Sunday’s AEW WrestleDream saw two wrestlers walk away injured while another injury has turned out to be part of a storyline.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed the following on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio recap show, available for subscribers via audio or video.
After a nasty bump on ringside steps courtesy of TNT Champion Christian Cage in the main event, Darby Allin had his right arm in a sling and was headed to a local hospital to have it looked at. As of this writing, no further update is available.
Allin eventually lost to Cage in the best two-of-three falls match that saw Nick Wayne turn on Allin and Adam “Edge” Copeland make his debut to assist Allin and Sting to close the event.
Mark Davis has a possible broken left wrist after taking a top rope splash from Cash Wheeler during the FTR vs. Aussie Open AEW Tag Team title match. Davis was favoring the wrist for the duration of the match, but gutted it out as his team eventually succumbed to the champions.
Tony Khan did not confirm the extent of the injury at the post-event press conference. Alvarez couldn’t confirm 100%, but said he had someone suggest to him that was the case.
Davis later tweeted he snapped his wrist:
sometimes you win em, sometimes you snap your wrist
On a positive note, the eventual pulling of AEW International Champion Rey Fenix during the four-way no. 1 contenders’ tag team match on the PPV was storyline according to Alvarez who first tweeted the news during the show.
Fenix deal was an injury angle to try to protect him for Wednesday given he's really banged up
Fenix was favoring his taped-up left shoulder during early spots in the match and eventually disappeared, leaving his brother Penta El Zero Miedo to fend for himself. He was eventually pinned by the Young Bucks who earned the future title shot. Fenix will defend his title against Nick Jackson on this Wednesday’s Dynamite.
During his post-show media scrum on Sunday night, Tony Khan was asked if WrestleDream is going to be an annual event and if the show will continue to be held in Seattle. Khan couldn’t confirm where it will be taking place next year, but he said WrestleDream will “definitely” be returning.
“I can’t speak a year ahead as to where the event will be, but there will definitely be a WrestleDream,” Khan said. “It was a very critically successful event. A lot of people are telling me it was the best show they’ve ever seen in wrestling, which means a lot to me. I think we’re on just an incredible run of pay-per-views.”
Khan said he thinks AEW is on a run of four straight PPVs that are all classics. With the addition of Collision, Khan thinks AEW is able to develop PPVs better with five hours of television instead of three.
“WrestleDream is here to stay,” Khan said. “As a pay-per-view, it did incredibly well. Looks like it’s up from All Out. WrestleDream over 100,000 buys I think is pretty safe to say based on digital projections. And that’s really exciting.”
WrestleDream was held in honor of the late Antonio Inoki. Sunday night’s PPV took place on the one-year anniversary of Inoki’s death.
Khan said AEW “lucked out” that the NHL’s Seattle Kraken didn’t have a preseason game and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle was available for the inaugural WrestleDream.
So in the end, was it the beginning of a new era in AEW?
It seemed that in fact, it was for at least someone as Adam Copeland, known for years in WWE as Edge, made his AEW debut at Sunday’s WrestleDream. Copeland’s arrival ended the great show from top to bottom on a strong, buzzworthy note.
After Christian Cage retained the TNT Championship over Darby Allin thanks to a betrayal by Nick Wayne who blasted Allin with the title, Sting came out for the save but Luchasaurus came out for the three-on-two beatdown. Copeland, complete with his theme song by Alter Bridge, came out to a thunderous ovation. Teasing that he’d help Christian, Copeland instead took out the heels and shook hands with the faces, indicating that it may be Christian vs. Edge once again down the line.
It’s a big move for Copeland, who has been associated with WWE in some form or fashion since 1997. It’s a new promotion with a new roster and fresh faces to wrestle, and it’s always a good thing for a wrestler to test the waters in a new promotion.
The main event had hometown hero Allin lose to Cage in a two out of three falls match that I thought was really great and super well-built. The slam into the stairs that caused Allin to be counted out was one of the sickest I’ve seen in some time. Seriously, it was a brutal bump and you have to question just how long Allin has left. How much can one person take?
The Wayne turn works real well, by the way. He’s needed something for a while in AEW and I think this is a good way for him to get some heat. He sure got a lot of it by doing the turn in his hometown of Seattle.
Let’s have a look at the rest of the show. With a 90-minute pre-show and a four-hour main card runtime, this felt real long by the end. At the same time, I also can’t say there was one single bad match. AEW’s problems with their big shows are never about content, just pacing.
The co-main event had FTR retain the AEW Tag Team titles by defeating Aussie Open. This was all very good stuff, but I thought there were better matches on this show and it paled in comparison to their match from last year in London. I think the biggest problem was that it took place at a point in the card where people were tired. Still, this was very good work by both teams. I hope Aussie Open finds their niche here because both guys are good. Kyle Fletcher, in particular, comes off as a future star, but the team has yet to find their place in the company.
The latest in the Don Callis saga continued with Sammy Guevara, Will Ospreay, and Konosuke Takeshita scoring the win over Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho and Kota Ibushi after Guevara pinned Jericho thanks to Callis’ interference. It was a good match although did you see the cupping on Ospreay’s back? Holy toledo. Still, it’s clear that the Callis family saga isn’t over and it’s very likely we’ll get another Jericho/Guevara match down the line Maybe Full Gear?
Bryan Danielson defeated Zack Sabre Jr. in what, shock of shocks, was an excellent technical match with some of the best back-and-forth grappling and submissions you’ll see. It was a clinic and lived up to expectations. It was such an easy match to watch and pay attention to, if that makes any sense.
Ricky Starks defeating Wheeler Yuta was mostly designed for two things: one, to get a win for Starks following last week’s Texas Death Match on Collision and two, to tease a future match between Starks and Jon Moxley, who was doing commentary. This was good while it lasted, but definitely was a buffer match following Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page.
Speaking of, Strickland bested Page in an excellent match with the crowd firmly behind Strickland throughout the entire match. Strickland has been gaining steam for most of the last year, but this should be the match that elevates him as a major star as he was just awesome here. I’m not so sure about Page, who looked great here but definitely is at a crossroads in terms of momentum.
The Young Bucks look to be facing FTR again soon after winning a four-way match over The Gunns, Lucha Brothers, and Orange Cassidy & Hook. It was a four-way party match where there were a million moves a minute and all of it was good, insane action. I could see the Bucks winning the titles at Full Gear in Los Angeles if AEW wants to wait that long.
Kris Statlander retained the TBS title by defeating Julia Hart in what ended up being a pretty good match. The work here was good, though a bit sloppy at times, and the crowd was super into it, especially toward the end. Still, I kind of wish there was a long-term direction for either of the women’s titles nbecause right now, it just feels like everything is running in place. I’m waiting for a real good title program as opposed to just title defenses and championship qualifiers.
ROH World & NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston vs. Katsuyori Shibata was also very good andexactly what you would want between these two. This was just a good back-and-forth match with nice submissions and crisp striking. This was definitely a tribute to Antonio Inoki just like Claudio Castagnoli vs. Josh Barnett was.
MJF did it by himself, defeating The Righteous in a handicap match to retain the ROH World Tag Team titles. MJF told The Righteous that he was going to bodyslam Dutch and shove Vincent’s head into Dutch’s rear end. Like a top level babyface, he fulfilled his promises. This ended up being a pretty controversial match. In my opinion, if it got over with the crowd, then it worked. Plus, it was a fun opener where the babyface looked strong so you can’t really complain about that.
And now for some pre-show thoughts:
The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass defeated TMDK to retain the AEW Trios titles. There wasn’t much to this, but the action was good while it lasted. The crowd was into this more than the other matches on the pre-show.
Luchasaurus squashed Nick Wayne. Initially, I had no idea why they did this total squash of a match. Obviously, it made more sense by the end of the night.
Claudio Castagnoli defeated Josh Barnett in what ended up being a very good technical match with a lot of good-looking strikes. This was very Inoki. Moxley was on commentary and was pretty entertaining, adding to the match. He also did commentary for Yuta vs. Starks which was fun too. This was probably the best match on the pre-show in terms of in-ring action although the fans were not into it that much.
The opening match of the night was a mixed tag that had Athena, Billie Starkz, Satoshi Kojima and Keith Lee defeating Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, Diamante, and Mercedes Martinez. This was a fun opener and what you would expect from an opening eight-person tag. Lee seems to have lost a lot of weight in recent weeks.
That ends another AEW pay-per-view, which now seems to be venturing into monthly territory with the annual Full Gear event taking place next month. AEW’s momentum is hit or miss lately with some of their TV and ticket sales, but there has never been a bad pay-per-view event yet and this was no different.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including a full recap of AEW WrestleDream, which Bryan attended live, all the matches and angles and notes from the press conference, plus a great NXT No Mercy show and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Adam Copeland, the former Edge in WWE, is now part of AEW.
Copeland debuted at Sunday’s WrestleDream in Seattle, Washington, in the aftermath of Christian Cage’s successful TNT title defense over Darby Allin in a two-of-three falls match.
Cage and Nick Wayne, who had turned on Allin earlier, were laying the boots to Allin when Sting emerged to even the odds. After fighting both Cage and Allin, Luchasaurus came out to give the heels the advantage again.
As Cage was set to give a conchairto to Sting, the arena went black and a video played of a man driving a classic black sports car driving away from a major city as fireworks went off from a stadium. The words “Rated R Superstar” could be seen on the road at one point.
Then, Copeland came out to his longtime WWE entrance song “Metalingus” by Alter Bridge, complete with nearly the same pyro.
The Rated R Superstar Adam Copeland has arrived in #AEW!
Cage welcomed his longtime friend into the ring and offered him the chance to lay the final blow on Sting. Copeland took the chair, paused and then hit Wayne with hit, Cage escaped as Copeland then hit Luchasaurus with a spear.
Copeland then stood tall with Allin and Sting, shaking the hand of Sting to a large ovation to close the show.
Copeland’s WWE contract expired at the end of September and he had turned down an offer from them to return. AEW head Tony Khan was quick to tweet minutes after he debuted that the “Rated R Superstar” Copeland was #AllElite and part of the team.
Soon to be 50, Copeland has been with WWE since 1996, staying affiliated with the company during his retirement from 2011 to 2019. He returned to in-ring action at the 2020 Royal Rumble and wrestled what would be his final match for WWE in Toronto against Sheamus last month.
The Young Bucks are the new number one contenders to the AEW World Tag Team Championship.
The Bucks defeated The Lucha Bros, The Gunns, plus the duo of Orange Cassidy & Hook at Sunday’s WrestleDream pay-per-view in Seattle to earn a future Tag Team title shot. As stated in the promotion of the match, The Young Bucks can now challenge for the titles “at any time.”
The Bucks are now next in line to challenge the winners of Sunday’s AEW Tag Team Championship match between title holders FTR and their challengers Aussie Open.
Aside from the Young Bucks victory, the biggest news coming out of the four-way was an injury angle involving Rey Fenix.
Fenix was removed from the match shortly after it began. Our Bryan Alvarez reports that the decision was made to take Fenix out of the match early to protect him for his International Championship defense against Nick Jackson set for this Wednesday’s Dynamite Anniversary episode.
Alvarez noted that Fenix is “banged up.”
AEW’s Tony Khan posted on social media last week that Fenix was injured in his International title match at Dynamite Grand Slam against Jon Moxley in a match where Moxley was also injured. Fenix was cleared to return to action on last week’s Dynamite, while Moxley has yet to return to the ring.
Moxley did make multiple appearances at the commentary desk on Sunday’s WrestleDream show.
A two-out-of-three falls match for the TNT Championship headlines AEW WrestleDream from Seattle, Washington, as Christian Cage will defend the TNT title against former champion Darby Allin.
Cage has held the title since last Saturday while Allin is a two-time former TNT title holder.
Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in what is billed as a dream match between two of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time is also set for the show.
Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion MJF will defend the titles in a handicap match against The Righteous after Adam Cole suffered a broken ankle while ROH World Champion & NJPW Strong Champion Eddie Kingston defends both titles against Katsuyori Shibata.
In the lone women’s match on the PPV, TBS Champion Kris Statlander defends against Julia Hart.
Highlighting the rest of the 14-match card, the Don Callis Family (Will Ospreay, Konosuke Takeshita & Sammy Guevara) will face Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Chris Jericho.
Zero Hour
Stokely Hathaway and The Wrestle Aunts, Renee Paquette & RJ City, welcome us to Zero Hour and run down the entire card before throwing it to multiple video packages. These were primarily the ones we saw from the Countdown show on Friday.
Lexy Nair is backstage waiting for Ricky Starks to arrive, as he called a security guard C.W. Anderson and said tonight he proves why Wheeler Yuta is the whipping boy of the Blackpool Combat Club. Starks can’t wait to tap dance all over Yuta’s face and called Nair sweet, but so dumb as we walked away.
After a few more video packages, Lexy Nair is with Eddie Kingston backstage, who said it’s weird to be holding multiple titles. Kingston talked about how high of regard Antonio Inoki had for professional wrestling when ROH Commissioner Stokely Hathaway interrupted. Hathaway called him a contrarian and that confused Kingston, who was informed by Hathaway he’ll learn what he has to say on Wednesday. Kingston asked Nair if that’s her dude and Nair denied that, saying Hathaway was Big Bill’s buddy.
A video package of the AEW talent talking about the history of Antonio Inoki is shown. Bryan Danielson said he didn’t think he’d be a professional wrestler if it wasn’t for Inoki and said this is Tony Khan’s tribute to Antonio Inoki.
Tony Khan was in the ring alongside Rocky Romero, Katsuyori Shibata and Inoki’s grandchildren and presented them with flowers and did a chant in Inoki’s honor. We did briefly get a cut away to Christian Cage smirking backstage after this happened. A music video for tonight’s card was shown before going to our opening Zero Hour contest.
Satoshi Kojima, Keith Lee, ROH Women’s Champion Athena & Billie Starkz defeated Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, Mercedes Martinez & Diamante
(A pretty quick match to get the crowd going, as the ladies really didn’t get to do all that much aside from Athena, who got to have a few high impact moments. The crowd was loudly behind Kojima’s team, as it makes sense for him to get a pin to start the night.)
We Want Bread chants started for Kojima and Jim Ross wanted to know what that meant, so Excalibur simply put that Kojima loves baked goods. Starkz & Athena got the early advantage over Martinez & Diamante with Athena connecting on Croyt’s Wrath before doing a double dive with Starkz to the floor. Athena wanted a shot at Taylor, but she was forced to tag out in favor of Lee. After trading shoulder blocks, Lee got just enough of a hurricanrana on Taylor, before Moriarty was pressed high in the air, allowing Taylor to get a cheap shot to take control. That was brief, as Kojima tagged in and he lit up Moriarty with machine gun chops. Moriarty tried a standing switch, but Kojima spun out into a DDT.
Diamante broke things up until Starkz popped her with a shot leading to all the women spilling to the floor once again. Taylor tried charging at Lee, but was planted with a massive spinebuster. Moriarty wiped out Lee, but posed too long, allowing Athena to catch him with the O-Face out of nowhere. Lee followed up with the Ground Zero and Kojima finished things off with a lariat to get the win.
(My goodness, if you enjoy catch wrestling, this was some really good stuff. For only knowing this match was going to happen 24 hours ago, this delivered and I do hope Barnett gets his wish and this happens again, with more time the next round. I also have no idea how long he’ll be out, but an amped up Jon Moxley on commentary is something I’d love more of on occasion.)
Moxley joined commentary for the match, as he came to the ring through the crowd with Castagnoli to the tune of Wild Thing. Moxley said Barnett has been his secret weapon in helping him train in recent years and thinks Barnett feels Castagnoli could be better, thus why he took the match, to teach Castagnoli a thing or two. After nearly getting an opening arm bar, Barnett shot a single leg into a spinebuster. Castagnoli rolled out into an arm bar, which Barnett spun into a knee bar. Castagnoli hooked on a crucifix and Moxley screamed to elbow that son of a bitch repeatedly. Barnett escaped and connected on a quick dragon screw, targeting the knee again.
Castagnoli took out the legs and nearly got the giant swing, but a rope break put a stop to that. Barnett started firing off leg kicks, frustrating Castagnoli, who briefly lit up Barnett with uppercuts. Barnett tried an abdominal stretch, but Castagnoli escaped, leading us to a forearm battle. Barnett switched to knees in the clinch and connected on a spinning heel kick followed by a suplex. Escaping a full mount, Castagnoli got his giant swing and traded more stiff shots until connecting on a wild lariat, Neutralizer and ground Octopus Hold, which Castagnoli spun into a pinfall.
Post match, Barnett demanded the microphone and said he heard a lot about Castagnoli, who is highly regarded. Hearing about it is one thing, but being in the ring is another and they are all right. Barnett came in with no expectations, but leaves with the highest respect for Castagnoli, saying Inoki would be a fan of his. Barnett said this isn’t over though; Castagnoli owes him more time, so this will happen again. Castagnoli said anytime, anyplace and both hugged.
Luchasaurus defeated Nick Wayne
(A rather dominant performance from Luchasaurus, as Wayne had a few hope spots, but this was controlled primarily by the dinosaur. I was briefly surprised Wayne didn’t get the win, but if Luchasaurus is going to remain in the TNT Title picture, a win here was necessary.)
Wayne received a huge reaction from his hometown crowd, as he exploded out of the corner with a dropkick, which Luchasaurus no sold and dropped Wayne on his head with a release German. Repeated overhead corner chops into a spinning side slam connected as Excalibur confirms Christian Cage vs. Darby Allin is tonight’s main event. Wayne flipped out of a choke slam, followed with a thrust kick and enzugiri, but Luchasaurus quickly mowed him down with a headbutt. A violent chokeslam over the top onto the apron, as Wayne was left crawling near his mother, who was in the front row. Luchasaurus wheelbarrowed Wayne and flung him into the barricade. Back inside, Luchasaurus missed a corner charge, allowing Wayne to hit a huge moonsault for a near fall. Multiple thrust kicks led to a missed Wayne’s World, as Luchasaurus clobbered him in the back of the neck with a lariat to get the win.
