AEW News Roundup: Top star discloses he texts John Cena "every now and again", former WWE manager recalls scary spot involving Claudio Castagnoli (July 2, 2022)
Welcome to another edition of the AEW News Roundup, where we bring you the top stories from the world of All Elite Wrestling.
A former United States Champion recently revealed he is in regular contact with WWE icon John Cena. Meanwhile, a wrestling legend stated that one of Claudio Castagnoli's spots in a recent AEW match scared him.
We round off today's edition with a story about William Regal praising a current champion in WWE. So without further ado, let's begin:
#3 AEW's Miro says he texts 16-time world champion John Cena regularly
Where were you
When Rusev attacked Cena?
Were you hyped
Or did you wish Talking Smack was on? https://t.co/CFpYNgaZZk
Former WWE United States Champion Miro recently heaped praise on John Cena during an interview with talkSPORT.
The two stars collided at WrestleMania 31 in a United States Title match, with The Leader of the Cenation defeating The Redeemer after a bout that lasted almost 15 minutes.
During the interview, Miro said he learned a lot of in-ring psychology while working with Cena. He added that he will always have respect for the 16-time world champion:
"It’s a lot of the psychology you learn with him. Just taking the time. More than 50 percent of professional wrestling I’ve learned from Cena and working with him. I can never be thankful enough of him for doing that. But even nowadays, I always respect John. How work ethic was always unmatchable. And now when I’m doing the acting stuff, I text him every now and again to get advice and he’s always very, very generous with his advice," said Miro.
John Cena returned to WWE television earlier this week on the occasion of his 20th-anniversary celebration with the company. He had segments with multiple superstars on RAW, including Theory, possibly hinting at a match for this year's SummerSlam premium live event.
#2 Dutch Mantell reveals he was scared for one of AEW star Claudio Castagnoli's spots in the Blood and Guts match
The main event of this week's AEW Dynamite saw The Jericho Appreciation Society take on Blackpool Combat Club, Eddie Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz in a violent Blood and Guts match.
The babyfaces emerged victorious after Claudio Castagnoli made Matt Menard submit with the sharpshooter. However, a spot in the bout worried wrestling legend Dutch Mantell.
While speaking on the latest edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, Mantell said that Castagnoli executing the Giant Swing on top of the steel cage was risky.
"When I was watching it, when the wire went over, I thought that was no wire there. I said, 'man, if he just takes another little of a step, he'd fall through that thing.' But it had wire (...) I don't know, it may have scared the sh*t out of me. Couldn't get me up there," said Mantell. (from 53:30 to 53:50)
Claudio Castagnoli has made a triumphant start to his AEW career, with victories in two big matches. It remains to be seen whether Tony Khan will book him as a main event star in the company going forward.
#1 AEW's William Regal praises Intercontinental Champion Gunther, calls him the "perfect heavyweight lion"
“I remember him having a tryout and he hadn’t figured himself out at the time.
Once he figured it out — WALTER, now Gunther, he is the perfect heavyweight lion.”
- William Regal on Gunther
(via Gentleman Villain) https://t.co/myPI3klGSb
Blackpool Combat Club leader William Regal praised Gunther during the latest edition of his Gentlemen Villain podcast.
Gunther made his main roster debut on the April 8, 2022 edition of SmackDown. Last month, he defeated Ricochet to win his first title on the main roster, the Intercontinental Championship.
While speaking on his podcast, Regal said that Gunther sticks to his strengths and knows what got him to this level:
“Because he knows what he is, and he sticks to what he does best, and he doesn’t expose anything that he doesn’t know," said Regal. "He knows exactly what to do that’s got him to where he got to and he’s the-he had a long time to figure it out, you know I remember him having him on a tryout and he hadn’t figured himself out, and once he figured out WALTER and now Gunther, he is the perfect heavyweight lion."
He added:
“If you think about the way a lion is, it will just stalk, stalk, just prowl up and down, prowl up and down, it will swat, it will swat if has to. When it has to sprint, it sprints and it kills. If you look at him like that, he’s figured out, he’s perfected how to be a perfect lion. That’s what a really good heavyweight should be.”
It will be interesting to see if Gunther emerges as a legitimate contender for Roman Reigns' Undisputed Universal Championship in the future.