Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley official for AEW All Out

Orange Cassidy will officially defend the AEW International title at All Out.

Cassidy successfully defended the title against Penta El 0 M on Wednesday’s Rampage. As a result, Cassidy will now move to All Out this Sunday in Chicago, where he will face Jon Moxley.

After Cassidy won on Wednesday, he cut a promo in the ring saying he doesn’t talk much but he said he was hurt, and with each title defense the backpack was getting a little heavier. But he told Moxley that he was going to need more than a fork to beat him. Moxley came to the ring and the two had a staredown to close the show.

The Blackpool Combat Club have been targeting Best Friends in recent weeks. At Sunday’s All In in Wembley Stadium, Cassidy teamed with Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor, Eddie Kingston, and Penta El 0 M to defeat The Blackpool Combat Club, Santana, and Ortiz in a Stadium Stampede match. During the All In media scrum, it was announced that Moxley would face the winner of the International title match on Dynamite at All Out.

Here is the updated card for All Out in Chicago on Sunday:

  • AEW International title: Orange Cassidy defends against Jon Moxley
  • TBS Championship: Kris Statlander defends against Ruby Soho
  • TNT Championship: Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin
  • ROH Tag Team titles: Adam Cole & MJF defend against winners of a battle royal on Rampage
  • ROH Television title: 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

Eight-man tag team match added to AEW All Out

An eight-man tag team match has been set for Sunday’s All Out.

The Young Bucks and FTR will team together to take on all four members of Bullet Club Gold (Jay White, Juice Robinson, and The Gunns). 

A vignette that aired on Wednesday showed FTR confronting The Young Bucks after All In about not shaking hands after their match. As The Young Bucks were expressing their frustration in losing, Bullet Club Gold appeared and mocked them, leading to Wheeler suggesting an eight-man tag match at All Out, with both teams accepting.

A match for the ROH Television Championship was also announced, with former champion Shane Taylor taking on current champion Samoa Joe. A promo with Taylor aired talking about how he was champion for a long time, and would defeat Joe at All Out.

The ROH Tag Team titles will also be on the line with Adam Cole and MJF defending against the winners of a battle royal that will take place on Rampage this Friday.

After Dynamite ended, another match was added to the card on social media, with Blackpool Combat Club’s Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta teaming up to take on Eddie Kingston and ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata.

Here is the updated card for All Out in Chicago on Sunday:

  • AEW International title: Orange Cassidy defends against Jon Moxley
  • TBS Championship: Kris Statlander defends against Ruby Soho
  • TNT Championship: Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin
  • ROH Tag Team titles: Adam Cole & MJF defend against winners of a battle royal on Rampage
  • ROH Television title: 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

Adam Cole promo announced for AEW Dynamite

Adam Cole will speak on this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.

Tony Khan on X Tuesday announced that Adam Cole will speak on Wednesday, his first promo since losing to MJF at All In this past Sunday.

“@AdamColePro will speak LIVE, fresh off the historic #AEWAllIn Main Event against @AEW World Champion & @RingOfHonor World Tag Team Championship partner @The_MJF TOMORROW on #AEWDynamite from Chicago! Don’t miss Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite LIVE at 8/7c on @tbsnetwork!!,” Khan wrote.

MJF defeated Cole in the main event of All In, held in front of over 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium. After the match, a dejected Cole tossed aside the ROH Tag Team Championship the two had won earlier in the night. An angry MJF then turned his back on Cole, daring Cole to attack him. Cole then walked over to MJF, turned him around and hugged him, the two celebrating together to end the show.

Here is the updated lineup for Wednesday’s Dynamite:

  • AEW International title: Orange Cassidy vs. Penta El 0 M (winner faces Jon Moxley at All Out)
  • Adam Cole speaks following All In loss

Report: WWE’s Bianca Belair taking time off

Bianca Belair is reportedly taking time off.

Fightful Select reported on Tuesday that Belair is taking anywhere from under a month to “possibly three months” off. Back at WWE SummerSlam earlier this month, Belair had won the WWE Women’s Championship from Asuka in a three-way match involving Charlotte Flair. However, IYO SKY and the rest of Damage CTRL made their way to the ring, with SKY cashing in and defeating Belair to win the championship for the first time. 

Belair & Flair then teamed together to defeat Bayley and SKY in a match on the August 18 edition of SmackDown. However, Damage CTRL attacked the knee of Belair after the match, playing off a knee injury from SummerSlam. In their report, Fightful noted that the knee injury was just a storyline.

It was also noted in Fightful’s report that Belair received praise for her run with the WWE Women’s Championship, noting the media schedule and the community events she would take part in.

