AEW announced 12 matches earlier Tuesday for this week’s episode of Dark, but only aired seven for some reason. These were taped last weekend at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.
Skye Blue defeated Mylo
Blue was going through the motions for a quick win when Mylo suddenly kicked her right off the apron. After delivering a blistering chop and a slingshot suplex, Mylo hooked the leg and got a nearfall.
Blue got back in the match by hitting Mylo with a neckbreaker which was quickly followed up by a knee strike. Seconds later, Blue finished off Mylo by hitting a superkick followed by her signature flatliner.
Blue will face Ruby Soho on Dynamite.
Brian Cage (w/ Prince Nana) defeated Bad Dude Tito
Cage and Tito exchanged holds during the early going, but the slow pace quickly picked up when Cage launched Tito over his head with a float-over German suplex. Tito responded with a sliding lariat, which fired up the crowd.
Tito went to follow up, but Cage sent him out to the apron. Cage tried to hit Tito with his suplex from outside the ring back into the ring, but Tito turned it into a floating neckbreaker for a near fall. Tito then hit Cage with a spinning kick and a blue thunder bomb for another great near fall.
Cage finally straightened up and hit Tito with a spinning lariat, followed by a power bomb. Cage would go on to submit Tito with a cloverleaf variation.
Lance Archer defeated Cody Chhun & Guillermo Rosas in a handicap match
Rosas and Chhun tried to beat down Archer in the early stages, but the “Murderhawk Monster” simply dove on to them with a crossbody from the second rope. Seconds later, Archer tossed Chhun out of the ring and pinned Rosas after destroying him with a short arm lariat.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Jack Cartwheel
Takeshita started off in control, but Cartwheel was able to, well, cartwheel his way out of trouble and hit a big dive on Takeshita on the outside. After rolling him back in the ring, Cartwheel sprung onto Takeshita for another cartwheel-based flip for a near fall.
Takeshita clocked Cartwheel with a forearm and then a lariat to bring his momentum to a halt. Seconds later, Takeshita nailed Cartwheel with a blue thunder bomb and a running knee strike to pick up his third straight victory.
Big Bill defeated Julius Coleman
After dominating him in the early stages, Bill threw Coleman over the top rope with ease and sent him crashing to the floor. The match was quickly finished after Bill pinned Coleman after a chokeslam.
Willow Nightingale defeated Zoe Dubois
Nightingale hit Dubois with a series of suplexes to start before nailing her with a spinebuster for a near fall. Nightingale finished off Dubois moments later after planting her with a Doctor Bomb.
After the match, Athena tried to attack Nightingale with the ROH Women’s title belt. Instead, Nightingale ducked out of the way and sent Athena running to the back. These two square off on Thursday’s ROH TV.
AR Fox defeated Ryan Nemeth
Within the opening stages, Fox was already doing crazy stuff as he vaulted off the ring post onto Nemeth for a fantastic moonsault. Nemeth regained control after pushing Fox to the floor on the outside of the ring. When they made it back in the ring, Nemeth stomped a mudhole in Fox in the corner.
Fox regained control with the help of the crowd, popping Nemeth with a strike while he was showboating on the second rope. After hitting Nemeth with a cutter, Fox came off the top rope with a 450 splash to pick up the victory to end this week’s show.
The first main event for the return of ROH television has been set.
Tony Khan on Twitter confirmed that Claudio Castagnoli will defend the ROH World Championship against AR Fox on the first episode of ROH television that will air next Thursday, March 2, on ROH’s Honor Club streaming service.
“The New Era of Honor will begin this Thursday with ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defending the title vs. a man who cost him $100,000 at Christmas, AR Fox,” Khan wrote.
The match Khan is referring to is the Three Kings Christmas Casino Trios Battle Royal that took place on the December 21 edition of AEW Rampage. Dante Martin last eliminated Castagnoli to win the match for himself, Darius Martin, and Fox, with all three receiving $100,000 in storyline.
ROH is taping television for the first time in over a year Saturday in Orlando, Florida. The promotion’s next pay-per-view will be Supercard of Honor, which takes place on March 31 in Los Angeles during WrestleMania 39 weekend.
The AEW Trios titles will be on the line in a rematch on a special early edition of AEW Rampage.
Reigning champions Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks will defend against Top Flight & AR Fox after they challenged the champions to a second match during Wednesday’s Dynamite.