The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass defeated TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Bad Dude Tito) to retain the AEW Trios Titles
(The only thing missing from this party match was the commercial break and picture in picture in the middle of the heat portion. This was your usual Acclaimed & Daddy Ass match, with TMDK getting off a few good moments, but ultimately didn’t stand a chance.)
I got a kick out of Caster getting in a Slapjack reference when talking about Haste in the opening freestyle. Caster was isolated early in the wrong corner, but easily fought out and tagged in Daddy Ass, who wouldn’t budge when Haste tried a hip toss. Tito & Nicholls were dispatched, allowing Bowens to connect with Scissor Me Timbers. A triple scissor led to ref Aubrey scolding the tag champs, as this let TMDK get a cheap shot on Bowens to take control.
Finally, a hot tag to Daddy Ass was made again and he cleaned house on TMDK until Tito avoided a Fame-Asser and hit a stalling German. Haste & Nicholls were able to briefly get the best of The Acclaimed, with Haste using his partner as a launch pad for a huge corner cannonball. Daddy Ass to the rescue again, as he dropped Tito with a Fame-Asser, Bowens hit the Arrival and Caster with the Mic Drop to retain the titles.
AEW WrestleDream
-Excalibur welcomes us alongside Nigel McGuinness & Taz as the ROH Tag Titles are on the line in our opening contest.
Before the match began, MJF cut his music and said someone went into his locker room and stole his devil mask, denying that he was responsible for laying out tofu Jay White. MJF called The Righteous a bunch of Devil’s Rejects dickheads and said he’s going to bodyslam Dutch and tie Vincent’s dreadlocks up in a bow and shove them up Dutch’s ass.
AEW World Champion MJF defeated The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) to retain the ROH Tag Team Titles
(While this was a fun opener and MJF does a great job getting the crowd into it, I’m kind of over MJF being placed in the opening contest of PPV’s. He’s the AEW World Champion and should be utilized as such. The Righteous got a few weeks build as challengers, but ultimately were comedy fodder at the end of this.)
Dutch allowed MJF to try a bodyslam to start, but failed, as MJF bailed to the floor and got massaged by a few fans. MJF wanted sportsmanship and adhered to the Code of Honor, shaking Dutch’s hand before poking him in the eye and Fargo Strut. MJF slingshot Vincent in and almost made good on his pre-match promise, but Dutch hit a lariat followed by a ripcord variety. After a sliding flatliner, MJF got more eye pokes and instinctually wanted to make a tag, but no one was there. MJF turned around and nearly got a bodyslam, but Dutch collapsed on top for two. A powerbomb, swanton bomb and Boss Man Slam series led to another near fall. The Righteous hit their signature spinning Acid Drop, but once more MJF kicked out and they couldn’t believe it.
Dutch took the ref, as Vincent tried to shatter MJF’s ankles with a chair, but MJF grabbed the groin of Vincent, letting it go right as referee Bryce turned to notice the chair. Vincent ultimately missed a second swanton as MJF turned into a house of fire, finally getting his bodyslam on Dutch. MJF proceeded to in fact drive Vincen’t head first into the ass of Dutch and hit the Kangaroo Kick, before connecting with the Heat Seeker on Dutch to get the win, feet on the ropes for good measure.
Eddie Kingston defeated Katsuyori Shibata to retain the ROH World & NJPW Strong Titles
(This was a battle from the get go, as I liked how Excalibur mentioned if this was for Shibata’s ROH Pure Title, Kingston would’ve been out of rope breaks with the amount of times he was relying on them to get out of submissions. The back and forth striking exchanges in this match was very good and Kingston giving the ring to Shibata to take a bow post match was super class act.)
Both men welcomed the strikes from the other early and Kingston lowered the straps about 30 seconds into the match. Shibata applied a short arm scissor, transitioning into an ankle lock with a grapevine, switching once more into a figure four. A rope break from Kingston allowed Shibata to briefly get a bow and arrow before Kingston escaped a head lock with a high angle back drop driver. Machine gun corner chops dropped Shibata, who reversed a corner whip into a charging boot and signature stalling dropkick. A float over suplex got a near fall, as Shibata tried Kawada kicks, which just woke up Kingston. Both men traded boots and lariats, neither going down until finally both started to crumble. Kingston hit an Exploder, but Shibata fired up with a STO into the double down.
With the wrist controlled, Shibata hit a ripcord chop into the Cobra Twist. Shibata switched to the Octopus Hold and Kingston collapsed, nearly fading, but got to the ropes in time. Both traded a succession of spinning back fists until Shibata charged with a PK into another reset. A striking battle ensued until Kingston hit a backfist, which Shibata kicked out at one. Northern Lights Bomb connected, as did another backfist and a high stack powerbomb to get the Kingston victory. Shibata raised the hand of Kingston post match and Kingston signaled to the back to play Shibata’s music, as he gave Shibata to the ring to take a bow.
Kris Statlander defeated Julia Hart (w/Brody King) to retain the TBS Title
(The crowd really got into this match towards the end and we got a This Is Awesome chant after Hart hit her finisher. Hart held her own in her PPV singles debut and you can see just how much she’s improved in the time she’s been in AEW.)
Taz tagged out and Tony Schiavone joined the booth for this one as Statlander used the power advantage early, nearly hitting the corner charge, with Hart regrouping. Statlander connected on multiple shoulder blocks until Hart hit a thrust kick and hurricanrana. Countering a monkey flip, Statlander hit a suplex, but Hart dragged Statlander to the floor. In a fireman’s carry, Statlander carried Hart up the steps to the apron, as Hart escaped and swept the leg, driving Statlander into the barricade. Back inside, Hart worked over the back, trying for a step up senton, but slipped off Statlander’s back, not getting all of it.
An abdominal stretch with a neck crank was briefly applied until Statlander escaped with a snap powerslam. The second try, Statlander got her corner charge knee and followed with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Hart escaped Sunday Night Fever, as Statlander stumbled into the ropes, with King trash talking. This led to Hart trying to mist Statlander, who slapped the mist out of Hart’s mouth and hit a spinning fisherman’s buster for two. A dead lift German led to Statlander going to the ropes, but Hart cut her off with the overhead belly to belly. Hart connected on her moonsault to a huge pop from the crowd, but got a near fall. Hart locked in Hartless, but the strength of Statlander allowed her to get to her feet and hit a Tombstone followed by Sunday Night Fever to retain.
The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) defeated The Gunns (Austin & Colten), The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & AEW International Champion Rey Fenix w/Alex Abrahantes) & Orange Cassidy & FTW Champion HOOK to earn a future AEW Tag Team Title shot
(The Bucks get the future Tag Title shot, but perhaps a bigger story is Rey Fenix was taken out of this match after about a minutes worth of action. His shoulder had been heavily taped and we never saw him again, leaving Penta to go at it alone. As for the match, this should surprise no one, this was action packed and nearly everyone got in their moments. Similar to the 4 way on Dynamite last week, this match felt like it could end at any time.)
Heading into the International Title match this Wednesday, Nick & Fenix start things off with a mirrored opening sequence of strikes and superkicks, with Fenix clutching his shoulder, until Cassidy made the tag. Fenix ducked an Orange Punch, tried a fireman’s carry, but the taped up shoulder gave out and Penta was forced to make the tag. The Gunns did a number on Fenix outside and one on Penta as well, as Colten made the tag and hit a perfect dropkick on Cassidy. The Gunns stood tall and tried to pin each other to win the match, but the ref wouldn’t allow it. That’s a spot their father had done with the New Age Outlaws back in the day, which didn’t fly here, but I loved the callback.
The Bucks sent The Gunns tumbling outside, as Cassidy gave a long stare to HOOK before making the tag and having a faceoff with Matt Jackson. HOOK lit up Matt with midsection punches before both men took turns trading a series of Northern Lights suplexes until hit an overhead throw. Cassidy & HOOK connected on a double suplex on The Gunns, as Cassidy hit a dive on both Bucks. We’re told the doctor took out Fenix, as commentary questions if we’d see him again. Penta tried Fear Factor on Austin, but Colten made the save and The Gunns took over on HOOK, who finally fought free and made the desperation tag to Penta, who ran wild.
Colten was dropped with Made in Penta, but Austin saved his brother by hitting a Quick Draw. The match broke down, as Nick hit his slingshot face buster on Austin and moonsault to the floor on Cassidy. HOOK made a blind tag on Penta, who wiped out a stack of guys on the floor, as HOOK had REDRUM locked on Austin, but Nick made the blind tag before Austin tapped. Nick hit a 450 on both men for two. Penta hit a dueling Widows Peak/Fear Factor with an assist from Nick doing a double stomp, as Penta was ultimately dropped with a BTE Trigger to give The Bucks the victory.
(This was match of the night thus far as both men knocked it out of the park. The roles were reversed here, as Page worked heel great and there was no way Swerve was going to be booed in his house. Despite those roles reversed, Strickland is still a heel after all, so the finish had to come with at least a little shenanigans, despite not being the actual finish. With this win, I hope Strickland continues to climb the ranks and becomes a contender for the World Title soon.)
