“The simple fact that we’re about to run the exact same venue three times within the span of four years and we’re about to have close to, if not more, than the exact same amount [of fans] that we had as the second time we ran it, I think is very telling to the amount of fans that we have around the world. I think what we’ve accomplished here is borderline impossible. When you think about that we’re running the same venue in this short a span of time and the fact that we’ve gotten this many people in the building is a genuine accomplishment.”

“We’re where you get to feel the most watching pro wrestling. You watch other products, they can be good. But are you walking away saying, ‘Holy s***, my brain just exploded’? I think that’s what we’re kings of. That’s what we do. I think that’s why in 2026, the pendulum has swung to the degree that it’s swung in the fans’ eyes, in the real wrestling fans’ eyes.”

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“If you like AEW more than WWE, and there are a lot of people that feel that way, that doesn’t mean that you have to sh*t on WWE. You don’t need to make think pieces online about why you know WWE sucks. Make think pieces online about why AEW is better, right? Whatever those logical reasons are, right?

Whether it’s because you get more bang for your buck with pay per views or because our matches are better or because because, you know, our rivalries are better or because MJF’s better looking than any top guy in the other promotion. There’s so many different things, right? But that doesn’t mean that you have to attack the other side. Just put your side over.”

The post MJF: “If you like AEW more than WWE, that doesn’t mean that you have to sh*t on WWE” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“He’s definitely been through a lot of big matches. That’s what’s tremendous about having such a strong roster. We don’t have to put unnecessary pressure on our wrestlers because we want to extend their careers. In MJF’s case, that’s someone I hope is wrestling at the highest level for decades. He’s still a very young man, and he’s fought through some major injuries this year, which is a real credit to him.

Fightful.com reported, “MJF was the driving creative force behind the idea of Kevin Knight vs Kenny Omega at AEW Redemption. He’d long wanted whoever was TNT Champion to challenge Kenny Omega after beating him for the title, it didn’t specifically have to be Knight.”

The post The reason why MJF has been absent from AEW television after losing the world title to Kenny Omega appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

When asked about MJF’s plans for the upcoming AEW Redemption PPV event, sources indicated to Fightful.com that he may be off television for a period of time. However, the report stressed that nothing has been confirmed and no timetable for a potential absence has been provided. Despite that, those Fightful spoke with still expect MJF to be involved with the AEW All In show in some capacity, although his role remains unclear.

While Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com speculated that Omega could defend the world title against MJF in a rematch at Redemption, Omega might end up having another opponent at the event. Fightful wrote, “Sources in AEW claimed that Kevin Knight had been discussed for an upcoming AEW World Championship, and as of now, AEW Redemption wasn’t completely off the table.”

MJF may be off AEW TV for a period of time.

When asking about MJF's AEW Redemption plans, it was indicated to @SeanRossSapp of @FightfulSelect that he may be out for the time being.

He is expected to be factored into All In plans. pic.twitter.com/tA9sZmYa6B

— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) July 15, 2026

The post News regarding MJF’s status with AEW following his world title loss to Kenny Omega appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“The character that I think has grown the most and has gotten the hottest organically, in the most authentic way possible, is MJF. He just stands out head and shoulders above everybody else to me when it comes to AEW—when it comes to actual character.

The post Matt Hardy on MJF’s character: “He stands out head and shoulders above everybody else to me when it comes to AEW” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

So of course leave it to the WWE to telegraph Sami losing on RAW Monday night. At first they set up Cody Rhodes getting his rematch after he beat Jey Uso on Smackdown on Friday night. All weekend all we could think of was “Poor Sami”. Cody was gonna get his damn title back because of course he had to. Cody Rhodes is almost in late 2000’s John Cena mode at this point where he overcomes the odds and wins back the title. Well, luckily that didn’t happen Monday night on RAW. The WWE took a hard left at the proverbial fork in the road and decided not to put the belt back on Cody as Gunther beat him up at the start of the show and Cody ended up not being “medically cleared”.

I thought Sami Zayn got a reprieve. But no, Adam Pearce was all “I promised a championship match here tonight and that’s what they’re gonna get”. Here’s where it got stupid in my view. Around the mid point of the show, Pearce was all “I can’t find anyone to face Sami”. You mean you couldn’t find one guy in the locker room who wanted a World title match? This of course led to Nick Aldis swooping in to say he found someone and they are ready. Cut to later in the night and as Sami is in the ring, the crowd has been chanting a certain someone’s name all night since they were in his hometown. The music hits and of course it’s CM Punk.

Well that’s just great. Sami Zayn was doomed. Now don’t get me wrong, the match was pretty good. It’s just the wrong guy won. Sami Zayn did not deserve to be a short run transitional champion. Now apparently according to the very reliable Wrestle Votes over on Twitter, NBC Universal has wanted Punk on Smackdown for a while now. They view him as a premier star. Well, duh…no kidding he’s a premier star. But just because he’s a top guy doesn’t mean he needs the title belt right off the bat.

I’ve seen criticism of Sami’s loss on twitter and elsewhere and it makes sense. How come Sami had to defend his title right off the bat? Rhea Ripley has been out over a month and she hasn’t had to vacate the title. Liv Morgan hasn’t defended her title at all (at least on tv…but house shows don’t count). Point is Sami Zayn was screwed over royally.

I think the WWE is blowing a golden opportunity here mostly because of their stupid perceptions. The big one that they have is that Sami Zayn is not a money player. That is a load of you know what like you wouldn’t believe. I’m thinking back to 1994 when the WWF at the time made a similar mistake. Come back with me to Survivor Series 1994 where Mr. Bob Backlund defeated Bret “The Hitman” Hart to become the new WWF World Champion. Now of course me back then, I didn’t have the advantage of seeing things in hindsight. I’ll admit when I was at Madison Square Garden three days later for that fateful night of Backlund vs. Diesel, I was rooting for the big man to win.

