WOL: Can WrestleMania 42 ‘over deliver’ this weekend as promised?

It’s a Friday edition of Wrestling Observer Live with Jim Valley to kick off WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend.

WWE president Nick Khan thinks WrestleMania 42 will, by his own words, “over deliver.” But what does that mean? Great matches? Big surprises? A huge main event angle? We’ll talk about what it might mean in regard to this weekend’s double dip of shows from Las Vegas.

Plus, Jim talks about Thursday’s TNA Impact following Rebellion and AEW Collision from a live perspective including Lio Rush’s new “Blackheart” character, Darby Allin’s AEW World title win, why Thekla is better than you may realize, and more.

Check it out.

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Wrestling Weekly: WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend, the new AEW World Champion

It’s WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend and on a new Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa are back to make their predictions for all the matches on both nights.

They also discuss the new AEW World Champion Darby Allin.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

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Fight Game: WWE WrestleMania 42 preview, thoughts on Darby Allin’s AEW title win

John LaRocca and I are back with a brand-new Fight Game to discuss some of the most topical things going on in pro wrestling this week.

We gave out their thumbs up and thumbs down before jumping into two main topics:

  • A discussion on Darby Allin beating MJF for the AEW World title
  • A full preview of WWE WrestleMania 42

In the Observe This! segment, we remember WrestleManias from our childhood and look at some of Dave Meltzer’s WrestleMania star ratings.

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WOR: Darby’s title win, Dynamite, CMLL Vegas, more!

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the AEW Dynamite show with Darby winning the title, the first day in Vegas with CMLL and an incredible Ultimo Guerrero vs. Blue Panther match, Smackdown, Ronda Rousey cuts a great promo, ratings and more. We will discuss THE WORST SHOW OVER WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND with Vinny later this week, we talked about it here but due to tehcnical difficulties we basically had no audio and it had to be cut. But we will review it soon. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Will Ospreay vs. Mark Davis, Darby Allin appearance set for AEW Dynamite

A clash between former United Empire teammates and the first appearance by new AEW World Champion Darby Allin will headline this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite from Portland, Oregon.

After Mark Davis jumped Will Ospreay after the latter’s win over Hechicero this past Wednesday as Don Callis’ “plan B,” the two will go one-on-one. The longtime allies became enemies following Davis’ post-injury return in late-2024 after he turned on Ospreay.

This will be their third-ever singles match with Ospreay going 2-0 (NJPW Cup in 2023, Dynamite in February 2025).

Returning to his home region of the Pacific Northwest, Allin will be on hand to celebrate his upset win over MJF this past Wednesday in a short match with a strong likelihood the former champion also makes an appearance.

The current lineup is rounded out by former AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Mina Shirakawa for the first time ever. Shirakawa confronted Shida and Kris Statlander during Thursday’s Collision, telling Statlander she doesn’t trust Shida.

Current AEW Dynamite lineup | This Wednesday | Portland, Oregon

  • Mina Shirakawa vs. Hikaru Shida
  • Will Ospreay vs. Mark Davis
  • Darby Allin appearance

WOL: Filthy Tom & Royce Isaacs recap Darby Allin winning the AEW title, WrestleMania news

It’s a Thursday and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor & special guest Royce Isaacs have returned to host Wrestling Observer Live.

The guys recap all of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite action which included a new AEW World Champion being crowned in Darby Allin.

They also talk about the latest WWE WrestleMania 42 news as they are on the scene in Las Vegas.

Click here to listen or watch on YouTube below.

AEW debuts ‘Tales from the Top Rope’ episode on Darby Allin

The first episode of Tales from the Top Rope: AEW Origins has been released.

The series was originally announced in January as a joint project between AEW and Adult Swim. The first episode was released on AEW’s YouTube page on Thursday and features the new AEW World Champion Darby Allin.

Narration from the episode includes:

“There is more to pro wrestling than what happens inside of the ring. It’s in the shadows where things get weird. Moments that break and bend wrestlers into something else, leaving behind scars that never fade. These are the tales from the top rope.

Darby Allin has been cheating death his entire life, and death has taken notice. Most people spend their lives running from death. But death means nothing to a person with a dream.

You can hesitate, or you can jump.

Never before, since the beginning of time, has a soul not flinched at the face of death. Death has met Darby before, and Darby always survives. Death offers Darby a bargain: cross the pit and live again, death-proof. Fall, and Darby’s soul will belong to death forever. Darby accepts.

