Cash Wheeler Arrested For Aggravated Assault With A Firearm ; August 18th Live Wrestling News Round-Up

WWE has signed college football star, Josh Black.

According to the Rockford Register Star, Josh Black, the former Syracuse defensive lineman, has become the latest signing under WWE’s N.I.L. program.

You can read this full report, here.

That was some pretty heavy stuff, so let’s take down a bit with the latest episode of Hey!(EW)

RJ is joined by Big Cass on this one so sit back, relax and enjoy!

Another small update on the Cash Wheeler situation.

It has been revealed by PWInsider that Wheeler is set for a hearing in Florida at 1PM EST this afternoon (6pm GMT).

The report also notes that whilst Wheeler pleaded not guilty should he be found guilty he would be dealing with a third degree felony in the State of Florida.

You can read this full report, here.

Further details have come to light surrounding Cash Wheeler’s arrest.

Twitter user Hans Molemearn has uncovered the legal documents surrounding Wheeler’s arrest and it shows that the warrant for his arrest was first issued on the 28th of July with Wheeler issuing a written plea of not guilty on the 3rd of August.

It then appears there was a hearing earlier today that led to Wheeler’s full arrest for aggravated assault with a firearm.

You can view the breakdown of the documents below.

pic.twitter.com/agFGtOgMFI

— Hans Molemearn (@mearn) August 18, 2023

Due to the current legislation on outstanding warrants and legal charges there is now a very strong chance that the highly anticipated clash between FTR and The Young Bucks at AEW All In will be unable to travel due to travel restrictions Wheeler may find himself with.

Please note that the above however is not yet confirmed and is simply a possibility based on current US and UK legal statutes.

AEW Superstar Cash Wheeler has been arrested for aggravated assault with a firearm.

A new report from the Orlando Sentinel reveals that Wheeler, currently one half of the AEW Tag Team Champions, was arrested today for aggravated assault with a firearm.

The report states that Wheeler was booked in Circuit Court for the charges but no further details are available at this time.

AEW has responded to the charges stating:

“AEW has been made aware of the charge, and we are closely monitoring the situation. (Wheeler) is fully cooperating with local authorities.”

Inside The Ropes will look to provide you with more information as it becomes avaliable!

On August 18th 1993 The Shockmaster made his WCW debut at Clash of the Champions XXIV and the rest is history.

Relive this infamous wrestling debut below!

The Bloodline may well be one of the greatest storylines in WWE history and WWE themselves aren’t shy about celebrating that.

WWE has produced a 90 minute long video recapping the “Implosion of The Usos in The Bloodline” following Jimmy Usos’ shock betrayal of brother Jey at WWE’s SummerSlam PLE.

Check out the awesome video below!

Ahead of what could be Edge’s final WWE match on SmackDown tonight, WWE is celebrating the career of the ‘Rated R Superstar’ by livestreaming eight hours of his greatest matches over on YouTube.

The live stream is currently one hour in so check out the video below and enjoy seven hours of Edge’s best matches!

SummerSlam 2023 has been and gone and with it ‘The Biggest Party of The Summer’ disappears for another year.

The PLE was met by a mixed reception from fans with some commenting on the incredible moments of story telling and others disappointed by the in-ring action.

There was no official host for the Detroit based event but one WWE Hall of Famer tried to throw their name in the mix to MC the event, none other than ‘Big Sexy’ himself Kevin Nash.

Speaking on his ‘Kliq This’ podcast Nash would reveal that he emailed the WWE offering to MC the show as it was in his hometown of Detroit but the request fell on deaf ears with nobody responding to his offer.

Nash would reveal that he believes part of the reason he was not allowed to host the show is that WWE wouldn’t let someone with his political believes anywhere near the show.

“I’m not bullsh*tting”, but says WWE probably wouldn’t let “this motherfu*king liberal anywhere near that program”.” [h/t WhatCulture]

Would you have liked to see Kevin Nash host SummerSlam? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

Taking a brief respite from the latest CM Punk news and a new report has circulated online that WWE currently has “long term” main roster plans for an NXT duo.

Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo made their return to NXT back in July and were the latest in a string of main roster talents being sent to the White and Gold brand to reinvigorate themselves in the WWE.

