Orange Cassidy will be in action on the show. He’ll face Anthony Henry in singles competition. His stablemates Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta will face Rohit Raju and Ren Jones in tag team competition as well.
Other notable matches scheduled to air include Ruby Soho, Athena & Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb, Leva Bates & Emi Sakura.
AEW Dark airs Tuesday at 7 p.m Eastern time on YouTube. The announced lineup for the show is as follows:
Orange Cassidy vs. Anthony Henry
Private Party (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy), The Butcher & The Blade vs. Isaiah Broner, James Alexander, Brayden Lee & Sam Moore
Anna Jay vs. Megan Meyers
The Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) vs. Rohit Raju & Ren Jones
Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose vs. Heather Reckless & Joseline Navarro
This week’s AEW Dark featured several matches taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, as well as an AEW All-Atlantic Championship bout between PAC and Connor Mills.
Slim J was the legal man to start the bout and he immediately took Cruz to the mat and began to beat him down. Price got a chance to come in, but his stint ended quickly after J and Daivari teamed up to hit a combination neckbreaker for the win.
After the bout, Daivari cut a promo and claimed that he bought three houses this week despite the tough housing market.
Willow Nightingale defeated Harley Cameron
Cameron fought out of Nightingale’s waist lock early on, but Nightingale reversed the reversal into a pair of shoulderblocks. Nightingale continued her attack, hitting a running crossbody for a two count. Cameron was in too deep at this point as Nightingale hit a spinebuster for another near fall.
The final moments saw Nightingale hit a cannonball/doctor bomb combination for the victory.
Radley and Diamante exchanged a couple of strikes early on with neither gaining the advantage. Diamante eventually took Radley to her feet with a drop toehold, but the stint on the ground didn’t last long before Radley popped back to her feet and continued her onslaught of strikes.
Moments later, Diamante took Radley back to the mat and locked in her signature armbar for the victory.
The Factory (Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto) defeated KC Rocker & Caleb Teninty
Solo and Teninty started off. After locking up, Solo hit a scoop slam on Teninty before tagging out to Comoroto. The big man dominated until Teninty fired up and got some offense in, causing Solo to come back in the match. Solo was overwhelmed by Teninty, so he tagged back out to Comoroto, who came in and helped ground Teninty for long enough to allow Solo to hit a top rope foot stomp for the win.
Shawn Dean defeated Jonathan Hudson
The Captain delivered a few armdrags which got him the early momentum, but Hudson would go on to nail Dean with a fisherman’s suplex to gain control. Dean fought off Hudson with chops and clotheslines before topping it all off with a great spinebuster.
Dean went to the top turnbuckle shortly after and hit a top rope splash to secure the victory.
Parker Boudreaux (w/ Slim J & Ari Daivari) defeated Serpentico
This was the promotional debut for the former Harland in WWE NXT.
Admittedly, I never watched any of his matches there so I was impressed with the strength that he showed here. He ran over Serpentico with ease with a few shoulderblocks while also tossing him over his head on multiple occasions.
The finish saw Boudreaux plant Serpentico with a back suplex bomb for the win.
After the match, Daivari cut a promo about bringing Boudreaux into The Trustbusters. Boudreaux only muttered the words, “I have arrived.”
The Acclaimed defeated The Wingmen (Peter Avalon & Ryan Nemeth)
Caster’s pre-match rap made reference to Hunter Biden and getting laid.
The Acclaimed made frequent tags and took turns working down Nemeth before he turned the tables and began to use underhanded tactics to score the advantage alongside Avalon. Bowens went on a rampage and began to deal punishment, hitting Avalon with a superkick and Nemeth with a takedown.
This prompted Caster to hit a Mic Drop off the top rope for the win.
AEW All-Atlantic Champion PAC defeated Connor Mills to retain the title
Another week, another phenomenal PAC title defense on AEW Dark.
Mills was on the prowl early on, slowing down PAC after hitting him with an early brainbuster. Mills continued his attack on the outside, hitting a middle turnbuckle moonsault on PAC to the floor. PAC was overwhelmed as he tried to wave off the match and walk out before Mills threw him back in the ring.
PAC responded with some vicious leg kicks before tossing Mills back to the outside. This led to PAC delivering a tombstone to Mills on the stage area, which got a big reaction from the crowd. This nearly resulted in a countout, but Mills slid in the ring at the last moment.
PAC had Mills in a great position at this point, dragging him around the ringside area while continuing to beat him down. At a later point, PAC got distracted with a man with a box on his head (Kip Sabian) at ringside. This would allow Mills to regain some composure and nail PAC with a wonderful lariat for a near fall. Commentary played up the fact that the masked man could have been Sabian.
As the match reached the final stages, PAC attempted a 450 splash, but Mills rolled out of the way. This allowed for Mills to hit a 450 of his own, followed by a penalty kick to the back for another near fall. PAC and Mills exchanged cutters for another pair of near falls. Moments later, PAC hit a top rope suplex and followed that up with a black arrow for the victory.
