Author: F4W Staff

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WOR Video: The future of The Elite

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The Elite may be staying in AEW.

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week that the “prevailing belief” is that The Elite (Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Hangman Page) will remain with AEW. Meltzer and Garrett Gonzales discussed the issue on Wrestling Observer Radio on Friday.

“I never closed my mind on the idea they may go to WWE, it’s a lot more beneficial to their lifestyle to not,” Meltzer said. However, he did point out that WWE offers a level of exposure that AEW can’t.

“There’s a lot of benefit of having that exposure, especially late in your career after you retire,” he said.

Meltzer said that AEW may be a better choice for The Young Bucks, as they would be able to spend more time with their family. For Kenny Omega, it may be a matter of the schedule, which would be much tougher than AEW’s.

“There’s good arguments to go, but the schedule is a tough one,” Meltzer said.

Ultimately, it is a matter of choosing between money in WWE, or being able to have more freedom outside of it.

“It’s really more about lifestyle and fun,” Meltzer said. “Because even if you make big money in either place, what’s your decision, it’s either lifestyle or fun.”

WOR Video: Are we starting to see some AEW All In build?

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Are we starting to see signs of a card for AEW All In?

Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed All In on Thursday morning’s Wrestling Observer Radio. With only a few weeks to go until the big show in Wembley Stadium, no matches have been confirmed for the card.

“We are four weeks away from All In and we don’t have any matches yet,” Alvarez pointed out. “We’re still waiting.”

Meltzer said he thought based on Wednesday’s shows that Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley, MJF vs. Adam Cole, and Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita were all possible matches. While those may be top matches, for a soon-to-be historical stadium show, there’s something missing.

“I don’t know, man. For 80,000-85,000 seats, I don’t feel a dream match,” Meltzer said.

Meltzer also wondered if UK native Will Ospreay, one of the top wrestling talents in the world, would be able to be on the card.

“It’s a real miss if he’s not on the show,” Meltzer said.

AEW Rampage spoilers from Albany: Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose

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The following are spoilers for this Friday’s AEW Rampage, taped Wednesday in Albany, New York. Results are courtesy of PWInsider.

Before Dynamite began, Skye Blue defeated Anna Jay in a dark match.

AEW Rampage:

  • Big Bill & Brian Cage won a tag team battle royale to earn a future AEW Tag Team title match. The Butcher was the final elimination. Other teams in the match included The Butcher & The Blade, Ethan Page & Brother Zay, The Hardys, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker, Serpentico & Luther, Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh, and Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal.
  • The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated Myung-Jae Lee & Hayden Backlund.
  • The advertised Scorpio Sky vs. Kip Sabian match did not take place as Tony Khan announced that Sky was injured. Komander replaced him and defeated Kip Sabian.
  • Hikaru Shida defeated Nyla Rose
  • Khan & -1 (Brodie Lee Jr.) made an appearance in front of the crowd to close the show.

Notes: 

  • PWInsider reports that Scotty 2 Hotty (aka Scott Garland) worked the taping in a tryout for a producer’s role. Garland worked for WWE as a trainer at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida from 2016 to 2021.

WOR Video: The Judgment Day is the hottest act on WWE Raw

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The Judgment Day are quickly becoming one of the hottest acts in WWE.

Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the opening promo on Raw featuring the group, where Dominik Mysterio got incredible heat. Both agreed that while the crowd do boo Mysterio, it’s because they love to boo him.

“I watch him, and I just think when they turn him babyface, which at some point they will…they actually got somebody. They’re looking for that hispanic superstar so bad for so long,” Meltzer said.

One star that is quickly becoming one of the top acts in the entire company in Rhea Ripley. Both Meltzer and Alvarez agreed that she’s one of the hottest acts in the company right now.

“They’re the hottest act on Raw,” Alvarez said. “ and Rhea is the hottest woman in the company.”

“By far,” Meltzer agreed. “She’s the hottest woman in wrestling. Since the peak of Becky Lynch, there’s been nobody…they’ve got something in Rhea now…I think long term, she’s going to be the biggest woman’s star in a long time, like ten years. They’ve got something in this group.”

