Mustafa Ali will get the NXT North American Championship match at NXT No Mercy later this month.
Ali defeated Dragon Lee in a match that was set to determine the number one contender to Dominik Mysterio’s title. The finish had Mysterio, who was the special guest referee for the match, fast counted Lee when Ali rolled him up.
After the match, Ali seemed happy to have won at first, but then laid out Dominik Mysterio with a punch, not wanting to have won that way. He and Lee then left the ring as Mysterio recovered.
Mysterio last month successfully defended the North American title against Lee on an episode of NXT. However, Lee and Lyra Valkyria picked up a mixed tag team win over Mysterio and Rhea Ripley later in August. Ali later confronted Lee, saying Lee had his shot and now he wanted to be the next person to challenge Mysterio.
In a video, Ripley and Mysterio said that they would let the two battle it out to determine the next challenger, with Mysterio serving as a special guest referee.
Here is the updated card for NXT No Mercy on September 30:
NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes defends against either Ilja Dragunov or Wes Lee
NXT North American Championship: Dominik Mysterio defends against Mustafa Ali
NXT Heritage Cup: Noam Dar defends against Global Heritage Invitational Tournament winner
Becky Lynch will challenge for the NXT Women’s Championship next week.
Champion Tiffany Stratton successfully defended the title on Tuesday’s NXT, defeating Kiana James. After the match, Lynch appeared on video and wondered what she would do next. She decided that since she’s never won the NXT Women’s Championship, she would come back to NXT next week and challenge Stratton. After the commercial break, the match was made official for next week’s show.
The feud between Stratton and Lynch started a few weeks ago, when Stratton in an in-ring promo said she would be the best Women’s Champion of all time, listing previous champions including Asuka, Bayley, and Charlotte Flair. She also included Lynch, who never held the title during her NXT run.
After the promo, Stratton started to appear in the crowd on Raw, and also congratulated Lynch on her win at Payback this past weekend and apoloigzed for calling her a former champion. Lynch told Stratton to focus on her title match and she’d see her soon.
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The Honky Tonk Man says he’s still “The Greatest IC Champion of All Time!” on X.
Sean Ross Sapp on X: “Piper Niven is fine. We’re told a short term illness, and she’s expected back soon!”
Ricochet was interviewed by FanNation, who talked about his role in WWE. “Even if I’m not the main event, I plan on becoming the main attraction,” he said. “That’s where Ricochet belongs. I’m working to show everyone that. I’m capable of it, and that is what I am trying to manifest.
Jackie Redmond, Damian Priest, and Finn Balor have been announced as guests for tomorrow’s episode of The Bump.
The Cavinder twins spoke to GQ in a profile about their WWE aspirations. When asked about the prospect of being punched in the face, Hanna said “We’ve had pressure our whole lives, so we’ll definitely adjust.”
WWE’s social media showed Damian Priest putting his contract in his new Money in the Bank briefcase.
John Cena commented on participating at Superstar Spectacle on X. “I cannot express how grateful I am to the @WWE & #WWEUniverse for this opportunity. #WWESuperstarSpectacle will be an experience that means the world to me, excited to get to @WWEIndia!”
Hangman Page on Instagram Stories: “please do not harass other wrestling fans on the internet, i would be very disappointed in you and you should say sorry.”
According to PWInsider, Teddy Hart is scheduled for a 9/21 hearing in Titusville, Florida on charges of possession of MDMA (ecstasy) and possession of a controlled substance without prescription.
On Raw tonight, Chad Gable gets another chance to dethrone Gunther for the Intercontinental title.
Gunther and Gable faced off with the IC title on the line two weeks ago. The match ended with Gable winning by countout — but Gunther remained champion. That was the first one-on-one loss that Gunther has suffered on the WWE main roster.
Tonight’s show will also feature Raw’s fallout from Payback. A new challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins may emerge after Rollins defeated Shinsuke Nakamura this past Saturday.
At least for one night, the Judgment Day got back on the same page as Finn Balor & Damian Priest defeated Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles at Payback. Rhea Ripley also defeated Raquel Rodriguez to retain the Women’s World Championship.
It was revealed at Payback that Jey Uso is the newest member of the Raw roster. We will see Jey’s first appearance tonight.
Plus, there will be a tornado tag match with Drew McIntyre & Matt Riddle facing The Viking Raiders.
Our live coverage starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
*****
Jey Uso came out to start the show. Michael Cole noted on commentary that Cody Rhodes was the one that brought Uso to Raw, and that “as a former EVP”, knows how to get things done.
