An F4WOnline Editor since 2019, Ethan has been covering wrestling and MMA since 2011. He has hosted The Wrestling Life Podcast since 2014, and is a former Baltimore Sun TV/Tribune Media contributor. He is also a Baltimore Ravens and Baltimore Orioles fan.
NJPW has announced Wrestle Kingdom 16 as a three-night event for January 4, January 5 and January 8, 2022.
Nights one and two will be in the Tokyo Dome, while night three will be in Yokohama Arena. The announcement was made at intermission during today’s Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome event.
New Year Dash has been held the day after Wrestle Kingdom every year since 2014, but no announcement was made as to what the three-night format means for the future of that show.
NJPW ran Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Kingdom 15 on January 4 and January 5 of this year, then returned to the venue for a Wrestle Grand Slam show on July 25.
Traditionally a one-night show, Wrestle Kingdom became a two-night event beginning with Wrestle Kingdom 14 in 2020. Tetsuya Naito defeated Jay White for the IWGP Intercontinental title on night one of that event, then defeated Kazuchika Okada on night two to win the IWGP Heavyweight title and complete the Double Gold Dash.
Bullet Club added a new member at today’s NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome event.
SHO officially joined Bullet Club’s ranks after defeating YOH by referee stoppage. After his win, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi and Dick Togo made their way to the ring and presented SHO with a Bullet Club shirt to cement his move from CHAOS to BC.
EVIL, Yujiro, Togo and SHO’s shirts all read House of Torture and featured the Bullet club logo on the left sleeve, so the House of Torture may be something of a sub-group with those four within the Bullet Club stable.
SHO turned on YOH during the Summer Struggle tour in August. SHO and YOH went winless as a team in the Super Junior Tag League this year after winning the prior three iterations of the tournament.
As Roppongi 3K, SHO and YOH captured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship five times, with their most recent reign ending at Kizuna Road in June 2021.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defends the IWGP United States Championship against Kota Ibushi today in the main event of night one of NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome.
The match marks Kota Ibushi’s return to action for the first time since July 2. He has been sidelined while recovering from aspiration pneumonia. Tanahashi will try for his first successful defense after winning the US title from Lance Archer at NJPW Resurgence on August 14 in Los Angeles.
Kazuchika Okada will face Jeff Cobb in the semi-main event in a return match. Their last singles meeting took place on July 25 at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome. Okada defeated Cobb with a cradle in 19:23 in that match.
Chase Owens will defend the provisional KOPW 2021 title against Toru Yano in a No DQ I Quit match. Owens claimed the provisional championship by winning a New Japan Ranbo at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome.
SHO will face YOH in a matchup of former Roppongi 3K teammates. SHO turned on YOH during the Super Junior Tag League on the Summer Struggle tour in August.
In the main card opener, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask will team against Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI. The match will mark BUSHI’s return after missing the last two weeks of the Summer Struggle tour with COVID-19.
On the pre-show, Lady C and Maika will take on Momo Watanabe and Saya Kamitani in a STARDOM exhibition match.
Our live coverage begins with the pre-show at 3:30 a.m. Eastern time.
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Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani defeated Maika & Lady C (12:02)
This was one of the better pre-show matches you’ll ever see. All action.
Maika and Watanabe began with a brief mat wrestling sequence, ending in a stalemate.
Lady C and Kamitani tagged in. Lady C was quickly cut off. Watanabe tagged back in for a series of slams. Lady C managed a tag. Maika hit a forearm for a knockdown. Watanabe came back with a Shibata dropkick and a series of big kicks for a near fall.
Kamitani got a tag in the plus position and hit a running knee and a dropkick for a near fall. Maika missed a sliding lariat. She tried a suplex, but Kamitani blocked with a guillotine choke. Maika powered through and hit a vertical suplex into a double down.
Lady C got a tag. Kamitani hit a running kick. Lady C hit a knee lift and a running boot. Maika came in for an illegal double team. Watanabe entered as well and hit a dropkick to take out Maika.
Kamitani used a dropkick for a near fall on Lady C. Kamitani hit a springboard crossbody for another two count. Lady C hit an overhand chop. Kamitani blocked a chokeslam attempt. Maika cut Kamitani off on the top rope and hit a stalling superplex.
Lady C recovered and hit a chokeslam, but Watanabe saved to break up the pinfall. Watanabe hit a big kick. Lady C hit a big boot to Kamitani, then hit a chop off the second for another near fall just past the 10 minute mark.