In recent weeks, there have been teases that Finn Balor and Damian Priest may turn on one another. Given recent developments, Meltzer suggested they hold off on a split.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to pull the trigger on that because that act is so hot right now,” he said.

WOR Video: When will it be LA Knight’s time?

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LA Knight suffered another big loss on SmackDown.

Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed his push on Wrestling Observer Radio Monday morning. Despite getting huge reactions week in and week out, it appears that WWE is hesitant to give Knight big wins, such as winning the Money in the Bank contract or becoming the next contender for Austin Theory’s United States title. But despite all that. Dave Meltzer feels that WWE has a plan for Knight.

“They aren’t burying LA Knight,” he stated.

“The guy is super over,” Bryan Alvarez said, pointing out his recent reactions. “I hope they have a plan here and just, hey, let’s lead these people on and never give them something.”

“They are very much in control of this one,” Meltzer replied. “Now, whether it’s right or wrong, time will tell. But the idea that they don’t know or not going to push him, no. They are going to push him, they’re producing him as if he’s a star on every week’s TV show.”

Meltzer pointed out that he couldn’t complain about WWE’s recent booking choices, saying that Roman Reigns and The Usos are even stronger coming out of WrestleMania, as well as business overall.

Ring of Honor TV spoilers from Newark, New Jersey

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The post-Death Before Dishonor run begins for Ring of Honor has begun with the following spoilers, taped after AEW Collision in Newark, New Jersey Saturday.

In a pre-event dark match, Powerhouse Hobbs defeated former Impact Wrestling talent Fallah Bahh. 

Here’s the spoilers for this Thursday’s show on HonorClub, courtesy of PWInsider:

  • Trish Adora defeated Vita VonStarr
  • Leyla Hirsch defeated B3CCA
  • ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) defeated The Iron Savages (Boulder & Bronson) & JT Davidson
  • The Renegade Twins (Charlette Renegade & Robyn Renegade) defeated JC Storm & Tiara James
  • Josh Woods defeated Eli Isom in a Pure rules match. Afterward, Mark Sterling challenged ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata to defend his title against Woods. Shibata accepted, but Sterling then said they don’t do anything without a contract. Shibata was one of the judges alongside Jerry Lynn and Jimmy Jacobs.
  • Zack Clayton defeated KM
  • ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Christina Marie
  • The Kingdom defeated Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus
  • Christopher Daniels defeated JD Drake
  • Big Bill & Lee Moriarty defeated Gabriel Hunter & Adrian Soriano
  • Tony Nese defeated Cheeseburger
  • Gravity defeated Anthony Henry
  • Shane Taylor defeated Serpentico
  • Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated The Trustbusters (Silm J, Sonny Kiss, and Ari Daivari)

WOR Video: Fallout from AEW Blood & Guts

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Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the fallout from Wednesday’s Blood & Guts match.

Despite using weapons such as glass, thumbtacks, and a bed of nails, no one emerged from the match on Dynamite Wednesday being seriously injured, a change from the previous two Blood & Guts matches.

“There were no serious injuries in Blood & Guts. Everyone is ‘fine’,” Alvarez said.

“They’ll be feeling it. Everyone will be feeling it,” Meltzer said.

“They delivered more than they advertised,” Meltzer said regarding the match. “People were kinda promised something big and that kind of stuff, and they got a 51 minute match that was very, very violent and one of the better War Games matches that I’ve ever seen.”

Meltzer added that back in the day, the War Games matches in NWA were considered some of the more violent matches in pro wrestling.

“Those matches were so tame compared to this,” he said.

An interesting note after the show had The Elite and Blackpool Combat Club shake hands. Kenny Omega cut a promo saying that whatever happens next, he’s sticking with The Young Bucks.

“It’s got people talking tonight, yeah” Meltzer said, pointing out he didn’t know the contract status of the trio, and whatever may happen won’t for a long time.

WOR Video: Vikings, Ronda Rousey, and a WWE Tag Team title match

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Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer talked about the last few segments of WWE Raw on Tuesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio.

After a Seth Rollins/Finn Balor promo that set up their match for SummerSlam, The Viking Raiders defeated Alpha Academy in a Viking Rules match where the ring morphed into a viking ship. Although it started slow, the match picked up toward the end, with both Alvarez and Meltzer enjoying the match.

