AEW: Conrad Thompson Says Shane McMahon Has Reached Out to AEW, Backstage Update on Buddy Matthews Knee Injury Situation, Lio Rush Update, More News

WWE

Jun 21, 2024

Conrad Thompson Comments on Hearing Shane McMahon Reached Out to AEW Talent About Potentially Joining AEW

A recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast featured co-host and wrestling podcaster Conrad Thompson claiming that he has heard that former WWE executive Shane McMahon had recently reached out to AEW talent about the idea of him potentially joining AEW in the future.

“Last week, we got a lot of chatter online about some of the things we talked about. One conversation in particular really stuck out, and people were talking about it. It was about the idea of Shane McMahon possibly working with WWE. If you recall, you said, ‘It’s so crazy to think it might work depending on how it was positioned or introduced. Shane called me the other day. He’s called two or three times, which I appreciate. He’s always been sensitive in that respect. That’s only a question that Shane can answer. Shane and Tony being together, how would that work creatively? Heck, who knows, it might be great.’ I saw a few fans, one in particular, who thought this was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. One guy in particular said, ‘JR is fucking senile now.’ I engaged a little with that. There was a friend of ours, I shouldn’t say their name, but he went out of his way to text me and say, ‘Hey, that’s not as crazy as you think. I know for sure that Shane McMahon has reached out to wrestlers on the AEW roster to at least hypothetically discuss the idea.’ Are we saying that’s going to happen? No. We are saying it’s not that crazy of an idea.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Buddy Matthews Knee Injury Status Update – Matthews Injury Revealed to Only be Storyline Injury

This past Saturday’s AEW Collision One-Year Anniversary show in Youngtown, Ohio featured House of Black’s Buddy Matthews suffering an apparent serious knee injury and was unable to continue and was assisted to the backstage. Following House of Black’s Trios victory over the Bang Bang Gang, The Patriarchy were seen on the big screen and revealed they had attacked Matthews backstage.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Matthews’ injury was not legitimate and instead his injury was only for storyline reasons.

It was reported that Matthews’ Meteora spot that caused his injury was something that had been planned out by AEW officials as a way to take him out of the match and to setup the show closing angle with The Patriarchy.

Lio Rush Reportedly Set to Work Regularly for AEW Going Forward

New Japan Pro Wrestling and indies talent Lio Rush reportedly is currently scheduled to work regularly for AEW again going forward, according to Fightful Select.

It was reported that their sources stated that AEW officials already have creative plans in place for Rush and he was recently added to the intro video for their AEW Collision television series.

It was also reported that Rush had made a positive impression towards his return to AEW officials and had even spoke with AEW CEO Tony Khan interpersonally.

AEW News & Notes

The Cauliflower Alley Club recently announced that they will be honoring legendary wrestling commentator Jim Ross as the recipient of their inaugural Jim Ross Announcers’ Award at this year’s CAC’s 58th Annual Reunion event on August 19-21 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

MJF recently reflected on Twitter about Pride Month and his best friend being bullied in school over him being gay. MJF stated “my friend @legallygavin was bullied in school for being gay. This picture was taken When he was a senior and didn’t have a date to prom so I took him to make everyone feel stupid. Happy pride month. Remember, Hate everyone equally. Whilst I have your attention you can be anti hate and not be an Anoyying p**** about it. Stop pretending to get offended by literally everything for likes and RT’s. It makes anti hate movements harder because it’s ANOYYING.“

In a recent episode of the What Happened When with Tony Schiavone podcast, co-host Tony Schiavone gave his thoughts about WWE recently forming working partnerships with other promotions. Schiavone stated “I’m not familiar with what’s going on. You’re telling me news I haven’t heard.” In response to comments made by co-host Conrad Thompson about Schiavone stays in his lane, Schiavone responded stating “Because what they do does not impact me at all. People may say, ‘Well, yes it is because there’s a war going on and you’re competing for numbers.’ You know what, it ain’t want you think. This is not the 90s. Here’s proof it’s not the 90s. They’re going on Netflix. They’re going on a streaming service, okay. A streaming service. So I don’t know what they’re doing. If you get tied up into what they’re doing, you’re focusing on the wrong thing. You need to focus on your shit, at least from my perspective.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, co-host Jim Ross gave his thoughts about MJF’s recent return to AEW and how MJF’s work reminds him of WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman in his younger days in wrestling. Ross stated “He’s a player, he’s a main player. There’s no doubt about it, and he keeps people on their toes. He’s got a great mind for wrestling and the drama, the dramatics and so forth. Talented guy, and apparently, I don’t know this to be a fact, but it seemed like he was kind of fishing to see if he was gonna get an offer from WWE, and apparently that didn’t materialize, and maybe it wasn’t time. I don’t know. But you can’t overstate his value. He’s a very valuable asset to what is going on. Smart guy. In some ways, he reminds me of Paul Heyman in the younger days. Really, really smart. Very perceptive, understands what’s going on, and he’s an asset. Young, he’s got that youth, which you can’t replace. So I’m excited that he’s back, and I guess he’s healthy. He seems to be healthy. He’s a valuable asset. It’s gonna be interesting to see what direction he goes and how far he goes and all that. He’s never boring. He’s always got something going on, and that’s why I think he’s got a little Paul Heyman in him. He understands the game, and it is a game, and he’s learned how to play the game very well.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, former AEW talent Matt Hardy gave his thoughts about his belief that AEW is more focused on delivering “five-star matches” than having impactful segments for their shows. Hardy stated “Look, we have incredible star power. If you were at Wrestlecon in Philadelphia, it was outrageous how much we signed, how many people that were there to see us. We have fans coming up crying to us like it’s 2000 all the time, but I feel like AEW is more focused on having a five-star match as opposed to having a segment that is hugely impactful and makes a moment.” Hardy also gave his thoughts about when The Hardys’ careers in AEW went downwards following Jeff Hardy’s DUI arrest in 2022. Hardy stated “In the beginning, we started off very well. Jeff messed up and he made a mistake. Jeff tried to repent for that, he did everything, he went and got right and one thing that I can say about Jeff that I am very happy at the place he is in in his life. He’s practically perfect as a human being. He hasn’t been like this in well over 20 years. (Jeff) was in a good place, I just don’t know why we never got that other opportunity to show people what we can do and capitalize on the popularity that we have. We would have loved to have had that run in AEW but low and behold, that didn’t happen. And I think we are both happy now that we are somewhere else where we feel like we’ll get utilized and optimized in our status as legends, as we are, legends who can still go.” Hardy also praised AEW for being a great organization for pro wrestling but felt it was not the place for The Hardys due to their different mindset. Hardy stated “AEW is a great organization, the pro wrestling world needs it but it wasn’t the place for me and Jeff at this certain time because they are just in a different mindset. I think Tony Khan is in a different mindset. It is what is, it’s nothing to be hot about. Tony Khan, great dude. I was paid great while I was there. It was just, both us, myself and Jeff, we wanted something different. There was one point where I just said, we haven’t won a match in 11 months on TV and we are legitimately in the top five conversation of greatest tag teams of all time. Like, what is going on here?” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)

AEW announced one new match for the card of this week’s AEW Collision show on June 22nd in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which was taped on Thursday, June 20th:

Trios match – The Patriarchy (Killswitch, Nick Wayne, & Christian Cage) vs. The Iron Savages (Boulder & Bronson) & Jacked Jameson