Lady C went for a chokeslam off the top, but Kamitani hit a frankensteiner and a Star Crusher for a near fall as Maika saved.
All four were in. Watanabe hit a half-and-half suplex to Maika. Watanabe and Kamitani hit tandem knee strikes off the second rope.
Kamitani then hit a phoenix splash to Lady C for the pin.
This was the second excellent tag match of the night.
Hiromu and Eagles started the match and did a great series of counters and escapes. Hiromu tagged BUSHI, but hit Eagles from behind as he went to tag Tiger. Hiromu and BUSHI doubled up on Eagles. Eagles made his own comeback and tagged out.
Tiger came in with a high cross and a dropkick to Hiromu. Eagles and Tiger then hit tandem dropkicks to BUSHI. BUSHI came back by choking Tiger with his t-shirt. Tiger was then isolated in the LIJ half of the ring. Hiromu ended up wearing Robbie’s bandana.
Hiromu used the Ron Miller Special to Tiger to taunt Eagles. Tiger fought to the bottom rope to force a break. Tiger went after Hiromu’s left leg and managed a tag to Eagles.
Eagles got the hot tag and ran wild on Hiromu. He hit double knees in the corner to set up a 450 attempt. Hiromu slid out of the way and Eagles landed on his feet. BUSHI tried a save, but Eagles sent Hiromu into him.
Hiromu blocked a Ron Miller Special attempt. Hiromu blocked turbo backpack and hit a pop-up powerbomb into a double down. BUSHI got a tag and stopped Eagles from reaching Tiger. BUSHI hit a missile dropkick.
BUSHI hit a DDT for a near fall at 10 minutes. BUSHI ducked a right hand and hit a tope suicida to Tiger. Hiromu came in and traded strikes with Eagles. Eagles attacked Hiromu’s left leg, so look for that in their match tomorrow.
Eagles used the Ron Miller Special on BUSHI, but Hiromu saved. Tiger hit a tope suicida to Hiromu. Eagles hit a springboard dropkick to BUSHI’s leg.
Eagles then used the Ron Miller Special to submit BUSHI.
SHO defeated YOH (24:41)
This was very good. They worked it like a fight and a very heated personal issue. There was no heat from the audience, though. And if SHO joining Bullet Club means more ref bumps and bad booking, I’m not for it.
SHO entered first. He has a new look. He wore black and his ring jacket had some purple on it, a very EVIL aesthetic.
YOH charged into the ring and attacked SHO before the bell. YOH still had his entrance jacket on as he hammered away with strikes. SHO used a Young Lion at ringside as a human shield to turn the tide.
SHO then threw YOH into the barricade as he took control of the match. YOH sold his lower back. SHO posted YOH’s left arm. SHO used the barricade again and they did a couple of countout teases.
Back inside, YOH fired up and threw strikes with his right arm as his left arm dangled at his side. SHO used a rake of the eyes and a kitchen sink. SHO continued to attack the left arm. SHO hit some taunting kicks and stomps.
YOH came back with a dropkick and three flying forearms. YOH then hit some short kicks as SHO rolled to the apron. SHO went back after the arm. YOH sent SHO into the barricade with a dropkick. YOH landed a tope con giro.
YOH hit a falcon arrow for a two count. YOH fought for a superplex, but SHO blocked and hit a power breaker. SHO followed with two rolling German suplexes. YOH blocked a third German and hit a dragon screw.
YOH rolled through and used the Star Gazer, but SHO forced a quick break. They traded jumping knee strikes. YOH hit a dragon suplex, but SHO rolled through and hit a lariat for a double down just past the 15 minute mark.
SHO hit a powerful lariat and called for Shock Arrow. YOH blocked Shock Arrow and used Star Gazer again. SHO rolled to the ropes to force a break. YOH hit a dropkick to the leg and a dragon suplex into the turnbuckle pad.
SHO blocked Direct Drive. YOH hit a backdrop out of a Shock Arrow attempt. They traded strikes. SHO dropped YOH with a combination of strikes at 20 minutes. YOH fired back and dropped SHO with strikes.
They continued to trade heavy shots. SHO hit the ropes for a lariat, but YOH caught him with a lariat. YOH used a dragon suplex for a two count.