The crowd was loudly behind Strickland as we got Swerve’s House and Hangman Sucks chants. Page played into the heel role well for this, as he taunted the crowd after grounding Strickland early. Strickland managed a fast head scissors and diving uppercut off the second to soak in the cheers. Page countered a tilt a whirl into a fall away slam, as he kipped up to boos, following up with his corner lariat to the floor, where he hit an apron bomb into a powerbomb on the barricade. The moonsault off the top to the floor connected, as did a pop up powerbomb back inside for two. A tope was what hit next for Page, as he zoned in on the hand he stabbed with the pen during the contract signing on Dynamite.
Page hit a top rope clothesline, but after a forearm exchange, Strickland strung together a Flatliner and Brainbuster sequence. Strickland took too long on the top and was cut off by Page, who wanted an avalanche fall away slam, but Strickland fought free and hit a Swerve Stomp on a hung up Hangman. House Call hit flush, but a double stomp off the top on the apron did not, as Page wanted a Dead Eye, but Strickland tossed him face first into the metal of the turnbuckle. Strickland looked for a piledriver off the steps, but Page countered into Dead Eye on them insead. Back inside, Strickland fought off the Buckshot until Page bit at the injured hand, as a Buckshot was countered into Strickland stomping back on a twisted up Page arm.
The doctors attended to Page on the apron, as Strickland came flying in with a Swerve Stomp off the top while Prince Nana danced all around ringside. Strickland followed with a 450 on the injured arm for a near fall. Page escaped a cross arm breaker with a rope break, as Page rolled through a JML Driver and turned Strickland inside out with a lariat. Both men reset and Strickland hit a snap German, went for another stomp, but Page avoided and hit the Buckshot with the injured arm, not allowing a follow up in time. Nana was caught putting the foot on the rope for a break and ejected by the ref, as the arguing allowed Strickland to grab Nana’s jeweled crown and deck Page for a close near fall. Two more House Calls connected again for Strickland, who followed with the JML Driver to give Strickland the biggest win in his AEW career.
-Seattle Supersonics great Shawn Kemp is shown front row enjoying the action.
Ricky Starks (w/Big Bill) defeated Wheeler Yuta
(These two had the tough task of following Strickland & Page and did a good job in the position they were in. This felt like a Collision match, but both guys had a hard hitting back and forth match with Starks getting a much needed PPV singles win after his loss to Bryan Danielson in the Texas Death Match.)
Jon Moxley & Jim Ross rejoin the commentary table, as Moxley wanted to be there for Yuta’s first solo excursion on an AEW PPV. Moxley apologized for his language on Zero Hour and immediately yelled at Yuta to make Starks “pay for that sh*t”, as Excalibur brought up a swear jar. After an opening chain wrestling back and forth, it turned to slaps and chops, with Starks winning that battle. Starks did his rope walk strike and overhead throw with Moxley continuing to yell for Yuta to get back into this, dropping more swears, but it wouldn’t be Moxley if he didn’t. Yuta hit an Angle Slam and Moxley gave a shoutout to the late Justice Pain, as Big Bill made his way to ringside.
The appearance of Bill was long enough to distract Yuta and let Starks hit his signature spinning DDT. Yuta avoided Roshambo, but Starks hit a pop up powerbomb with so much intensity Starks himself almost did a somersault in the process. Starks mocked the anvil elbows, which just pissed off Yuta, who hulked up, only to be leveled with a Starks lariat. Yuta avoided another DDT and chucked Starks onto Bill, who nearly chokeslammed Yuta, who floated over and posted Bill. Back inside, anvil elbows by Yuta led to a seatbelt pin for two. Yuta tried to skin the cat on the bottom rope, but Starks met him with a huge Spear and Roshambo to win it.
Bryan Danielson defeated Zack Sabre Jr.
(This was an absolute wrestling clinic, one that delivered exactly what you would’ve hoped for and more. I really enjoyed Moxley on commentary, as he sounded like a dude who loves wrestling getting to watch the two best technical wrestlers in the world ten feet away from him. You can also really tell seeds are at least hopefully being planted for something to happen between Danielson & Nigel McGuinness, as Nigel has really been talking more and more about wanting to see Danielson lose. I hope we get a match in the future. I also hope another Sabre & Danielson battle happens down the line.)
Moxley remains on commentary super hyped for this one, as he’s dissecting the mindset of both men, as Danielson got two early takedowns and showed Sabre he was up two. Danielson wanted a hip toss, but Sabre countered right into a Cobra Twist, which Danielson countered into a roll up. Sabre escaped into an arm breaker, which Danielson countered into an Indian Death Lock. With their legs intertwined, both men did headstands until a stalemate occurred. Moxley brought up how Danielson is into weird stuff, tantric stuff and Excalibur hilariously changed the topic to Billy Robinson & Antonio Inoki. Sabre locked on a Romero Special, but Danielson literally just powered up and walked out of it, locking on one of his own. Moxley said this is a Johnson swinging contest. Sabre wanted a bow and arrow, but Danielson exploded out into another reset.
Sabre finally zoned in on the right arm, wrapping it up and twisting before snapping away at the fingers. Danielson moonsaulted out of the corner and hit a rolling single leg crab almost ala Lance Storm. Sabre got the ropes, as Danielson punted away with kicks to the left leg followed by the most violent dragon screw. Danielson went for another, but Sabre countered, twisting his feet around the neck. Sabre went to the corner and Danielson followed with boots and anvil elbows. Sabre snapped the arm and applied a kimura until headbutts to the midsection got Danielson free with an Avalanche Butterfly Superplex. Danielson really fought for the submission used to submit Okada at Forbidden Door, but Sabre got the ropes.
Yes Kicks connected, as Danielson said it was time for Sabre to get his f’n head kicked in and Moxley said the swear could be added to his tab. Sabre avoided Busaiku Knee into a series of close nearfalls led to a European Clutch for two, as Moxley and the crowd are on their feet. Sabre avoided a corner charge, tried a Clutch again, but Danielson countered into Cattle Mutilation and we got another wild series of counters until Sabre cranked away at the wrist and fingers. With both men wrapped up like pretzels, Danielson spat in the face of Sabre as slaps and kicks to the face were back and forth aplenty. Uppercuts to the arm by Sabre, as Danielson kept kicking at the hamstring. Both men wanted a backslide and threw stiff back elbows to get it.
Sabre hit a PK to the bad arm and connected with a Zack Driver before slapping on a submission. Nigel McGuinness is on his feet, screaming to see Danielson submit, as a rope break led to him calling Danielson a coward. Yes Kicks by Sabre led to a cross arm breaker once more, which Danielson escaped into a Regal Plex and Busaiku Knee for two. With the crowd on their feet, Danielson hit another Busaiku Knee, this time getting the win. Moxley put it perfectly when he said Holy Sh*t. Post match, Sabre didn’t shake the hand, as Danielson gave a hug to referee Aubrey in a pretty cool full circle moment for her dating back to Danielson retiring years ago and Aubrey being the girl in the crowd crying at the time.
Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara & Will Ospreay (w/Don Callis) defeated Chris Jericho & The Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi)
(This was an action packed party match, with of course Callis interjecting in the finish. I almost thought this went longer than needed, but the moment I thought that, the crowd were on their feet and really into it, so I admit being wrong on that one. This was a needed win to establish the Don Callis Family as threats and especially Guevara in his feud with Jericho.)
The tron for the Don Callis Family is a shot of The Last Supper with Callis in the middle, which is hysterical. Omega & Ospreay start things off to a huge ovation from the crowd and have a lighting quick opening sequence into a stalemate. Guevara tagged in to annoy the entire crowd and proceeded to hit his leapfrog backflip dropkick. Jericho tagged in and lit up Guevara with chops before Guevara bailed, flipping Jericho off and Ospreay was left eating chops. Guevara jumped on commentary briefly and talked about how Omega & Jericho hitting a double suplex is illegal and how referee Aubrey sucks. A six way face off ensues and a hockey fight sent Callis’ Family to the floor. Jericho, Omega & Ibushi gave a chant to Antonio Inoki before hitting a trifecta of slingshot dives.
Back inside, Ospreay quickly turned the table with his backflip kick on Omega, as Takeshita saw his first official action, connecting with a Takeshtia-line. Ospreay made the tag and nearly ate You Can’t Escape, but got the knees up on the Omega moonsault, applying an abdominal stretch with help from all his partners and Callis. Aubrey caught them and kicked the hand free, but Omega remained isolated and planted with a Takeshita Blue Thunder Bomb. Guevara hit a Senton Atomico, but Ibushi saved his partner to break the count. Omega fought out of the corner with three face palm dunks and Jericho made the hot tag, getting an abdominal stretch on Guevara, getting help from Omega & Ibushi to return the favor.
Ibushi finally tags in and does the Le Sex Gods pose with Jericho before dropping Guevara with a moonsault press. The Golden Lovers break out their signature offense ending in a Kotaro Crusher from Omega, as both Omega & Ibushi hit stereo moonsaults to the floor, as Jericho hit a Lionsault on Guevara for two. A powerbomb into a German connected, but Takeshita hit three German suplexes, with the ones Omega & Ibushi suffered landing high on their neck. Ospreay & Takeshita both went for Hidden Blade and the Power Drive Knee, but Jericho ducked and both men collided. Omega hit the Terminator Dive on Ospreay & Takeshita, as Guevara hit the Spanish Fly on Jericho for two and wild Shooting Star on the floor onto Omega.