The Street Profits appear on WWE NXT

The Street Profits made a surprise appearance on Tuesday’s NXT.

Backstage, Carmelo Hayes was seen talking to Stacks and Tony D’Angleo when the Profits walked up, pointing out that they were all champions. Montez Ford said that he liked what Hayes was doing, with Angelo Dawkins wondering what Hayes would be doing next, saying there were plenty of people lining up to challenge. Hayes said he appreciated them, but said he wanted to erase that asterisk from his record. He then left as the Profits turned their attention to Stacks & D’Angelo, teasing a possible match between the two teams.

When the show ended, Hayes walked into Shawn Micheals’ office, saying they needed to talk.

Recent weeks have been Street Profits form an association with Bobby Lashley, choosing to wear suits. After interrupting a match between The Brawling Brutes and Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows, they have defeated both teams in the last two weeks, most recently defeating The Brawling Brutes in a match dedicated to Terry Funk on this past Friday’s SmackDown.

Women’s Championship match set for next week’s WWE NXT

Kiana James is the new number one contender for the NXT Women’s Championship.

James defeated Gigi Dolin, Blair Davenport, and Roxanne Perez in the main event of Tuesday’s NXT to earn a championship match on next week’s show against champion Tiffany Stratton. The finish had Perez lay out Davenport with pop rocks, but Gigi Dolin came in and laid out Perez. James then ran in and laid out Dolin with a codebreaker to win the match.

A number one contenders match to determine Dominik Mysterio’s North American title challenger is also set for next Tuesday. After Ali made a claim to Dragon Lee that he should be the next challenger, Mysterio and Rhea Ripley announced the two will compete in a number one contender’s match for next week Instagram post. It was also announced that Mysterio will serve as the special guest referee.

Other matches set for next week include Bron Breakker taking on Von Wagner in a no disqualification match and Ilja Dragunov facing Oro Mensah after Dragunov had an encounter with the Meta-Four on Tuesday. A match that was originally set for Tuesday, Tyler Bate vs. Dabba-Kato, has been moved to next week as well.

Angel & Humberto, who have been seen in recent weeks contemplating their futures in a series of vignettes, will also return next week.

Here’s the current card for next week’s WWE NXT:

  • NXT Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton defends against Kiana James
  • NXT North American number one contender’s match: Dragon Lee vs. Mustafa Ali with special guest referee Dominik Mysterio
  • No DQ: Bron Breakker vs. Von Wagner
  • Tyler Bate vs. Dabba-Kato
  • Ilja Dragunov vs. Oro Mensah
  • Angel & Humberto return

The Creed Brothers win reinstatement on WWE NXT

The Creeds are back in NXT.

On Tuesday’s show The Creed Brothers defeated The Dyad in a steel cage match, reinstating themselves back in NXT. The story of the match had The Schism’s followers attack Brutus as the Creeds were making their way to the ring, leaving Julius by himself against both Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler. Towards the end of the match, Brutus made his way back inside the cage. Together, they laid out both members of the Dyad with double sliding clotheslines to pick up the victory.

Back on the June 27 edition of NXT, The Dyad defeated The Creed Brothers in a loser leaves NXT match, leaving Ivy Nile by herself. In the weeks following their loss, The Creeds would taunt The Schism by appearing in the group of their followers, disguised under masks. 

During last week’s Heatwave event, Ava was rescued by two of The Schism’s followers, taking her outside of the Performance Center and later revealing themselves as Yhe Creeds. The Schism ended up being forced to agree to a cage match where The Creeds would be reinstated if they win.