This week’s show will start at 7 PM Eastern due to the Slam Dunk competition as part of NBA All-Star Weekend.
TBS Champion Jade Cargill will look to keep both her undefeated streak and title reign going as she defends against VertVixen. This is a rematch from a December title eliminator match.
After Daniel Garcia ended last week’s gauntlet match that would have given Ricky Starks another match with Chris Jericho, Starks and Garcia will have a one-on-one matchup.
In a grudge match that has built for weeks, Swerve Strickland will take on Dustin Rhodes. Strickland and his crew laid out Rhodes recently and have targeted the second generation star.
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Taped in Laredo, Texas, it’s AEW Rampage Slam Dunk!
Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho and Excalibur were on commentary.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks (w/ Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa) defeated Top Flight & AR Fox to retain the AEW World Trios Championship (10:23)
Everyone wore NBA All Star 2023 T-Shirts because corporate synergy is a good thing. Except for JR. Well he’s more of a football guy anyway. The Elite did their entire elaborate entrance and the crowd sang along with their music.
Don Callis joined the commentary team for this match. The opening sequence involved a jump ball into an atomic drop, and Nick beaning his own brother in the head with a basketball. AR Fox did a pair of over the rope dives on the Bucks and Omega, then repeated the dive on the Bucks with a basketball. It’s a 3 pointer! Because basketball!
The silliness with the basketball continued with the Elite passing the ball around AR Fox, then tossing it up in the air to Fox. When Fox went up to grab the ball, the Bucks superkicked him.
After a commercial, Nick took Fox down with a bulldog. Fox came back with an iconoclasm on Nick into a cutter, and got the tag to Dante Martin. Martin flew all over the ring on Omega, getting a near fall with a crossbody block. Dante flipped out of a snap dragon suplex and hit an enziguri. Darius Martin got the tag and hit a Spanish Fly on Matt. Darius came off the top with a double stomp (while throwing the basketball at the Elite), and Fox hit a 450 splash for a near fall.
Matt Jackson came back to powerbomb Fox in the corner while his brother and Omega connected with kicks. Nick hit a senton on Fox and Darius while they were hung up in the ropes by Omega and Matt Jackson. Omega set up Darius for the V-trigger, but Dante flew in with a springboard clothesline. AR Fox hit a double cutter on Nick and Omega (out of a kip up, because he’s insane). Matt caught Fox in the corner and beat him down. Fox tried a moonsault, but the Elite wiped him out with a triple superkick. Nick hit Top Flight with an escalera on the floor, and Omega hit Fox with the One Winged Angel for the pinfall. It felt like the packed 25 minutes of action into this.
After the match, the lights went out, and members of the House of Black appeared on the stage. Then the lights went out, and they were gone. This was interprted as a challenge from the House of Black for the World Trios titles. Yes, please.
– Lexi Nair interviewed the Gunn Club. They’re trying to make “welcome to the Gunn show!” a thing. I don’t think it’s working.
– Mark Henry tried to interview Orange Cassidy about his 18 match winning streak, but they were interrupted by ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta. Yuta was salty about the treatment he received when he was with the Best Friends. They didn’t teach him anything and treated Yuta like a clown. Then they replaced him with a clown! Yuta challenged Cassdiy for his All Atlantic Title. Cassidy didn’t want to be Yuta’s teacher, but his friend. Cassidy accepts Yuta’s challenge. This match was made official for Dynamite later in the show.
Ricky Starks defeated Daniel Garcia (8:38 aired)
Starks did the Undertaker’s rope walk on Garcia, which Jericho noted was “quite the undertaking.” Garcia caught Starks with a dragon screw leg whip in the ropes, then sent him to the floor with a shoulder block.
During the split-screen break, Garcia delivered a really nice float-over suplex and worked over Starks’ leg. After the break, Starks went for the spear but he collapsed because of his bad leg. Starks caught Garcia charging in with a clothesline. Starks hit an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Starks hit a blue thunder bomb for another near fall. Starks blocked Garica’s attempt at a dragon screw legwhip, but Garcia hit a uranage for near fall. Garcia locked Starks in the Dragon Tamer (aka Scorpion Deathlock or Sharpshooter). Starks tried to make the ropes but Sammy Guevara came out to pull the ropes away. Action Andretti ran in to attack Guevara and they brawled to the back.