PAC vs. Connor Mills for the AEW All Atlantic Championship will air on the show. The match was filmed at RevPro’s Summer Sizzler event on July 23 from Manchester.
The rest of the matches on Dark this week were filmed on July 16 from Orlando’s Universal Studios.
Parker Boudreaux, the former Harland in NXT, will make his in-ring debut for AEW on the show. The 24-year-old has joined Ari Daivari’s Trustbusters stable and will face Serpentico in singles competition. Daivari and Slim J are also scheduled for the episode. They will face Logan Cruz and Tyshaun Price in tag team action.
Other notable matches scheduled to air on Tuesday include The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) vs. Peter Avalon & Ryan Nemeth as well as Willow Nightingale vs. Harley Cameron.
AEW Dark airs Tuesday at 7 p.m Eastern time on YouTube. The announced lineup for the show is as follows:
AEW All Atlantic Champion PAC defends against Connor Mills
Willow Nightingale vs. Harley Cameron
Parker Boudreaux vs. Serpentico
Diamante vs. Rocky Radley
Shawn Dean vs. Jonathan Hudson
Ari Daivari & Slim J vs. Logan Cruz & Tyshaun Price
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) vs. Peter Avalon & Ryan Nemeth
Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto vs. KC Rocker & Caleb Teninty
This week’s AEW Dark featured several matches taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, as well as an AEW All-Atlantic Championship bout between PAC and LJ Cleary that was great.
Kiera Hogan defeated Allie Recks
Hogan made quick work of Recks, basing her entire offensive strategy around beating down Recks with leg-based offense. After nailing Recks with a nasty roundhouse kick, Hogan pinned her.
Alex Reynolds (w/ -1) defeated Ryan Nemeth
The longest (and most exhausting) feud in wrestling continued here, pitting a member of the Dark Order against a member of The Wingmen. At this point, it feels like it’s rivaling Brock vs. Roman in match count, specifically.
Nemeth controlled Reynolds early on, working down various parts of the body. The match spent a few moments on the outside with Nemeth taking advantage of the environment in various ways.
Reynolds eventually made the predictable comeback and hit a few big moves, much to the delight of the crowd. Reynolds would go on to beat Nemeth with an impressive stunner from the top rope.
Marina Shafir defeated Tracy Nyxx
Shafir shut down any offense that Nyxx threw at her early on before tapping her out with a combination leg/arm submission roughly 45 seconds into the match.
Slim J defeated Blake Li
Slim J didn’t get much of a reaction of the crowd, which disappoints me as an avid viewer of the Georgia indie scene.
J pulled out some of the classic tricks here, throwing Li into a few corners. After hitting a few strikes here and there, J came off the top rope with a diving kick of some sort. Moments later, J made Li submit with an inverted STF.
Hart began choking Michelle on the mat until the referee broke it up. Michelle tried to take advantage and roll Hart up, but it only resulted in a two count. Hart would later attempt a handspring back elbow, but Michelle reversed it the first time.
Hart would go on to nail Michelle with not one, but two handspring back elbows later on. Shortly after, Hart submitted Michelle with a crossface.
Cole Karter defeated Mike Orlando
Orlando was a favorite with the fans. (His last name is the city these tapings took place in after all.) He threw Karter across the ring to start and followed that up with a few clotheslines. Karter eventually fought off Orlando which bought the former Two Dimes in NXT enough time to hit a 450 splash for the win.
Angelo Parker (w/ Matt Menard) defeated Cameron Stewart
The streak of squash matches continued here with Stewart getting virtually no offense in before getting hit with an elevated DDT, which resulted in the pinfall victory for Parker in a rare singles match.
Ari Daivari (w/ Slim J) defeated Blake Christian
Daivari held the early advantage, taking Christian to various corners around the ring and delivering a few shoulders to the gut. Christian wouldn’t be phased by this, hitting a handspring enziguri to slow down Daivari.
Christian continued to show off his high-flying skills throughout the bout, ducking and dodging multiple moves that Daivari pulled out. At one point, Christian hit a frog splash onto Daivari, who was dangling over the top rope, for a near fall.
Moments later, Daivari hit an impressive lariat followed by his own frog splash for the win.
After the bout, Daivari claimed he is the richest man in wrestling before noting that he’s buying out Slim J’s AEW contract.
Dante Martin defeated Peter Avalon (w/ Ryan Nemeth)
Nemeth got involved only seconds after the bell rang, grabbing Martin’s foot as he was backed into the turnbuckle. Avalon would toss Martin out to ringside moments later, prompting Nemeth to get involved again.
Once things got settled back in the ring, Martin’s energy picked up. After hitting a crossbody, Martin nailed Avalon with a few punches. Avalon attempted to get back into the thick of things, but Martin fought out of a fireman’s carry. Moments later, Martin hit his signature Nosedive for the win.