Uso talked about how he had reached a breaking point fighting with his family every week. He said Cody Rhodes called him, and that’s why he’s on main event Mondays by himself. He says Main Event Jey Uso is now in your city.
Sami Zayn came out. He told Uso that there were a lot of people backstage that will have a problem with him due to his past association with the Bloodline, mentioning that Kevin Owens wasn’t there tonight. Zayn said he wanted to be the first person to say that he’s happy that Uso is here. Zayn said that Uso broke free from the Bloodline and is all here by himself, saying he really is Main Event Jey Uso. Zayn said he was really proud of him.
Zayn extended his hand for a handshake. Uso put his hands behind his back and didn’t oblige. Zayn said that was fine, and exited the ring. Uso told Sami that wasn’t very Ucey of him, was it. The two then hugged to a big pop.
As they made their exit, Drew McIntyre came out and had a staredown with Uso, with announcers pushing that McIntyre wasn’t happy he was on Raw. Riddle gave Uso the same reaction when he came out.
A Nakamura video aired said he may have underestimated Seth Rollins’ grip on the World Heavyweight Championship, but he was the last one standing. He said he would prevail and will be the World Heavyweight Champion.
Ricochet was talking to Adam Pearce backstage when Seth Rollins showed up. Pearce didn’t like that Rollins was here despite the beatdown Nakamura gave him after their match at Payback. Rollins told Pearce he was fine. Ricochet told Rollins that he didn’t have to carry the whole show by himself. Rollins reiterated he was fine.
The Viking Raiders defeated Matt Riddle & Drew McIntyre in a no disqualification match
This was fine. It’s obvious they’re teasing a McIntyre turn at this point and that seemed to be the real story coming off of this.
The Vikings jumped McIntyre early but ended up dumping both to the floor. McIntyre hugged Riddle, then gave him a belly to belly to the floor, wiping out the Vikings. Riddle re-entered the ring and told McIntyre to get the tables. McIntyre told him to do it himself, so Riddle obliged.
Back from commercial, The Vikings avoided a superplex attempt by dragging the table away from McIntyre. Hee quickly regained control and tried to finish Ivar with the claymore but Erik dragged Ivar out of the ring. Both Vikings jumped McIntyre outside but McIntyre easily regained control and threw Ivar over the announce table as Erik was given an overhead belly to belly. Erik came back and splashed McIntyre as they attempted to drive McIntyre into the table, but Riddle re-entered the match to make the save.
Riddle set up Erik on the table and went to the top rope but Valhalla distracted Riddle long enough for the Vikings to recover. Kofi Kingston came out for the save but accidentally laid out Riddle with the Trouble in Paradise. They then pinned Riddle after a Rangnarock through the table.
McIntyre was not happy about the loss, staring down Kingston after the match.
They aired a video package highlighting former Intercontinental champions including Booker T, Roman Reigns, Shawn Micheals, Steve Austin, and The Honky Tonk Man ahead of tonight’s title match.
Seth Rollins came down to the ring. He said that Nakamura did everything he said he was going to do, and there were points in the match at Payback where he didn’t know if he would be able to continue fighting. But last time he checked, he was World Heavyweight Champion.
Rollins said that even though he won, Nakamura was able to walk out of the building that night while he to be wheeled out in a wheelchair by his wife. He called out Nakamura, who did in fact come out. Rollins said he had a proposition for Nakamura, and offered him a World Heavyweight title match if he came to the ring right now.
Nakamura contemplated the move, then spoke in Japanese. Rollins said he assumed he accepted. Nakamura said no at least three times. Rollins then left the ring and charged after Nakamura as the two brawled. Pearce came out and sent security to break things up. Nakamura targeted Rollins’ back as Ricochet came out to Rollins’ aid. Nakamura was eventually taken away by security.
Back from commercial, Adam Pearce and Seth Rollins were YELLING AT ONE ANOTHER. Pearce wanted to protect Rollins from running himself into the ground. Rollins didn’t want to hear it.
Ricochet defeated Shinsuke Nakamura by DQ
An average TV match with a dumb finish. I guess they did it so they could do the angle after, but yuck.
They wrestled for a few minutes before Nakamura gained control with a suplex off the turnbuckle. After a commercial break, Ricochet gained control as Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley looked on backstage. Ricochet hit a standing shooting star press then went to the top rope for a 450 but Nakamura dodged. Ricochet hit the recoil for a nearfall.
Nakamura cut off Ricochet with a knee but Ricochet cut Nakamura off quickly and hit a running senton off the apron to the floor, but Nakamura dodged it. They fought near the barricade where Nakamura hit Ricochet with a steel chair for the DQ in a marvelous finish.
