AEW: Daniel Garcia Contract Update, Mercedes Mone Confirms Talks with Shane McMahon at NYC Airport on July 1st, More News

Jul 4, 2024

Daniel Garcia AEW Contract Status Update

Daniel Garcia’s contract with AEW reportedly is currently set to expire this Fall, according to Fightful Select.

It was reported that those spoken to currently believe that Garcia will be staying in AEW. One source spoken to stating that they believe that he has already signed a new contract with the company but this was something they have not confirmed yet from their other sources.

It was also reported that the same source also stated that Garcia’s future in AEW “would likely come into focus soon.” This report was released prior to AEW’s Dynamite Beach Break 2024 show on Wednesday which featured Garcia losing to Will Ospreay for the AEW International Championship in the main event. Garcia was then attacked and left bloodied by MJF after the match following MJF turning heel on Garcia.

Mercedes Mone Confirms She Had Talk with Shane McMahon This Week

As noted before, Shane McMahon was rumored to have recently reached out to AEW talents about the idea of him potentially joining AEW in the future. McMahon was believed to have spoken to Mercedes Mone this past Monday at the Laguardia Airport in New York City, New York.

Mone provided an update in a recent issue of her fan newsletter confirming that she did run into McMahon at the airport this past Monday. Mone also confirmed that she had talked to McMahon as well prior to them boarding their flights out of the city.

After it all, by only the fates aligned – I walked into the airport, was in line by the bagel shop when I suddenly looked up, and there he was, just as surprised as I was. My first day being a double title holder and the first wrestler and former WWE Superstar I see is McMahon….come on, if that isn’t the universe working in divine timing, I don’t know what else it could be.
I’ve always loved Shane. When we locked eyes, we both kind of looked at each other like IS THAT YOU? Our faces lit up as we got to talking a bit and before he boarded his flight, he gave me his number… the rest as they say a history or maybe a mystery!

AEW News & Notes

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that AEW is currently scheduled to hold the All Out 2024 go-home show of AEW Collision on Friday, September 6th at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois based on a recent events listing on Ticketmaster. The reason for the Friday date is due to AEW holding this year’s All Out event on Saturday, September 7th following a recent schedule change from its originally planned September 1st date.

AEW recently announced that they will be releasing a new Who We Are music album, titled Who We Are: A Celebration of Excellence Vol. 2, on July 18th on music streaming platforms.

Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Beach Break 2024 show in Chicago, Illinois featured Hangman Adam Page defeating Jeff Jarrett in the First Round of this year’s Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup tournament. AEW held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh. One of the topics discussed included Lethal’s thoughts about how nobody can say that Jarrett did not honor his late friend Owen Hart over his performance even in a loss. Lethal stated “I really feel like I know what’s going on through your head right now. I think what’s going on in your head is you think that you may have squandered this opportunity, and if you think that, you’d be a damn liar. You know why? Because it’s the furthest thing from the truth. You didn’t squander anything. While everybody got to prepare for their opponents. It’s not an excuse, it’s the fact. It’s the fact, Jeff, and you know it. Another thing probably going through your head is you probably think that you didn’t do such a great job of honoring the memory of your friend, and that’d be a damn lie as well. You know why? Because you went out of there, and you worked your ass off. You didn’t take any back steps. You didn’t take any backroads, no cheap shots, and you didn’t do any of it. You know why? Because you tried to honor your friend. Not try, you did. You went out there and fought a noble fight for a noble friend; and we all appreciate that. Nobody can look you in the eye and say you didn’t try. Nobody can look you in the eye and say you didn’t succeed in your goal, which was honoring Owen Hart.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Beach Break 2024 show in Chicago also featured Willow Nightingale defeating Kris Statalder in the Semifinal Round of this year’s Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup tournament. Following her match, AEW held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Nightingale discussing her thoughts about her victory over Statlander and being one step closing to winning this year’s tournament. Nightingale stated “Incredible is one word. I am not surprised because I have a lot of faith in myself. I’m very proud of myself, that I have moved on. Kris Statlander is someone I’ve known for years, years, and years, and as much as we might not see eye-to-eye right now, I knew she’d be a tough opponent. Still pulled through for myself. So whoever my opponent is next week in Calgary, I already know that I can win the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. It’s up to whoever you are to prove to me that you might be able to do it too. Because after that, I already have it written in my schedule. I’m going to Wembley. So I’ll see you all there.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson gave his thoughts about the passion Tony Khan has for AEW. Pederson stated “Tony is very passionate about AEW. We saw that passion during the draft, and the blows in the ring he’s willing to take.” Pederson discussed working with Khan on the Jaguars: “Tony and I work closely together, and he does a lot of the analytical stuff. I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s very passionate about the Jaguars, and he’s a very good resource for our team. I know he’s excited about AEW, but he’s also very excited about Jacksonville, the direction we’re going, and putting us on a winning path.” Pederson also gave his thoughts about working with Khan on the Jaguars. Pederson stated “Tony and I work closely together, and he does a lot of the analytical stuff. I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s very passionate about the Jaguars, and he’s a very good resource for our team. I know he’s excited about AEW, but he’s also very excited about Jacksonville, the direction we’re going, and putting us on a winning path.“

In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, MJF gave his thoughts about why is currently not focused on regaining his AEW World Championship that he once held before. MJF stated “I know how to pick my spots. Right now is not the time. I know when the time is. Right now it’s not. Swerve is on a god damn roll. I don’t like him. I’d as far to say that I hate him. We don’t agree on anything. We look at professional wrestling in entirely different ways. I’d say that I have more disdain for (Will) Ospreay than I do for him. I’ve never seen a guy more locked in than Shane Strickland is right now. Sorry, ‘Swerve.’ The guy is absolutely locked in. He’s next level right now. Do I want to deal with him at the moment, when he’s 100% and I am still healing from a shoulder injury? Do you think that’s bright? I’m a man that picks my spots. Everyone else in this company is dumb. Everyone in this company works hard. Working hard is for suckers. It’s stupid. I work smart. That title will be around my waist again because I’m the best professional wrestler in the world. The reason I’m the best in the world is because I’m the smartest professional wrestler in the world. Right now is not the time or the place.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW announced one new segment for this week’s AEW Collision show on July 6th at the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi. This new segment announced was a promo segment featuring MJF. It was also announced that MJF’s segment will kick off this Saturday’s show.

AEW also announced two new matches for the card of the July 6th AEW Collision show in Southaven:

2024 Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup Semifinal Round match – Jay White vs. Hangman Adam Page
“Timeless” Toni Storm vs. Trish Adora

AEW also announced two new matches for the card of this week’s AEW Rampage Beach Break 2024 show on July 5th:

2024 Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup Semifinal Round match – Mariah May vs. Hikaru Shia
RUSH vs. Komander

AEW also announced two new matches for the card of next week’s AEW Dynamite show on July 10th at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada:

2024 Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup Finals match – Bryan Danielson vs. Winner of Jay White/Hangman Adam Page
2024 Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup Finals match – Willow Nightingale vs. Winner of Mariah May/Hikaru Shida