Author: Bryan Rose

ROH Death Before Dishonor scrum notes: Athena, Tony Khan on company differences

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Several of the champions who retained their titles tonight were part of a media scrum that took place after Death Before Dishonor.

ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata, ROH Women’s Champion Athena, and Tony Khan all took questions following Friday’s show in New Jersey. Here are the highlights:

Claudio Castagnoli

  • He did a mostly in-character interview. He said Mark Briscoe and Eddie Kingston were not ready, and he was proven right when asked a question about the changes and how it had an effect on him.
  • One question was regarding William Regal, and if they are living up to the Blackpool Combat Club name. He said yes, that they have always strived to be the best.

Katsuyori Shibata

  • Shibata answered questions via a translation machine and also through Tony Khan, who talked a lot for him. Khan said that he’s not currently a part of NJPW’s LA Dojo and right now is more focused on being the ROH Pure Champion.
  • Khan said that wrestling Orange Cassidy was Shibata’s idea.
  • When asked about Daniel Garcia, Shibata said Garcia is a great wrestler and said that he felt the future of pro wrestling in him, then later corrected himself by calling Garcia a sports entertainer.
  • Shibata said one of his goals right now is to become the longest reigning Pure champion, the record currently of which stands at close to a year.

Athena

  • Athena was emotional at the start of the interview, saying in her career she had never had a main event on a pay-per-view until Saturday. She said that it meant so much for her to be given that opportunity as she felt that both she and Willow Nightingale earned something. She said that the sky’s the limit as to what is next and that she is open to all challengers.
  • When it was mentioned by Jon Alba that two African American women headlined Friday’s show, Athena said that representation is key. She remembers being the only African American woman on indie shows she would be on. She said that she wanted to inspire everyone of all races.
  • She said that they felt tonight that they’ve made the statement that they are not going anywhere. Tony Khan said they earned the position of being in the main event, citing their ROH match. He thought there was potential for a great trilogy. He said that Death Before Dishonor was one of the best shows they’ve ever done.
  • Corey Lieb pointed out that there were a lot of “love letters” during her match, and asked if she would like to face Giulia. Athena said that she did. She then shouted out some former ROH star names including MsChif, Sara del Rey, Alexis Laree (Mickie James), Daffney, Allison Danger, Sumie Sakai, and Daizee Haze, among others. She said that they inspired her to become more than just a pretty face and that those women don’t get enough credit.
  • She mentioned names such as Kairi Sane, Mayu Iwatani, and Guilia as potential opponents in the future.

Tony Khan

  • Regarding numbers, Khan said that preliminary numbers before the show were good. He wasn’t sure about the buys, but he thinks it did well. He said that this was one of the more successful shows in the company’s history and pointed out that a lot of the successful shows have happened during his ownership.
  • One person asked about heading to Orlando for future studio tapings. Khan said that he was open to utilizing studio tapings, but there’s benefits to having ROH tour with AEW Collision, like ROH stars being able to work on the Collision show.
  • When directly asked about “the point” of ROH, Khan said that the company is focused on a hardcore audience and the promotion delivers matches to that audience. He said that AEW is more aimed towards a bigger crowd. 
  • Khan said that ROH was still a major company in the world and he doesn’t think the company has ever been more influential.
  • Regarding keeping ROH ‘fresh’, Khan said he’s bringing in international talent. He also pointed out that ROH doesn’t have time constraints or commercials. He said there were “nuanced” differences between the two companies.
  • When asked about Kota Ibushi possibly being on the card, he said that Ibushi had just made his AEW debut. He thought that Claudio vs. PAC was perfect to bring in given their storyline from AEW Blood & Guts this past week.
  • Khan said that he “definitely” wants to keep the spirit of independent wrestling and thinks both AEW and ROH are a good platform for that.

Aussie Open win Tag Team titles at ROH Death Before Dishonor

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Aussie Open are the new ROH Tag Team Champions.

Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher won the titles at Friday’s Death Before Dishonor event, defeating former champions Penta El 0 M and Rey Fenix, Best Friends, and The Kingdom in a four-way match. The finish had Davis and Fletcher hitting Coriolis on Trent Beretta to win the titles for the first time.

Lucha Bros. had held the titles for 113 days, winning them back at Supercard of Honor on March 31 in a Reach for the Sky ladder match. The titles had been vacated due to the death of Jay Briscoe back in January.

Aussie Open had to vacate the IWGP and NJPW Strong Tag Team titles after Davis suffered a knee injury that required surgery. This was the first time since May that Aussie Open had teamed up, and the first time since they had signed with AEW.