AFter the match, Nakamura wrapped a steel chair around Ricochet’s neck but Rollins ran to the ring for the save, throwing out security who attempted to stop him. Rollins launched out of the ring with a big tope, knocking down Nakamura. However, Nakamura quickly recovered and drove Rollins’ back into the steel steps, with Ricochet using a chair to drive away Nakamura.
Backstage, Priest and Ripley were watching the developments. “Not tonight,” Ripley told Priest, who was clutching his Money in the Bank briefcase.
They showed footage of Zoey Stark turning on Trish Stratus after Stratus berated her following the steel cage match at Payback. In a promo backstage, Stark said she has a lot of respect for Stratus, but nobody pushes Zoey Stark. Shayna Baszler confronted Stark and the two agreed to a match for tonight.
The Judgment Day came out to talk. Dominik Mysterio started to talk and was drowned out by the boos. He put over everyone had titles now. Balor congratulated Mysterio on it being one year since joining The Judgment Day. He thanked Ripley for being a voice of reason, and put over Priest for their title win. He also paid respects to JD McDonagh, as well as himself for becoming Grand Slam Finn.
Ripley said Sunday proved that Finn and Priest really were brothers and they, together, were a family. Ripley said she was upset, however, that everyone’s talking about Jey Uso jumping to Raw. She said as far as she’s concerned. The Bloodline has fallen and The Judgment Day are the most dominant faction in WWE.
Priest started to talk when McDonagh came out. Priest didn’t like this. JD said changes needed to be made in the Judgment Day, and that Priest’s briefcase had to go. He presented Priest with a new purple briefcase that said Señor Money in the Bank.
Sami Zayn came out. He said he knows Kevin Owens isn’t here, but did you really think we were just going to let it slide that they lost the titles on Saturday? He said he doesn’t see five champions in the ring, he says he sees five championship stealing turds. He called Mysterio the biggest turd of them all. Zayn challenged Mysterio to a match. McDonagh said he wasn’t fighting Mysterio and issued a challenge to Zayn, who accepted.
More Intercontinental champions were highlighted, including Pedro Morales, The Ultimate Warrior, Razor Ramon, The Rock, Rey Mysterio, Wade Barrett, and Seth Rollins.
Gunther cut a promo. He asked Gable who did he think he was. Someone like Gable does not belong in the history books, he does. His legacy will be forever and after the final bell rings tonight, Gunther said that he will stand tall as the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion in history.
Raquel Rodriguez was leaving Adam Pearce’s office when Chelsea Green walked in. Pearce noted that Piper Niven “was not medically cleared”. Green was talking about how much of a loser Rodriguez was when Rodriguez walked back in. Pearce made a match between the two for tonight.
Shayna Bazler defeated Zoey Stark
Probably didn’t need to beat Stark right after her angle with Stratus, but they seem to be going in some sort of direction with her and Baszler based on the finish. The crowd was very dead for this.
Baszler targeted Stark’s right arm and started to work it over. Baszler went for the kirifuda clutch but Stark escaped. The two ended up on the outside where Baszler went for the clutch again, but Stark shoved Baszler’s back into the announce table and leaped off with a plancha to the floor.
Following a commercial, Stark came back with a German suplex. Stark went for what looked like the Z360 but couldn’t get it done due to her hand. The crowd doesn’t seem interested in this at all. Baszler ended up catching Stark in the kirifuda clutch. Stark attempted to fight off the submission, getting back on her feet at one point, but after about a minute finally succumbed to it.
Stark got back up on her feet after the match. Baszler seemed to respect Stark and told her that she put up more of a fight than Ronda ever did. The two fist bumped in a show of respect.
Finn Balor said backstage maybe it was time for JD to join The Judgment Day. Priest said he needed to prove himself. Balor agreed. Mysterio said he was fine with whatever they decided. Ripley said to wait and see how JD does tonight against Zayn. As Priest and Balor left, Ripley told Mysterio to make sure everything goes to plan during JD’s match.
Raquel Rodriguez defeated Chelsea Green
This was short. Green attempted to run away but Rodriguez attacked her and ragdolled her. Rodriguez connected with a boot and a fallaway slam. Green cut her off briefly and went for a crossbody but Raquel grabbed her, gave her a clothesline, then pinned her with the Tejana bomb.
Rodriguez said she talked to Adam Pence and said not only is she getting her Payback rematch, but Dominik Mysterio will be barred from ringside. She told Rhea Ripley she’d see her next week for the Women’s World Championship.
