fightful

AEW star re-signs with company

Brian Cage is All Elite, and he’s staying that way.

Fightful Select has learned that ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champion Brian Cage put pen to paper this week, and signed a long-term, multi-year deal to remain with All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor. Tony Khan told Fightful after ROH Supercard of Honor that he was hoping to keep Cage and the Embassy with the company for a long time.

Fightful noted in recent months that Cage’s deal was coming up. There were conflicting dates withi...

Select Style Podcast: NJPW Sakura Genesis & AJPW Champion Carnival

Scott Edwards is back for another edition of the Select Style podcast as he covers the beginning of AJPW's Champion Carnival round-robin tournament and closes out the show by reviewing NJPW's Sakura Genesis.
Here are all the promotions discussed:
- STARDOM
- TJPW
- NOAH
- DRAGONGATE
- AJPW
- DDT
- NJPW

Select Portions: WWE Merch, MLW, Squared Circle Expo

- Fanatics had a big presence at WrestleMania as a part of their deal with WWE. We're told that the deal has been a huge one for Fanatics and they've been very happy with WWE sales. 

- Bloodline related Fanatics merch was said to have done incredibly well.

- MLW are being represented by Range Media Partners and are shopping their own PLE package. MLW sees this as essential for their business model and are open to individual UFC style sales, and it could also end up with us ai...

Alex & Kate's SOUR GRAPS: Raw 4/10 | Down With The Sickness

Alex is sick as a dog, but we're doing this show anyway, because although plans may change, the Sourness stays the same.

There was a non-sensical heel turn at the end of a terrible match, and a "root for me because I'm the right kind of loser" promo from Cody Rhodes. And Dominik continues to be the absolute DIRT WORST.

An outstanding tag match between The Usos & The Alphas, but it doesn't matter, so who cares? A triple threat women's match that may or may not lead t...

WWE Raw Plans, Backstage News, More

Fightful has learned the following plans for WWE Raw.

Please be cognizant of those who wish to avoid spoilers and don't post a screenshot of the entire rundown on social media. If you do, you have to personally show up at every SRS wrestling appearance and make noise so he doesn't get roasted on social media.

- Rey Mysterio promo

- Cody/Brock video

- WWE Women's Tag Team Match (with a spoiler twist)

- Backstage segments

- Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed

Eric Young update

Eric Young is under WWE contract.

Many readers asked about the status of the former IMPACT World Champion on our Q&A this week, and we can confirm that he’s with WWE and has been for quite some time.

Young was recruited back in an wrestling capacity in 2022 by Triple H’s new regime just a few months after taking over. We’re told that by October, IMPACT Wrestling was made aware that Eric Young would be finishing up with the company.

Young has been under WWE contract...

Select Portions: AEW hire, Vince McMahon, Raw notes

- WWE employees we spoke to were still in "wait and see" mode after Friday's Smackdown, as Vince McMahon wasn't there. However, we're told McMahon had plans that were made before the WWE-Endeavor deal. We haven't learned of his involvement tonight as of yet.

- We're told that Westin Blake, the former Wesley Blake, is involved in coaching/training wrestlers now. He guest coached at the WWE Performance Center last year.

- Fightful has an interview with Deonna Purrazzo and Steve Macl...

AEW Dynamite. Rampage, BOTB Backstage News and Producers

Dynamite Producers

- Ricky Starks, Jay White, Juice Robinson: Jerry Lynn

- House of Black vs. Best Friends: Dustin Rhodes

- Riho vs. Jamie Hayter: BJ Whitmer

- Acclaimed and 2pointO: "Jon"

- MJF Day: Pat Buck

- Komander vs. Sammy Guevara: Sonjay Dutt & Sarah Stock

- Hook vs. Ethan Page: QT Marshall

- Blackpool Combat Club squash: Serpentico

- Gunns vs. FTR: Dean Malenko

Rampage Producers

- Ethan Page vs. Hook: Se...

SRS Q&A Podcast 4/9: Draft, Wembley, More!

- WWE Draft

- Vince McMahon

- AEW All In

- WEMBLEY

- NJPW

- Sanada

- More supershows?

- Injury updates

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...

