Former AEW Tag Team Champions FTR will return to action on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite for a good reason: to benefit hurricane victims in North Carolina.
Announced Tuesday, Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler will take on The Learning Tree’s Big Bill & Bryan Keith to raise awareness for the Manna Food Bank, Be Loved Asheville, and the Asheville Dream Center, according to the graphic.
Both FTR members are from North Carolina. Asheville and the western part of the state were nearly decimated by flooding due to the recent Hurricane Helene. Harwood, Wheeler and Asheville resident Adam Copeland have been vocal on social media for help for their local communities.
Bill and Keith are 0-1 as a team, losing to Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy earlier this month. It will be FTR’s first in-ring action since the September 21st edition of Collision.
Here’s the current lineup for AEW’s debut in San Jose, California:
New AEW World Champion Jon Moxley appearance
TBS & NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone vs. Queen Aminata in a non-title match
The Elite (Kazuchika Okada & The Young Bucks) vs. The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy & Rocky Romero)
Jay White vs. Christian Cage
Shelton Benjamin vs. Lio Rush
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. Big Bill & Bryan Keith
Big Bill wants to see his old tag team partner get another shot in wrestling.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass were a tag team in WWE from 2013 to 2017. They were both released from the company in 2018 but reunited briefly at the G1 Supercard MSG show in 2019, and later on the independents.
Bill would later go on to work with Impact Wrestling in 2021 and then signed with AEW in 2022.
During an appearance on the Barstool Sports Rasslin’ podcast, Bill shared that he hopes Enzo gets another shot in the industry, feeling as though he’s too talented not to.
“Still good friends with Enzo, he’s the f—ing man,” Bill said on the show. “People ask me about Enzo all the time and I tell them he might be the only person I know that’s a one-of-one. They ask, ‘what do you mean?’ There is no one else on the planet like him, he is a one-of-one. You cannot replicate him. He’s an incredibly talented guy.”
“I love Enzo. I really hope he gets another shot in pro wrestling. I feel he’s too talented to not. He’s so clever, unique, wrote most of his own promos. He’s just a funny guy. He’s very clever, he’s very unique. One of one.”
While Enzo has not caught on with a larger promotion such as AEW, he has kept an active schedule on the independents. He challenged AJ Francis for the TNA Digital title at a Memphis Wrestling show in July, and wrestled for the Hart family’s Dungeon Wrestling in Calgary in June. He also wrestles regularly for OVW and had a run with MLW from late 2021 until the two sides had a falling out in early 2023.
Two heated rivals will come face-to-face on the All In go-home edition of AEW Dynamite from Cardiff, Wales, as current American/International Champion MJF and All In challenger Will Ospreay will have a confrontation.
The two nearly came to blows last weekend at a RevPro show where MJF defeated Ospreay friend and former rival Michael Oku, followed by him threatening to deliver a Tiger Driver ’91 to Oku’s fiancee before Ospreay ran out to make the save.
Their All In clash will be a rematch from last month’s Dynamite 250 where MJF defeated Ospreay for the International title in a near-60 minute bout, later renaming it the American title.
Next week’s show will also see Hook return to in-ring action for the first time since July 3rd when he takes on Big Bill.
The match was made Wednesday after FTW Champion Chris Jericho granted Hook his request for a title match at All In with one of the caveats being that he face Bill in Cardiff.
The new additions join the previously announced AEW Continental title match between champion Kazuchika Okada and Claudio Castagnoli.
The event will emanate from Cardiff and the Utilita Arena for the first time ever.
Here’s the current lineup:
MJF & Will Ospreay face-to-face
Big Bill vs. Hook
AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against Claudio Castagnoli
A new trios match has been added to Forbidden Door.
After Chris Jericho and Big Bill defeated Private Party on AEW Collision, the two along with Bryan Keith continued to attack Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy until Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata came out for the save.
Joe then cut a promo saying that Jericho’s learning tree sucks, and they come from different backgrounds and different school of thoughts. He then issued the trios challenge for Forbidden Door. The match, however, has yet to be made official.
Jericho has debuted a new persona since taking the FTW Championship away from Hook, taking Big Bill and Bryan Keith under his “learning tree”, often giving patronizing advice to those he comes across.
