Over the past few weeks, episodes of AEW Dynamite have featured footage from episodes of NWA Power, the voice of NWA owner Billy Corgan and a presence from Thunder Rosa, the reigning NWA Women’s World Champion. Rosa arrived on the special Saturday night edition of Dynamite to challenge Hikaru Shida for the AEW Women’s World Championship, and a match was promptly booked for this Saturday’s All Out pay-per-view. Between the coronavirus pandemic halting production and vice president Dave Lagana’s departure from the company, most of the National Wrestling Alliance’s roster has been stuck in limbo over the past few months, and fans began to speculate that some sort of alliance with AEW was forming.
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During a media conference call on Thursday, AEW president Tony Khan clarified that wasn’t the case. The partnership between the two companies extends only as far as Rosa’s appearance on the roster and could end as quickly as Saturday if she fails to win the title.
“The working relationship between us is the extent of the good personal relationship between Billy Corgan and me,” Khan said. “I’ve had a good relationship with Billy for years, long before I got into the wrestling business.”
“… The NWA has got great history, they aren’t really operating right now, I think we’re very different companies in a very different place. And I think the NWA, it sounds like they’re going to get back to running and I wish Billy the best with the stuff he’s doing,” Khan continued. “I thought this would be a good opportunity for them, and for us because Thunder Rosa is great and I thought she’d be a great challenger for Shida. So it’s one of those situations where I thought it would make sense for both sides. Which is why I proposed it, he agreed, and that’s why we’re doing it.”
Kahn continued — “I’m not sure what the future would hold for us. But obviously, if Thunder Rosa wins the title there could be a lot more… If Thunder Rosa wins the title, you could see obviously a lot more stuff between us. But I don’t have plans to use anybody else from the NWA.”
Check out the full card for All Out below:
- AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. MJF
- AEW World Tag Team Championships: Kenny Omega & Hangman Page vs. FTR
- AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa
- Mimosa Mayhem Match: Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy — the only way to win is by pinfall, submission or getting tossed into a vat of mimosa.
- Broken Rules Match: Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara — if Hardy loses, he will quit AEW.
- Casino Battle Royale: Darby Allin vs. Lance Archer vs. Ricky Starks vs. Brian Cage vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Rey Fenix vs. The Butcher vs. The Blade vs. Eddie Kingston vs. Shawn Spears vs. Billy Gunn vs. Austin Gunn vs. Jake Hager vs. Santana vs. Ortiz vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Trent vs. TBD (Winner Gets an AEW World Championship Match)
- The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) vs. Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall
- The Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express
- (The Buy-In Kickoff): Britt Baker vs. Big Swole (Tooth and Nail Match at Dr. Baker’s office)
