AEW has announced two new matches for this week’s Dynamite.
Will Ospreay vs. Buddy Matthews is now scheduled for the show. Tony Khan revaled the news on Tuesday, writing, “Buddy Matthews aims for revenge vs. the man who eliminated his partner from the C2 on Christmas: Will Ospreay! Buddy vs Ospreay! Don’t miss AEW on TBS + Max TOMORROW!”
Ospreay clinched his spot in the Continental Classic semifinals by defeating House of Black’s Brody King on the final night of round-robin matches. At Worlds End, Ospreay then defeated Kyle Fletcher in the semifinals before losing to Kazuchika Okada in the finals.
Tony Khan also announced a three-way match pitting Willow Nightingale vs. Toni Storm vs. Kris Statlander, with the winner earning the number one spot in the Casino Gauntlet match scheduled for AEW Dynamite: Maximum Carnage on January 15.
TOMORROW, 1/8 Clarksville, TN Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite 8pm ET/7pm CT, TBS + Max
Winner Gets #1 Spot Next Wednesday at Maximum Carnage in Women’s Casino Gauntlet Match
Melbourne City Wrestling has announced Matthews for the promotion’s show on December 8, noting that the event will take place a little over two months from AEW Grand Slam Australia on February 15 in Brisbane.
MCW wrote:
“BREAKING NEWS – Former MCW World Heavyweight Champion Buddy Matthews makes his highly anticipated return to MCW at End Game! With AEW Grand Slam Australia just around the corner on February 15, what will Buddy have in store on December 8 when he steps into the Melbourne Pavilion?”
BREAKING NEWS – Former MCW World Heavyweight Champion @SNM_Buddy makes his highly anticipated return to MCW at End Game!
With AEW Grand Slam Australia just around the corner on February 15, what will Buddy have instore on December 8 when he steps into the Melbourne Pavilion?… pic.twitter.com/FxAcOV8Nog
Before signing with WWE in 2013, Matthews wrestled as Matt Silva for MCW and is a two-time holder of the company’s heavyweight title. He returned to the promotion in 2022 and has wrestled there five times since, including two shows this February where he dropped the MCW title back to Slex.
2024 has been a big year for Matthews. He agreed to a new contract with AEW earlier this year, which our own Dave Meltzer referred to as a “very lucrative deal.” He also married his fiance Rhea Ripley in June.
In the new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirmed that Buddy Matthews has inked a new contract with AEW.
Meltzer notes that the contract was signed months ago, describing it as a “very lucrative deal.” WrestlePurists first reported the news of Matthews re-signing.
“Regarding stories this week about Buddy Matthews signing a new deal, we’ve been told this was agreed to months ago,” Meltzer wrote. “He had tried to give notice at one point but AEW wasn’t going to release anyone to go to WWE. Tony Khan since then offered him a new very lucrative deal and he agreed to it.”
Matthews previously wrestled in WWE as Buddy Murphy. He was released by WWE in 2021 and made his AEW debut in 2022.
In AEW, Matthews is a member of House of Black with Malakai Black, Brody King, and Julia Hart. Black, King & Matthews are former AEW Trios Champions.
Matthews and WWE star Rhea Ripley got married last month. Both are originally from Australia.
WWE’s Rhea Ripley & AEW’s Buddy Matthews have announced their marriage.
Ripley posted a photo of the couple on her Instagram page late Wednesday with the caption “Til death. 🖤 23.06.24,” indicating that the two were wed this past Sunday.
Ripley, 27, and Matthews, 35, went public with their relationship in 2022. The couple announced their engagement last August.
Matthews (real name Matthew Adams) and Ripley (real name Demi Bennett) are both Australian natives.
Ripley is currently out of action with an unspecified injury that forced her to vacate the WWE Women’s World Championship on the April 15 edition of Raw with her right arm in a sling.
Matthews is a former AEW World Trios Champion who last wrestled on the June 15 AEW Collision episode, where Matthews, Brody King, and Malakai Black of House of Black defeated the AEW Unified Trios Champions Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, and Juice Robinson in a non-title six-man tag.
