The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
John LaRocca and I are back with the last Fight Game Podcast of 2023.
We kicked things off talking about AEW Dynamite and the two semifinal matches for the Continental Classic.
We then got to the rest of our Top 5 which included:
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In a 180 from this month’s pre-Ring of Honor Final Battle call, AEW head Tony Khan was more loquacious in speaking to the media Thursday prior to Saturday’s Worlds End and was more than happy to talk about several topics that included the Continental Classic and their impending TV rights negotiations.
The full audio can be heard below.
He said he’s never felt more on top of things and more invigorated than he is right now with the booking and spoke of the Continental Classic as an “experiment” with both a control group (what they have been doing) and experimental group (increasing what he called the allocation of sports-based old school wrestling).
He is attributing the recent ratings increase for Collision to the more sports-based presentation despite going head-to-head with the NFL on Saturdays recently. He said he will move more toward that style of presentation based on fan feedback which he said was tangible.
He said the Classic has been the most fun thing he’s ever done and put together. However, he was non-committal about a women’s version.
TV rights
Asked about his current relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery, Khan said the relationship is “amazing” and that he’s excited to work with WBD through 2024 and after that, there will be some exciting conversations to be had. He again said he has lots of interest in ROH TV rights and is holding them as a card to be played during the AEW TV rights as he assumes there will be a lot of suitors. He said it would have to be a heck of an offer to get away from WBD.
Like WWE, he expects “a lot more” in revenue when it comes to the next round of AEW media rights based on where Dynamite started.
He defended the year-over-year declines in both Dynamite and Rampage ratings, bringing up how WWE Raw had experienced a similar decline in the fourth quarter as has cable, but no one brings up their downturn when talking about Raw TV rights. He said he thinks WWE would give a similar answer as to their performance vs. cable.
The Devil revealed?
Khan also heavily implied the identity of The Devil will be revealed at Saturday’s PPV, saying “there will be some big revelations and big moments at Worlds End.”
Other notable quotes:
The Continental Classic finals are set for Saturday’s Worlds End pay-per-view.
Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley will meet after winning their league finals on Wednesday’s Dynamite. Moxley was the first to advance, winning the Gold League by defeating Jay White and Swerve Strickland in a three-way match. Later in the show, Kingston won the Blue League by defeating Bryan Danielson.
After Kingston’s win, Jon Moxley came to the ring as the two cut promos on one another. Moxley said that for someone that thinks the world is against him, these fans love him and they deserve Kingston’s maximum effort on Saturday. But Moxley said that he knows Kingston better than himself. He told Kingston that if he wants to become a Triple Crown Champion like his heroes, he will have to earn it.
Kingston replied by telling Moxley to quit treating him like a young boy as he broke in before Moxley did. On Saturday, the king of the bums is going to push Moxley.
The winner of the Continental Classic will win a new Triple Crown Championship consisting of the ROH World Championship, the NJPW Strong Openweight title, and a new championship called the AEW Continental Championship.
Here is the updated card for Worlds End on December 30:
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including AEW Dynamite tonight, the Continental Classic, booking ideas, ratings from this past week, the world famous NXT TV report, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Following the events of Saturday’s AEW Collision, Bryan Danielson will face Eddie Kingston in the Continental Classic Blue League finals on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
The winner will advance to the tournament finals against the Gold League winner of Jon Moxley vs. Swerve Strickland vs. Jay White, also taking place Wednesday. The overall tournament winner, to be decided at next Saturday’s Worlds End pay-per-view, will be the new modern-day AEW Triple Crown Champion (AEW Continental Champion, Ring of Honor World Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight title).
Danielson advanced by virtue of his draw against Claudio Castagnoli that opened the show, earning one point to give him ten points overall while Kingston earned his way in after pinning Andrade El Idolo in the evening’s main event, giving him nine points. Andrade also had nine points, but Kingston advanced due to his head-to-head win.
Daniel Garcia (three points) earned his first Blue League victory by defeating Brody King on the show (six points), eliminating King from contention.
Danielson defeated Kingston as part of Blue League competition earlier this month, taunting him afterward with an “Eddie is a bum” sign which was brought up on commentary. Danielson is 2-0 in AEW competition over Kingston who is the current ROH World & NJPW Strong Openweight Champion.
Here’s the current lineup for the New Year’s Smash edition of Dynamite from Orlando, Florida:
John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.
We kicked things off by talking about the first half of week five of the AEW Continental Classic, our favorite match from Wednesday, and thoughts on a three-way match determining the winner of the Gold League.
We then got to the rest of our Top 5 which included:
Click Here to Listen (sub needed)
Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer and Jim Valley filling in for Bryan Alvarez.
Dave talks about how the potential Warner Brothers-Discovery/Paramount merger might affect professional wrestling. There’s also talk on the latest on WBD and WWE, Matt Riddle’s first scheduled match in the United States since he was released from WWE, and how the Continental Classic has been an artistic and ratings success for AEW.
Plus, we run down a very good Dynamite, recap AEW Rampage Holiday Bash spoilers for this Friday, NXT, Swerve Strickland, Mark Briscoe, television ratings, and much more. Check it out.
More Blue League action took place on Saturday’s Collision.
In the opening match, Claudio Castagnoli defeated Andrade El Idolo, marking Idolo’s first loss in the tournament. Eddie Kingston defeated Daniel Garcia, who remains winless, and in the main event Bryan Danielson defeated Brody King.
Following Danielson’s win, he now ties Andrade El Idolo for first place in the Blue League. However, most of the League is still open with King, Castagnoli, and Kingston all at 6 points. With zero points, Garcia has no chance of advancing to the Blue League finals.
