Below are some top WWE/AEW news stories of the day:
• Chair shots to the head have become increasingly rare in wrestling, due to the known risks of brain injuries like CTE. However, during AEW’s fourth annual Blood & Guts Match on AEW Dynamite, an exception occurred.
In this match, Team AEW (Swerve Strickland, Mark Briscoe, Darby Allin, and The Acclaimed) took on The Elite (The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada, Jack Perry, and “Hangman” Adam Page).
During the match, Perry was handcuffed to the cage and received an unprotected chair shot to the head from Briscoe. Team AEW emerged victorious in the end. You can watch this spot below:
Mark Briscoe gave Jack Perry Super Saiyan blue levels of CTE with that chair shot 😭😭 #AEWBloodAndGuts #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/WuPPltv9bd
— Public Enemies Podcast (@TheEnemiesPE3) July 25, 2024
AEW EVP Nick Jackson (of The Young Bucks) had the following to say about this incident during an interview with Sports Illustrated:
“All I know is Jack is fine, and that’s all that matters, we know the risk we’re taking in the ring and it wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t prepared for it.”
According to the Wrestling Observer, the chair used was a “gimmicked” one, designed to be safer:
“It was one of the shaved-down chairs. I don’t know how shaved down that is, I don’t know how soft that is, but it was a gimmicked chair. But still, they waffled that dude with that chair.”
However, long-time former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas challenged this notion, stating it’s not possible to make a steel chair safe for a headshot. In a video posted on X, Korderas demonstrated that such chairs cannot be altered for safety:
“Here we are with a folding steel chair. Guess what? It’s not gimmicked, you know why? Because you can’t gimmick these things. So get it out of your head. It isn’t possible. Maybe if it’s made of wood, maybe you can shave it down a little bit, but guess what? Steel chairs, that’s what you get.”
Quick lesson! Thank you and good night. pic.twitter.com/PWEz2seCyh
— Jimmy Korderas (@jimmykorderas) July 28, 2024
WATCH: AEW Wrestler Thunder Rosa Shakes Her Hot Buns:
• Bret Hart is known for his candidness, and he continues to express his grievances openly. Recently, he has not only criticized Goldberg but also directed some negative comments toward 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Hart claims that Booker T, like Goldberg, attempted to harm him during their time in WCW.
Hart has long criticized Goldberg for causing a concussion that ended his wrestling career prematurely after a kick at WCW Starrcade in 1999. In a recent virtual signing with Signed by Superstars, Hart revisited his issues with Goldberg and also criticized Booker T, particularly for his Scissor Kick finishing move.
Hart described the Scissor Kick as “really dangerous” and suggested that both Booker T and Goldberg were effectively trying to injure him. He expressed his dissatisfaction with both the Jackhammer and Scissor Kick, and continues to hold onto these grievances even years later.
Here’s what The Hitman said:
“Man, that’s a really dangerous move, that one (Bret said while looking at a photo of Booker T hitting him with a Scissor Kick). When he did that to me, it drove my head right into the mat. Between him and Goldberg, they were trying to kill me.
That was a really dangerous move. I had to tell him to stop. He couldn’t do it to me anymore. He [performed it on] me two or three times and every time he did, drove my head right into the — almost right through the boards.”