Darby realizes the trick too late. Where others would see certain doom, Darby sees salvation.

Death tries to stop him, but Darby just keeps going. Death built the pit. Darby turned it into a weapon.

AEW and Adult Swim have previously worked together, including a Rick and Morty-sponsored episode of Dynamite in 2019, as well as an activation at San Diego Comic-Con in 2024. Adult Swim is a Warner Bros. Discovery product.

The full episodes of Tales from the Top Rope: AEW Origins on Darby Allin is available below:

Darby Allin ends MJF’s World title reign on AEW Dynamite, Sting makes surprise appearance

For the first time ever, Darby Allin can call himself AEW World Champion.

Allin defeated MJF in front of his home crowd in Everett, Washington, to win the championship in quick fashion on Wednesday’s Spring BreakThru episode of AEW Dynamite, hitting the now-former champion with four coffin drops and a side headlock takeover for the pin and win, a call back to their past AEW match.

The match surprisingly took only a few minutes, started by an MJF low blow with Allin later hitting one of his own, followed by a Scorpion Death Drop and the sequence above.

Sting, Allin’s former AEW Tag Team Championship partner, made a surprise appearance as Allin was preparing to walk to the ring, saying it wasn’t showtime but Allin’s time. He then came out to take part in the post-match celebration along with the locker room.

Allin earned the shot with his Dynasty victory over Andrade El Idolo this past Sunday.

The win ends MJF’s second title run that began at last December’s Worlds End and saw seven successful title defenses.

At the onset of Dynamite, they played off that MJF had no idea the match was happening Wednesday even though it was announced Sunday night after Dynasty, saying AEW officials had been trying to get in touch with him all week and that the match was starting the show.

Allin came out to start the show, soon followed by an irate MJF who ran down the crowd, said he wasn’t doing the match, and would sue everyone involved. An emotional Allin tried to goad him into it, but MJF said his back was hurt from Sunday and wasn’t doing it.

Bryan Danielson got up from commentary and said he got a message from Tony Khan in the back who said the match would be pushed until the main event and if MJF didn’t defend, he would stripped of the title.

WOR: RAW before Mania, Alberto, Dynasty, Darby, WWE tix

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the latest on Alberto el Patron, the final RAW before WrestleMania, WWE ticket sales still very weak, Jesse Ventura, Iyo Sky, tons of ratings notes, and so much more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:
Start: Alberto El Patron released from jail, CMLL & AAA notes
10:16: More AEW Dynasty thoughts, should Darby Allin win on Wednesday?
30:35: IYO SKY’s WrestleMania match status, anniversary of Jesse Ventura lawsuit victory against WWE
40:09: Ratings
48:41: WWE Raw recap

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What’s next for AEW after Dynasty? | Opinion

The results of Dynasty left the future murky for some of the biggest stars and champions of All Elite Wrestling. With much of the slate wiped clean, what should we expect for Double or Nothing and beyond?

Here’s a look at what might be next for wrestlers like MJF, Will Ospreay, and Darby Allin. The following is based purely on speculation and conjecture, and not on any backstage rumors or reports.

Let’s start by looking at the long-term destination: All In London will occur at Wembley Stadium on August 30. This will be AEW’s third show at the giant building, and with the novelty perhaps having worn off, they’ll need a big draw. The biggest draw they could book would be Will Ospreay challenging for the world championship in front of his hometown crowd. 

The problem there is that Ospreay just lost his challenge to Jon Moxley for the Continental Championship. So to get to Wembley, Ospreay would likely need to win the Owen Hart Cup and the title shot that comes with it. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the same blueprint AEW used for Bryan Danielson in 2024: injuries, a losing streak, a last-chance tournament win, and climactic victory in London. (Hopefully Ospreay’s postscript will last longer than Danielson’s did.) 

So who will Ospreay be challenging? AEW has already booked MJF to defend his World Championship against Darby Allin at Spring BreakThru, only three days after his victory against Kenny Omega. And Omega is likely to hang around the championship scene as well, having visually pinned MJF for over a dozen seconds at Dynasty. We can probably expect the three of them to battle for the belt from now through the summer, perhaps with Andrade El Idolo and Swerve Strickland getting involved as well. 

It’s worth pointing out that AEW’s next pay per view is Double or Nothing in Queens, New York, not far from MJF’s backyard. He’s almost certain to main event that show, but will he be going in as champion or challenger?

