Author: Bryan Rose

WWE SmackDown spoilers from Detroit, Michigan

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Here are spoilers for the September 2 edition of Smackdown, which was taped Friday in Detroit, Michigan. WWE talent will be traveling next week to Cardiff, Wales for Clash at the Castle on September 3.

  • Karrion Kross defeated Drew Gulak
  • Ronda Rousey came to the ring and called out Adam Pearce regarding her suspension. Pearce said that her suspension is lifted, since she has paid her fines and her arrest was unwarranted, and thus is reinstated immediately. Pearce, however, said that he would have fired Rousey if it were up to him, calling Rousey the “single biggest b**** he’s ever met”. Rousey ended the segment by locking Pearce in an armbar.
  • Hit Row defeated Maximum Male Models. After the match, Humberto and Angel arrive and help MMM beat down Hit Row. The Street Profits come out and make the save for Hit Row.
  • Happy Corbin came out and ran down Detroit. He issued an open challenge, with Shinsuke Nakamura accepting.
  • Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Happy Corbin
  • Butch defeated Ludwig Kaiser. After the match, Gunther and Sheamus have a staredown. Kaiser broke it up and led Gunther away.
  • Viking Raiders defeated The New Day in a viking rules match after after putting Kofi Kingston through double stacked tables.
  • The Usos and Sami Zayn hosted Roman Reigns’ two-year championship celebration. Roman pulled up into the arena but immediately got claymore kicked by Drew McIntyre. The show ended with him going to the ring and laying out The Usos and Zayn. 

Dark Order advance in AEW Trios title tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Dark Order advanced to the AEW Trios Championship tournament semifinals on Friday’s Rampage, picking up a win over House of Black.

The finish of the match came when Miro came out, distracting Brody King and Buddy Matthews who went out to attack. Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds then used the distraction to roll up Malakai Black for the win.

After the match, House of Black jumped Miro and were beating him down when Sting and Darby Allin came down for the save, potentially setting up their own trios match for All Out.

With their win, Dark Order move on to next Friday’s live Rampage, taking on Best Friends in the semifinals. 

The winner of that match will face either United Empire (Will Ospreay & Aussie Open) or The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks). Those two teams will meet on Dynamite with one going to the finals, set for Sunday, September 3rd at All Out.

Finals set for WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The finals for the Women’s Tag Team title tournament has been set.

Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah will face Dakota Kai and IYO SKY on this coming Monday’s Raw to determine the new Women’s Tag Team Champions. Rodriguez & Aliyah defeated Sonya Deville & Natalya to advance, with Rodriguez pinning Deville with the Tejana bomb.

Earlier in the show, Deville and Natalya won a four-way last chance match to advance to the semifinals. Although they were eliminated in the first round of the tournament by Toxic Attraction, the last chance match was made after Gigi Dolin suffered a concussion, taking the team out of the tournament.

The winners of the match on Raw will win the vacated championships. Sasha Banks and Naomi, the former champions, were stripped of the titles and suspended indefinitely by WWE back in May after walking out of an episode of Raw.

Here is what has been announced for Raw:

  • WWE Women’s Tag Team titles: IYO SKY & Dakota Kai vs. Raquel Rodriguez & Aliyah
  • Seth Rollins & Riddle face-to-face
  • WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle appears

FTR announced for NJPW Royal Quest II

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FTR are heading to London.

NJPW announced Thursday morning that FTR will be taking part in their upcoming two-show event in London on October 1 and 2. The presale for night one begins at noon BST on Thursday, and night two’s presale will begin at noon BST on August 26.

FTR are the current IWGP Tag Team Champions, having won them at Forbidden Door back on June 26, defeating then-champions Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb in a three-way match that also involved Roppongi Vice. In addition to the IWGP titles, they also hold the Ring of Honor and AAA Tag Team titles. 

Since winning the IWGP Tag Team titles, the team has made appearances on NJPW Strong, including wrestling at Music City Mayhem on July 30 and Dax Harwood wrestling Rocky Romero in a singles match on a recent episode of Strong.

Also announced for Royal Quest II are Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, and Zack Sabre Jr.. No matches for the show have been announced, but the tournament to crown the first-ever IWGP Women’s Champion will begin on night two.

