A Ring of Honor World Championship match has been added to Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Grand Slam lineup.
In a match set up with a promo battle on this week’s Rampage, Claudio Castagnoli will defend the ROH World title against Chris Jericho at Dynamite Grand Slam.
As Castagnoli was delivering a promo on Rampage, Jericho interrupted and said that he had been a WWF, WWE, WCW, and AEW World Champion, and that he was looking for his eighth World title reign, and challenged Castagnoli. Castagnoli accepted, and the match was made official.
Five title matches are now set for Wednesday’s Dynamite. Here are the updated lineups for next week’s Dynamite and Rampage:
AEW Dynamite Grand Slam, Wednesday, September 21, 8 p.m. Eastern time on TBS
Grand Slam Tournament of Champions finals for the AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson
Interim AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Britt Baker vs. Serena Deeb vs. Athena
AEW World Tag Team Championship: Swerve In Our Glory (Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee) (c) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens)
AEW All-Atlantic Championship: PAC (c) vs. Orange Cassidy
Ring of Honor World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Chris Jericho
AEW Rampage Grand Slam, Friday, September 23, 10 p.m. Eastern time on TNT
Golden Ticket Battle Royale for a shot at the AEW World Championship: Hangman Page, Penta El Zero Miedo, Jay Lethal, Lance Archer announced
TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Diamante
Eddie Kingston vs. Sammy Guevara
Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
Jungle Boy vs. Rey Fenix
No DQ match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Buddy Matthews & Brody King
Hook & Action Bronson vs. Matt Menard & Angelo Parker
AEW has revealed seven of the eight participants in the Casino Ladder Match at All Out.
Tony Khan announced on Twitter that Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Penta Oscuro, Rey Fenix, Rush, Andrade El Idolo, and Dante Martin are entered into the match. There will also be a “joker” entrant to be revealed on the show.
“This Sunday at ALL OUT, the Casino Ladder Match winner will earn a future shot at the @AEW World Championship!,” Tony Khan wrote on Twitter.
AEW All Out takes place Sunday, September 4 from Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The announced lineup for the show is as follows:
Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Jericho
AEW World Trios Championship finals
AEW Interim Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm vs. Britt Baker vs. Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida
TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Athena
AEW Tag Team Champions Swerve In Our Glory defend against The Acclaimed
Jungle Boy vs. Christian Cage
FTR & Wardlow vs. Jay Lethal & Motor City Machine Guns
Casino Ladder Match
Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Wheeler Yuta vs. Penta Oscuro vs. Rey Fenix vs. Rush vs. Andrade El Idolo vs. Dante Martin vs. TBA in a Casino Ladder Match
The ROH World Championship will be on the line at next week’s Battle of the Belts III.
It was announced Friday during Rampage that Claudio Castagnoli will defend the championship against Konosuke Takeshita at the event, which will air on August 6. The show will be taped on Friday, where AEW will hold a live edition of Rampage in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
On Friday’s Rampage, Castagnoli appeared following his ROH World Championship win at Death Before Dishonor last Saturday, defeating Jonathan Gresham. He introduced Wheeler Yuta, who eventually started arguing with Chris Jericho, who was doing commentary. A match between Yuta and Jericho was made for Wednesday’s Dynamite where if Yuta wins, he gets Jericho’s AEW World title match at Quake by the Lake on August 10.
The last Battle of the Belts was held on April 15. Sammy Guevara defeated Scorpio Sky to win the TNT title, Jonathan Gresham defeated Dalton Castle to retain the ROH World title, and Thunder Rosa defeated Nyla Rose to retain the AEW Women’s World title.
Claudio Castagnoli will be on AEW Rampage this week.
AEW announced shortly after the conclusion of Dynamite last night that the new ROH World Champion will be on Friday’s show.
“Saturday @ #ROH’s Death Before Dishonor, @ClaudioCSRO captured his first singles World Title when he won the #ROH World Championship. This Friday night on #AEWRampage: #FightForTheFallen we’ll hear from *NEW* ROH World Champ Claudio Castagnoli @ 10pm ET / 9pm CT & 10pm PT on TNT!” AEW posted to Twitter.
Castagnoli became the 30th wrestler to win the ROH World Title when he defeated Jonathan Gresham for it at Death Before Dishonor. Gresham’s reign finished at 224 days and 17 successful title defenses.
Friday’s edition of AEW Rampage was taped Wednesday night from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. The lineup for the card is as follows:
Lee Moriarty vs. Matt Sydal
Anna Jay vs. Ruby Soho
Ethan Page vs. Leon Ruffin
Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh & Sonjay Dutt vs. Orange Cassidy & Best Friends
Tony Khan, FTR, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli spoke during tonight’s ROH Death Before Dishonor media scrum.
