Tag: aiw

WWE Tag Team Champions DIY make surprise appearance at indie show

Posted on by Ethan Renner

WWE Tag Team Champions DIY made a surprise appearance at an indie show in Cleveland on Thursday night.

Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa made an unannounced appearance at AIW’s Against the World event, streaming on Triller.

The duo took to the ring and cut a promo in the brief appearance:

Gargano was trained and made his debut on the Ohio independent scene, including wrestling once for AIW in his debut year in 2005. He would continue to appear for AIW every year until 2016, when he joined WWE as part of the NXT brand.

DIY are set to defend their WWE Tag Team Championship against The Bloodline’s Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga on this Friday’s SmackDown in Cleveland. Cleveland will also host Saturday’s SummerSlam event. The Bloodline won a number one contenders gauntlet match on last Friday’s SmackDown to earn the title shot.

Gargano is an Ohio native, growing up in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood.

AEW’s Britt Baker makes appearance at AIW Gauntlet for the Gold

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Britt Baker made a surprise appearance at tonight’s Absolute Intense Wrestling’s Gauntlet for the Gold event.

Baker was a mystery partner for Josh Bishop, Wes Barkley, and Dominic Garrini, as they faced Philly Collins, Marino Tenglia, Matt Cardona, and Chelsea Green. The finish of the match had Cardona accidentally hit Green with a title belt, allowing Baker to get the win with the lockjaw.

Baker has made appearances in AIW in the past, going as far back as 2016. Her latest appearance was in 2019, the same year that All Elite Wrestling was launched.

Recently, Baker has been competing in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. She defeated Danielle Kamela to qualify, then defeated Maki Itoh in the quarterfinals. She is set to face Toni Storm on this week’s Dynamite. The winner will move on to the finals, which will take place at Double or Nothing on May 29.

Tonight’s AIW event was headlined by a gauntlet match that was won by Bishop.

Ronda Rousey appears at AIW in Cleveland on Friday night

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Image by @aiwrestling

Former UFC fighter Shayna Baszler captured the AIW Women’s Championship in Cleveland on Friday night, and she got some help in celebrating the victory after the match.

As she went to walk back through the curtain, Baszler was greeted by fellow Horsewomen friends Jessamyn Duke and UFC megastar Ronda Rousey.

Rousey’s appearance received a strong reaction from the crowd. She has notably appeared at WWE and PWG shows in the past, but made the trip to Cleveland to watch Baszler win the title and presumably attend her boyfriend Travis Browne’s fight against Fabricio Werdum at UFC 203 on Saturday night.

Baszler defeated Heidi Lovelace to win the title. The independent wrestling show had a strong MMA presence, with former UFC fighters Dan Severn and Matthew Riddle also on the card. Several MMA media members that were in town for UFC 203, including Ariel Helwani, also attended the show.

Photos of Rousey at the event began to appear on social media before she appeared in front of the live crowd. She was photographed with Grado, Noelle Foley, Ethan Page, and others at the show.