“This was a good match,” Alvarez said. “Very, very good payoff to this thing.”

Following that match was a promo featuring Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler. Rousey challenged Baszler to a match at SummerSlam, refusing to come to the ring and meet Baszler. Both Meltzer and Alvarez presumed that Rousey was a heel.

“Last week, Ronda’s the babyface,” Meltzer pointed out. “This week she’s very clearly a heel.”

“And Shayna is very clearly the babyface,” Alvarez added.

The main event had Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defeat Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest to retain the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles.

“This match ended up being a great main event,” Alvarez said. “Last few minutes were awesome.”

Mysterio ended up taking the pinfall despite challenging Wes Lee for the NXT North American title the next night on NXT. Both Alvarez and Meltzer wondered if it was a sign that Mysterio could win the title from Lee.

WOR Video: AEW Collision’s incredible tag team match

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Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer had nothing but high praise for the AEW Tag Team title match that opened Saturday’s Collision.

On Monday morning’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer called FTR vs. Juice Robinson & Jay White “the best American tag team match ever on television”. He also said it was among the best matches of the year and the best tag team match of the year thus far.

One of the more intriguing notes regarding the match is that due to travel issues, the two teams did not have that much time to work out the match beforehand.

“I’m not saying it was all called in the ring. But Juice got there at 2, the match started at 6,” Meltzer said. “There was definitely talk…and I know they wanted to get a little time to work it out and start the match later, but I think because of the nature of a two hour show and you have to do this hour match, they just wanted to start with it.”

The match kicked off the first of three hours of AEW programming on Saturday, with Battle of the Belts following Collision. However, the feed of the latter show died during the AEW Women’s Championship match for a period of time. Given the timeslot and the feed dying, Battle of the Belts may not do that well in the ratings.

“I think with the third hour and the satellite going out and people probably tuning out because of that, I don’t think that Battle of the Belts is doing well,” Alvarez said.

NJPW G1 Climax 33 night two results: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb

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The NJPW G1 Climax 33 continued on Sunday from Hokkaido. 

The first round-robin match for those in the C and D blocks were featured on the show. 

Jeff Cobb picked up a win over Tetsuya Naito in the main event. He then mocked LIJ’s roll call in his post-match promo. Eddie Kingston defeated Shingo Takagi in his first G1 match on Sunday as well. He hit a series of spinning back fists followed by a Northern Lights Bomb for the win. Kingston would later challenge Takagi to a rematch at either All In or All Out. Aaron Henare also showed off a new face tattoo before his match with Mikey Nicholls. 

NJPW G1 Climax 33 night two 7/16 results:

C Block match: David Finlay defeated Tomohiro Ishii

D Block match: Hirooki Goto defeated Toru Yano

C Block match: Mikey Nicholls defeated Aaron Henare

D Block: Shane Haste defeated Alex Coughlin

C Block: Eddie Kingston defeated Shingo Takagi

D Block: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi

C Block: EVIL defeated Tama Tonga

D Block: Jeff Cobb defeated Tetsuya Naito

Here’s a look at the G1 standings after night two:

A Block —

  • SANADA (1-0): 2 points
  • Kaito Kiyomiya (1-0) — 2 points
  • Chase Owens (1-0): 2 points
  • Shota Umino (0-0-1): 1 point
  • Ren Narita (0-0-1): 1 point
  • Hikuleo (0-1): 0 points
  • Yota Tsuji (0-1): 0 points
  • Gabe Kidd (0-1): 0 points

B Block —

  • Taichi (1-0) — 2 points
  • Kazuchika Okada (1-0) — 2 points
  • Tanga Loa (1-0) — 2 points
  • YOSHI-HASHI (1-0) — 2 points
  • Will Ospreay (0-1) — 0 points
  • Great-O-Khan (0-1) — 0 points
  • KENTA (0-1) — 0 points
  • El Phantasmo (0-1) — 0 points

C Block —

  • Tomohiro Ishii (1-0) — 2 points
  • EVIL (1-0) — 2 points
  • Eddie Kingston (1-0) — 2 points
  • Mikey Nicholls (1-0) — 2 points
  • Tama Tonga (0-1) — 0 points
  • Shingo Takagi (0-1) — 0 points
  • Aaron Henare (0-1) — 0 points
  • David Finlay (0-1) — 0 points

D Block —

  • Hirooki Goto (1-0) — 2 points
  • Zack Sabre Jr. (1-0) — 2 points
  • Jeff Cobb (1-0) — 2 points
  • Shane Haste (1-0) — 2 points
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi (0-1) — 0 points
  • Tetsuya Naito (0-1) — 0 points
  • Toru Yano (0-1) — 0 points
  • Alex Coughlin (0-1) — 0 points

The tournament continues on Tuesday in Yamagata with matches from the A and B Blocks. 

