER RAW)

Raw was supposedly great last week while I was on vacation. I watched it on DVR. It was aight.

Tonight has been aight, too. Fake-ian Aichner's real or kayfabe injury has thrown a monkey wrench in the KO & Sami vs Imperium deal.

Also, Rhea Ripley might be the only member of Judgment Day without a match at MITB, and that seems bad.

Plus, people in Wichita REALLY love singing Seth Rollins' song.

Finally, they're u...

Vince McMahon makes changes to WWE Raw again.

Vince McMahon made changes to WWE Raw again for the June 12 show, and word got around to talent shortly before the program. 

McMahon is not backstage at the show, but has been making changes remotely per usual. So if you had any questions as to whether or not he was returning to the road after being at last week's show in Hartford, it doesn't appear so. That show was in close proximity (relatively speaking) to WWE HQ, and even last week, most backstage didn't think McMahon would be...

WWE could be repackaging act

Maximum Male Models could be….minimizing their modeling?!?

Fightful has learned that Mansoor and Mace may be repackaged, with details few and far between as to what that means. Their time on the WWE roster as a team has been tumultuous. First, Max Dupri was put with the team because Vince McMahon hadn’t seen him as an in-ring talent, then rechristened LA Knight because Triple H and his regime saw star potential in him. Maxxine Dupri was effectively pulled from MMM and put with Chad ...

Select Portions: Vince McMahon, Rebel, Collision Commentary

- We’re told that Rebel (NOT REBA), is still under an AEW deal, although she hasn’t been at recent shows. She’s been continuing to work on her podcast for Ad Free Shows.

- We've not heard that Vince McMahon is backstage at tonight's WWE Raw. It's likely he and other executives were there last week due to the proximity of HQ.

- We have a new draft of the Nick Comoroto feature dropping publicly on Fightful Tuesday.

- We're scheduled to speak with Ridge Holland this week....

Select Exclusive: Nick Comoroto Video Interview: His First Ever

Nick Comoroto's only long-form video interview!

SRS Backstage Report Podast (6/12)

- KENTA vs. CM Punk!?

- King of The Ring news

- AEW-Mercedes news

- Details on Vince McMahon at WWE Raw

- Bullet Club members added

- New WWE Titles

- Stardom and AEW update

- WWE's plan to streamline titles

- A ton of Fight Forever Updated

- News on Ali/Corbin in NXT

- Andrade return news, what he passed on

- WWE's vignettes

- An AEW Retirement

- WWE team set to be factored in

- The Hex, Paul Lazenby

- ...

Lots of AEW Fight Forever news, easter eggs, more

AEW’s Fight Forever is slated to release in late June, and we’ve learned a little more.

Those that have played the game told Fightful they believe it will be a success based on the playability and the multi-player aspect more than anything.

Some internal criticisms have been the limited creation suite, which we’re told just simply isn’t expansive. There were also concerns regarding the repetitive clothing involved in other characters involved in the story mode. There were ...

Magazine Archive: The Thunder Rosa Wave Has Taken Over the Wrestling World - What’s Next for Her?

by Emily Heller for FightfulMag.com Issue 4

“Welcome to Mission Pro! You see what we’re putting to action here, we’re tired of what it was like before. We’re not five-minute matches. We’re all here for this. We’re here to inspire each other. We’re here to lift each other up. This show is for you, this is not for me. This show is to showcase who you are and what you can do. We’re a family here. Let’s do this.”

At every Mission Pro Wrestling sho...

Paul Lazenby talks about Gene LeBell telling him to hit the mat, getting into Pancrase, playing Atom-Man in Superman & Lois

The Wrestling Perspective podcast features hosts Dennis Farrell and Ace Steel. Their guest this week is former MMA fighter, actor, stuntman, and writer Paul Lazenby., They discuss his career involvement, including professional wrestling, MMA, Pancrase, and voice/motion capture acting. Lazenby discusses his transition to stunt work and his experiences fighting in Japan. He also talked about his experience in the entertainment industry. This interview will be available on Youtube.com/Fightful, ...

Fightful Weekender (6/11): NEW GCW & IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONS, ROH SPOILERS, NWA, MLW, FREELANCE, NXT LEVEL UP, 1PW

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

Topics:

- GCW: "Cage Of Survival 2" results

- Blake Christian wins GCW World Championship

- Alex Shelley wins IMPACT World Championship

- NWA: "Crockett Cup 2023" Night 2 results

- ROH *TV TAPING SPOILERS*

- MLW: "Fusion" (6/8) results

- FREELANCE: "Freelance vs. The World 9" results

- NXT Level Up (6/9) results

- 1PW: "Devil's Due" results

Nick Comoroto: Turning Nightmares To Dreams While Working With ADHD

Note to aggregators: please don't aggregate this draft ahead of its full release on Tuesday.

ADHD is a battle.

There's self-doubt, reflection, wondering why you think differently,, why things happen, and why they don’t.

Personally, I had a tough time understanding why I excelled at some things, and found others impossible to focus on as I battled and lived with ADHD.

"Annoying," "weird," -- they feel like daggers to the heart of people who are classified as different...

More on WWE streamlining titles, future plans

As you’ve seen on WWE television of late, WWE has been making an effort to streamline their championships.

This past week, Asuka was given a new championship belt that looked like Roman Reigns’ new championship belt, but with a white strap. The name of the title belt was changed, with a WWE source confirming the obvious, that it was to clean up the Smackdown/Raw Championship situation that was muddied due to the draft. They also said that they wanted Asuka’s title to look like Rei...

Select Portions: Cincy gets a show, KOTR, More.