AEW All-Atlantic Champion PAC defeated LJ Cleary to retain the title
The crowd was firmly behind Cleary, which was good, but it was not to be for him. This match was taped last weekend in OTT.
The two traded wristlocks early with both men escaping them by flipping completely out. Things steadily got more physical as the match continued, but PAC remained firmly in control after blasting Cleary with a shotgun dropkick.
The bout spent a few moments outside with PAC delivering a few stiff kicks to Cleary while he was on the arena floor. When the match spilled back in the ring, PAC was taunting Cleary with slow offense.
Cleary started laughing at PAC before popping him with a disgusting headbutt. Cleary went from 0 to a 100 at this point, hitting a massive lariat, which prompted a great reaction. Cleary followed that up with a top rope stomp to the back of “The Bastard” for a near fall.
After a few moments, PAC nailed Cleary with a superkick and seemingly had him in position for a black arrow. Cleary refused to let it happen as he popped up and nailed PAC with a kick to the head. When PAC fell off the top rope, Cleary positioned himself on the second rope and nailed him with a canadian destroyer. Cleary would go on to hit a second destroyer moments later, which somehow resulted in a near fall.
PAC wasted no time after the near fall, wrenching the arm of Cleary and locking in his signature Brutalizer submission for the win and the second defense of the new title.
The second-ever AEW All-Atlantic title match will be shown as part of Tuesday’s Dark as PAC defends against LJ Cleary.
The match was taped last weekend at OTT in Smithfield Dublin, Ireland. PAC successfully defended the belt for the first time against Shota Umino for RevPro earlier this month.
The rest of the card was taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The Trustbusters of Ari Daivari and Slim J will continue to make their presence felt as they will both be in singles competition.
Members of the Jericho Appreciation Society, The Baddies, The Wingmen, and House of Black will also be in attendance.
Here’s the full card for Tuesday:
AEW All-Atlantic Champion PAC defends against LJ Cleary
This week’s AEW Dark matches was taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida…complete with fourteen matches. Why there needed to be a two-hour Dark on a week where there’s the regular AEW TV plus an ROH pay-per-view is beyond me.
Anyway, let’s get to it. Excalibur and Taz were on commentary, joking through the matches as always. The majority of the show was set up to preview Saturday’s Death Before Dishonor with the other half completely unnecessary for this week.
Jora Johl (w/ Private Party) defeated Luke Sampson
Somehow, Marq Quen’s hair grew back days after he was on Rampage. The magic of television is something else. Johl won with a pump kick after Private Party distracted the referee. Afterward, Johl side-eyed Quen and Isiah Kassidy due to their interference.
They are still doing the Johl/AFO thing for some reason. Tony Khan seems to like him, so he could be a guy that gets featured in ROH.
Lee Moriarty defeated Ren Jones
In continuity, Moriarty is coming off a loss to ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham Friday and is heading into a match with Dante Martin on Friday’s Rampage. He got the win here after the Border City Stretch submission.
Excalibur and Taz are great, but they don’t need to be on this show. They barely seem like they care and this is a spot better for two young announcers that need reps.
– Lexy Nair talked with Fuego Del Sol, hyping up his match later with QT Marshall.
Serena Deeb defeated Viva Van
Deeb came out with a Deeb’s Dojo flag. Taz’s big question was whether Van wore Vans. Alright, then. Deeb is preparing for her challenge of ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez at Saturday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor.
Deeb had a gnarly looking sub attempt, sitting on Van’s head while looking away from Van’s back, cranking her arms backward. I’d show you via a GIF, but I couldn’t find one. Anyway, Deeb won via the Deebtox and threw in some additional punishment to Van after the match.
Marina Shafir defeated Amber Nova
At the risk of sounding like a hater, I don’t get what Khan sees in Shafir and the presentation in general. She won rather quickly with the Greedy submission and will continue to confound me in the future.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Anthony Henry
Henry is someone AEW uses a lot, but Khan doesn’t seem to really be into his outstanding tag team with JD Drake — The WorkHorsemen. That’s unfortunate as they are really good.
Also very good is Takeshita. A pretty good argument can be made that he should have beaten Jon Moxley in last week’s title eliminator match. He’s done nothing but improve every time out and went all out here, hitting a Terminator dive while Henry was on the outside.
This was a good, competitive match that Takeshita won after hitting his jumping kee.
ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham defeated Jordan Oasis in a non-title match
Gresham defends his title Saturday against Claudio Castagnoli while this marked Oasis’ promotional debut. There was no Tully Blanchard with Gresham this week.
Gresham was giving up some height to Oasis and actually took a lot of offense including a swanton to Gresham’s back as was hanging over the ropes. Gresham rebounded and verbally submitted Oasis by ramming his knee into the match repeatedly.
ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta defeated Bryce Donovan in a non-title match
Donovan has been on AEW TV before, losing in 35 seconds to MJF on the October 2021 Dynamite from Boston. He is also part of the Shook Crew in the Northeast along with Bobby Orlando and that Max Caster fella.
Yuta is preparing for both his tag team match with Jon Moxley against Best Friends Wednesday and his Pure title defense against Daniel Garcia at Saturday’s PPV. He won with a german suplex and talked to Tony Schiavone after the match. He basically said he’s going to hurt Garcia and that he’ll give him a scar he will always remember Yuta by.
At 48 minutes, the show would have been fine if it ended here. There’s still an hour to go.
Danhausen defeated Jake Something
Something is the former Impact Wrestling talent and he rolled early using power moves. But Danhausen rallied, hitting his own array of offense before Something took over. In the end, Danhausen used a cradle to pick up the win. This was the best he has looked since returning from injury. It is what it is.
The Renegade Twins defeated Avery Breaux & Valentina Rossi
The twins (Charlette & Robin) were 0-3 in AEW action going into this. This is another team that Khan really seems to like as they get a lot of work on Dark and Dark: Elevation. They won via a double team assisted neckbreaker in a heatless match. Schiavone interviewed them afterward about using twin magic.
ROH Women’s World Champion Mercedes Martinez defeated J-Rod in a non-title match
J-Rod has a pretty terrible ring name, but showed some skills here. She has the height and a good look so there might be something here down the road. Still, Martinez took too much here considering she is defending the title against Deeb on Saturday. The champ got the win using the Brass City Sleeper.
Deeb came out afterward to confront Martinez from the ramp followed by a staredown.
The Blondes will take on Christian Cage & Luchasaurus Wednesday. After having a little bit of a run last year, they seem to be game for a split pretty soon. The Hughes twins are the sons of D-Von Dudley and made their first AEW appearance of the year on last night’s Elevation. Garrison got the win after a rolling elbow strike. The end is near.
30 minutes to go. This is longer than Dynamite.
QT Marshall defeated Fuego Del Sol (w/ Nick Comoroto & Aaron Solo)
I must be honest. After watching nearly 90 minutes of Dark, I found it hard to get into a Marshall vs. Del Sol match. These two are perfectly fine pro wrestlers who had a perfectly fine match, but with zero stakes and given how much wrestling is on TV, please forgive me.
Dante Martin and Matt Sydal ran out to help Del Sol from Comoroto and Solo’s interference (albeit a bit late). Del Sol hit a low blow when the ref wasn’t looking, followed by a tornado DDT that sent Marshall to the outside. Del Sol hit another tornado DDT on the outside of the ring and the Skytwister on the inside of the ring that got a close near fall.
Marshall got the win after countering a shooting star press with a diamond cutter, followed by another one for the pin and win. The finish was pretty good.
Jay Lethal defeated Logan Cruz
Lethal grabbed the mic and said Cruz is his student. He put over Cruz (making his AEdub debut) for offering to help him get ready for Samoa Joe, but then went heel on him. He was aggressive from the onset and eventually got the win with a figure four.
Schiavone asked Lethal about Chris Daniels’ comments from Dynamite. He didn’t say much of note, but the Daniels match appears likely for Rampage based on his comments. He challenges Joe for the ROH TV Champion Saturday.
Lethal is fine, but it’s hard to get interested in this feud with Joe. Do we need TV titles in 2022?
Daniel Garcia defeated Alan “5” Angels in an ROH Pure rules match
Since the time this match was taped, Angels’ AEW contract expired and he debuted in Impact Wrestling. This was taped quite some time ago and was done to preview the Garcia-Yuta match SAturday.
Pure rules include no punches, three rope breaks and a few other nuances. Angels felt a little out of place to begin with, but made a good accounting for himself in a match no one expected him to win.
Angels used his last rope break to stop a rear naked choke. Garcia got it on again and Angels had to walk him to the top rope to try to escape. Garcia unloaded some elbows on him to help put him to sleep and get the win. I don’t know if fans really get the whole Pure rules thing, but I guess we’ll see.
After the match, Garcia put Angels in a sharpshooter to insult him even more which brought out Yuta to make the save. Garcia ran away and declined Yuta’s invitation to fight on the spot.
Yuta then surprised Garcia, hitting him with a big dive and some punches before Garcia was able to escape.
Following Tuesday’s edition of the show, there will be a Countdown to ROH Death Before Dishonor airing immediately after.
Several ROH wrestlers are set to be featured on Dark this week as well. Jay Lethal, ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham, Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta, and ROH Women’s World Champion Mercedes Martinez will all be in action.
Serena Deeb and Daniel Garcia will both challenge for titles at Death Before Dishonor and both will also be in singles matches this week on Dark.