In hindsight though a lot of people would argue the WWF made a terrible decision to squash Backlund in eight seconds and give the belt to Big Daddy Cool. It’s not that Diesel didn’t deserve to be champion. It’s that Mr. Bob Backlund deserved better than three days as champion. Of course his moral heel persona was way ahead of it’s time for 1994 into 1995. We’re in the same situation with Sami Zayn now having lost the title. And knowing the WWE, they will push Sami Zayn to the backside because “he’s not a money player”. So we’re going to get Punk vs. Cody…because that’s been the plan all along.

Maybe Gunther vs. Cody will delay that match for like a week, but it’s clear it’s the plan and it takes something monumental to get the WWE to pivot from one of their plans. As I’ve said in the past, I have nothing against. Cody. I just want to see something different for once. Sami Zayn was that something different. He didn’t need a super long reign. He could have held the title till Summerslam and they could have still had Punk win then.

Ah well we shall see what happens on Smackdown going forth since it’s going to be CM Punk’s show. Me personally I would keep Punk and Zayn feuding. Shift Cody to face Gunther for a while.

On the otherside of the wrestling, Kenny Omega is the AEW Champion once again having defeated MJF on Dynamite. I thought it was a pretty good match. AEW is going to go full tilt into promoting Omega vs. Osprey at All In: London at Wembley Stadium. MJF vs. Osprey would have been better from a story standpoint, but it’s AEW. We all know they care more about the wrestling action over story telling. But AEW backed themselves into a corner with the stip that Omega had to win or he would never get another World title shot in AEW again. They did that to Adam Page and he hasn’t been seen since. But Omega vs. Osprey should be an amazing match when it happens next month.

On that note I am done for this week. I wish Sami Zayn was still champion, but it wasn’t to be.

As always you can leave me feedback down below, on Twitter or email me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com

The post The Phantom Rant: Sami Zayn Deserved Much Better appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

Meltzer noted that the match was instead moved to the July 8th episode of AEW Dynamite, a decision he believes was pushed by MJF, although he was not given a reason for the change. He added that regardless of where the idea originated, AEW President Tony Khan ultimately approved it, suggesting he believes Redemption will still have a PPV-caliber main event.

Meltzer speculated on what the main event might end up being…

“Will Ospreay and MJF did a big pull-apart and if there is anything that people seemed interested in, that would be it, but putting the title shot at stake could slow Wembley ticket sales, which are also not knocking them dead at all.

Omega as champion could face MJF in a rematch. Perhaps that could involve Omega asking for Adam Page’s restrictions to be dropped and it could set up a Page vs. MJF match at Wembley which has always felt like the right match for that show.”

The post Speculation about what will end up being the main event for AEW Redemption in Montreal appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

“I’ve seen enough. The future franchise player of WWE— I’m talking Reigns, Cena, Rock, Austin, Hogan level— is MJF.”

Dhesi elaborated in the video description…

“My prediction: MJF eventually makes the jump to WWE. And if he does, I think he has the potential to be the next franchise player.

He can talk. He understands his character. He knows how to use social media and media in general to keep people invested. Most importantly, he understands how to blur the lines. The most valuable skill to have.”

@rajthemaharaja

My prediction: MJF eventually makes the jump to WWE. And if he does, I think he has the potential to be the next franchise player. He can talk. He understands his character. He knows how to use social media and media in general to keep people invested. Most importantly, he understands how to blur the lines. The most valuable skill to have.

♬ original sound The Maharaja

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“MJF low-blowed Kenny Omega and then hit him with the AEW World Championship. Omega kicked out, and that second kickout at one reminded me of Hulk Hogan hulking up. You could hear the crowd was already fully behind Kenny. They were on another level, believing, ‘He’s gonna do it. He’s gonna do it.’

I was sitting there thinking, ‘Wow, MJF’s going to kick out.’ But when he didn’t, you could feel the energy through your television. You saw the adulation from everyone in attendance. If you didn’t love what those two guys did, that match was a love letter to professional wrestling. It really and truly was.”

"That was a love letter to pro wrestling"

Tommy Dreamer gives his instant reaction to Kenny Omega winning the AEW World Championship for the 2nd time in his career on AEW Dynamite Beach Break #bustedopen247 pic.twitter.com/DET7vlMyqR

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) July 9, 2026

The post Veteran wrestler says MJF vs. Kenny Omega was “a love letter to professional wrestling” appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.

According to Fightful.com, the match was originally planned for the AEW Redemption 2026 PPV in Montreal before AEW decided to move it to Dynamite. The report added that plans for the title match have been in place for at least three months, with the storyline dating back to AEW Dynasty, where MJF defeated Omega through cheating in the main event to win the AEW Title.

Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com noted the following about the rematch taking place next week…

“Doing this match on TV rather than Montreal is a real question. Between that and Kyle Fletcher’s International title match with Konosuke Takeshita also being on television, those were both major bouts that were expected on upcoming PPV shows. It is very clear, with 7/8 having no World Cup games on, that Tony Khan is really pushing hard with the idea of not just a PPV main event but in theory a major drawing PPV main event with two tier one guys and a strong undercard is a major attempt to draw a rating.”

The plan for Kenny Omega vs. MJF for the AEW World Championship has been in effect for well over three months at the very least.@FightfulSelect has also heard that the long-term plan was for AEW Redemption. pic.twitter.com/5MT0e2w7lI

— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) July 3, 2026

The post Backstage news regarding AEW’s plans for the MJF vs. Kenny Omega world title rematch appeared first on NoDQ.com: WWE and AEW Coverage.