Daily Update: Travis Scott, Mr. Kennedy, AEW notes

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Thursday Update

WWE

  • WrestleVotes reports that rapper Travis Scott is scheduled to appear at WWE Money in the Bank in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 7. Last month, Dave Meltzer wrote that Scott could make his in-ring debut this year by teaming with John Cena in a tag match where Cody Rhodes would likely be on the other side.
  • The WrestleVotes report said:
    • Amid speculation, we’re told WWE has plans for Travis Scott to appear at the Money in the Bank PLE on June 7th. Sources indicate this has been in the works since before WrestleMania.
  • On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy) spoke about training Tiffany Stratton at his school in Minnesota when she started wrestling:
    • She was friends with Greg Gagne. Greg is a family friend, and Greg reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this girl, she’s a powerlifter and she does gymnastics and stuff. She’s a super athlete, really good look, and I want to train her. Can we come?’ So she started coming and, right away, day one, she’s one of those people [with instincts in the ring]…
    • There’s some stuff people just have instincts for. I think she’s one of those people. However, the funny thing was, I don’t mean this in a negative way, she didn’t have any charisma as far as she just did the work. She didn’t have the character stuff down. I have her first promo. I’ll have to ask her someday for her permission to put it out there, right? [laughs] Because it’s not good.
  • Anderson said everyone’s first promo is usually terrible, and it’s “pretty awesome” to see how far Stratton has come. 
  • Anderson also worked with Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson when Steveson was training for WWE. While saying the timing may have just been wrong for Steveson to succeed, Anderson explained what he thinks Steveson was missing as a pro wrestler:
    • I don’t think that he loves the wrestling business. I mean, WWE has done the NIL thing for a while. I remember back when, I think when I was there, there was always these rumors that WWE is only taking guys that are six foot one or taller. Then for a while, they wouldn’t take anybody that had independent experience. I just think the guys who are successful love this.
  • Dominik Mysterio was the guest on a new episode of Stephanie McMahon’s What’s Your Story? podcast.
  • Natalya made her debut as a Busted Open Radio co-host today.
  • The No-Contest Wrestling podcast interviewed Mick Foley.

Other Wrestling

  • Will Ospreay told Bleacher Report that he’s honored to share a connection with Owen Hart through them both having held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title:
    • Of course I have [watched Hart’s work], but I’ll be honest with you, I’ve watched more of his New Japan stuff because when I won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, the best thing about that belt is all the side plates have the names of the wrestlers who held it beforehand, and Owen Hart’s name is on there, man.
    • It was such an honor to have even that small connection to Owen Hart, and even now, we share a birthday. I found that out and thought that was really cool, and the fact that we’re going to be in the finals feels so cool.
  • Willow Nightingale spoke to The Takedown about how she’s approaching being part of Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing:
    • I think, yeah, we’ve all been butt-kickers, but the story of brotherhood just being ‘for the boys and boys being boys’ can go deeper. Because obviously, AEW’s known for letting us girls go crazy and have our tag team street fight matches. The one that I had with Kris Statlander. But obviously, to be brought into another level to think like, ‘Oh well, they think they’re tough as the boys,’ like, no, we’re going to hang with the boys. It’s called anarchy, and we’re bringing it.
  • This week’s AEW Unrestricted is a Double or Nothing preview episode.
  • During a Twitch stream, Kenny Omega said that – even though they have never met each other before – Bayley reached out to him with a message of support when he was battling diverticulitis.
  • Swerve Strickland gifted Big E a pair of his new Reebok sneakers. The Strickland-themed shoes are a collaboration between AEW, Reebok, and Champs Sports.
  • Scorpio Sky has relaunched his podcast with creator James Willems. It’s now called the Creating Character podcast after previously being known as Wrestling With The Week.
  • AEW wished Bryan Danielson a happy 44th birthday.
  • All 10 entrants for the Cibernetico match at Dean~! 2 in Glendale, Arizona this Saturday have now been revealed. The match will feature:
    • Blue Panther
    • Neon
    • Hologram
    • Volador Jr.
    • Virus
    • Valiente
    • Averno
    • Dr. Cerebro
    • Xelhua
    • Euforia
  • TNA World Champion Joe Hendry and indie wrestler LJ Cleary trained with CM Punk and Ace Steel at Steel’s Foundation of Wrestling school in Florida last night.