Claudio Castagnoli
Castagnoli said he had “a hell of a run” in his first month with the company and said it was great to top it off with his first world championship win. He said he wanted to take it all in and enjoy it.
When asked if he feels more encouraged to do different types of wrestling now that he is in AEW, he asked if that was a rhetorical question. He said to have that kind of freedom to express yourself in the ring, that is a gift, and he loves it.
When asked if he felt unappreciated in the past. Castagnoli said that he didn’t know if he felt underappreciated because the fans were always by his side. He isn’t sure if tonight’s win puts that debate to rest, but he said this was just the beginning. He said there are expectations when becoming a champion and will try to meet them.
Regarding this being a ‘brass ring’ moment, Castagnoli considers the last month his brass ring, mentioning his Forbidden Door debut against Zack Sabre Jr. and the Blood and Guts match that took place later that week.
When asked about Jonathan Gresham, Castagnoli said that after ROH initially shut down in December, Gresham continued to keep the ROH World Championship alive, and he respected that.
Wheeler Yuta
Yuta said that having all of these opportunities is really special, and didn’t know where he would be if there wasn’t an AEW. He said he should be in the independents for another 5 or 10 years based on how things used to work.
During the interview, Daniel Garcia came out and complained that Yuta pinned him with a roll-up, and not a wrestling move. Yuta dismissed him and said he’d see him on Wednesday.
FTR
Dax Harwood said that Khan has let him do something good for himself and pro wrestling, and always tries to leave something behind. To be able to do what they have done this year means a lot to him. Cash Wheeler said that it has kept going and hasn’t stopped, it is overwhelming in the best possible way.
When asked about wrestling anxieties, Harwood said that they were going to try and top the last match, and knew the Boston crowd would appreciate it. He said having anxieties about a wrestling match is nothing compared to the anxieties of life. He said he is on Zoloft and is talking to a therapist. Wheeler said there should be no stigma when it comes to mental health.
Harwood said to be in the main event, the draw of the show, that is what they have worked for and the kind of legacy they want to leave behind. Wheeler said that he has been proud of their team their entire career.
Regarding the end of the show where they celebrated their win with a young fan, both say they didn’t know who the kid was other than his name was Austin who had a sign saying he was FTR’s number one fan, and that they wanted to have a cool moment for him.
Sting was brought up, with Harwood saying he told Sting prior to their match at Arthur Ashe Stadium that if he wanted to go 30 minutes, they were the team to do it with. He said after the match Sting sent him a voice mail thanking them, saying he had self-doubts before the match and was happy to read social media posts saying he still had it.
Tony Khan
During the Castagnoli interview, Khan mentioned that Castagnoli originally was supposed to make his debut on this show as a mystery opponent, but plans changed after Danielson was unable to compete at Forbidden Door.
Regarding the ROH World Championship match opening the show, Khan said that he wanted a great match to kick off the show and to set the pace for the night.
Khan said tonight’s Death Before Dishonor show was one of the top three biggest Ring of Honor pay-per-views shows ever, one of the top four highest attended shows, and the most attended ROH show that wasn’t held during WrestleMania weekend. During the scrum, he noted up to that point they had about 25,000 buys digitally.
When asked about CM Punk, Khan said he didn’t want to say anything as Punk gave an update on his injury at the AEW Comic-Con panel. However, he said his healing is on track, but couldn’t commit to his return at All Out in September.
Regarding ROH/AEW integration, Khan suggested that we could see that even after ROH gets a television deal. He mentioned that NJPW wrestlers could also compete again in ROH.
Khan repeatedly brought up that this was the first show where ROH and Warner Bros. Discovery worked together via Bleacher Report, and got texts from both Warner Bros. and Discovery people congratulating him on tonight’s show.
When asked why he booked Rush vs. Dragon Lee, Khan said that they have a lot of history and both were eager to have the match.
On Prince Nana buying out Tully Blanchard Enterprises, Khan said Blanchard is doing well personally and wished him the best, saying we could see him in AEW or ROH again in the future. He also praised Nana as an ROH legend.
He couldn’t comment on the contractual status of Dalton Castle or The Boys, but enjoyed their match.
Regarding The Briscoes, they will be a big part of Ring of Honor moving forward as they are signed to long-term deals, but was not sure regarding whether or not they will appear on AEW Dynamite or Rampage.
One interviewer asked about potential names such as Maria Kanellis, Mike Bennett, Matt Taven, and Brian Milonas coming back to ROH. Khan said they were all great talents and brought up people from ROH’s past who were on the card tonight, such as Tony Deppen and Slim J. Regarding Slim J, Khan said he should have been wrestling a lot more in the last two decades.
There is optimism regarding a TV deal, pointing to the online buys and success of tonight’s show.
Khan praised Mercedes Martinez, saying that she’s tremendous. He recalls a siatuaion where Booker T was adamant about Khan signing her, but Khan was unable to do so as she made the one-time appearance prior to AEW getting an extension on their TV deal. Khan praised both Booker T and Jim Cornette, with Khan saying that they have the right to criticize his product. He said a lot of what Cornette has said about his product was fair.
Khan praised his father, saying everything he knew about business he learned from his dad and praised him on taking a chance on AEW even when he didn’t believe in it.
Regarding the sale, Khan said that it happened very quickly and had to make that decision or they would “sell to the other obvious person it would sell to”.
Khan flatly rejected the idea that Ring of Honor was a developmental league for AEW, saying that he sees Dark as the developmental brand.
Castagnoli defeated Jonathan Gresham to win the title for the first time in the opening match of Saturday’s Death Before Dishonor. The finish came when Castagnoli pinned Gresham with the Ricola bomb. After the match, confetti fell as Castagnoli celebrated his first world title win.
During the Death Before Dishonor Zero Hour pre-show, Prince Nana revealed that he had bought Tully Blanchard Enterprises and was in Gresham’s corner during the match. However, he didn’t interfere.
Gresham had been champion for 225 days, defeating Jay Lethal for the vacant title at ROH Final Battle back in December. He was originally set to face Bandido, but Bandido was unable to make the show due to testing positive for COVID. Gresham, who carried the original ROH World title, and Bandido, who carried the most recent ROH World title design, met to unify both titles at ROH Supercard of Honor in April. Gresham defeated Bandido for both titles.
A match for the ROH World Championship has been added to Death Before Dishonor
Jonathan Gresham will defend the title against Claudio Castagnoli following the events of tonight’s AEW Rampage. After Gresham had successfully defended the ROH World title against Lee Moriarty, Gresham cut a promo saying for now on he would be appearing on AEW television every week as he is the best technical wrestler in the world. This resulted in Castagnoli coming out, with the two having a staredown.
Gresham turned on Moriarty last week on Rampage, aligning himself with Tully Blanchard and Tully Blanchard Enterprises. His last title defense was at Battle of the Belts II in April, where he successfully defended against Dalton Castle.
Here’s the updated lineup for Death Before Dishonor, which takes place July 23:
ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Claudio Castagnoli
Two-out-of-three falls match: ROH Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defends against The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)
ROH Women’s World Champion Mercedes Martinez defends against Serena Deeb
ROH Television Champion Samoa Joe defends against Jay Lethal
ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta defends against Daniel Garcia
Claudio Castagnoli knew where he wanted to take his career after WWE, he just didn’t know if it would happen.
The 41-year-old was with WWE from September 2011 up until his contract officially expired on February 24 of this year. During an interview with Sports Illustrated, Castagnoli noted that he’s going to “take the high road” when speaking about his former employer.
“It can be hard to take the high road, but that’s the road I am going to take,” he said. “All the memories, they matter. I’m grateful for everything I have accomplished and I’m grateful for all those opportunities. And they make me work so much harder to get where I want to be.”
Castagnoli continued to say that he knew where he wanted to end up after leaving WWE but was happy to take some time to recharge before returning to the ring.
“Once I left, I knew what I wanted and where I wanted to go, I just didn’t know if it would happen. That was also time for me to take a break mentally, recharge, and come back better. My goal is always to be better than I was yesterday, to be better tomorrow than I am today. I want to be even better now than people remember.”
Castagnoli debuted as the newest member of the Blackpool Combat Club at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. Being part of the faction has contributed to him feeling as though everything is clicking so far in AEW.
“I came to AEW for new challenges,” Castagnoli says. “That’s why I fit perfectly in the Blackpool Combat Club. Like [William] Regal said, ‘You either step up or get stepped on.’ I loved coming in with the BCC because I’ve known those guys for such a long time, and I know they have my back no matter what.:
“It feels like everything here is clicking in AEW. It doesn’t feel like it’s only been a couple weeks. I’m extremely excited to find out what the future holds.”
Castagnoli is scheduled to face Jake Hager Wednesday on AEW Dynamite.
Tony Khan, Jay White, Jon Moxley, Kazuchika Okada, Claudio Castagnoli, Thunder Rosa, and FTR spoke to the media following AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
Below are notes and quotes from the press conference.
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Tony Khan
Khan spoke on the success of Forbidden Door, and said that anything over 100,000 worldwide pay-per-view buys he would consider a success, and that he felt confifdent based on streaming numbers that the show is on track to reach that mark.
As to putting the show together, Khan said he was more proud of Forbidden Door than any show since Double or Nothing 2020 and praised NJPW as partners.
“Other than the early shutdown, lockdown wrestling of 2020, this is probably the biggest creative challenge I’ve ever faced, but I think we’ve come through and did a great show,” he said. “Probably since Double or Nothing 2020, I can’t remember being so proud of something that came together so quickly and changed a lot… So it was pretty special.”