More Intercontinental Champions: Don Muraco, Mr. Perfect, Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Kofi Kingston, and Cody Rhodes.
Chad Gable said he’s already in the history books, being a former Olympian with a masters degree. Tonight he’ll prove to him, his crew, and his family in the front row that he’s more than a tag team specialist, the world’s going to see your desire to hang on to that championship is nothing compared to my desire to take it from you.
Drew McIntyre was storming around backstage when Matt Riddle approached him and told McIntyre to calm down. McIntyre said if Jey Uso gets in his way, McIntyre will deal with the person who brought him in, Cody Rhodes. Kofi Kingston came in and apologized. McIntyre didn’t seem to accept the apology and told Kingston he was going to keep his eyes open in case of any other ‘accidents’ in the future.
Miz in the ring for Miz TV. He said he didn’t lose to LA Knight at Payback, he was victimized. He brought in John Cena, who we could not see. He was invisible tonight, with the cameraman doing all of the camera cuts of Cena’s entrance, including running to the ring. After talking to invisible Cena for a while Miz asked if we could see Cena. Everyone in the crowd responded no. Miz said he has been able to see through John Cena for eighteen years.
He asked the invisible chair next to him if he screwed him over and if LA Knight paid him. I guess the chair said yes. Miz then asked invisible Cena to leave. Miz slapped invisible Cena then gave him the skull crushing finale. After mentioning the time that he and John Cena headlined a WrestleMania 13 years ago he ended the segment by challenging LA Knight to a one-on-one match.
The Miz has been on this show for a very, very long time with the same character for years, and years, and years.
Jey Uso was walking backstage and after briefly encountering Akira Tozawa, met with Adam Pearce, who said that as a result of his trade to Raw, SmackDown would be getting a trade in the future and people may not be happy with the result. After Uso left, Tommaso Ciampa walked up to Pearce. The two went into Pearce’s office to talk.
JD McDonagh defeated Sami Zayn
This probably would have been a better match if more time was given, but this was fine for what they were given.
The two wrestled for a few minutes before McDonagh on the outside posted Zayn before going to commercial. Back from it, Zayn fought out of a rest hold and laid out McDonagh with a clothesline. Zayn hit a Michinoku driver for a nearfall.
Zayn gave McDonagh an exploder into the ring post as he went for the Helluva kick but Dominik Mysterio dragged JD out of the ring. Zayn beat up Mysterio but the numbers game soon came into play, as Mysterio distracted Zayn briefly on the outside, allowing McDonagh to roll up Zayn for the win.
Zayn attacked Mysterio after the match. He went for the Helluva kick, but McDonagh dragged Zayn out of the ring and told Mysterio to escape. Zayn then targeted McDonagh, giving him the Helluva kick instead. Commentators put over that Mysterio didn’t return the favor after McDonagh saved him.
They showed a replay of the interaction between Tiffany Stratton and Becky Lynch from Payback. They plugged Stratton’s title defense against Kiana James tomorrow.
More Intercontinental Champions: Randy Savage, Tito Santana, Triple H, Edge, The Miz, and Bobby Lashley.
Mysterio came across Uso backstage and tried to relate to him, saying they were from broken families. He attempted to recruit Uso into the Judgment Day. Mysterio told him to think about it, and that Judgment Day would welcome him with open arms.
Gunther defeated Chad Gable to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship
The last few minutes of this match were awesome, the crowd was really into it. Two commercial breaks during this match, however, meant we only really saw the last five minutes uninterrupted. This should have been on the pay-per-view, premium live event, whatever. If I were booking this company, I think a third match is in order and Gable should win the title at Fastlane next month.
After a few minutes, and of course a commercial break, we see Gable holding onto Gunther’s leg outside the ring, working on the leg until Gunther cut him off. Gunther took Gable down with a huge chop. Gable attempted some of his own, but Gunther mowed him down with another big chop.
After ANOTHER COMMERCIAL, Gable attempted to go after Gunther’s leg again but Gunther lifted him up for a powerbomb. Both end up tumbling to the floor. Gable planted Gunther with a German suplex. He threw Gunther back into the ring, but when Gable gets in, Gunther struck him with a powerbomb for a nearfall.
Gable hit a superplex then followed it with a flying headbutt for another nearfall. Gable went for an ankle lock but Gunther escaped. Gable tried for Chaos Theory but Gunther escaped again. Gable hit a back suplex and connected with the Chaos Theory suplex this time, but Gunther kicked out again.