- Fightful Select has learned that AEW plans to return to the Cincinnati area for AEW Dynamite in September. AEW ran Cincinnati in September 2021 with Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki, and in October 2022 for the ill-fated Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page World Title Match

- When we asked if WWE King of the Ring could be rescheduled this year, those in the know said they hadn't heard of that, but that King and Queen of the Ring was mentioned as something in their back pocket for future Saudi sho...

Alex's SOUR GRAPS: SmackDown Review & Rampage WatchAlong | Screw The Woo

There's some stuff to watch on Rampage, but we probably won't be talking much about any of it.

Because SmackDown was FULL of stuff to talk about, most notably the presentation of Asuka with a brand new non-denominational title belt, and then Charlotte showing up out of nowhere to announce that she'll be taking that, thanks.

Also Jey Uso has a US Title match vs Austin Theory with some interesting ramifications, and there were 4 (count 'em, FOUR) Money In The Bank Qualifying Matches...

More on WWE Women's Title situation

Asuka is getting a Championship presentation tonight.

In the tweet promoting the presentation, WWE called it the WWE Women's Championship, as opposed to the Raw Women's Championship. When we reached out to WWE sources, we were told this "wasn't an accident," and some clarity to the situation should be provided tonight.

The source confirmed there have long been conversations as to how to simplify the title belts appearing on different brands than they're assigned to. We've been t...

News on Stardom at Forbidden Door

There’s a possibility that Stardom could be a part of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

Fightful Select has learned that Stardom and All Elite Wrestling have had conversations about the possibility of integrating Stardom talent into the highly anticipated Forbidden Door show. Those that we’ve spoken to from both sides indicated there have been some hurdles, but specifically Toni Storm was mentioned as a name for a Stardom talent to face.

We’ve been told that one of the main talking...

KENTA being discussed for major Forbidden Door match

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door won Fightful’s fan vote for Event of the Year in 2022, and it’s already off to a big start with a sellout crowd and two huge matches announced.

But wait, there’s more.

This week, NJPW star KENTA tweeted that he’d be interested in working the Forbidden Door if the money is right. It would appear that the money is right, because Fightful Select learned this week that the working plan was for KENTA to work the show. KENTA actually worked AEW Dynamite...

AEW had inquired about Mercedes Mone for Forbidden Door

We haven't seen Mercedes Mone in All Elite Wrestling, but it's not necessarily off the table, and AEW has inquired.

Sports Illustrated ran a story recently indicating that Mercedes and AEW had been in talks. We haven’t confirmed as much as that, but have details on AEW’s interest prior to her injury at Resurgence. 

AEW hasn't landed the former Sasha Banks, though there have been some referenc...

SRS Q&A 6/8: Over 30 minutes of mailbag!

- AEW All In

- Forbidden Door

- Charlotte

- WWE Style

- CM Punk

- Iron Sheik

- Injury Updates

- All Out

- WBD/AEW

- Biggest stories

- Ospreay vs. Rollins

- Canned audio

Select Portions: Serena Deeb, WWE Vignettes, IMPACT Odds, ROH, MOre

- Lady Frost was scheduled for this past weekend’s ROH tapings, but couldn’t make it in time due to travel issues.

- WWE is planning a media junket for WWE Money in the Bank in the UK. We haven’t heard if there is a press conference.

- As highlighted by Gangrel recently, Paige VanZant trained with him ahead of her lone wrestling match, but has not been back to train since that match.

- Many of the vignettes that have been running on WWE Raw were filmed a couple of week...

News on Collision main event, Bullet Club

One of wrestling’s most talked-about groups is getting new members.

Over the last several weeks, Bullet Club Gold has appeared with members Switchblade Jay White and Juice Robinson picking fights on-screen with various members of the AEW roster. As revealed on Fightful Select, CM Punk was pitched to be involved in a feud with the team upon the start of Collision.

We’d reported that a possibility for the initial main event Collision was FTR & CM Punk vs. Switchblade Jay Whi...

SRS Q&A Questions

Hey guys! Q&A time

Guidelines

- I will try to answer the questions I know. Your question isn't wasted if I don't. It shows me what I need to ask around about.

- 1 question per subscriber

- No "are you a fan of?" "fantasy book this" "top 5" or "favorite" questions please! We try to keep these as newsworthy as possible

If you're a new subscriber, comment your question below. I'll delete the field after I'm done recording.

For aggrega...

News on a backstage AEW retirement

A fixture in AEW is retiring.

Fightful has learned that seamstress Sandra Gray is finishing up on the road with All Elite Wrestling imminently. She’s been with the company since the beginning.

Gray is well liked by the AEW roster, and has been making wrestling gear since the 90s when she was approached by Sable to make Johnny B. Badd’s gear in WCW. She ended up working with WCW until it was acquired by WWE, and then with WWE until 2015.

When All Elite Wrestling started, ...

The List Goes On With Joel, CVV and Jimmy!

After List & Ya Boy, Joel and Jimmy go live!

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQyQ_N_kxiA

More On Mustafa Ali And Baron Corbin In NXT

Mustafa Ali and Baron Corbin appeared on NXT, and we’ve learned a little bit about that process.

WWE sources that Fightful Select spoke to said there were tentative plans in place quite a while ago for Baron Corbin and Mustafa Ali to both work NXT, one of the reasons that the free agent tag was put on them. That same source said “despite a lot of things from the previous regime that made that cynicism around the free agent tags understandable, there was more of a plan for them this ...

SRS Backstage Report Podcast

- Vince McMahon's changes

- CM Punk

- Mercedes

- Moose

- AEW name close to returning

- ROH, Impact news

- Ace Steel

- Chris Hero

- Steve Maclin

- more!