Undertaker, AAA, DEMONITO, WXW, AEW Venues, Naomi, Kip Sabian

• Fightful has noted recently that The Undertaker is expected backstage at AAA a lot more. Those we have been speaking to say that he is an influential figure there.

• We had readers asking about Corey Graves' brother Sam Adonis being absent from AAA of late. He's not under contract, but has expressed interest in working with AAA/WWE in a variety of capacities, we're told.

• As one would expect, Naomi's pregnancy has caused some huge creative shifts. Everyone was ecstatic for her and Jimmy Uso backstage. WWE rushed out the previous episode of Stephanie's Places with Naomi and Jimmy Uso so they could film a second one and have it ready. Congrats to the couple!

• There are a few AEW talent that are booked for Forbidden Door that still weren't sure if their schedules include AEW Dynamite as of this past weekend.

• We're told that the Demonito puppet immediately sold well on WWEShop.

• Angelo Dawkins participated in a celebrity basketball game last week in Cleveland.

wXw notes

- Those we spoke with in wXw told us Mike D Vecchio and Aigle Blanc’s farewell was as one would expect an emotional affair. Those we spoke with ranged in reactions, with some naturally being happy for the pair’s future with WWE, while others were sad to see them go.

- Elsewhere at wXw Shortcut To The Top, Peter Tihanyi made his return after being out with a shoulder injury for the past few months. We are told that Tihanyi was only recently cleared to compete but has still been coaching while out of the ring at wXw’s academy. We are also told that the promotion were working under the assumption that Tihanyi would be cleared in time for the match, although those we spoke with noted that Tihanyi was still not completely ‘ring ready’ despite his clearance ahead of Shortcut To The Top

- In other injury news within the German company, Dennis Dullnig has also been cleared to return to the ring following a head injury back in February.

- Finally, Alex Duke is still waiting on clearance to return from a shoulder injury of his own, but we are told he remains active with the company working in a backstage capacity.

- We are also told Shortcut To The Top was the promotion’s most successful non 16 Carat Gold event since 2019.

Kip Sabian

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful spoke to Kip Sabian ahead of AEW Forbidden Door.

Sabian told SRS that he's not wrestled much in London since joining AEW in 2019, which is when SRS and Sabian met while doing media for Double or Nothing. Sabian said that his World Of Sport media training helped him prepare to do interviews and junkets.

Sabian says he reached out to Christian years ago and asked for feedback, and that probably helped land him in the Patriarchy. He wouldn't get into specific lessons that Christian provided, but said there were a number of light bulb moments that helped him with his career. He also considers Nick Wayne the best 20 year old wrestler he's ever seen.

We also spoke about his teenage wrestling days, and he said he actually used to do backyard wrestling meets with Will Ospreay of all people.

We also spoke about an old man headbutting him at an event, and he said that while he no sold it, it hurt really bad. The bump off the ladder he took from SCU years ago was also one of his least favorite bumps, but he's glad he can reminisce on it.

He said that he was more of a Hardy Boyz guy than Edge & Christian growing up. He also was a big fan of Chuck Taylor.

The full interview will be available at this link.