The rest of the card saw champions retain their titles. The double main event had Claudio Castagnoli successfully retain the ROH World title against PAC, and Athena retain the ROH Women’s title against Willow Nightingale.

Cody Rhodes to respond to Brock Lesnar on WWE Raw

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Cody Rhodes will respond to Brock Lesnar next week on Raw.

WWE.com announced on Friday afternoon that Rhodes will respond to Lesnar. On this week’s Raw, Rhodes called out Lesnar and when he didn’t respond, Rhodes went to get him. Lesnar jumped him at the gorilla position and proceeded to get the better of Rhodes, attacking him in front of his mother. The segment ended with Rhodes being put in the kimura yet again.

Seth Rollins and Finn Balor will have a contract signing to make their match at SummerSlam official. On this week’s Raw, the two had a face-to-face confrontation, with Balor demanding Rollins to give him a rematch. Rollins wasn’t interested. Balor got up and started to leave, but attacked Rollins once he let his guard down.

Tommaso Ciampa will also meet Bronson Reed. It was Reed who attacked Ciampa two weeks ago on Raw, allowing The Miz to pin Ciampa. Ciampa responded by attacking Reed during a match against Shinsuke Nakamura causing a disqualification. Nakamura wasn’t happy and attacked Ciampa as a result.

Here is the updated card for next week’s WWE Raw:

  • Logan Paul returns
  • Cody Rhodes to respond to Brock Lesnar
  • Seth Rollins/Finn Balor contract signing
  • Tommaso Ciampa vs. Bronson Reed
  • Gunther, Drew McIntyre face-to-face
  • Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark- Lynch gets a rematch against Trish Stratus if she wins

Claudio Castagnoli vs. PAC set for ROH Death Before Dishonor

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Claudio Castagnoli has a new opponent for Friday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.

Following their confrontation during Wednesday’s Blood and Guts match that led to PAC exiting the match, Castagnoli cut a promo backstage asking where he was. He said he didn’t want to wait another day, he wanted PAC and challenged him to a match on Friday, telling him to step up.

AEW’s social media then posted a response from PAC, saying he would see Castagnoli this Friday in Trenton, New Jersey.

Briscoe was originally set to face Castagnoli in the main event of Friday’s show. However, he was pulled from the match due to a knee injury. Tony Khan had said an opponent for Castagnoli would be decided after Blood and Guts.

Here is the updated lineup for Death Before Dishonor:

  • ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli defends against PAC
  • ROH Television Championship: Samoa Joe defends against either Dalton Castle or Shane Taylor
  • ROH Pure Championship: Katsuyori Shibata defends against Daniel Garcia
  • ROH Women’s Championship: Athena defends against Willow Nightingale
  • ROH Tag Team titles: Lucha Bros. defend against Best Friends, The Kingdom, and Aussie Open

TBS Championship match added to AEW Rampage

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The TBS Championship will be defended on Friday’s AEW Rampage.

On Wednesday’s Dynamite, it was confirmed that Kris Statlander will take on Marina Shafir in an open challenge match this Friday. Statlander has repeatedly defended the title since Double or Nothing when she made her return to the promotion by defeating Jade Cargill, the first loss of Cargill’s career.

The participants for the Royal Rampage battle royal were also revealed. They include Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, Big Bill, Toa Liona, Kaun, Brian Cage, Swerve Strickland, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Jake Hager, Ethan Page, Matt Sydal, Isiah Kassidy, Matt Hardy, Darby Allin, Nick Wayne, The Butcher, The Blade, and Kommander.

Matches already set for Friday’s show include a Royal Rampage battle royal and a trios match pitting The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass against members of QTV.

Here is the updated card for Friday’s show:

  • TBS Championship: Kris Statlander defends against Marina Shafir
  • Royal Rampage battle royal
  • The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass vs. QTV

Jack Perry wins FTW Championship on AEW Dynamite

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Jack Perry is the new FTW Champion.

Perry won the championship in the opening match of Wednesday’s Dynamite. The finish had the referee being knocked out as Hook went to pin Perry, getting a visual pinfall. Hook went to wake up the referee as Perry grabbed the FTW title he had introduced earlier in the match. When Hook returned, Perry blasted Hook with the title, eventually picking up the victory.

Hook had held the championship for 357 days, defeating Ricky Starks for the championship on the July 27, 2022 edition of AEW Dynamite. The title, first introduced in ECW by Hook’s father Taz, is not an officially sanctioned championship in AEW.

