Tag: defy wrestling

Sting’s son Steven Borden Jr. announced for new indie match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Fresh off his AEW debut, Steven Borden Jr. has been announced for a new indie date.

Borden — the son of wrestling icon Sting — will return to Defy Wrestling on Sunday, December 28 for a match against Kiran Grey. It’s part of the card for Defy’s Ender event that is being held in Los Angeles to close out 2025.

Both Borden and Grey are trainees of Darby Allin. They’ve already been frequent opponents as Borden starts off his wrestling career. Ahead of this match, they’ve faced each other twice. Borden defeated Grey at Defy last month and in their dark match this Wednesday prior to AEW Dynamite.

The first match of Borden’s career took place in October when he and JD Drake wrestled Allin & Killer Kross in a tag team bout at an art gallery in New York City. While he never had any interest in following in his father’s footsteps before, Borden caught the wrestling bug when he participated in Sting’s AEW retirement tour. He is a former college football player for the University of Kentucky.

After they faced off the first time in Defy, Borden cut a promo calling out Grey for claiming that Borden has nothing to lose. Borden said that, as the son of a legend, there are tons of people out there waiting for him to fail. He’s trying to earn everything that comes to him in pro wrestling.

Sting’s son Steven Borden to compete in second-ever match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Steven Borden — the son of pro wrestling legend Sting — is set to compete in his second-ever match.

Defy Wrestling has confirmed that Borden will be in action at the promotion’s AEON event in Seattle on Friday, November 21. He’s facing Kiran Grey at the show, with both Borden and Grey having been trained by AEW star Darby Allin.

This will be a different experience for Borden than his debut match, which was held at an art gallery in New York City as part of an exhibition Allin was putting on with artists Raymond Pettibon and Charlie Ramone. That bout saw Borden team with JD Drake against the duo of Allin & Killer Kross.

On the Ariel Helwani Show, Allin said Borden’s debut went well — and he believes Borden has what it takes to succeed in the ring. Training Borden was something Allin was happy to do given the connection he has with Borden’s father.

“As far as he wants to take it — as far as he wants to take it,” Allin responded when asked how far Borden can go in wrestling.

While in college, Borden was a football player at the University of Kentucky. Pursuing wrestling as a career is something that started to interest him when he was involved with Sting’s retirement run in AEW.

The November 21 Defy event is being held at Washington Hall and will include AEW’s Bryan Keith defending the Defy World Championship against Cody Chhun.

AEW star Jon Moxley announced for indie show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

One of AEW’s biggest stars is slated to appear for Pacific Northwest indie promotion Defy Wrestling later this month.

Defy has announced Jon Moxley for its Wraith show at Wonder Ballroom in Portland, Oregon on Friday, October 24. Moxley’s schedule is free that weekend with AEW not having a live Collision episode. Collision will be taped alongside Dynamite in San Antonio, Texas on October 22.

Throughout his AEW career, Moxley has worked limited indie dates for promotions like GCW Bloodsport, Wrestling Revolver, and Defy. This will mark his first time back in Defy since 2023.

Tickets for Wraith are set to go on sale tomorrow (October 9) at 1 p.m. Pacific time. Defy has not announced Moxley’s opponent yet or revealed more details about what he’ll be doing on the show.

Moxley — the leader of the Death Riders in AEW — is coming off a victory over Tomohiro Ishii on Dynamite last night.

Tony Khan praised Moxley in an interview with 3NT Wrestling this week, calling him the most consistent presence in AEW’s history.

“Jon Moxley works so hard. He’s a phenomenal wrestler. He’s a phenomenal leader. He’s a genius about pro wrestling,” Khan said. “And Jon Moxley’s one of my favorite people I’ve ever gotten to work with. And I’m really, really proud that Jon Moxley is in AEW. I think he was a fantastic World Champion time after time after time in AEW. Everything he’s done in this company has been to the benefit of AEW. And Jon Moxley’s a phenomenal, phenomenal wrestler.”

Ricky Saints relinquishes Defy World title following WWE NXT debut

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Following his WWE NXT arrival, Ricky Saints has had to relinquish Defy Wrestling’s World Championship belt.

The Seattle-based indie promotion announced today that their World Championship is now vacant — and a new champion will be crowned in their Super 8XGP tournament on Saturday, March 15. Participants and matchups for the tournament have not been announced yet but will be soon.

The former Ricky Starks sent in a video announcing the news, which he called “bittersweet.”

“I wanted to give a quick message to the fans of Defy. It is an honor and privilege to be your Defy World Champion, and it was a big goal of mine to do just that when I defeated KENTA,” Saints said. “But, unfortunately, when opportunity knocks — I must answer. And as everyone probably knows by now, I definitely answered that knock. And it is bittersweet because I have to relinquish the Defy World title.”

Saints only had a three-week reign as champion, winning the belt from KENTA on February 7 and making no title defenses. He was released from his AEW contract on February 10 after several months of questions about his status amid an absence from AEW programming.