According to a new report WWE still has main roster plans for the duo in the long term largely revolving around their Mexican wrestling lineage and their families legacy in Lucha Libre.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer would reveal:

“Carrillo & Garza right now are in NXT but there is a long-term main roster idea for them as a babyface tag team.

The idea using their grandfather (as opposed to Hector Garza, Angel’s father, who was actually the biggest star in the family) to establish them as authentic Mexican babyfaces with the idea their grandfather was a superstar.”

Do you think Carrillo and Garza could be strong additions to the WWE Tag Team division? Let us now by hitting the thumbs below!

Earlier today it was reported that CM Punk had nothing to do with Matt Hardy’s exclusion from AEW Collision and it appears the same can be said of Adam Page.

Earlier this week it was revealed that Adam Page had been sent to Collision’s show in Greensborough to do some filming only to be turned around at the last moment.

Report and speculation then ran riot suggesting that CM Punk was responsible following ‘The Second City Saint’s’ shoot promo on Page following Collision.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer would report that those close to Punk deny him having any involvement in the circumstances surrounding Page.

Meltzer would write:

“One person said that Punk didn’t even know Page was in Greensboro to begin with when he did the promo, let alone had him not allowed to be at the show.

It is not clear what led Page to being told not to go the building past the wording. In this case it is possible, given the situation with Nemeth, that the feeling was by management to not risk another situation as tensions were very high at the point among at least some due to what happened with Nemeth, which was talked about by many in the company as the show was going in, including those who were not in Greensboro as the word of the incident travelled fast.

As best we can tell, the situation with Page was not being talked about Saturday night at the show, but ended up being a topic of conversation the next morning when people found out Page was booked for the show and then told not to come.”

A new report has revealed details of a concession Tony Khan made to CM Punk following Ace Steels quiet rehiring to the company.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer revealed that those close to CM Punk had confirmed that Steel was quietly rehired to AEW and upon his return was given back pay for his time fired from the company.

The report notes that this was done as a “concession” to CM Punk.

Meltzer states:

“Steel was fired, then secretly hired back, according to one source, with back pay from the time he was let go, as a concession to Punk when he agreed to come back, but then told he could only work remotely and not work backstage.

Steel’s return was controversial because in the brawl he allegedly threw a chair hard at the head of Nick Jackson and bit Kenny Omega in the forearm. Photos from more than a week later of Omega in a short-sleeve shirt when he was in Japan after the incident clearly showed bite marks on his forearm.”

Do you think Tony Khan has made a mistake by making such a concession to CM Punk? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

Damian Priest’s days in The Judgment Day are numbered according to a new report.

Following Priest’s win at WWE Money in the Bank 2023 tensions have begun arising between Priest and Judgment Day patriarch Finn Balor with Priest costing Balor the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on multiple occasions.

Fans have begun speculating that a split between the group could be on the way and according to a new report this speculation is correct.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer would reveal that the current plans are for Damian Priest to split from the group and go off on his own as a singles star.

Meltzer would reveal:

“While this could easily change, the long-term plan is Priest out of Judgment Day. Whether that means McDonagh is in, that’s a probable but not 100 percent”

Do you think WWE is making the right decision by splitting Damian Priest from The Judgment Day? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

AEW All In is just days away from becoming the biggest wrestling event of all time… or is it?

In recent days we reported that AEW was around 600 tickets away from surpassing the true ticket sales of WrestleMania 32 which would make the show officially the biggest paid wrestling event in history and only behind Collision in Korea (the joint WCW and NJPW show in North Korea) for the biggest event of all time.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer would reveal that AEW All In is now less than 200 tickets away from breaking the record but that in actuality they may need another three to four thousand ticket sales to truly beat the record.

Meltzer would note:

“At press time, there were 80,544 tickets out, which this past week passed both the 1992 SummerSlam and the 1934 Jim Londos vs. Kola Kwariani numbers.

The final hurdle would be WrestleMania 32 in 2016, which had 80,709 in the building. It should be noted that tickets out and the number in the building are different stats.

