AEW: Kenny Omega NJPW Update, Konnan on AEW Pulling Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo, Dark Elevation Results

Jan 2, 2023

More on Kenny Omega’s Deal with NJPW for Wrestle Kingdom 17

As noted before, Kenny Omega will be making an appearance at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 event this Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan. Omega will be competing against Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at the event.

Fightful Select provided more details regarding Omega’s deal with NJPW and AEW’s reaction over NJPW’s recent deal with WWE from a recent interview they had with Rocky Romero.

Romero stated that he has talks with AEW CEO Tony Khan on a frequent basis and kept Khan informed regarding NJPW’s recent deal with WWE resolving the issues with Karl Anderson’s status with the company. Romero stated that Khan understood why NJPW made the deal due to the situation with Anderson and was cool about it.

In regards to Omega’s deal with NJPW, Romero stated that he believed Omega had forecasted his return to NJPW well before any deal was ever made, which Romero believed that it was not in place prior to this past June’s Forbidden Door event.

Romero also confirmed that Omega’s suspension from AEW over his involvement in the backstage fight incident at All Out 2022 did cause talks for an appearance deal to be paused. Romero stated that NJPW worked with Barry Bloom to help secure a deal for Omega’s appearance at their upcoming event.

Konnan Comments on Reason for Pulling Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo from AAA’s Recent Event

As noted before, this past Wednesday’s Lucha Libre AAA Noche de Campeones 2022 event in Acapulco, Mexico featured Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo being stripped of their AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship over travel and booking-related issues.

A recent episode of the Keepin It 100 podcast featured co-host and AAA head booker Konnan giving his thoughts on the reasons for AAA’s decision to strip Guevara and Melo of their Mixed Tag Team Championship.

“Tony (Khan) pulled Tay because some girl, I don’t know who, had COVID. I’m not sure why Sammy was pulled because he didn’t even appear on the fucking show [AEW].”

Later in the episode, Konnan gave his thoughts on the other times that Guevara and Melo missed their scheduled bookings for AAA due to various issues.

“The first time, they missed their flight. The second, this girl is Brazilian, Tay Melo. When I was handling Rey’s [Rey Mysterio] business in WWE, they wanted him to go to Brazil. To get a visa is not easy. She needed to get a visa, and this is a problem we’ve had with Fenix and Daga, all these people, they wait until the last minute to get a visa. Tay sent me her visa papers, ‘I tried to get my visa, I couldn’t get it on time, we’ll be at the next show for sure.’ They sent me a video, everything was cool. The next thing I know, Tony pulled her because somebody had COVID. What I don’t understand is why did they send Sammy? Sammy didn’t do shit on the show.”

AAA English commentator Larry Dallas was one of the guests on the show. Dallas gave his thoughts on situation and blamed AEW CEO’s Tony Khan for being the cause of the recent booking issues between AAA and Guevara and Melo.

“Tony Khan has about 100 people on his roster, one person got sick, and he decided to screw another company, I guess, and put Tay in a meaningless match that means nothing for her. That’s the way I view it. Apparently, someone got COVID or someone got sick, so he had to use Tay. They were supposed to lose the titles a couple of weeks ago, I believe.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

AEW Dark Elevation Results – Jan. 2, 2023

Jan. 2, 2023
Broomfield, CO – 1stBank Center
Commentary: Paul Wight and “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard

AEW Dark Elevation Quick Match Results:

Hikaru Shida defeated Tyra Russamee via Katana (pinfall)
The Varsity Athletes (Josh Woods & Tony Nese) defeated Pillars of Destiny (Paul Titan & Hunter Grey) via 1RM (pinfall)
Matt Hardy & Isiah Kassidy defeated Manny Lemons & Atiba via Swanton Bomb (pinfall)
Marina Shafir defeated Lilith Grimm via Greedy (submission)
Athena defeated Gypsy Mac via Crossface (submission)
Dark Order (John Silver, Alex Reynolds, & Evil Uno) defeated Chaos Project (Luther & Serpentico) & Ryan Nemeth via Pendulum Bomb (pinfall)
Julia Hart defeated Leva Bates via Heartless Lock (submission)
Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett defeated Ryzin & Justin Andrews via The Stroke and Lethal Injection combo (pinfall)
House of Black (Brody King, Malakai Black, & Buddy Matthews) defeated Hagane Shinno, Rosario Grillo, & Dean Alexander via KO Punch (pinfall)