SHO blocked Direct Drive and bumped the referee. SHO hit a spear, then went to the floor to get a chair. YOH ducked a chair shot and hit a superkick. YOH refused to use the chair and hit another kick.
SHO blocked another Direct Drive attempt and hit a low blow. SHO hit a chair shot to the head and revived the referee. SHO revived the ref and had YOH pinned, but pulled him up at two to inflict more punishment.
SHO used a gogoplata and YOH passed out in the hold. The referee called for the stoppage.
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SHO fought off the ringside attendant that tried to perovide YOH an ice pack after the match. He cut a quick promo and told YOH to quit the business.
EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi and Dick Togo came to the ring after the match and presented SHO with a Bullet Club shirt to cement his new persona.
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Provisional KOPW 2021 No-DQ I Quit match: Toru Yano defeated Chase Owens to win the title (28:03)
This wasn’t as bad as it looked on paper, but in what universe would you book Toru Yano and Chase Owens to go for almost half an hour?
Yano has gone back to his old bleached hair look. Yano also brought a bag of handcuffs to the ring.
They began brawling in the aisle as Owens made his entrance. They brawled with a variety of plunder, including a trash can, a parasol, a kendo stick, a chair and ladders. Owens used a strap to tie Yano to the ropes.
Yano used the parasol on the trash can as Owens was trapped inside with the microphone. Owens set up a ladder bridge from the ring to the barricade and teased a suplex through the ladder from the apron. Yano blocked, then used a smaller ladder to send Owens through the bridge.
Yano set up a pair of tables. Owens cut him off with a cookie sheet shot. Owens placed Yano on the tables. Yano popped up and teased a suplex off the post through the tables. Owens blocked.
Both teased cuffing each other to the barricade, but both failed. Owens tore up the ring mats and teased a piledriver on the floor, but Yano hit a backdrop. Back in, Owens hit a jewel heist.
Owens placed Yano on the tables and hit a package piledriver, but the tables didn’t break. Yano didn’t answer as the referee asked him if he wanted to quit. Owens cuffed Yano to the barricade.
Owens whipped Yano with the strap and Yano refused to quit. Yano pulled a key from his wrist tape and freed himself, but acted as though he was still cuffed. Owens grabbed a baseball bat. Yano ducked a swing of the bat and kicked Owens low.
Yano cuffed Owens and threw away the key. Yano whipped Owens with the strap. Yano choked Owens with the strap. Yano brought a table into the ring. Yano hit a powerbomb through the table.
Yano brought scissors into the ring and threatened to cut Owens’ hair. Owens spat at Yano.
Yano threatened to stab Owens with the scissors and Owens quit.
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Wrestle Kingdom 16 as a three-night event was announced for January 4, January 5 and January 8, 2022. Nights one and two will be in the Tokyo Dome, while night three will be in Yokohama Arena.
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*****Intermission*****
Jeff Cobb defeated Kazuchika Okada (27:41)
This was a great match. I liked some elements of their last match better than this, but the closing stretch of this and some of the counters and reversals they came up with in this one were out of this world. Easily the biggest win of Cobb’s career. For all the bad booking this year, NJPW has done an incredible job of building Cobb up into a monster.
Okada came out fast and hit a neckbreaker rihgt away. Cobb sent Okada rolling to the floor with a strike. Okada played cat-and-mouse with Cobb, ducking in and out of the ring.
Cobb hit some power strikes. Cobb blocked one flapjack, but Okada hit the move on his second attempt. Cobb came back with a series of strikes and powerful throws.
Okada managed another neckbreaker, then hit a series of back elbows as he looked to soften Cobb up for the Money Clip. Okada hit three DDTs and got a near fall. He locked on the Money Clip, but Cobb quickly got to the ropes to force a break.
They fought to the floor. Okada sent Cobb over the barricade and teased a dive over the railing, but Cobb caught him and hit a suplex on the floor. Okada just beat the count back inside at 19.
Cobb hit an Oklahoma stampede and a standing moonsault for a two count. Cobb blocked a plancha and teased a powerslam on the floor, but Okada reversed into a DDT on the floor.
Back inside, Cobb blocked a tombstone. Okada hit a dropkick to the back, then hit his standard picture-perfect dropkick. Okada then hit the tombstone.
Okada used the Money Clip. Cobb tried to roll out, but Okada re-applied the hold in the center of the ring. Cobb slid to the ropes for a break.