The feud between Perry and Hook started at Forbidden Door last month. After Perry failed to defeat SANADA for the IWGP World Championship, he turned on Hook by laying him out with a clothesline. In the weeks since, Perry had gone out of his way to avoid Hook, running away from confrontation.

AEW’s Bryan Danielson underwent surgery for broken arm

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Bryan Danielson has revealed he’s undergone surgery for his broken arm.

On Twitter Wednesday afternoon, Danielson revealed that he underwent surgery two weeks ago to insert a steel rod into his broken arm he suffered in a match against Kazuchika Okada at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

https://twitter.com/bryandanielson/status/1681787330288570368

“Also, to give everyone an update before #AEWDynamite, I got surgery on my arm about two weeks ago, where they put in a steel rod and 9 screws,” he wrote. “Surgery went well and I’m on the road to recovery. Thank you all for the support, and check out #BloodAndGuts tonight!”

The injury took place 10 minutes prior to what was to be the planned finish of the match. Danielson ended up taking an elbow into his arm, which was placed in an unprotected area. Following Forbidden Door, Danielson’s wife Brie Bella shared a picture of an x-ray that clearly showed Danielson’s arm being completely broken.

PWG announces TWENTY: Mystery Vortex anniversary event

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PWG will hold their next event in August.

The company announced on Tuesday night that they will hold TWENTY: Mystery Vortex on August 13. The theme of PWG’s Mystery Vortex shows are that no matches or talent are announced for the show until wrestlers head to the ring for the match. It will also serve as their twentieth anniversary event, with their first show taking place in July of 2003.

This is the first time that PWG has run a show since their Battle of Los Angeles tournament that they held on January 7 and 8 of this year. In the main event of the second night, Speedball Mike Bailey defeated Konosuke Takeshita to win the tournament.

The last Mystery Vortex event took place in August of 2021, the first event held after PWG shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On that show, Bandio defeated Black Taurus to retain the PWG World Championship. Other matches had Orange Cassidy defeating Evil Uno, Aramis & Rey Horus defeating Myron Reed and Trey Miguel, and Jonathan Gresham defeating Lee Moriarty.

Two title matches added to WWE NXT Great American Bash

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Two new title matches have been added to The Great American Bash.

Gallus will defend their tag team titles in Cedar Park, Texas on July 30 against Tony D’Angelo and Stacks after Stacks won Tony D’Angelo’s freedom on last week’s NXT. On this week’s show, the two revealed that they had been working together to trick Gallus into giving then a tag team title match.

The Women’s title will also be on the line, with Tiffany Stratton again defending the NXT Women’s Championship against Thea Hail. Hail demanded a rematch against Stratton on Tuesday’s show, with Stratton coming out to the ring and eventually accepting. She refused, however, when Hail asked for a submission match. Hail then put Stratton in a kimura until Stratton agreed to the stipulation.

Blair Davenport and Roxanne Perez will square off again at the Great American Bash. The two had a split screen interview on this week’s NXT. Davenport accused Perez of having no killer instinct and told her that she didn’t belong in NXT anymore. The interview ended with Perez getting up and walking away.

Here is the updated lineup for the Great American Bash:

  • NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes defends against Ilja Dragunov
  • NXT North American Championship: Dominik Mysterio defends against Mustafa Ali
  • NXT Tag Team titles: Gallus defends against Tony D’Angelo and Stacks
  • NXT Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton defends against Thea Hail
  • Roxanne Perez vs. Blair Davenport

Gable Steveson ‘to decide his future’ on next week’s WWE NXT

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Gable Steveson will decide on his future next week.

Tuesday’s NXT had a video of Steveson discussing his future options, saying he could either continue school and earn another NCAA championship, compete in the Olympics next year in Paris for his second gold medal, or stay in WWE and NXT. He said that next week, he will be deciding on his own future.

Dana Brooke and Cora Jade will meet next week as well. Tuesday’s show had a video of Dana Brooke and Kelani Jordan doing a gymnastics routine, with the two talking about Jade and her kendo stick. Jade, who watched the vignette on a video screen, wasn’t impressed.

A six-man tag team match will also take place with Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, and Ilja Dragunov taking on Joe Gacy and The Dyad. Hayes and Williams on Tuesday’s show ended up running into The Schism backstage. After Dragunov made his presence felt, everyone exchanged words until a brawl broke out.

Here is the updated lineup for next week’s show:

  • Gable Steveson to decide his future
  • Kendo stick match: Cora Jade vs. Dana Brooke
  • Trick Williams, Carmelo Hayes, and Ilja Dragunov vs. Joe Gacy and The Dyad

Dominik Mysterio wins North American title on WWE NXT

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Dominik Mysterio is the new NXT North American Champion.

