AEW: Sammy Guevara Concussion Injury Update, Ric Flair Contract Length Update, More News

AEW

Nov 3, 2023

Sammy Guevara Concussion Injury Update

As noted before, Sammy Guevara has been out of action for AEW since this past October due to a concussion injury.

Guevara recently provided an injury update on Instagram stating that he has yet to be medically cleared and is currently not sure when he will be able to make his in-ring return.

Sammy Guevara says he still isn't cleared and doesn't know when he'll return to the ring. pic.twitter.com/nXnUxhDzQD
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) November 3, 2023

Ric Flair AEW Contract Status Update – Flair’s Contract is for Two Years

As noted before, AEW announced on Thursday that they recently signed WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend Ric Flair to a multi-year contract with the company.

A recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio featured Flair and his business partner Chad Bronstein as the guests. One of the topics discussed included Bronstein revealing that his current contract with AEW is for two years in length.

Bronstein – “We signed a two-year contract with AEW. We work with AEW for two years. Ric is also going to be part of AEW for the next two years as well, and however long he want.”
Flair – “76 and still talking. Wooo!”

In a separate interview with PWInsider, Flair gave his thoughts on the process that led to his signing with AEW.

“I was excited. It’s been my life, I have no problem admitting that. Getting the opportunity to work with Tony is something I’ve thought about a couple of times. I’m at a point now where people are actually happy for me to be doing something that I enjoy so much. I think they recognize the positive contributions I’ve made for whatever company I work for. I don’t think anybody begrudges me going there from the WWE whatsoever. It’s not a personal issue. I’m doing what I like to do. I think I’ve earned that respect and I love Sting as human, a person, a performer. He’s one of the top three or four guys I’ve ever worked with. Tony Khan couldn’t be a nicer guy to work for.”

Flair also gave his thoughts on if he might wrestle a match in AEW.

“No, I don’t think I will. If you’re asking me if I want to? I have to be careful what I say because it never comes out (the right way). I just made it very clear to everybody that I can take bumps. I have a doctor’s release to do anything I want like that. Do I think I’ll wrestle again? No. Would I like to? Obviously. I’m never going to say no.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

AEW News & Notes

PWInsider reported that AEW held three dark matches prior to the start of this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Louisville, Kentucky. These matches were Billie Starkz defeated Leila Grey in a singles match, Taya Valkyrie defeating Haley J in a singles match, and The Dark Order (Alex Reyonds & John Silver) defeating Colt Cabana & Brandon Cutler in a tag team match.

As noted before, Rebel has been absent from AEW for most of 2023 due to creative-related reasons. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that AEW officials recently held internal talks regarding potential plans for Rebel to make her on-screen return to the company.

As noted before, Netflix’s Captain Laserhawk animated series features an animated Kenny Omega character among the series characters. In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Omega gave his thoughts on doing voice work for the series and a potential voice acting career in the future. Omega stated “It really was (the perfect setup for me). Getting involved in things like this (Captain Laserhawk) is something I really wanted to do. So I try to stay active within the anime world and in the video game world and we’ve had a lot of success with some great crossover production and it’s a great thing to know that when wrestling can’t be there anymore for me, that, I will possibly have a presence within that world.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

In a recent interview with ESPN, Ric Flair gave his thoughts about one of his goals for his career in AEW. Flair stated “The one thing I want to do, I want to be a heel and have a conversation with MJF. A promo battle. Let’s see what you got kid. He’s spot on. I don’t think Tony [Tony Khan] has to worry about him leaving because he sounds like a very sincere and honest person. I think I’ve only met him one time. I look forward to that opportunity. He’s a very talented guy.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent episode of the Grillin JR podcast, co-host Jim Ross gave his thoughts about the match Kenny Omega and MJF had for the AEW World Championship at this past Saturday’s AEW Collision show. Ross stated “I thought it was an outstanding match, quite frankly. It told a good story. Made sense. Hard work. It just was a really good story I thought being told. I enjoyed calling it I was happy to be there certainly was a fun match to watch, but MJF and Kenny delivered. They had a lot of pressure on them obviously, because expectations of that match were very high. So it’s all good. I enjoyed it. I thought it was a great outing for those dudes.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

MJF recently reflected on Twitter about him breaking the record for longest ever reign as AEW World Champion in AEW history. MJF stated “At the stroke of midnight ill be the longest reigning world champion in AEW history. I’ve grown so much during this reign. But Im not yet satisfied. I want to get back my title from BCG. I want to successfully defend mine and my best friends Tag Titles against the Ass boys. I want to beat Jay white at Full Gear I want to make it to 365 days as your champion. I want to go down as the greatest AEW World Champion of all time. The journey towards immortality continues tomorrow @AEW on @TBSNetwork 8pm est.“

Mike Santana recently reflected on Twitter about the No Disqualification match he had with Ortiz at this past Friday’s AEW Rampage show. Santana stated “It’s wild to think that it’s already been 2 months since I’ve been back in the game. Time flies. But I can say that it’s been such a rewarding time to say the least. I haven’t felt this good about wrestling in a VERY long time. And the greatest part of all is that I’m just getting started. The best is yet to come. I’m glad that I got to come back and close a chapter before truly beginning a new one. I have no regrets and I look back on the last 12-15 years as a blessing. Even the bad days. Because they eventually taught me so much and prepared me for who I was to become in the future. Thank you everyone for all the support thru the years and all those who continue to support me today. It truly means the world to me that I get to do this for a living and have the best fans in the world. I’ll never stop being thankful for all of you. NOW LETS CONTINUE THIS WORK!“

In a recent episode of the What Happened When with Tony Schiavone podcast, co-host Tony Schiavone gave his thoughts about Ric Flair’s recent official debut in AEW and being in the ring together again with Sting and Flair. Schiavone stated “It was a special moment for me. It really was. I thought about and Tony Khan talked to me about 35 years ago where Sting and Flair each had that match at the Clash of the Champions, which was in Greensboro, the same day as WrestleMania, it was kind of the receipt from Jim Crockett for what Vince McMahon did to Starrcade of ’87. It got me thinking about my career and it got me thinking about my relationship with Sting, and especially Flair, and it was a very special moment for me. I think my introduction of all of that in the ring that night was pretty genuine. So yeah, it was pretty cool. and I really enjoyed it. It was a very enjoyable moment for me. I was honored to be a part of it. I really was. So, it’s been a year so far, the tail end of the year of really great moments for me, personally. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame in Iowa and then celebrating the 40th year of me doing wrestling. I know you gotta subtract 18 years, I get that, but it was 40 years ago that I started. Then, being able to reconnect with Flair and Sting was a pretty big deal. So yeah, it was cool.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW recently announced one new match for the card of their November 4th AEW Collision show in Wichita, Kansas:

8-Man Tag Team match – FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) & La Faccion Ingobernable (RUSH & Preston Vance) vs. Ricky Starks, Big Bill, & The Gates of Agony (Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun)