Van Vliet: “You’ve managed so many champions, so many Paul Heyman guys have gone on to be champions. I don’t know if you’ve talked about this before. What was the original plan with Curtis Axel? Why didn’t that one work out?”

The post Paul Heyman explains what went wrong with “Paul Heyman Guys” such as Cesaro and Curtis Axel appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Tony Khan should heed those words as his actions and comments are the main reason why he is AEW’s biggest enemy and problem. Time and time again he has acted at times more like a fan boy and spoiled brat rather than a professional owner. For years wrestling fans often called TNA’s Dixie Carter or UWF’s Herbie Brooks the worst owners but Tony is nearly as bad or worse due to his lack of professionalism. And it’s been the biggest problem facing AEW.

For starters there are the constant tweets that at times have him coming across as a raving lunatic. His public outburst against Mike Coppinger was at best childish and at worst psychotic. Doesn’t matter if people think that Coppinger was right or wrong in his, it was the fact he started screaming at him on Twitter. First off he is attacking a reporter for the top Sports News Network in the world and cursing at him out which will do him and his promotion no favors. Second name me the last time an NFL Owner blasted a sports reporter over some minor stadium news; you can’t! And Tony Khan is part of the Jacksonville Jaguars brain trust.

But more on that later in this article.

Then you add in his interactions in press conferences where he often comes off as a fan boy rather than the owner. Look at the Ceasaro announcement and when Tony hugged Cesaro and NJPW’s Okada.

It was flat out embarrassing and even Cesaro called it “Strange”. That kind of behavior does him no favors with business owners, sponsors and potential investors who must look at him with concern. In a world where owners of multimillion corporations behave with professionalism, Tony comes across as a raving lunatic.

I get it, AEW Fans are going to tell me that he is passionate and that he cares about the product. That he is a wrestling fan who just cares about the fans and wants to give a quality product. And that is great but when you’re the owner of a company, you aren’t supposed to act like a crazed fan.

The biggest worry is that outside of pro wrestling, he has a horrible reputation among NFL and Premier League circles as an embarrassment. He has gotten into altercations with fans, Twitter spats with players, and generally is considered over his head. And yet in the pro wrestling world, AEW fans bury their heads in the sands and keep lying to themselves that he is not the problem. Casuals look at him and his constant “huge announcements” and view him as crazed out of control. And as a result, the product often feels like its being run by the IWC bookers and no real plan or future.

One of the many reasons why until Tony Khan starts becoming professional in his attitude and behavior… AEW will continue to suffer.

The post AEW’s Biggest Problem…. Tony Khan! appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“I’ve nothing but good things to say about John. John is an awesome person. He has a very high standard for himself. He’s one of those people that doesn’t just say how you should do it or say how it should be done. He shows you. He does it every day. He lives it. You know what I mean? If he tells you to watch all the matches, he’s sitting there at the monitor watching all the matches. If he tells you, ‘You should work out.’ He is there working out early in the morning. [He’s] somebody I deeply respect. That’s kind of how I tried to do my career. Whatever I would say, I just do it. If people wanna take notice that’s good. If not, I feel like I don’t want to park it all around.”

“Being in the ring with him for that open challenge was awesome. Because he was a legend at that point, and still every match he wants to go out there and prove it. He’s the one that said it. I probably had it always kind of in my brain but he’s the one that said that ‘You’re only as good as your last match.’ That kind of stuck with me because every time you go through that curtain, you want to prove yourself to everybody. So with him to have that open challenge and him working so hard and having such a fun match with me was absolutely amazing.” (quotes courtesy of SEScoops.com)

The post Claudio opens up about what it was like to work with John Cena in WWE appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“If I would know the answer, we probably wouldn’t have that discussion, right? [laughs]. It’s just one of those things that I do not have the answer. There is obviously a lot of speculation going on, but if I would have known, I would have obviously done it. There was a lot of one step forward, two steps back. I feel that’s how life is for many people. You have to just keep going and learn from those experiences and make decisions based on that. That’s why I’m where I’m at now and I’m very happy. I’m also very grateful for John Cena, sharing the ring with him. The experiences, the amount I learned, and the respect I have for him and I would like to think he has for me. That’s something I built over the past ten or fifteen years. That’s the same with the fans. They accepted me. I’m not the guy that is just a former WWE guy.’They know I’ve been with Ring of Honor, I’ve been on the indies. They also know every single time I step in the ring, I always give it 100 percent, no matter if the match is two minutes or 35 minutes, I want to make it the best match possible. It’s very important to me that it’s authentic. I don’t have an answer to that question, I don’t know if anybody does, but if that journey brought me to where I am today, I am very happy and extremely grateful to have been on that journey and to be here today.” (quote courtesy of 411Mania.com)

The post Claudio Castagnoli on WWE run: “There was a lot of one step forward, two steps back” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“Claudio said after the Blood and Guts match, he came back to me and said ‘I could not of had a better first week. I could not have imagined any place I’ve ever been enjoying it more than I do here. The first week I’ve had is something I’ll remember the rest of my life.’ He was very grateful. He was very happy.

He’s one of the greatest stars ever in Ring of Honor and Claudio Castagnoli is associated with that history in ROH. I thought as we’re moving toward “Death Before Dishonor” on July 23, I originally thought that would be an incredible place for him to debut if Bryan Danielson is good to go. Admittedly when Claudio and I were talking, we had a conversion on June 2, so it was the day after the [LA] Forum show so I was just kind of getting my bearings and realizing I had put TV together all through ‘Forbidden Door’ and that was probably going to change. I knew [CM] Punk was gonna need some time. His X-ray came back Friday and it wasn’t good. That’s when I had to jump into a plan with Mox [Jon Moxley] and the interim title and make a lot of changes to Forbidden Door.”

The post What Claudio Castagnoli said to Tony Khan after the 2022 AEW Blood and Guts match appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

According to Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com, there were reportedly “a lot of talent in WWE” that were shocked about Castagnoli signing with AEW and it was said to have been a “very big deal” with a lot of the talent. Meltzer noted that the reaction was due to the size of the offer WWE gave him. Meltzer wrote the following…

“The feeling is AEW must have matched or topped it and in WWE, the feeling was that AEW was no longer doing that and that Castagnoli could have made a very substantial amount of money in WWE even though there was little chance of a push.”

It was also speculated that a factor in Castagnoli signing with AEW was to show everyone that he’s a “top talent” while he is still physically able to do so.

Hold to hold with ZSJ to Blood and Guts. 1st week stuff pic.twitter.com/IoRxiqoKNh

— Swiss (@ClaudioCSRO) June 30, 2022

The post How talent within WWE reportedly reacted to Cesaro signing with AEW appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“Sometimes, the stars align for a perfect moment. That’s what happened tonight. I hope Bryan is alright, I know Bryan will be back. It’s just a perfect fit. I just talked to Mox, we’ve been going back for 10-12 years, we’ve known each other for a long time. We used to ride together and work out together, we still do and still talk. It just fits. At the end of the day, I’m always looking for new challenges. Here in AEW, I’m like a kid in a candy store.”

“I was so excited to share the ring with Zack Sabre Jr. I wrestled him last time in 2009. There are so many guys that I’ve known for years like Orange Cassidy, we’re not talking about the one that yells and screams all the time like a little kid. What is most important is that the fans are excited. Who do you want to see me wrestling next? That was always the most important thing. Who is my dream opponent? I don’t care. Who do you want to see me wrestle? Here in AEW, all that stuff can happen. The last time I wrestled Kenny Omega was like 2008. We’ve grown a lot since then. That’s worth a mention. I could name literally every I ran into in the locker room and backstage. I can give you a shortlist of who I don’t want to step in the ring with and that is nobody. I don’t know if you can tell, I’m very happy. It fits. This is my first night here and I feel like I’ve been here for years. It’s awesome.” (quotes courtesy of Fightful.com)

According to Fightful, it’s believed that Cesaro came to terms with AEW for a “long term” deal.

The post Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro) talks about his decision to sign with AEW appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“I asked him about coming in before I knew for sure that Bryan was out, though I had a pretty good idea that Punk would be out. I could tell there would be a lot of changes. We already had a lot of injured people, I had no idea we would have even more on the run-up to the show. It was the day after the Forum, so June 2, I called and had interest, there was definitely mutual interest. At that point, I felt there was a good chance. I wasn’t sure if it would be here or another thing or Death Before Dishonor, July 23, on pay-per-view in Lowell, Massachusetts. Ring of Honor’s return event. I figured there was a chance that if Bryan made it back, there was a good chance that he would have started at Death Before Dishonor and it would have been a great moment there. As long as Bryan is okay, that’s the most important thing. It was a great moment to have at Forbidden Door. I talked to Bryan on the phone last weekend and he told me that he wasn’t feeling 100%. As soon as he said that, we’re eight days from the pay-per-view, ‘if you’re not feeling 100%, don’t even think about wrestling on the pay-per-view or Blood & Guts’ because he had been feeling well. I talked to him in St. Louis and he was feeling great and he was so optimistic and was that fired up Bryan Danielson. He wanted to go. I didn’t want to take another chance as soon as he said (he wasn’t feeling 100%). He mentioned Claudio and I said, ‘that’s funny, I have Claudio under contract.’ I had told anybody. It worked out before for all of us.” (quote courtesy of Fightful.com)

The post Tony Khan comments on AEW signing Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro) appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

* TBD ended up being former WWE star Cesaro who was once again billed as Claudio Castagnoli.

#ZSJ's opponent is none other than Claudio Castagnoli @ClaudioCSRO, the newest member of the #BlackpoolCombatClub, here at #ForbiddenDoor! Order the PPV right now! #AEWxNJPW pic.twitter.com/uZdC9x5eFG

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 27, 2022

* Claudio hit him with an uppercut and neutralizer right off the bat but Sabre Jr. kicked out.

.@ClaudioCSRO not wasting a single second in his first moments here at #AEW! Order #ForbiddenDoor right now! #AEWxNJPW pic.twitter.com/5FSq07xM4k

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 27, 2022

* After a hot start for Claudio, Sabre Jr. managed to get control of the match and worked over both the arm and knee of Claudio. Sabre Jr. started manipulating the joints of Claudio. Sabre Jr. hit uppercuts and that lit a fire in Claudio.

* The two ended up on the outside and Claudio carried Sabre Jr. back into the ring while walking up the steps. Claudio tried the big swing but Sabre Jr. countered into a guillotine.

The strength of @ClaudioCSRO and he just dumps #ZSJ into the ring! Order the #ForbiddenDoor PPV right now! #AEWxNJPW pic.twitter.com/0BEdIk8xza

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 27, 2022

* Claudio regained control and hit a series of uppercuts. Claudio finally hit the big swing after several attempts but had to let go due to the damage done by Sabre Jr. Sabre Jr. got another submission but Claudio escaped.

* Match continued to go back and forth. Claudio eventually got the win with a powerbomb.

The post Results of Zack Sabre Jr. vs. TBD at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2022 appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Cesaro recently trended on Twitter with fans speculating about him possibly being the mystery opponent for Zack Sabre Jr. at the 2022 AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door PPV. According to Fightful Select, Cesaro has been at the Flatbacks Wrestling School in Orlando, FL multiple times over the last several weeks. The site noted that “we haven’t heard anything heard an update on if he’ll actually be in the replacement this week, but he has been working in the ring again.”

Flatbacks Wrestling School is owned by Tyler Breeze and Shawn Spears.

During Busted Open Radio, Bully Ray commented on the rumors of Cesaro being the mystery opponent…

“I’m giving it [the spot] to Cesaro just because I’ve been a Cesaro guy for so long. But I think Sabre versus Gargano, just because of the size chemistry of working together, I think could be a hair better. I’ve been talking about this work-horse iron man champion for a while now, and I think Cesaro is the perfect guy to be an iron man-type champion. Either one of them I think the AEW fanbase will go crazy for, and I also think it could be a good way to help get some of those WWE fans.” (quote courtesy of Sportskeeda.com)

The post Update on Cesaro’s in-ring status following rumors of him debuting with AEW appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.