WWE’s Rhea Ripley and AEW’s Buddy Matthews have announced their engagement.
Ripley posted a photo to her Instagram page on Wednesday wearing an engagement ring with the caption:
1000x YES! Pure F—ing happiness! ❤️
Ripley, the WWE Women’s World Champion, and Matthews, an AEW World Trios Champion, went public with their relationship in 2022.
Matthews, 34, real name Matthew Adams, and Ripley, 26, real name Demi Bennett, are both natives of Australia.
Ripley signed with WWE in 2017 and made her company debut as part of the first Mae Young Classic. Ripley went on to become the inaugural NXT UK Women’s Champion, and also held the NXT Women’s title. She moved to the Raw brand in 2021, and has since held the Raw Women’s Championship, and the SmackDown Women’s Championship, later renamed the Women’s World Championship. She was also the winner of the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble.
Matthews signed with WWE in 2013 and wrestled as Buddy Murphy on the NXT brand until 2017. He moved to the 205 Live brand in 2018, and was part of the Raw and SmackDown brands prior to being released by the company in 2021. He joined AEW as a free agent in February 2022, and won the Trios title with Brody King & Malakai Black in March 2023.
Andrade El Idolo will have a chance to get his treasured mask back from the House of Black’s Buddy Matthews in a ladder match on next Saturday’s AEW Collision.
Julia Hart of the House of Black took Andrade’s mask recently which he has wanted to get back ever since. Andrade attempted to get into the building on Saturday’s Collision but was escorted out by security due to the House of Black defending the AEW Trios titles on the show.
Malakai Black, Brody King and Hart will be banned from the building for the match.
In trios action, Bullet Club Gold’s Juice Robinson & The Gunns will take on El Hijo del Vikingo, Action Andretti & Darius Martin. Robinson and Jay White defeated Martin and Andretti Saturday, followed by the Gunns attacking Martin and Andretti after the match. This will be Vikingo’s Collision debut.
The new additions join the previously announced AEW Tag Team title match between champions FTR and MJF & Adam Cole.
Here’s the current lineup for Hartford, Connecticut:
AEW Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against MJF & Adam Cole
Andrade El Idolo vs. Buddy Matthews in a ladder match for Andrade’s mask
El Hijo del Vikingo, Action Andretti & Darius Martin vs. Juice Robinson & The Gunns (Austin & Colten Gunn)
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including whatever is happening with Buddy Matthews that we actually don’t know because nobody ever says anything about anything, contracts in pro-wrestling and adhering to your deal, Rampage and Smackdown thoughts, SAMI ZAYN and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including updates on Drew McIntyre, Buddy Matthews and Veer, RAW Monday, a ton of great matches in Japan, New Japan Kobe results, Smackdown overnights, Rampage and Smackdown reviews and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Buddy Matthews reportedly leaving AEW
14:43: Drew McIntyre health update
17:48: Veer returning to NXT, SmackDown fast nationals
AEW Grand Slam report, the business, the future angles coming out of the show, ideas for the show for next year, angles, Saraya, Great Muta, business notes, highest TV gates in U.S history including inflation adjusted and warning signs. Behind the Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul idea and why it’s reasons for happening are very different than a traditional PPV main event CMLL’s 89th anniversary show. A report on the major show this year with the hottest crowd and some of the best action and booking. Updates on Extreme Rules The U.S. team wins the men’s world team championship and places second with women, how the team members did and an 18-year old capturing a world championship Jose Aldo, the featherweight great, his career and how he helped get featherweights into the UFC WWE & AEW business over the past two months. What categories are up and down and by how much. Also comparisons to May & June numbers and the most unique note about attendance increases and decrease Complete coverage of last week’s UFC show Kento Miyahara, All Japan returns to Budokan Hall for its 50th anniversary, and first time since 2004 Dangerous Gate 2002 from Dragon Gate TV ratings including how each segment on the major shows did Former WWE wrestler talks about going to CMLL and wants to be in next year’s Anniversary main event Legend from TV boom returns to Arena Mexico Notes on next week’s CMLL Night of Champions fan voting show Stardom Five Star Grand Prix update Last match of the Great Muta Fantastica Mania may be back Former WWE announcers television show canceled Former WCW announcer now a network radio news anchor Former WWE star open movie company Kurt Angle talks about a return after double knee replacement but notes it probably won’t happen MLW TV taping news Things is another promotion affect world title Next questions about WBD long-term MJF talks his return and future AEW Revolution 2023 Streaming numbers International TV ratings The second biggest PPV match of all-time may be rematched in 2023 White Rabbit NXT changes Hulu and WWE update Young Rock update
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
Sunday News Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking the weekend news. We have a show with me and Garrett up on the site right now talking a lot of different subjects from AEW Revolution in the Bay Area, the WWE & AEW trends from the newsletter and business, Hall of Fame and much more.