Mysterio pinned Wes Lee to win the championship for the first time in the main event of Tuesday’s NXT. The finish had Finn Balor distracting the referee as Damian Priest attempted to lay out Lee with the North American Championship. Lee dodged, but walked into Rhea Ripley who smashed Lee with the Women’s World Championship. Mysterio then pinned Lee, ending the show standing tall with his Judgment Day friends.

A match between Wes Lee and Mustafa Ali for the title was scheduled for the Great American Bash on June 30.

Lee had held the championship for 269 days, winning it back at Halloween Havoc on October 22 in a ladder match. The title had been vacant as Sikoa was forced to vacate the championship due to winning it in an unsanctioned match.

The match was set last week when Mysterio accepted an open challenge from Lee, who wasn’t holding an open challenge at the time. Lee said he’d get the match made for that night, but Mysterio retreated saying he would give Lee another week.

Daily Update: Peacock price increase, new WWE trademarks, Shark Week

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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

In this issue:

  • Match and Performer of the Week
  • The Bloodline saga comes very close to a first in the history of pro wrestling on television
  • A look at the Trial of Roman Reigns, the Reigns vs. Usos feud, and the storyline that has caused WWE business to grow
  • A preview of all the big matches of the weekend in three different countries, none of which are the U.S., with TripleMania, G-1, Miyahara vs. Nakajima and Collision
  • Updated news on SummerSlam and Great American Bash and business notes on both shows
  • The new AEW rules memo, what is and isn’t new and the reality of what this means to talent
  • Full coverage of UFC 290 with two of the best fights of the year, a unique television situation and two title bouts
  • Looking at the 2023 Wrestler of the Year award and the top candidates
  • Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury, the questions about the show and why the hope for it to be a success is the evolution of understanding fighting being low
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of every major pro wrestling and MMA show of the past week, the analysis, competition, segment numbers and comparisons with one year ago
  • Lots of injury talks regarding major stars
  • Key husband and wife jumping promotions
  • Mercedes Mone rivalry planned
  • Update on major sports rights negotiations in the next few years
  • The death of Michael Halac, the former Bruiser Mastino and Mantaur
  • Wrestling magazine pioneer writer Ed Garea, The Phantom of the Ring, passes away
  • Notes on the new women’s promotion
  • RevPro Epic Encounters rundown
  • Battle of the two best 18-year-old wrestlers in the world announced for next month
  • Ticket sales for tons of big shows
  • Kenny Omega talks the Tiger driver spot
  • International TV ratings
  • Lots of new major UFC fights
  • Looking at the vacant UFC light heavyweight title situation
  • World champion in UFC talks about how two years ago he supplemented his income driving for Uber Eats
  • More major show dates fr WWE
  • Backstage issue at WWE
  • A look at all the major TV shows and WWE weekend show coverage

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

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Tuesday Update

WWE

  • Peacock announced that they will be hiking prices. Starting on August 17, Premium monthly will increase by one dollar to $5.99, while the annual Premium price will increase from $49.99 to $59.99. Premium Plus will increase from $9.99 monthly to $11.99, while the annual Premium Plus price will increase from $99.99 to $119.99.
  • WWE has applied for trademarks for the following names: Tyson Dupont, Tyriek Igwe, Trey Bearhill, Izzi Dame, and Kiyah Saint.
  • Dominik Mysterio talked about working with Rhea Ripley to Metro: “Even though she’s 26 years old, she has 10-plus years of experience. She’s done so much, accomplished so much, she’s held every title in WWE and she’s only 26! I give her another two years before she takes over all the men’s titles, it’s only a matter for time!”
  • Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville commented on their Women’s Tag Team title win on Raw Monday, writing on Instagram: “July 18, 2023… 8 years after we met, we made history together. YOUR NEW @wwe TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS.”
  • A new patch for WWE 2K23 has been released, which includes various stability improvements, updates for multiple WWE stars, and added support for revel with the Bray Wyatt DLC pack.
  • Big E will be a guest on NBC’s Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge on Tuesday night.
  • Matches added to WWE’s YouTube page today include Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair from WCW Bash at the Beach 1995, World’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman from Vengeance 2003, and AJ Styles vs. Theory from the July 18, 2022 edition of Raw.