Daily Update: Trish Stratus, Chris Jericho, Nick Jackson

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • G-1 MVP and best match of G-1
  • Match of the week and performer of the week
  • Behind the scenes of the last month of AEW. why stories were kept quiet, why people were not allowed to attend Collision, why this has gone on for 18 months
  • All of the recent incidents talked about from multiple sides
  • The promo by C.M. Punk and what happened at the Greensboro show which led to all of his getting out
  • Different reactions to the promo
  • The apology that did happen
  • All In and attendance records plus the updated card with new matches that have not yet been announced
  • Full coverage of the end of G-1 and the big fall shows for New Japan
  • Business notes on G-1
  • Naito has two of the best matches of the year
  • Koichi Yoshizawa and his role in Japanese wrestling coverage in the U.S.
  • Saturday’s UFC coverage and where the top stars go from here as well as the business notes
  • Coverage of the final TripleMania show of the year and storylines behind it
  • Tammy Sytch update
  • The most detailed look at ratings for all the wrestling and MMA shows, gains and losses with what groups and why, what segments did the best and worst
  • Another women’s champion out of action due to surgery
  • RevPro and CMLL working relationship notes
  • World Grand Prix notes
  • Stardom PPV coverage and upcoming tag team tournament
  • N-1 coverage
  • New Japan and Stardom business notes
  • Hiromu Takahashi talks junior heavyweight goals
  • New Japan PPV shows this weekend
  • One of the biggest women stars has major surgery and a look back at her career
  • How the television industry continues to change
  • Full PWG coverage of the first show since January including some of AEW’s top stars
  • Update on new promotion opening next month and what well known announcer is in talks to appear
  • RevPro anniversary show update
  • WWE & AEW upcoming ticket sales
  • WWE & AEW streaming numbers
  • WWE and AEW international ratings
  • Conor McGregor talks future
  • Former UFC legend officially retires
  • Update on Bellator sale
  • Update on PPV numbers for Diaz-Paul and SummerSlam
  • Former WWE wrestler wins MMA fight
  • Edge and possible retirement
  • Build to Payback show
  • ESPN exec talks interest in pro wrestling
  • Possible retirement of Lacey Evans
  • Women’s tag title update
  • Asuka talks Japanese wrestling and the back story
  • Logan Paul offers a $1 million bet
  • New WWE signing

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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Tuesday Update

WWE

AEW

  • Nick Jackson thanked numerous people regarding the success of All In, including Cody Rhodes, writing “This doesn’t happen without you. Spoiler alert for the people who say we hate each other. That isn’t true.”
  • Samoa Joe on X: “Know that there are some people in life who will cherish your friendship, and others who will commodify it. Both relationships can work on some level as long as you are treating it the same way. That being said, the latter usually sucks.”
  • Chris Jericho responded “Yup” on X when a fan said that Jericho’s interactions with Bob Barker being omitted from WWE’s tribute on Monday’s Raw was “typical WWE pettiness”.
  • Terrifier 2, which features Jericho, will be re-released on November 8.
  • The company has released a highlight reel from All In.

Other Wrestling

Report: Bray Wyatt was suffering from heart complications prior to death

More details have emerged regarding the death of Windham Rotunda, best known as Bray Wyatt in WWE.

According to police records obtained by TMZ, Rotunda had experienced heart complications in the weeks prior to his death. His family members told police that he had COVID back in March and developed heart complications, causing him to have a “weak lower part of his heart”. He was hospitalized one week prior to his death due to a heart issue, and had a follow-up appointment with his doctor the morning that he died.

Rotunda told his fiancee (former WWE ring announcer Josanne Offerman) that he was going to take a nap on Thursday, the day of his death, according to the police report. Offerman became concerned when his alarm went off an hour later without stopping. Rotunda was then discovered in his bed not breathing and was turning blue. Offerman called 911 as her mother attempted CPR, but Rotunda was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

The report also said that Rotunda was advised by doctors to wear an external heart defibrillator, a device that is designed to treat people who experience sudden cardiac arrest. The defibrillator was later found inside Rotunda’s vehicle parked in the driveway.

Following Rotunda’s passing, WWE held tributes both on Friday’s SmackDown and Monday’s Raw. Other promotions including Impact, AEW, and NWA also paid tribute.

Jerry Lawler makes WWE Raw appearance during commercial break

Jerry Lawler made an appearance during a commercial break on Monday’s Raw.

After Damian Priest had defeated Sami Zayn in a match, Zayn returned to the stage and said that while he was in a bad mood over his loss, his mood changed when he saw someone in the back. He introduced Lawler to a major reaction from the Memphis crowd.

Lawler, 73, has been battling health issues in recent months. Back in February of this year he suffered a stroke, his second after previously suffering one in 2018. He hasn’t appeared on WWE television since aside from a videotaped appearance at the WWE Hall of Fame, where he shared a brief message celebrating Andy Kaufman who was inducted that night.

Back in 2012, Lawler suffered a heart attack during a live episode of WWE Raw. He eventually recovered and continued as a color commentator on and off until 2019. Up until his stroke, he had been part of WWE pre-show panels.

AEW All In review: In the end, friendship wins

Everyone’s still pals…for now.

I enjoyed Sunday’s AEW All In from London’s Wembley Stadium, which is likely now one of the biggest shows of all time in terms of attendance. While there weren’t any match of the year contenders, nothing on the show can be deemed bad. A lot of the top matches delivered, and the big stadium feel was present throughout the entire show.