Since his loss to Jericho at Double or Nothing thanks to Bryan Keith, Hook has been looking for revenge. He and Samoa Joe have since agreed to have each other’s backs, with Shibata joining them to form a trio. Earlier on Collision, the trio defeated Ari Daivari, Tony Nese, and Josh Woods of the Premier Athletes.
Chris Jericho will be in action on the next AEW Collision.
It was announced during Collision that next week’s show will feature Jericho and Big Bill teaming together to take on Private Party. This follows events on Wednesday’s Dynamite, where Private Party attacked Jericho, Bill, and Bryan Keith after Jericho insulted their abilities under the guise of giving them advice.
On Wednesday’s episode of TV Time, Jericho invited Private Party as his guests. After Jericho offered to demonstrate how to jump off the top rope, Private Party attacked Jericho while he was climbing and sent both Bill and Keith to the outside of the ring.
Since winning the FTW Championship, Jericho has undergone his latest transformation, now offering to mentor those who wish to learn under his learning tree, recruiting Big Bill in the process. At Double or Nothing, Jericho was able to retain the FTW Championship after Keith interfered, establishing himself as the “bad apple” of the group.
Here is the updated lineup for next Saturday’s AEW Collision:
Jericho in recent weeks has adopted another new persona in which he looks to help and teach AEW stars, dubbing himself ‘The Learning Tree’. After Hook rejected Jericho and his teachings, the two faced off at Dynasty for Hook’s FTW Championship, which Jericho won. On last Wednesday’s Dynamite, he successfully defended the title against Katsuyori Shibata.
In recent weeks, Big Bill has made it known that he wants to learn from Jericho, who accepted Bill’s offer on Rampage last Wednesday.
The lineup for the Wednesday, May 8 AEW Dynamite so far:
TNT Champion Adam Copeland defends against Brody King
Two members of the Blackpool Combat Club will team with Katsuyori Shibata in trios action on this Saturday’s AEW Collision.
Shibata will tag up with Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli to take on The Righteous & Lance Archer as part of the action in London, Ontario, Canada.
This comes after the events of the March 16th Collision when Dutch and Vincent attacked Castagnoli during his match with Archer. Shibata, who had faced Danielson earlier in the night, ran out to make the save with a chair.
In another new addition, former AEW Tag Team Champions Big Bill & Ricky Starks will take on Top Flight in the quarterfinals of the AEW Tag Team title tournament. The winners will face the winners of FTR vs. The Infantry which is also taking place Saturday.
Kyle O’Reilly will look to make it 2-0 in his return to action as he faces an opponent that was not named.
The additions join the previously-announced “Cope Open” challenge from new TNT Champion Adam Copeland.
Here’s the current card:
Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli & Katsuyori Shibata vs. The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) & Lance Archer
AEW Tag Team title tournament quarterfinal: Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin) vs. Ricky Starks & Big Bill
AEW Tag Team title tournament quarterfinal: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo)
TNT Champion Adam Copeland defends the title in a Cope Open challenge
The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects the views of the author.
AEW’s gift to us this holiday season was a wonderful wrestling tournament that got us through the winter doldrums and into the always promising new year.
By any objective measure, the Continental Classic was/is a tremendous success — a reminder and throwback to the foundation that AEW was built on which is an incredible in-ring product. Building a series of shows around high-quality matches has breathed much-needed life into AEW as it feels exciting again and reinvigorated.
The best Dynamite of the past few months was the December 13th episode. No skips, no filler, just good in-ring action with some necessary story exposition. Folks, that’s all it takes. The Devil storyline took a deserved backseat — the sooner this is and the rest of MJF’s version of As The World Turns is over the better — and the focus was almost entirely between the ropes. The sun AEW should revolve around is whatever happens between the bells, not who is under a Party City mask.
Everything falls neatly into place when the shows have something to revolve around rather than just someone. Anchoring the show around one main character can be burdensome to the viewer. How many 20-minute MJF solo promos can we take? This is not a reflection of his talent, which remains generational, but it’s not working as well as it should. For over a year, MJF has been the linchpin of the show, for better or for worse. Giving so much focus to the Continental Classic gave him space to breathe and gave him time to rest. And let’s face it, the last few months in the MJF-verse haven’t been good. When he first won the title, he talked about going on a HHH-esque reign of terror. If only we knew how accurate that would turn out to be.