Gable went for a moonsault, but Gunther lifted his leg. Gable saw this and went for an ankle lock. After struggling briefly, Gunther caught Gable in a sleeper. Gable shifted his weight and planted his feet on the floor, pinning Gunther’s shoulders for another two count. Gunther hit a sleeper suplex, a powerbomb, then blasted Gable with a clothesline for the win.
A child was shown crying at ringside as Gunther was given the championship. Michael Cole on commentary noted that after 35 years, Gunther will now break The Honky Tonk Man’s record as the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time. The show closed with Gunther standing at the entrance, with Gable looking dejected inside the ring.
I had many reservations about Sunday’s AEW All Out which had most of its card announced Wednesday and Saturday. The build, to say the least, wasn’t solid. So it’s a good thing that the card itself ended up being one of the better shows of the year once everything was said and done. Who would have thought?
After nearly a year as champion, Orange Cassidy finally lost the AEW International title in the main event to Jon Moxley in a match that, shock of all shocks, was an excellent, bloody, back and forth battle. There were many times where I thought Cassidy had a shot to win, but ultimately, the story told here was that after so many great title defenses, he could not keep up with someone as unrelenting as Moxley, who finished off Cassidy with two death rider DDTs.
The main event was awesome in a show that featured plenty of awesome matches. But it wasn’t the best match on the card.
After Bryan Danielson returned on Saturday’s Collision to accept a strap match against Ricky Starks in a shocker, their match Sunday was incredible, one of the best strap matches I’ve ever seen, and what should be seen as a benchmark for what to do in the future.
Danielson utterly beat Starks within an inch of his life in a ridiculously brutal match, full of hard belt shots and, you guessed it, blood. Danielson won by taking the strap and choking the life out of Starks for the win. No, really: Starks’ face was turning red. It was gross, but incredible.
Here’s the rest of the rundown for this show, which continued the streak of very long AEW pay-per-views clocking in at almost five hours:
Bullet Club Gold scored a win over the odd pairing of FTR and The Young Bucks in a match that ended up being really good. They were put in a bad spot on the card as the show was well over the four-hour mark at this point, but everyone here looked great. It’s clear there’s more to the story between FTR and the Bucks, and we’ll likely see another match between the two down the line. Maybe in Seattle?
Konosuke Takeshita got the biggest win of his career by defeating Kenny Omega in their big singles match. This lived up to the hype as the two had an incredible athletic match. Omega tends to lose a lot in these big singles matches, but he’s Omega. That’s fine, he’s made. Takeshita needed a big win here to really solidify himself as a top name in AEW, and they did so here. Now it’s up to AEW to continue with that momentum as their track record for that is pretty spotty (remember Wardlow?).
The TBS Championship match was perfectly fine. Kris Statlander retained over Ruby Soho in a match where nobody did anything wrong. Toni Storm distracted Soho long enough for Statlander to get the win, furthering the split between The Outcasts. The main problem is everyone in this match feels like they’re just treading water. Statlander seems to be missing something she had before getting injured since returning in May. The Outcasts stable has just kind of been going along with no real direction and now they’re breaking up. None of this feels engaging at all.
Miro defeated Powerhouse Hobbs in a great match where the crowd made it special, chanting for “MEAT” at every possible turn. They wanted desperately for this to be great, and it elevated the match as a result. Just two guys going out there and having a cool back and forth match with big spots– exactly what was needed. After Miro won, Hobbs beat him up after shaking his hand until a woman who was not named made the save with a steel chair. That woman, formerly known as Lana in WWE, did not have a name here and the announcers went out of their way to not name her. The video screen, which read “HOT AND FLEXIBLE” did not name her. Miro then didn’t seem happy she was there and left in a weird ending to what was a really good match.
Darby Allin was unsuccessful in winning the TNT title from Luchasaurus, but man, did he work his ass off to have a real good match. He looked like a complete mess when this was all over. The finish felt like right out of the WWE playbook, but my assumption is that there is more to this storyline and we’re not totally done between these two just yet.
The ROH title matches seemed more like a backdrop to what appears to be MJF’s next AEW World title program as he got into it with Samoa Joe following an altercation between the two in between their title matches. They ended up getting into a brawl, having to be separated by security. The matches themselves were just matches, not really anything beyond your normal television fare.
Hangman Page won the Over Budget Battle Royal, winning $50,000 dollars for a charity of his choice, the Chicago Public Education Fund. It was every single battle royal you’ve ever seen, but it was fun towards the end with Page last eliminating Brian Cage.
