The Elite Bids Farewell To Ring Of Honor After Final Battle

Members of The Elite bid farewell to Ring of Honor after the conclusion of Friday night’s Final Battle pay-per-view from New York City.

The Young Bucks, Cody, Hangman Page and S.C.U. (Christopher Daniels, Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) were all in action on the card. All of them are rumored to be departing Ring of Honor and all of them lost their matches Friday night. You can check out our full breakdown of the Final Battle pay-per-view here. The main event saw the Briscoe Brothers defeat the Young Bucks and S.C.U. in a Ladder War to capture the ROH world tag team championships for the 10th time.

After the show went off the air, The Elite hit the ring to address the live crowd. Matt Jackson thanked everyone for their support and said the Manhattan Center is their favorite venue to wrestle in. Fans chanted, “January 1st” in reference to The Elite teasing a major announcement regarding their future after the new year.

Jackson said this was not going to be some emotional farewell speech or anything like that, which brought on more supportive chants. The Young Bucks started in Ring of Honor 10 years ago and this past 2-year run as best the best time of their lives. They thanked Ring of Honor executives and their families for joining them each step of their journey.

Matt Jackson then asked, “We’re all elite, right?” He said “the timer is ticking” and something big is about to go down. He encouraged everyone to stay tuned and keep watching their Youtube series, Being the Elite, for details on their next moves.

Fans chanted “Double or Nothing” as The Elite signed off and promised they will return to New York City again.

Update On The Evolving Landscape Headed Into 2019

As we head into 2019, there are plenty of unanswered questions surrounding what the pro-wrestling landscape will look like in the new year. One of the most burning questions is where will members of the Elite end up?

Cody, the Young Bucks, Hangman Page, and eventually Marty Scurll (he’s under contract to ROH until the spring) are expected to form the nucleus of the All Elite Wrestling. Still, many members of the Elite are hoping to continue working with New Japan Pro Wrestling next year.

What could possibly prevent the Elite from returning to NJPW, is the promotion’s approach to talent-sharing deals. This issue was addressed in the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“Obviously, both AEW and ROH will want a business relationship with New Japan,” Meltzer wrote. He would continue to say every promotion in the United States would like to have such a relationship.

“New Japan has blocked its talent from working for Impact, even though Don Callis is an announcer for New Japan, because of the ROH relationship,” he continued. “They have not blocked people from working for MLW.”

The question then becomes whether NJPW will allow their talent to work for All Elite Wrestling as they do for MLW or if they will block them from doing so, as they have done with Impact Wrestling.

A possible sign the Young Bucks could be staying occurred this week, however. The popular tag-team announced they are finally being flown first-class to Japan for NJPW shows. This was something the brothers had complained about on their YouTube series in recent weeks.

“New Japan could work with both AEW and ROH,” Meltzer concluded. “The ball really is in their court.”

We expect to hear some big announcements out of the Elite camp after New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 13 event on January 4th.

Dynamite Kid

 

One of the legendary wrestlers from the 1980's passed away today, "The Dynamite Kid" Tom Billington.

Billington gained notority teaming with his cousin, Davey Boy Smith as the tag team The British Bulldogs in WWF.  They won the WWF Tag Team Championship once, defeating Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake at Wrestlemania II.

Before joining the WWF, Billington wrestled in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.  He was active in the Junior Heavyweight division and had legendary matches with Tatsumi Fujinami and the original Tiger Mask.  He won the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship in Febuary 1984 while NJPW had a working relationship with WWF.  He defeated The Cobra in a tournament.  He vacated the title on November 6, 1984 when he left NJPW to return to WWF full time.

The British Bulldogs were a prominant tag team when I first started watching wrestling in the mid 1980's.  I used to love watching them because they had the bulldog, Matlida, and thought it was cool that they would bring their dog to the ring.  I loved to watch Billington wrestle because of how technically solid he was in the ring and how he flew with off the top rope and delivered the swandive headbutt.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.  He was 60 years old.

Cody & Brandi Rhodes Watch Jackson Jaguars Game In Owner’s Box

Cody and Brandi Rhodes spent an NFL Sunday inside the Jacksonville Jaguars’ owner’s box yesterday. The NFL franchise is owned by the billionaire Khan family. The Jags also share the same registered address as All Elite Wrestling.

Cody didn’t publicize the trip on social media as he does for most things, however. Brandi, on the other hand, felt it necessary to discuss her choice in wardrobe with her followers.

Cody recently traveled to Australia for a tour with World Series Wrestling. Despite having a torn meniscus, Cody worked the tour doing Meet and Greets. He also defended the IWGP United States title on 3 occasions by defeating Joey Ryan in a staring contest. During the tour, he told fans to expect an announcement regarding All Elite Wrestling in January.

