AEW News & Rumor Roundup: Sad Buddy Matthews update, Backstage reaction to Tony Khan chant on WWE TV, Mercedes Mone retirement plans

Welcome back to another edition of Sportskeeda Wrestling's AEW News and Rumor roundup. Today we will look at news stories involving Buddy Matthews, Mercedes Mone, and more.

Adam Cole has teased a huge return after eight years outside All Elite Wrestling. Backstage reaction to Tony Khan's chant on WWE TV has been revealed. So, without any further ado let's dive into all of these stories:

#5. Buddy Matthews provides an update on injury following Grand Slam 2025

Buddy Matthews put on an impressive showing against Kazuchika Okada in their match at Grand Slam: Australia. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury during his entrance for the match as he leaped down from the ropes and landed awkwardly on his ankle.

That incident seemed to have hurt Matthews as he was then seen limping after the loss. The Hounds of Hell member provided an update on his condition sharing an image of his walking boot and joking that it made him feel like Iron Man.

#4. AEW's backstage reaction to 'Tony Fumbled' chants on WWE NXT

Ricky Saints made his entrance in WWE on the February 11th episode of NXT and set the crowd on fire. He recently teamed up with Je'Von Evans to take on the duo of Wes Lee and Ethan Page on the February 25th edition of NXT.

During the match, the fans in attendance stated chanting 'Tony Fumbled,' which was quite noticeable for everyone tuned into the show. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful spoke about the chants from fans in NXT on The Hump and noted that the people in AEW couldn't care less about it. He noted that there was no major discussion about it backstage at Jacksonville-based promotion as well.

#3. Mercedes Mone gives an update about her retirement plans

Mercedes Mone has been one of the most successful women in professional wrestling currently. The CEO has been on top of her game as she hails herself as 'Mone Four Belts.' Mone currently holds the TBS Championship along with other titles.

Mone has achieved great success in her time in WWE and AEW, making the most out of every stint in each company. She recently spoke in an interview with Katee Sackhoff about wanting to slow things down but has claimed that she isn't thinking of retirement right now.

"That scares me, I don’t want to think about the word retirement but I do think about slowing down because I’ve been doing it for so long.” [H/T: Fightful]

#2. Adam Cole teases huge return after eight years outside AEW

Adam Cole has expressed his desire to return to a major promotion after eight years. Before making a move to WWE in 2017, he used to compete frequently in NJPW. During this time, he was part of the iconic Bullet Club.

The Undisputed Kingdom member arrived in AEW in 2021 and has yet to wrestle for NJPW. He last defended the ROH World Championship against Kyle O'Reilly at Wrestle Kingdom 11 and has now spoken about his desire to compete for the Japanese promotion once again.

Speaking in an interview with Bleacher Report, Cole stated that he wanted to return to NJPW and this goal is very high on his list.

"The one for sure that I think I would love to do is I definitely want to go back to New Japan. I got the chance to wrestle there a few times and I got to do a Wrestle Kingdom show, which was amazing. But then, right as I started going to Japan more often is when I left [for WWE], so I was not able to continue going to Japan. So now that I'm back in All Elite Wrestling, the idea of being able to go over and wrestle for New Japan again is very high up on my list." [H/T: Bleacher Report]

#1. Thunder Rosa finally breaks silence on controversial botch from last week's AEW Dynamite

Thunder Rosa made an awkward botch on the February 19th episode of Dynamite. Megan Bayne defeated Kris Statlander with the help of Penelope Ford and continued to beat down her opponent after the match.

Rosa would come out to interfere and rescue Statlander with a chair in her hand. However, the moment would come off as clunky as Rosa would try and lunge towards the competitors but didn't strike any of them. Now, the former AEW Women's World Champion has addressed the botch on a recent edition of Busted Open Radio.

"You guys saw what happened. From that, I have learned so much. The takeaways I have as a performer are always ask questions. Be sure of what you're doing in the segment. The segment didn't go the way we wanted to, and it showed. I love what I do and I love my job. I now focus on doing things the right way to have a good product and make AEW better."

Fans and critics discussed the botch heavily for the past week and some believed that AEW was trying to bury Thunder Rosa.