Date: 12/31	11:00 PM
Views: 868

Fri. #2 is HERE. To help out the site subscribe to Mistah MegaManFan or support us on Patreon. With the cheap plugs out of the way here's Saturday's latest wrestling news.

Just when you thought the year 2021 couldn't get any wilder than Betty White dying on the last day of the year (R.I.P. to a legend) we had Big Swole talking about why she left AEW and an out of pocket response back. Let's talk about Swole's comments first.

My heart just stopped being in it as the reason why I left AEW. I felt like there were a lot of things, and I told them in my exit interview, there are a lot of things that need to change. I know fans of the company don't take criticism well sometimes, certain ones. Know this, this is somebody from the inside, the structure is a little off. It's fine to be loose, but I like to have a little bit more structure.

I felt like the women shouldn't have gone through everything they went through just to get on TV or get time. You're signed to this big company, you should get time. All these men are getting time, but the women weren't getting anything or you're not putting people on TV because more people are coming in. Okay, there are more people coming in, but you don't have enough product for all of these people. Now you have all these people sitting around having two or three minute matches on Dark doesn't keep me happy. Shoveling more money doesn't keep a person happy. We've seen time and time again, especially in a place where there's not enough space. There's no writers in a sense. Not everyone is comfortable writing their own things. Closed mouths don't get fed. That's exactly what that environment is. If you are shy and don't know how to write or are not creative, it's not going to work unless they want it to work for you. That's one of their biggest issues.

Outside of that their BIGGEST issue, which is diversity. I do not beat around the bush when it comes to diversity and my people. There is no representation, truly, and when there is, it does not come across in the black community as genuine. At all.

I don't know why everybody is so afraid to accept it or say it, but it's not a good look. What happens is, you have this wonderful company that treats people like family, but there is nobody that looks like me that is represented at the top and in the room with them. They are not helping to necessarily influence decisions, but to explain why certain slang and certain word shouldn't be said. There is no one else who can explain our culture and experience except for us.

Swole certainly feels some type of way about her time in AEW and has a right to talk about her experiences working there. This could have been left well enough alone by the higher ups in the company, but unfortunately AEW President and CEO Tony Khan took a personal shot at her on social media: "The top 2 @AEW execs are brown (me & Megha)!! Jade, Bowens, Caster, Dante, Nyla, Isiah & Marq Quen all won on tv this month. The TBS Title Tournament has been very diverse. I let Swole's contract expire as I felt her wrestling wasn't good enough. #AEWRampage Street Fight TONIGHT!" Really Tony, really? Did you need to do that? Try showing more class in the future. You're the head of All Elite Wrestling, you shouldn't be taking potshots at ex-talent on social media. That's not a good look. That should be far beneath the lead man in charge.

Lio Rush demanded that Tony Khan apologize and I can't disagree with him on that.

Rich Swann reportedly missed AAW Unstoppable due to a positive COVID-19 test. (WO)

Vince McMahon may not have been at WWE Raw in person this week, but he was paying enough attention to the live feed from the production truck that he saw a "NICK=CON, TONY=KHAN" sign in the crowd and took enough offense to it to order it be removed. (WO)

B-Fab is teasing the idea of a Hit Row reunion in AEW: "We'll see what happens, never say never. Honestly, I would just love to have us all together, anywhere, doing anything. When you see our group, it speaks volumes without saying anything. I wish we would have gotten to show everyone what we were going to do fully. I know we would have been a global act, for sure. I'm not sure right now because the boys still have more time left on their contracts. Right now, I would really love for us all to get back together. We're just trying to see what we all want to do right now. I don't have any major plans right now to wrestle because I want to see what the boys are doing first."

New WWE related videos are available below.

In addition here's a video of Jim Ross' return on AEW Dynamite this week.

When the North American and NXT cruiserweight titles are unified on Tuesday, the new title will be the NXT North American Cruiserweight Champion. (WWE)

Rey Mysterio has been "banged up" recently and that's why he needed a few weeks off of television. (WO)

MCW Last Call results are below. (FF)

* MCW Heavyweight Championship Number One Contenders Match: Ken Dixon def. Dak Draper, Dante Caballero and Moses.
* Megan Bayne def. Erica Leigh
* MCW Tag Team Championships: The Trade (Myles Hawkins & Killian McMurphy) def. Chuck Lennox & Drolix (c) to win the titles.
* Demarkus Krane def. Brandon Scott
* The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) def. Joe Keys & Eric Martin
* MCW Women's Championship: Quinn McKay def. Ray Lyn (c) by DQ
* Brian Cage def. Action Andretti
* Pat Brink, Johnny Crabcakes & Alec Odin def. Sam Adonis, Ryan McBride & Andy Vineberg
* MCW Heavyweight Championship: Ken Dixon def. Brian Johnson (c) to win the title

Chuck Palumbo talks about his relationship with Vince McMahon when he was in WWE: "Personally, I had an open-door policy with him. He was always kind to me. We always spoke. Did we call each other on the phone? No. But, at the shows, always kind to me. Always spoke. I believe at times he was supportive of me. He told me, you know? But, he's a busy guy. He's got all these other things to worry about. When they went corporate things really changed. His responsibilities became huge. So, I don't know. I felt like we had a good relationship. Never had an issue with him. Never had any problems."

Kurt Angle and Sonny Onoo have been added to WrestleCon 2022.

In this interview Hiromu Takahashi talks about El Desperado: "I have to tip my hat to him. Yeah, I won this trophy. But if you were to ask who was the face of junior heavyweights in 2021, or who the best junior heavyweight is in wrestling, the answer would be El Desperado. If you have the belt, that means you're the best. I want to be the best. It's that simple... no doubt. He is the center of this division. That hurts me. He did everything I wanted to do and more."

An interview with The Hex (Marti Belle and Allysin Kay) is below.

And here's one with CM Punk.

Here Cody Rhodes says Battle of the Belts needs to be an A+ show: "I am not sure if all titles will be defended in this very first TNT special. But we do know that with just that in mind, it being the very first special that we are doing as part of the new contract, knowing us, me, Kenny, The Bucks and Tony, that's not one we can leave to, we are not capable, we are not able at this point to have a B+ show. Everything has to be A+. And that's something I am looking forward to, that we can still make these new memories and we are going to continue to make them. I am excited about Battle of the Belts because it reminds me of Clash of the Champions. It's a special and big things happen on nights like that. We are not capable of never having a big night but we are capable of making our nights bigger."

Eddie Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz will take on Daniel Garcia and 2point0 in a no holds barred match on Rampage next Friday. (AEW)

And here's the current lineup for Dynamite when it moves to TBS next Wednesday. (AEW)

* AEW World Championship Match: Hangman Page vs. Bryan Danielson
* AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express
* TBS Women's Championship Tournament Finals: Ruby Soho vs. Jade Cargill
* Malakai Black vs. Brian Pillman Jr.
* MJF vs. TBD