The build to All In was all over the place with a lot of matches not being announced until the last minute. The good news is that by the end, it did feel like a pretty important show had just taken place. Even though they are running the same venue next year, it’s going to be tough to duplicate the success of this year’s show.

All In ended with Adam Cole upset about his flash pin loss to AEW World Champion MJF in front of 80,000 people.

Initially, he rejected MJF trying to console him. But yet again, there was no turn as Cole embraced MJF after MJF turned his back on Cole, expecting an attack. For now, they are delaying what seems to be the inevitable.

I thought the main event was the best match on the show and was probably the most compelling. At the same time, I can understand both sides of the spectrum regarding the match. If you wanted a hot back and forth contest, this did have that at times, but a lot of the match was centered around the MJF/Cole friendship drama and maybe a little too much. But I found myself invested in the storytelling, all the way down to MJF granting Cole a sudden death restart of the match after they both got pinned following a double clothesline.

It’s fair to ask the question if this type of match should have headlined this particular historical wrestling event, but the crowd were into it, as was I, and I think that’s what ultimately matters in the end.

That leaves the question of what the AEW World Champion will be doing in six days as there’s no clear main event for Sunday’s All Out without a turn from either man. It’s possible they could set up a turn on Dynamite and do another match on Sunday. Or, perhaps, there could be an ROH Tag Team title match at All Out where they lose them and split, leading to the big blowoff match at Full Gear. A lot of questions remain for a show that’s less than a week away.

Here’s some thoughts on the rest of this gigantic card:

  • There’s not much to say about the ROH Tag Team title match that kicked off the night which was a pretty simple affair with Cole and MJF winning the titles to set the stage for later in the night. It’s disappointing that Aussie Open were only used to lose to MJF and Adam Cole, but perhaps there’s a rematch down the line where they regain them.
  • Will Ospreay defeated Chris Jericho in what I thought was a great match. It felt like a Ospreay match in that there were some cool, quick back and forth sequences during the match and Jericho managed to keep up. There was one spot early that looked bad and I think Jericho got hurt after taking that Sky Twister press. But beyond that, this was Ospreay at his finest and Jericho’s still really good at this stage of the game.
  • I thought FTR and The Young Bucks’ third offering was really good, great even, but I wouldn’t call it an all-time classic match. FTR have had better tag matches this year and this was nowhere near the Juice Robinson/Jay White title match from earlier in the summer. But I don’t really want to discredit this match because it was great and there were tons of cool callbacks to their previous matches including Cash Wheeler missing the 450 splash (again!).
  • CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe V was significantly better than their Collision match from earlier in the summer. This was a real great back and forth opener and the crowd was super into everything. Punk even won with the Pepsi Plunge, a move that I can’t imagine is fun to do on anyone’s knees. As for what’s next for Punk, is it MJF? That’s the ultimate goal, right?
  • Stadium Stampede probably wasn’t the best match of the night, but I would say it was the most fun. So much stuff was going on and the complete chaos of it all is always fun to witness. Between Sue coming back with the van and Penta Oscuro making his return (remember that gimmick?), there was plenty of fun to be had. 
  • Konosuke Takeshita pinned Kenny Omega to win in their six-man tag match. I thought this was real good, especially towards the end. It set the stage for next Sunday, when Takeshita meets Omega in a singles match.
  • I don’t know about Kota Ibushi at this point. There were times where he looked okay in the aforementioned six-man and times where he didn’t. The more time that goes by, the more I think that shoulder injury was a turning point in his career.
  • The AEW Trios title match was a simple, nice buffer in between the bigger matches on the card. They wanted to tell a story focusing on Billy Gunn, who made his triumphant return here and won gold with The Acclaimed. It was a nice, cute moment for a team that managed to get themselves over organically.
  • Sting & Darby Allin defeated Swerve Strickland & Christian Cage in a coffin match. A lot of this was Allin taking sick bumps on the coffin (which looked like it hurt) and Sting (who came out to Metallica’s Seek and Destroy!) doing some cool stuff. It was a very good match where the babyfaces came out on top and everyone was happy.
  • The Women’s title match was fine, but there’s not much to talk about. It was mainly a story of whether Toni Storm and Saraya could work together. Unfortunately, they did not. In fact, Saraya used The Outcasts’ spray can on Storm, allowing her to score the win as Britt Baker was attempting to submit Hikaru Shida. I guess the story here is the question if the Outcasts will split or if this was just a one-night thing.
  • Hook regained the FTW Championship, defeating Jack Perry. This was a nice pre-show match with a lot of it based on working around a limo Perry brought to the ring, much like how I am working around talking about the bigger story stemming from this match. It was real glass, did you know that? Anyway, Hook is the FTW Champion again and all is right in his world.

