Author: Bryan Rose

Four matches announced for AEW Collision

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Several new matches were announced for Saturday’s AEW Collision — the go-home for Sunday’s All In.

Keith Lee returns to action for the first time since the August 2nd Rampage. He last was seen teaming with The Hardys vs. The Butcher, The Blade & Kip Sabian. 

Big Bill will also be in action, managed by Ricky Starks.

Willow Nightingale will take on Robyn Renegade while Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds & John Silver face Darius Martin & Action Andretti.

The additions joins the previously announced all star eight-man tag team match featuring CM Punk, Sting, Darby Allin and a mystery partner vs. Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Jay White & Luchasaurus, and a trios match with Orange Cassidy, Eddie Kingston & Penta El Zero Miedo teaming up.

Here’s the updated card for Saturday which was taped after Dynamite this past Wednesday:

  • Sting, Darby Allin, CM Punk & a mystery partner vs. Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Luchasaurus & Jay White
  • Willow Nightingale vs. Robyn Renegade
  • Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs. Darius Martin & Action Andretti
  • Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo & Orange Cassidy vs. Kip Sabian, The Butcher & The Blade
  • Big Bill vs. TBD
  • Keith Lee vs. TBD

Chris Jericho honors Bray Wyatt during Fozzy concert

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Chris Jericho & Fozzy paid tribute to Bray Wyatt during their concert on Friday.

A clip shared on X Friday showed Jericho saying that Windham Rotunda (Wyatt) was “a pleasure to work with”, allowing people to sing “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”, a trademark of Wyatt during his run in WWE. He then dedicated the Fozzy concert to Rotunda.

Seth Rollins on X also shared his feelings on Wyatt.

“Windham was a unique cat,” he said. “Simple, yet deeply complex individual. And I loved him. I loved working with him, but most of all I loved being around him.”

“I thought about going to SmackDown tonight, but that would entail leaving my family a day early,” Rollins continued. “And I just keep going back to the conversation I had with Windham on the phone when Brodie [Lee] passed a few years ago…we ended the conversation with I love yous and goodbyes and I remember this very specifically, he said ‘you just go on hugging that baby girl’, talking about my daughter…so I just feel like that’s what I should be doing.”

Rollins ended the videos by saying “Windham, I’ll miss you, we’ll all miss you…see you down the road, cowboy.”

Rotunda passed away Tuesday at the age of 36. According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Rotunda had suffered a heart attack due to COVID-19 exacerbating a previous heart ailment.

Women’s tag team match, two title defenses set for AEW Rampage

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A match that will set the stage for All In will main event Friday’s AEW Rampage as Britt Baker & AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida take on Saraya & Toni Storm. 

The four participants will compete in a four-way Sunday for Shida’s championship.

After Shida defeated Storm for the title, a mini-tournament was created to find participants for the four-way. Storm earned an automatic bye due to her rematch clause while Shida, Baker and Saraya all had to earn their way in.

Rampage will also feature two title matches.

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy will look to keep his long winning streak going as he defends against Aaron Solo. With a win, Cassidy will hit 30 title defenses. Cassidy will be part of a Stadium Stampede match on Sunday.

AAA Latin American Champion QT Marshall will defend his newly-won championship for the first time on AEW TV as he takes on Gravity. Marshall will also have a sit-down interview with Jim Ross.

TNT Champion Luchasaurus will also be in non-title action against an opponent to be named. He is preparing to defend his title against Darby Allin at next month’s All Out.

Here is the lineup announced for Rampage:

  • Hikaru Shida & Britt Baker vs. Saraya & Toni Storm
  • AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Aaron Solo
  • AAA Latin American Champion QT Marshall defends against Gravity
  • TNT Champion Luchasaurus vs. TBA
  • QT Marshall sit-down interview with Jim Ross.

Trios Championship match official for AEW All In

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A Trios title match has been added to this weekend’s All In event in Wembley.

A match between champions The House of Black and challengers The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn was made on Wednesday’s Dynamite following a confrontation between the two teams. The Acclaimed came to the ring and demanded The House of Black come out. When they did, they started to brawl with The House of Black having the advantage until Billy Gunn made his return to AEW, sending The House of Black away.

Gunn cut a promo saying he was okay calling it a career until The House of Black “beat down his sons” and destroyed the boots he left in the ring. He challenged The House of Black to the Trios title match, saying Daddy Ass wasn’t coming to Wembley, but Bad Ass Billy Gunn will.