Eddie Kingston recently suspended by AEW after Sammy Guevara dispute

Posted on by Bryan Rose

This story was updated at 7:30 AM Eastern Thursday.

Eddie Kingston has recently completed a suspension from AEW.

Dave Meltzer reported that Kingston was suspended from AEW a few weeks ago after getting into a verbal dispute with Sammy Guevara. The suspension has now ended.

On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said Kingston told him sometimes he does things that he shouldn’t, he was sorry and he owns up to whatever he did.

Kingston told PWInsider early Thursday morning that “You know the truth. I wouldn’t lie. I was wrong for being unprofessional. That is the blind fact. He did what he did and the public can judge that but I know for a fact I was wrong.”

Meltzer said he is unsure if the Kingston vs. Guevara match for All Out is still happening.

The two have been feuding since Guevara helped Chris Jericho defeat Kingston on the July 20th Rampage. On the August 3rd Dynamite, Kingston interrupted a Guevara/Tay Melo video package to say that he got a contract for a match at All Out between himself and Guevara and told him to sign the contract.  

At the August 10th AEW Rampage tapings, Guevara accepted the challenge for All Out. Kingston appeared on the video screen and said he was going to do what Guevara and Melo did — take a vacation.

Ruby Soho and Ortiz then appeared, saying they would get Guevara and Melo. However, Guevara’s acceptance of the match and Kingston’s promo never made television, and no reference to the match has been made since.

AEW Dark Elevation and Rampage spoilers from Cleveland, Ohio

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Here are spoilers for AEW Dark Elevation and Rampage, taped before and after today’s live edition of Dynamite.

AEW Dark Elevation:

  • Dante Martin defeated Wes Barkley
  • Julia Hart defeated Arie Alexander
  • Nyla Rose and Marina Shafir defeated Skye Blue and Queen Aminata
  • Matt Hardy defeated RSP. Private Party came out during the match and watched on top of the ramp.
  • Serena Deeb defeated Katie Arquette
  • Frankie Kazarian defeated a local talent
  • Rush, The Butcher, and The Blade defeated Elijah Dean, Zach Nystrom, and Chase Oliver
  • Hikaru Shida defeated Emi Sakura to retain the Regina Di WAVE Championship.

AEW Rampage:

  • Dark Order (John Silver, 10, and Alex Reynolds) defeated House of Black (Malaki Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews to advance in the AEW Trios title tournament. The finish had Miro coming out and distracting the House of Black, allowing Reynolds to pin Black. House of Black attacked Miro after the match until Sting and Darby Allin made the save.
  • Wardlow defeated Ryan Nemeth to retain the TNT Championship. Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Singh, and Chris Sabin were on the ramp watching.
  • Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Ashton Day with a spinebuster.
  • Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo defeated Ortiz and Ruby Soho after Anna Jay-AS attacked Soho and threw her back in the ring.
  • Claudio Castagnoli defeated Dustin Rhodes to retain the ROH World Championship. Arn and Brock Anderson were at ringside in Rhodes’ corner.

United Empire advance in AEW World Trios Championship tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

NJPW’s United Empire advanced to the semifinals of the AEW Trios Tag Team title tournament on Dynamite Wednesday, setting the stage for a match next week against The Elite.

Will Ospreay and Aussie Open defeated PAC and The Lucha Brothers to advance to the next round, where they will face Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. The finish had Kip Sabian, who has spent most of the year in the crowd wearing a box over his head, attack PAC after PAC was distracted by what turned out to be a decoy watching him. Ospreay then hit Fenix with an Oscutter supported by Aussie Open to win the match.

Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks then came down and exchanged words with The United Empire. The show closed with Ospreay inviting Omega into the ring.

The winner between The Elite and United Empire will advance to AEW All Out on September 4. The other side of the bracket has Best Friends either facing The House of Black or The Dark Order on the Rampage prior to All Out. The winner of that match will move to the finals of the tournament.

Jon Moxley defeats CM Punk to unify World title on AEW Dynamite

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Jon Moxley unified the AEW World Championship on Wednesday’s Dynamite in record fashion.