Khan said that he reached out to Claudio on June 2 about the possibility of coming in to work for AEW or debuting in ROH at their next pay-per-view on July 23.
“It was June 2 I called, and there was definitely mutual interest. But I wasn’t sure if he would be coming in here, or [ROH] Death Before Dishonor, July 23,” Khan said.
“I asked him about coming in before I knew for sure that Bryan [Danielson] was out, but I had a pretty good idea [CM] Punk would be out… We already had a lot of injured people, I had no idea we’d have even more on the run up to the show,” said Khan.
Khan said he spoke to Danielson last weekend and Danielson said that he was not feeling 100 percent, and mentioned Castagnoli as a potential replacement. Khan said he then told Danielson that he had Castagnoli under contract, and that Danielson was the first person he had told. Khan said he made the call not to put Danielson on the show last weekend.
Jay White
White answered questions in-character and spoke briefly about his career accolades.
Jon Moxley
Moxley said that he feels absolute joy in wrestling right now.
“That feeling, when you’re doing what you were put on earth to do, like, the absolute pleasure of being dialed in, and the pleasure of wrestling… there’s no drug that can compare to this. What a feeling to just be out there with Tanahashi,” Moxley said.
Kazuchika Okada
Okada appeared and spoke largely through translator Chris Charlton.
Okada said that the crowd in Chicago was great and he hopes that as restrictions on crowds ease in Japan that the same sort of atmosphere will return there.
Okada said that there is no language barrier in pro wrestling, as long as he can say “Make it rain,” that the communication between the wrestlers and the audience is the language of pro wrestling.
Okada said jokingly that other than Tony Khan, that it’s up to the audience to clamor for who they want to see him face in AEW.
Claudio Castagnoli
Castagnoli said that his familiarity with a large portion of the AEW roster and circumstances just made this the right time for his AEW debut.
“Sometimes the stars align for a perfect moment, and that’s what happened tonight. I hope Bryan [Danielson] is alright, I know he’ll be back, but this is just a perfect fit,” he said.
When asked about potential opponents, Castagnoli said that he is excited to face anyone and everyone.
“I’m always looking for new challenges. Here in AEW, I’m like a kid in a candy store,” Claudio said.
“There’s just so many guys that I’ve known for years. Orange Cassidy is one of them. To me, the thing that’s the most important is that the fans are excited. Who’s my dream opponent? I don’t care. Who do you guys want to see me wrestle? And here in AEW, all that stuff can happen.”
Thunder Rosa
Thunder Rosa appeared and did some in-character comments on Jade Cargill. She also spoke about her gear choices, and how she chooses different gear or makeup based on different cosplay elements.
Rosa brought up the importance of having different looks so that a variety of action figures can be made for more income. Khan mentioned that he asked Rosa to wear green for the St. Patrick’s Day Slam episode of Dynamite.
She also spoke about Dustin Rhodes’ influence on her career, that she calls herself his wrestling daughter, and that he has allowed her to use some of his moves.
FTR
Both Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler spoke of their hopes to defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles in NJPW, that they have had their eyes on that for a while, but now it looks to be a reality with travel restrictions opening up.
Harwood spoke about being grateful for the opportunity to provide for his family in wrestling. He said that every week when he goes to work, he uses that as an example to his daughter of how she can be anything she wants to be.
Wheeler spoke about wanting to have “an FTR run” with the AEW Tag titles, years-long.
They spoke about their music change and how it worked out for them. Harwood said that Khan was a wrestling genius and the music change that Khan suggested worked in improving FTR’s presentation as babyfaces.
Khan said that FTR have become better and more confident wrestlers since CM Punk arrived in AEW.
Harwood and Wheeler spoke about their singles match and said that other than one or two spots, any Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart tribute spots were subconscious and that they were not looking to rip anyone off.
The rumored newest member of the Blackpool Combat Club was confirmed as Claudio Castagnoli made his debut as the surprise opponent for Zack Sabre Jr. at Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
The former Cesaro in WWE, Castagnoli defeated Sabre Jr. in a long and physical match, hitting him with a discus lariat following by his Ricola Bomb for the win.
As one would expect, Castagnoli used his power in several impressive displays while Sabre Jr. utilized his extensive submission and grappling game to his advantage.
Castagnoli was the replacement for Bryan Danielson who had to pull out of the planned match with Sabre Jr. at the PPV due to an undisclosed injury.
It won’t be long before AEW fans see Castagnoli in the ring again as he will join fellow BCC members Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta, Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz against Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Jake Hager & Daniel Garcia in Wednesday’s Blood & Guts match on Dynamite.
April 20, 2006 Figure Four Daily: A throwback Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer talking the MMA boom, indie talent like Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli, JBL bullying Palmer Cannon until he quit WWE, plus tons more.