Okada tried another tombstone, but Cobb countered into a reverse tombstone. Cobb could not follow up. They got back to their feet and traded strikes. Okada dropped first, but made it back to his feet. They traded more shots, and again Cobb got the better of it.
Cobb hit a jumping uppercut forearm in the corner and hoisted Okada out of the corner with a spin cycle. Okada blocked Tour of the Islands with a dropkick. Cobb ducked a spinning Rainmaker. Okada hit the ropes and ran into a dropkick.
Cobb hit a tombstone and Okada’s Rainmaker pose. Cobb tried a ripcord Tour of the Islands, but Okada slid out and hit a Rainmaker. Okada hit a second Rainmaker. Okada hit another dropkick.
Okada hit a spinning tombstone. Cobb reversed a Rainmaker attempt into a Tour of the Islands attempt. Okada blocked and used a tombstone position to lift Cobb to the top rope. Okada teased a tombstone off the top, but Cobb blocked and hit a thrust kick.
Still perched on the top rope, Cobb tried a superplex. Okada blocked. Cobb hit a jumping headbutt and a Tour of the Islands off the second rope.
Cobb followed with another Tour of the Islands and scored the pin.
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship match: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kota Ibushi to retain the title (17:47)
This was a good main event to cap a good show. This never reached the level of an epic NJPW main event with the time they were given, but that is probably for the best given Ibushi is coming back from pneumonia.
Ibushi was in tears just before the match began, very emotional in his comeback.
They opened with some mat wrestling. It ended in a stalemate. Tanahashi sold frustration after not being able to best Ibushi on the mat. Ibushi used a short arm scissors, but Tana forced a rope break.
Ibushi turned his attention to Tana’s left arm after the arm scissors. He stomped at the left arm. Tana came back with a dropkick to the left leg, then began to work on the limb. Tana used a kneelock, but Ibush forced a break.
They traded strikes. Ibushi tried to fire off some palm strikes, but Tana kicked his leg out of his leg. Ibushi blocked a dragon screw and hit a dropkick. Ibushi hit a flying mid kick and a standing moonsault.
Ibushi hit a snap rana and sent Tana to the floor. Ibushi then hit an awesome golden triangle moonsault off the top buckle to the floor.
Ibushi rolled Tana back inside and landed a springboard dropkick. Tana blocked a kick and hit a dragon screw. Both landed a series of simultaneous forearm shots. Ibushi scored the knockdown, then hit a series of forearms to the back of the neck from back mount position.
Tana blocked a Kamigoye and hit twist and shout. Tana followed with slingblade, but Ibushi no-sold it. Tana hit another slingblade, but Ibushi didn’t go down. Tana hit a third slingblade and Ibushi took a bump high on his neck.
Tana went for High Fly Flow, but Ibushi got his knees up. Ibushi hit Kamigoye, but could not follow up with an immediate cover.
Ibushi hit a Bomaye. He locked up Tana’s wrists and tried to set up another Kamigoye, but Tana blocked. Ibushi hit a v-trigger and maintained wrist control. Tanahashi fought out and hit slingblade for a one count. Tana hit a dragon suplex into a bridge for a two count.
Tana hit the Ace’s High standing High Fly Flow, then followed with another High Fly Flow to get the pin.
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Ibushi was openly weeping after the match as Tanahashi shared some words with him on the mat. Tanahashi was in tears as he got back to his feet.
Tana posed with the title. He then cut a promo welcoming Ibushi back. He said that they will do it again for the title one more time. Tana got an Ibushi chant started.
Tana said that last time in this building he wasn’t the main event, but tonight he is and that’s pretty awesome. He thanked the fans and finished up with some air guitar.
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Here is the lineup for tomorrow:
NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome night two, Sunday, September 5, 1:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. EVIL
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Robbie Eagles (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo (c) vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan
Malakai Black will continue his feud with the Rhodes family on AEW Dynamite.
Black vs. Dustin Rhodes has been announced for Wednesday’s Dynamite in Cincinnati, Ohio. The match was set up on AEW Rampage. Black took on Nightmare Family member Lee Johnson. After teasing hitting Johnson with a chair, Black then tempted Johnson to use the chair on him instead. Johnson refused and ultimately lost the match.
After the Black vs. Johnson bout, Dustin ran in to make the save. He grabbed the chair to threaten Black, but Black begged off.