Ring of Honor TV spoilers from Calgary

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Ring of Honor continued the build to Death Before Dishonor on Saturday. 

Matches for ROH on HonorClub were taped before and after AEW Collision/Battle of the Belts from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

Stardom’s Utami Hayashishita made her promotional debut on the show, defeating Trish Adora. Hayashishita traveled to North America earlier this month and has wrestled two shows for GCW and one for JCW since arriving. 

Several matches for Death Before Dishonor were set up on Saturday as well. 

Spoilers for the show courtesy of PWInsider:

Taped before AEW Collision/Battle of the Belts:

  • Daniel Garcia defeated Jason Geiger in a Pure Rules match. Afterward, Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata confronted Garcia in the ring, setting up the recently announced Pure Rules Championship match at the PPV.
  • Dalton Castle (w/The Boys) defeated Shane Taylor in the finals of the TV title eliminator tournament. He will challenge Samoa Joe at the PPV.
  • Utami Hayashishita defeated Trish Adora
  • Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Dalton Rogue

Taped after AEW Collision/Battle of the Belts:

  • The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) (w/ Stu Grayson) defeated The Boys (Brandon & Brent Tate). Evil Uno came out to the ring afterward which led Grayson to beat up one of The Boys in front of him as the angle between the two former teammates continues to play out. 
  • Leyla Hirsch defeated Nicole Matthews. This was Matthews’ first match in ROH since 2009. She also made her AEW debut earlier this year when she was defeated by Jade Cargill on the 3/15 Dynamite from Winnipeg. 
  • Josh Woods (w/Mark Sterling, Tony Nese, & Ari Daivari) defeated James Stone in a Pure Rules match
  • ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Nikita in a Proving Ground match. Athena continued to attack Nikita after the bell. This was Nikita’s promotional debut as she recently returned to wrestling after a 10-year absence in September. 
  • The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (w/ Maria Kanellis-Bennett defeated The Bollywood Boyz (Gurv & Harv Shira), The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry) and Action Andretti & Darius Martin in a four-way match

We’re hiring: NJPW & Stardom live recappers/writers

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We are looking to bolster our NJPW & Stardom live event recapping team by bringing on writers that would handle most NJPW events, some Stardom events and other events as needed. 

This position would start immediately.

This is a paid position, but is not full-time. PPV/NJPW World costs are covered.

Requirements:

  • Past pro wrestling writing & recapping experience with links to specific work
  • Availability to recap the events live as they happen
  • Coachable as relates to writing style, adherence to our website standards, etc.
  • The ability to do fair analysis without bias

To apply, email [email protected] with past experience & links. Due to an expected large amount of inquiries, emails without that information or the required experience will not be answered.

NJPW G1 Climax 33 night one results: SANADA vs. Hikuleo

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NJPW G1 Climax 33 kicked off on Saturday with eight matches taking place in Hokkaido.

The A and B Blocks were both in action to begin the tournament. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA started the G1 strong with a victory over Hikuleo, while Will Ospreay was upset by Taichi. The show also included a 20-minute time limit draw between rising stars Shota Umino and Ren Narita.

Here are the results:

– A Block match: SANADA defeated Hikuleo

– B Block match: Taichi defeated Will Ospreay

– A Block match: Kaito Kiyomiya defeated Yota Tsuji

– B Block match: Kazuchika Okada defeated Great-O-Khan

– A Block match: Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita ended in a 20-minute time limit draw

– B Block match: Tanga Loa defeated KENTA

– A Block match: Chase Owens defeated Gabe Kidd

– B Block match: YOSHI-HASHI defeated El Phantasmo

The show is available to watch for free on NJPW World.