Moxley pinned CM Punk after connecting with two Death Rider DDTs to unify the titles. The match only went 3:09, with Punk’s leg giving out early after Punk connected a kick to the side of Moxley’s head. Moxley then immediately went for the finish.

After the match, medical staff could be seen checking on Punk as Moxley left with the championshig, going out into the crowd. Punk was eventually shown being taken out of the ring, walking to the back with help from medical staff.

Later on Dynamite, Moxley cut a promo saying those who were surprised by tonight’s result were the same ones doubting him and calling him the interim champion. He said that the answer to any problem in pro wrestling is Moxley. He says he is the guy, and his time is right now.

Punk won the championship from Hangman Page back at AEW Double or Nothing on May 29. Shortly after, he injured his leg and took time off to recover from surgery. In the meantime, Moxley defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the interim championship at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in June. Two weeks ago, Punk returned on Dynamite, setting the stage for the eventual unification match.

Four-way for interim AEW Women’s World Championship set for All Out

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A four-way to crown an interim AEW Women’s World Champion has been announced for All Out.

Hikaru Shida, Toni Storm, Britt Baker, and Jamie Hayter will now compete in a match to determine the interim AEW Women’s World Champion. This follows a promo on tonight’s Dynamite where Thunder Rosa said she would have to step down as champion due to injury.

During the promo, Rosa promised to come back stronger and better than ever. She was originally scheduled to defend the Women’s World title against Storm at All Out on September 4 in Chicago.

Rosa has held the championship since March 16, defeating Britt Baker on the St. Patrick’s Day Slam edition of Dynamite in a steel cage match.

AEW All Out, Sunday, September 4, 7 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —

  • AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Toni Storm
  • AEW World Trios Championship tournament finals
  • Wardlow & FTR vs. Jay Lethal and The Motor City Machine Guns
  • Jungle Boy vs. Christian CAge
  • Swerve in Our Glory vs. The CAcclaimed
  • Ricky Starks vs. Hobbs
  • Casino Ladder Match

Report: Tony Khan discusses WWE contract tampering, new structure during AEW talent meeting

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Tony Khan held a talent meeting before tonight’s Dynamite detailing the new systems and structures recently implemented, as well as recent allegations of contract tampering by WWE.

PWInsider reported that Khan was “very animated and impassioned” during the meeting. He said the new mechanisms in place were designed to make things better for talents. Fightful reported that the meeting took place between 3 and 4 pm eastern. Other topics touched on during the meeting included working as a team, the lines of communication, access to Tony Khan, and recent rumors of miscommunication and lack of access to Khan.

Khan was reported to have said that the AEW was in an industry that “had long been dominated by WWE”, and he had put everything into the company to make things better for the talents.

Regarding recent reports that WWE had contacted someone under AEW contract, Khan said that Chief Legal Officer Megha Parekh sent an email to WWE CEOs Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan right before the talent meeting saying “not to tamper” with AEW talent.

Fightful reported that Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks were said to have made it clear that their door was always open and could be reached as well. Chris Jericho and Tony Schiavone also spoke at the meeting.

Recent promotions and structural changes to AEW made recently include Sonjay Dutt being promoted to Vice President of Production and Creative Coordination, QT Marshall being named Vice President of Show and Creative Coordination, Pat Buck as Vice President of Talent Development, Tony Schaivone as Senior Producer and Special Advisor to talent, and Madison Rayne as a coach in AEW’s women’s division.

Triple threat Women’s title unification match set for WWE NXT Worlds Collide

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A triple threat match will unify the NXT and NXT UK Women’s titles at Worlds Collide.

NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose, UK Champion Meiko Satomura, and Blair Davenport will meet on September 4. The match was made tonight after Satomura made her NXT debut and accepted challenges from both Rose and Davenport.

After Davenport defeated Indi Hartwell on Tuesday’s NXT, she said that since she was number one contender for the NXT UK title, she may as well also be the number one contender for the NXT Women’s title. Rose came out and complemented Davenport, but demanded Davenport put respect on her name. Satomura came out and said she was the most dominant champion and challenged Rose to a unification match at World’s Collide. Davenport interrupted, again saying she was the number one contender. Satomura then made the challenge a triple threat match.

