A Kenny Omega appearance has been announced for tonight’s episode of Dynamite.
AEW confirmed on social media that Omega would be making an appearance. The graphic has him billed as the AEW and Impact World Champion, as well as the AAA Mega Champion. Omega is also in possession of the TNA World Heavyweight title.
Omega defeated Rich Swann at Impact’s Rebellion event this past Sunday. With the win, he is now a major champion in three different wrestling promotions.
On last week’s episode of Dynamite, Omega, Don Callis, and the rest of The Elite fleed from their trailer as Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston rammed into it with a truck.
Here are the matches so far announced for tonight:
Darby Allin vs. 10 for the TNT title
Penelope Ford vs. Kris Statlander
Orange Cassidy vs. Penta El Zero Miedo
The Nightmare Family (Dustin Rhodes, Lee Johnson, and Billy Gunn) vs. The Factory (QT Marshall, Aaron Solow, and Nick Comoroto)
The Young Bucks vs. Matt and Mike Sydal in a AEW World Tag Team title eliminator match
“He asked me about it, and I love good ideas,” Khan explained. “This was something Kenny brought up that I thought was a great idea. I give 100 percent of the credit to Kenny.”
Khan brought up the relationship that Callis and Omega have, noting that Omega has been a “very powerful advocate” for Callis, who has made appearances in AEW as a manager for Omega. Regarding Omega’s recent change in character, Khan compared it to Steve Austin’s run in 2001 as a heel, wanting to present something new.
“He just didn’t want to present the same Kenny Omega people have seen,” he explained. “He put so much thought into innovating and changing, and that’s why I always say the best wrestlers in the world, Kenny and Jon [Moxley] are the two.”
Khan also brought up his appearances with Tony Schiavone on recent episodes of Impact, saying the “paid ads” idea came up while he was backstage at the Impact tapings supporting Omega.
“While I was there, Tony Schiavone, who lives a couple of hours away, I said come hang out with me,” he said. “And I came up with the idea, why don’t we buy ads on Impact. It’s great. It promotes our show and it also keeps the storyline with them going.”
Omega most recently teamed up with The Good Brothers at this past weekend’s Hard to Kill event. His team defeated Rich Swann, Chris Sabin, and Moose, with AEW World champion Omega pinning Impact World champion Swann.
Impact Wrestling returned with a two-week holiday special, showcasing the best matches of 2020 as well as their Year-End Awards.
Scott D’Amore and Josh Matthews hosted the show tonight. Throughout the night, we had a series of showcase matches, award announcements, and backstage segments building towards Genesis and Hard to Kill.
The awards given on this episode were focused on the performers themselves, awarding the best of each division:
Deonna Purrazzo won the Wrestler of the Year 2020. She said that she just wasn’t the Knockout of the Year, the best technical wrestler of the year, but as voted by the fans, the Best Wrestler of the Year, all in less than 7 months since her debut. She invited us all to enter the era of Virtuosa.
Purrazzo also won the Knockout of the Year 2020. She brought up how she became a 2-time Knockouts champion this year, had the best matches of the year, and became the first-ever Ironwoman in Impact history.
Ace Austin won the 2020 X-Division Wrestler of the Year. He cut a promo accepting it, saying that he really just spent only about 4 months in the X-Division, but it was enough for him to win it. He said he’d like to revisit the X-Division soon.
The North won the 2020 Impact Tag Team of the Year. We saw Ethan Page call Alexander on the phone giving him the news, telling him that even if they are going through some hard times, they’re still the best, as voted by the fans. Alexander agreed that maybe this was how things would get better, but when he called back, Karate Man answered the phone and Alexander raged.
Matches shown throughout the night:
X-Division champion Ace Austin defeated Trey Miguel at Hard to Kill
The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) defeating Impact Tag Team champions The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) at Turning Point
Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defeating Jordynne Grace in a 30 Minute Ironman Match at Emergence Night 2.
Moose defeating ECIII at Bound For Glory
In addition, we had segments announcing updates on the Genesis and Hard To Kill 2021 cards:
Chris Bey has been added to the Hard To Kill X-Division title match, making it X-Division Champion Manik vs. Rohit Raju vs. Chris Bey.