The Acclaimed retained the AEW Trios titles over Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh, and Jay Lethal in a match that was just kinda there with the usual Jarrett antics. I don’t mind seeing a Jarrett family spotfest once in a while, but after that Texas Chain Saw Massacre match from a few weeks ago, I don’t need to see another one for months. They’re wacky and fun, but the matches feel like overkill.
The women’s trios match was good and seemed to maybe set up a future ROH Women’s title match between Athena and Hikaru Shida, which I’m all for.
AEW is inching closer to monthly pay-per-view events with their next PPV set for Sunday, October 1st with their first-ever WrestleDream in Seattle. On the plus side, I am hopeful the build towards that card becomes clear after this week’s AEW shows. On the minus side, dear lord, there is too much wrestling content. I’ve done three of these in the last week. Help.
Notes from AEW All Out on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer on Monday morning discussed the main event of the show, which saw Jon Moxley defeat Orange Cassidy to win the AEW International Championship. Despite that, the show ended with Orange Cassidy making it up back on his feet to a big ovation from the crowd.
“It didn’t feel like a sad ending to the pay-per-view. You knew the day was coming, you saw history, it went to a guy that’s a big star, and you got to give Orange his moment,” Alvarez said.
In the post-show press conference, there wasn’t much news. Khan did not talk about the situation with CM Punk. Christian Cage noted he had signed a new contract with the company. The gate for the show stands around $800,000, less than the $1 million Khan predicted last week.
“It’s okay,” Meltzer said. “US business is soft. Not that $800,000 is a bad gate. Again, in Chicago, you’d expect it at over a million.”
Bryan Danielson noted during the conference that he was cleared by both AEW’s medical staff and an outside surgeon, saying there was a lot of “smoke and mirrors” in his strap match against Ricky Starks.
Regarding Jack Perry, Khan said that he was “suspended indefinitely”.
Meltzer also brought up Ace Steel’s name, saying that “he’s in the same position that he was in three days ago”.
Jon Moxley ended AEW All Out with the International Championship.
Moxley ended up being the one to finally end Cassidy’s long reign with the championship. In what ended up being a brutal, bloody war, Moxley picked up the victory after hitting two death riders on a bloody and battered Cassidy.
After Moxley won, he exited the ring with the help of the Blackpool Combat Club as they posed with the championship on the ramp. After Moxley’s music ended, Orange Cassidy got back on his feet to a standing ovation to close out the show.
This ends Cassidy’s run with the International title, which started back on October 12 of last year when he defeated PAC on an episode of AEW Dynamite. Cassidy had consistently defended the title over 30 times throughout the last year, defeating the likes of Jeff Jarrett, Bandido, Swerve Strickland, Lance Archer, and Wheeler Yuta, among others.
Cassidy’s last title defense was this past Wednesday’s Dynamite, defeating Penta El 0 M. As a result, Cassidy went on to face Moxley on Sunday’s show.
Samoa Joe and MJF had a confrontation at AEW All Out.
MJF and Adam Cole had won their ROH Tag Team title match in the opener on Sunday. As they were making their way to the back, Samoa Joe’s music hit as he came down to the ring for his match against Shane Taylor. Joe shoved MJF as he made his way to the ring. Not happy about the encounter, MJF ran back to the ring and attacked Joe as security ran in to separate the two.
On X, MJF made reference to a similar situation where, playing a security guard, he was shoved by Samoa Joe in a backstage NXT segment from years ago.
“I’m not the kid you shoved in Brooklyn, mother******,” he wrote. “Game on.”
At All Out, MJF and Cole retained the titles, defeating the Dark Order. The finish had MJF, who was taken out of the match early after being attacked by a chair, come in and make the hot tag, scoring the win for his team.
Samoa Joe went on to defeat Taylor to retain the ROH Television championship.
On paper, Saturday’s WWE Payback from Pittsburgh looked to be one of the weakest WWE shows of the year. In execution, it was actually a pretty good show until the final two matches.
Shinsuke Nakamura was not successful in defeating Seth Rollins with Rollins retaining the World Heavyweight title in a match that never really got going.
The work in the match was fine, but neither ever really picked it up a notch beyond that. Nakamura is one of the most charismatic pro wrestlers in the last ten years, and the build to the match was pretty good. But, he’s terribly inconsistent (at best) in the ring at this stage of his career, and while everything was fine, it never reached great. There have been so many great WWE main event matches this year, it wasn’t even close to being on par with those.
Even weirder, the show closed with Nakamura looking sad on the outside as Rollins recovered in the ring. The period between Rollins winning and the show going off the air was so long that one would assume something, anything, was about to happen. Maybe Nakamura would attack Rollins or Damian Priest would sneak in and go for the attack to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. But no, the show just ended. Weird.