One name not in the world title mix: Hangman Page. Page has not been seen since losing to MJF at Revolution and thus, allegedly, will never challenge for the world championship again as per the stipulation. So Page needs a new goal. Jon Moxley, meanwhile, needs a new challenger for his Continental Championship after beating Ospreay. Putting the two together would be rematch of the main event of All In: Texas, AEW’s biggest show of 2025. (They have had one singles rematch since then, with Page beating Moxley on Dynamite last July.) 

One more match seems certain for Double or Nothing: it seems like Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita have finally, finally split, and the two will likely face off for Okada’s International Championship.

Elsewhere:

  • Surprisingly, FTR defeated Adam Copeland & Christian Cage at Dynasty to retain the World Tag Team Championships. In the days leading up to that match, Cage & Copeland had a staredown wth the Young Bucks, who would then beat Okada & Takeshita at Dynasty. Booking Cope & Cage against the Bucks for a title shot, only for FTR to interfere and set up a three-way instead, sounds like a very WWE thing to do. In this instance, it might also make the most sense.
  • Kevin Knight is your new TNT Champion and has a bevy of Death Riders, Don Callis Family members, and La Faccion Ingobernable luchadors set to challenge him. He will be defending against Claudio Castagnoli on Wednesday at Spring BreakThru. It also seems inevitable that he’ll be defending against Speedball Bailey in a teacher-vs.-student matchup somewhere down the road.
  • In the women’s division, Willow Nightingale will obviously be defending the TBS Championship against Kamille, who laid her out twice on Sunday night. As for Thekla, after defeating Jamie Hayter at Dynasty, her next challenger for the AEW Women’s World Championship might be Hayter’s tag team partner, Alex Windsor, who defeated Marina Shafir at Zero Hour. 
  • I wouldn’t spend too much time thinking about the Conglomeration and the World Trios Championships. Those titles have already changed hands five times in three and half months this year. They seem to be AEW’s answer to New Japan’s Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: an excuse to put a lot of bangers on shows without a lot of dominant champions or long-term story developments. 

World, TNT & TBS title matches announced for AEW Dynamite Spring BreakThru

Just moments after AEW Dynasty, three new title matches have been announced for AEW Dynamite Spring BreakThru.

Earlier in the night, after Kamille made her long-awaited return to AEW and attacked TBS Champion Willow Nightingale, she was announced for a title match. On the upcoming April 15 edition of AEW Dynamite Spring BreakThru, Kamille will now face Nightingale for the TBS title.

Also during the PPV, Darby Allin defeated Andrade El Idolo to earn a future AEW World title shot. In the main event, after MJF successfully defended his World title against Kenny Omega, he was announced for an upcoming World title match against Allin. The match was announced after he called his shot, saying he wanted the match on Wednesday, April 15, in Everett, Washington.

Also, brand new TNT Champion Kevin Knight will also be in action defending his TNT title against Death Riders member Claudio Castagnoli on AEW Dynamite Spring BreakThru.

On April 16, AEW is also set to host Collision Spring BreakThru; however, no matches have been confirmed for that show.

AEW Dynamite Spring BreakThru updated lineup

  • Kevin Knight vs. Claudio Castagnoli for the TNT Championship
  • Kamille vs. Willow Nightingale for the TBS Championship
  • MJF vs. Darby Allin for the AEW World Championship

Darby Allin earns future World title shot at AEW Dynasty, sets cash in date

For the first time in almost three years, Darby Allin will get a shot at the AEW World title and for the first time in nearly six years, it will be in a singles match.

Allin defeated Andrade El Idolo in a physical match as part of Sunday’s AEW Dynasty to earn the shot at either current champion MJF or Dynasty challenger Kenny Omega.

Later in the show, he told Renee Paquette “It’s showtime” and that there’s no better time to cash it in than in Everett, Washington — his home state — at this Wednesday’s Spring BreakThru edition of Dynamite.

The 33-year-old will be looking for his first AEW World title run in his fourth opportunity at the gold. The first came in October 2019 in a defeat to then-champion Chris Jericho on the third-ever Dynamite, followed by a July 2020 loss to then-champion Jon Moxley on Dynamite and a four-way at 2023’s Double or Nothing against then-champion MJF, Jack Perry and Sammy Guevara.

If it’s MJF, he and Allin have squared off just once in an AEW singles match: November 2021’s Full Gear. If it’s Omega, it will be a first time ever match.