Here is the updated lineup for Sunday’s All In:

AEW All In, Sunday, August 27, 1 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —

  • AEW World Championship: MJF defends against Adam Cole
  • AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Britt Baker & Saraya
  • AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
  • AEW Trios Championship: The House of Black vs. The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn
  • Real World Championship: CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe
  • Stadium Stampede match: Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo, Orange Cassidy & Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) & Ortiz and Santana
  • Coffin match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland and Christian Cage
  • Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
  • The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Hangman Page) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson) & Konosuke Takeshita

Zero Hour pre-show, 12 p.m. Eastern time on AEW’s YouTube channel —

  • ROH World Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defend against Better Than You Bay Bay (MJF & Adam Cole)

Becky Lynch responds to Tiffany Stratton’s promo on WWE NXT Heatwave

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Becky Lynch has responded to a promo Tiffany Stratton cut on Tuesday’s NXT.

At Heatwave, Tiffany Stratton cut a promo saying she would become one of the greatest NXT Women’s Champions of all time, naming former champions such as Asuka, Bayley, and Charlotte Flair. She also mentioned Becky Lynch, who never held the NXT Women’s Championship during her run in NXT.

Lynch responded on X soon after the promo, saying “I haven’t been NXT Women’s Champion…yet.”

Stratton later said in another promo that “trolls on X” told her that Lynch never was champion, and called Lynch “irrelevant”.

Four women ended up challenging Stratton during her first promo, leading to a brawl. After Stratton called Lynch irrelevant, a fatal four-way match was set up for next week’s NXT, where the winner between Blair Davenport, Roxanne Perez, Gigi Dolin, and Kiana James would get the next shot at Stratton’s championship.

Lynch will face Trish Stratus inside a steel cage at WWE Payback on September 2. She will also be wrestling on next Monday’s Raw, facing Zoey Stark in a falls count anywhere match.

Noam Dar regains Heritage Cup trophy on WWE NXT Heatwave

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Noam Dar has regained the NXT Heritage Cup trophy.

On Tuesday’s NXT Heatwave, Dar defeated Nathan Frazer 2 falls to 1 to regain the Heritage Cup trophy. The finish of the match had the two tied 1-1 heading into the sixth round. Frazer went for a phoenix splash, but didn’t connect. Dar then hit Frazer with a shining wizard to win the trophy for a third time.

During the match, Tyler Bate was laid out by Dabba Kato, who chokeslammed Bate. Bate had agreed to corner Frazer during Tuesday’s match for the trophy.

Frazer had won the trophy back in June, pinning Oro Mensah who was substituting for Dar, who claimed injury. After losing the trophy, Dar went into a catatonic state, being moved around in a wheelchair. He regained consciousness when members of the Meta-Four introduced a replica trophy, with Dar accepting it as the real trophy he never lost. He eventually agreed to let go of the championship and recognize Frazer’s trophy in order to get a match against Frazer.

Raquel Rodriguez attacks Rhea Ripley on WWE NXT Heatwave

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Raquel Rodriguez made a surprise appearance on NXT Tuesday night.

At NXT Heatwave, Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley wrestled Dragon Lee and Lyra Valkyria in a mixed tag team match. Towards the end of the match, Rodriguez appeared and attacked Ripley as she was outside of the ring. The two brawled to the back as a distracted Mysterio then got pinned following a tornado DDT from Lee.

On Raw Monday, Rodriguez revealed that she had been cleared following a knee injury that was caused by an attack from Ripley, tossing her crutch to the side and attacking Ripley. She then revealed in a promo that that she talked to WWE official Adam Pearce and got a Women’s World Championship match for Payback on September 2.

In recent weeks, Ripley had been targeting both Rodriguez and her tag team partner, Liv Morgan. After Ripley injured Morgan, writing her off TV due to a real-life shoulder injury, Ripley has defeated both Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae, the latter of whom she defeated on Monday’s show.

Creed Brothers vs. Dyad steel cage match set for next week’s WWE NXT

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A steel cage match between The Dyad and The Creeds is set for next week’s NXT.

On Tuesday’s Heatwave, two of The Schism’s followers took away Ava following her loss against Ivy Nile. In a segment outside of the Performance Center, Ava taunted Nile, asking Nile to find her with her two followers. When Nile found her, it was revealed that the two followers were in fact The Creed Brothers. They proceeded to say that if The Schism wanted Ava back, they would have to agree to a steel cage match where if they won, they would be reinstated in NXT.