There will be some people with tickets who don’t attend, although that number would not be large. So when this show surpasses 80,709 when it comes to tickets distributed, which literally could happen at any minute, it would not necessarily guarantee that it will break the record for a total in the building, but there is certainly the likelihood that it will.

And with somewhere between 3,800 to 4,800 tickets sold needing to break the actual paid attendance mark, it will still need a strong last ten days to do so.

It should be noted WWE was believed to have sold 4,000 tickets in the last four days for SummerSlam, so if that is equaled here they will easily set that record. But AEW in its history has never done last four days of business close to the level of what WWE has been able to do because WWE draws from a wider audience base.

However, what AEW has here is a happening, and if the word gets to people that there will be an event with more than 80,000 people at Wembley, that in and of itself may get people going to see a happening who otherwise would not attend a pro wrestling event.”

Do you think AEW has what it takes to break the record and become the biggest paid event of all time? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

Earlier this week it was revealed that Matt Hardy had been banished from AEW Collision reportedly due to issues with CM Punk.

However, a new report from Dave Meltzer appears to reveal that this is not true.

The report reveals that although CM Punk does have ‘veto power’ over who can appear on AEW Collision, in the case of Matt Hardy this was not a CM Punk related incident.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer would note:

“Essentially, in recent weeks, Matt Hardy was booked for a Collision taping but was later told not to go into the building.

He was told it was related to C.M. Punk and while the story was not talked about heavily, it was mentioned as one of those things that happened. Those close to Punk have denied Punk being the reason for this.”

It was also recently reported that CM Punk acted “like a mad man” during a backstage altercation with Ryan Nemeth.

Will Ospreay vs Tetsuya Naito was not the only match awarded over five stars this week, Kazuchika Okada’s G1 Climax 33 clash with Tetuya Naito also broke the Meltzer scale.

Naito and Okada met in the finals of the G1 Climax 33 with Okada looking to make history with three consecutive tournament wins and Naito looking to achieve his “Destino” by defeating one of his greatest rivals to win the tournament for a third time.

The match was met with mass praise online and was awarded 5.25 stars by Dave Meltzer who described the match in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

“The crowd was so hot for Naito. There was a ton of LIJ merchandise in the crowd. It was slowly paced but kind of a working masterpiece with both working on the neck…This was an incredibly dramatic match. All of LIJ came out after the match to celebrate with Naito. Naito’s win cost Okada the chance to tie Masahiro Chono’s record of five career G-1 wins. Chono then came out with the G-1 flag and Naito got the trophy.”

The main point of interest for this match is that this becomes Kazuchika Okada’s 12th match rated above five stars, taking him above Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega who both sit on 11.

Okada also currently owns the record for highest rated match of all time, his iconic NJPW clash with Kenny Omega that was rated 7 stars.

Is Kazuchika Okada the greatest wrestler of the modern generation? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

If you thought we were going to have a nice quiet Friday without a bunch of news on CM Punk there you were sorely mistaken!

Consider this your pre-warning that the next hour or so is likely to be very CM Punk update heavy as new reports on his backstage altercations in recent weeks circulate online.

Starting things off we have a new report on the level of power CM Punk holds surrounding AEW Collision.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer has revealed that CM Punk has “veto power” over who can be involved in AEW Collision.

Meltzer would state:

“Collision was considered his [CM Punk’s]show and evidently whether explicit or just in practice, when Daniels was no longer allowed to come, it was clear he had veto power over who could be there.

The company had been generally careful not to book people who would upset him on that show and that was well known. Why they booked Nemeth is likely due to everyone being of the impression that the incident was two months ago and that it was supposedly settled at the time.”

This report comes just days after it was alleged that CM Punk played a role in AEW’s Head of Talent Relations, Christopher Daniels, being denied entry to AEW Collision.

Do you think Tony Khan and AEW are making a mistake by giving CM Punk this much power? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

A new report has revealed further details surrounding CM Punk’s backstage altercation with fellow AEW Superstar Ryan Nemeth.

Earlier this week it was revealed that Nemeth had flown to AEW Collision only to be handed a return plane ticket and sent away from the show on his arrival.

