AEW: AR Fox Backstage Heat Update, Jim Ross on AEW Contract & Career Future, More News

Sep 1, 2023

More on AR Fox Being Pulled from AEW All In & Backstage Heat Issues

As noted before, AR Fox was pulled from this past Sunday’s AEW All In event due to rumored backstage heat issues regarding his travel status leading up to the week of the event and Fox keeping AEW officials in the dark about it.

Fightful Select reported that their sources confirmed that Fox’s removal from his scheduled Coffin match at the event was bot something that had planned ahead of time for storyline reasons like with Rey Fenix’s removal from All In. Those spoken to stated that FOX has not worked any international dates since 2016 and AEW officials had felt that FOX was not being forthright about his ability to work outside the country for their All In event.

It was reported that despite Fox being well liked backstage, he did end up generating backstage heat on himself over this situation

AEW officials reportedly also had some internal talks regarding Fox’s status with the Mogul Embassy and whether or not he should stay in the group but in the end made the decision to split him away from the group.

Jim Ross Comments on His Current AEW Contract & Career Future

A recent episode of the Grillin JR podcast featured co-host Jim Ross’ thoughts about his current contract with AEW nearing its end and the future of his career.

“I hope so, Connie. I don’t have any intentions of changing my employer at all. I like working for AEW. I like working with these talents. I really enjoy being on Collision because I think we’re trying to develop a little different feel for the TV presentation. Not better than Dynamite, but different than Dynamite. So my plan is to continue in some role, and that’s entirely up to Barry Bloom, my agent, and of course, Tony Khan. They hold the cards. They’re doing the negotiating. So my goal is to stay at AEW and contribute and help wherever I can. So hopefully everything will work out okay. We’ll know in a few weeks, that’s for sure.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

AEW News & Notes

As noted before, CM Punk and Jack Perry were involved in a backstage physical altercation incident at this past Sunday’s AEW All In event at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Following the incident, AEW suspended both Punk and Perry over the incident. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that there were representatives conducting interviews backstage at this past Wednesday’s Dynamite show in Hoffman Estates, Illinois as part of AEW’s current investigation into the incident. Johnson reported that it is currently not known if it was the same legal firm running the investigation as with the infamous All Out brawl incident.

AEW recently announced that they will be holding a new set of Dynamite and Rampage shows on November 1st at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Tickets for this upcoming set of shows will officially go on sale starting today.

Starrcast recently announced that they have pulled Swerve Strickland from their Starrcast VI convention on September 1-3 in Chicago, Illinois due to Strickland suffering an injury at AEW’s All In event.

THQ Nordic and Yukes recently released a new “Limitless Bunny” DLC pack for their AEW Fight Forever video game featuring The Bunny and Keith Lee becoming newly playable characters for the game’s roster.

MJF recently announced on Twitter that three new flavors of his MJF’s Pickles brand from Kaylin and Kaylin is currently available for purchase.

CM Punk was in attendance at this past Wednesday’s 57th reunion event and awards ceremony for the Cauliflower Alley Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. Punk was the precipitant of this year’s Iron Mike Mazurki Award which “is bestowed upon individuals who have made exceptional contributions to professional wrestling and have exhibited outstanding dedication to the sport both inside and outside the ring.”

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Matt Jackson gave his thoughts about The Young Bucks rivalry with FTR in AEW and their match AEW’s All In event. Matt Jackson stated “We had 81,000-plus people on their feet screaming exactly when we wanted them to, while we worked one of our greatest rivals, all while we were wearing tribute gear of one of our favorite singers in Wembley Stadium. None of us were injured. We all had a great match. I couldn’t be happier. Well, maybe if the ending was a little different. As long as we’re all active wrestlers, it’s fair to assume this rivalry will never end. We really wanted to illustrate that it would take anything and everything to get the job done. We’d all emptied our gas tanks and there was nothing left. We all kicked out of moves that were never kicked out of before. It would come down to the wire, like in a fighting video game when both character’s energy meters are on red. Whoever is luckiest to get in that last shot wins. They were the better team last night. There’s an undeniable chemistry between the four of us. We all love what we do, and have a passion to do it. Even when you’re so tired and you can’t feel your hands–you just push through. We might not be aware of the things we all share, or have in common, but the one thing we all do know is we all love the art of tag team wrestling. We all wanted to put on a performance that people could look back at for years, and maybe even be inspired by.“

In a recent episode of the Grillin JR podcast, co-host Jim Ross praised Ian Riccaboni and Nigel McGuinness for their work as a commentary team in AEW. Ross stated “Ian does a great job, no matter what show he’s doing. Kevin Kelly is back now doing Collision with Nigel. Nigel does a super job, too. Very conscientious. Works hard preparing. Does a good job. Nigel’s a great get for Tony Khan. Does a good job. We all dress in the same room, and Nigel’s diligent on his note taking. He reminds me of me, in that regard. Sometimes, you can take that shit too far. Nigel doesn’t, but he works hard at understanding the reason for a match and tells a beautiful story. We were back together with Kevin Kelly and Nigel, and that’s always fun. I was very impressed with Ian Riccaboni. Really good young announcer.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)