Just one day after being let out of his AEW contract, Saints debuted for WWE on NXT. His first match then happened on NXT this past Tuesday with Saints & Je’Von Evans defeating Wes Lee & Ethan Page.

“While my reign and my time at Defy may have been short-lived, I hope and I pray that the memories to come will long supersede that,” Saints said. “So, until next time, stay Absolute.”

Swerve Strickland returning to Defy Wrestling for anniversary show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

AEW star Swerve Strickland is returning home for Defy Wrestling’s eight-year anniversary show.

Strickland will be in the house for Defy: Hundredth on Friday, February 7. The event is being held at Washington Hall in Seattle and will air live via Triller TV. Details regarding the role Strickland will be playing have not been announced yet.

Based in the Pacific Northwest, Defy played an important role in Strickland’s rise to stardom. He had three reigns as World Champion for the indie promotion. After winning the AEW World title last year, he made a surprise appearance at a Defy show to celebrate his victory and thank the fans for all of the support they have given him.

The main event of the first-ever Defy show in 2017 was Cody Rhodes defeating Strickland.

Two days before returning to Defy, Strickland will be in action against Ricochet on AEW Dynamite from Atlanta on Wednesday, February 5.

Defy: Hundredth is set to feature a Defy World Championship match with KENTA defending against Ricky Starks. Also announced for the show is Nick Wayne vs. Marcus Mathers.

AEW’s Max Caster to miss indie event following global IT outage

Posted on by Joseph Currier

An IT outage that caused global disruptions on Friday is also impacting the world of professional wrestling.

The mass IT outage was caused by a faulty tech update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. It disrupted air travel on Friday with airlines now working to get back on schedule. AEW wrestler Max Caster was supposed to appear for Defy Wrestling at their For the Glory show in Seattle tonight, but he sent out a video on social media announcing that he’s unable to make it. Caster’s tag team partner Anthony Bowens will still be at the show.

“Big disaster at the airport today. We were working all morning, all afternoon, trying to get me a new flight from New York to Seattle to come wrestle and to come meet the fans. And we were just not able to do it,” Caster said. “All the airlines were just not operating correctly today. Not their fault and not Defy’s fault. I really wish I was there.”

Caster apologized to the fans and promised that he’ll come back to Defy and make it up to everyone.

The Acclaimed (Caster & Bowens) were scheduled to face Midnight Heat (Eddie Pearl & Ricky Gibson) at the show.

Game Changer Wrestling promoter Brett Lauderdale posted that this was also a bad travel day for GCW with flight delays and cancellations. Changes will have to be made to the card for GCW’s So High event in St. Louis tonight.

WWE wrestler Chelsea Green tweeted that she spent eight hours at the Atlanta airport today but was finally able to get on a flight to tonight’s SmackDown in Omaha, Nebraska.

Wrestling Observer Live: WWE SmackDown thoughts, a talk with DEFY’s Matt Farmer

Posted on by Jim Valley

Image: WWE

It’s Saturday and that means Wrestling Observer Live.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: a guy in a pastel jacket feigns his retirement and attacks the top champion in WWE. Oh, you have heard it before? Only this time, it’s AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes in the roles of Mark Henry and John Cena. We talk about that and rest of WWE SmackDown.

Plus, I guess we have to discuss the latest with Vince McMahon legally.

I also talk to Matt Farmer about DEFY Wrestling’s success, it’s talent, dealing with wrestling politics, and more. It’s a packed show, so check it out.

Click here to listen (sub needed) or watch on YouTube below

AEW champion Swerve Strickland makes surprise appearance at Defy show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With the AEW World Championship belt around his waist, Swerve Strickland returned home on Friday night. He made a surprise appearance at Defy Wrestling’s event in Seattle.

Defy Here and Now streamed live on YouTube from Seattle’s Washington Hall. During the show, Strickland’s music hit and he made his way out to the ring to thank the fans for the support they’ve given him.

“After going all the way out to St. Louis winning this AEW World Championship, there was only one place I was going to go to come celebrate — and that was here in Defy Wrestling,” Strickland told the fans. “There’s no other place like this in the world. I’ve been saying it since 2017 and I still mean that to this day. You guys are very special because y’all have something very special that not a lot of places have. Y’all can predict the future. Y’all set the tone for the rest of the independents of wrestling. Not only that, now y’all set the tone for the rest of the wrestling industry.”

Strickland pointed out that the main event of the first-ever Defy Wrestling show was him facing Cody Rhodes. Now, they’re the top champions in AEW and WWE.

“Shout out Cody because he believed in me too, just like I believed in him,” Strickland said. “And that’s what it takes to build places like this.”

Strickland is a former Defy World Champion, holding the title three times. He credited winning the title for starting his rise in pro wrestling.

“So with all that being said, I’m here just to simply come out here and say thank you,” Strickland said. “I’m not going to take too much more of the time because they got a lot of people back there ready to get out here and perform and also start their journey too. But my gift to you is, at the end of the show, I’ll be doing the meet-and-greet with every last one of you for free.”