It was then revealed that this came shortly after a behind-the-scenes altercation with CM Punk due to comments made my Nemeth on social media following Punk’s AEW return.

It has now been revealed that Punk acted “like a madman” when confronting Nemeth backstage in AEW.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer notes:

“The story we were told was that Punk came up to Nemeth as he was against the wall in the locker room, brought up the tweet and said, “Do we have a problem or are we good or do we have to take it outside.”

The version was, this was aggressive. One person called it ranting like a mad man and another, defending Punk, told us at the time that Punk was handling business like a man and that all was taken care of and things were settled. While it was clear from many that tensions persisted, it wasn’t covered as a big thing partially because it was kept quiet and that any attention, no matter how the incident started, was going to end up negative for Nemeth.

Punk allegedly told Nemeth that this wasn’t the time for this shit and talked about all the tension that was there and the optics of this to the public.

The story is that Punk continued to yell at him in the hallway and Nemeth basically tried to tell Punk that his character in wrestling was being a dickhead, a bad guy, and that Punk is the babyface coming back, but Punk said this wasn’t a good look and this wasn’t a good time for that.

They ended up shaking hands when Punk asked him not to tweet about it, we were told at the time everything was settled.”

Last week NJPW mainstay Tetsuya Naito completed his ‘Destino’ once again by defeating Will Opsreayon his way to win the 33rd G1 Climax, his third win in the tournaments history.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Melzter would heap praise on the match that he previously called the “best storytelling match in a long time” before rating it a whopping six stars.

Meltzer would comment:

“It was amazing that the Japanese crowd early on was more for Ospreay. As the match went on with Ospreay mostly on offense, they got behind Naito as the 1996 Riki Choshu star past his prime having a viable chance to be a surprise G-1 winner deal started working in Naito’s favor. Ospreay was unreal here and while very different and not as creative, the drama and heat made this at the same level of both Ospreay-Omega matches.”

Will Ospreay recently made history by becoming the most decorated wrestler in the history of the Wrestling Observer overtaking the legend Mitsuharu Misawa.

Do you agree with Dave Melter’s rating? Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

During the August 17th live blog we covered the overwhelmingly negative online reaction to AEW’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch.

Well, in a positive update, it has been revealed that as much as fans may not have been happy with the match, Warner Brothers Discovery certainly were.

According to PWInsider, Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of AEW, expressed immense satisfaction with the match. The match has impressed executives at WBD so much that they expect more promotional collaboration opportunities for AEW going forward.

You can read a full breakdown of this report, here.

Former WWE writer Britney Abrahams has dismissed her claims of “racial discrimination” and “wrongful termination” against Vince McMahon and the WWE.

On Thursday, August 17th 2023, Abrahams filed a request to the United States District Court of the Easter District of New York to dismiss “all claims and causes of action against defendants” (in this case Vince McMahon and the WWE) without prejudice.

The dismissal has been constructed in such a manner that Abrahams can refile this case against Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Chris Dunn, Ryan Callahan, Jennifer Pepperman, Christine Lubrano, and Mike Heller at any point within the statue of limitations.

It has been speculated online that this dismissal has been done in the hopes of an out of court settlement however when offered the opportunity to comment on this speculation, by Wrestlenomic’s Brandon Thurston, both Abrahams and her legal team, The Cochran group, declined to comment.

The initial lawsuit was filed earlier in the year and full details of the allegations made can be found, here.

Good Afternoon!

Hope everyone is doing well and has had an awesome week so far!

I will be with you this afternoon from 12:00 pm to 6 pm BST (8 am – 1 pm EST) with all the latest news and rumours from AEW, WWE and NJPW.

This afternoon we will be kicking things off with some of today’s biggest stories, including:

• Racial discrimination lawsuit against Vince McMahon dismissed.
• WBD pleased with AEW’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch.
• Roman Reigns reaches 500 days as WWE Champion.
• Latest WWE signing confirmed.
• Bruce Prichard reveals how WWE judge if somebody is ‘over’ with fans.
• Sting & Darby Allin attack AR Fox at his training school facility.

As always if you have anything you want to ask us or any stories you would like us to try to provide an update on, let us know by using the ‘get involved’ feature at the top of the page!