Various: Cody on AEW’s Contract Tiers, Dark Side of the Ring Update, Friday’s NJPW Strong Card

Nov 13, 2020

Cody Rhodes Comments on AEW’s Tier System for Contracts

A recent episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast had Cody Rhodes as the guest and one of the topics discussed included Rhodes revealing the tier system AEW uses for outside indie talent contracted to work at their shows.

Cody Rhodes – “I don’t even know if Red Velvet works here, yet.”
Aubrey Edwards – “She does. That might be breaking news.”
Rhodes – “She’s on an ‘agreed to appear,’ right?”
Edwards – “I don’t know what tier she’s on. She ain’t All Elite. She’s not getting a graphic.
Rhodes – “Jeff is very particular about who gets a graphic.”

“‘Agreed to appear’ is tier zero, meaning you will get a bonus, and Tony is super generous. If you ask some of these extras what they’re making down there…my dad would’ve lost it. It’s the COVID era, they have no other work because there are no Indies. Tier zero is a signing bonus and exclusivity to us in terms of, we get a first option on you and we guarantee you X amount of dates. The exclusivity is case by case. The goal is, you don’t want to pay someone who has agreed to appear and keep giving them their weekly versus tier one, which is our base contract agreement. We have tier one, two, three, four, and tier Jericho. Everyone is given a choice of things that are important to them, different pieces of the pie.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Season 3 of Dark Side of The Ring Series Update

As noted before, Vice recently ordered a third season for their Dark Side of the Ring wrestling documentary series, which is currently planned to feature fourteen episodes and premiere at some point in 2021.

Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that he was recently interviewed for some of the planned episodes and only eight episodes / topics have been finalized at the moment.

At the moment, the only known episodes currently in production are those based on Brian Pillman, Grizzly Smith and the Smith wrestling family, and the WCW & NJPW co-promoted Collision in Korea event from 1995.

Full Card for Friday’s Episode of NJPW Strong

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced the full card for tonight’s Night One of New Japan Showdown episode of NJPW Strong, which airs on New Japan World starting at 10PM EST.

Blake Christian & ACH vs. Adrian Quest & Alex Zayne
Fred Rosser vs. Tom Lawlor
Karl Fredericks, Brody King, & Juice Robinson vs. Chase Owens, Tanga Loa, & Jay White
PJ Black vs. Tama Tonga