Saturday’s Worlds End looks strong on paper and with AEW never missing at pay-per-views, I have high hopes for the last big show of 2023. Let’s run through the matches and give some predictions.
Andrade El Idolo vs. Miro
Andrade was one of the breakout performers in the Continental Classic. It might seem strange to refer to someone who has been wrestling since the early 2000s as a breakout, but this was by far his best work — not just in AEW, but since he’s been a regular in a major US wrestling promotion. The dude had his working boots on for every match and fully opened up the engines. When engaged and motivated, there is nothing he can’t do in the ring. Being reminded of that these past few weeks was wonderful. Let’s hope he carries the momentum into 2024.
It would have been easy to do something corny about Miro and CJ Perry’s IRL marriage. Instead, AEW decided to tell a story with nuance and layers which are things not typically associated with wrestling storylines. CJ wants to get back to what she was great at; managing and elevating talent. She’s upset that her husband wants to wrestle on his own, but she’s soldiering on doing what she wants. Miro, now no longer feuding with God, just wants to focus on wrestling.
It’s not going to win any awards or breathlessly be described as cinema, but this is a program that means something without any gold attached to it. This should be a good one!
Prediction: Andrade El Idolo
Keith Lee vs. Swerve Strickland
For whatever reason(s), Keith Lee in AEW hasn’t worked out like most (I am most) thought. The AEW Tag Team title run with Strickland was excellent, but other than that, nothing has been memorable. He has, somehow, become an afterthought. Or perhaps he’s been surpassed by others with greater gifts than his own. Maybe even a bit of both. There was a time when he was looked at as a no-doubt future World champion. Does that ceiling still exist? I hope it does. Wrestling is more fun when Keith Lee is regularly hossing people around the ring and making everyone roll their eyes when he’s doing a backstage promo.
This is going to be good, but it’s not hot. I’ll give AEW some grace on this one, though. Too often they are pumping the card full of last-minute matches, but with the C2 running until this week, they had no choice here. This does feel like a step down for Strickland who remains on a months-long heater. He might not have won the C2, but he maintained his momentum coming out of it and is positioned for a massive year in 2024 – one that should include an AEW World Championship reign. Anything less would be uncivilized.
Prediction: Swerve Strickland
Big Bill, Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs & Kyle Fletcher vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Sting & Darby Allin
I continue to love the Bill/Starks pairing. It’s self-aware and smart enough to work. They aren’t friends and there is no ‘can they co-exist’ storyline. This is just two dudes who recognized each other’s immense talents and thought ‘Yeah, this should work.’ Wrestling is better when it’s not all brothers and best friends tag teams. Homogeneity is boring. There’s a reason Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors.
Guevara continues, unceasing, ebbing and flowing, between character alignments like tides that lick the coast of the Atlantic. He turned on Jericho in October, went on paternity, and came back to his waiting arms. Sure, whatever. Why was he so upset about the painting of his daughter? A young queen with five kings supporting her? Seems good to me! But alas, here we are yet again, closing 2023 with another Guevara/Jericho pairing that no one asked for and even fewer wanted.
Prediction: Jericho, Guevara, Sting & Allin
Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston in the Continental Classic finals
The Continental Classic was destined to come down to this. The King of The Bums vs. the man who has done everything in pro wrestling. It took Kingston into his 40s to achieve what Moxley was doing in his late 20s. Bound together since the early years of AEW, the two men who know each other best go to war on Saturday. It’s going to be messy, it’s going to be brutal, and it’s going to be beautiful. Sometimes wrestling is just two dudes hitting each other really hard and is the most perfect thing in the world.
This year checked a lot of boxes for Kingston. The absolute madman won the Ring of Honor World title from his forever rival, wrestled in the G1, and is now in the finals of the C2. He is primed to win the American Triple Crown and follow in the footsteps of all his heroes. Getting to do it in his home state is the cherry of all cherries to cap off a hell of a 2023.
There are certainly people who don’t love or believe in him, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. Those who love him do so loud and love him fiercely. They will be out in full force for his coronation on Long Island.
Prediction: Eddie Kingston
TBS Champion Julia Hart defends against Abadon
Hart just won the TBS Championship and is going to stay winning. She continues to grow in the ring and adds to her overall presentation on what seems like a weekly basis. She is AEW’s biggest homegrown success and her future is bright…or dark…or however she prefers it, really.
