Various: Tony Khan on His Current Process for Signings & Cuts in AEW, New Trademarks, Indies

AEW

Feb 10, 2022

Tony Khan Comments on His Current Process for Talent Signings & Cuts in AEW

Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite featured the official AEW debut and signing of Keith Lee.

Prior to the show, TV Insider held an interview with Khan and one of the topics discussed included his current thought process when it comes to signing and cutting talent in AEW going forward.

“When we started a lot of people had contracts that were a couple of years long and a lot of them are coming up. I have really tried hard to be very considerate of the people on the roster, especially going through the pandemic. That encompassed a long period of time where we were still in our first year of television and going into our second. I kept a lot of people under contract even though I wasn’t necessarily using them on television because I wanted them to still have paying work, which was hard to come by for wrestling during the pandemic where there weren’t any independent shows. Really only two places were running and the other place was cutting people left and right. I did want to give some job security to people. Now with so many wrestlers coming in, I can’t renew all the contracts. I’ve had to make some tough choices based on ability, fan response, or both. I try to maintain the best roster I can for the company and fans.”

WWE, Kyle O’Reilly, & Chris Jericho File New Trademarks

WWE, Kyle O’Reilly, and Chris Jericho recently filed several new trademarks to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

A trademark for “WWE Sunday Stunner” was filed by WWE on February 3rd for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes.

A trademark for “Kelly Kincaid” was also filed by WWE on February 4th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes.

A trademark for “Violent Artist” was filed by Kyle O’Reilly on February 2nd for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes.

A trademark for “The Influencer” was filed by Chris Jericho on February 4th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Terminus recently announced that Baron Black and Adam Priest will be making an appearance for the company at their Terminus II event on February 24th in Atlanta, Georgia.

As noted before, Alberto El Patron filed a lawsuit against Combate Global this past October claiming that the company still owes him money for his MMA fight in 2019 and has not given up control of his social media accounts despite him no longer working for them. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Combate had turned down an offer to enter settlement discussions with el Patron on January 4th based on recent court filings. Johnson reported that the official reason given for Combate’s decision was due to the company feeling they had nothing to offer and instead wanted to proceed with defending themselves in court.

New Japan Pro Wrestling are currently holding a fan vote to determine the official match stipulation for the Provisional King of Pro Wrestling 2022 Championship match between Toru Yano and Minoru Suzuki at their New Year’s Golden Series event on February 20th in Hokkaido, Japan. The choices available are a Handcuff Deathmatch or a Dog Cage match.

NJPW recently announced that they have pulled Jeff Cobb from the remainder of their New Year’s Golden Series tour due to him currently dealing with a left patellar tendon tear and a muscle strain in his left leg. The company also announced that they have pulled Yuto Nakashima from the card of their February 13th event in Osaka due to him recently suffering a head injury and also have pulled YOSHI-HASHI and Taiji Ishimori from the card of this Friday’s event in Sendai due to COVID-19 protocols related issues.

NJPW also recently announced that Josh Alexander will be making an appearance for the company at their NJPW Strong themed Evolved 2022 event on March 20th in Tampa, Florida.

Indies wrestler Alex Gracia announced on Twitter that she recently left Women’s of Wrestling under amicable terms. Gracia stated that the reason for her departure was due to her feeling the company was not a good fit for her current goals for her wrestling career.

Major League Wrestling recently announced that Ricky and Kerry Morton will be making their official debuts for the company at their SuperFight 2022 event on February 26th in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Major League Wrestling also recently announced a new match for the card of their upcoming SuperFight 2022 event:

Grudge match – nZo vs KC Navarro

Lucha Libre AAA recently announced four new matches for the card of their Triplemania XXX event on April 30th in Monterrey, Mexico:

Ruleta de la Muerte tournament First Round match – El Canek vs. Psycho Clown
Ruleta de la Muerte tournament First Round match – Villano IV vs. L.A. Park
Ruleta de la Muerte tournament First Round match – Pentagon Jr. vs. Ultimo Dragon
Ruleta de la Muerte tournament First Round match – Ray de Jalisco Jr. vs. Blue Demon Jr.