Various: Tony Khan on Cody Rhodes Departure & Samoa Joe Signing, Sat. NJPW Strong Card, Indies

Tony Khan Comments on Cody Rhodes’ AEW Departure & Samoa Joe’s AEW Signing

A recent episode of the Rasslin’ with Brandon F. Walker podcast had AEW CEO Tony Khan as the guest. Some of the topics discussed included Khan’s thoughts on Cody Rhodes’ recent departure from the company and Samoa Joe’s recent signing with the company.

On the topic of Cody Rhodes’ departure from AEW, Khan stated:

“Yeah, I think it’s just one of those things where, you know, we couldn’t reach an agreement on going forward. I think he has found a situation that’s good for him, and we’re in a great position right now. There’s no ill will either way. We’re still friends, and I wish him the best. I think he wished us the best publicly and privately. So it’s all good.”

On the topic of if Rhodes’ departure could create a positive buzz for the wrestling industry as a whole and Samoa Joe’s recent signing with AEW, Khan stated:

“Any buzz for professional wrestling is great for professional wrestling as long as it’s positive stuff, positive stories. I hope [Rhodes] keeps doing positive stuff and wish him the best.

I know for us, we’ve been stacking the roster up.

Just in recent weeks, Samoa Joe, Toni Storm, Jeff Hardy, Swerve Strickland have all come in, Keith Lee right before that. Our show is getting deeper and stronger. And that’s only a few months after we added the big batch with CM Punk, Adam Cole, Ruby Soho, Bryan Danielson, a bunch of stars coming in. And that followed another big wave of stars who’d actually gotten released for some reason, with Andrade El Idolo and Malakai Black, and some other really great wrestlers who came in.”

Khan also gave his thoughts about the talks he had with Joe leading up to his signing with AEW and Ring of Honor.

“He’s a great person. He’s very reasonable and he wanted to come, and I wanted him to come. So in that sense, it was pretty easy.

We got it figured out, and I was really excited to bring Samoa Joe to both Ring of Honor and AEW.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

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Full Card for Saturday’s Episode of NJPW Strong

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced the full card for this Saturday’s Strong Style Evolved 2022 Night 2 themed episode of NJPW Strong, which airs on New Japan World starting at 8PM EST.

• Andy Brown vs. Hikuleo
• Karl Fredericks vs. Josh Alexander
• Eddie Kingston & Fred Rosser vs. Daniel Garcia & Fred Yehi
• Jay White vs. Chris Sabin

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Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

PROGRESS Wrestling recently announced the full field and bracket for this year’s Atlas Cup tournament, which takes place on April 17-18 in London, England. The first round matchups are JONAH vs. Schaff, Rickey Shane Page vs. Joe Hendry, Warren Banks vs. Axel Tischer, and Big Damo vs. Luke Jacobs.

Maria Kanellis announced on Instagram that she recently signed a partnership deal with Pro Wrestling TV to create “new and diverse” content for the service. Kanellis also announced that she will be releasing a teaser on April 13th showcasing the first project she is currently producing for PWTV.

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar reportedly will be leaving the company once their merger with Discovery officially closes, according to the Hollywood Reporter. WarnerMedia is the parent company of TNT and TBS, which are the current home networks of AEW.

GCW Indie Wrestling Hall of Famer LuFisto reportedly made her official debut for AEW at this past Wednesday’s tapings of AEW Dark Elevation in Boston, Massachusetts, according to F4WOnline.com.

During a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show podcast, host Kurt Angle revealed that he will be undergoing double knee surgery next month.

A new action comedy film staring John Cena called Officer Exchange reportedly is currently in production by Amazon Studios, according to Deadline.com.

Major League Wrestling recently announced that several former MLW talents from the company’s original era will be making appearances this summer in honor of their upcoming 20th anniversary.

MLW also recently announced a new match for the card of their Kings Of Colosseum 2022 event on May 13th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

• MLW World Heavyweight Championship – Richard Holliday vs. Alex Hammerstone (c)

New Japan Pro Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Windy City Riot event on April 16th in Chicago, Illinois:

• Chicago Street Fight – FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) & Brody King vs. TMDK (JONAH & Shane Haste) & Bad Dude Tito

Impact Wrestling announced a new match for the card of their Rebellion 2022 event on April 23rd in Poughkeepsie, New York:

• Triple Threat match – Jay White vs. Steve Maclin vs. Chris Sabin

The National Wrestling Alliance recently announced a new match for the card of their Powerrr Trip 2 event on April 30th in Oak Grove, Kentucky:

• NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship – Colby Corino vs. Homicide (c)