We missed Jericho hitting a Code Breaker on Guevara, as Omega & Ospreay had another back and forth ending in a Snap Dragon. Guevara flew in with a top rope cutter and got just enough to stun Omega. Ospreay hit Ibushi with a high powerbomb, as Takeshita hit Omega with a Power Drive Knee. Jericho hulked up, but the numbers were too much, leaving Ibushi the last man standing against three. Ibushi no sold and starched Ospreay & Guevara and had a wild sequence trading lariats with Takeshita into the double down. The match broke down with home run shots from everyone until Ospreay countered One Winged Angel to the floor and followed with a Sky Twister Press on the Golden Lovers.
Ospreay took the bullet and ate a Judas Effect, shoving Guevara out of the way, as referee Aubrey was tending to him long enough to miss Jericho’s visual pin on Guevara off a corner hurricanrana. Jericho tried the Walls of Jericho, as Don Callis got a bat shot in, as Guevara crawled over to steal the win, as Ospreay held off Ibushi & Omega.
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defeated Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) to retain the AEW Tag Team Titles
(While the crowd did do dueling chants, it seemed like they were tired following the last two matches. These two teams put on a damn fine wrestling match with some really close near falls for the challengers. I have no idea is Mark Davis actually broke his wrist, but he was really clutching at it the second half of this one. Credit to toughing it out, also Kyle Fletcher was awesome as well. With FTR’s win here, we’re going to get FTR vs. Young Bucks 4 down the line.)
Harwood & Wheeler worked over Fletcher in the early going with fast tags made until Davis tagged in and had a loud chop battle with Harwood. Davis hit a bodyslam and standing senton before a chop lariat combo connected high near Harwood’s throat. More chops led to Fletcher & Davis avoiding ten corner punches by running Harwood & Wheeler into each other and it was followed up by one on the floor as well. Wheeler spent time isolated and was flattened with a back suplex powerbomb combo for a near fall. In the process of knocking Harwood off the apron, Fletcher was hung up in the corner, as Wheeler connected on a back suplex off the top for the double down.
Wheeler finally managed to break free and make the hot tag to Harwood, who ran wild with strikes and lariats. Despite Fletcher being flattened by a lariat, Davis didn’t budge initially, so Harwood wound up for a home run lariat. Rolling Germans on Fletcher by Harwood, who went up top, missing a diving headbutt. The Aussie Arrow connected for two, as Wheeler & Davis fought to the floor while Harwood hit his signature slingshot powerbomb on Fletcher. Harwood was sent to the floor, as Wheeler was set up in a Doomsday Device and Davis absolutely clocked Wheeler with a jump kick off the top.
Fletcher & Davis wanted a Power Plex, but Wheeler & Harwood fought off and hit one of their own. Wheeler tried for a cover, but a diving Fletcher onto Harwood dropped them onto the cover. Davis is clutching his left wrist, as he & Fletcher hit a double lariat on Wheeler, wanted Coriolis, but Harwood made the save. Fletcher & Davis managed to hit Shatter Machine and Coriolis, but again Harwood broke things up. Wheeler was about to suffer a Spike Piledriver on the apron, but Harwood cut it off and it was Davis who was dropped instead. While set up in the corner, Fletcher ate a Super Shatter Machine and FTR retained.
Christian Cage defeated Darby Allin to retain the TNT Title in a 2 out of 3 Falls match
(What a story this was, Cage is such an incredible heel and I was about to talk about how good Allin’s selling is, but let’s face it, it’s not selling. How he’s able to take the bumps he does is beyond me. The turn of Nick Wayne was only the beginning of what was to come and we in fact had the anticipated debut of Adam Copeland, who I was thrilled still had his familiar theme music from WWE. It’s going to be really fun and interesting to see where things go from here, as the visual of Copeland standing with Sting & Allin was quite the sight to see.)
I certainly did not expect trading wrist locks and headlocks to start this match, but it did. Taz pointed out this was Allin showing Cage that he could indeed outwrestle the TNT Champion. Coffin Splash attempt nearly countered into a Killswitch, but Allin pulled Cage’s shirt over his head and got a flash jackknife roll up to steal the first fall.
Cage regrouped and stared down Nick Wayne’s mother ringside and got a cheap shot on Allin to take control, standing on Allin’s back, choking him in the ropes. Slow and methodical on his attack, Cage went for a top rope splash and missed, allowing Allin to hit a Code Red for a super close two. O’Connor Roll into a springboard cross body from Allin, who was eventually chucked outside to allow Cage to catch a breather before launching Allin into the barricade. Cage slowly walked up to Nick Wayne’s mother, who had a smile on her face, but suckered Cage in, throwing a drink in his face. Allin flew in with a low tope and Coffin Drop to the floor before trying a proper one in the ring, with Cage getting his knees up. Cage sent Allin flying off the apron face first into the commentary table. Cage repositioned the ring steps, as he fought on the apron with Allin, who tried a charge, but ate an eye poke. Cage suplexed Allin to the floor, bodyslammed him onto the steps and finally a bodyslam off the apron onto the edge of the steps in a violent spot that ended in a countout win to let Cage even it up at 1-1.
Referee Bryce and the doctor checked on Allin, as Cage started untying the canvas from the frame of the ring. The stretcher was brought down and quiet in the arena as we keep seeing replays of that violent bodyslam on the edge of the steps. During all of this, Cage kept ripping the ring up and exposing the wooden paneling before going to the top and hitting a wild Frog Splash onto the stretcher Allin was on. Cage rolled Allin into the ring, as after all of that, referee Bryce asked if Allin still wanted to go and Allin said yes. Cage connected with a Killswitch onto the wood, but Allin kicked out.
Allin side stepped a Spear, but Cage locked in a Scorpion Death Lock with Allin ultimately getting the ropes. Allin gouged at the eyes and managed a desperation Scorpion Death Drop before hitting a Coffin Drop, as Cage kicked out. Allin wanted another one, but Cage cut him off with a sunset flip powerbomb onto the wood. Cage wanted a Spear, but Allin side stepped and Cage wiped out referee Bryce. Cage got a low blow, grabbed his TNT Title and wanted to use it until Nick Wayne appeared, taking away the title. The chase was on until Allin told Wayne to use the title and Wayne said he’s doing this for his mom, dad & himself before blasting Allin with the title. Cage revived the ref and got the pin.
Cage gave Wayne a kiss on the head and hugged him post match, standing tall over Allin. Wayne slapped Allin and beat him down until Sting appeared and made his way to the ring. Sting attacked Wayne & Cage, as Luchasaurus appeared and the numbers were too much. Cage wanted a Con-Chair-To but the lights went out and video saying Our Feature Presentation is shown and video of an unknown figure is driving the streets of Seattle.
That unknown figure is revealed to be Adam Copeland, who is using his Metalingus theme song fans are familiar with. Copeland took the chair from Cage and Wayne set up Sting, but Copeland waffled Wayne in the back and laid out both he & Luchasaurus with Spears as Cage bailed with his TNT Title. The show ends with Copeland & Cage have a stare down with the Rated R Superstar arriving in AEW standing tall with Sting & Darby Allin, who extended his hand and Copeland shook it, Sting’s as well.
The new Observer is out right now. Among the key stuff covered:
Match of the week and performer of the week
The plight of the recently fired WWE wrestlers and where many can or will wind up
What is a key point about wrestlers who come from WWE and their ability to adapt to other companies and what things need to be considered
XFL/USFL merger talks and why
More on Terry Funk including his career title history and biggest awards, some of the biggest and most notable title change matches of his career, the only HBO wrestling special and the only time Vince McMahon did a broadcast announcing with Gordon Solie, why Funk’s proposed lengthy reign with the biggest regional title in the countr6 ended in a few weeks, the amazing Funk Brothers legacy in Japan, Funk’s NWA title reign and booking behind his biggest matches
Preview of the NXT & AEW shows, lots of talk by Bryan Danielson about Zack Sabre and his retirement, strange things about the show, AEW PPV airing on free TV in the U.K., and early notes on WWE Fastlane
Destruction in Kobe and the next few NJPW shows
More on the All In attendance mark
The dismissal of the landmark Mark Hunt suit against Dana White, UFC and Brock Lesnar and the judges ruling
Full UFC weekend coverage
The most detailed look at the ratings for the past week, the segments, the competition and where audiences were up and down
The KeMonito story in Mexico that is mainstream news there regarding his retirement
Lots of injury updates
Stardom Grand Prix updates
Junior Battle of Glory
Katsuhiko Nakajima update
How Jericho vs Takeshtia was put together
Two former WWE stars talk their steroid use
wXw major tag team tournament weekend
FantasticaMania notes
More on MLW and its relationship with CMLL and NJPW
GCW continues to tour overseas
Imapct Bound for Glory notes
PCO talks his departure from Impact and who Impact is looking to sign
Lots of thoughts on Tony Khan’s recent press conference
FOX and AEW comments, streaming comments, more PPV, ownership talk
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Sunday Update
Bryan and I wlll be back tonight talking all the weekend news and shows and obviously with the AEW show tonight and NXT last night, there is a ton of stuff to cover. Our weekly news review show with Garrett Gonzales where we talked about the Tony Khan’s press conference, AEW big show plans, Terry Funk, and so much more is up on the site now.