Back in the ring, Starks hit Garcia with the spear, then delivered the roshambeaux to get the pinfall.
After the match, Guevara came back out the commentary area and demanded a match with Action Andretti. This match was made official for next week’s Rampage later in the show.
– A promo on Evil Uno aired to attmped to make him a credible competitor against Jon Moxley.
Jade Cargill (w/ Leila Grey) defeated VertVixen to retain the TBS Championship (1:09)
Cargill already beat VertVixen in an eliminator match in December. Has Cargill really squashed the entire women’s roster that we have to reuse non-challengers?
Cargill did some push-ups, hit a pump kick and delivered the Jaded Slam for the pinfall. Jade is now 53-0.
Mark Henry got his split-screen interview segment back after missing it the last few weeks. “Trench” was missing, and Strickland thought Rhodes was responsible. I thought for sure this meant “Trench” (which has to be the worst name in wrestling) was going to appear but he did not.
Boudreaux tried to attack Rhodes in the aisle, but Rhodes hit him with a turnbuckle. Rhodes and Strickland brawled around ringside. Back in the ring, Rhodes hammered Strickland in the corner with right hands. Strickland cut off Rhodes’ attempt at the bionic elbow with a right. Rhodes took Strickland down with a “release” german suplex. I can’t recall Rhodes ever doing that move. Strickland caught Rhodes with a kick in the corner, then came off the apron with a pump kick onto the floor. Rhodes was slouched against the steel barricade, and Strickland dove in with a dropkick. Rhodes came up bleeding, and Strickland worked over the cut into a split-screen break.
After the break, Rhodes was sporting the crimson mask, and Swerve caught him with a kick. Rhodes bounced up, no sold punches from Strickland, and hit a spinning powerslam. Rhodes hit a pair of lariats and the drop-down uppercut. Rhodes hit a code red for a near fall.
Swerve and Rhodes exchanged kicks, and then collided in mid ring when they both went for cross body-blocks. Rhodes and Strickland brawled to the ring apron. Swerve hit a death valley driver on the ring apron, but only got a two count when they rolled back into the ring. Swerve went to the top but Rhodes caught him and superplexed him down. Then Rhodes followed up with a piledriver and Swerve kicked out.
Rhodes hit Swerve with the CrossRhodes, then hit his Final Reckoning. He went for the pin, but Boudreaux pulled Rhodes out of the ring and sent him into the ring steps. Referee Aubrey Edwards called for the disqualification.
Swerve and Boudreaux worked over Rhodes in the ring. A gaggle of security goons came out, but Boudreaux dispatched them easily. Boudreaux then pulled out a cinder block from under the ring. Boudreaux set Rhodes’ head on the cinder block, but Keith Lee’s music played! Boudreaux and Swerve looked to the stage for Lee, but he snuck up behind them. Boudreaux ate a discus forearm from Lee and the heels ran off. Lee helped Rhodes up to his feet while Strickland looked like he’d seen a ghost.
Final Comments:
Swerve Strickland is a fantastic heel and the main event was great. The opener was also great and set up a new program for the Elite for Revolution.
During the main event, other matches and segments announced for Dynamite were The Acclaimed v. Big Bill & Lee Moriarty, Saraya v. Skye Blue, interviews with Christian Cage and Bryan Danielson and a major annoucement from Tony Khan. Also, Aussie Open and Top Flight were added to the tag team battle royal.
A rematch between AEW Trios Champions The Elite and Top Flight & AR Fox will headline Friday’s AEW Rampage.
The show will air at 7 PM Eastern instead of 10 PM due to the Slam Dunk competition as part of NBA All-Star Weekend.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks first defeated Fox & the Martin brothers on the February 8th Rampage. The challengers confronted the champions backstage Wednesday and Omega accepted the challenge despite Don Callis’ objections.
In a grudge match weeks in the making, Swerve Strickland will face Dustin Rhodes. This began with Strickland and his crew interrupting Rhodes and disrespecting him in a backstage promo, followed up by the three leaving Rhodes laying last week.
TBS Champion Jade Cargill will defend her title in an open challenge match against VertVixen. The two squared off in a December title eliminator match on Rampage that Cargill won in five minutes.