Abadon’s look and presentation are just incredible. Even the most ardent of haters have to admit that her character just works. In a sea of similar gimmicks and aesthetics, she stands out. She’s just not going to win the TBS title. Too much time was invested in building Hart into what she is now for her to lose the title less than two months after she won it.
Prediction: Julia Hart
TNT Champion Christian Cage defends against Adam Copeland in a no DQ match
It’s likely that you, the intelligent wrestling consumer that you are, have already decided if you’re going to like this match. This is the Copeland special. These are the matches he loves to have with plunder and weapons galore. It will likely be too long. It will likely have a few missed pinfalls and submissions. It will likely be a bit overwrought. It can be all of those things and still be good because as always, this is subjective. If that is your type of match, I have some good news. You’ll probably get an excellent version of it on Saturday night. If this is your preferred brand of vodka, get ready for top shelf. If not? You can probably squeeze in a 40-minute nap during the match.
Recently, AEW has shied away from doing trilogies. The Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley and Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page programs wrapped up (for now) after two matches. I can’t help but feel that will be the case at Worlds End, too. Christian has done yeoman’s work making the TNT title important again — important enough that Copeland winning it will feel like a big deal.
Prediction: Adam Copeland
AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm defends against Riho
Your opinion on Storm is a telling character decoder. Do you think she’s the funniest thing you’ve ever seen? Perhaps broaden your comedic horizons. Do you think it’s terrible and an embarrassment to this business? I would encourage you to allow a little light and levity into your life. The highs are high and the lows are cause for shaking your head, not changing the channel. The truth is this probably skews more towards good than a transcendent character, but Storm is the singular focus of the women’s division.
There is too much juice left in the Storm orange to change the title here. AEW is invested in her current character and future program with Mariah May. Taking the title from her here makes no sense.
Prediction: Toni Storm
AEW World Champion MJF defends against Samoa Joe
There is no good reveal for the Devil. It’s low floor, low ceiling storytelling and the type of storytelling that AEW should do well to avoid. What is a good reveal here? It’s a rhetorical question, but is there anyone on the roster that would make this amount of TV time worth it and make some storyline sense?
Even if it leads to a returning Kyle O’Reilly, would an Adam Cole reveal really move the needle? The best they could do in that situation would be if the entire injury was a work, leading to him costing MJF the title. Even if that’s the case, we’re still in for another long MJF melodrama program — the same type of program Cody Rhodes would get killed for if he was still in AEW, by the way — and something has to change. After Wednesday night’s show-closing angle, something has to change immediately. Put this to bed and never talk of it again.
Regardless of anything else that happens at Worlds End, Samoa Joe should walk out with a World title on his shoulder. Even at 44, he remains a singular force of nature in wrestling. His presence and menacing delivery on the microphone scream monster. He can be that final boss. He can be the person everyone is terrified of. Let him run roughshod over AEW for a few months while the next big babyface (Swerve Strickland) gets primed for a run on top.
It should be a big deal when MJF drops his belt as he is the longest reigning champion in company history, after all. But the reign has been lackluster ever since Cole became his best friend and why am I still writing about a friendship storyline in December?
If Joe doesn’t win here, I don’t know what’s left to do. MJF is hurt and carrying 1.5 lame-duck storylines by himself. Let him heal up and give Joe the one thing he’s never had and the one thing he deserves: a World title in a major company.
Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho will challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Worlds End on December 30.
As announced during this week’s Dynamite, Omega & Jericho of The Golden Jets will challenge Ricky Starks & Big Bill for the AEW Tag Team titles at the Worlds End pay-per-view set for Saturday, December 30.
Video was played of the backstage attack angle from post-Full Gear where Starks and Bill laid out Jericho. Jericho and Omega then called out Starks and Bill and issued the challenge for Worlds End, which Starks was quick to accept.
In the back-and-forth promo segment on Dynamite, Jericho compared Starks to Enzo Amore, and suggested comedy tag team names for Starks & Bill, while Starks brought up defeating Jericho twice earlier this year.
In addition to the Tag Team title match, an AEW World title defense, plus the finals of the Continental Classic are also set for Worlds End.
The current lineup:
AEW Worlds End, Saturday, December 30, on pay-per-view —
AEW World Champion MJF defends against Samoa Joe
AEW World Tag Team Champions Ricky Starks & Big Bill defend against The Golden Jets (Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega)
New details have emerged regarding FTR dropping the AEW Tag Team Championships to Ricky Starks & Big Bill.