And that’s it for All In! And now we look to All Out, which is…next week. Oh boy. We don’t even have a main event yet. I guess we’ll find out on Wednesday. Maybe?

New champions crowned at NWA 75 night one

New champions were crowned on the first night of NWA 75.

The first championship change went down when Max the Impaler defeated Kenzie Paige to win the NWA Women’s Television championship. Paige won a battle royal later in the show to become the number one contender to the NWA Women’s Championship, still held by Kamille after she defeated Natalia Markova in the main event.

In the next match, Thrillbilly Silas Mason defeated Odinson and JR Kratos in a three-way match to win the vacant NWA National Heavyweight Championship, turning on his manager Pollo Del Mar during the match. Blunt Force Trauma (Carnage and Damage) then defeated La Rebellion to win the NWA Tag Team titles.

Colby Corino defeated Kerry Morton to win the NWA Junior Heavyweight title. A match between him and Jack Cartwheel, who won a Jubilee Jamboree earlier in the show, is now set for night two on Sunday.

Another match set for the second night of the NWA’s 75th anniversary show will have Daisy Kill and Talos challenge for the NWA United States Tag Team titles. Kill and Talos defeated The Fixers to earn the title match.

Sunday’s NWA 75 night two event will be headlined by Tyrus defending the NWA World Heavyweight title against EC3.

International title match set for AEW Dynamite

An Orange Cassidy International title defense has been announced for next week’s AEW Dynamite.

It was announced on Saturday’s Collision that Cassidy will defend the title this coming Wednesday on Dynamite, the show following AEW All In at Wembley Stadium and the go-home show for AEW All Out, which takes place next Sunday in Chicago. It wasn’t said who Cassidy will be facing.

At All In, Orange Cassidy is set to team with Best Friends, Eddie Kingston, and Penta El 0 M against The Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta) and Santana & Ortiz. 

Since winning the International title, Orange Cassidy has consistently been defending the championship across all of AEW’s shows. Recent title defenses has seen Cassidy defeat the likes of Swerve Strickland, Lance Archer, AR Fox, Johnny TV, Wheeler Yuta, and Aaron Solo, the latter of which took place on Friday’s Rampage.

This coming week’s edition of Dynamite will be airing live at the NOW Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho added to AEW All Out

Kris Statlander will be defending the TBS Championship next Sunday at All Out.

On Saturday’s Collision, Ruby Soho made it clear she wanted the next championship match against Kris Statlander. In a promo that aired later in the show, Statlander accepted Soho’s challenge, saying she was tired of the Outcasts and if they wanted to call her out, she’ll take them out.

This past Wednesday’s Dynamite saw Soho defeat Sky Blue. Prior to the match, an inset promo aired with Soho calling out Statlander. Soho’s partners Saraya and Toni Storm will compete at All In this Sunday, facing off in a four-way match with AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker also involved. On Friday’s Rampage, Soho got involved in a tag match featuring all four of the participants, leading to Statlander coming out and carrying Soho away.

Here is the updated lineup for next Sunday’s All Out, which takes place at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois:

  • TNT Championship: Luchasaurus defends against Darby Allin
  • TBS Championship: Kris Statlander defends against Ruby Soho
  • Miro vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

Chris Jericho attacks Will Ospreay at RevPro’s 11th anniversary event

Chris Jericho made a surprise appearance at Saturday’s RevPro event in London.

After Ospreay defeated NJPW’s Shingo Takagi in the main event, Zack Sabre Jr. came out and challenged Ospreay to a match at NJPW”s Royal Quest III event on October 14. It was then that a masked man jumped Ospreay, nailing him with a codebreaker. Jericho eventually revealed himself under the mask to close out the show.

https://twitter.com/puroresuflow/status/1695535275932327966

Jericho and Ospreay are scheduled to meet at AEW’s All In event on Sunday morning at Wembley Stadium. The two kickstarted their feud earlier this month when Jericho decided against joining Don Callis’ family after he found out that Callis was set to attack him if he had said no. It was then that Ospreay appeared, attacking Jericho to set up their match at Wembley Stadium.

This past week’s Dynamite had a contract signing between the two men. After exchanging words, the two ended up brawling and having to be pulled apart by security.

Other top matches from Saturday’s RevPro show had Michael Oku defeat Trent Seven to retain the Undisputed British Heavyweight title and Alex Windsor defeating Mickie James and Hyan in a three-way to retain the Undisputed British Women’s Championship.