As Ricky Starks looks to fight his way back to Chris Jericho, he will face JAS member Daniel Garcia. Garcia defeated Starks in last Wednesday’s gauntlet match to prevent him from getting the match he wants.
Here’s the current lineup that is being taped after Dynamite in Laredo, Texas:
Daniel Garcia vs. Ricky Starks
AEW Trios Champions The Elite defend against Top Flight & AR Fox
TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against VertVixen
The Elite will look for their second straight AEW Trios title defense on this Wednesday’s Dynamite as they face Top Flight & AR Fox.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks accepted the challenge this past Wednesday, but were then confronted by The Firm’s Ethan Page, Matt Hardy & Isiah Kassidy. After defeating them to retain the titles on Friday’s Rampage, their next title match was made official.
Top Flight & Fox felt they earned an opportunity after winning the recent $300,000 Three Kings Christmas Casino trios royale and challenged The Elite two weeks ago.
Here’s the current lineup for this Wednesday:
AEW World Champion MJF vs. Konosuke Takeshita in a title eliminator match
AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter vs. The Bunny in a title eliminator match
AEW Trios Champions The Elite defend against AR Fox & Top Flight
AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed defend against The Gunns
Bryan Danielson vs. Rush
Garcia/Guevara gauntlet match: Ricky Starks vs. Angelo Parker, Ricky Starks vs. Matt Menard, Ricky Starks vs. Daniel Garcia or Sammy Guevara
A new tag team match featuring the promotional return of Dralistico will take place at Saturday’s ROH Final Battle.
Rush and Dralistico will take on new AEW signee AR Fox and Blake Christian. On Wednesday, Rush teased his brother arriving in AEW via a phone call between himself, Dralistico, and Jose The Assistant.
Wrestling under the Mistico name for CMLL, Dralistico previously wrestled for ROH back in August of 2017.
In addition, four new matches have been added to the Zero Hour pre-show.
Willow Nightingale will face Trish Adora, The Kingdom will take on Top Flight, “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard and “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker will take on Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger and Eli Isom), and Mascara Dorada will face Jeff Cobb.
Here is the updated lineup for Final Battle this Saturday:
Main card:
ROH Champion Chris Jericho defends against Claudio Castagnoli
ROH Tag Team Champions FTR defend against The Briscoes in a double dog collar match
ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe defends against Juice Robinson
ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez defends against Athena
ROH Pure Champion Daniel Garcia defends against Wheeler Yuta
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Dalton Castle & The Boys defend against The Embassy
Swerve in our Glory vs. Shane Taylor & JD Griffey
Rush & Dralistico vs. AR Fox & Blake Christian
Zero Hour pre-show:
Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora
The Kingdom vs. Top Flight
Matt Menard & Angelo Parker vs. Shinobi Shadow Squad
Joe currently holds both the TNT Championship and the ROH Television Championship. Only the TNT title will be on the line in his match against Fox.
Khan tweeted: “Congratulations @ARealFoxx, you are officially ALL ELITE! See you in Indianapolis on @TBSNetwork at Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite at 8pm ET/7pm ET TONIGHT!”
AEW had uploaded a post-show backstage segment two weeks ago where Fox was informed that he’s been offered an AEW contract. Fox made his AEW Dynamite debut on that November 16 episode, teaming with Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) in a match where they unsuccessfully challenged Death Triangle (PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) for the AEW Trios titles.
Fox appeared on several episodes of AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation before making his Dynamite debut. His first match for AEW took place on Dark: Elevation this July.
The 35-year-old Fox is a veteran indie wrestler and a pro wrestling trainer. He was formerly known as Dante Fox in Lucha Underground.
The updated card for tonight’s Dynamite is listed below:
Dax Harwood vs. Bryan Danielson
Jade Cargill TBS title celebration
Willow Nightingale vs. Anna Jay
Best-of-seven series for the AEW World Trios Championship: Death Triangle vs. The Elite (Death Triangle leads 2-0)
The news was revealed in a backstage segment posted to social media following Dynamite. Fox was speaking with Lexy Nair about wrestling close to his hometown when he was informed of the offer.
“It’s unbelievable to me. I don’t think I have the words to describe it. I grew up about ten minutes down the road and I had my mother in the crowd here for a moment I thought I might never reach. So, I’m just waiting to be alone so I can cry,” Fox said to Lexy Nair.