Black previously defeated Cody Rhodes on the August 4 edition of Dynamite in his AEW in-ring debut. He made his first appearance for the promotion a month earlier on the July 7 Road Rager edition of Dynamite, laying out Cody’s manager Arn Anderson. Black then defeated Arn’s son Brock on the August 25 Dynamite.
Cincinnati’s own Jon Moxley’s homecoming has also been announced for Wednesday’s show. Dynamite airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time on TNT in the US.
Another participant has been added to Sunday’s All Out Women’s Casino Battle Royale.
Skye Blue was announced as the latest participant at tonight’s AEW Dark tapings.
AEW CEO, GM, President and Head of Creative Tony Khan made the announcement following Blue facing Red Velvet in a match taped for Dark. The crowd reaction for Blue was reportedly so overwhelming that she was offered the All Out spot.
Blue, 25, has worked as an enhancement talent for AEW in the past, losing to Britt Baker and Abadon on two episodes of AEW Dark: Elevation taped in April. She returned to the company this week, losing to Riho at Wednesday’s Dark: Elevation tapings. She also appeared on this week’s NWA events, defeating Christi Jaynes at Empower, then losing to Melina and Kiera Hogan at the next day’s TV tapings.
21 women have been announced for the Battle Royale. That should be the entire lineup, unless an angle is shot to add a mystery participant.
Here is the updated All Out card:
AEW All Out, Sunday, September 5, 7 p.m. Eastern time pre-show, 8 p.m. Eastern time main card —
AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage
CM Punk vs. Darby Allin
AEW Women’s World Championship: Britt Baker (c) vs. Kris Statlander
AEW World Tag Team Championship steel cage match: The Young Bucks (c) vs. The Lucha Brothers
TNT Championship: Miro (c) vs. Eddie Kingston
Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima
Paul Wight vs. QT Marshall
21-woman Women’s Casino Battle Royale: Thunder Rosa, Nyla Rose, Penelope Ford, Jade Cargill, Anna Jay, Riho, The Bunny, Big Swole, Tay Conti, Hikaru Shida, Red Velvet, Julia Hart, Diamante, Emi Sakura, Kiera Hogan, Abadon, Leyla Hirsch, KiLynn King, Jamie Hayter, Rebel, Skye Blue
The Buy-In pre-show match: Matt Hardy, Private Party & TH2 vs. Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta & Jurassic Express
AEW Women’s World Champion Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. is not going anywhere anytime soon, according to a report.
Citing AEW sources, Fightful Select is reporting that Baker and AEW recently agreed on a contract extension. The report does not state the length of the original deal or the new agreement.
Baker announced during this week’s AEW Dynamite that she had an announcement regarding a free agent signing for AEW. During a backstage interview with Tony Schiavone, Baker said that she was the signing.
Baker is set to defend her AEW Women’s title against Kris Statlander at Sunday’s All Out PPV.
Here is the card for All Out:
AEW All Out, Sunday, September 5, 7 p.m. Eastern time pre-show, 8 p.m. Eastern time main card —
AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage
CM Punk vs. Darby Allin
AEW Women’s World Championship: Britt Baker (c) vs. Kris Statlander
AEW World Tag Team Championship steel cage match: The Young Bucks (c) vs. The Lucha Brothers
TNT Championship: Miro (c) vs. Eddie Kingston
Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima
Paul Wight vs. QT Marshall
21-woman Women’s Casino Battle Royale: Thunder Rosa, Nyla Rose, Penelope Ford, Jade Cargill, Anna Jay, Riho, The Bunny, Big Swole, Tay Conti, Hikaru Shida, Red Velvet, Julia Hart, Diamante, Emi Sakura, Kiera Hogan, Abadon, Leyla Hirsch, KiLynn King, Jamie Hayter, Rebel, a mystery participant
The Buy-In pre-show match: Matt Hardy, Private Party & TH2 vs. Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta & Jurassic Express
AEW founder, president and head of creative Tony Khan conducted a media call today ahead of this Sunday’s All Out where he discussed relationships, collaborating with CM Punk, the future of AEW Dark, and the possibility of adding trios titles.
You can hear the audio by scrolling down and clicking the red button.
On CM Punk:
Khan talked about how talks with Punk went back 18 months and how in that regard, All Out has been building for that long. He said that he is enjoying both collaborating with Punk and building a relationship. He said that some of the things that Punk was asked to do before he left wrestling in 2014 didn’t make any sense to Khan, and that he has told Punk to let him know if he ever asks him to do something he’s uncomfortable with or that would be bad for his career.
