AEW: Mercedes Mone on Her New Pairing with Kamille & Interest in Forming a New Faction, Dalton Castle Injury Update, More News

Mercedes Mone Comments on Her New Pairing with Kamille & Being Interested in Forming New Faction

As noted before, former NWA talent Kamille made her official surprise debut for AEW at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Blood & Guts 2024 show in Nashville, Tennessee. Kamille joined forces with Mercedes Mone following Kamille’s surprise attack on Britt Baker during the show.

Following the show, AEW held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Mone and Kamille discussing Mone’s thoughts about Kamille’s debut being “part one of my plan.”

“Who? When? What? Why? How? Let me tell you who and why. Look at her. This is Kamille. If you want to hear more about who she is, you need to tune into AEW Dynamite next week.”

In a recent issue of her Mone Mag fan newsletter, Mone also gave her thoughts about being interested in the idea of potentially forming a new faction in AEW.

“I can’t say I know her personally – yet. She’s a former NWA women’s champion. She’s a bodybuilder. She’s strong, and I’m definitely excited to work with her for these and many other reasons. To have a personal female bodyguard in your corner is an honor. Not to mention having someone like her who is so jacked that even guys are scared of her! What’s not to be excited about.

Tony Khan continues to activate the CEO in me. Getting me a bodyguard has me thinking about potentially starting a faction here in AEW. Yes, we all know factions in wrestling are cool. But for me it goes even deeper. Having a group of women alongside me helps me as a CEO to grow my board. In all seriousness, having other people help inside the ring gives me more free time to be the CEO outside the ring, serving Tony and the brand in greater ways. It’s one of the reasons he brought me here and one of the reasons I came: to provide more opportunities for women and to take them, and AEW, to even higher global levels. At the end of the day, having a bodyguard and a faction creates more opportunities and jobs for women.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Dalton Castle Injury Status Update – Castle Reportedly Suffered Injury Prior to Knockout Incident

As noted before, Dalton Castle been out of action for AEW and Ring of Honor since earlier this month due to a head-related injury and is currently expected to remain out of action for the rest of 2024.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Castle’s injury was not caused by the leaping knee strike spot from Roderick Strong during their match on the July 13th AEW Collision show in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Those spoken to reportedly stated that Castle’s injury actually took place earlier in the match and had nothing to do with the spot that led to him being legitimately knocked out in the end.

No other details were given regarding the exact nature of Castle’s injury.

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AEW News & Notes

Kamille filed a trademark for “The Brickhouse Kamille” on July 24th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

In a recent interview with Stephanie Chase, Athena gave her thoughts about being interested in the idea of AEW and Ring of Honor holding a co-promoted all women’s event in the future. Athena stated “I mean, absolutely. Who wouldn’t? I would love to do an AEW vs. ROH pay-per-view with the girls. I mean, honestly, I know we just want to be considered equals. As amazing as that opportunity is, I would absolutely love it, and I would hope to main event that. We’ll see what happens. The future is so bright for everyone’s division under the AEW and ROH banner. We have a lot of stuff cooking. I don’t want to spoil surprises, but we got a lot of stuff cooking that I think everyone’s gonna look forward to.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with ESPN Radio’s The Chase & Big Joe Show, Swerve Strickland gave his thoughts about his appreciation of AEW for providing him the opportunities to eventually become the current face of the company. Strickland stated “[AEW] gave me the opportunities, for sure, but it’s still, I had to fight for it and claw for it and take risks. For me, going for the top prize doesn’t come without taking bigger risks. I appreciate being given the opportunity and the chance, and also getting the platform to truly be expressive and creative at the same time with it. Being able to do how I want to do, the way I want to do it. That means a lot. The fact that any performer, when they are getting time, is probably one of the best benefits of this job. Time, I can do a lot with a little. Imagine what little I can’t do with a lot. That’s what All Elite Wrestling has done for me. Being able to go out there and perform with a Will Ospreay, Claudio Castagnoli, Kyle Fletcher, The Elite. Facing off with Brian Cage, Christan, Samoa Joe. There guys are legends and future legends. Being able to do all that but still be me and keep my core of who I truly am and do it the way I want to do it. There wouldn’t be that without AEW. I’ll always have a high level of respect, love and appreciation for AEW for that.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

As noted before, Jim Ross underwent wrist surgery earlier this month. Besides his wrist issues, Ross has been dealing with several other health-related issues in recent years including being hospitalized twice over breathing-related issues, a broken hip injury and surgery, a fall incident, and a battle with skin cancer and surgery. In a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, co-host Ross gave his thoughts about him currently being hopeful of being able to work at AEW’s All In 2024 event next month. Ross stated “Appreciate all the well wishes. I can’t tell you how much your get-well wishes mean. I know you haven’t forgotten me. I haven’t forgotten you, that’s for damn sure. Thanks very much for all that, and it makes me feel good to know that people still give a shit because I damn sure give a shit. I hope to be in London [for All In]. It’s not a guarantee yet, but it’s something that I’m shooting for. If I had my druthers, I’d rather be in London and working that show. Just like last year, I worked a couple matches. That was plenty. So we’ll see how it works out this time. Tony Khan’s been extremely fair with me, and I want to be extremely fair with him. I hope to be a part of that presentation because I know that now that the talent have a feel for what to expect at Wembley Stadium, and I think that’s important. They got a taste now, so let’s see how they respond. The Wembley event’s gonna be special. There’s no doubt about that.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with the Creative Imbalance podcast, Chris Jericho gave his thoughts about AEW recently celebrating their 250th episode of AEW Dynamite. Jericho stated “It’s very gratifying because a lot of people didn’t think we’d make it past ten episodes. With all of the huge things we’ve accomplished, I think sometimes people forget we’re only five years old. We’re a five-year-old multi $100 million profitable company that has grown exponentially over the last five years. We still have a long way to go. To get to 250 is pretty special. The fact that we have a huge television deal coming up. That’s pretty much going to tell the tale of our company over the next five to ten years. I think its’ going to be a good tale to tell. For all the people that thought we wouldn’t exist or think that we’re not doing good, that’s just rhetoric. The bottom line is, we are making a lot of money and making a lot of inroads into the business. We’re having a great time doing it and providing an excellent show multiple times per week. That’s all anybody could ask of us. It’s been really cool to see and experience and be part of, and know that we’re basically just beginning.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with The Rich Eisen Show, AEW CEO Tony Khan gave his thoughts on his choices of quintessential matches in AEW history. Khan stated “I would say three great matches to watch in this company that I think are must-watch matches; there are so many great ones. I think the Bryan Danielson-MJF Iron Man match at Revolution would be among the very, very top. I also think that The Young Bucks versus Kenny Omega-Hangman Page at Revolution 2020 would be among the top. There’s so many great bloody brawls, Lights Out matches. I think Dr. Britt Baker versus Thunder Rosa is certainly a fantastic one from the St. Patrick’s Day Slam 2021 but honestly, it’s so hard to pick three. I think Sting’s retirement match would probably be my greatest moment, greatest show that I’ve think we’ve had here personally but, so that would have to be near the top. So many other great ones. MJF and Will Ospreay maybe just had the best television match I’ve ever seen last week, less than a week ago.” (Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com)

In a recent separate interview with the Battleground Podcast, Tony Khan gave his thoughts about AEW content recently appearing on Warner Bros Discovery’s MAX streaming service in international markets and AEW’s current talks with WBD for a new media rights deal. Khan stated “It’s such an exciting time for AEW. We’re in great conversations with our partners at Warn brothers Discovery. It’s a real blessing to me and I think everyone in AEW that we’re able to put wrestling on TBS and TNT every week. Wrestling on TBS and TNT was a big part of our childhoods. There was no wrestling on TNT for about 18 years and no wrestling on TBS for over 20 years. It meant a lot to bring that back, in particular on TBS, that tradition goes back over 50 years. I love it here. We’re having great talks. It means the world to be able to do this. We’re in very deep exciting conversations. There is a lot to figure out. We have these great shows with AEW Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision. Our prime time shows, both coming on at 8, we’ve been doing great, great ratings with our flagship shows. It’s a really exciting time. This past week, both shows did their biggest numbers in months. It’s an exciting time for us to hit new highs. The conversations are awesome right now. There is a lot to figure out with the AEW TV shows, our pay-per-view content, our streaming library, and all of these things. It’s a lot of very complex conversations, but they’ve been great. We’re having great talks with Warner Brothers Discovery now and it’s a great partnership and we’re very fortunate to be here. It’s a great place for wrestling.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)