I usually don’t worry about fast nationals because nobody ever talks about them once the final numbers come out, but for Collision last night they were noteworthy as it did 306,000 viewers and 0.08. The final number isn’t out until Tuesday and it will vary from this number. But the NXT and WWE Saturday shows are hurting Collision a lot, since they’ve hung tough thus far against college football. There was also the Canelo Alvarez PPV last night although I don’t know if the fight itself went against the show, but the PPV itself did. Next week wouldn’t be expected to do well either against Fastlane. It was noteworthy because you had Bryan Danielson in a main event match plus Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega as a team for the first time, so it’s not like it was a throw away show. I think the next stat to look at is how the show does with DVR numbers on these nights it goes against WWE big shows.
Regarding last night, go out of your way to see the Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes and Tiffany Stratton vs. Becky Lynch matches. They were two of the best WWE matches of the year. Tiffany Stratton was the talk of the show in a lot of circles.
We’re doing polls on tonight’s AEW WrestleDream show, last night’s NXT No Mercy and the Stardom Five Star Grand Prix finals, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match from each show to [email protected]
Tonight’s show starts 30 minutes earlier than usual at 6:30 p.m.. The last thing an AEW PPV show needs is another 30 minutes, but that said, the main card looks really strong from a wrestling standpoint. Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr., is a legit dream match and could be among the best matches of the year, and FTR vs. Aussie Open had a match one year ago that was incredible and haven’t wrestled since.
Keith Lee & Satoshi Kojima & Athena & Billie Starkz vs. Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty & Diamante & Mercedes Martinez
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Josh Barnett – Interesting that not once in the package last night did they mention Barnett as a former UFC champion or even as an MMA star, and was pushed a disciple of Antonio Inoki.
Luchasaurus vs. Nick Wayne – Wayne is of course from Everett, WA, so he’ll be the hometown favorite
The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn defend the trios titles against Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholla & Bad Dude Tito. Tito is coming off looking great at the Destruction in Kobe show
Main card starting at 8 p.m. Eastern
Ricky Starks vs. Wheeler Yuta
Young Bucks vs. Gunn Brothers vs. Lucha Brothers vs,. Orange Cassidy & Hook – winners get an AEW tag title shot
Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi & Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay & Sammy Guevara & Konoske Takeshita
Eddie Kingston vs. Katsuyori Shibata for the New Japan Strong and ROH title (the Pure title is not at stake here)
Kris Statlander vs. Julia Hart for the TBS title
MJF defends the ROH tag titles against Vincent & Dutch in a handicap match
FTR vs. Aussie Open for the AEW tag titles
Swerve Strickland vs. Adam Page – This one is very interesting because both could use the win to springboard into a title shot. Strickland is hometown so the crowd may be for him more than it would be anywhere else
Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – On paper this could be the best technical wrestling match of the year
Christian Cage vs. Darby Allin 2/3 falls for the TNT title was talked about in the countdown show as being the main event.
A lot of speculation regarding the end of an era and start of a new era promotion for tonight’s AEW show. We don’t have any answers although Edge being taken off Friday’s Smackdown open would naturally lead to conjecture, although I don’t consider that era changing. I will say that people in WWE would not be surprised to see Edge in AEW and there has been talk about it for months. But there has been nothing confirmed. Obviously some sort of a deal with WBD for streaming is another thing speculated on, as is talk of Mariah May (which is obviously not big enough for that hype but could be another addition to the roster) and Mercedes Mone (which has been expected once she’s healed up).
For what it’s worth, the Twitter feedback we’ve had expect a lower than usual PPV number for tonight’s show. I think with it going against Sunday Night Football and with no world title match on the show, it would be down. Taylor Swift being at the game also adds to the interest in the Chiefs-Jets game and expectation of huge numbers.
Chris Jericho applied for a trademark for the term Golden Jets. Could that be for a Jericho & Omega tag team? The Golden Jet was the nickname of Bobby Hull, an NHL legend who played at the same time Jericho’s father played.
We’re also looking for reports from tonight’s WWE house show in Stateline, NV, results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
WWE results from San Francisco last night:
New Day b Ludvig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci when Woods pinned Kaiser
Gunther b Chad Gable to retain the IC title with a power bomb after a missed moonsault by Gable
Nia Jax b Zoey Stark with the annihilator splash.
Cody Rhodes b Damian Priest in a street fight. JD McDonagh interfered for several minutes since there was no DQ. Jey Uso made the save and brought a table into the ring and speared McDonagh into the table. Rhodes won with Cross Rhodes. Rhodes & Jey Uso asked fans to donate to Connor’s Cure as Rhodes has been doing at shows. No Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio (obviously on the NXT show) or Rhea Ripley at the show.
Bronson Reed b Otis with the Tsunami
Iyo Sky b Charlotte Flair to keep the WWE women’s title with an inside cradle off the figure four attempt.
Seth Rollins b The Miz with a curb stomp to keep the world title (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
For Google Trends this week, Bad Bunny was No 15 today regarding rumors of a romance with Kendall Jenner. Last night’s Canelo Alvaerz fight did 2 million searches which is more than any combat sports event in a long time, far above WrestleMania or any UFC show. That would seem to indicate a big buy number. Nothing else related to boxing, pro wrestling or MMA made the top 20 any day this week. UFC didn’t have a show yesterday. NXT normally doesn’t crack the top 20 so that’s not a negative sign.
The Western Australian had an article yesterday regarding the Western Australian tourism council expecting $100 million in economy coming to Perth for a Coldplay concert ($68 million for two November shows) and WWE Elimination Chamber ($33 million). The tourism board noted that UFC 288 in February brought in 8,500 tourists and a $6 million gate, the largest indoor arena event gate ever in Australia, breaking the Rolling Stones record set in 2014. The board is attempting to make Perth the tourist capital of Australia.
El Hijo del Vikingo did a show last night in Dallas. He has been hurting. AAA has a big show today in Guadalajara and Vikingo is advertised for that one.
For NXT on Tuesday, they’ve announced Gigi Dolin vs. Blair Davenport, Tyler Bate & Butch vs. Mark Coffey & Wolfgang and the start of the women’s breakout tournament.
Raw tomorrow has Jey Uso vs. Damien Priest, Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler (Jax is going to kill everyone until she faces Rhea Ripley most likely), Ivar vs. Xavier Woods, Becky Lynch vs. Tegan Nox for the NXT women’s title and a Gunther/Tommaso Ciampa contract signing. Drew McIntyre will be on Miz TV a second week in a row.
Women’s wrestling sold out the Yokohama Budokan (about 2,600 seats) yesterday and today. The Stardom Grand Prix finals, won by Suzu Suzuki over Maika, was on Saturday. The Crash Gals 40th anniversary show was today. The Crush Gals didn’t wrestle on the show but did a talk show and sang. There were wrestling legends on the show in matches including Jaguar Yokota, Aja Kong, and current star Sareee.
I haven’t seen the shows, but have heard that the Grand Prix finals were very good, particularly Suzuki vs. Maika where Suzuki won with a sky twister press. Also heard Friday’s Arena Mexico Noche de Campeones was strong. As far as best matches, the Suzuki-Maika match we’ve heard some talk of but the best match talk so far this weekend came from the top two matches at NXT last night.
Thanks to Rohit Sroya for the report from Sacramento and Tim Kelly for the report from last night in Seattle..
MLW announced B3CCA has pulled out of her featherweight title challenge to Delmi Exo on 10/14 in Philadelphia and that Exo will defend against “The Phantom Challenger.”
Pure Pro Wrestling from last night in Battle Creek, MI: Jackson Levine over Logan Link & Ethan J, Facade b Colin Jamse, Abdul Hakeem & Drake b Father Time & Tank in a tag tourney match, Tenshi won over Heather Blue and Khaos, Kongo Kong won Battle Royal, Al Snow & Head & Eric Smalls b Dylan Night & Nick Xero & Mr. One Night Only, Kongo Kong b Hernandez, Aaron Orion & Cody Manning b Zach Gowen & Kerry Morton, Alex Hammerstone b Chris Masters, James Storm & Gideon Malice b The Nomads, Dylan Derringer b Silas Young, Katie Forbes b Alexis Royal, Rob Van Dam b Brian Cage. Dan Severn was scheduled to wrestle and was there at the fan fest but was injured and couldn’t wrestle (thanks to Leonard Brand)
Stardom did a similar angle to AEW on today’s show as a group of women in disguise attacked Mayu Iwatani after Iwatani lost a non-title match with AZM.
AIW has a show called Boogey Nights with the Boogeyman appearing on Saturday night at the Tadmor Shrine in Akron, OH.