On booking All Out:
Khan said that the card is the strongest that AEW has presented. He said that for the past week, he has been working close to 24 hour days between Fulham, the Jacksonville Jaguars and AEW. Khan said that figuring out the match order for All Out was actually easy and that when he’s shared that information with other people, they seem to agree on the match order. He said that he got the match order right on his first pass.
On AEW Dark’s future:
Khan said that Dark will be taped at Universal Studios in Orlando most weeks as he wants it to have the feel of the old WCW Worldwide show. He said that by moving Dark to its own taping rather than the same night as Rampage, he and the other AEW coaches will have the opportunity to devote more energy and time to the characters and talent on that show. He said that AEW Dark: Elevation will still be taped before Dynamite.
On the possibility of adding a trios championship to AEW:
Khan said that he was open to the idea and that it would make sense, but that they already fit a lot of stories into Dynamite and Rampage and nothing is imminent. He said that he used to book more trios matches for a variety of reasons, especially when Dynamite was running out of Daily’s Place every week.
On Jon Moxley:
Khan said that Jon Moxley’s forthcoming book is one of the best wrestling books in many years. He said that when Moxley first came to AEW, “…some people really tried to do a number on him personally,” and painted Moxley as difficult to work with or a malcontent, but he has found the opposite to be true. He said Moxley is an easygoing guy and they have built a great relationship.
On touring internationally:
Khan said that they have plans to do a few things in 2022 and that he wants Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham FC to be the England home base for AEW, but that they are at the mercy of circumstances as the last couple of years have shown and that he didn’t want to give a timetable.
On the roster size:
Khan said that there is no such thing as a full roster and that one of the things he enjoys about AEW compared to Fulham or the Jaguars is that there is no salary cap to deal with and no limit on the size of the roster. He said that there are many different philosophies when it comes to building a roster. He said that he didn’t expect that he would have the chance to sign 2point0 when the year began, but he jumped on them after they were released from NXT. He said he was familiar with their work both from the independents and NXT.
On AEW’s financial success:
Khan was asked if AEW was successful earlier than he had expected, and he said yes. He said that they were not making much money from Dynamite when they started out, but TNT has since put up $175 million over four years to keep them. He said that he has put eight figures of his own money into developing the AEW video game so that they don’t have to share in the profits with a developer when the time comes.
On the women’s division:
Khan said that the division is a work in progress and that things continue to get more cohesive as they have added talent and the talent that they already had has gained more experience. He put over Kenny Omega’s eye for talent and put Britt Baker over as one of the great World Champions in wrestling. He said that he will be the agent for Sunday’s Casino Battle Royale.
On the TNT Championship:
Khan balked at the idea that the TNT Championship is a midcard title. He said that the only wrestlers that have held the title are main eventers and protected stars.
On the Jericho cruise:
Khan said that some AEW talent advertised for the Jericho cruise will obviously not be on AEW television that week. He said the the Jericho cruise is Chris Jericho’s personal project, but that Chris is a big part of AEW and he wants to help out if he can. He said if he needs someone for TV that week and they’re advertised for the Jericho cruise, AEW is the first priority.
On the “forbidden door”
Khan said that he has different relationships with all the various promotions he works with, from the folks at Impact, to Billy Corgan with NWA, to Gedo and Rocky Romero with NJPW. He said that he thinks he has a good reputation for being fair and honest with them, that he has done a lot of favors for a lot of different places over the last year, but that he isn’t doing that to get something out of it, he just thinks it’s good karma for AEW.
Here is the card for Sunday’s show, starting at 7 PM Eastern with the pre-show:
AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage
CM Punk vs. Darby Allin
AEW Women’s World Championship: Britt Baker (c) vs. Kris Statlander
AEW World Tag Team Championship steel cage match: The Young Bucks (c) vs. The Lucha Brothers
TNT Championship: Miro (c) vs. Eddie Kingston
Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima
Paul Wight vs. QT Marshall
21-woman Women’s Casino Battle Royale: Thunder Rosa, Nyla Rose, Penelope Ford, Jade Cargill, Anna Jay, Riho, The Bunny, Big Swole, Tay Conti, Hikaru Shida, Red Velvet, Julia Hart, Diamante, Emi Sakura, Kiera Hogan, Abadon, Leyla Hirsch, KiLynn King, Jamie Hayter, Rebel, a mystery participant
The Buy-In pre-show match: Matt Hardy, Private Party & TH2 vs. Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta & Jurassic Express
A former AEW Women’s World Champion has been added to Sunday’s Casino Battle Royale.