Darby Allin on ‘four pillars of AEW’ label: ‘It takes more than four’

Darby Allin says he doesn’t really like the term “four pillars.”

As four relatively young, homegrown wrestlers, Allin, MJF, Jack Perry, and Sammy Guevara have been referred to as the four pillars of AEW.

During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Allin was asked about the term and said it has taken a lot more than four people to bring AEW to where it is today.

Allin said:

“I really don’t concern myself honestly too much with that term. I really don’t like that term, four pillars, because I believe it takes more than four to actually get this thing up and going.

The beauty to me with being on the ground level of AEW is you could see when the company got to the highest points, it was just through us. It was not through us as in the four pillars, but through everybody on the roster working together because this wasn’t a machine that was built years and years and years ago. This was only in 2019.

So the fact that we got to 81,000 plus people at Wembley is incredible. And I think people really don’t stop and think about that.

As high as we go and then as low as we go and now we’re going back up, it’s so rewarding when you’re a part of something from the ground up and it truly feels like your baby.

You can’t have an ego with this because when there’s egos that’s when the ship starts to sink. But if we all work together it pulls it up and you can feel that energy. So that’s why it’s important for me to lead by example more than anything, and not have any ego with anything.”

Up next for Allin is a match against Andrade El Idolo at AEW Dynasty. The pay-per-view takes place Sunday, April 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The stipulation for the match is that if Allin defeats Andrade, MJF will grant him a shot at the AEW World Championship. Kenny Omega, who challenges MJF for the title at Dynasty, has also said he will honor the stipulation should he win the title on Sunday.

Allin’s full interview with TMZ Sports is available below. The video is queued to his comments about the four pillars of AEW.

New match with World title shot on the line set for AEW Dynasty

In a bout first teased several weeks ago, former TNT Champion Darby Allin will take on future World title challenger hopeful Andrade El Idolo at this month’s AEW Dynasty.

The bout was confirmed on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite when Allin came out and called out reigning World Champion MJF. That brought out Don Callis and several members of his Family where Callis said that “MJF has paid his Family a lot of money to deliver a message.”

That message: if Allin can beat a hand-picked Family member, he will earn a future title shot. Callis then picked Andrade to be the man, much to Andrade’s surprise. Several weeks ago, Callis gave Andrade a case full of cash on behalf of MJF to take out Allin.

It was not said that Andrade would earn his own shot with a win.

This will be the third time in AEW history the two have met one-on-one. The first time came in March 2022 on Dynamite with the second coming a month later in a coffin match, also on Dynamite. The two are 1-1. They also shared the ring as part of a TNT title three-way and a tornado trios bout, both in 2022.

It was the only new bout announced Wednesday.

Current AEW Dynasty lineup | Vancouver, Canada | Sunday, April 12

  • AEW World Champion MJF defend against Kenny Omega
  • Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay
  • AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against Christian Cage & Adam Copeland
  • Darby Allin vs. Andrade El Idolo with a World title shot for Allin with a win

MJF return, Darby Allin vs. Rush, Women’s title match added to AEW Dynamite

The lineup for this Wednesday’s Dynamite just got more loaded.

During Collision Slam Dunk Saturday, it was announced that Rush will take on Darby Allin this Wednesday in St. Paul, Minnesota. Allin defeated Gabe Kidd in a coffin match this on the last episode of Dynamite and after the match declared that he wanted to challenge for the AEW World Championship. Rush and the rest of LFI recently returned to action and won a trios squash match during Saturday’s show.

The Women’s title will be on the line when Thekla defends against Mina Shirakawa. In a backstage interview, Thekla denied having any involvement in the attack that took out Storm on Wednesday, instead suggesting that Storm faked the attack so she didn’t have to face Thekla for the title. 

Storm was originally set to face Marina Shafir in a no holds barred match this past Wednesday, but was found laid out just minutes before the show went on the air. Shirakawa replaced Storm and ended up defeating Shafir in a shock win.

It was also announced that MJF would be make his return to television. He was last seen at Revolution retaining the AEW World title in a Texas Death match, defeating Hangman Page. As a result, Page can never challenge for the title again.

AEW Dynamite (March 25)

  • Kenny Omega vs. Swerve Strickland – Omega gets Swerve’s number one contender status if he wins, Swerve gets Omega’s EVP title if he wins
  • AEW Women’s title: Thekla defends against Mina Shirakawa
  • MJF returns
  • Darby Allin vs. Rush