AEW: Steven Borden Confirms He’s Training for Wrestling Career, Kenny Omega on Forbidden Door Concept Losing “Smidge” of Specialness Over Being Easier to Crossover, More News

Nov 1, 2024

Steven Borden Wrestling Career Training Status Update – Borden Confirms He’s Training for Wrestling Career

As noted before, Steven Borden, son of wrestling legend and retired AEW wrestler Sting, has been training for a professional wrestling career since this past May at Darby Allin’s house.

A recent stream session on YouTube held by The Von Erichs’ Ross & Marshall Von Erich featured Borden as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Borden confirming that he is currently training for a pro wrestling career.

“Much different (performing in front of crowds in football in comparison to wrestling). I’ve hardly ever stepped into a wrestling ring in my life up until Revolution. Again, we just weren’t involved (growing up), and now that I’ve started wrestling training and all that stuff, I’ve had a thought about… there’s a lot of me that thinks a lot of wrestling is harder than football.”

Borden also gave his thoughts about his father Sting’s reaction when he informed him that he wanted to pursue a career in wrestling.

“When I told him (Sting) I wanted to wrestle? Uh, no (he was not excited). That was a tough conversation… You guys (Von Erichs) probably got a similar lecture.”

Borden also gave his thoughts about Adam Copeland, Beth Phoenix, and FTR have been helping out with his training in regards to advice.

“There’s a huge list (of people I can learn from in wrestling). I think, for me, the people that have made the biggest impact on me, starting with Darby (Allin). I mean, he’s the first person that I spoke to outside of my dad when I decided to wrestle and I’ve spent a lot of time in the ring with Darby, and then after that, it’s been Dax (Harwood), FTR, Dax and Cash (Wheeler), and Adam Copeland and his wife Beth (Phoenix). Those people, I can’t say enough positive about and between them, they’ve sent me more references to watch than I can keep up with.
Yeah (I’m training), as often as I can. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Asheville training with Dax and Cash and Adam and that will probably end up being a more long-term thing at some point pretty soon. It’s just a timing thing. But right now, I’m just literally flying back-and-forth. I’ve got a family here in California; a 15-month-old daughter and my wife.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

Kenny Omega Comments on Forbidden Door Concept Has “Maybe Lost A Smidge of Specialness” Over Being Easier to Crossover

New Japan Pro Wrestling held a recent interview with Kenny Omega. One of the topics discussed included Omega’s thoughts about his belief that the Forbidden Door concept in wrestling might have” lost a smidge of specialness” over being easier to crossover.

“I think that the concept of the Forbidden Door now, now that sort of the door’s been booted wide-open… the way that I used to picture the Forbidden Door, you know, you picture the cartoony door at the pearly gates, you know what I mean? It’s like you need that special permission to open that thing up. Now I just feel like it’s a revolving door. But, you go out one end, you don’t come back the other unless you have that passion. It’s opened the talent pool so wide and it’s made our roster so diverse with so many options. But if you aren’t a complete athlete, if you aren’t a complete wrestler, you just can’t hang. So, is it special? Maybe it’s lost a smidge of specialness by being able to crossover that plain. But it’s made the competition that much stiffer and it’s made the competition that much tougher. You can’t succeed now unless you’re absolutely not only the best in America, but the best in England, the best in Australia, the best in New Zealand, the best in Japan. You have to be one of the world’s best athletes to succeed now in today’s global wrestling climate, and I think the Forbidden Door helped facilitate that.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

AEW News & Notes

Swerve Strickland recently released a new music video for his song “Motion” featuring Flash Garments and DJ Whoo Kid.

Anthony Bowens recently announced on Twitter that his and Max Caster’s trademark filing for “Scissor Me” was recently approved and they now officially own the trademark for it.

AEW recently announced that a new episode of their Meal And A Match digital series will be premiering on November 7th on TBS’s YouTube channel.

In a post-match press conference at this past Wednesday’s Super Junior Tag League 2024 event for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Niigata, Japan, DOUKI gave his thoughts about him wanting a match with Sammy Guevara for NJPW and AEW’s upcoming co-promoted Wrestle Dynasty event at the Tokyo Dome. DOUKI stated “I’ll just go ahead and name them. Now’s the time, don’t you think?” The person DOUKI would like to face at the 1.5 Dome is… The ‘Spanish God’ of AEW, Sammy Guevara! We’ve been friends for a long, long time, since my indie days in America, when we were both complete unknowns. Right?“

In a recent interview with the Stick To Wrestling podcast, Adam Cole gave his thoughts about his praise of Bryan Danielson as a wrestler and being disappointed he did not get the chance to wrestle against Danielson in a singles match in AEW. Cole stated “Yes, yes (I’m disappointed I didn’t get to wrestle Bryan Danielson in a singles match in AEW). No doubt and again, I respect Bryan Danielson so much, like everybody does. Bryan is so universally loved, respected and admired. Not just by fans, but literally by every wrestler I’ve ever met. I mean, Bryan is without question one of the greatest of all-time to ever do this and I look back at the one match we had on SmackDown and I think back so fondly of that night and that moment. That was the first time that we ever stepped into the ring together and it was a dream come true for me. It was an honor to step into the ring with Bryan Danielson so, I got so excited at the idea because we both debuted the same night here at AEW and I thought, oh my God, we’re gonna get the chance to do it again and at AEW in front of the AEW fans, I can’t wait. So at least now for the time being, it seems like that probably won’t happen so of course, that’s a bummer for me but Bryan’s health and Bryan’s safety and Bryan’s legacy is the most important thing so I’m glad that Bryan is able to rest and heal and again, Bryan’s one of the greatest to ever do it and selfishly, I do wish I could have stepped into the ring with him again but who knows? Never say never. Maybe someday, maybe someday.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

In a recent interview with Authority Magazine, Jon Moxley revealed that he has been going to psychical therapy over the past few months to deal with hip related issues. Moxley stated “I’ve been going to physical therapy for my hip for the last few months. When it comes to rehabbing injuries, just find quality P.T. people and do everything they say with 100 percent effort. Vetting them is important. I think the biggest differentiator between someone who returns from a serious injury 100 percent and someone who’s never quite the same again is simply the attitude with which they approached rehab. If you’re on crutches and all they tell you to do for the day is 15 reps of little foot flexes or something, make those the best, most focused 15 reps you can. For me, being that I’m 38 and have been getting the crap kicked out of me for 20 years, I don’t recover as quickly as I used to. That’s been difficult to accept. There’s a principle I learned at 11 years old when I started wrestling. Basically the principle that hard work beats talent, or at least it can. You may not have been given the same natural gifts; you may not have the same advantages. It doesn’t matter. Hard work evens the playing field. The ability to endure, to have discipline, a simple willingness to put in more time and effort — this was like learning some cheat code to the universe. Discovering that simple principle, changed the course of my life. That’s what gave me the confidence to pursue pro wrestling despite the astronomical odds of success. I was a nobody; I didn’t have any advantages but who cares? I’d just outwork everyone. I read a book back then called ‘A Season on the Mat’ and it talked about how Dan Gable wouldn’t be satisfied until he had to be carried off the mat after practice. That’s how I approached my life from then on.While it has been difficult to accept that my body can’t do everything my mind wants it to anymore, I have found that the key now is redirecting that same energy towards being disciplined about recovery. It’s about attacking all the tedious stretching, mobility and recovery practices, with intention.“

AEW recently announced the full card for Friday’s AEW Rampage show on TNT:

Trios match – La Faccion Ingobernable (RUH, Dralistico, & The Beast Mortos) vs. The Butcher, JD Drake, & BEEF
Trios match – Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin) & Action Andretti vs. Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver, & Alex Reynolds)
Taya Valkyrie vs. mystery opponnet
Queen Aminata vs. Leila Grey
Lio Rush vs. Komander