Here is the lineup so far for Worlds Collide:

  • Bron Breakker vs. Tyler Bate for the NXT and NXT UK Championships
  • Mandy Rose vs. Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport for the NXT and NXT UK Women’s Championships

Dexter Lumis appears on WWE NXT, reunites with Indi Hartwell

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Index were briefly reunited on NXT.

After Blair Davenport defeated Hartwell on Tuesday’s show, Hartwell appeared defeated outside of the ring and said she had hit rock bottom. Dexter Lumis then emerged from under the ring and appeared in front of Hartwell. The two embraced and left the ring together.

However, as they were exiting the Performance Center, Lumis handed Hartwell a goodbye note, then left the building. Hartwell watched through the windows as police apprehended Lumis.

Later on Twitter, Indi Hartwell shared the message Lumis gave her:

Lumis and Hartwell had been together in the last year, eventually marrying in the fall on the first episode of NXT 2.0. Lumis was released from WWE back in April, and as a result the storyline between him and Hartwell ended without any resolution. Hartwell only addressed Lumis’ absence by no longer wearing a wedding ring.

Lumis was brought back to WWE earlier this month, causing several disruptions during Raw, often being led away by security. On this past Monday’s Raw, he kidnapped The Miz during a tag team match, likely leading to the arrest on NXT.

Design revealed for NJPW’s IWGP Women’s Championship

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We have our first look at the IWGP Women’s Championship.

Tokyo Sports revealed today the design for the championship, which was announced earlier this summer. The design is based on the second IWGP Heavyweight Championship design.

On Tuesday morning, NJPW detailed the upcoming tournament that will crown the first-ever champion. The tournament will begin on the second night of Royal Quest II on October 2 in London with quarterfinal matches. More quarterfinal matches will then follow on Stardom’s October 22 event. Semifinals will follow on Stardom’s Tachikawa card on October 23, with the finals taking place at NJPW and Stardom’s Historic X-over joint show on November 20.

The title will be defended on NJPW shows, with the first title defense taking place at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4. While it may be defended on Stardom shows, it will not rank higher than Stardom’s current top titles, the World of Stardom Championship and the Wonder of Stardom Championship.

Daily Update: Lenny Leonard, Alex Coughlin, Pro Wrestling NOAH

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Daily Update

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

Latest Free YouTube Video:

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Job Listing: Onlamp php/mysql developer. Experience with vbulletin and drupal/WordPress a plus. Email [email protected] with subject PHP DEVELOPER with resume.

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

  • Match and performer of the week
  • The life and times of Gene LeBell, MMA, stunt work, pro wrestling, an accessory to a murder, being trained by Lou Thesz, national judo champion, enforcer work in boxing and wrestling, details on the supposed first mixed match in history and later refereeing Ali vs. Inoki, the Bearcat Wright story, Steven Seagal, Bruce Lee, Chuck Morris, Ronda Rousey, Roddy Piper, the Los Angeles wrestling territory
  • Updated G1 Climax report with all the bouts last week, the standings and the final shows
  • Clash at the Castle update
  • Vice’s Tales from the Territory, what is and isn’t confirmed
  • UFC Saturday night coverage
  • AAA Triplemania preview and Verano de Escandalo coverage
  • The death of the Mexican star TNT, and a look back at a boom period for wrestling in that country
  • The most detailed look at the pro wrestling TV business over the past week
  • More on the CMLL anniversary sow
  • More on the CMLL Grand Prix
  • Konnan and Dorian Roldan talk AAA future
  • *Stardom Five Star Grand Prix update
  • NOAH N-1 tournament
  • Ric Flair talks his last match
  • Dave Bautista movie update
  • Death of Mike Masters/Rocky Jones
  • Former early Raw performer loses race for senate
  • Lots of AEW updates
  • Major star talks going to AEW
  • AEW & WWE streaming numbers
  • Ticket sale updates on AEW & WWE shows
  • UFC new deal in its second biggest market
  • Lots of new major UFC fights
  • Bo Nickal and UFC
  • Vince McMahon’s new payments found
  • Questions being asked about a WWE branch
  • Returns of Dexter Lumis, Karrion Kross & Scarlett
  • Women’s tag team title tournament
  • New WWE TV show filming

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter:

Ordering Info:

Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].

