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Welcome back grappler-trackers, it’s the April edition of the Cageside Seats Hot Stove!
Why did this take forever? Well, here are some things to know about WrestleMania week. 1) there’s a lot of planning, even for fans, 2) a lot of news is saved for said week and 3) it’s very easy to catch The WrestleMania Flu, which delayed this, my screed about ROH’s pivot to bad wrestlers at the G1 Supercard, and my upcoming Cageside articles.
That out of the way, let’s get down to business.
WWE & NXT
- As rumored everywhere, including the previous edition of this column, Shane “Swerve” Strickland has reported to Full Sail.
- Kushida, who formally signed to WWE in a segment at NXT TakeOver: New York joined Swerve in the now-traditional New Performance Center class photo.
- Garza Jr., who has wrestled for AAA, The Crash and most recently Impact, rounded out this mid-April PC class.
- Former WWE IC champ Luke Harper, fka Brodie Lee, publicly announced he’s requested that WWE release him.
- Everyone and their cousin thinks that Sasha Banks wants to leave WWE, who hasn’t been seen on WWE TV in a bit.
Evolve
- Northeastern standout Anthony Greene signed to Evolve during WrestleMania week.
- During said weekend, it was announced that Darby Allin was leaving the company, news formalized in a WWN email.
AEW
- Darby Allin: Announced in an episode of Road to Double or Nothing, Allin will be wrestling Cody Rhodes at an upcoming AEW event. I’ve already waxed philosophical about what this signing could mean, and now it’s happened. Having watched Darby at every NY-based Evolve show since August 2016, as well as other shows, I’ve seen the kid get better and better, and I want nothing but the best for him.
- Jim Ross: AEW announced that Ross signed the most lucrative contract any commentary member has ever been given.
- Allie: After getting killed off on Impact, the wrestler also known as Cherry Bomb signed to AEW. Her twitter handle is still @AllieImpact.
- Hikaru Shida: Veteran joshi wrestler is now All Elite.
- Sadie Gibbs: this 26-year-old U.K. wrestler signed with AEW.
- Brian Pillman Jr.: son of Flyin Brian Pillman, signed for the Double or Nothing Battle Royal, who’s wrestled for MLW, among other promotions.
- Glacier, revealed in the above Road to Double or Nothing video, the WCW veteran will be in the aforementioned battle royal and may be doing more with the company, appearing to be some kind of consultant to AEW EVP Cody Rhodes in the video where he appeared.
- Interviewer Alicia Atout has also signed, and if her first appearance in an AEW YouTube video is to be seen as gospel, she will be known there as Alicia A.
- Justin Roberts: the former WWE ring announcer who was famously choked out by Daniel Bryan with a tie, is headed to work with AEW.
- CIMA: in “didn’t he already sign” AEW promoted that CIMA is All Elite long after one of the Young Bucks noted the promotion was working with CIMA’s OWE. CIMA is fighting Kenny Omega at the Jacksonville, FL event titled Fight for the Fallen.
- Sunny Daze: video editor for DDP Yoga/independent wrestler, signed for the battle royal.
Ring of Honor
- Sports Illustrated formalized the news that the company once called “the honorable ring” decided that it should pay Enzo and Cass — or whatever they’re called now, it doesn’t really matter — to entertain its audience. The baffling decision was made public-ish in a worked shoot fight at the G1 Supercard at MSG.
- But wait, ROH needed an equally questionable duo from across the gender aisle, so Velvet Sky and Angelina Love, came on down at the G1 Supercard to collect paychecks from the Sinclair-owned promotion.
Impact
- 4/20 came early for the Anthem-owned company, as Rob Van Dam is now an Impact Wrestling talent.
The stove stays hot these days, so stick with Cageside Seats for further talent movement. We’ll see you back here hopefully sooner rather than later with report #5!