Fightful Weekender (4/9): GCW Collective 2023 Recap

STEPHEN JENSEN is back to review the GCW Collective on this edition of the WEEKENDER!

Recaps for:

- Santino Bros. Wrestling: California Love

- Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 9

- DDT Goes Hollywood 2023

- For The Culture 4

- Jimmy Lloyd's D-Generation F, 2023

- GCW vs DDT

- Joey Janela's Spring Break 7

- Emo Fight 2023

- EFFY's Big Gay Brunch 6

- Gringo Loco's The Wrld On Lucha 2023

- Plus, Kaden Lee joins to talk about his liv...

Latest on Santana/AEW

Santana hasn't been seen in AEW in nearly a year, but he's still with the company.

The former LAX member had a private falling out with his longtime tag team partner Ortiz, and had already been teaming with him less when an unfortunate ACL injury took place in the Blood N Guts match. Prior to that, Santana had been publicly counting down what many assumed was the expiration of his AEW contract.

However, Fightful has inquired numerous times within AEW about Santana's status with th...

WWE Smackdown Backstage News, Producers, More

Producers

- Sheamus & Brawling Brutes vs. Gunther and Imperium: Abyss

- Ricochet vs. Ivar: Adam Pearce

- Natalya & Shotzi vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez: TJ Wilson

- Triple H and Judgment Day: Shawn Daivari

- Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar vs. Judgment Day: Shawn Daivari

- Sami Zayn vs. Jey Uso: Jason Jordan

Backstage News

- Internal live events reports indicated Smackdown was the highest grossing NON-PLE ...

More on WWE's unofficial hiring freeze

We haven't seen new hires from WWE in 2023, after a very busy 2022.

WWE picked up over a dozen talent after Triple H gained control following Vince McMahon's retirement. However, since Vince McMahon forced his way back into the company in December 2022, there have been no main roster hires that have been publicly revealed outside of ones who were signed in 2022.

Several talent that Fightful have spoken with have claimed there's a "hiring freeze," and have speculated everything fro...

Magazine Archives: Why the “Fire Pro Wrestling” Series Matters

By Rob Sutter, first seen in FightfulMag.com issue 4

****

In 1998, I was introduced to the world of wrestling video games with WCW/nWo Revenge for the Nintendo 64. This opened my mind to a genre that has stayed with me throughout my adult life. However, as I played the various games bearing the World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation licenses, little did my younger self know that another series had been ...

WWE Smackdown Plans

Fightful has learned the following SmackDown plans, subject to change
Please be cognizant of those who wish to avoid spoilers and do not screenshot and repost the full rundown, but summaries are fine.

- Sheamus & Brawling Brutes vs. Gunther & Imperium

- A recap package of Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar from Monday Night Raw.

- Paul Heyman and Jey Uso backstage.

- Ricochet vs. Ivar (w/ Valhalla)

-  Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya &a...

Coexisting After Dark w/ Rob & Maggie | Special Guest: Robert DeFelice

Coexisting After Dark w/ Rob & Maggie is back, and our special guest is Robert DeFelice.

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rmLguNU-bs

Latest on WWE Draft

The WWE Draft was set to happen late last year, but then got moved.

A draft that would have effectively reset the rosters for the new Triple H regime was rumored late last year, however talent were told that it was being moved to an undetermined time in 2023. However, Fightful Select can confirm that unanimously across over a dozen talent on the WWE roster have not been told that a WWE Draft is coming, or when it could even be.

There were numerous WWE talent that said that in disc...

Select Portions: Lots on tonight's Smackdown, Alpha Academy, Orton

- Higher ups that we spoke to Thursday believed and hoped that Smackdown would return to the version of the show we saw since Triple H took over.

- There were very important people in the company who had no idea if Vince McMahon would be at Friday's show as of Thursday. Apologies for Patreon cutting this off initially

- as Wrestling Observer reported, Roman Reigns isn't set to wrestle at Backlash

- There have been no creative plans for Randy Orton that we've heard of. 2023-04-07 15:38:44 +0000 UTC View Post

Details behind Switchblade Jay White, WWE and AEW

"Switchblade" Jay White is in AEW, and it's official.

