Bobby Fish says he’s not expecting to receive a Christmas card or birthday card from CM Punk.
Fish posted a video on Wednesday addressing his infamous match with Punk from October 27, 2021 in AEW. The match went a little under 13 minutes and saw Punk win with a GTS, though it appeared Fish got his shoulder up right at three. Punk was declared the winner and the broadcast ignored that Fish may have had his shoulder up.
Fish reflected on the match almost five years to the day on his YouTube channel. He praised Punk as a wrestler, but was critical of how Punk performed in the UFC and how that reflected on wrestling.
Fish said:
“I remembered him from my days coming up that when he went out and just wrestled, he was actually a decent wrestler. A pretty marginal athlete. I think he was very awkward, but as just a pro wrestler, I didn’t think he was bad.”
“Where I thought he dropped the ball quite a bit was when he attempted to do more of a martial arts based thing, which him coming back to pro wrestling after the years of being away, I was actually a little surprised that that’s what he was coming back with because when he fought in the UFC, I think he represented our sport pretty poorly.”
As Fish has mentioned in previous interviews about the finish of the bout, he says Punk gave him an “iggy” or just a little squeeze right before the pin, which led to a miscommunication.
Fish continued:
“There’s different kinds of iggies, as crazy as that sounds. But the iggy that I got in that moment was as if he was trying to get my attention.”
“There was not a lot of time to think about this. So it was like do or don’t do, and I did, and what I did was kick out, knowing, okay, if this wasn’t what the intention was, pick me up and hit your move again, or whatever you want to do.”
Fish says after the match, he got to the back and saw Punk and Tony Khan talking while looking at him. He approached them but both left. He then went to Punk’s locker room to discuss what happened.
“I gave him the opportunity to air whatever grievances he might have had. He continued to say over and over, ‘No, it’s fine. It’s fine.’ Meanwhile, the way that he was saying what he was saying, it was obvious that things were not fine.”
“I guess my claim to Phil would be, ‘Own your part of it. You iggied me.’ I don’t know why, but I guess it’s neither here nor there. I didn’t do it to go into business for myself. It was a misunderstanding, and misunderstandings happen, especially in any competitive line of work.”
Fish continued to say that a little while after the match, him and Kyle O’Reilly were involved in a backstage angle with FTR, and Dax Harwood was “working snug” with him so he worked snug back. This led to a confrontation in the back.
“Things were heated in the locker room. There was a couple instances of potentially Dax and I heading out to the parking lot.”
Fish says he was later approached by Punk in the back about his conflict with Harwood.
“it was a very like locker room leaderesque role that maybe (Punk) bestowed upon himself, but for me, he was not a leader. So when he said whatever he was saying to me, I let him know that I’m not interested. He took what seemed like offense to that.”
“I don’t think I’m gonna get a Christmas card from him this year or a birthday (card) and that’s unfortunate.”
Fish’s AEW contract expired in August 2022 and was not renewed. His full YouTube video is available below:
The former ROH, AEW, and NXT star opened up about his issues on social media Sunday, saying he is suffering from a hamstring injury and doesn’t have health insurance to seek medical attention.
“Not gonna sugarcoat it — life’s been rough lately. Got injured at a show, pulled hamstring, no health insurance, going through some personal stuff,” he wrote.
“But I’m not here looking for a handout. I’m starting a YouTube channel because I still love this business, and I want to keep giving you something real. Stories, training, laughs, whatever I can bring. If you’ve ever supported me — cheered, booed, whatever — hit that subscribe and come along for the ride. Let’s see what we can build together.”
Fish most recently has been wrestling for MLW, losing in the first round of the Opera Cup to Satoshi Kojima earlier this summer. On television, he was last seen in AEW reforming reDragon with Kyle O’Reilly. His contract came up in August of 2022, however, and wasn’t renewed.
NJPW wrestler Kevin Knight is set to debut for MLW later this month.
At MLW Fightland, Knight will make his debut in a singles match against Bobby Fish. It will be part of the TV taping portion of the event, which is being held at Center Stage in Knight’s hometown of Atlanta on Saturday, September 14.
Knight is a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, holding the titles with KUSHIDA. Knight recently teamed with Rocky Romero & YOSHI-HASHI in a victory over Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay, Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) at NJPW Capital Collision.
