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Vince McMahon Called Paul Wight; Khan on Christian's Deal; Bully Ray Trolls AEW
March 8, 2021
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from WWE and All Elite Wrestling.
Vince Called Paul Wight After AEW Deal
While almost no one saw Paul Wight's deal with AEW coming, Vince McMahon was one of the few people likely privy to the fact the future WWE Hall of Famer was headed elsewhere. Wight's departure came after he was essentially paid to stay home by WWE over the last couple years, only making brief appearances—and not looking very strong when Big Show did pop up.
It seems there were no hard feelings on either side. Wight told reporters McMahon called to congratulate him after the deal was announced:
"Here's the thing, Vince actually called me the day it was announced that I signed with AEW, wished me a lot of luck, agreed that I'm a big asset to AEW and thanked me for all the years I worked in WWE. There's no animosity, there's no anger, there's no dirt, so to speak. This just came down to, you know, contract negotiations and opportunities. Let's face it, over 20 years in WWE, I have done everything there is to do, in WWE. I needed a fresh start, and for me, Vince understands that and understands me as a talent, and this was an opportunity for me to do that."
Wight will be working on the new AEW Dark: Elevation program that's set to debut this year on YouTube, along with occasional in-ring work. It seems like a situation where Wight wanted to utilize his talents in a variety of ways that were not afforded by WWE.
Tony Khan Talks Christian Cage's AEW Debut
AEW's "big surprise" signing touted for the Revolution pay-per-view turned out to be Christian Cage, who came out and silently signed a contract before walking back behind the curtain. Tony Khan spoke to reporters about the signing after Revolution, saying the deal came together in recent weeks after he realized Cage was not under contract with WWE.
"We saw him very recently compete on pay-per-view, and there was a lot of interest in it," Khan said. "It generated a lot of interest. He was interested in wrestling on a regular basis, and he gave me a call. He said, 'I'd really like to come wrestle in AEW.' And I said, 'I'd really like to have you come wrestle in AEW for me, that sounds awesome.' It all came together great."
Khan and Cage have been friends for years, and Khan said he was "kicking myself" when he saw Christian show up at Royal Rumble in January.
It's clear that Cage wants to be a full-time performer, so this isn't a deal like Wight when he'll be part of a commentary team or in a dual role. Christian looked solid in his return to the ring at the Rumble, coming back after being forced into retirement in 2014 because of concussions. The Canada native wants this run in AEW to prove he's still capable of performing at age 47 and to likely write the final chapter of his career on his own terms.
Bully Ray Trolls Revolution Finish
There's no way to sugarcoat it: The ending to AEW's Revolution pay-per-view was a disaster. The supposed "explosion" of the ring after the Kenny Omega-Jon Moxley exploding barbed wire deathmatch turned out to be little more than Gillberg-esque sparklers shooting out of the ring posts.
Bully Ray took to Twitter to poke fun at the situation Sunday:
While it appears AEW will attempt to steer into the curve of what was likely a major botch, the broadcast did no such thing. Eddie Kingston covering up his fallen friend was treated like an act of great bravery, and the broadcast crew talked up the explosion while Kingston and Moxley laid together selling as the show went off the air.
Regardless of how the thing is retconned in the future, it was an embarrassing moment for AEW—one that may take some time to live down.
The great shame of the match finish is that it will overshadow what was otherwise a fantastic match between Moxley and Omega—one that would have provided a perfect capper to perhaps the defining feud of the promotion.