Regarding Buddy Matthews, AEW has made no comment on the situation. It appears to be a situation similar to Malakai Black but there is nothing on his getting a release at this point. He did an independent show for Fight Life Pro last night and said basically the same thing Black said, that he is going away for a while, needs to recalibrate and it’s not good bye, it’s see you later. In this case, there is no confirmation of a release although just about everyone figures he’s got a long-term deal, wants to go back to WWE and has to work something out to do so. We were also told Tony Khan is not hot on releasing people to go to WWE so we’ll have to see how this plays out. But there is a feeling he and Black are done in AEW, and for certain, both are gone for now, meaning Brody King is likely a single with Julia Hart.
Saraya will be making a statement on Wednesday which would likely talk about her AEW direction. If she will wrestle or not would depend on Dr. Michael Sampson and his ruling about what she can and can’t do physically.
We don’t usually talk about fast nationals only because for Smackdown, the real number comes out tomorrow anyway and the demo number is still the most important. But fast nationals were huge for Smackdown at 2.38 million viewers. As a general rule, the final number is well above the fast national number for the show, meaning it could reasonably top 2.5 million and could be the most watched episode of the show this year. The only thing that would have taken the show out of “normal” range is the White Rabbit teases, so as far as ratings for Friday, the social angle it a huge success. They teased more for Edmonton tomorrow for Raw so we’ll see if that holds up. We did generally get people disappointed with nothing stronger on Friday but that doesn’t mean people will give up on the angle after one show either.
As noted earlier today, Drew McIntyre missed last night’s WWE show in Stockton, CA and will be off today’s show in Fresno, CA due to food poisoning. He got very sick, but did do television as scheduled, was hooked up to an IV and avoided eating on Friday and flew right home that night after Salt Lake City. His condition is said to have improved today to a degree, as it was said to be a really nasty case of food poisoning but he didn’t opt to go to the hospital. The hope is that he’ll be able to do his scheduled media stuff this week in San Antonio for Royal Rumble and be back for TV and the house shows this coming weekend. He wasn’t booked for Raw in Edmonton tomorrow. Braun Strowman replaced him last night and is scheduled for Fresno today as well.
Veer Mahaan has been sent down to NXT and has reformed the team Indu Sher with Sanga.
We’re looking for reports from last night’s WWE show in Stockton and today’s show on Fresno, as well as the NXT shows in Fort Pierce, FL and Citrus Springs, FL to [email protected] We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights.
We’re also looking for your thoughts on today’s NJPW show in Kobe, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match to [email protected]
A.J. Styles vs. Sami Zayn has been added to tomorrow’s Raw show that also includes Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky, Rey Mysterio vs Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens & Johnny Gargano vs. Chad Gable & Otis and Matt Riddle vs. Damian Priest. There is also scheduled to be another White Rabbit clue.
Longtime ROH booker Hunter Johnston worked backstage a producers at the Impact shows over the weekend. Bobby Fish started as well but has not signed a deal there, but will be working future shows. Delirious wrestled at the tapings.
The WWE content that was to be pulled from Hulu yesterday is still up. It is now scheduled to be pulled tomorrow. Usually when these things happen it is part of contract negotiations and it means discussions for WWE to stay with Hulu must be still ongoing.
On the Google trends this week, nothing related to wrestling or MMA made the list, nor boxing as of yesterday. UFC didn’t have a show yesterday. Floyd Mayweather was in the top 20 earlier today but has fallen out of it. Mayweather beat Japanese MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura under boxing rules on today’s Rizin show at the Saitama Super Arena via second round knockout.
On today’s NOAH show in Nagoya, Kaito Kiyomiya won the GHC title from Kenou and Satoshi Kojima & Takashi Sugiura won the tag team titles from Timothy Thacher & Hideki Suzuki.
I haven’t seen this match yet, but have gotten a number of people telling me to make sure to watch the Konosuke Takeshita challenge to Kazusada Higuchi for the KO-D title on today’s DDT show. Takeshita was cut open, it was wrestled at what was said to be an incredible pace and the crowd being allowed to cheer and boo helped out as well. Takeshita had vowed to win and take the KO-D title with him to the U.S., but that didn’t happen.
WWE in Vancouver last night:
Street Profits b Chad Gable & Otis
Nikki ASH b Dana Brooke to win the 24/7 title, a referee pinned Nikki to win the title, Nikki won it back and Brooke beat Nikki to win it back
White Rabbit segment
Iyo Sky & Dakota Kai b Asuka & Alexa Bliss to keep the tag titles
Kevin Owens b Austin Theory
Matt Riddle b The Miz
Finn Balor b Rey Mysterio with help from Dominik
Roman Reigns b A.J. Styles with a spear to keep the title
This drew one of the biggest house show crowds of the year
UFC
Chris Curtis vs. Joaquin Buckley has been added to the 12/10 PPV show in Las Vegas
Other Notes
Stardom in Showcase PPV from earlier today:
Hanan b Saya Iida in the Grand Prix tournament
Suzu Suzuki b Starlight Kid in the Grand prix tournament (said to be one of the best bouts of the tournament so far)
Saya Iida won the Stardom bodybuilding contest (said to be good since it wasn’t taken seriously and everyone had fun with making it comedy)
AZM and Mayu Iwatani and Ram Kaichow won over Maika in a falls count anywhere match that was said be be something similar to the original Stadium Stampede show
Cosmic rules (wet t-shirt/bikini contest) saw Unagi Sayaka DQ’d, lots of water gun usage. It was ruled that Tam Nakano, Natsupoi, Mina Shirakawa, Saki and Hikari Shimizu all won
Giulia & Rina Yamashita b Momo Watanabe & Ruaka in a hardcore match (said to be safe hardcore match except for some head shots and head-butts),
Yuu & Nanae Takahashi & Yuna Manase b Syuri & Utami Hayashishita & Lady C. Yuu & Nanae Takahashi are going to be a team in the upcoming tag team tournament and then a video of Alpha Female played and she is aligning with Yuu & Takahashi to try and take Stardom away from Rossy Ogawa as well as destroy Mayu Iwatani, doing an NWO type angle. They are calling their group the NSA (Neo Stardom Army).
(thanks to David Popper)
Bob Backlund’s autobiography, which is a very good book if you’ve never read it, will be released as a paperback edition on Tuesday.
A story on Crowbar Devon Storm being back in the ring more often (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
GOUGE from yesterday in Raleigh, NC:
Seymour Snott b Mecha Mercenary
Chet Sterling b Bobby Wohlfert
Snooty Fox b Glamor Boy Khan
Inuit Joe DCOR
TKO TIM b Waylon Blaze
Chet Sterling b Snooty Fox
Chet Sterling b Seymour Snott to win the 1984 All Valley Wrestling Classic tournament
Next show is 10/8 in Chapel Hill,NC at the Rebus Works.
Naomichi Marufuji and Katsuhiko Nakajima from NOAH will be wrestling on 11/12 in Elmhurst, NY at the Queensborough Elks Lodge for New Evolution Wrestling.
PWA from Coogee Bay in Sydney, Australia:
Robbie Eagles The Velocities b Back Pain
Jack Bonza b Shazza McKenzie-DQ
Big Brother Billy won over Will Keidis, Victor Langaz and Big Fudgein
Kai Drake & Michael Spencer b Frankie B & Nikki Van Blair to keep the tag titles
Jimmy Townsend b Rhys Angel in a street fight
Ricky South b Unsocial Jordan to keep the PWA title
Cherry Stephens b Mick Moretti to win the Soul of PWA title
PWA & Melbourne City Wrestling have a Colosseum tournament on 10/7 an 1/8 in Thornbury, Victoria with Eagles, Charli Evans, Adam Brooks, Caveman Ugg, Jessica Troy, AJ Istria and Tommy Knight.
Shingo Takagi will be wrestling for Pro Wrestling Australia on 10/21. (thanks to Paul Robinson)
Donnie B has a show on 12/3 in Toms River NJ with a fan fest from 4-7 p.m. and an 8 p.m. show. It’s a benefit show for the 200 Club of Ocean County,NJ. Announced as appearing at the fan fest are Sting, Jerry Lawler, Sgt Slaughter, Tommy Dreamer, Nova, Frankie Kazarian, Brian Myers, Matt Cardona, Pat Buck, Aron Stevens, Rik Ratchet, Anthony Greene, Francine, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, SATs and Frankie Edgar.
Pro Wrestling NOAH will be holding trouts on 11/17 in San Jose, CA at the Pro Wrestling Revolution Academy. Naomichi Marufuji and Katsuhiko Nakajima will be scouting talent and they are looking for talent to tour Japan with the group.
Without giving the reason why, AEW roster member Buddy Matthews told an indie crowd Saturday that he needs to go away for a while.
Following his match for Fight Life Pro Wrestling against JT Dunn in Rhode Island, Matthews told the crowd that he was “going to be the bearer of some bad news.” He said the House of Black had some issues lately and after thanking the fans for being members of the house, he said the following:
“Unfortunately, I, like some of the other members, need to go away for a while. I need to recalibrate. I need to figure out some things. As my brother Malakai (Black) once said, this isn’t goodbye — this is see you later.”
Last week, Black told an indie crowd in California that he was taking time off to recalibrate his life, later taking to social media to confirm he had requested his release from AEW. His status with the company is still unknown.
Matthews was stablemates with Black and Brody King in the House of Black faction in AEW. Matthews and King lost to Sting and Darby Allin in a no DQ match on Friday’s Rampage Grand Slam.
At the end of the match, Matthews was sprayed in the eyes with mist by the debuting Great Muta. Fightful reported Sunday that was done to write Matthews off AEW TV “for the time being.” They, as well as our website, has been unable to confirm Matthews’ situation with AEW, but Fightful did report he has “expressed dissatisfaction regarding his situation” several times over the last few months.
Matthews signed with AEW this past February following his release from WWE. Since then, he has also appeared for NJPW Strong and MLW.
AEW has filed to trademark “House of Black” for wrestling purposes.
The filing was submitted on September 8, one day after reports were released that Malakai Black had received a conditional release from the company.
Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart continued to be referred to as representing the House of Black on Monday’s edition of Dark: Elevation. Our own Dave Meltzer posted to Twitter on Monday that the faction will continue despite Black’s reported departure.
Following his match at All Out, Black took a bow and blew a kiss to the live crowd, leading to speculation it was his last match in AEW. Tony Khan would offer “no comment” on his status during the post-event media scrum.
The purposes of the trademark are listed as “Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a group or individual wrestlers; Entertainment services, namely, televised appearances by a group or individual wrestlers; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer.” As well as “Beanies; Hats; Shirts; T-shirts.”
AEW wrestler Buddy Matthews is currently working through a shoulder injury.
Matthews revealed the injury in an Instagram post on Tuesday. The post included video of Matthews lifting weights at the gym.
“Always a work in progress,” Matthews wrote. “Dealing with a shoulder injury which limits a lot of my shoulder movements. But slowly increasing the weight again. [Be] better than you were yesterday!”
Matthews was most recently in action on Dynamite two weeks ago, losing to PAC in an AEW All-Atlantic Championship qualifying match. The first-ever All-Atlantic Champion will be determined when PAC, Miro, Tomohiro Ishii, and either Malakai Black or Penta Oscuro face off in a four-way match at Forbidden Door this Sunday.
Matthews is a member of House of Black alongside Black and Brody King.
Matthews signed with AEW and made his debut on Dynamite this February. Formerly known as Buddy Murphy, he was released by WWE during the company’s June 2021 roster cuts.
The battle royal on AEW Dynamite to determine who faces Jon Moxley later in the show will be contested under Casino Battle Royale rules.
Tony Khan revealed the news on Wednesday during an appearance on Busted Open Radio. Typical Casino Battle Royale matches involve 21 participants entering in groups of five every three minutes with one “Joker” entering solo after everyone else.
Khan also revealed on Wednesday that PAC and Buddy Matthews will face off in singles competition on Dynamite. The two have been on opposing sides of the Death Triangle vs. House of Black rivalry in recent months.
AEW Dynamite on Wednesday will take place from the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri. The updated lineup for the show is as follows:
Casino Battle Royale match to determine who will face Jon Moxley later in the show
Hangman Page vs. David Finlay
PAC vs. Buddy Matthews
Jon Moxley vs. the winner of the Casino Battle Royale
AEW’s Buddy Matthews and Swerve Strickland will both be in action on this week’s NJPW Strong: Strong Style Evolved 2022 episode.
In the show’s main event, Matthews takes on Yuya Uemura. Matthews made his AEW debut on the February 23 edition of Dynamite.
In the second match, Strickland will face Blake Christian. Strickland made his AEW debut at the Revolution pay-per-view on March 6.
In Saturday’s opening contest, Big Damo will take on John Skyler. Damo was formerly known as Killian Dain during his time in WWE NXT. Damo was released by WWE in June 2021 after a five-year run, primarily on the company’s NXT brand.
The Strong Style Evolved 2022 episodes of Strong were taped in Tampa, Florida on March 20.
NJPW Strong: Strong Style Evolved, Saturday, April 23, 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
The show opened with a graphic paying tribute to Scott Hall.
Richard Holiday cut a promo in an empty Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, NC — the venue that hosted last week’s SuperFight in Charlotte. He said despite the history that has occurred in that building, it will now be forever known for his attack on MLW Champion Hammerstone last week. He knelt over a spot where Hammerstone’s blood was still stained on the floor and said it will forever remain in Charlotte.
Miranda Gordy defeated Rok-C
This show aired on the day WWE announced Rok-C as part of the latest class of recruits to start at the Performance Center. The commentary team played up the history of Gordy’s father, Terry, in Dallas as well.
Gordy had the size and strength advantage, but Rok-C found a counter for most things she attempted early in the match.
They cut to a clip of a limousine parked out front and the commentary team wondered who might be inside.
Gordy eventually got the first period of sustained offense. She knocked her young opponent down with a series of chops. She followed that up with a big body slam for a two count. Rok-C then fought back with a series of strikes but Gordy cut off her momentum with another slam and an elbow drop.
An opportunity opened up for Rok-C when she dodged a charge into the corner and Gordy landed hard on the turnbuckle. Rok-C landed a Lou Thesz press and then got a two count off a pinning combination. She then locked in a crossface. Gordy fought out of it and the two the exchanged pinning combinations. Gordy then hit a kick to the stomach and her Bam Bam Slam (power bomb) for the win.
After the match, Gordy was interviewed ringside and said she’s not a featherweight: she’s a powerweight and she’s going to destroy all the ballerinas and barbie dolls in the division.
– A video featuring Mads Krugger was shown. He challenged Jacob Fatu to a Stairway to Hell match for next week.
– It was announced that Gangrel debuts next week. However, he debuted years ago at the original War Games against Simon Gotch.
– We cut back to the limousine. A window rolled down to reveal Holliday and Alicia Atout in the car. They were celebrating their attack on Hammerstone from last week. He said they had something historic and sexy planned to celebrate. They invited the camera guy into the limo to end the segment.
– Dr. Julius Smokes cut a promo hyping up 5150. He mentioned that he would die for Konnan. Hopefully, Konnan is healthy enough to return to tapings shortly.
– A backstage promo featuring Hammerstone was shown. He talked about dropping out of college to chase his pro wrestling dream. He also talked about the struggles he had early in his career while making hardly any money.
– A vignette announced that Killer Kross makes his return next week.
– Following the attack by 5150 last week, Marshall Von Erich suffered a fractured ankle and will be out three-to-four weeks. Ross Von Erich is day-to-day after suffering a grade one concussion. The medical update on Hammerstone was that there is no update as he has refused to participate in a medical evaluation.
– EJ Nduka was interviewed backstage. He said 5150 chose the wrong one when they attacked him at SuperFight.
– We cut back to Holliday and Atout in the limo. They started making out when Alicia became distracted. She showed her phone to Holliday and he agreed with her that it was big news. They then exited the limo.
TJP defeated Buddy Matthews
TJP cut a promo before the match. He called the fans “crayon eaters” which got a surprise pop out of me. He continued to talk about MLW’s open door free agent policy. He’s not a fan of the policy as he feels all the indie darlings suck. He is forced to entertain the policy tonight, however, as he takes on Buddy Matthews.
Matthews got on the mic before the match as well. He said he didn’t knock on the forbidden door — he knocked it down. He said he’s the greatest cruiserweight and commentary played up how he and TJP are both former cruiserweight champions from a different company.
During the opening moments, commentary mentioned that they are hearing something is happening in the back involving Cesar Duran.
They opened up with some grappling until they found themselves at a stalemate. TJP locked in an octopus stretch moments later.
Matthews dodged a move in the corner and landed awkwardly on his knee. He limped to the outside, but TJP followed. Matthews then tossed TJP into the guardrail. This injury would become the story of the match.
TJP delivered a springboard dropkick to his opponent’s injured knee and then continued to work on it for a period. He locked in a figure four at one point as the match continued to center around Matthews’ knee. Matthews eventually reversed the pressure and TJP grabbed the ropes to break the hold. TJP then went right back to focusing on the knee after.
Matthews fought back and delivered a DDT as TJP was draped in the ropes. The two ended up exchanging strikes in the middle of the ring moments later. Matthews hit a gourdbuster and followed that up with strikes before hitting a brainbuster for a two count.
Matthews went for a sunset flip bomb, but his knee buckled and he crumpled to the mat. TJP then took time to dab (in 2022) which allowed Matthews to hit him with some kicks. Matthews then picked him up and delivered a power bomb for a two count. Commentary then mentioned we would have an announcement from Duran after the conclusion of the match.
TJP locked Matthews in a figure four deathlock (basically a figure four/sharpshooter combo). He then went for the detonation kick, but Matthews countered into a curb stomp for a two count.
They ended up fighting atop the turnbuckle when TJP grabbed the referee by his shirt. Matthews fought to free the ref but TJP swiped at Matthews’ leg and sent him to the mat. TJP then hit the Mamba splash to the knee and got a two count. As Matthews kicked out, TJP transitioned into a heel hook. Matthews tried to crawl to the ropes but ended up tapping out. This was good.
TJP yelled into the camera that he and the other members of the United Empire are taking over the world.
– We cut to the back where Duran said that Hammerstone has been impossible to reach following the attack from Holliday last week. He said that if Hammerstone doesn’t appear in person on MLW Fusion next week, the World title will be vacated.
Next Week:
– Mads Krugger vs. Jacob Fatu in a Stairway to Hell match