The returning Riho has been announced as a participant for the Battle Royale. AEW GM Tony Khan made the announcement on today’s All Out media call. Riho returned to AEW in-ring action at Wednesday’s AEW Dark tapings after nearly two months away from the company.
20 participants are now official for the 21-woman Battle Royale.
Here is the updated card for All Out:
AEW All Out, Sunday, September 5, 7 p.m. Eastern time pre-show, 8 p.m. Eastern time main card —
AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage
CM Punk vs. Darby Allin
AEW Women’s World Championship: Britt Baker (c) vs. Kris Statlander
AEW World Tag Team Championship steel cage match: The Young Bucks (c) vs. The Lucha Brothers
TNT Championship: Miro (c) vs. Eddie Kingston
Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima
Paul Wight vs. QT Marshall
21-woman Women’s Casino Battle Royale: Thunder Rosa, Nyla Rose, Penelope Ford, Jade Cargill, Anna Jay, Riho, The Bunny, Big Swole, Tay Conti, Hikaru Shida, Red Velvet, Julia Hart, Diamante, Emi Sakura, Kiera Hogan, Abadon, Leyla Hirsch, KiLynn King, Jamie Hayter, Rebel, a mystery participant
The Buy-In pre-show match: Matt Hardy, Private Party & TH2 vs. Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta & Jurassic Express
NJPW’s United Empire stable could be debuting a new member later this month.
Will Ospreay and a mystery partner vs. Karl Fredericks and Clark Connors has been added to the September 26 NJPW Strong Autumn Attack tapings in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. NJPW teased the idea that Ospreay’s partner will be the fifth member of United Empire.
United Empire formed last October during an Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada match in the G1 Climax tournament. Ospreay, Bea Priestley and Great-O-Khan formed the original unit. Jeff Cobb would join the group a month later. Ospreay turned on Priestley and kicked her out of the group in March 2021 at the New Japan Cup finals. Aaron Henare then joined the group in April 2021 at Sakura Genesis.
Ospreay would be sidelined due to a neck injury in May 2021, while travel difficulties related to the COVID-19 pandemic have sidelined Henare, leaving O-Khan and Cobb as the only United Empire members working on the NJPW main roster. Ospreay returned to NJPW at Resurgence, but announced that he will be working on NJPW Strong in the United States for the foreseeable future.
NEVER Openweight Champion Jay White vs. Daniel Garcia has also been added to the September 26 show. NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Tom Lawlor vs. Ren Narita was announced for the September 25 event, while a Juice Robinson, Lio Rush, Clark Connors & TJP vs. Hikuleo, Chris Bey, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo eight-man tag was also added to September 25.
Tickets for both nights at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas are on sale now.
Here are the announced lineups:
NJPW Strong Autumn Attack night one, Saturday, September 25 —
Minoru Suzuki vs. Fred Rosser
Will Ospreay vs. Karl Fredericks
Tom Lawlor vs. Ren Narita
Juice Robinson, Lio Rush, Clark Connors & TJP vs. Hikuleo, Chris Bey, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo
NJPW Strong Autumn Attack night two, Sunday, September 26 —
Jay White vs. Daniel Garcia
Will Ospreay & a mystery partner vs. Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors
Lio Rush vs. Taiji Ishimori
Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer vs. Tom Lawlor & Royce Isaacs
A new match has been added to Sunday’s AEW All Out The Buy-In pre-show.
Matt Hardy, Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) and TH2 (Jack Evans & Angelico) will take on Orange Cassidy, Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus), Chuck Taylor and Wheeler Yuta. The match was made official on Wednesday’s 100th episode of AEW Dynamite.
It was also announced that PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo has been postponed from All Out. As a result, the Women’s Casino Battle Royale has been moved from The Buy-In to the main card. The 10-man tag will take the Battle Royale’s spot on the pre-show.