Here’s the rest of the card, which had its ups and downs:
The steel cage match between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus was awesome — a great opener that really should have been the main event. This was easily the best match on the show. These two had just about the best cage match you can possibly have nowadays, hitting each other hard. Stratus is almost 50 and you would never know it because she doesn’t move like someone who is nearing that age. This was an extremely physical match that paid off a long-running feud well.
I liked the undisputed WWE Tag Team title street fight match which saw Finn Balor and Priest capture the titles from Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. The crowd was super into the match, which helped it move beyond just your typical weapons match (that and Owens did an insane swanton bomb off a balcony). They’re putting a lot of emphasis on Balor & Priest, so it makes sense for them to make them strong until the eventual turn finally happens.
LA Knight defeated The Miz in a match that felt VERY LONG. Everything they did was fine, but they just kept DOING STUFF for a long period of time. At least the crowd was into it and Knight in general.
Rey Mysterio kept the United States title, defeating Austin Theory. I thought this was fine with Mysterio looking real good. Theory isn’t bad by any means, but they have given him this hard push for well over a year now and still comes across as a very generic and okay, but he’s hardly an interesting heel.
Rhea Ripley defeated Raquel Rodriguez in a bland match to retain her Women’s title. The crowd wasn’t into it and the work was all over the place, some of it looking good, some of it not so much. I never thought this gelled.
The Grayson Waller Effect segment is only notable in that Jey Uso was moved to Raw in what will likely be a long-term storyline. I hardly believe that’s the end of his involvement with The Bloodline storyline. I’m guessing they are holding off the brother vs. brother match for WrestleMania, so in the meantime, he can go to Raw while Jimmy remains on SmackDown, perhaps setting up an eventual match with Roman Reigns.
Next up for WWE is Fastlane on October 7. Reigns doesn’t appear to be on this show, so there is a chance this could be another lame duck card as there was nothing on this show to set up anything for the immediate future. WWE has some long terms plans cooking, that can clearly be seen on their television. But right now, we just seem to be going through the motions until we get closer to the new year.
WWE’s Vengeance, on 6/25 from the Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, was a loaded line-up that underachieved a bit, producing a decent show that got a mixed response.
There was nothing really eventful about it, with several good matches but no great ones. The show was expected to do well above usual buy rate levels, due to the first DX tag team match together in the main event against the Spirit Squad. Based on our responses, it seemed to do that, easing the transition from $34.95 to $39.95 for the “B” shows with two shows that had a certain base more apt to buy regardless of price point. The first was the ECW show two weeks earlier, which may not have had as much casual interest, but was still going to get a lot of people to buy regardless of price. This was a nostalgia deal, and strong nostalgia draws well at first.
Dennis Rodman will be in the corner of The Acclaimed when they defend the Trios Championship at All Out.
An angle took place on Saturday’s Collision between Rodman, The Acclaimed, and Jeff Jarrett & his group. After Rodman appeared in front of the crowd, Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh, Sonjay Dutt, Karen Jarrett, and Jay Lethal came out and asked Rodman to join their group. After Rodman shoved Dutt down, Jarrett’s group surrounded the ring when The Acclaimed made the save. The trio then challenged Jarrett’s group to a match for Sunday’s All Out Zero Hour pre-show, saying that Rodman will be in their corner.
The Acclaimed have been champions for nearly a week, winning the titles back at All In when they defeated The House of Black.
Two other matches have been added to the All Out Zero Hour. An Over Budget Charity Battle Royal will take place, with the winner giving $50,000 to the charity of their choice. A women’s trios match has also been added, with Willow Nightingale, Sky Blue, and Hikaru Shida taking on Athena, Mercedes Martinez, and Diamante.
Here’s the updated card for All Out:
AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy defends against Jon Moxley
Strap match: Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks
TBS Championship: Kris Statlander defends against Ruby Soho
TNT Championship: Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin
ROH Tag Team Championship: Adam Cole & MJF defend against Alex Reynolds & John Silver
ROH Television Championship: Samoa Joe defends against Shane Taylor
Eddie Kingston & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta
Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita
FTR & The Young Bucks vs. Bullet Club Gold
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Miro
Zero Hour, Trios Championship: The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass defend against Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, and Satnam Singh
Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale, Hikaru Shida, and Sky Blue vs. Athena, Mercedes Martinez, and Diamante
Tony Khan opened AEW Collision on Saturday and addressed the termination of CM Punk’s contract.
Khan opened the show saying he had to make “one of the toughest decisions in my personal career” by terminating Punk for cause following an altercation with Jack Perry that took place at All In last Sunday.
