AEW: Tony Khan Clarifies Rules for Continental Title & Continental Classic, Swerve Strickland on Mercedes Mone is Pivotal for Women’s Wrestling, More News

Tony Khan Clarifies Rules & Status of Continental Championship for Continental Classic Tournament

ComicBook Nation held a recent interview with AEW CEO Tony Khan. One of the topics discussed included Khan clarifying the rules and status of the AEW Continental Championship and AEW’s annual Continental Classic tournament.

“Whoever is the champion going into the Continental Classic, they will put the title up going into the Continental Classic. They will have the opportunity to retain it by winning the tournament. The Continental Title will be defended under Continental Rules for the rest of the year. No outside interference, nobody allowed at ringside. Whoever is the champion coming out of Full Gear, they will defend the title in the Continental Classic and at Worlds End, we’ll determine who will be the Continental Champion.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Swerve Strickland Comments on Mercedes Mone Being “Pivotal” for Women’s Wrestling

Bootleg Kev held a recent interview with Swerve Strickland at the recent Rolling Loud California event. One of the topics discussed included Strickland’s thoughts about Mercedes Mone recently joining AEW and his belief about her being a pivotal person for women’s wrestling.

“We’re building a dynasty now in AEW. For what she can do for women’s wrestling, not just for AEW, but across the industry period, it’s pivotal. She’s a matriarch for that. I’ve never seen a women’s free agent make that kind of noise, ever. She’s top billing. She’s worth it. Hopefully that challenges other industries to boost the revenue for other female wrestlers.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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AEW News & Notes

AEW recently released a new episode of their Johnny Loves Taya romcom series featuring Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie on their official YouTube channel.

Dustin Rhodes recently announced that his nephews Wyatt and Wayne Rhodes will be making their official wrestling career debuts at his Rhodes Wrestling Academy Showcase event on March 24th in Texas. Rhodes also stated that his nephews will be known under the tag team name of the Texas Outlaws going forward.

In response to a recent post from Fightful on Twitter, former AEW talent Mike Santana confirmed that his Irish Whip spot to Kenny Omega into a tunnel during the Stadium Stampede match at AEW Double or Nothing 2020 was indeed inspired by classic wrestling game WWF No Mercy. Santana stated “I legit didn’t think anyone would get it. This was done solely for Kenny and I’s entertainment. 😂“

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that AEW’s general mentality when it comes to their contracted talent working during WrestleMania weekend is that AEW officials are fine with their talent taking bookings for signing appearances such as WrestleCon. AEW officials reportedly do not want their talent wrestling at shows that week unless its for a partner promotion, such as NJPW, DDT Pro Wrestling, Stardom. Johnson reported that AEW officials do allow for exceptions to be made due to AEW talents needing to get approval ahead of time for their indie bookings to ensure it does not conflict with their AEW bookings.

British indies wrestler Michael Oku recently revealed on Twitter that AEW had once considered the idea for Cody Rhodes to defend his TNT Championship against Mad Kurt in an open challenge match in 2020. In response to a Mad Kurt promos tribute video posted by a fan, Oku stated “Yes there was a chance of Mad Kurt vs Cody Rhodes for the TNT Title happening in 2020.“

This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Toronto, Canada featured Kazuchika Okada defeating Eddie Kingston to become the new AEW Continental Champion. AEW CEO Tony Khan recently praised Okada for his title victory on Twitter stating “Congratulations to the new @AEW Continental Champion The Rainmaker @rainmakerXokada, the Ferrari of pro wrestling! #AEWDynamite“

In a recent AEW digital exclusive interview, Eddie Kingston reflected about his loss to Kazuchika Okada for his AEW Continental Championship at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show. Kingston stated “That pissed me off. You saw that, how he got all the fireworks after he won? Nah, that’s not me. That’s not me anymore. I’m not gonna….Okada, you were the better man tonight. Humble in victory and humble in defeat. There’s nothing…god, there’s nothing else I can say. My emotions are everywhere. I fought so hard to become Triple Crown Champ and just lost one of the titles. It’s raw. It’s raw. It’s been not even ten minutes. Got checked by the doctors and you were like, ‘Hey.’ Problem is, it’s not a problem. I gotta watch my words. Words have power. Here’s the thing. I have to get over this quick because I have to defend the Ring of Honor World Title against you, Mark, at Supercard. This will motivate me. This will get me going. This will get me to Supercard. Last thing I’m gonna say, I’m giving you people my heart here. Last thing I’m gonna say is, Okada, I know you’re with the Bucks and I know you guys like to be silly and you like to gauge eyes, and the Bucks like to low-blow. I’m not against all that. I’ve done it, I’ll probably do it again sometime. We’re in a fight. But hold that championship with some type of pride, man. Hold that championship the way you held the IWGP World Title. Make that title mean something, build off it. I tried my best. Now you have to. It’s the only thing I ask. Will you respect it? Probably not. But I still have to ask.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with WrestlePurists, Stokely Hathaway gave his thoughts about the origin of his current pairing with Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale in AEW. Hathaway stated “So, it actually was my idea combined with a Will Washington idea (to pair with Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale) and then we presented it to Tony (Khan) and he loved it and then it kind of just snowballed from there so, I think it was one of those pitches, it helped everyone involved so, Willow has been rocking and rolling and Statlander had that great match with Riho and you know, as you saw on Wednesday, the women main evented and it was a great match.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Adam Copeland gave his thoughts about Mercedes Mone joining AEW. Copeland stated “For her, AEW is a blank canvas with a brand new palette of paint. For me, it was the same. I saw Swerve, The Young Bucks, Jon Moxley, Hangman Page, Kenny Omega, Claudio, FTR, all these names I’ve never crossed paths with. It’s the same with Mercedes–think of how much fun she’s going to have here. Think of all the new opponents. I think it’s super exciting. I love that AEW is here to bring a different product to the industry. Now there’s Okada, Ospreay, Mercedes, plus all of us already here, and that makes one hell of a roster.“