Taya Valkyrie cut a great promo and made a challenge to Deonna Purrazzo for Hard To Kill.
We got a promo by Matthew Palmer, one of the independent wrestlers that worked as security last week who unfortunately angered Moose in the Willie Mack pull apart. Moose had said that none of these ‘indie wrestlers’ couldn’t hang with him for more than 3 minutes. Palmer accepted the challenge.
The participants and first-round matches to the Super X Cup were announced. The tournament takes place at Genesis on January 9th. Matches are Ace Austin vs. Suicide, Daivari vs. Cousin Jake, Crazzy Steve vs. Tre Lamar, and KC Navarro vs. Blake Christian.
We got a new Christmas-themed commercial from AEW’s Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone. Khan said he could stop Omega from appearing at the Hard to Kill event, but if Impact wanted Omega wrestling their guys, then he’s fine with it. Khan also invited Impact wrestlers to make an appearance on Dynamite. After Schiavone ran down the card for tomorrow’s Dynamite, Khan said he has been looking at Impact’s Tag Team contracts and that Omega better win at Hard To Kill.
Finally, we got a promo by Kenny Omega and Don Callis. Callis brought up a story of how Omega told him as a kid that he wanted to run the wrestling business one day. Omega said he was always meant to be the AEW World Champion, the only championship “worth a damn”. Callis compared Omega’s Impact arrival as a Christmas gift and that he was seven stars right out of the womb. Omega said he was often imitated but never duplicated.
World Champion Kenny Omega will be in action in a no DQ match against Joey Janela on tonight’s AEW Dynamite.
Omega and Janela were originally scheduled to face off in the first round of the AEW World title eliminator tournament in October. Janela ended up being pulled from the tournament due to contact tracing. Omega went on to win the tournament, beating Hangman Page at Full Gear in the finals.
Should Janela win, he will be granted a future title shot against Omega.
A 12-man tag is also scheduled for tonight’s show. Last week’s battle between MJF and Orange Cassidy for the Dynamite Diamond Ring saw involvement in, or interference from, all fourteen competitors. The match will be Chris Jericho, MJF, Santana, Ortiz, Sammy Guevara & Jake Hager vs. Best Friends, Top Flight & Varsity Blondes.
As The Dark Order continues to look to add to their ranks, Hangman Page agreed to team with Alex Reynolds and John Silver on tonight’s show. They will face Matt Hardy and Private Party in trios action.
Cody Rhodes will face Angelico this evening. SCU will also take on The Acclaimed. An appearance by Sting and promos by Dustin Rhodes and Eddie Kingston have also been advertised.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Show Report —
Matt Hardy & Private Party (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy) defeated “Hangman” Adam Page & Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds)
Page and Quen started off, but they wrestled to a stalemate, so Hardy tagged in. Hardy forced Page into his corner, but Page escaped a triple team and his team dispatched Hardy and Private Party. Silver celebrated by jumping on Page’s back, so Page dropped him onto Kassidy and covered for two.
Reynolds made a blind tag and he and Silver nailed Kassidy with a double team. Page followed it up with a running Shooting Star Press for two. Kassidy escaped and reached Quen for a hot tag. Quen downed all three opponents and Private Party hit a double team sequence on Silver for two.
Hardy and Private Party maintained control by isolating Silver, who eventually countered a dive and hit a brainbuster, allowing him to reach Page. Kassidy also tagged in, but Page went on a roll with clotheslines and a fallaway slam before landing a plancha on Hardy.
Back in the ring, Page flattened Kassidy with a lariat for a near fall. Hardy made a blind tag and hit the Side Effect for two. Page fought out of the Twist of Fate and reached Reynolds for yet another hot tag. Reynolds ran wild with forearms and a neckbreaker, then he, Silver, and Page hit a nice combination of power moves. Reynolds had it won, but Hardy pulled him out of the ring before the three, and hit Silver with the Twist of Fate on the floor.
Reynolds was isolated in the ring as Private Party hit him with Gin ‘n’ Juice. Before they could cover, Hardy tagged in, and he covered for three.
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The Inner Circle were interviewed about MJF’s New York Times Best Performance award for the Dinner Debonair. MJF began to speak, but Jericho emphasized that he created the Dinner Debonair and was the co-star. MJF said that the Times got one thing wrong: he couldn’t have done it without Jericho. MJF patronizingly said that he sees Jericho as a mentor, the GOAT, and his best friend. Through gritted teeth, all Jericho could say was “congratulations.”
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A video aired of Cody and Brandi Rhodes preparing for Christmas at home. A present arrived at their door, and inside the package was an ornament that read “We’re expecting a new baby, due 2021.”
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Cody was billed as a “future father” from Justin Roberts’ ring introduction.
Cody Rhodes (w/ Arn Anderson) defeated Angélico (w/ Jack Evans)
They performed technical wrestling early on, but neither man could establish any sort of advantage. Angélico was able to match Cody move for move and taunted as Cody sold frustration. Cody took control with a dropkick after a lengthy rope-running sequence as we went to a break. During the break, Evans hopped up on the ring apron, but Arn pulled him off and shoved him down. Angélico controlled the whole way.
Back from break, Cody escaped out of a suplex and downed Angélico with a kick. Cody hit clotheslines and a powerslam for two. Angélico caught the Rhodes drop-down right hand and turned it into a grounded octopus. With his arms trapped, Cody had to use his teeth to get a rope break.
Cody hit a pump kick and went for a backslide for two, but Angélico countered the Disaster Kick into a dragon screw. Angélico locked on the Navarro Death Roll, but Cody was able to reach the ropes. Cody hit the drop down right hand and went for Cross Rhodes, but Angélico fought out. Cody then hit a step-up Cody Cutter from the top rope for the pin.
After the match, Team Taz came out to “congratulate” Cody on he and Brandi’s pregnancy. Starks asked where this congratulations was when he and Cage made Cody and Darby Allin, who was watching from above, their sons. Taz said that Cage would whoop Allin’s ass. Team Taz walked to the ring to attack Cody, but the lights went out and Sting made his entrance, bat in hand. He stared down Team Taz and then the segment just ended.
They advertised Sting’s appearance tonight as “Sting Speaks,” so unless that happens later, that segment will come across as treading water from prior weeks.
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Miro was interviewed. It was revealed that Miro injured three AEW staff members and that he is being fined $75,000. Miro said that his problem with Orange Cassidy is that he doesn’t care about all the important things like subscribers and ratings. He said that he’d face Sonny Kiss on AEW Dark next week, and Kip and Penelope would announce their wedding date on next week’s Dynamite.
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Eddie Kingston came out to the ring and said he doesn’t care about anyone in attendance. He’s here to address his enemies. Kingston’s first enemy is God, because he’s still living. His second enemy is PAC, who he said went back home to nurse his injuries and that his career is done. He was about to talk about Lance Archer, but Archer immediately ran out to beat him down.
Butcher, Blade, and Bunny ran out to stop Archer’s attack, but then the Lucha Bros arrived alongside PAC. They all beat down Kingston, Butcher, and Blade. Fenix took out Butcher and Blade with a tornillo. Archer was about to chokeslam Kingston, but PAC kicked Kingston out of his grip, and they exchanged words, but they and the Lucha Bros stood tall.
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Dustin Rhodes was inteviewed by Dasha. Regarding Evil Uno’s offer from last week, Dustin said that “7” is still a bad idea. He said that every single member of Dark Order will fall, and next week, he’ll face Uno.
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Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, MJF, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, & Ortiz) defeated Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?), Top Flight (Darius Martin & Daunte Martin), & Varsity Blondes (Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.)
This was originally a 14-man tag with Wardlow and Brandon Cutler added, but Wardlow couldn’t make the show due to a family conflict. Orange Cassidy joined commentary for the match, but he didn’t say much.
Trent and Jericho started off, but Pillman wanted in. Pillman surprised Jericho after a strong lockup, so Jericho beat him down with strikes. Pillman fought back with chops and springboard moves. A springboard dropkick sent Jericho to the floor. Pillman dove with a rotating plancha, which nearly missed.
Garrison tagged in and landed a slingshot legdrop for two. Jericho was able to push Pillman into the Inner Circle’s corner and Guevara tagged in. Garrison tagged in Daunte as two of the best athletes in the company faced off. Guevara flipped him off and downed him with a dropkick. Daunte surprised Guevara with a leg lariat and Top Flight tried a double team which didn’t really land like they intended.