FTR lost the titles on the October 7 episode of Collision in a match that went under five minutes. Cash Wheeler was chokeslammed through an announce table by Bill in the early going and did not return to the match after. It was originally thought this was done to cover for Wheeler being injured, as people in the company were told he was dealing with broken ribs.
In an update to this story from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer writes that while Wheeler is banged up, that was not the reason for FTR dropping the titles or the quick match on Collision.
“This was an angle pitched by Dax Harwood. There were those in the company told Cash Wheeler was injured with broken ribs and that was the reason for it,” Meltzer wrote. “We’re told he is banged up, enough to where he was X-rayed but we were told the X-rays showed no broken ribs and he doesn’t need time off and could have done a full match.”
“The idea of the pitch is to do a match where Wheeler was injured and Harwood had to face both men and got blown out without getting much offense in. The idea of dropping the titles and doing it in such a one-sided way to put over Bill & Starks strong and to do something significant to try and help the Collision show,” Meltzer continued.
Prior to title change, AEW had seemingly set up up the next Young Bucks vs. FTR match, as the Bucks won a number one contender’s match at WrestleDream. The original plan was for that match to take place either at Full Gear in Los Angeles or the tapings from Ontario, California the week before.
Starks and Bill said in a post-match promo that FTR will not get a rematch for the belts. However, Meltzer writes that a rematch will likely take place on either the October 28 or November 4 shows.
Ricky Starks and Big Bill are the new AEW Tag Team Champions.
Starks and Bill defeated FTR in the open of Saturday’s Collision. The story of the match had Big Bill chokeslam Cash Wheeler through a table, putting him out of the match. That allowed Starks to tag in and spear Dax Harwood to win the titles for the first time.
After replays were shown, Wheeler was shown being helped to the back, still recovering from the table spot.
FTR had held the titles for over 180 days, defeating The Gunns back on the April 5 edition of Dynamite. They had recently successfully defended the Tag Team titles against The Young Bucks at All In back in August, and more recently at AEW WrestleDream last weekend, defeating Aussie Open.
On the Saturday before WrestleDream, Starks won an all-star eight man tag team match, pinning FTR. A match for the Tag Team titles was then set for this week’s show. Along with the win on Saturday, Starks also picked up a win at WrestleDream, defeating Wheeler Yuta.
A match for the AEW Tag Team titles has been added to Collision.
It was announced on Wednesday’s Dynamite that FTR will defend the titles against Big Bill and Ricky Starks this Saturday. It was Starks who picked up the win over FTR in an all-star eight man tag on last week’s Collision. FTR are coming off of a successful title defense, defeating Aussie Open at WrestleDream this past Sunday. Starks also won on Sunday, defeating Wheeler Yuta.
Toni Storm will also be in action, taking on Kiera Hogan. Storm officially debuted her new persona, ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm, on Wednesday, defeating Sky Blue. Storm in recent weeks has been airing vignettes showcasing her with a somewhat unstable look as a 1940s star. Hogan most recently lost to Julia Hart on an edition of Collision.
This Saturday’s Collision will have a special start time, airing at 7 pm ET. Here is the updated lineup:
AEW Tag Team titles: FTR defends against Ricky Starks & Big Bill
A new eight-man tag team match has been added to Saturday’s Collision.
The go-home show for WrestleDream will have Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, and FTR square off against Ricky Starks, Big Bill, and Aussie Open in an all star eight-man tag team match. Zack Sabre Jr., who will face Danielson on Sunday, will be on commentary.
Danielson and Yuta have been feuding with Starks and Bill for the last several weeks. Danielson defeated Starks in a Texas Death match on last week’s Collision, with Big Bill and Yuta getting into a confrontation after checking on their men. On this week’s Dynamite, Yuta confronted Starks, challenging him to a match for WrestleDream.
FTR and Aussie Open will be in the same ring just 24 hours before their AEW Tag Team title match at WrestleDream. It will mark exactly one year since the two teams first met at NJPW’s Royal Quest II in England.
Here is the updated lineup for Saturday:
All star eight-man tag: Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, and FTR vs. Ricky Starks, Big Bill, and Aussie Open
Big Bill and Brian Cage are the next contenders for the AEW Tag Team titles.