Mike Santana vs. Rocky Romero will headline the 10/13 House of Glory show at the NYC Arena in New York. Minoru Suzuki vs Charles Mason and Leila Grey vs. Kiki Van Gogh are also on the show.
I am back with another episode of Wrestling Observer Live, hours before tonight’s AEW WrestleDream from Seattle, Washington.
I talk about the latest news from this past week and break down the best from all the shows, including Saturday’s AEW Collision show that went head-to-head with WWE NXT No Mercy.
I discuss both shows and highlights breakout stars on both. I also talk about AEW WrestleDream including what Tony Khan meant when he mentioned a “new era” beginning tonight. I talk about this very stacked card and wonder what match will steal the show.
Plus, I discuss Jade Cargill heading to WWE, Khan’s media call from Tuesday and more!
Kota Ibushi continues to deal with injuries as he heads into Sunday’s WrestleDream.
The 41-year-old suffered a shoulder injury in the finals of the G1 Climax on October 21, 2021. After numerous setbacks in his recovery and a public falling out with NJPW, he wouldn’t return to the ring again for 17 months.
Ibushi recently told Sports Illustrated that he’s still not fully recovered and is also dealing with more recent injuries.
“I cannot say that I am completely better,” said Ibushi, speaking through a translator. “Newer injuries have proven difficult. However, my fighting style will never be limited. I will continue to find a way to fight.”
Ibushi will team with Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega to wrestle The Don Callis Family in Seattle on Sunday. He teased that he also has a future “dream match” opponent in mind.
“I hope to be able to play a role in deepening the connection between Japan and the United States,” he continued. “After that, I personally want to have a dream match with a wrestler I have yet to fight. Hopefully, you will soon know who that is.”
Ibushi has wrestled five times since his match against Kazuchika Okada in the 2021 G1 Finals was stopped early. Those include All In on August 27 and his first match back in Japan at a GLEAT show in Korakuen Hall on August 4.
Ibushi returned to the ring over WrestleMania week this year for GCW, wrestling at Bloodsport 9 and Spring Break 7. He then made his AEW debut on July 30 in the Blood & Guts match.
In response to criticism that he was moving slowly in the double-ring cage match, Ibushi posted that he “ended up moving like an old man” after stepping on thumbtacks.
“I’m home It’s my fault that I didn’t know thumbtacks and glass after all this time. I have thin wrestling shoes, so it penetrated and it was just painful from the middle, and I ended up moving like an old man. I’m sorry! Far from being unable to kick, both ankles were stiff,” a translation of his post reads.
“Life with a cane for the first time in my life No, I’ll be cured tomorrow! That is Kota Ibushi!”
A frequent criticism about AEW is that they have too much talent with too few ideas on how to use them. What is depth to one person is bloat and excess to another.
It’s shows like Sunday’s AEW WrestleDream (8 PM EST from Seattle, Washington’s Climate Pledge Arena on PPV) that show the incredible fountain of talent at Tony Khan’s disposal and remind us that yes, depth is important.
Sunday is a card, much like September’s All Out, that has neither of the biggest championships defended. It’s a card with no clear, definitive main event, but that still offers a compelling product. There are no duds (unless you count The Righteous) and all the matches either offer intrigue or the promise of an incredible in-ring product. It might not have your favorite flavor of ice cream, but the thing about ice cream is that regardless of the flavor, it’s always good.
The biggest attraction Sunday, and for however long he chooses to keep wrestling, is Bryan Danielson: a man responsible for so many modern wrestling fans falling in love with, or rekindling a lost love of, pro wrestling. There’s a much longer piece about his tremendous impact on wrestling and his historical greatness, but that is for another day.
Whenever he decides to hang up his boots to happily live off the grid and be the best weird dad he can be, his absence will be glaring. A man who influenced an entire generation cannot be replaced, nor should anyone try. He is a one-of-one talent, and has my vote as the greatest wrestler of all time.
So join me, friends, as we venture to the idyllic Pacific Northwest, resplendent as it is, and preview the inaugural WrestleDream. This is everything announced as of Saturday morning prior to Collision.
Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
There are moments of magic in the world and we don’t have to look that hard to find them. Picture sitting outside at a restaurant on a late May evening. You sit close enough to the street to hear car engines idling at stop lights, but not close enough to smell the gasoline. A graveyard of nearly empty glasses flecked with condensation lines amidst the small, slatted table with uncomfortable chairs. Your partner’s cheeks are flushed and so are yours. You lean over to kiss them. Their lips are soft and warm. You can feel them smile as you do it. The world gets quiet and starts to move at half-speed. You part your lips and see their eyes open a moment before yours. You can’t imagine anything ever feeling this good.
That is all to say that this match is a reminder that true beauty does exist.
These are two perfect pro wrestlers, drawn to each other by a shared love of stretching limbs and crushing joints. These are two delightful weirdos with their own idiosyncrasies: ZSJ’s meandering promos and nicknames and Bryan Danielson’s, well, everything. This is a match years in the making and one sure to be a feast for our eyes. If this really is the beginning of the last act of the American Dragon, there are a few better ways to kick it off than having a dream match in front of his home crowd. A genius-level artist of the purest and silliest form, each moment with Danielson should be treasured. There is only so much time left.
Prediction: Danielson
Ricky Starks vs. Wheeler Yuta
Back-to-back PPVs with Big Rick Starks on them? We are blessed and I will not let the opportunity to sing his praises slip by. Starks emits a smoldering, stylish ember in a sea of normalcy, a beacon of charisma that lights up a room, a crowd, and televisions like the first rays of spring sunshine after a long winter. His excess charisma could light even the furthest reaches of our universe. Starks’ ascension up the card cannot, and should not, be stopped. What’s working for him is what has always worked: everything. His current feud with Danielson should forever establish him as not just someone with potential, but as someone who has realized it. He should be closing shows. Whether it’s promos or matches, he is in the position to be the person who sends the crowd home happy for years to come. He is now and forever, absolute.
Yuta is great in his role as the whipping boy of the Blackpool Combat Club, but he is punching out of his depth here. Starks is leagues beyond him as a performer and he’s going to show that on Sunday.
Prediction: Starks
ROH Tag Team Champion MJF defends against The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) in a handicap match
I was told to expect less Ring of Honor on AEW TV moving forward. I was promised, in fact. Is this really all AEW had for Adam Cole and MJF? The Righteous? In this economy?! But Mike, you’ll say, it’s all in service of something bigger!
To you, dear reader, I’ll politely respond that I understand. I’ll remind you that I deeply love you and always will, but this is still unfortunate. The number of good, available tag teams stretches longer than the highway to eternity. There is no end to worthy contenders for these titles — both on the roster and otherwise. Contenders that would actually provide intrigue and could provide, at least, a great in-ring product. Alas, this is all we have. On Dynamite this week, Excalibur said, “The Righteous have exploded onto the tag team scene in AEW” and that certainly is a statement to make on live television.
Adam Cole could wrestle this match with his leg in a boot and win this match. MJF on two legs is more than enough to get it done against two men.
Prediction: MJF retains for Better Than You Babay
The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. The Gunns (Austin & Colten) vs. Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo) vs. Orange Cassidy & Hook for a future AEW Tag Team title shot
Cassidy went from main eventing All Out with Jon Moxley to this. There are two reasonable explanations for this and neither of them good. Either this is keeping him on TV but giving his body a much-needed break, or, more likely, AEW had no real plan post-title reign. One or both can be true, but neither are acceptable.
I assure you, and am imploring Tony Khan to understand that it is possible to have plans for wrestlers after they drop a title. Darby Allin almost always has something to do and MJF always had a major program even before he won the big belt. OC was, and hopefully still is, one of the more popular acts in the company. He should always have something of substance to do.
This looks like the multi-team PWG tribute match that seems to find its way onto most AEW shows: a crazy sprint filled with high spots, gif-able moments, all done in service of heating up the crowd. Sounds like the perfect opener to me. It’s going to be a whole bunch of fun and can go a number of ways. The only outcome that doesn’t make sense would be the Bucks winning. It seems like the Bucks/FTR book is closed, at least for now. The Lucha Brothers are the freshest matchup for FTR and they’ll take this one.
Prediction: Lucha Brothers
TNT Champion Christian Cage defends against Darby Allin in a two-out-of-three falls match
The king, Josh Nason, had me on his podcast in the week leading up to All In where we talked (bemoaned, really) about the state of the TNT Championship and what it currently means. Calling it a secondary title does a great disservice to the International title – the actual secondary title. It’s become tertiary, at best. But Christian is doing his best to change that. The belt sitting on his shoulder gives it more meaning than it’s had in years. A polished champion doing must-see TV every week has elevated the belt to heights not seen since the pandemic era of AEW.
I know this is kind of “Darby’s title” and the show is in his hometown, but taking it from Christian would be a massive mistake. Christian is in a position to continue elevating the belt and can use it to help make a new star. What does winning the TNT title for a third time really do for Darby? He’s already the guy who hangs out with Sting; how much more of a rub can he possibly need? Against all odds, Christian has made us care about a title that was floundering. He deserves the chance to keep doing it.
