Adam Cole & Claudio Castagnoli To Appear On WWE Programming?

How could this be, right? AEW and WWE are pretty much at each other’s throats. That’s been the case since AEW’s inception, the subsequent Wednesday Night Wars between NXT and AEW, and especially now after All Out weekend, in which WWE decided to run back to back shows.

Tony Khan has certainly voiced his opinions on that. Here is some of what Tony Khan said back when this occurred during this year’s Labor Day weekend:

“There’s a big difference between this year and last year. We were the first professional wrestling show and the only professional wrestling show on Labor Day weekend last year, and we were the third professional wrestling show of the weekend this year. I don’t think that’s a coincidence….When I talk about things I wasn’t thrilled about, I was a little surprised we were the third professional wrestling show this weekend, and it’s probably a little bit more challenging in the marketplace when it becomes a little more crowded…
Our performance — in prior years, we never had this kind of competition. This was kind of a first for us in AEW to see this kind of a crowded marketplace. I’m not sure if this is what we’ll see from now on…I’ve had a number of interactions with [WWE]. I’ve said a lot of nice stuff, and I don’t regret saying nice stuff because I’m super honest about pro wrestling. And when I saw good stuff there, I’ll be the first to say it…

I am just not feeling the same love. I don’t want to get into it. I just haven’t felt the same reciprocation from them…If it is, when the fight is brought, I will continue bringing fights of my own, and I have unique ways to do that. I have a lot of money to fight with…And this is not a game to me. This is my life, and I don’t think it’s a joke, and I take it really seriously.”

via Wrestling Headlines (Transcription)

We would now think that he wouldn’t be too cooperative when it came to sharing his roster with WWE right about now, but apparently the aforementioned two stars are in fact soon to appear, according to headlines.

Well, as it turns out, headlines often exaggerate (no…you’re kidding me), and that of course just might be the case here…. Many headlines recently spoke about Castagnoli possibly appearing on WWE programming (Adam Cole as well), and although where exactly he and Cole will be appearing is indeed awesome for their fans, it won’t be in a professional wrestling capacity per se.

Up Up Down Down is a Youtube WWE program hosted by Xavier Woods. He is a video game aficionado, as are Castagnoli, Cole and even Tyler Breeze. Castagnoli and Adam Cole posted a vignette that kind of got the ball rolling online.

What’s interesting though, is that the video includes all three men, who were often on the Up Up Down Down show together (a barrel of laughs by the way, and always a good time…just look at old videos, you won’t be disappointed whether you’re a gamer or not), but it does not necessarily indicate whether the troop is getting back together for Up Up Down Down specifically….

The video opens with Tyler Breeze narrating and stating that sometimes you’ve gotta call on your friends (I’m paraphrasing here, but that’s the gist), and flashes of all three other men are shown…alluding to a reunion.

Tyler Breeze still appears on the show with Xavier, as the following video shows…. He is actually still featured on the banner for the show, this despite his WWE release in 2021. He was subsequently hired as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center, a job he still holds. It’s the other two that are a mystery here.

But will this reunion be in fact on WWE programming and on Up Up Down Down? Or is Breeze launching another show… a show that has nothing to do with WWE, and where all three other men can indeed be a part of it? It’s not clear in the vignette – or at least not to this writer.

This is exciting news for fans of the show, as mentioned above, and for the men involved here, but the vignette, why it was shared, and just what comes next, is still a mystery. All we know for sure is that the band will be getting back together, but on which platform?

NEXT: Cody Rhodes Clears The Air On Whether He Left AEW Because Of CM Punk