Seven of the matches for Dark this week were filmed on June 11 from Orlando’s Universal Studios and another seven were taped on July 16 from the same venue.
AEW Dark airs on Tuesday beginning at 7 p.m Eastern time on YouTube. The full lineup for the card is as follows:
Taped on June 11 from Universal Studios in Orlando:
Charlette & Robyn Renegade vs. Avery Breaux & Valentina Rossi
Danhausen vs. Jake Something
Alan “5” Angels vs. Daniel Garcia in an ROH Pure Rules match
Fuego Del Sol vs. QT Marshall
Marina Shafir vs. Amber Nova
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Anthony Henry
Jora Johl vs. Luke Sampson
Taped on July 16 from Universal Studios in Orlando:
Jay Lethal vs. Logan Cruz
ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta vs. Bryce Donovan
ROH Women’s World Champion Mercedes Martinez vs. J-Rod
ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Jordan Oasis
Lee Moriarty vs. Ren Jones
Serena Deeb vs. Viva Van
The Varsity Blondes (Brian PIllman Jr. & Griff Garrison) vs. Terrence & Terrell Hughes
Here are results from today’s AEW Dark tapings, which took place at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
First session:
Kiera Hogan defeated Allie Reks
Alex Reynolds (with Preston Vance and -1) defeated Ryan Nemeth (with Peter Avalon)
Marina Shafir defeated Tracy Nyxx
Slim J defeated Blake Li
Cole Karter defeated Mike Orlando. Carter is the former Two Dimes from NXT.
Dante Martin defeated Peter Avalon
Angelo Parker (with Matt Menard) defeated Cameron Stewart
“Trust Fund” Ari (Ariya) Daivari (with Slim J) defeated Blake Christian. There was a post match interview with Daivari and Tony Schiavone where Daivari said that his trust fund hit and he’s now the richest man in pro wrestling. He has purchased the contract of Slim J. He’s now going under the name Ari Daivari.
Julia Hart defeated Renee Michelle
Lee Moriarty defeated Red Jones
Serena Deeb defeated Viva Van
Jonathan Gresham defeated Jordan Oasis
Wheeler Yuta defeated Bryce Donovan. In a post match interview with Tony Schiavone, Yuta said that “Garcia likes to call himself a Sports Entertainer and that makes him a cosplay wrestler.”
Mercedes Martinez defeated J Rod
Willow Nightingale defeated Harley Cameron
Ariya Daivari and Slim J (as The Trust Busters) defeated Tyshon Price and Logan Cruz
Diamante defeated Rocky Radley
The Acclaimed defeated Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth
Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto defeated Kennedy and Caylen
Captain Shawn Dean defeated Johnathan Hudson
Rebel defeated Giselle Azur
Brock Anderson defeated Serpentico
Second session:
Parker Boudreaux (with Ari Daivari and Slim J) defeated Serpentico. Bordeaux is the former Harland from NXT.
Varsity Blondes defeated Terrence and Terrell Hughes
Jay Lethal defeated Logan Cruz
Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Blake Christian
Cezar Bononi (with Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth) defeated Marcus Kross
Ari Daivari (with Parker Boudreaux and Slim J) defeated Fuego del Sol. There was a post-match interview where Daivari talked about his investments giving him the ability to buy anyone.
The Renegade Twins defeated Rocky Radley and Allie Recks
Anthony Ogogo defeated Meta
Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth defeated Liam Gray and Adrian Alanis
Blake Christian defeated Lucky Ali
Marina Shafir defeated Viva Van
Jora Johl defeated Vary Morales
Preston Vance (with Alex Reynolds and -1) defeated Cezar Bononi (with Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth)
Max Caster defeated Justin Coto
Matt Sydal and Dante Martin defeated Nick Comoroto and Aaron Solo
The former Harland, Parker Boudreaux, made his debut at today’s AEW Dark tapings in Orlando, Florida.
Ariya Daivari, now going by the name Ari, introduced Boudreaux as a new recruit to the Trust Busters stable he created during the tapings. Boudreaux, going under his real name, defeated Serpentico.
Earlier in the tapings, Daivari cut a promo saying that his trust fund had hit and is now the richest person in pro wrestling. He later recruited former ROH star Slim J, who also made his AEW debut during today’s tapings.
Boudreaux was released by WWE back on May 1. After signing with the company in February of 2021, he made his debut in October of that year and soon aligned himself with Joe Gacy under the name Harland. After his release, Boudreaux appeared as part of MLW’s 40-man Battle Riot match that was eventually won by Jacob Fatu.
Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Boudreaux was a football player for the University of Central Florida.
This week’s AEW Dark featured the first-ever AEW All-Atlantic title defense, an AEW Women’s title eliminator match, and several matches taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Miyu Yamashita defeated AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa in a non-title match to earn a future title shot
This was incredible and no doubt the best women’s match in Dark/Elevation history, if not the best match overall. It took place last Saturday at TJPW Summer Sun Princess 22.