Prediction: Cage retains
Ring of Honor World Champion & New Japan Strong Champion Eddie Kingston defends against Katsuyori Shibata
When the referee’s hand slapped the mat for the third time declaring Kingston the new ROH World Champion, Arthur Ashe Stadium erupted. It was the sound of dreams realized, the audible embodiment of years spent grinding in the shadows. A story that almost quietly ended many times had its fitting conclusion. Kingston, once the perennial underdog, finally reached the summit. It was a victory not just for Kingston, but for every heart that beats to the rhythm of perseverance, resilience, and an unconquerable spirit.
His counterpart in determination and spirit is his opponent on Sunday. Shibata’s return to a somewhat regular wrestling schedule is a miracle. From nearly dying in a ring to being the Ring of Honor Pure Champion is a story befitting the wrestling industry. An industry where people have survived plane crashes, lightning strikes, and multiple broken necks gets another reminder of the power of the resolute mind. Shibata’s comeback stands as a reminder that the fighting spirit knows no bounds and that sometimes, miracles can happen.
This is the match I’m looking forward to most. Two men with tremendous respect for wrestling and each other. I can’t wait.
Prediction: Kingston retains
AEW Tag Team Champions FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defend against Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
A very good tag team match with two very good tag teams will happen on Sunday. FTR will continue their year-long run of having sensational matches with everyone but, somehow, the Young Bucks. They have incredible chemistry with any team and any style. The living legend moniker is fitting; equally well-earned and deserved. They are historically great and will continue to be until they decide to go do something else. I hope they never do.
These two teams have done it before – exactly a year ago at New Japan’s Royal Quest II. It was a match that received near universal praise and certainly played a part in Aussie Open getting signed with AEW. The bar is awfully high and we know FTR is up to the challenge. But are the Aussies? This is their biggest match on the biggest stage with the wide eyes of the wrestling world on them. The stage might not be too much, but their opponents happen to be just that.
Prediction: FTR retains
Chris Jericho & The Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) vs. The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara and Will Ospreay) (w/ Don Callis)
Leading into All In, I was sitting on my sad Ibushi take. Just wait, I said to my empty office. Wait until after All In before reacting. See how our beautiful son performs. All In has long since passed my thought remains the same. The Kota Ibushi we all fell in love with, the craziest diamond that ever did shine, is probably gone forever. He’s just not the same. The brightest light in the sky has begun to dim. Years of an impossibly physical style combined with such an extended absence have taken their toll on a man who is one of the most gifted wrestlers of the 21st century.
Ibushi in his prime was a force of nature — an athletic marvel that seemed to be unbound by the traditional laws of human biology. Hands, feet, and knees made of cinderblocks, but a neck somehow made of either rubber or adamantium. But physics and Father Time remain irritatingly undefeated. Plenty of wrestlers have reinvented themselves after their bodies began to fail them. I hope Ibushi can do the same. A wrestling world without him just won’t be as bright. Given the chance to write about Ibushi, I will take every opportunity.
Getting to do that instead of having to write some combination of ‘Jericho and Guevara’ over and over again is a welcome privilege. There is simply no reason for this to still be happening. The audience has made their feelings on Guevara very clear. He’s a mid-card heel who can get heat and make a babyface look great. You know what’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. That is the type of performer that has belonged on a televised wrestling program since the advent of wrestling and television. And that’s where he should stay. How many opportunities to be more is he going to get?
In the past month, Takeshita has pinned Omega twice. Since June, Ospreay has beat Jericho and Omega clean as a sheet. There is no way they lose on Sunday.
Prediction: The Don Callis Family
TBS Champion Kris Statlander defends against Julia Hart (w/ Brody King)
Hart is a rising star. She has become fully comfortable with her character and it has allowed her natural charisma to shine through. Anyone can put on black, wear a cool hat, and look spooky. It’s one thing to have a gimmick, but it’s another to have presence — something she has in spades. Yes, the mist helps (because who doesn’t love the mist?), but this is a performer who is coming into their own at a frighteningly young age. Having this much comfort as a performer at 21 is staggering. At 21, I thought a wispy goatee was the pinnacle of facial hair and could barely exist on my own. Hart has the owner of the company openly singing her praises. Big, big things are ahead.
As bright as Hart’s star is, she is not quite ready for the former (?) alien in Statlander. Statlander dethroned the dearly departed Jade Cargill and beat her again in a hell of a rematch. The time for a change is not now. The only argument for her losing is if there are imminent big plans for her like World title plans. Either way, she, like the two men I’ll talk about next, is a performer they should be building around, and getting her ready for a run at the top of the women’s division.
Prediction: Statlander retains
Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Adam Page
Along with the aforementioned Ricky Starks and Kris Statlander, these are two performers AEW should be building around. Swerve, 33, and Page, 32, check every box anyone could ever want in a performer. Wrestling ability, microphone skills, presence, easy and natural charisma: both have it all and both have been desperate for something meaningful to sink their teeth into.
Page has been seemingly adrift since he lost the World title last summer and I’m sorry, but winning the ROH Six-Man titles does not count as meaningful. Strickland has overcome the AEW trademarked momentum stops and starts since he joined the company, all while being saddled with two of the more worthless stables in the company. He is a singular star that can stand on his own. Pairing him with other talents that can’t come close to matching his ability only drags him down. Prince Nana forever, though.
The promos leading up to this have been some of the better non-Eddie Kingston promos in recent AEW. It speaks to the talents of both Page and Strickland that they had almost no interaction leading up to this program and so quickly made it mean something. More of Page stabbing people with writing utensils, and less of meandering Chris Jericho vanity projects. Give guys (and girls) with main event ceilings the space to reach them. That’s how you wind up with a galaxy of stars.
It appears that we now know which match will be going on last at AEW WrestleDream.
During the Countdown special for the pay-per-view, Darby Allin said his match against Christian Cage will be the main event of WrestleDream. Allin is challenging Christian for the TNT Championship in a two-out-of-three falls match.
“You haven’t seen sh*t until you’ve wrestled Darby in Seattle,” Allin said. “At WrestleDream — in the main event — you are fighting someone that you’ve never seen before.”
Allin also said he’s waited to be in the main event of an AEW pay-per-view “for so long.”
WrestleDream is taking place from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle this Sunday (October 1). Seattle is Allin’s hometown. The PPV is also a homecoming for Washington natives Bryan Danielson, Swerve Strickland, and Nick Wayne.
Christian vs. Allin going on last will only add to the speculation that WWE Hall of Famer Edge (Adam Copeland) could be making his AEW debut at WrestleDream. Edge’s WWE contract expires at the end of September. He was removed from the WWE SmackDown intro for Friday night’s episode.
The full Countdown special is available to watch below:
The WrestleDream main card begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday. There will also be a Zero Hour pre-show starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
Here’s the updated lineup for the show:
Two-out-of-three falls match: TNT ChampionChristian Cage defends against Darby Allin
Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland
AEW Tag Team ChampionsFTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defend against Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
ROH Tag Team ChampionMJF defends against The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) in a handicap match
NJPW Strong Openweight & ROH World ChampionEddie Kingston defends both titles against Katsuyori Shibata
TBS Champion Kris Statlander defends against Julia Hart
Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay, Konosuke Takeshita & Sammy Guevara
Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo) vs. Hook & Orange Cassidy vs. The Gunns (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) for a future AEW Tag Team title shot
Ricky Starks vs. Wheeler Yuta
Zero Hour: AEW Trios ChampionsMax Caster, Anthony Bowens & Billy Gunn defend against TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Bad Dude Tito)
The World Trios Championship will be on the line on Sunday’s AEW WrestleDream Zero Hour show.
The Acclaimed’s Max Caster & Anthony Bowens and Billy Gunn will defend their Trios titles against NJPW’s TMDK trio of Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Bad Dude Tito at WrestleDream Zero Hour. The bout was announced on Friday’s Rampage show after the title holders retained in a bout against The Hardys & Brother Zay.
Nick Wayne is also set for action at WrestleDream Zero Hour, as he will face former TNT Champion Luchasaurus.
WrestleDream Zero Hour will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, October 1 on AEW’s YouTube channel and social media platforms. Renee Paquette, RJ City, and Stokely Hathaway will serve as hosts for Zero Hour. The WrestleDream pay-per-view begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
The updated lineup for WrestleDream and WrestleDream Zero Hour:
AEW WrestleDream, 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland
AEW Tag Team Championship: FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defend against Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
ROH Tag Team Championship: MJF defends against The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) in a handicap match
NJPW Strong Openweight & ROH World Championship: Eddie Kingston defends both titles against Katsuyori Shibata
Two-out-of-three falls match for the TNT Championship: Christian Cage defends against Darby Allin
TBS Championship: Kris Statlander defends against Julia Hart
Will Ospreay, Konosuke Takeshita & Sammy Guevara vs. Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Chris Jericho
Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo) vs. Hook & Orange Cassidy vs. The Gunns (Austin and Colten) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) for a future AEW Tag Team title shot
Wheeler Yuta vs. Ricky Starks
WrestleDream Zero Hour, 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on AEW’s YouTube channel & social media platforms —
AEW World Trios Championship: Max Caster, Anthony Bowens & Billy Gunn defend against TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Bad Dude Tito)