Nair then revealed Tony Khan is officially offering Fox an AEW contract.
“AR Fox, I do have to let you know, we’ve just gotten word from Tony Khan that you have been officially offered an AEW contract here,” she said.
Fox teamed with Top Flight in a losing effort to the AEW Trios Champions Death Triangle on last night’s show. It was Fox’s seventh match with the promotion. His previous six bouts all took place on episodes of Dark and Dark: Elevation.
The 35-year-old is a veteran of promotions such as EVOLVE, CZW, and Lucha Underground. He’s a former EVOLVE Champion, CZW Junior Heavyweight Champion, and held the Lucha Undergound Trios titles along with Killshot (Swerve Strickland) and Willie Mack.
In addition to Christian vs. Fox, Janela vs. X-Pac, plus three title matches are also official for Spring Break Part 1.
Jon Moxley will defend the GCW World Championship against AJ Gray, Alex Colon will defend the GCW Ultraviolent title against John Wayne Murdoch, plus The H8 Club’s Nick Gage and Matt Tremont will defend the GCW Tag Team titles against The Briscoes, and Matthew Justice and Mance Warner in a three-way.
Here are the lineups for both nights:
GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6 Part 1, Thursday, March 31, 8 p.m. Central time —
GCW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. AJ Gray
Joey Janela vs. X-Pac
GCW Ultraviolent Championship: Alex Colon (c) vs. John Wayne Murdoch
GCW Tag Team Championship: The H8 Club (c) vs. The Briscoes vs. The Second Gear Crew
Blake Christian vs. AR Fox
GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6 Part 2, Saturday, April 2, 12:01 a.m. Central time —
Minoru Suzuki vs. Effy
Biff Busick vs. Tony Deppen
“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. PCO
Matt Cardona vs. Chris Dickinson
The Greatest Clusterf*ck battle royal: Maven, Jimmy Wang Yang, Jazzy Yang, more entrants TBA
– Sami Callihan has signed a new contract with Impact Wrestling.
Impact confirmed the news after it was reported by Wrestling Inc today. Wrestling Inc’s report noted that it’s a multi-year deal.
Callihan and Jake & Dave Crist have been in a program with Rich Swann and Willie Mack in Impact, with their storyline playing up history between Callihan and Swann as Callihan has tried to get Swann to join his oVe group.
– Impact also announced that — after premiering on Fridays — episodes of Impact will replay on Twitch at 6 p.m. Eastern on Mondays going forward. The show will be available on demand on the Global Wrestling Network on Tuesdays: “You asked for more ways to catch up on IMPACT. We’re listening, and we’re giving it to you. Beginning today, IMPACT replays on Twitch at 6 PM ET every Monday, and it’s available to everyone on demand on Global Wrestling Network every Tuesday.”
– Two more wrestlers have been added to the Ultimate X match at Impact’s United We Stand show in Rahway, New Jersey during WrestleMania week. AR Fox (as his character Dante Fox) will represent Lucha Underground. Pat Buck will represent WrestlePro.
Fox and Buck join Jake Crist (Impact), Kotto Brazil (MLW), and Jack Evans (AAA) in the Ultimate X match. Impact is hyping that the final wrestler in Ultimate X will be a “mystery opponent.”
United We Stand is in partnership with WrestlePro. It’s taking place at the Rahway Recreation Center at 11 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, April 4 and will air as a pay-per-view on Fite TV.
Both of Johnny Gargano’s matches have now been revealed for his EVOLVE return weekend.
It was announced last night that Gargano will team with AR Fox against EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory & Josh Briggs at EVOLVE 119 in Brooklyn, New York on Friday, January 18. The match is being hyped as icons of the promotion facing the new generation, and Gargano’s return is promoted as being for one weekend only.
As was confirmed earlier this month, Gargano will face Theory in a non-title match at EVOLVE 120 in Queens, New York on Saturday, January 19. Theory became EVOLVE Champion by defeating Fabian Aichner and Roderick Strong in a triple threat match at EVOLVE 117.
Gargano hasn’t wrestled for EVOLVE since departing the promotion in September 2016, which was when he signed a full-time deal with WWE. In NXT, Gargano has been involved in the feud between NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa and Aleister Black. Last Wednesday’s episode of NXT included video of a promo from Ciampa where he suggested that Gargano should go after the North American Championship.