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If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

Tuesday News Update

WWE

  • Matches taped for Main Event this week include Tamina and Dana Brooke vs. Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H., as well as Mustafa Ali and Cedric Alexander vs. T-Bar and Shelton Benjamin.
  • The person that attacked AJ Styles during last night’s Raw has been identified as Rajan Husher, who trained at the Battle Arts Academy.
  • WWEMusic has added Apollo Crews’ new theme.
  • Cardi B on Twitter wrote about the Edge and Lita pairing from 2005-6: “I used to love them….they was such a sexy ass couple …This was truly my wwe era …even tho I was a Trish Stratus girl I used to love this couple.:”
  • Matches and segments added to WWE’s YouTube page today includes A Moment of Bliss featuring Sami Zayn from the April 15, 2019 edition of Raw, The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler from the August 12, 2019 episode of Raw, and Riddle vs. AJ Styles from the August 23, 2021 edition of Raw.

AEW/ROH

  • This week’s AEW Road to, which focuses on the title unification match between CM Punk and Jon Moxley.
  • Tony Khan on Twitter noted that the Dynamite episode featuring Jon Moxley vs. Chris Jericho for the interim AEW World Championship match did record viewership on ITV4.
  • Tony Sciavone and Aubrey Edwards discussed the recent backstage changes in AEW on this week’s Unrestricted Podcast.

Other Wrestling

  • Lenny Leonard, longtime announcer on the independent scene, announced on Twitter that he has decided to step away from wrestling going forward. “After close to 2 decades I just think it’s time to call it a day,” he wrote. “Evolve being sold to WWE and the pandemic closing Japan off to me for the last 3 years pretty much put the wheels for this day in motion a while back. There are only so many spots for announcers on the indy scene and it was very clear that there was not going to be a spot for me being part of one of the televised companies. I’m not using the word retire, not because I plan on coming back, but because wrestling announcing was never my career, but simply something I did.”
  • After NJPW listed him returning on the upcoming Burning Spirit tour, Alex Coughlin on Twitter wrote there had been a miscommunication issue and wouldn’t be returning to the ring just yet. “Sorry if anyone got excited but there was some sort of miscommunication, I won’t be ready to return to the ring for a little while longer- Recovery is going well though, I’m doing everything I can. I WILL be back though, and I will be stronger than ever… eventually.”
  • Pro Wrestling NOAH will allow vocal crowd noise for their October 30 show. Social distancing will remain intact and those in attendance are requested to wear non-woven masks.
  • Stan Hansen will be present for the upcoming Triple Crown title match between Suwama and Kento Miyahara at All Japan Pro Wrestling’s event on September 18.
  • Hisaya Imabayashi, the general manager of DDT, announced he will be leaving the promotion at the end of 2022.
  • The NWA is partnering with MindsEye for this coming weekend’s NWA 74 event to provide audio inside the arena for visually impaired people.
  • Kamille was interviewed by Andrew Thompson ahead of NWA 74.
  • Recently released NXT UK talent Amale has been added to WXW Femmes Fatales card on October 1.

NJPW reveals details on IWGP Women’s Championship tournament

Posted on by Bryan Rose

NJPW has released details on the upcoming IWGP Women’s Championship tournament.

It was announced during Tuesday’s press conference that the tournament will begin with the first quarterfinal matches at Royal Quest II night two in London, England on October 2. Quarterfinals will then continue at Stardom’s October 22 event. Semifinals will take place on a Stardom card in Tachikawa on October 23. The finals of the tournament will then take place at Stardom and New Japan’s Historic X-over joint show on November 20 in Ariake.

NJPW also announced that the first title defense will take place at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4.

The two companies announced on July 29 that they would be introducing the IWGP Women’s Championship, a title that will be defended in Japan and also in the US on New Japan Pro Wrestling events. It will be primarily a title for NJPW, with Stardom’s main titles remaining the World of Stardom Championship (red belt) and the Wonder of Stardom Championship (white belt).

NJPW previously announced that Stardom wrestlers will begin to be featured on NJPW shows in the United States, with an eye of a “genderless and more integrated scene” in Japan.