Next week’s Collision will have Andrade El Idolo vs. Eddie Kingston, Claudio Castagnoli vs. Bryan Danielson, and Brody King vs. Daniel Garcia. The winners of these matches will determine the top two finalists, which advance to the Blue League finals on the December 27 edition of Dynamite along with the Gold League finals.
The winners of these two finals will advance to the tournament finals at AEW Worlds End on December 30. The winner of the tournament will become the first Triple Crown Champion in AEW, which will consist of the ROH World Championship, the New Japan Strong Openweight title, and the new AEW Continental Championship.
Here are the updated standings for the Continental Classic tournament:
Blue League:
Gold League:
The AEW Continental Classic Gold League finalists will be decided on Wednesday’s Holiday Bash episode of Dynamite.
Three Gold League bouts were officially announced for Dynamite during Friday’s Rampage episode. Jon Moxley (12 points) will face Jay White (9 points), Swerve Strickland (9 points) will face Rush (6 points), and Mark Briscoe (0 points) will face Jay Lethal (0 points).
Briscoe & Lethal have been eliminated from contention for the top two Gold League spots.
The wrestlers with the top two points totals in the Gold League following this week’s matches will meet in the Gold League Finals set for the New Year’s Smash Dynamite on December 27.
The Gold League winner will face the Blue League winner at Worlds End on Saturday, December 30 to crown the inaugural AEW Continental Champion, a triple crown title comprised of the ROH World Championship, the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship, and the Continental Classic winner.
The lineup for AEW Dynamite Holiday Bash set for Wednesday, December 20:
John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.
We kicked off the show talking about going to see the new Von Erich film The Iron Claw which we reviewed at the end of the show in a non-spoiler way.
We then got to our Top 5 which included:
Click Here to Listen (sub needed)
The Continental Classic tournament continues on this Wednesday’s Winter is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite as Jay White takes on Mark Briscoe.
White is looking for his third win of the tournament and three more points while Briscoe is in search of his first tournament victory.
White has wins over Rush and Jay Lethal while Briscoe has gone down in defeat to Rush, Swerve Strickland and Jon Moxley. This is a rematch from last month’s Dynamite in which White picked up the victory.
Also new for the show: former AEW Women’s Champion Riho against perennial challenger Ruby Soho in their first singles match since May when Soho picked up the win.
Riho made her surprise return on last Wednesday’s show at the end of Toni Storm’s AEW Women’s title defense over Skye Blue. This will be Riho’s first AEW action since mid-June.
In a new promo segment, the Golden Jets (Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho) will share some thoughts after Omega was jumped by Big Bill on Saturday’s edition of AEW Collision. After Bill & Ricky Starks took out Jericho after last month’s Full Gear, it’s expected Starks & Bill will defend the titles against the Jets at this month’s Worlds End.
Here’s the current Winter is Coming card for Arlington, Texas:
Bryan Danielson “really wanted” to have Kenny Omega in AEW’s Continental Classic.
The round-robin tournament kicked off on AEW Dynamite two weeks ago and features 12 participants divided across two leagues. But despite his past success in NJPW’s G1 Climax, Omega isn’t part of this tournament with a similar format.
The Daily Mail asked Danielson about Omega not being in the Continental Classic. Danielson noted that he wanted Omega in the tournament. The idea was brought up to Omega, but Danielson doesn’t know why he isn’t in it. Danielson speculated that, with Omega & Chris Jericho being the number one contenders to the AEW Tag Team titles, Omega could have been left out of the Continental Classic so that the two storylines wouldn’t be confused.
Danielson said:
I really wanted Kenny Omega in it and I don’t know. People think I do a lot more than I do.
I don’t know what happened or why Kenny Omega’s not in the tournament. I know it was at least brought up to him and I don’t know if he didn’t want to do it or I know that he and Chris Jericho are the number one contenders for the tag team championship. So maybe that’s why, you know.
And sometimes, you know, with American TV wrestling, you don’t want to confuse stories, and maybe that’s why.
Danielson is part of the Blue League in the Continental Classic. He’s facing Daniel Garcia on Rampage tonight and Andrade El Idolo on Collision this Saturday. Both of those are tournament matches.
Brody King is the current Blue League leader. Jon Moxley and Swerve Strickland are tied at the top of the Gold League.
The winner of the Continental Classic will become a Triple Crown Champion, holding the ROH World Championship, NJPW Strong Openweight Championship, and a new AEW Continental Championship. The finals of the tournament are taking place at AEW’s Worlds End pay-per-view on Saturday, December 30.
John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast. We started off the show talking about our newest project which will be on this podcast feed for anyone that is interested.
We then got to our Top 5 which included:
Click Here to Listen (sub needed)
A Continental Classic Blue League match is set for the Friday, December 8 AEW Rampage episode.
AEW revealed during Wednesday’s Dynamite that Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia in a Blue League bout is set for this Friday’s Rampage show.
Danielson and Andrade El Idolo had their first tournament bouts a week later than the rest of the Blue League field, and it was pushed as Danielson having two matches within 24 hours as he is set to take on Andrade on Saturday’s Collision episode. Rampage is being taped Wednesday night in Montreal, while Saturday’s Collision was taped Tuesday.
Two more matches, plus a promo segment have also been announced for Rampage.
Abadon will face Trish Adora in singles competition, while Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita of The Don Callis Family will face Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal in a tag team bout. Orange Cassidy & Hook in a promo segment has also been announced.
The Friday, December 8 AEW Rampage lineup:
Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including Tom’s trip to Black Label Pro this weekend, a look at Smackdown fallout from War Games, Tom’s weekly Rampage report, plus the best matches in the Continental Classic. A fun show as always so check it out~!