White signed with All Elite Wrestling on what Fightful Select has confirmed is a multi-year contract. Fightful was able to learn that the deal was in place ahead of WWE WrestleMania 39, and WWE sources were aware that he would not be coming in by then.

White's impending free agency first hit our radar around Wrestle Kingdom, when we learned WWE had i...

Select Portions: Merch Sellers, NJPW Deal, Kairi, Cardona

- We're told the new NJPW deal with Clark Connors is for one year.

- WWE/WrestleMania generic themed merchandise was the top selling throughout Mania week. We're told Cody Rhodes topped individual Superstar sales.

- Those that we spoke to also say that The Acclaimed are doing "incredibly well" in AEW merch sales.

- Fightful's Scott Edwards had the chance to interview KAIRI ahead of STARDOM's major All Star Grand Queendom show on April 23. Among the topics discussed were who ...

Details on Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes WWE feud

Brock Lesnar is sticking around in WWE, and is working a program with Cody Rhodes.

Fightful Select reported this week that while there were some adjustments to Cody Rhodes' WWE Raw plans, this was not one of them. Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes were not only scheduled to start a program before Vince McMahon, but it was planned well before that.

Sources familiar with the situation say that Brock Lesnar was aware of his creative plans for after WrestleMania nearly a month ahead of tim...

Ask Grapsody | 4/6/23 | Fightful Select Q&A

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Mt3N2kcpqXg

Backstage chatter on AEW's announement

Tony Khan's latest big announcement is upon us, and the AEW locker room is talking.

As of now, the exact announcement isn't known, but some plans in the works and upcoming announcements were speculated by talent. Please be aware this is backstage chatter from members of the locker room.

An upcoming UK announcement is one of the popular theories. Within the AEW roster, OVO Arena Wembley in the Summer has picked up a lot of steam as a real possibility. There were actually a couple o...

RECKLESS SPECULATION PODCAST: What will AEW's announcement be?!

Jimmy Van and SRS share what they've heard the AEW announcement could be

Please note -- none of these are confirmed!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/mEDbLPN9kag

Select Portions: WWE, Charlotte, More

- Gabe Sapolsky was at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport, scouting for WWE. We've since learned he was at several GCW shows. 

- MVP, who doesn't do a lot of media, stayed at press junkets well over his scheduled time in order to promote WrestleMania during media days. Dakota Kai stayed over time too.

- Fightful is dropping interviews with Matt Cardona and Alpha Academy this week.

- Charlotte Flair spoke with Fightful Select during WrestleMania Week and was asked by F...

Brian Cage working without AEW contract right now

Brian Cage is technically a free agent, while ROH Six Man Tag Team Champion.

Fightful Select has learned that Brian Cage's agreement to work with AEW/ROH expired at midnight following ROH Supercard of Honor. Originally, his deal was set to be up before that, but he agreed to work through the show.

All Elite Wrestling not only has a long-term contract on the table for Cage, but we're told there were attempts at a short-term extension to discuss a longer-term contract. When Fightful...

WWE Raw Producers, backstage notes, more

Raw Producers

- Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes promo: Michael Hayes

- Rey Mysterio vs. Austin Theory: Jamie Noble

- Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Street Profits: Jason Jordan

- Seth Rollins promo: Abyss

- Bobby Lashley vs. Mustafa Ali: Abyss

- Bianca Belair- Rhea Ripley promo: TJ Wilson

- Miz-Matt Riddle promo: Shane Helms

- Brock Lesnar/Cody Rhodes segment: Michael Hayes

Backstage News:

- There was no producer for the Triple H segme...

LIVE: Backstage Report Podcast 4/4: Vince McMahon, WrestleMania, More

SRS covers the wild week of news

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/kx6Ryx7Yab0

WrestleMania and WWE Raw changes

If you wanted to see LA Knight and Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania, you were close to it.

The April 3 episode of WWE Raw featured tons of late, last minute changes thanks to Vince McMahon, and we've learned of even more that happened throughout the weekend. We can't say definitively if McMahon contributed to these changes, however.

We can confirm WRKD Wrestling's report that LA Knight was pitched and planned to have a segment with Bobby Lashley. WWE had the Andre Battle Royal trophy...