With a win, Yamashita earns a future shot at Rosa’s AEW Women’s title.
Things started off slow with Rosa and Yamashita trading holds while still being upright. Rosa developed a bit of an advantage after hitting a drop-down slap (ala Dustin Rhodes), followed by a sliding clothesline. This would only fire up Yamashita, who initiated a sequence where she and Rosa exchanged stiff kicks to the lower back for about three minutes straight.
The match spilled to the outside where Yamashita continued her onslaught of stiff kicks. Moments later, she dove onto Rosa knee-first at ringside, which warranted a major reaction from the crowd.
Eventually, both women made their way back in the ring. Rosa charged up and delivered a combination of moves, including a standing dropkick to Yamashita’s back while she was draped in the ropes. After nailing a great northern lights suplex, Rosa covered Yamashita for a near fall.
Yamashita’s stiffness continued throughout the latter stages of the bout with a more targeted focus on Rosa’s upper half. Rosa tried to go to the top rope, but Yamashita caught her with a head kick which caused Rosa to fall to the mat.
Yamashita would go to great lengths to put away Rosa, which included hitting a skull kick and a shotgun german suplex. Rosa tried to counter Yamashita with a small package, but Yamashita copied the strategy and successfully held down Rosa’s shoulders to the mat for the three count and a future title match.
Private Party defeated Bear Country
Isiah Kassidy and Bear Bronson started off, but Kassidy got practically manhandled by Bronson until Marq Quen tagged in. Bear Boulder would also motion to tag in.
Quen was lifted by Boulder with ease and slammed to the mat. Following a few clotheslines in the corner, Quen collapsed to the mat, which got Bronson to tag back in.
Kassidy got a chance to redeem himself, which would prove effective for Private Party as the duo worked down Bronson in the corner with repeated kicks. Kassidy eventually focused on Bronson’s knee while also working down other body parts.
Bronson eventually powered out of the constant attacks, tagging out to Boulder after taking out both Private Party members. Boulder picked up the slack and sandwiched both of them in the corner. Moments later, Boulder lifted Kassidy on his shoulders before catching Quen in his arms from an attempted springboard attack.
When Boulder went to tag in Bronson to hit the assisted cannonball on Kassidy, Quen made the last second save by dropkicking the bear-like duo. Bear Country tried to do another double team move, but Kassidy took out Boulder with a dive on the outside while Quen hit a shooting star press on Bronson for the win.
Lycan underestimated The Captain and tried to attack him with fast paced attacks, but that wouldn’t work as Dean countered into a running arm drag. Although commentary kept cracking Top Gun: Maverick jokes, Dean hit a DDT after being on the receiving end of a slam from Lycan.
Dean tried to put away Lycan with a running shoulder tackle that got two. Moments later, Dean hit his signature top rope splash for the win.
Jericho Appreciation Society (Matt Menard & Angelo Parker) defeated Jake St. Patrick & Sage Scott
Menard and Parker jumped Patrick and Scott as the bell rang. After rolling them back in the ring, Menard pinned Scott after hitting a double DDT with Parker.
Willow Nightingale defeated Mila Moore
Moore had no chance as Nightingale threw her around the ring with ease until Moore got in one backstabber for a near fall. After that, Nightingale pounced Moore and hit a doctor bomb for the win.
Rohit Raju defeated Baron Black
Raju applied a wristlock as the bout began, but Black turned it into one of his own. The former Impact X-Division Champion didn’t let this slow him down as he delivered a running knee to maintain his control. Although Black showed glimpses here and there, including a moment where he seemed close to making Raju submit, Raju went on to score the win after hitting his signature double stomp.
.@HakimZane connects with the double stomp and gets the win! I could be wrong, but I think that makes it 0 – 50 for Baron Black (@TheEmpBruh) in AEW. 😳 #AEWDark
Laroux and Angelico traded standing holds which eventually came to a stalemate. As the match went on, Angelico gained more of an advantage based on outsmarting Laroux. After some hesitation, Angelico submitted him with a navarro death roll.
Dante Martin (w/ Matt Sydal) defeated Nick Comoroto (w/ QT Marshall & Aaron Solo)
As Marshall was running his mouth at ringside, Comoroto jumped Martin from behind. This would lead to Martin trying to get back into the bout with his agility-based offense, but Comoroto shut down everything with his brute strength.
Martin tried, and failed, multiple times to get back in the flow of the things before he finally hit a diving crossbody to a massive reaction. Martin followed that up with a missile dropkick for a near fall. After Comoroto gained back some competitive edge following a neckbreaker, Martin ended the bout after tying up Comoroto’s legs in a pinning combination for the win.
After the bout, The Factory attacked Sydal at ringside until Fuego Del Sol made the save.
