AEW: Tay Melo Dealing with Back Injury, Chris Jericho on No Interest in WWE Return, Dark Results

AEW

Feb 28, 2023

Tay Melo Currently Dealing with Back Protrusion Injury

Tay Melo has been absent from AEW programming since the January 13th AEW Rampage show, which featured a Street Fight match between Melo & Anna Jay and Ruby Soho & Willow Nightingale.

A recent episode of the Elite POV podcast featured Melo as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Melo revealing that the reason for her current absence from AEW is due to her dealing with a lingering back protrusion injury. Melo also stated that this injury has been something she has been dealing with for over the past ten years.

“I have a protrusion on my back, so it’s something that I’ve been dealing with for more than 10 years by now. I know how to go about it. Before the match, I started feeling it a little bit, and the doctors in AEW, they’re super good. I told them, they helped me see if it was okay to do it. They asked me, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna do it. Let’s go.’ I’ll never say no, let me tell you, unless I’m really dying. I was like, I’m in pain, I knew I was in pain. The day before, let me tell you, I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t walk. At the airport, the walk was so long, we had to get a wheelchair for me because I was not able to walk for too long. It was really bad
It was getting better. The doctors helped me a little bit. The day of the match, in the morning, they were helping me with a massage and stuff. So I was able to do the match, bur after the match, I knew it would suck because I was already in pain. All the girls and everybody was so nice, and they were helping me because they saw in my face. I’m always super excited, I was excited, but you could tell that I was in pain. I’m trying to kind of hide it and let people get worried about me. I’m like, ‘No, I’ll be fine.’ But people know. Then after the match, I checked everything. I went to a couple different doctors and our doctor in AEW. So I’m not cleared for now, but I will be really soon. I’m good, don’t worry. I want to be cleared, but the doctor trying to hold me [back] a little bit to make sure I’m 100%. They told me I will be cleared in the next couple weeks, so I’ll be fine.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Chris Jericho Comments on Not Being Interested in Return to WWE

Daily Star held a recent interview with Chris Jericho. One of the topics discussed included Jericho’s thoughts on him currently having zero interest nor desire in the idea of returning to WWE in the future.

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. I don’t hold a torch for WWE. To me, that’s not ‘the place to be’. AEW is the place to be. It really is. I’ve been in WWE. I know how it works. They work that way, I don’t care if Vince is there, Hunter is there, or whoever is there. They have a way of doing things, and I was there for 20 years and was pretty good at it. I like the way we do things at AEW better… so I don’t know why I wouldn’t want to finish my career in AEW. I never thought that I wouldn’t finish my career with WWE, but things happened, and I was just like, ‘I want to go to Japan and do this match’ and it opened up a whole new world for me. It was like, oh my gosh, this is the fun side of wrestling again! Business is business and there’s always ups and downs, but I have zero interest in ever going back to WWE. That’s not out of bitterness or anger. I love Vince and I love Hunter and all the people there. But I just really dig AEW, and I have a stake in the game. I came here right out of the gate – I was the guy. Besides Jim Ross, there was nobody that had really been on television on a national basis other than me. I take great pride in that. I started here, why would I want to walk away? There’s so much more that we can do. The sense of accomplishment is massive.”

Jericho also gave his thoughts about his current backstage role in AEW.

“Do I help with backstage pre-tapes? Absolutely. I probably do two or three of those a night, and maybe that’s kind of where I go to. I don’t really see myself as an agent, I’m more of an in front-of-the-camera kinda guy. So, we’ll see. I don’t know what the future of me in wrestling is. I could quit tomorrow, or I could quit in six years, I don’t know. I’ll worry about that when it happens. Right now, I do enjoy the backstage role of helping guys and girls out with their interviews and promos. There’s a lot of stuff I do backstage at AEW. When we have Dynamite, I get there at 1 and leave at 11 or 12 – it’s non-stop, all the time. That’s fun for me, but to exclusively do just that? I don’t know. I still like being part of the show.”

AEW Dark Results – Feb. 28, 2023

February 28, 2023
Orlando, FL – Universal Studios
Commentary: Excalibur and Taz

AEW Dark Quick Match Results:

Action Andretti defeated Tony Deppen via Running Shooting Star Press (pinfall)
Evil Uno defeated J. Spade via Something Evil (pinfall)
Parker Boudreaux defeated Joe Ocasio via Back Body Drop Bomb (pinfall)
Capt. Shawn Dean defeated Invictus Khash via The Deal (pinfall)
Leila Grey defeated Sahara Seven via Modified Triangle Choke (submission)
Willie Mack defeated Joe Keys via Top Rope Splash (pinfall)
Shane Taylor defeated Adrian Alanis via Package Piledriver (pinfall)
Lee Moriarty defeated Vary Morales via Leg Lariat (pinfall)
Arjun Singh defeated Blake Li via Running Knee Strike (pinfall)
Skye Blue defeated Dream Girl Ellie via Sky Fall (pinfall)
Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin), AR Fox, & Matt Sydal defeated The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari, Sonny Kiss, Jeeves Kay, & Slim J) via Nosedive (pinfall)
Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh, & Jay Lethal defeated Jackson Drake, Jay Malachi, & Oliver Sawyer via Figure Four (submission)
“Pretty” Peter Avalon defeated Dean Alexander via The Marti-Knees (pinfall)
Orange Cassidy & Danhausen defeated The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) via Double Team Chokeslam (pinfall)