Later, an angry Schism agreed to the match as long as The Creeds let Ava go.

Also added to next week’s NXT is a four-way to determine the next challenger for Tiffany Stratton’s NXT Women’s Championship. Blair Davenport, Gigi Dolin, Kiana James, and Roxanne Perez all appeared in front of Stratton during her segment on Heatwave. It ended up leading into an all-out brawl.

An eight-man tournament will begin next week to determine Noam Dar’s next challenger for the Heritage Cup after he regained the title at Heatwave. Participants for the Global Heritage Invitational tournament have not been named, but the winner of the match will face Dar at NXT’s No Mercy event on September 30.

Here is the lineup so far for next week’s NXT:

  • Cage match: The Creed Brothers vs. The Dyad – if the Creed Brothers win, they are reinstated in NXT
  • Four-way match for NXT Women’s title number one contendership: Blair Davenport vs. Gigi Dolin vs. Kiana James vs. Roxanne Perez
  • Global Heritage Invitational tournament begins

Daily Update: Mercedes Mone, Hulk Hogan, Jim Ross

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Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

See Dave & Bryan in London

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

  • ShopAEW announced that DVD and Blu-Ray pre-orders of All In (2018) will begin on August 23 at 1 pm ET and will last for two weeks.
  • Brody King filed a trademark for his ring name as well as the term “#1 in violence” on August 17.
  • Jim Ross on X: “GOOD NEWS! MRI came back negative! No cancer in my tibia.”

Other Wrestling

  • Muscle and Health has an interview with Hulk Hogan, where he talked about being addicted to pills until he turned to CBD. “Then, finally, I just looked at myself and said, “I’m not in pain. I don’t need this,” Hogan said. “My body hurts from all the wrestling injuries, but I’m not in this excruciating pain that I can’t live with. But then the CBD took me to a place where my joints don’t hurt so much when I wake up. When I pick weights up, I don’t have to do four or five sets before things start to become clear. I can tell as soon as the CBD hits my system, it calms everything down. The inflammation instantly went away with CBD. Usually, my wrists are swollen like crazy by the end of the day. Now they’re fine. I noticed an immediate change as soon as I started on it.”
  • Will Ospreay wrote on X: “True story. Cody asked months after the first one “why wasn’t you on All In”. My reply was “you didn’t ask”. Essentially they forgot to message me to be part of their history. Took long enough but finally part of All In at Wembley Stadium…And I’m not All Elite…I’m Above It.”
  • The film Cassandro, which focuses on the life of real-life luchador Cassandro, will premiere in select theaters on September 15 and then stream globally on Prime Video on September 22.
  • WrestleQuest, which was set to launch August 8 before being delayed, launches today.
  • Rina Yamashita vs. Mike Bailey has been added to GCW Crushed Up in Brooklyn on September 10.
  • Billy Corgan talked to TVInsider about NWA’s 75th Anniversary show being held this weekend.

Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark falls count anywhere set for next week’s WWE Raw

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A falls count anywhere match is set for next Monday’s Raw.

After Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus exchanged words on Monday’s Raw, Lynch revealed that she and Zoey Stark will meet in a Falls Count Anywhere match prior to Lynch and Stratus’ cage match at Payback on September 2. Lynch and Stratus recently wrestled on Raw in a match that ended in a double countout after both Lynch and Stratus wrestled into the crowd. Stark then jumped Lynch as they brawled near a merchindise stand.

A match between Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser is also set for next week. On Monday’s Raw, Gable picked up a win by countout over Intercontinental Champion Gunther after Gable made it back into the ring at 9 as he and Gunther were brawling outside the ring. Later in a backstage segment, Gunther berated Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci, asking them what they’re going to do.

On Raw Talk, Bronson Reed challenged Tommaso Ciampa to a match for next week.

Here is what’s set for next week’s Raw:

  • Falls count anywhere: Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark
  • Chad Gable vs. Ludwig Kaiser

WWE reveals premiere date for Kurt Angle Peacock documentary

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A documentary on Kurt Angle is set to premiere September 2 on Peacock.

During Raw on Monday, it was announced that a documentary centered on Angle will premiere one week from Saturday the same day as WWE’s Payback premium live event.

The documentary, which was produced independently by Angle and director Alex Perry, was acquired by WWE last year. Originally set to focus on Kurt Angle’s amateur wrestling career, WWE has since made changes that also focuses on Angle’s WWE career. The commercial that aired during Raw also touched on Angle’s personal issues.

“The WWE bought the show from us, the documentary,” Angle said on an episode of The Kurt Angle Show last summer. “They changed it up a little bit and made it a little more pro-wrestling oriented but we made a deal with them that this will air on Peacock.”

Angle has made sporadic appearances on WWE television since retiring in 2019, most recently appearing on Raw is XXX back in January.

Kevin Owens returns to TV on WWE Raw

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Kevin Owens officially made his return to WWE on Monday’s Raw.

Owens’ tag team partner Sami Zayn was cutting a promo in the opening segment of Monday’s Raw when The Judgment Day arrived, targeting Zayn. Zayn countered by saying that he knew better than to come to Quebec City alone, introducing the returning Owens, who cleared the ring. Owens then challenged any two members of Judgment Day to face he and Zayn in a tag team match later on Raw.

Owens had been sidelined with a rib injury that has kept him out of action for the last month. His last match prior to injury took place on July 17. He returned this past weekend for a dark match on SmackDown and also at a house show in Laval, Quebec, Canada.

In recent weeks, Sami Zayn has been dealing with bursitis in his elbow but has continued to wrestle. On last week’s Raw, he defeated JD McDonagh in a singles match. However, later in the show, he was laid out by members of Judgment Day and McDonagh along with Cody Rhodes.

Konnan says he has found a kidney donor

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Konnan says he has found a kidney donor.

Talking to Nick Hausman of Haus of Wrestling, Konnan said that the donor needs to lose weight before the kidney is donated. After that, it needs to be determined if the kidney is compatible.

“They just have to do; there’s this BMI index, they have to lose six pounds, six more pounds. And then they can donate their kidney, and we still got to make sure they’re compatible,” Konnan said. “So, you know, I always try to think positively because thinking negatively doesn’t help anything.”

Konnan has faced kidney issues in the past, undergoing kidney transplant surgery in 2007.

“I’m feeling great, but dialysis is not something you want to be on forever because of two things: Number one, it’s your kidneys are only at 10% functionality,” he told Hausman. “That’s number one. And number two, dialysis isn’t like, oh, you can be on dialysis forever and live off of it. No, you’ll eventually die. So, basically, I have to find a donor, and I have one right now.”

Konnan currently serves as booker for AAA. He’s also made appearances on AEW television in the past, and inducted Rey Mysterio at this year’s WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in Los Angeles.

Sean O’Malley wins bantamweight title at UFC 292

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Sean O’Malley is the new UFC bantamweight champion.

O’Malley knocked out Aljamain Sterling in the second round to become the new champion. Sterling had held the championship since March 6, 2021 after he defeated Petr Yan by disqualification following an illegal knee by Yan.

After the match, O’Malley said that this was the most nervous he had ever been for a fight, saying that Sterling was the best bantamweight of all time, but never lost his confidence going into the fight. He said this is the Suga era now and planned on running things until 2035. He called out for a match against Chito Vera in December at T-Mobile Arena.

Entering UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series, O’Malley has racked up wins in 10 of his last 12 fights, most recently defeating Petr Yan by split decision at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.

The first title match of the night had Zhang Weili defeating Amanda Lemos by unanimous decision to retain the UFC women’s strawweight title.

All star eight-man tag match advertised for AEW Collision Fyter Fest

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An all-star eight man tag team match has been announced for next week’s Fyter Fest edition of Collision.

Details are scarce for next week’s show, which will be taped in Duluth, Georgia on Wednesday alongside a live edition of Dynamite due to the All In event at Wembley Stadium taking place that Sunday. The company on Saturday advertised an “all star eight-man tag” without announcing the stars of the match. Additionally, it was advertised that we’d be hearing from AEW stars in London just one day prior to All In.

More matches will be announced on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.

On Saturday’s Collision, the main event featured Darby Allin defeating Christian Cage ahead of Allin’s match against Luchasaurus at All Out next month. Allin won the match with a roll-up, but was attacked by Cage and Luchasaurus after the match. Allin won the Royal Rampage match last month to earn a TNT Championship match at All Out.

Here is the lineup so far for next week’s Collision:

  • All-Star eight man tag team match
  • We’ll hear from AEW stars in London ahead of All In