AEW All-Atlantic Champion PAC defeated Shota Umino to retain the title
Between this and Rosa vs. Yamashita, this was one of the best episodes of AEW Dark in quite some time.
This took place this past Sunday at RevPro in England.
PAC took the bout to the outside and threw Umino into the barricade nearly instantly. He followed that up by tossing Umino in the ring and darting him into the turnbuckle. Umino regained his composure and did the same thing to PAC, much to the approval of the crowd.
PAC baited in Umino after faking an injury before following that up with putting his foot in Umino’s face. Umino had no momentum at this point, but that changed when PAC missed a top rope maneuver. Umino followed the miss with a great dropkick for a near fall.
The match got more physical as the final stages approached with PAC delivering a nasty dropkick off the top rope. This would lead to a battle of strikes which PAC won after faking him out with a snap german suplex.
Umino tried a few more things to put the champion away, but nothing worked. After hitting a hanging reverse DDT, Umino thought he had enough to put away “The Bastard,” but the pinfall still resulted in a near fall.
After Umino attempted a crucifix bomb, PAC reversed it into a standing brutalizer. After some slight hesitation, Umino submitted to the hold, giving PAC the win in his first title defense.
The promotion took to social media on Tuesday to state that they will be back in Orlando’s Universal Studios this weekend.
Two taping sessions will be held on Saturday, July 16. The first will run from 2 p.m until 5 p.m Eastern time. The second session will then run from 7 p.m until 10 p.m Eastern time. Tickets are available at AEWTix.com.
The Acclaimed, The Dark Order, The Factory, Dante Martin, Wheeler Yuta, Julia Hart, Abadon, Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, and Sonjay Dutt are all advertised to appear.
AEW’s last set of Dark tapings from Universal Studios was held on Saturday, June 11. Three episodes of Dark featuring matches filmed during those tapings have aired thus far. Tuesday’s edition of AEW Dark will feature seven matches from the tapings as well.
The promotion first began holding Dark tapings in Universal Studios in September of last year.
AEW has added seven matches to the lineup for Dark.
The matches were filmed on June 11 from Universal Studios in Orlando.
Notable matches added to the lineup include Private Party vs. Bear Country and Dante Martin vs. Nick Comoroto. The Jericho Appreciation Society, Angelico, Willow Nightingale, and Shawn Dean will all be featured as well.
AEW had previously announced that PAC’s All-Atlantic title defense against Shota Umino from RevPro Live In Sheffield will air on Dark this week. Additionally, Thunder Rosa vs. Miyu Yamashita from TJPW Summer Sun Princess will also be featured on the show.
AEW Dark airs on Tuesday beginning at 7 p.m Eastern time on YouTube. The announced lineup is as follows:
AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa vs. Miyu Yamashita in a title-eliminator match (from Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s Summer Sun Princess 22)
AEW All-Atlantic Champion PAC defends against Shota Umino (from RevPro Live in Sheffield)
Dante Martin vs. Nick Comoroto
Matt Menard & Angelo Parker vs. Jake St. Patrick & Sage Scott
Shawn Dean vs. Conan Lycan
Angelico vs. Logan Laroux
Rohit Raju vs. Baron Black
Willow Nightingale vs. Mila Moore
Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. Bear Country (Bear Boulder & Bear Bronson)
Job Listing: Onlamp php/mysql developer. Experience with vbulletin and drupal/WordPress a plus. Email [email protected] with subject PHP DEVELOPER with resume.
Full coverage of Money in the Bank, business numbers and analysis, crossover fans with AEW, SummerSlam show and business and a look at the SummerSlam card.
The last two months of business for WWE and AEW, including major notes regarding both companies as far as arena success and a change in momentum going forward, as well as major gains by wrestling in what age groups.
New Japan talks its business when it comes to training young talent, goals for G-1, women’s matches in New Japan, return to the UK, joint show with Stardom and changing from old traditions.
UFC 276 coverage and what comes next for the champions, controversies, rundowns of the fights and business notes.
The life of Masashi Aoyagi, one of the key players in the start of the Japanese indie scene, as well as in the connection of karate to pro wrestling
The career and controversies of the retiring UFC star Donald Cerrone
The story of PWG and its influence on the changes in pro wrestling and what we were taught that was no longer valid to modern fans. A look at 19 years of some of the best matches ever held and top stars before they became famous.
The most detailed look at pro wrestling on television and ratings over the past week
More on sports rights fees and Tony Khan talks negotiations
Realities of pro wrestling on television
The next ROH PPV show
AEW sets international ratings record
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
Looking back at WWE working with promotions on a joint promotion show
Streaming numbers for WWE & AEW
Big E update
Tyson Fury/WWE update
Israel Adesanya wants to do WWE
WWE & UFC head-to-head several more times this year for major shows
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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Monday News Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio covering Raw and the latest news. You can send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita in a non-title match has been added to Dynamite on Wednesday. This will be an interesting ratings match. Moxley is the company’s biggest non-injured draw. Takeshita has been booked as a guy who has great matches but loses to the stars. It’s an eliminator match which means if Takeshita wins, he gets a title shot. It would be one of the boldest star making moves for Takeshita to win, but Tony Khan usually doesn’t book that way. On paper it’s a great match.
