Wrestling

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Lynch Says She Hasn't Actually Turned Heel

Becky Lynch has seemingly had a change in attitude since returning at SummerSlam, but The Man insists she isn't a heel.

In an interview with Kate Feldman of the New York Daily News, Lynch said she has simply gotten smarter rather than changed her persona:

"I've just come back and now I feel like suddenly there's this conversation that I'm not doing things the right way, but I don't know what anybody expects me to do. Do you want me to come back and toy with Bianca [Belair] and give her more of a chance to look like she's got an opportunity? Or would I come back, knowing that I haven't done this in a while, and be smart about it and blindside her? I just did what an intelligent person would do.

"If you haven't been wrestling in a long time, then you've been strategizing. You've been strategizing because you haven't been in the ring with this person, so then you are going to do something different. You are going to catch them off guard. And now suddenly I'm the bad guy because I came back even better than ever? I don't really understand this talk about me being a heel. I haven't changed. I just got smarter."

After being out for more than a year because of the birth of her first child, Lynch made a surprise return at SummerSlam, replacing Sasha Banks as Belair's opponent for the SmackDown Women's Championship.

Becky took advantage of the situation by offering her hand to Bianca, only to hit Belair with a cheap shot when she went to accept the handshake. That resulted in The Man winning the title in mere seconds.

In the weeks since then, Belair has tried to get Lynch to put the title on the line on SmackDown, but Becky has declined each time.

Instead, Belair earned another title opportunity by beating Liv Morgan, Carmella and Zelina Vega in a Fatal 4-Way, and the rematch will occur in two weeks at Extreme Rules.

It is difficult to say that Lynch is a full-fledged heel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as ambiguity can often be compelling in wrestling.

Lynch became one of the biggest female Superstars in WWE history thanks in large part to a heel turn a few years ago. Despite her actions, fans cheered her and turned her into a top babyface.

Even as a face, Lynch had some heel tendencies, and if she can continue to evolve that type of character, it should put her in position to remain successful moving forward.

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Heyman Talks Where He Stands with Reigns and Lesnar

Paul Heyman finds himself in the middle of a professional love triangle of sorts in between two of WWE's top Superstars--Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.

Heyman was the longtime advocate of Lesnar, but when Brock took a leave of absence from WWE after WrestleMania 36 last year, he switched allegiances to Reigns and became special counsel to The Tribal Chief.

Lesnar made a surprise return at SummerSlam to confront Reigns after his win over John Cena, leading to questions regarding where Heyman's allegiances lie.

In an interview with Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post, Heyman suggested it is possible he could represent both Reigns and Lesnar moving forward:

"I don't know if we end up in a situation where Brock Lesnar can't go after a different championship other than Roman Reigns' and he can have his advocate and Roman Reigns can have his special counsel. There's a lot of decisions to be made and there's a lot of scenarios that can play out and I dare suggest anyone who thinks that they have this figured out doesn't have a clue as to the twists and turns that could and will come in the near future."

The Usos were immediately suspicious of Heyman and whether he knew about Lesnar's return ahead of time, while Reigns has played it cool thus far.

Last week on SmackDown, Heyman received a call from Lesnar, who informed him he would be present at this week's SmackDown at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The expectation is that Reigns and Lesnar will have another confrontation, and the way Heyman reacts could say a lot about where he stands.

If Reigns and Lesnar have a match in the near future, Heyman may need to pick a side. If the plan is for Lesnar to perhaps ultimately switch to Raw and go for the WWE Championship instead, however, Heyman could have his cake and eat it too.

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WWE Reportedly Wanted Cole to Manage Lee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSGbZbUYlOY

Adam Cole made his surprise debut for All Elite Wrestling last weekend when he showed up following Kenny Omega's successful AEW World Championship defense over Christian Cage in the main event of All Out.

Cole aligned himself with Omega and The Young Bucks, leading to Bryan Danielson making his debut and backing up Christian and Jurassic Express.

After four years in NXT, Cole's WWE contract recently expired, which led to speculation on AEW trying to sign him and WWE trying to keep him.

One of the reports that came out via Fightful Select noted that Cole met with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and McMahon took a liking to Cole on a personal level. McMahon reportedly set the wheels in motion for the creative team to come up with ideas for Cole on the main roster as well.

On Thursday, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Eric Mutter) said he was told WWE pitched Cole an idea that would have seen him serve as Keith Lee's manager.

WWE reportedly wanted to turn Lee heel and make Cole his mouthpiece, while also changing Cole's name so as not to be confused with announcer Michael Cole.

Meltzer noted that McMahon wanted the dynamic to be similar to the one between Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush when Rush managed Lashley.

If that was indeed WWE's plan, it is easy to see why Cole made the decision to leave. Cole is the longest-reigning NXT champion of all time and a former ROH World champion as well.

While he is small in stature, he has a huge personality and is a great in-ring performer to boot, which suggests he could have been a big star on the WWE main roster if given the chance.

Instead, he will attempt to reach his massive potential in AEW.

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Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

John Cena said he couldn't pass up the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience again when WWE offered him a chance to take on Universal Champion Roman Reigns at SummerSlam last month.

Cena was asked about his WWE return during an appearance Thursday night on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

"Dude, it was great," the 13-time WWE champion told Fallon before joking about his loss to Reigns in the show's main event. "I had a wonderful match, I finished second place."

The 44-year-old Massachusetts native has transitioned into a mostly acting and hosting role in Hollywood over the past handful of years, but he still makes an occasional comeback to the squared circle.

He explained to Fallon the stars aligned perfectly this time around as he had a month off in his schedule, which coincided with SummerSlam and the return of fans to the WWE Universe. The company had only featured fans virtually via the ThunderDome experience for most of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I love live audiences,” Cena said. " ... There is no better feeling than being in front of a live audience, there really isn't."

Cena also discussed his first wrestling gimmick, when he was known as "The Prototype" during stints in Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling.

"I was 50 percent man, 50 percent machine and 100 percent awful," he joked before Fallon showed an old promo Cena delivered while working as The Prototype.

After SummerSlam, Cena posted a goodbye message to the WWE Universe but hinted at another return in the future:

Words cannot describe how appreciative I am that the @WWEUniverse allowed me the opportunity to return and perform. Thank you staff, superstars, and most of all FANS for giving me an unforgettable summer at “home” with my “family”. The journey takes me away now but I’ll C U soon.

— John Cena (@JohnCena) August 23, 2021

As he walked out the door, Brock Lesnar walked back in to begin a storyline with Reigns as the WWE attempts to keep plenty of star power atop the SmackDown brand.

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Priest Teased HHH About WrestleMania Match

Damian Priest is the United States champion and among WWE's fastest-rising stars, and he has aspirations of mixing it up with some of the company's top legends.

In an interview with Alistair McGeorge of Metro, Priest mentioned teasing Triple H about facing him at WrestleMania 37 earlier this year:

"I make jokes from time to time. Like, hey, Mania–Hunter didn't have a match, and that was the first time all these legends, none of them [were on the show].

"I was like, 'I mean, did you bring your gear? Because you can have a match, I’m right here!' He started laughing and said, 'You're on a list of people that have asked me that.' I was like, I bet, I can imagine–he gets it all the time by guys being like, 'Hey you wanna work? You wanna wrestle?'"

Priest vs. Triple H didn't happen, but The Archer of Infamy did take part in a key match at WrestleMania, teaming with award-winning musician Bad Bunny against The Miz and John Morrison.

Bad Bunny was the talk of the wrestling and entertainment world thanks to his better-than-expected performance, but Priest helped get him prepared, and he has reaped the benefits with strong booking ever since.

Now that Priest is getting pushed to the top, he is hopeful that a match against a legend like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Edge or Kane could happen in the future:

"I mean, I wish [I get to face them all]. I still hold out hope, you know? Especially in this business, never say never! I think the closest one that I know that there’s a chance–and we've already kind of had an interaction at the Rumble–is Edge.

"Obviously Kane, we had a little bit of an interaction. But I'm not satisfied, I need a lot more of that! Those feelings, just standing across from those guys–super cool, super, super cool."

Priest has been positioned as a big-time player on Raw recently, scoring wins over the likes of Drew McIntyre and Sheamus.

If there are plans in place for him to potentially vie for the WWE Championship in the near future, perhaps matches against all-time greats like Triple H, Edge and others aren't out of the question.

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Moxley Thrilled with AEW's Success

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZd1EBmxNQE

More than two years after making his All Elite Wrestling debut at Double or Nothing 2019, Jon Moxley is enjoying the company's success.

Appearing Tuesday on Cincy 360 with Rick Ucchino and Tony Pike (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Mox explained his mindset when he signed with AEW compared to now:

"Yeah, it's crazy to see when all of this was all just like an idea. It's like, really? Like, wow, it seemed almost unrealistic, but to take the gamble to come here and be like, 'Well you know what if you guys are doing that I want to be a part of that like so maybe we'll fall flat on our face and all look stupid and this will be a big disaster. But if it was successful, that would be really cool because that's what wrestling needs,' and just looking at now two-and-a-half years later, I don't think it could have gone any better."

Moxley was immediately one of the faces of AEW when he signed, and it didn't take him long to beat Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship.

The man formerly known as Dean Ambrose in WWE then went on to hold the title for 277 days before dropping it to Kenny Omega.

While he has faded out of the title scene, Mox has still been an important part of AEW programming, teaming with Eddie Kingston and more recently feuding with New Japan Pro-Wrestling stars like Satoshi Kojima and Minoru Suzuki.

Over the past two-plus years, AEW has carved out a big piece of the professional wrestling pie for itself.

In terms of interest, television ratings and essentially every other measure, AEW is the clear No. 2 wrestling company in existence behind only the deeply entrenched WWE.

AEW continues to make inroads as well by adding to a stacked talent roster. In the past few weeks alone, AEW has signed former WWE stars CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole.

Even if AEW doesn't chase down WWE any time soon or ever, it has achieved a major level of success and proved that there is plenty of room for more than one company to thrive in the pro wrestling space.

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Undertaker and New Day to Star in Netflix Movie

WWE and Netflix announced Wednesday that a new movie starring WWE Superstars The Undertaker and New Day will debut on Netflix on Oct. 5.

According to Polygon's Petrana Radulovic, Netflix described the movie, entitled Escape The Undertaker, as an interactive film in which New Day must attempt to escape The Undertaker's mansion.

The Undertaker has set up "supernatural challenges" to trip them up, and it is up to the viewer to help guide Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E to freedom.

Given how entertaining the members of New Day are, they seem like the perfect fit for a movie that should be fun for the entire family.

It is also a unique way to utilize The Undertaker, who is one of the most recognizable legends in WWE history.

Taker officially retired from in-ring competition last year, but his role in the movie proves WWE still sees value in him through other endeavors.

Although it wasn't interactive, WWE tried something similar in 2018 with the House Hardy Halloween special on WWE Network, featuring The Hardy Boyz.

While it was a one-off and wasn't interactive, it was well-received and considered a fun departure from the usual content, which should be the same vein Escape The Undertaker occupies.

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Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Sunisa "Suni" Lee, WWE wrestler Mike "The Miz" Mizanin and NBA guard Iman Shumpert were announced Wednesday as part of the newest Dancing with the Stars cast.

Season 30 of DWTS is scheduled to premiere Sept. 20 on ABC.

Lee won the gold medal in the women's all-around gymnastic competition at the 2021 Summer Games. She also captured silver with her U.S. teammates in the team competition and bronze in the uneven bars.

The 18-year-old Minnesota native is set to join the Auburn University gymnastics team, and she told Justin Lee of the Opelika-Auburn News she had to check the Dancing with the Stars dates to make sure she wouldn't miss her first Iron Bowl when the Tigers battle rival Alabama on Nov. 27.

"The last show is on the 22nd. I had to make sure," she said with a laugh. "I was like, 'Phew.'"

Lee added it's a unique chance following the Olympics, and appearing on the popular show will give her even greater visibility to build her personal brand during his college years given the new name, image and likeness (NIL) rules.

"I'm so excited," the Hmong American said. "It's really cool that I get this opportunity. Not many people, even celebrities, get to do this. It's really cool that I get to be a part of something like this, especially after coming off the Olympics, and multiple Olympians have done this in the past, too. I'm like following behind their footsteps a little bit."

The Miz, 40, has long used the moniker "The A-Lister" as part of his with his showy, egotistical gimmick, which has been accompanied by several acting roles and a reality show, Miz & Mrs, alongside his wife and former WWE Superstar Maryse Mizanin.

Now he'll get an opportunity to take the gimmick mainstream on DWTS.

"The next title I'm after? The Mirror Ball Trophy!" The Miz told WWE's official website.

Shumpert is currently a free agent after 10 NBA seasons with the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets. The 31-year-old guard has averaged 7.2 points and 3.3 rebounds across 461 career games.

The 6'5" Georgia Tech product won an NBA title with the Cavs in 2016.

WWE Superstar Kevin Owens' contract reportedly expires in January 2022, per Sean Ross Sapp on Fightful Select (h/t Aaron Rift of NoDQ.com).

“We’ve learned from a WWE official that WWE restructured several contracts ahead of the pandemic, and for whatever reason, Kevin Owens’ deal was changed to expire in January 2022," the report stated.

"We were not told of any additional terms of the deal or specifically why it was shortened. We’ll work to find out if any other deals were adjusted.”

As Rift noted, Owens told TVA Sports in May 2018 that he had recently signed a five-year deal with WWE, so the latest report represents a significant change his contract structure.

The latest Owens report drops on the same day that he deleted a tweet that may have alluded to a reunion some of his former stable members who are now in AEW. Marc Middleton of Wrestling Inc. explained.

The speculation began when Owens tweeted the coordinates to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. He then changed the location in his Twitter bio to “Almost there,” which is seen as a reference to the Mount Rushmore coordinates, which have since been deleted from his Twitter feed.

Mount Rushmore is the name of a stable Owens was in with Adam Cole and AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks in 2013-2014. Owens ended up leaving the stable when he signed with WWE in 2014. He left the group with a triple superkick from Cole and The Bucks.

Owens has been with WWE since 2014.

He's a three-time United States champion and two-time Intercontinental champion who has also won the Universal and NXT titles once apiece.

Owens has been an incredible success in WWE since leaving Ring of Honor, notably being named the world's No. 3 singles wrestler by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 2017. Rolling Stone also named Owens the WWE Rookie of the Year and WWE's Best Heel in 2015.

If Owens ever left WWE for AEW, it'd be a massive coup for the organization who just added Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson to the roster. AEW also added a pair of New Japan Pro-Wrestling legends in Minoru Suzuki and Satoshi Kojima. Miro (known as Rusev in WWE) is also on the roster and thriving as the TNT champion.

Ruby Soho (Ruby Riott in WWE) also appears to have a bright future in AEW after earning a shot at the Women's World Championship following her Casino Battle Royale win at AEW All Out.

For now, Owens is a member of WWE, but it will be interesting to see what goes down in 2022.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Especially after the demise of WCW, WWE has enjoyed something close to a monopoly in professional wrestling in terms of landing the best wrestlers in the world. Retired legend Mick Foley believes that dynamic may be changing.

Foley said Tuesday that WWE may be facing a real issue because it's "no longer the place for talent to aspire to."

Mick Foley says WWE is "no longer the place for talent to aspire to." 😳

(via @RealMickFoley) pic.twitter.com/s73B3v594R

— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) September 7, 2021

Foley praised All Elite Wrestling, with the promotion having already signed a number of former WWE stars such as CM Punk, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, Ruby Soho and Jon Moxley.

However, the Hall of Famer also believes some of the problems lay squarely at WWE's door. He expressed some uncertainty as to whether he would've enjoyed the same kind of success he did during the Attitude Era if he was a younger wrestler rising up the ranks today.

For many fans, Foley summed up the prevailing sentiment around WWE.

In a post-WCW landscape, the company has enjoyed a wide gap on the rest of the competition—it reported a revenue of $265.6 million for its second quarter of 2021.

As a result, WWE didn't have a clear incentive to drastically change its approach and could still be the premier landing spot for the industry's biggest names.

Foley's comments lend further credence to the idea WWE has grown too complacent, which may now become troublesome.

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon may not see AEW as a serious threat right now in the same way WCW was, but the arrivals of Punk and Danielson in particular show how AEW's profile is exploding.

Whether it's AEW, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Impact Wrestling or something else, wrestlers are finding themselves with a lot of options that weren't as available years ago.

Bobby Lashley will defend his WWE title against Randy Orton after the Superstar accepted the challenge Monday night.

Challenge thrown down... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!⚡️🐍#WWERaw #ExtremeRules #WWETitle @fightbobby @RandyOrton pic.twitter.com/JHhwXGsxOD

— WWE (@WWE) September 7, 2021

The two will battle for the championship at Extreme Rules, scheduled for Sept. 26.

Orton already holds the Raw Tag Team title alongside Riddle, which the duo recently defended against Lashley and MVP.

Riddle was the one who sealed the victory for RK-Bro during the match:

The bigger feud likely began afterward when Orton hit an RKO on Lashley:

RKO OUTTA NOWHERE!@RandyOrton takes out The All Mighty #WWEChampion @fightbobby with a picture-perfect RKO on #WWERaw. pic.twitter.com/xAhpVxW4WM

— WWE (@WWE) August 31, 2021

Lashley will now get a chance to redeem himself, although he will have to put the title on the line to do it.

The current champion won the title from The Miz in March and hasn't let go yet, recently retaining the belt after a bout against Goldberg at SummerSlam.

It might not be enough for the wrestler, who said Monday he wants to be a "DOUBLE CHAMPION," pairing his WWE title along with a tag team championship.

Orton is now seemingly the one with a chance to add to his collection, having already won the WWE title 10 times in his career.   

Bryan Danielson is remaining diplomatic about his former employer after signing with All Elite Wrestling.

Danielson was among multiple marquee stars to make their AEW debuts Sunday at All Out:

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1434725432033570819

Speaking to reporters after the show, the 40-year-old discussed one of the reasons that caused him to leave WWE following a wildly successful run with the promotion, per Ringside News' Subhojeet Mukherjee:

But the final decision, honestly, was just like, I started thinking about things — WWE was so gracious with me as far as the offer that they gave me. They were gonna let me go do some other stuff on the outside, but, I hate to say this, Vince sometimes — He and I have a great relationship. I love him, I do. Sometimes he’s overprotective of me. I want to be able to push my limits. That’s one of the things that I love about this, is like the physicality of what we do out there and being able to push my limits and being able to do that here in a safe manner is one of the things that really drew me here.

Danielson abruptly retired in February 2016 because of medical concerns stemming from multiple concussions he suffered across his career. However, WWE announced in March 2018 that multiple doctors had cleared him for a return to the ring.

That will inevitably have fans somewhat concerned any time Danielson wrestles because the long-term risks of concussions can be significant. The concern is somewhat heightened if he wants to "push [his] limits."

But this isn't the first time Danielson has alluded to his internal thoughts on how WWE typically stages its in-ring action.

The Miz's famous promo on Talking Smack was somewhat prompted by Danielson's comment that his one-time rival "wrestle[s] like a coward" and came to represent what he thought was a "soft, WWE style."

Because of his medical history, it seems doubtful that Danielson will grapple in the kind of brutal affairs Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley have waged. However, he may veer toward a style similar to the one that helped him rise to prominence with Ring of Honor.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Even Adam Cole was a bit that taken aback he could make his All Elite Wrestling debut Sunday at All Out.

During a media conference following the event, the former NXT champion told reporters he was "surprised" to see his WWE contract expire when it did:

Yeah so, funny enough, believe it or not, I was also surprised. Yeah, I was under the impression that it was like six months later. So it was a surprise to me. It was a surprise to them. It was public knowledge for a lot of people that I had signed a little extension, I was in the middle of a really serious angle with Kyle O’Reilly, which was very important to me. He’s one of my best friends in the entire world. Then after that is when stuff kind of opened up for me, but very surprising to me. It was just as surprising to me.

Cole lost to O'Reilly at NXT TakeOver: 36 on Aug. 22, which was his last match in NXT. Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp (via Marc Middleton of Wrestling Inc) reported his WWE deal was due to run out soon after.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1434724098748395522

Because he fulfilled the terms of the deal, the 32-year-old didn't have to adhere to the kind of non-compete clause that can delay how quickly a former WWE wrestler resurfaces with another promotion.

Jon Moxley encountered a similar situation, which allowed him to debut at Double or Nothing in May 2019, a little more than a month after his final WWE bout.

There's only so much WWE could've done to re-sign Cole if he had made up his mind about leaving. Their failure to get him to commit to a long-term extension was certainly to AEW's benefit.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

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Danielson Embraces 'Wrestling' with AEW Move

On a night full of big debuts, none was bigger at AEW's All Out pay-per-view than Bryan Danielson's arrival to close out the show.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1434725432033570819

Speaking to fans inside NOW Arena, Danielson echoed one theme of CM Punk's long-awaited comeback.

"I am a wrestler," he said, per Wrestling Inc's Sai Mohan. "I never left wrestling. I took wrestling everywhere I went. I said wrestling when I wasn't supposed to say wrestling. And now, I'm here to goddamn wrestle!"

During his promo on AEW Rampage after returning to the ring, Punk said how he "left professional wrestling" in 2005, which is when he signed with WWE. That comment referenced how WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has long viewed his product as "sports entertainment" rather than wrestling.

AEW appears to be establishing itself as a contrast to that.

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Cole Explains Departure from WWE

Before Danielson made his way down the entrance ramp, it looked like Adam Cole was going to be AEW's most impactful addition Sunday night.

https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1434724098748395522

Cole said during a post-All Out media conference he "had a very excellent four-year experience" in WWE—competing almost exclusively in NXT. Despite that, the allure of signing with AEW was too good to pass up.

“Making the decision was a fairly easy one.”@AdamColePro is #AllElite & talks his debut at #AllOut 👊@AEW @davidlagreca1 #baybay pic.twitter.com/ex7jnLK1Oa

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) September 6, 2021

For years, wrestlers didn't have many alternatives to WWE in the United States if they grew a bit disenchanted or wanted a new challenge. No other promotion was a viable direct competitor, and competing on the independent scene brought its own challenges.

In terms of revenue, AEW still has a long way to go to catch up to WWE. The signings of Punk, Danielson, Cole and Ruby Soho show how it's quickly earning a reputation to be on par with WWE as an in-ring rival, though.

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Foley: AEW Has 'No Shortage of Compelling Storylines'

Wrestling legend Mick Foley praised the work of AEW in building a strong stable of stars less than two full years after the launch of AEW Dynamite in October 2019.

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/1434726402000052228

There's no question the buzz surrounding AEW is enormous.

Maintaining that momentum is the company's next challenge because the initial excitement inevitably fades. As Foley alluded to, telling engaging stories and making Dynamite and Rampage must-watch television is what AEW needs to truly thrive.

It's equally important to use marquee stars such as Danielson and Punk to help shine a light on wrestlers who didn't build reputations in WWE. There are probably a lot of people who have discovered Darby Allin in large part because of his alliance with Sting and brief feud with Punk.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).