“At a meet and greet in Melbourne, Australia, Cody was asked about a new promotion and said to wait for January as an announcement will be made, and said the announcement would be bigger than anyone expects,” Dave Meltzer wrote in this week’s Wrestling Observer.

Last Tuesday, Cody put out a Tweet asking “Who are some of the hottest male/female independent acts not signed anywhere?” Fuelling speculation the Elite is looking to bring in unsigned talent to their new promotion.

Young Bucks Comment On All Elite Wrestling Trademarks

From our first report to being an actual registered company who is preparing for its official launch next year, All Elite Wrestling has traveled very far in the last couple of months.

However, the main people involved with the promotion are still playing with the report. Some of them are like Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes who are just having fun.

Then there are people like the Young Bucks who also have legal limitations since they are still under contracts.

However, this is not going to stop people from discussing it. It also means that whether or not they can answer the questions, the people who are involved with the promotion are still going to be asked about it.

This was the case during the latest episode of Wrestling Perspective podcast, where the host Petey Williams talked to the Bucks about the promotion, asking them what they can say on the situation.

Answering the question both the brothers tried to protect the information and work around the question.

Matt Jackson said that they are in a situation where they don’t really know what they are going to do. Though he accepted that after All In they have offers from investors which they are still thinking about.

Nick Jackson took a slightly different route and accepted that they have offers from every major company in the world. He explained that they have not said no to anyone since they are keeping their options open.

Although whether or not they accept it, AEW has already become one of the hottest topics of discussion among fans. It doesn’t look like these discussions will be cooling down anytime soon.

Cody Hints “All Elite Wrestling” Announcement Coming In January

Cody, the Young Bucks, Marty Scurll, and Adam Page are all finishing up commitments in ROH and NJPW at the moment. When 2019 hits, however, it’s looking as though the group will be part of a new promotion, All Elite Wrestling.

Cody was asked recently at a Meet in Greet for World Series Wrestling in Australia about the promotion. He indicated an announcement would be made in January. Cody also stated the announcement will be bigger than expected.

Cody’s answer to the question was covered in this week’s Wrestling Observer:

“At a meet and greet in Melbourne, Australia, Cody was asked about a new promotion and said to wait for January as an announcement will be made, and said the announcement would be bigger than anyone expects,” Dave Meltzer wrote.

Cody has also doubled-down on his statements that he will be finishing up with Ring of Honor after Final Battle. He has said his title match with Jay Lethal will be his final match with the promotion. The angle is if Cody wins he’ll bring the title with him into free agency.

Cody also appears to be scouting talent. He sent the following out on Tuesday evening:

"Curious. Who are some of the hottest male/female independent acts not signed anywhere?"

What top unsigned talent would you like to see Cody bring to All Elite Wrestling??

Jim Ross: All Elite Wrestling Will Be Big – If They Secure A TV Deal

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has provided some new commentary on All Elite Wrestling. Ross, who has been involved in the early stages of the upstart promotion, calls it a “feast or famine” proposition whose success is predicated on securing a meaningful television deal.

On the latest Jim Ross Report podcast, Good ‘ol JR addressed the recent development that All Elite Wrestling trademarks have been filed by the Khan family:

“I certainly want to address the trademark issues filed by the Kahn family,” Ross said.

“If this thing happens, it’s going to be one of two things, in my opinion. It’s either going to never happen, because a television deal could not be acquired, or the television deal is going to be finalized, and it’s going to be big,” Ross said.

Later in the show, while interviewing Dave Meltzer, Ross again addressed the possibility of an All Elite Wrestling promotion.

“Two things you have to have to start a wrestling promotion: television, and talent. In that order,” Ross said.

“If you don’t have viable television, I’m not talking about Pop TV, I’m talking about a real television outlet, a major cable entity that everybody has access to, you damn sure don’t need any talent.”

“This company, if it ever happens, it’s an idea right now. If they don’t get TV, there is no company.”

Ross also addressed his potential involvement with All Elite Wrestling:

“I’ve been rumored to be in every role with this company. It’s just eye-rolling. At one point it’s Jericho and me, which I thought was really stupid. Me and Jericho are going to spend all the money we’ve made over the years to get in the wrestling business? Are you crazy? Are you nuts?”

Ross continued, “And then we’re not involved at all, it’s these other guys that are really the movers and shakers. There ain’t nothing to move here, folks. There ain’t nothing to shake.”

It’s worth noting that Ross never went so far as to deny his potential involvement with the proposed company, despite all of his bluster. He only stated that the company may not get off the ground.