“The incident was regrettable and it endangered people backstage,” Khan said. “That includes the production staff who put the show on every week, innocent people who had nothing to do with it.”
“I’ve been going to wrestling shows for over 30 years. I’ve been producing them on this network for four years. Never in all that time have I ever felt until last Sunday that my security, my safety, my life was in danger at a wrestling show,” Khan continued. “I don’t feel anyone should feel that way at work. I don’t think the people I work with should feel that way and I had to make a very difficult choice today.”
Khan said that the termination came at the unanimous recommendation of AEW’s Discipline Committee and “outside legal counsel”. He apologized to any fans upset at Punk’s firing before transitioning to footage from All In.
Prior to the start of Collision, Khan appeared in front of the crowd and talked about growing up in Illinois before making the same points regarding Punk’s firing. The Chicago crowd gave Khan a mixed reaction with many boos as he was giving the speech.
AEW announced on Saturday that following the investigation involving Punk and Perry, Khan decided to terminate the contracts of CM Punk with cause. He had been with the company since 2021.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has terminated the wrestler and employment agreements between Phillip Brooks (CM Punk) and AEW with cause, effective immediately. The termination was confirmed today by Tony Khan, CEO, General Manager, and Head of Creative of AEW.
The termination follows a weeklong internal investigation of an incident occurring back stage at AEW – All In London on Sunday, August 27. Following the investigation, the AEW Discipline Committee met and later convened with outside legal counsel before making a unanimous recommendation to Khan that CM Punk be terminated with cause.
Khan offered the following statement:
“Phil played an important role within AEW and I thank him for his contributions. The termination of his AEW contracts with cause was ultimately my decision, and mine alone. Of course, I wish I did not have to share this news, which may come as a disappointment to many of our fans. Nevertheless, I am making the decision in the best interests of the many amazing people who make AEW possible every week – our talent, staff, venue operators, and others whose efforts are unsung but essential to bringing our great shows on television and at arena and stadiums throughout the world.”
Punk and Perry had an altercation shortly after Punk wrestled Samoa Joe at All In in Wembley Stadium. The two reportedly had the altercation over a comment Perry made during the match about the limo he and Hook were wrestling around having real glass, something Punk and Perry had previously had a conversation over after Punk rejected Perry using real glass during a segment for AEW Collision.
Signing with AEW in 2021, Punk held the AEW World Championship twice during his run with the company. After being gone since September 2022 following both a triceps injury and a backstage altercation with The Elite, Punk returned to AEW in June for the debut episode of Collision, a show he regularly appeared on.
A tag team match has been announced for next Friday’s SmackDown.
Damage CTRL team mates Bayley & IYO SKY will team up to take on Shotzi and Charlotte Flair next week at the Boston Garden. This stems from a match that took place on Friday’s SmackDown, when Shotzi defeated SKY after Charlotte Flair interfered. The finish had Bayley go for SKY’s WWE Women’s title when Flair came out, laid out SKY, and attacked Bayley as the referee was distracted, allowing Shotzi to pick up the win.
Bayley and SKY have been feuding with Shotzi for the last several weeks, starting when the two attacked Shotzi backstage and cut off her hair. Shotzi eventually returned with a new shorter hairstyle and has been stalking Damage CTRL ever since.
SKY has been champion since SummerSlam, when she and Bayley attacked Charlotte Flair and Asuka with the Money in the Bank briefcase in order to get to new champion Bianca Belair. SKY pinned Belair to win her first WWE Women’s Championship.
Here’s what is announced so far for next week’s SmackDown:
John Cena will be hosting Saturday’s WWE Payback event.
Cena officially returned to WWE on Friday’s SmackDown and informed everyone that he was just told that he will be hosting WWE Payback in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Cena will be making a number of appearances on WWE television over the next few months, including WWE’s Superstar Spectacle event in India later this month.
On Friday’s show, Cena was cutting a promo when Jimmy Uso came out and accused Cena of being just like Roman Reigns, except Cena does what he does with a smile. Cena responded by saying that he thought the wrong Uso had quit WWE. Jimmy attempted to retaliate with a superkick, but John Cena countered with the AA.
Here is the lineup for Saturday’s Payback event.
WWE Payback, Saturday, September 2, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —
John Cena to host
World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins defends against Shinsuke Nakamura
Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley defends against Raquel Rodriguez
United States Championship: Rey Mysterio defends against Austin Theory
Undisputed Tag Team Championship Steel City Street Fight: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defend against The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor & Damian Priest