Here is the updated All Out card:
AEW All Out, Sunday, 7 p.m. Eastern time pre-show, 8 p.m. Eastern time main card —
AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Christian Cage
CM Punk vs. Darby Allin
AEW Women’s World Championship: Britt Baker (c) vs. Kris Statlander
AEW World Tag Team Championship steel cage match: The Young Bucks (c) vs. The Lucha Brothers
TNT Championship: Miro (c) vs. Eddie Kingston
Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima
Paul Wight vs. QT Marshall
21-woman Women’s Casino Battle Royale
The Buy-In pre-show match: Matt Hardy, Private Party & TH2 vs. Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta & Jurassic Express
NJPW has revealed the lineup for Friday’s NJPW Strong BBQ Brawl.
Impact’s Josh Alexander will take on Daniel Garcia in the opener. Garcia will also appear on Friday’s AEW Rampage in the same time slot, taking on Darby Allin.
In the junior heavyweight division, Rey Horus will face Strong regular TJP.
In Friday’s main event, Matt Morris (formerly Aiden English in WWE) will battle Bullet Club’s Hikuleo. Hikuleo attacked Juice Robinson on last week’s episode. Morris demanded the match to stand up for his long-time friend Robinson. Hikuleo lost to Robinson earlier this month at NJPW Resurgence in Los Angeles.Morris was on English commentary for that event on FITE TV.
Strong airs Fridays at 10 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World and is available on demand after airing.
NJPW Strong is moving from Friday nights to Saturday nights.
NJPW announced that Strong will move from its Friday 10 p.m. Eastern time slot to Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern, beginning with the September 18 edition of the show. Strong airs on NJPW World and FITE TV.
The Friday night landscape has grown increasingly crowded with the addition of AEW Rampage earlier this month. WWE has SmackDown on Fox at 8 p.m. Eastern and 205 Live on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern on Fridays.
NJPW Strong debuted on August 7, 2020 and primarily features a different roster than the NJPW main unit. With pandemic-related travel issues plaguing NJPW’s main roster, some talent based outside of Japan that had been main unit mainstays have moved over to becoming Strong regulars, including Will Ospreay, Jay White, Juice Robinson and David Finlay.
Additionally, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii were brought in for the most recent set of NJPW Strong tapings in Long Beach, California.
After testing positive for COVID-19, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI have been medically cleared to appear at NJPW’s Wrestle Grand Slam.
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo will return at NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome on Sunday, according to Tokyo Sports. BUSHI’s return has been announced for a tag team match on night one on Saturday.
Shingo and BUSHI were pulled from a Summer Struggle show on August 15 after presenting with fevers. Both would undergo PCR tests. NJPW announced on August 18 that both had tested positive for COVID-19. They missed the rest of the Summer Struggle tour.
Six wrestlers who were identified as close contacts with Shingo and BUSHI worked the show on August 15, but were then pulled from the remainder of the tour. The six close contacts were Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, Gedo, Dick Togo and Yujiro Takahashi.
Of those wrestlers, EVIL, Tetsuya Naito and SANADA are all still listed for the Sunday Wrestle Grand Slam show, although no specific announcement has been made regarding their status.
Here are the lineups for both nights at MetLife Dome:
NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome night one, Saturday, September 4, 4 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
IWGP United States Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb
Provisional KOPW 2021 No DQ, I Quit match: Chase Owens (c) vs. Toru Yano
SHO vs. YOH
Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
Pre-show: STARDOM exhibition match TBA
NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome night two, Sunday, September 5, 2 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. EVIL
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Robbie Eagles (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo (c) vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan
NJPW has finalized the cards for both nights of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome coming up this Saturday and Sunday.
In a battle of former tag team partners, SHO vs. YOH has been added to night one on September 4. The Roppongi 3K duo split up when SHO turned on YOH during the Super Junior Tag League tournament on August 16.
Also added to night one, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask will team against Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI of Los Ingobernables de Japon. Eagles will defend his title against Hiromu on night two.
Added to night two, Super Junior Tag League winners El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru will face IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo. The two teams have spent the bulk of the last year trading the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag titles, with both having two reigns with the titles since September 2020.
Also added to night two, Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii will tag against Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan. Cobb and Okada will face of in a singles match on night one.
Here are the full lineups:
NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome night one, Saturday, September 4, 4 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
IWGP United States Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb
Provisional KOPW 2021 No DQ, I Quit match: Chase Owens (c) vs. Toru Yano
SHO vs. YOH
Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
Pre-show: STARDOM exhibition match TBA
NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome night two, Sunday, September 5, 2 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. EVIL
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Robbie Eagles (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo (c) vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan
