Various: Maria Kanellis Impact Contract Update, AEW Reportedly Hired Pat Buck, Shinjiro Otani Update

Apr 14, 2022

Maria Kanellis Impact Wrestling Contract Status Update

K&S WrestleFest held a recent virtual fan signing event with Maria Kanellis as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Kanellis revealing that her current contract with Impact Wrestling expires after Impact’s upcoming Rebellion 2022 event & Impact! tapings later this month.

“So I had a paid per deal with IMPACT and that comes to a close in Poughkeepsie. So after that, we’ll see where we go from there. I mean, I’m sure there’s tons of chaos that we can still have over at IMPACT but I’m not exclusive. With Ring of Honor, we don’t know exactly what it’s going to be. I ran the women’s division last year I absolutely loved it. It was really like the most rewarding year of my entire career. So if I can help in any way, even if it’s just shadowing somebody, I think that’s where I would like to take my career next. Of course, I’d still love to manage and add to a division in any way I can, but yeah, it’s gonna be interesting. The next few months are really going to be interesting to see what Ring of Honor becomes.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

AEW Reportedly Hired Pat Buck for Backstage Producer Role

Former WWE producer Pat Buck reportedly was recently hired by AEW, according to PWInsider.

Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Buck was recently hired by AEW for a backstage producer job in the company. Johnson reported that one of his sources also stated that Buck was seen backstage working during this past Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Prior to his hiring in AEW, Buck had worked in WWE from August of 2019 to April of 2022.

Shinjiro Otani Injury Status Update

As noted before, Japanese wrestler Shinjiro Otani suffered a serious spinal-related injury at Pro Wrestling ZERO1’s event this past Sunday in Tokyo, Japan and was scheduled to undergo surgery this past Wednesday.

Pro Wrestling ZERO1 released an official statement earlier today stating that Otani underwent successful surgery and he has been moved to a different hospital for his recovery and rehab.

Otani’s wife Eriko Otani also issued a statement about her thoughts over her husband’s recent injury and thanking those who have supported her family and Pro Wrestling ZERO1.

“I married a professional wrestler, Shinjiro Otani, so I was prepared to accept a situation like this, but when I think of Shinjiro’s disappointment, I cry. However, we will not look down, but forward, and with the help of pro wrestling, we will continue to support Mr. Shinjiro. We will do our best with your warm support. We hope that you will continue to watch over us warmly. Finally, I would like to ask for your continued support for Zero One and all the wrestlers that Mr. Shinjiro has been protecting.”

English translation via PostWrestling.com