• Real Reason Behind Shelton Benjamin’s Match Finish Being Botched On AEW Dynamite
This week’s AEW Dynamite featured a qualifying match for Full Gear’s upcoming Casino Gauntlet, pitting Shelton Benjamin against “Speedball” Mike Bailey. The match delivered an action-packed showcase, but the finish left viewers confused after an awkward sequence caused the referee to halt what appeared to be the winning pinfall.
In the closing stretch, Benjamin landed a huge superkick that sent Bailey flipping backward. Bailey stayed down with his shoulders flat, and Benjamin immediately went for the cover. However, referee Paul Turner stopped his count before three, despite Bailey not kicking out. The match continued briefly before Benjamin connected with a second superkick to secure the official victory.
According to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live, the miscue stemmed from Shelton Benjamin calling an audible on the spot. After seeing how impressive Bailey’s flip bump looked, Benjamin reportedly decided the moment was strong enough to serve as the actual finish and signaled for the match to end right there. Unfortunately, the referee didn’t hear Benjamin call for the early finish, leading Turner to stop his count because the planned ending had not yet arrived.
Alvarez explained that no one was injured during the sequence, and Bailey was simply selling the impact as intended. The confusion was strictly due to miscommunication between Benjamin and the referee. Once the count was stopped, the wrestlers proceeded to the planned finish.
Despite the hiccup, Benjamin walked away with the win and now secures one of the first two entries in the Full Gear Casino Gauntlet. He’ll start the match opposite fellow Hurt Syndicate teammate Bobby Lashley. The winner of the Gauntlet will become the inaugural AEW National Champion.
• Fake Bob Holly Account Stirs Controversy After Recent Goldberg Situation
This past Saturday at The Big Event Entertainment × Sports Expo held in the Suffolk Credit Union Arena in Brentwood, New York, wrestling fans lined up for autograph signings with legends like Sting, The Great Muta and Bill Goldberg among others.
However, what should have been a smooth celebrity-meet-and-greet turned into a public dispute with one vendor, K & S Wrestlefest, over Goldberg’s alleged failure to complete a private signing session.
K & S Wrestlefest had promoted a private autograph signing session with Goldberg, charging fans $80 for an item to be signed and then mailed to them. But the vendor later announced via Facebook (a post which has since been deleted) that the signing “did not happen.” They wrote:
“Unfortunately Goldberg PRIVATE Signing did not happen.. We had all our items laid out ready to sign as Goldberg was doing another Private for another vendor. After he was done, he got up and said he was done.. He walked out past our stuff, and left.. We are all super disappointed, and frustrated… My apologies to all…”
In response to the allegations, The Big Event Entertainment × Sports Expo promoter, Tom Unger, disputed the claim and offered a different version of events in comments on a Facebook post:
“No he wasn’t. He signed for the fans for 5hrs straight.. Ken (K & S Wrestlefest) wasn’t guaranteed anything. I told him if we had time we would get your items done.. He shouldn’t be posting this all over like the victim. This was my deal and my customers come first. Shouldn’t take mail order from all you not knowing if it was going to get done.”
The fake Bob Holly X account tried to stir up controversy regarding this situation by tweeting the following:
“I never refused any fan of my time in public, unless I was eating. Airport, hotel, wherever. Vince McMahon’s edict to us was to always do right by our fans. Certain individuals think they’re over. In reality, they’re miserable, ungrateful, frail little wimps who’ll never change.”
It should be noted that Bob Holly aka Hardcore Holly doesn’t have any social media pages, and this fake Bobby Holly account previously used to be a fake Sid Eudy account, which the owner renamed to Bob Holly after Sid’s death. Since the account has 68K followers, a lot of fans still continue to get fooled by the tweets.