Both the Pac vs. Shota Umino match from RevPro in England and Thunder Rosa’s non-title loss to Miyu Yamashita on Saturday’s Tokyo Joshi Pro show will air as part of Dark tomorrow night. Rosa will be defending against Yamashita shortly. Jonathan Gresham’s ROH title match with Lee Moriarty will be taped on Wednesday for Friday airing on Rampage and likely lead to whatever the ROH title match is on the 7/23 PPV show.
Raw tonight has the first-ever singles match with Finn Balor vs. Rey Mysterio, coming from San Antonio, where Mysterio should be over huge in theory. Bianca Belair defends the women’s title against Carmella. Brock Lesnar is on the show. Theory vs. Riddle and a Bobby Lashley open challenge were advertised but have been pulled from the show. They have a strong advance for tonight as WWE is showing an upswing in live business and will have more than 7,500 in the building.
Discovery announced today that Shark Week starts 7/24 with Dwayne Johnson as the Master of Ceremonies.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the Stardom PPV show from Saturday, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, plus a best and worst match to [email protected]
The movie “Marcus” (not to be confused with a 2018 movie of the same name) starring Paul Wight will be released digitally and at theaters on Friday.
WWE from Waco, TX last night:
Dana Brooke b Doudrop
Carmella b Brooke to win the 24/7 title
Brooke b Carmella to regain the title with distraction from Doudrop
Ezekiel b Ciampa
Veer Mahaan b R-Truth
Finn Balor b Dominik Mysterio
Ziggler b Theory (a correction from yesterday’s report from Bossier City, Ziggler wont hat match as well)
Omos b Cedric Alexander
Asuka b Becky Lynch
Riddle b Seth Rollins in a street fight (thanks to Jared McClure)
WWE
In the American Century Celebrity Golf championship over the weekend, Pat McAfee tied for 61st place and The Miz was in 81st place (thanks to Brian Henke)
Mandy Rose vs. Roxanne Perez, Giovanni Vinci vs. Apollo Crews and Solo Sikoa vs. Von Wagner are the top bouts for NXT tomorrow.
Noam Dar vs.Mark Coffey for the Heritage title will be on NXT UK on Thursday
Other Notes
Jake Paul claims that Hasim Rahman Jr. (son of the former heavyweight champion) is now trying to renegotiate his deal so his 8/6 Madison Square Garden boxing match could be in jeopardy. They have a press conference scheduled for tomorrow. Paul was on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani and said that Rahman is making ten times his biggest payoff to date, but now wants more. Rahman is 12-1. Paul said they are not giving him any more money and claims Rahman may be scared to fight him.
Combate Global runs on Paramount Plus this coming Friday night at 11 p.m. with a women’s 105-pound bout with Ana Palacios (6-1-1) vs.Bo Hyun Park of Korea (4-1).
Thunder Rosa vs. Miyu Yamashita will air on AEW Dark.
The match took place on Saturday, July 9 at TJPW Summer Sun Princess 22. If Yamashita wins she will be awarded with a title match for Rosa’s AEW Women’s World Championship. The match result is available here.
A match between PAC and Shota Umino for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship will also air on Tuesday’s edition of Dark. The match took place on Sunday, July 10 at RevPro Live in Sheffield, England. It was PAC’s first defense of the new title.
Rosa vs. Yamashita and PAC vs. Umino are the only two matches announced for the show thus far.
AEW Dark airs on Tuesday beginning at 7 p.m Eastern time on YouTube. The announced lineup is as follows:
AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa vs. Miyu Yamashita in a title-eliminator match (from Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s Summer Sun Princess 22)
AEW All-Atlantic Champion PAC defends against Shota Umino (from RevPro Live in Sheffield)
While the first-ever AEW All-Atlantic title defense won’t initially be on Dynamite or Rampage, PAC’s match against challenger Shota Umino will air on Tuesday’s edition of Dark.
The match will air in its entirety Tuesday with highlights airing on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
PAC is defending against Umino on this Sunday’s RevPro show in Sheffield, England. PAC became the inaugural champion at last month’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view, defeating Malakai Black, Miro and Clark Connors in a four-way.
The title is PAC’s first of any kind since joining AEW.
Umino was also on the card, competing in a trios match alongside Eddie Kingston and Wheeler Yuta against Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki. Umino has been on an excursion with RevPro since 2019.
The rest of the Dark lineup will either be announced Monday or Tuesday morning as is the norm. For Tuesdays, AEW is still using matches filmed at last month’s tapings at Orlando, Florida’s Universal Studios.