Bill and Cage won a battle royal on Friday’s Rampage, last eliminating The Butcher together to win the battle royal. The winner of the battle royal will get a shot at the AEW Tag Team titles, which are currently held by FTR.
The two first teamed up as part of a AEW Blind Eliminator Tag Team title tournament that took place earlier this month. On the July 5 edition of Dynamite, they teamed for the first time, defeating Matt Sydal and Trent Berretta. They ended up losing to Adam Cole and MJF on the July 15 edition of Dynamite. Cole and MJF eventually went on to win the tournament.
Since the end of The Firm stable, Big Bill and Lee Moriarty have continued their tag team. The duo won a squash match on last week’s ROH on HonorClub. Cage is one third of the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions with The Gates of Agony.
The next AEW Tag Team title match will take place on Saturday’s Collision, with Cole & MJF taking on FTR.
The fallout from last Friday’s Death Before Dishonor will be felt on tonight’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub.
After successfully defending the Six-Man titles last Friday, The Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) will defend against the Iron Savages & Jacked Jameson.
Former champions Dalton Castle and The Boys (Brandon & Brent Tate) will face The Trustbusters (Sonny Kiss, Jeeves Kay & Slim J).
ROH Women’s Champion Athena will be in non-title action against Christina Marie, Trish Adora will battle Trish San Antonio, and Leyla Hirsch will take on B3CCA.
Ahead of their match on Rampage, The Kingdom will face Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams.
Josh Woods takes on Eli Isom in a Pure rules match as he pursues a future opportunity against Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata.
Big Bill will continue his recent tag team run as he will reunite with Lee Moriarty against opponents to be named.
**********
This week’s ROH was taped last Saturday in Newark, New Jersey as part of the AEW Collision taping. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were on the call.
We got a recap of Death Before Dishonor, highlighting every match.
Pure Rules Match – Josh Woods (w/The Varsity Athletes) defeated Eli Isom
The judges for this match were Jerry Lynn, Jimmy Jacobs, and Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata – who got his own entrance.
Woods tied up Isom in the ropes, forcing his first use of a rope break. They jockeyed for position until Woods booted Isom on an up-and-over in the corner. Woods focused his attack on Isom’s arm. Woods tried to Irish whip Isom, who hooked the ropes and thus used his second rope break.
Woods did more work on the arm until Isom began forearming Woods to fight back. Woods laid in the forearms to Isom’s arm, but Isom hit an offensive flurry that sent Woods into the corner. Woods walked into a Blue Thunder Bomb, but Isom only got a one count on it. Woods hit a Chaos Theory that transitioned into an armbar, forcing Isom to use his third rope break. Woods sent Isom onto the apron, caught him in a sleeper hold, then dragged him into the ring. Woods then hit a Penalty Kick, while looking at Shibata, before locking in the Gorilla Lock to win.
After the match, Smart Mark Sterling talked trash to Shibata before laying out the challenge for next week. Shibata got in the ring and stared down Woods, accepting the title challenge for next week.
Backstage, Lexy Nair spoke to Trish Adora and asked her what was next after her loss to Leyla Hirsch at the Death Before Dishonor Zero Hour. Adora said that she would have let this get her down a year ago, but now that she’s part of the Infantry, she’s focused on bouncing back.
Trish Adora defeated Vita Vonstarr
Vonstarr is a former member of the Righteous. Adora focused on the arm before locking in a submission that Vonstarr used her flexibility to get out of. Vonstarr hit a Northern Lights suplex for a nearfall before locking on an Octopus Stretch. Adora spun Vonstarr out with a backbreaker before firing up, hitting a big boot and a senton for a nearfall.
Vonstarr avoided the Lariat Tubman and hit the Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Adora followed up with a successful Lariat Tubman for the win.
ROH World Six Man Tag Team Title Match – The Mogul Embassy (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage & Toa Liona) (w/Prince Nana) (c) defeated The Iron Savages (Boulder & Bronson & Jacked Jameson)
This was fun and energetic, with the Embassy seeing a much different type of challenge than they are used to seeing.
Cage started with Bronson, dropping him with a back elbow. Bronson came back with a bodyslam before the Savages triple-teamed Cage in the corner. Cage hit a strike flurry on Jameson to take back control before tagging in Kaun. Jameson tagged out to Bronson, who hit a dive onto Cage and squished Liona on the apron. That left him open to a dropkick from Kaun into a powerbomb on the floor from Liona.
