MJF AEW Return Update, Triple H’s First NXT Call-Up, WWE 2K23 Release Date – News Bulletin – August 10, 2022

AEW

An update on MJF possibly returning to AEW, the first NXT call-up of the Triple era has seemingly been revealed, some news on the release date for WWE 2K23, and more.

It’s Wednesday, and what better way to start the day than getting caught up on all the latest wrestling news – I’m Liam Winnard for WrestleTalk.com, and this is our news bulletin for August 10, 2022.

MJF AEW Return Update

MJF has been absent from AEW TV for two months now, and the promotion has remained silent about his status.

Whenever he’s asked about it, Tony Khan will give a “no comment” answer, and we haven’t heard from MJF himself at all.

However, that won’t stop speculation, even from talent in the locker room, who are reportedly just as clueless about it as everyone else is.

In the latest update to the MJF saga, Dave Meltzer stated that “everyone in AEW” believes MJF will make a return at some point, but no-one knows for sure.

While there’s still nothing concrete, that is at least positive update in the sense it means there hasn’t been a highly publicised falling-out that’s led to a return being out of the question.

Triple H’s First NXT Call-Up

The first NXT call-up Triple H could make as WWE’s head of creative looks to have been revealed.

During last night’s Augsut 9 edition of NXT 2.0, after months and months of rivalry, Tony D’Angelo and Santos Escobar agreed to have one final match at Heatwave next week.

The stipulation is that if Escobar wins, his Legado Del Fantasma teammates are free from the D’Angelo family, but on the other side of the coin, the more major stipulation is that if D’Angelo wins, Escobar is banned from NXT forever.

The obvious assumption is that if Escobar does end up being “banned” from NXT, he’ll be heading up to either Raw or SmackDown soon after.

It was clear under Triple H’s management in NXT that Escobar was one of his favorites, and he’s definitely ready for the main roster, but it would be a bit of a surprise if he was called up on his own rather than having Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde go up with him.

When it comes to NXT call-ups, Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark were announced for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament on the main roster, but it doesn’t seem like that’ll be a permanent roster change yet – just a one-off for the tournament.

In another note from last night’s NXT, it was announced that Solo Sikoa would be out of action for 4-6 weeks due to injury after his Falls Count Anywhere match with Von Wagner last week.

The lineup for next week’s August 16 NXT Heatwave show is now as follows:

• Bron Breakker (c) vs. JD McDonagh – NXT Championship
• Mandy Rose (c) vs. Zoey Stark – NXT Women’s Championship
• Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Giovanni Vinci – NXT North American Championship
• Tony D’Angelo vs. Santos Escobar (with the aforementioned stipulations)
• Cora Jade vs. Roxanne Perez

WWE 2K23 Release Date News

While not perfect, WWE 2K22 was met with a LOT more praise than its predecessor WWE 2K20, and for good reason as it was a huge step forward.

The game had received a lot of promotion and it was kind of seen as a last chance for 2K to prove they could get a WWE game right before WWE would have to move on and find someone else.

After the success of 2K22, the two companies did come to an agreement to continue their partnership, and now, we have some news on the next game, WWE 2K23.

In its latest finanacial report, 2K confirmed WWE 2K23 is in the works, and listed its release date as being in “Fiscal 2023”.

2K’s Fiscal year ends at the end of March, which seemingly confirms the game will be coming out before the end of March 2023.

WWE 2K22 came out on March 8, 2022, so it would make sense to look at a similar time of year for next year’s version. We’ll obviously let you know when an official specific date is announced.

Other Stuff

In other little bits of news…

Dave Meltzer reported that the plan for the WWE Clash at the Castle main event is for it to remain a singles match between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre, despite Karrion Kross bursting onto the scene on SmackDown this past Friday.

WWE is said to be cooperating with VICE’s new series ‘Tales From The Territories’, which is being worked on by the producers of Dark Side of the Ring, because The Rock is heavily involved in the project and, basically, WWE wouldn’t want to upset The Rock. This means WWE contracted names could appear on the show.

Despite making an appearance in Wales recently, John Cena has confirmed he will not be at Clash at the Castle.

Jay White was pulled from upcoming NJPW G1 shows due to what was described as “heat-stroke-like symptoms”.

The viewership number for the August 6 AEW Battle of the Belts special was 437,000. The first Battle of the Belts in January drew 704,000, while the second one in April drew 527,000.

Speaking with NBC Sports Boston, Gail Kim said the door is open for Paige if she wants to join IMPACT Wrestling following her recent WWE departure.

Anna Jay’s name was listed on AEW Dark match graphics as Anna Jay AS, so it seems like an official name change.

Anthony Ogogo admitted in an interview with Chris Van Vliet that the infamous weigh-in segment with Cody Rhodes last year was “f**king dog**t”.

At Terrificon 2022, Dustin Rhodes gave his take on talent that is upset in AEW, saying if their contracts come up and they’ve “had enough” with AEW, they should “get the f**k out”.

Rhodes also said that he’s heard “down the pike” that AEW could be holding two-night pay-per-views soon.

Fightful Select reported that, as of now, Kevin Dunn is expected to remain with WWE. There is said to be a lack of anyone suitable to replace him, with the best candidate having been released in a previous round of cuts, and unlikely to return because of how the departure went down.

Ariya Daivari, who is the leader of the new TrustBusters group on-screen, also has a producer role backstage in AEW. According to Fightful, Daivari helped produce the Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter vs Thunder Rosa & Toni Storm match last week.

And announced for tonight’s AEW Dynamite ‘Quake by the Lake’ show is:

• Jon Moxley (c) vs. Chris Jericho – Interim AEW World Championship
• Jade Cargill (c) vs. Madison Rayne – TBS Championship
• Brody King vs. Darby Allin – Coffin Match
• Andrade El Idolo & Rush vs. Lucha Bros – Tornado Tag Team Match
• Ricky Starks vs. Aaron Solo
• FTR Returns

Be sure to stay tuned to WrestleTalk.com throughout the day to keep up with all the news from the world of pro-wrestling, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning for another round-up.

If you’re in the UK but didn’t manage to get tickets to Clash at the Castle on September 3, WrestleTalk is hosting a watch party at The Joiner on Worship in Shoreditch, London, and we’d love for you to join us! Click here for more details.

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