On Sunday, NJPW will again be in Hokkaido for the first C and D Block matches of the tournament.

Here’s a look at the G1 standings after night one:

A Block —

  • SANADA (1-0): 2 points
  • Kaito Kiyomiya (1-0) — 2 points
  • Chase Owens (1-0): 2 points
  • Shota Umino (0-0-1): 1 point
  • Ren Narita (0-0-1): 1 point
  • Hikuleo (0-1): 0 points
  • Yota Tsuji (0-1): 0 points
  • Gabe Kidd (0-1): 0 points

B Block —

  • Taichi (1-0) — 2 points
  • Kazuchika Okada (1-0) — 2 points
  • Tanga Loa (1-0) — 2 points
  • YOSHI-HASHI (1-0) — 2 points
  • Will Ospreay (0-1) — 0 points
  • Great-O-Khan (0-1) — 0 points
  • KENTA (0-1) — 0 points
  • El Phantasmo (0-1) — 0 points

C Block —

  • David Finlay
  • Tomohiro Ishii
  • EVIL
  • Tama Tonga
  • Shingo Takagi
  • Aaron Henare
  • Eddie Kingston
  • Mikey Nicholls

D Block —

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • Tetsuya Naito
  • Hirooki Goto
  • Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Toru Yano
  • Jeff Cobb
  • Shane Haste
  • Alex Coughlin

AEW Rampage spoilers from Saskatoon: Willow Nightingale vs. Athena

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The following are spoilers for this Friday’s AEW Rampage, taped Wednesday in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Results courtesy of PWInsider.

Before Dynamite began, AEW had two dark matches:

  • Taya Valkyrie defeated Ava Lawless
  • Kip Sabian defeated Jason Geiger

AEW Rampage:

  • Taya Valkyrie defeated Izzy McQueen. After the match, Toni Storm and Saraya came out and confronted Valkyrie. Valkyrie challenged Storm to an AEW Women’s title match for Battle of the Belts. Storm eventually agreed to the match, saying she would embarrass Valkyrie in Calgary in front of all her countrymen and family members.

  • Lance Archer (with Jake Roberts) defeated Trent Beretta (with Chuck Taylor). After the match, Archer laid out Taylor and challenged Orange Cassidy for the AEW International title at Battle of the Belts. Archer said if Cassidy didn’t come out, the Best Friends were going to die. Cassidy came out. Archer went to chokeslam Cassidy, but Roberts encouraged him not to as he wouldn’t be able to win the title that way.

  • Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mentallo

  • Willow Nightingale defeated Athena to advance to the finals of the Owen Hart Foundation women’s tournament. 

Notes:

  • Valkyrie and Lawless have wrestled before in AEW with Valkyrie picking up a quick win in a mid-March edition of Rampage. Lawless will take on ROH Women’s Champion Athena in a non-title match on Thursday’s ROH on HonorClub.
  • The finals of the women’s Owen Hart tournament will also take place this Saturday in Calgary. Ruby Soho advanced to the finals with her win over Skye Blue Wednesday.
  • This was Archer’s first appearance in AEW since a March Dark: Elevation win. His last AEW TV appearance was in February in a quick win on Rampage.

WOR Video: The Bloodline storyline is making history

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Last week’s SmackDown rating is the latest indication that WWE is hot right now.

The show on Friday’s second quarter, which featured the trial of Roman Reigns, did 3,070,000 viewers and a 0.94 in 18-49. Both Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer on Tuesday morning’s Wrestling Observer Radio said that the number was huge.

“That is a gigantic, gigantic number,” Alvarez said.

“It’s beyond gigantic,” Meltzer said. “I don’t know how long you gotta go back to see a quarter like that.”

Meltzer noted that between Monday and Friday of last week, SmackDown was the most watched television show on network television, something that has never happened. Although it remains to be seen if it will be the most watched show overall for the week, the ranking is still historical.

“I don’t know if there has ever been a week where a wrestling show was number one for an entire week,” Meltzer said.

“Number one on network TV…when Hogan and Andre wrestled [On Saturday Night’s Main Event in 1988], that week, they were number 33,” Meltzer added. “That just gives you a perspective…I don’t think even in the Gorgeous George days they were number one.”