The champions clubbered on Bronson, hitting a strike train that ended with Cage’s apron superplex for a nearfall. Bronson sat down on a sunset flip by Cage before tagging out to Boulder, who ran wild on the Embassy. He dropped Cage and Kaun with a double flapjack. Boulder and Liona faced off, with Boulder taking Liona down with a jumping shoulder block. Boulder dropped Kaun with a powerslam for a nearfall.
Boulder went for a moonsault but missed. The match broke down into a Pier Six brawl, ending with Bronson hitting a Sky High for a nearfall. Liona cut Boulder down with a knee on a crossbody attempt, and Cage took down Bronson with a spinning lariat. The Embassy isolated Jameson, with Kaun hitting a Pedigree to score the win.
Leyla Hirsch defeated Becca
Ian Riccaboni mentioned that his four-year-old daughter’s favorite wrestler was Leyla Hirsch. I figure it’s because they’re the same height, but that’s beside the point. Hirsch took Becca down with a lariat and a gutwrench suplex. After fighting out of a waist lock, Becca fought back with the crowd behind her. Becca hit a shotgun dropkick but missed a missile dropkick off the top rope. Hirsch hit a German suplex and a running knee to score the win.
Backstage, Lexy Nair was with Athena. Athena wanted more competition, ragdolling Lexy around while doing so. She said if Lexy didn’t get her more competition, she would take it out on Lexy.
The Renegades (Charlette Renegade & Robyn Renegade) defeated JC & Tiara James
James looked good in her 30-second flurry here.
Charlette started with JC, who fought off both Renegades to start until she got tripped up by Robyn. The Renegades hit a double suplex on JC for a nearfall. The Renegades clubbered on JC until she slipped out of another double suplex attempt and made the tag to James. James ran wild on them until Charlette took her down by the hair. The Renegades hit a double superkick on JC before finishing off James with a Hart Attack.
Proving Ground Match: ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Christina Marie
Marie took the fight to Athena after the Code of Honor, sending her into the buckles and hitting a handspring splash. Marie hit a snapmare for a nearfall before Athena flung her across the ring. Athena laid in the strikes before hitting a baseball slide that sent Marie off the apron to the floor. Athena ragdolled Marie in the ropes before hitting a knockout forearm for the win.
Athena beat up Marie on the floor, flinging her into the barricades and booting her down before standing tall.
The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams
A very good match between these four veterans.
Williams laid in forearms to Bennett, forcing him to tag out to Taven. Bennett then caught Williams with a knee in the back, leading to a strike combination from the Kingdom. Williams avoided a top rope attack from Taven, tagging in Titus. Titus hit a modified airplane spin for a nearfall, but got caught up by a Bennett lariat from the apron. Bennett hit a main event spinebuster, but Titus got his knees up on Taven’s lionsault attempt.
Williams tagged in and ran wild on the Kingdom, hitting the top-rope DDT on Taven before locking on a cloverleaf that Bennett broke up. Titus sent Bennett flying with a belly-to-belly suplex before Titus and Williams hit a series of heavy strikes on Taven for a nearfall. Taven forced Williams into the corner and made a tag to Bennett, who got into a strike exchange with Williams. They locked the other man’s partner in submission holds but kept wailing on each other. They hit tandem piledrivers on their partners before re-engaging, ending with Williams hitting a lariat for a nearfall.
Titus and Taven tagged in, with Titus drilling Taven with a dropkick. Taven held onto the ropes on a belly-to-belly suplex attempt, allowing the Kingdom to take control and hit the Proton Pack for the win.
Backstage, Lexy Nair was with ROH Board Member Stokely Hathaway & ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe. Hathaway announced an eliminator tournament to determine the next challenger for the TV Title. Joe took offense to Lexy’s claims of favoritism shown towards Joe, saying that Hathaway was his own man.
ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament Match: Christopher Daniels defeated JD Drake
A solid TV match here, and one with some real stakes too. I would’ve preferred Drake moving on as the fresher name, but I’ve got no strong issue with Daniels moving on.
Ian Riccaboni noted that this was the first of four tournament matches. Daniels dropped Drake with a jumping back kick, but Drake dropped him with a barge attack and a bodyslam. Drake laid on Daniels, hitting a Bossman Slam for a nearfall before hitting a pair of sentons. Drake laid into Daniels with chops, but Daniels fired up and engaged in a chop battle before taking Drake down with a flatliner.
Daniels took Drake down with a rabbit lariat hitting a spinning flatliner off the ropes for a nearfall. Daniels went for the Angel’s Wings, but Drake hit a big boot and a cannonball for a nearfall. Drake set Daniels up for a moonsault, but Daniels moved out of the way. Daniels hit the uranage and the Best Moonsault Ever for the win.
Big Bill & Lee Moriarty defeated Adrian Soriano & Gabriel Hodder
Soriano and Hodder are a regular team known as Primal Fear, who have made appearances in the tail-end of the Sinclair-era of ROH. Moriarty snagged Soriano in the Border City Stretch immediately, but Soriano got to the ropes. Hodder and Soriano worked hard to keep Bill out of the ring, but they wasted time posing. That allowed Moriarty to tag in Big Bill, who ran wild. Bill hit a double rotation Bossman Slam and a chokeslam on Soriano to score the win.
ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament Match: Tony Nese (w/ The Varsity Athletes) defeated Cheeseburger
Nese had the mic on his way to the ring, claiming that cheeseburgers were ruining this country. He wanted to start a group exercise before Cheeseburger’s music hit, bringing out Nese’s opponent. Cheeseburger used his technique to control Nese early, but Nese hung him up on the top rope and hit a gutbuster to take control. He tied Cheeseburger up in the Tree of Woe before hitting crunch kicks to Cheeseburger’s chest.
Cheeseburger fought out of a waistlock and hit a suplex. Cheeseburger hit a superkick before landing the Shotei palm strike – passed down to him by Jushin Thunder Liger himself – for a nearfall. Cheeseburger hit a DDT for a nearfall, then set up a second Shotei. Sterling got on the apron to distract him, allowing Nese to hit a pumphandle Greetings From Asbury Park for the win.
ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament Match: Gravity defeated Anthony Henry
More of this please! Two newer faces getting time to work and shine, with legitimate question as to who could win. Henry looked great here, as I was biting on a few of his nearfalls.
Gravity tried to do multiple kip-ups to get out of an arm hold, but Henry simply released the arm to have Gravity fall down. Gravity worked his way out of another hold, but Henry booted him down. Gravity sent Henry to the floor, then hit a dive onto him. Henry caught Gravity mid-handstand with a superkick before cranking his neck on the apron.
Henry caught Gravity with a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall before cranking the neck again. Henry laid in a kick to Gravity’s back, but Gravity started to fire up. He caught Henry with a lucha armdrag and a handspring elbow before gorilla-pressing him into a dropkick. Gravity twisted Henry into a Ground Octopus, but Henry reversed it into a Stretch Muffler. Gravity pulled Henry into a roll-up, but Henry caught him with a Penalty Kick and a cross-legged Michinoku Driver for a nearfall.
Henry missed a double stomp but scored with an elevated DDT for a nearfall. Henry hit a pair of kicks, but Gravity caught him with a powerslam before hitting a top rope splash for the win.
ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament Match: Shane Taylor defeated Serpentico
Serpentico caught Taylor with a few strikes and hit a rana that sent Taylor into the corner. Taylor burst out of the corner with a forearm, then beeled Serpentico across the ring twice. Taylor hit a back splash and a lariat for a nearfall. Serpentico escaped off of Taylor’s shoulders but ran into a body shot. Taylor hit the World’s Strongest Slam for a nearfall.
Serpentico begged off, then flipped Taylor off before firing off a few strikes. Taylor caught Serpentico on a crossbody before cracking him with a headbutt. Taylor then hit the uranage before hitting a splash for the win.
Dalton Castle & The Boys (Brandon & Brent) defeated The Trustbusters (Jeeves Kay, Slim J & Sonny Kiss)
I did not miss hearing the Trustbusters music. Castle and Kiss tried for lariats in the corner for about 30 seconds until Castle just flung Kiss with a suplex. The Trustbusters isolated Brandon after some multi-person shenanigans. Castle tagged back in and flung the Trustbusters around with suplexes before asking for a boy. Castle threw the Boys around before Castle got Kay isolated. Castle hit the Bangarang for the win.