In MLW, Fish is part of a newly formed stable with The Andersons (Brock Anderson & CW Anderson) and Brett Ryan Gosselin. They laid out Paul London at MLW Summer of the Beasts.
The Andersons made their MLW tag team debut at Summer of the Beasts and are set for action at Fightland, but their opponents have not been announced.
Fightland’s main card will stream live on MLW’s YouTube channel. The show is being headlined by Satoshi Kojima defending his MLW World Heavyweight Championship against Mads Krugger.
Former AEW and WWE NXT wrestler Bobby Fish is joining the MLW roster.
MLW announced today that Fish will return to the promotion at Intimidation Games 2024 in New York City on Thursday, February 29. Fish’s opponent for the show has not been announced.
This will be Fish’s first time competing for MLW since 2021. Following his release from WWE, Fish debuted for MLW as an entrant in the 2021 Opera Cup tournament. He defeated Lee Moriarty in the first round but lost to Davey Richards in the semifinals.
Fish was with AEW from 2021 until his contract expired in 2022 and was not renewed. He made appearances for Impact Wrestling and NJPW Strong after that. In 2022, Fish won his pro boxing debut.
Intimidation Games is taking place from the Melrose Ballroom in Queens and will air live on TrillerTV+. In the main event of the show, new MLW World Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima defends his title against Minoru Suzuki. Kojima won the championship from Alex Kane at MLW SuperFight last weekend.
Tonight saw the final set of tapings from NJPW Strong’s Detonation series. This was also the final episode of 2022, with STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser defending against Team Filthy’s JR Kratos, a match Kratos received as a “gift” from Jay White to thank Team Filthy for helping Bullet Club out earlier in the year.
Before the match, Mascara Dorada and Lince Dorado spoke to announcers Ian Riccaboni & Alex Koslov. The former WWE tag team expressed their excitement to wrestle for New Japan and against C4.
C4 are regulars on the Pacific-Northwest scene and are regulars at DEFY in Seattle. Cody Chhun has competed on NJPW Strong previously, but both Guillermo Rosas and Lince Dorado are making their debuts.
Dorada and Rosas had a nice exchange up top. The crowd chanted for Dorada. When Chhun tagged in, Dorada and Lince Dorado unloaded some double team offense. Dorada hit a spinning rope-walk dropkick.
Later, C4 put Dorada down with a double backdrop suplex. The crowd kept chanting for Dorada. Lince Dorado finally tagged back in and cleaned house. He put Chhun down with a brainbuster for two before taking him down with a diving body press. He’d then lock in an armbar, but Rosas dropped a senton onto Dorado to break the hold.
C4 put Lince Dorado down with an assisted Liger Bomb for two. Dorado responded by taking both C4 out with a double Lethal Injection. Mascara Dorada did a flip dove onto Rosas on the floor. Lince then jumped off the top rope and caught Chhun with a frankensteiner while Chhun was standing on the apron. That was wild.
The finish saw Lince Dorado catch Chhun with a shooting star press while Mascara Dorada would land a diving elbow drop off the ropes for a stereo pin. The crowd loved this one.
Bobby Fish defeated Kevin Blackwood
Fish made his official in-ring return to New Japan on this show. He recently won his boxing debut on the Floyd Mayweather card in Dubai back in May, defeating Boateng Prempeh via TKO.
The two had a nice back-and-forth exchange early on. The crowd gave Fish a hard time.
When the match spilled to the floor, Blackwood caught Fish with a diving double foot stomp on the apron. Fish responded later with an Eddy Guerrero-style slingshot somersault senton. Parts of the crowd started chanting “Let’s go, Bobby!” and “BOB-BY FISH!”. Fish then won with a falcon arrow.
After the match, Homicide ran in and the two brawled. David Finlay ran in for the save on Homicide, carrying a shillelagh. Finlay and Homicide shook hands.
STRONG Openweight Championship Match: Fred Rosser (c) defeated JR Kratos
Rosser and Kratos charged at each other just as the bell sounded. They crashed into each other with a ton of big shoulder blocks; neither would go down. The energy & tension was great.
Rosser caught Kratos with an Earthquake splash before pummeling him with front forearm shots to the chest and back.
They traded arm locks on the mat as the pace slowed. Rosser put Kratos in the corner and battered him with forearms and hip attacks. Kratos almost powered out, but Rosser shut Kratos down with a relentless non stop barrage of hard strikes.
When Kratos tried power bombing Rosser off the apron onto the floor, Rosser countered it with another Earthquake splash, sitting straight down onto Kratos’ neck and shoulders. Nice reversal.
Rosser dove off the apron, but Kratos caught him in mid-air, then ran him back-first into the ringpost on the floor. He then launched Rosser with a front suplex onto the floor mats.
Kratos then ripped the mats off the concrete floor, then grabbed the guardrail and attempted to throw it or hit Rosser with it. Rosser had enough time to stop the attack with a kick, forcing Kratos to drop the weapon. Before Kratos got back into the ring, Kratos threw a NJPW staffer onto the exposed floor.
The crowd started chanting “FRED! FRED!” as the match went on. Rosser put Kratos down hard with a neckbreaker onto the ring apron. When Rosser went to move Kratos back into the ring, Kratos locked Rosser in a headlock as he lay on the apron. Rosser then showed amazing strength and dragged the larger Kratos off the apron and into a tombstone piledriver position. He then put Kratos down hard onto the exposed floor.
Kratos sold as though he was dead. Referee Jeremy Marcus began counting Kratos out and got very close to 20, but Rosser actually stopped Marcus from making the call, shoving him into the corner. He peeled his wrist tape off and called for Kratos to come back into the ring.
Rosser started boxing Kratos’ head in as Kratos attempted to pick himself back up to his feet. Rosser peppered him with short shots. Kratos took Rosser down with some fluid judo trips, but Rosser was back to his feet immediately. Rosser’s “fighting spirit” is infectious.
As Rosser climbed to the top rope for another attack, Kratos suddenly met him with a jumping enzuigiri kick to the back of Rosser’s head. At this point, the 15-minute call sounded.
Kratos put Rosser down with a big superplex before decking him with a lariat that shot Rosser over the top onto the floor again. It was the exposed-concrete side of the ring.
Kratos stood in the ring with a pensive look on his face. He’d then stare out into the crowd, teasing a tope. The crowd bit. Kratos hit the opposite ropes for a running start, then skyrocketed himself over the top rope onto Rosser, crash-landing on the concrete floor, way past where the guardrail would have been if Kratos hadn’t removed it earlier. Air Kratos. The crowd lost it. It looked amazing.
Back in the ring, Kratos used a giant lariat and falcon arrow on Rosser, but just for two. The crowd began chanting for Kratos at this point.
Rosser clipped Kratos’ leg and slapped on a step-over toe hold before locking in a sleeperhold. Kratos would passed out, Rosser wins via TKO.
Afterwards, Peter Avalon appeared from behind the commentary table (which he’d been on earlier), grabbed a mic, and said to Rosser that he was the next in line for a shot at his STRONG Openweight title. Rosser didn’t say it into the mic, but he did tell Avalon he’d face him anytime and anywhere before raising his championship belt high above his head.
When Rosser turned around, Avalon pummeled Rosser, stomping into the corner without stopping. Blake Christian and C4 then appeared to make the save, but then they were followed by others from the NJPW Strong locker room. The show ended with dozens of wrestlers brawling in the ring as the show faded to black.
Final thoughts:
This was a nice eclectic edition of NJPW Strong, with three very different matches from beginning to end. Rosser vs. Kratos was very good, but the post-match chaos that ensued afterwards wasn’t entirely explained. Regardless, it was a fun episode to watch because of the variety.
Filthy Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including Smackdown with a historic tag team championship match that oddly opened the show, New Japan Strong, Bobby Fish’s boxing debut, plus Tom is giddy like a little kid for the New Japan/Stardom crossover show. A fun time as always so check it out~!
While the focus of the combat sports world is still on the aftermath of Saturday’s UFC 281 in New York City, pro wrestler Bobby Fish made his pro boxing debut a successful one on Sunday on the other side of the world.
Competing on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Deji Olatunji exhibition bout in Dubai, Fish (1-0) defeated Boateng Prempeh via second round TKO due to an apparent shoulder injury.
In the clip below, it’s unclear how Prempeh (2-4) hurt his shoulder but after taking a glancing blow, he dropped to a knee and the fight was called.
WHAT HAPPENED THERE? 👀@theBobbyFish stops Boateng Prempeh in the second round! 🔥
The 46-year-old is currently a free agent after his AEW contract expired as the two sides were unable to come to a new deal.
Fish made his Impact Wrestling debut at September’s Victory Road. He competed at Bound for Glory and then unsuccessfully challenged Impact World Champion Josh Alexander for the title shortly after.
Bobby Fish is set to make his professional boxing debut.
The Global Titans Fight Series announced Thursday that Fish will face Boateng Prempeh on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Deji Olatunji. The show is scheduled for Sunday, November 13, from the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Prempeh holds a professional record of two wins and three losses.
“@thebobbyfish makes the transition and bold leap from pro wrestling to boxing, debuting against Ghanaian Boateng Prempeh,” the promotion wrote on Twitter.
On an episode of his Undisputed podcast last month, Fish mentioned he was hoping Tony Khan would give him permission to do a kickboxing fight while he was with AEW.
“Since May, I have tried to get Tony Khan to sit down with me, no less than five times, to ask permission to do a kickboxing fight,” Fish said. “It was actually something that I talked with other people in the company about but I could never nail Tony down. In Tony’s defense, he’s a busy man, especially on TV days. It is what it is but I wanted permission to do a fight and I couldn’t get there with Tony.”
Fish’s contract with AEW expired over the summer and was not renewed. He recently debuted for Impact Wrestling at Victory Road last month but has yet to wrestle for the promotion.
The clues to the “White Rabbit” on SmackDown lead to another show. These clues need to be more than just promos for the next episode, otherwise WWE risks fans turning on this angle. So far, it’s turned out to be just a carny trick in the digital age. Fans need to be rewarded for their time, not used.
Plus, a monologue from three weeks ago turns out to be prophetic when it comes to the CM Punk controversy, The Great Muta and Bobby Fish make surprise appearances on AEW and IMPACT respectively, the lineup for EXTREME RULES so far, and more. Check it out.
Fish came out for a promo, saying he was surprised at being a lightning rod for controversy surrounding him lately and that he was simply a guy who did his job well. After 20 years, he said he wasn’t in Impact for the bullsh*t. He then said Impact couldn’t fire him because “he doesn’t work there” but has kept an eye on the locker room and is here for competition.
He was confronted by Shera and Raj Singh before dispatching Shera with a kick and Singh with a suplex and a kick to the back. He got a heel hook on Singh before the heels finally escaped.
The 45-year-old recently wrapped up with AEW and has made headlines recently for his comments about former AEW World Champion CM Punk. He has wrestled just once since his AEW run ended, defeating Yuya Uemura at an August DEFY show.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including an appearance by Dave Meltzer to talk fallout from All Out Weekend, Smackdown tonight, more on the CM Punk situation, your questions and so much more. IT’S FRIDAY, SO IT’S A WILD RIDE ON WRESTLING OBSERVER LIVE!
Bobby Fish believes that CM Punk’s martial arts-inspired offense is “insulting the audience’s intelligence.”
During an interview with NBC Sports Boston released on Friday, Fish discussed his match with Punk from the October 27, 2021 edition of Dynamite. The finish of the match saw Fish appear to kick-out of Punk’s GTS just as the referee was counting three. Punk was declared the winner regardless.
“Phil is not a bad pro-wrestler but what Phil is not is a martial artist,” Fish said. “I’ve been doing martial arts since I was eight years old, so I take a lot of pride in it.”
“He is a pro-wrestler, so go out, tackle, drop down, leapfrog, get it again, all that stuff, all good. In that lane, dare I say, he’s got talent but when it comes to martial arts, you are insulting the audience’s intelligence because we are supposed to be creating an atmosphere where you can suspend your disbelief.”
Fish continued to say that selling for Punk’s more MMA-inspired offense was insulting to him.
“It’s honestly insulting for you as one of my co-workers or peers. As a martial artist, you are asking me to go out and sell, put over, your bunk** martial arts which is insulting to the audience, it’s insulting to me.”
Fish continued to say that Punk was not happy with him after their match.
“Phil, after the match, was a c**t. Frankly, as a martial artist, I went out and I laid my shoulders down for you. You should be grateful that I did because on national TV if I decided that I wanted to f**king Haku your ass, I could have because you’re that little bit of a threat in my world. I’m not Jon Jones, or Anderson Silva, but I’ve been doing martial arts since I was young and I can handle myself enough to where I will fold you like a wet nap, Phill Brooks. So, for you to be c**ty afterwards because of a mistake that you made, it just doesn’t wear well.”
Fish went on to criticize Punk for using the GTS as his finisher, a move that was first used by KENTA.
“Not to mention, the move that he finished me with, is not even his finish. It was KENTA’s. You know, Phil, you took a man’s finishing move, which anybody who knows pro-wrestling knows that’s kind of f***ed up and you weren’t even decent enough to change the name.”
Fish was asked about Punk’s comments at the All Out media scrum as well.
“I think Phil kind of showed the world the scumbag he can be. Maybe he’s not that scumbag every day, but I guess we all got a little bit of scumbag in us and some of us do a better job at controlling it than others.”
On his podcast earlier this week, Fish “invited” Punk to face him in a boxing, kickboxing, or MMA fight. He expanded on those thoughts during the interview with NBC Sports Boston.
“It’s pretty apparent to people who are paying any attention, I don’t like you, you don’t like me, we can have a competition,” Fish continued. “Let’s make it a competition where I’m trying to hurt you, you’re trying to hurt me. Not you going to the booker after a misunderstanding in our match that I put you over in, I sold your bunk** bulls**t martial arts for you, I did you that favor and then because of a misunderstanding you’re going to act all c**ty. Meanwhile, we can just get in the ring or octagon or whatever and actually compete against each other, let’s do it.”
Earlier in the conversation, Fish discussed his departure from AEW and a possible return to WWE.
“Contract was coming up for potential renewal and we couldn’t find common ground on the numbers that would be needed for both sides to be happen, so yeah, I’m a free agent,” Fish said.
Fish was also asked about a possible return to WWE.
“I’m open to all options and offers at the moment. I do know that there have been quite a few people who have gone back through those doors [to WWE],” he continued.
“Working for Hunter, I know I enjoyed it. So, I’m just happy for the people that I know that remained and the then the people that have come back to work there, I’m happy that it’s a good place to be again.”
Bobby Fish has issued an “invitation” to CM Punk for a fight.
Fish addressed the confrontation between CM Punk and the Elite backstage at AEW All Out during an episode of The Undisputed podcast released on Tuesday.
“Let’s just make this a formal invitation to Phil,” Fish said. “I’m down, if that’s the direction he wants to go and I mean, he can pick the time, the place, we can do it in Chicago.”
Fish was then asked to clarify if he was challenging CM Punk to a fight.
“I mean that would be kind of fun, right? It can be boxing, it could be kickboxing, it can be MMA. I mean, we can do this bare-knuckled, whatever sounds good to Phil. He can pick the weight, he can pick the place, like I said, whatever he wants to do but yeah, let’s make it official.”
Fish also revealed that he had pitched for AEW to allow him to do a kickboxing fight while he was under contract to the promotion.
“Since May, I have tried to get Tony Khan to sit down with me, no less than five times, to ask permission to do a kickboxing fight. It was actually something that I talked with other people in the company about but I could never nail Tony down. In Tony’s defense, he’s a busy man, especially on TV days. It is what it is but I wanted permission to do a fight and I couldn’t get there with Tony. Now, it’s no secret I don’t need anyone’s permission at this point, so yeah, let’s make this s**t official, Phil.”
“Phil, let’s f***ing go! I think that’s how someone else would say it,” Fish continued. “CM Punk, Bobby Fish, let’s fight, why not?”
Fish also spent some time on the podcast speaking about his relationship with The Young Bucks.
“I love those guys, I love them. They are good people, they got kids, they got wives, they are God-fearing good human beings.”
He also clarified that he’s not challenging Punk to a fight, he’s issuing an invitation.
“It’s not even a challenge, dude, it’s an invitation. It’s an invitation because at the end of the day, like, who am I? I’m nobody.”
Fish also addressed Ace Steel allegedly having thrown a chair at Nick Jackson and bitten Kenny Omega.
“I know Ace and that’s surprising to hear,” Fish said.
Bobby Fish’s contract with AEW is reportedly not being renewed.
Fightful Select is reporting that Fish’s contract with AEW is coming up, and will “likely be finishing with the company” when it expires, several people told the site. Fish hasn’t been seen since the August 3 episode of Dynamite, when Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly returned to TV to set up the trio turning on The Young Bucks, which eventually led the Bucks to reunite with Kenny Omega.
Fish first appeared in AEW on the October 6 episode of Dynamite, where he faced Sammy Guevara for the TNT Championship. When Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly debuted for AEW, the trio soon reunited. He last wrestled on the AEW Dark Elevation taping on July 13, where he defeated Blake Li.
Fish has previously wrestled for ROH, NJPW, and WWE, where he was part of the NXT brand. He was released from WWE back on August 6 of last year as part of wide-ranging cuts.
The Superkliq & Bobby Fish will be in eight-man tag team action on Friday’s AEW Rampage.
The Young Bucks, Adam Cole and Fish will take on Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Trent and Rocky Romero of Best Friends. The two sides have been feuding for several weeks with the Best Friends looking to get revenge after being beaten down by the heels last week after Cole defeated Wheeler Yuta.
In a ten-man tag, AEW Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers will team with Santana & Ortiz and Eddie Kingston to take on Daniel Garcia, 2point0 and The Acclaimed.
In a submission match, Tay Conti will take on Penelope Ford in a grudge match between the two heated rivals.
Friday’s show will also see the return of ATT’s Dan Lambert in his first AEW appearance since ATT and Men of the Year lost to The Inner Circle at November’s Full Gear.
This week’s matches were taped on Wednesday in Garland, Texas, after Dynamite.
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Hosts are Taz, Excalibur, and Ricky Starks
Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Trent and Rocky Romero (w/ Wheeler Yuta) defeated The Young Bucks, Adam Cole & Bobby Fish (w/ Brandon Cutler) (13:28)
Confirmed for Dynamite on Wednesday during the entrances is the first TBS Title Tournament semi-final match, Ruby Soho v. Nyla Rose.
Chuck Taylor and Matt Jackson started out, and Taylor hit the standing sliced bread for an early near fall. Rocky Romero got the tag and hit Matt with a step up hurricanrana, and Matt quickly tagged in Bobby Fish.
Tags were soon made to make Orange Cassidy and Adam Cole the legal men in the ring. It looked like they’d face off, but Cole thought better of it and tagged out to Nick Jackson instead. This was an excellent exchange that saw both men do a top rope walk the tightrope spot and ended with the heels running in and taking out Cassidy. Then on the floor, The Bucks and Cole powerbombed Beretta on the edge of the ring apron, and back in the ring the Superkliq superkicked Cassidy. The show went to the split-screen ad break.
Back from break, Cassidy was double-teamed by the Bucks for a near fall. Cole set up Cassidy for the running double superkick from the Bucks, but the Best Friends tripped up the Bucks while they ran the ropes, and Cassidy cradled Cole for a near fall. Cassidy countered a Panama Sunrise attempt from Cole, then got the hot tag to Baretta.
Beretta came in like a house of fire. He hit a half-and-half suplex on Nick Jackson, then double clotheslined Nick and Cole. Beretta hit a senton on Cole on the apron, then nailed Fish with a spear on the floor. A diving splash on Nick Jackson got Beretta a near fall. Romero and Beretta hit a double knee strike on Nick Jackson. The former Roppongi 3K double teamed Nick Jackson. Romero hit a top rope dropkick on Nick’s back, and Beretta slid in with a knee strike. Then the Best Friends hit the half and half/soul food combination on Cole, and Taylor hit a tope con hilo on Fish and Matt Jackson on the floor. Beretta went to the middle rope for a move, but he was yanked off the ropes by Nick Jackson, hitting his neck against the turnbuckle. The Bucks and Cole hit a triple team neckbreaker on Baretta, and Fish came in with a top rope splash for a near fall.
Fish hit a top rope falcon arrow on Beretta for a near fall, but Cassidy broke up the pin attempt. Cassidy set up the Orange Punch, but Cole cut him off with a pump kick. Romero hit a heel kick on Cole, and then hit a tope suicida on the floor. Nick hit a twisting plancha on Romero and Taylor, and then Cassidy hit the Orange Punch on Matt, sending him to the floor. Cassidy then hit a top rope springboard senton on the pile on the floor. Back in the ring, Beretta hit Fish with the Strong Zero and held him down for the pin. This was crazy bonkers great. It probably should have been the party match that followed Danielson/Page on Dynamite to keep the million viewers that match had at its peak.
– Dan Lambert cut an in-ring promo with the Men of the Year. Lambert trashed Tony Khan, calling him two-faced. Lambert said Khan is giving the title matches to “undeserving EVPs” and started to trash Cody Rhodes, which of course brought out Cody. Rhodes is so screwed as a babyface if he can’t get cheered against Dan Lambert. Rhodes and Lambert took turns stealing the mic from each other in a funny bit, and then without saying anything Cody attacked the Men of the Year. Cody was quickly overwhelmed. Dustin Rhodes ran in to save his brother, but Lambert distracted Dustin and soon both Rhodes brothers were down. Sammy Guevara finally ran in and hit a double jump cutter on Scorpio Sky, and ran off the Men of the Year. Guevara and Cody Rhodes will fight for the TNT title on the Christmas Night episode of Rampage.
– Quick promos for the TBS Title Tournament semi-final matches from the remaining women involved.
Tay Conti (w/ Anna Jay) defeated Penelope Ford (w/ The Bunny) in a submission match (5:20)
Conti jumped Ford before the bell and hit a pump kick early on. Conti got a half-crab early on, but Bunny helped Ford get to the ropes to force a break. Conti also got a juji gatame for another submission attempt, again broken by Ford getting the ropes. Bunny distracted Conti when she locked in another submission attempt. Ford caught Conti in a dragon sleeper. Ford caught Conti with a handspring cutter, then rolled into a cravat for another submission attempt. Conti came back with a pump kick, then countered a cazadora attempt by dropping down. Conti chicken-winged Ford’s arm with her leg, then pulled back on Ford’s neck, and Ford quickly tapped out.
After the match, Bunny nailed Conti with the brass knuckles, and Anna Jay chased off Ford and Bunny with a steel chair. So I guess this feud must continue.
– The Owen Hart Cup: Excalibur announced that both men’s and women’s tournaments will take place next May and wrap up at Double or Nothing, and that Dr. Martha Hart would present trophies to the winners. The graphic for the tournaments looked to be the traditional single elimination brackets. More details will come on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Run down of new matches for upcoming shows:
Adam Cole vs. Orange Cassidy was added to Dynamite on Wednesday.
Hook vs. Bear Bronson was added to Rampage which will air next Saturday (Christmas Day) at 9pm.
And the first match for Battle of the Belts on January 8th, Dr. Britt Baker will defend the AEW World Women’s title against Riho.
Main Event Face to Face Promo Segment: Mark Henry moderates. Kingston cut off the 2point0 guys from their nonsense, then told Mark Henry it was time to do his thing “and all that jazz.” “It’s TIME for the MAIN EVENT.”
2point0, Daniel Garcia and The Acclaimed defeated Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz and Lucha Bros (w/ Alex Abrahantes) (8:31)
Kingston and his team attacked the heels on their way to the ring, robbing us of the opportunity to be offended by Max Caster’s rap. Lots of brawling around the ring before the match officially started with Penta and Caster in the ring. Taz tried to claim Penta’s chest protector was loaded with steel, which Excalibur quickly refuted. “Stop sticking up for the masked guys all the time!” The Lucha Bros were incredibly over with the crowd, and Caster took a beating from both Penta and Fenix. Santana and Ortiz hit some wild double teams on Anthony Bowens and the show took its last split-screen break.
Back from the break, Santana hit a springboard moonsault on both Parker and Lee of 2point0, and got the tag to Penta. Penta hit sling blades on 2point0. Fenix got the tag and hit a punt on Bowens, then a tor-knee-do on Garcia for a near fall. Kingston got the tag so he could get after Garcia, but the 2point0 guys pulled him out of the ring. Penix and Penta hit stereo dives on the 2point0 guys. Santana hit a piledriver on Garcia, and Kingston hit an exploder suplex on Bowens. Garcia then got a rollup on Kingston and held his tights to get the surprise win.
After the match, Bowens hit Kingston with the boombox. Jungle Boy’s music played, and the heels stood facing the stage waiting for Jurassic Express. Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus and Christian Cage ran in from the crowd and attack the heels from behind, chasing them off. Then, Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus made a point of giving the Lucha Bros their belts back, teasing a future match between the number one contenders Jurassic Express and the World Tag Champions the Lucha Bros.
Final Thoughts:
I would think Cody teaming with his brother against Lambert’s crew would get the fans behind him again, but if that doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will. Also the announcement regarding the Owen Hart cup was kind of a nothingburger. The 8 man tag was great, the 10 man was fine, and the submission match was pretty skippable.