Last month, Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to become the first Black wrestler to ever win the AEW men’s World Championship.

Strickland is defending the AEW World Championship against Christian Cage at Double or Nothing in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 26.

Tacoma, Washington is Strickland’s hometown.

PROGRESS & Defy Wrestling announce merger

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Independent wrestling promotions PROGRESS Wrestling and Defy Wrestling are joining forces.

The two promotions issued a press release on Friday announcing that they are merging together. PROGRESS is based in the United Kingdom, while Defy is based out of Seattle in the United States.

“The merger will create a truly global presence for both organisations with mutual benefits for both parties and aid further expansion plans that will offer something really exciting for wrestling fans around the world,” the press release said.

The announcement was made in advance of Defy’s seventh anniversary show taking place tonight (February 9). PROGRESS has existed since 2012 and was sold to Lee McAteer and Martyn Best at the end of 2021.

With the merger, Defy content will soon be available on PROGRESS’ Demand PROGRESS Plus streaming service.

Friday’s press release included a statement from Best:

Lee and I really welcome Jim [Perry] and Matt Farmer joining us at PROGRESS, and this is a major step in our wider plans for more international collaborations. We previously had a strong content partnership with WWE, and we have a developing relationship with Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH. With DEFY joining us, I am sure that our many combined fans will be very excited to see what happens next.

We will be continuing our closeness in Philadelphia with us both having shows at The Collective immediately prior to WrestleMania 40, and we are planning our second joint show in London later in the year. DEFY will also soon be seen on DEMAND PROGRESS PLUS, our content and live streaming platform, in the very near future and we have some fascinating ideas to highlight the great wrestling talent we both work with.

Defy’s Jim Perry said:

I’ve been an admirer of PROGRESS from the start, and in some ways, they helped inspire the creation of DEFY. We have known each other for a number of years, and been working on many collaborations, including our successful double-show in London last August. I’m very excited about the opportunities of our more formal coming together, and the fans can expect to see some really neat ideas emerging.

Filthy Four Daily: G-1 Finals and semis, Rampage, Smackdown, Tom at DEFY, more!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

FILTHY FOUR DAILY with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including reviews of the G-1 finals and semi-finals, Tom’s new favorite show Rampage, Smackdown from Friday night, DEFY from Saturday and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Right Click Save As

Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show: Nick Wayne wins DEFY title, AEW Rampage & Battle of the Belts VI

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

The Bryan & Vinny Show is back with tons to talk about including a look at Nick Wayne’s big win over Swerve Strickland for the Defy Title on Saturday night and how that ties into Nick’s Dynamite debut, plus full recaps of both AEW Rampage and AEW Battle of the Belts VI! A fun show as always so check it out~!

Right Click Save As

Nick Wayne to make AEW debut on July 12 Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

Wrestling prodigy and new DEFY Champion Nick Wayne will make his AEW debut on the July 12th AEW Dynamite, days after his 18th birthday.

His opponent: Swerve Strickland. 

Strickland lost his DEFY title to Wayne Saturday in Seattle, Washington, and after the match, Strickland called his shot for a third meeting in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, for Wayne’s AEW debut.

The two are 1-1 in their series thus far. This match will not be for the title.

Wayne, son of the late wrestler and trainer Buddy Wayne, signed a contract with AEW last February after being presented with the contract by Darby Allin at a DEFY event. 

At the time, our Bryan Alvarez noted the deal was more of an apprenticeship as Wayne, then 16, had to finish high school first. After his 18th birthday, he would then become a fully contracted wrestler.

Since breaking out onto the scene, Wayne has been a regular on the indies and has wrestled worldwide while still working his way through high school. He’s been a GCW regular, notably competing against Will Ospreay last year in a dream match of his after his appearance for last January’s WRLD of GCW in New York City had to be scrapped due to his age.

Bryan & Vinny & Craig & Sam Show: Defy from Saturday, AEW Rampage, weekly live Q&A!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

The Bryan & Vinny & Craig & SAM FINES Show is up today with tons to talk about! Sam goes all over the country shooting video for wrestling and tonight he’s joining us to talk Defy on Saturday night, Rampage from Friday night, our weekly Q&A and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Right Click Save As

Wrestling Observer Radio: UFC recap, New Japan, Jay White, DEFY, Smackdown, Rampage

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including a full recap of UFC with Ryan Frederick, New Japan’s weekend show and how that plays into Battle in the Valley, Bryan’s trip to Defy and thoughts on the top three matches, Smackdown and Rampage thoughts and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start: UFC 284 recap with Ryan Frederick

30:17: Eric Froelich passes away

32:18: NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka recap

54:49: Bryan’s DEFY report

1:03:50: SmackDown recap

1:12:40: Rampage recap

Right Click Save As

Filthy Four Daily: Bryan and Tom Lawlor talk Defy, Stardom Cinderella, New Japan Strong, Smackdown

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including a bunch of thoughts on Tom vs. Jon Moxley from Defy with backstage fun, Stardom Cinderella tournament, New Japan Strong, Smackdown and so much more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Right Click Save As