AEW

  • Wednesday’s Blood and Guts will be presented by Discovery Channel’s Shark Week event. Fans at the TD Garden in Boston will be able to take part in exclusive Shark Week fin hat giveaways and will be “treated to a special appearance by Shark Week Mascot ‘Chompie the Shark’.”
  • The New York Post has an article on AEW Collision.
  • This week’s Sammy Guevara vlog.
  • Shahid Khan is celebrating a birthday today.

Other Wrestling

  • Trinity talked about her Impact Knockouts title win in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “Deonna is incredible in the ring. I had to step up to match her intensity and energy, and matching her style was a challenge, too,” she said. “She is the hardest opponent I’ve had to face in my career, and I feel so honored to have shared the ring with her. We put so much thought into every part of this match. I’m so happy we got it right. Deonna made me dig deep and fight through it. That’s my story. The struggle makes it real. It also makes it beautiful.”
  • The NWA confirmed that Kamille will defend the NWA Women’s Championship against Natalia Markova on the first night of their NWA 75 event on August 26. The following day, Tyrus will defend the NWA World Heavyweight title against EC3. Tickets go on sale July 19 at 10 am CT on NWATIX.com.
  • Dragon Kid will make his GCW debut at its Homecoming event on August 20.
  • Sonny Kiss has been added to Effy’s Big Gay Brunch 7 on September 2 in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Four-way Tag Team title match added to ROH Death Before Dishonor

Posted on by Bryan Rose

A four-way for the ROH Tag Team titles is set for Death Before Dishonor.

Tony Khan announced on social media Monday night that the Lucha Bros. will defend the titles against The Kingdom, Best Friends, and Aussie Open in a four-way match.

Aussie Open’s inclusion in the match will mark the first time Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis have teamed up since signing with AEW in May. Davis had been out of action since suffering a torn meniscus in a match. His last match was on May 3 at NJPW’s Wrestling Dontaku event when he, Fletcher, and Great-O-Khan defeated Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste, and Kosei Fujita of TMDK.

Here is the updated lineup for Death Before Dishonor, which takes place on July 21 at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, New Jersey:

  • ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli defends against TBA
  • ROH Television Championship: Samoa Joe vs. Dalton Castle or Shane Taylor
  • ROH Pure Championship: Katsuyori Shibata defends against Daniel Garcia
  • ROH Women’s Championship: Athena defends against Willow Nightingale
  • ROH Tag Team titles: Lucha Bros. defend against Best Friends, The Kingdom, and Aussie Open

Logan Paul to appear on next week’s WWE Raw

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Logan Paul returns next week on WWE Raw.

It was confirmed Monday that Paul will make his return on next Monday’s show in Tampa, Florida. In recent weeks, he has been feuding with Ricochet stemming from their spot at Money in the Bank where Ricochet hit a spanish fly on Paul through tables. On last week’s Raw Ricochet challenged Paul to a match, which Paul ultimately rejected. The two ended up getting into a brawl.

Gunther and Drew McIntyre will also meet next week in a face-to-face. After Gunther defeated Matt Riddle on Monday, Gunther climbed on top of the announcer’s table and called out McItnyre, saying he would be the next to fall.

A match between Zoey Stark and Becky Lynch has also been set, with a stipulation that if Lynch wins, she gets a rematch against Stratus. TStratus and Lynch confronted one another on Miz TV Monday, where Lynch challenged Stratus to a match. Stratus agreed, but said Lynch would have to defeat Stark first and if she lost, she would have to say “thank you Trish” and get it tattooed on her chest. Lynch agreed to the stipulations.

Here is the updated lineup for next week’s Raw:

  • Logan Paul returns
  • Gunther, Drew McIntyre face-to-face
  • Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark- Lynch gets a rematch against Trish Stratus if she wins

Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville win Women’s Tag Team titles on WWE Raw

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New WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions were crowned on Monday’s Raw.

Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville defeated Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan to win the titles for the first time. The finish had Deville pulling Rodriguez off the apron, landing on her injured leg on the floor. Deville and Green then double teamed Morgan, with Green delivering an unprettier. Deville then hit a running knee strike for the win.

Earlier in the show, Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley confronted Raquel Rodriguez. After Morgan made a comment to Ripley, Ripley responded by headbutting Morgan. It turned into a brawl, with Ripley targeting Rodriguez’s leg, injuring it in the process. Later in the trainer’s room, a WWE medical staff member told Rodriguez he wanted some more scans. Rodriguez said she wanted to defend the titles on Monday’s show despite the injury. WWE official Adam Pearce then allowed Rodriguez to defend the titles later in the show.

Rodriguez & Morgan held the titles for only 16 days, defeating Ronda Rousey and Shayna Bazler at Money in the Bank on July 1.