Guevara dropped Daunte with a right hand, leading to Trent and Santana tagging in. Taylor and Ortiz faced off as well as the Best Friends interacted with Santana and Ortiz for the first time since their parking lot brawl. Everyone entered the fray, but the face team sent the Inner Circle packing, and they all came together for a six-way hug.
Back in the ring, Santana hit the Three Amigos suplexes, with Ortiz joining for the third. MJF tagged in with a dive onto Trent’s arm. The Inner Circle beat Trent down on the floor as their team complained to the official, and maintained their advantage through a commercial break.
Guevara cockily went for a Shooting Star Press, but Trent rolled out of the way and hit a bicycle knee, allowing him to tag in Darius. Darius sent the Inner Circle off the apron and hit a Spanish Fly on Ortiz. He went for a dive, but was cut off, so Daunte made a blind tag and immediately dove onto the pile after.
Best Friends hit their half-and-half Soul Food combination and Garrison tagged in. Garrison cleared the ring but was cut off by a bat strike from Jericho. Hager tagged in and hit an awkward-looking F10 in a reference to Wardlow, then MJF tagged in to get the pin.
The teams brawled after the match, but Top Flight were the only ones left standing in the ring when it was all said and done.
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Thunder Rosa was interviewed about Dr. Britt Baker. Rosa said that she’s wrestled all over the world, and that it was Baker’s fault that she lost her NWA Women’s Championship match with Serena Deeb. She laughed at the idea that Baker said Rosa “doesn’t belong.” Rebel arrived and said that Rosa’s laugh is terrible, and Baker attacked from behind. They poured water on Rosa’s face, smearing her face paint, and Baker called Rosa ugly.
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The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) defeated SCU (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian)
The Acclaimed made their Dynamite debuts in this match. Caster’s schtick is that he raps about his opponents before their matches in a very similar manner to Thuganomics-era John Cena, and he did the same to SCU. Kazarian grabbed a mic and returned the favor. I’ll just say he’s a better wrester than rapper.
Kazarian and Bowens started off. A Northern Lights suplex got Kazarian a quick two count. Daniels tagged in, and a double team got another two. Bowens powered out of a move and tagged in Caster, who was met with a diving dropkick from Daniels.
Bowens tagged in but was again met with an attack from Kazarian until Caster knocked Kazarian off the apron, allowing The Acclaimed to beat him down on the floor. The Acclaimed maintained their advantage for a long time, until Kazarian hit a slingshot DDT and tagged in Daniels.
Daniels hit clotheslines and right hands on Bowens. He hit an STO on Caster and a Blue Thunder Bomb on Bowens for two. Daniels set up for the Best Moonsault Ever, but The Acclaimed cut him off. Bowens and Daniels fought on the top rope, but Daniels pushed Bowens down and landed a diving crossbody for two.
Bowens kicked out of an O’Connor roll, allowing Caster to hit Daniels with their boombox. Bowens followed it up with something similar to a Final Cut for the win, their eighth straight.
After the match, Caster took a mic and rapped about the Young Bucks, who were ringside, saying he and Bowens want the tag titles. Bowens grabbed the mic and laid down the challenge, saying that The Acclaimed have arrived.
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Top Flight were interviewed about why they made the save against MJF and Chris Jericho after the match. Darius said that MJF was the hottest young star until Top Flight arrived. They’re the coldest team in AEW, and they challenged MJF and Jericho to a match next week.
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Big Swole & Serena Deeb defeated Ivelisse & Diamante
Ivelisse & Deeb started off. Deeb downed Ivelisse with a clothesline. Swole and Diamante tagged in, and Diamante was able to hit a German suplex. Ivelisse and Diamante kept up their beatdown on Swole through the break.
Deeb got the hot tag and hit a rope-hang neckbreaker on Ivelisse. She applied a figure-four leglock, but Ivelisse rolled to tag in Diamante. Ivelisse and Diamante flattened Deeb with a combination sidewalk slam for two.
Swole tagged in and laid in chops on Diamante, but missed Dirty Dancing. Ivelisse grabbed Swole’s hair, but Swole was able to fight out of a Sliced Bread and hit a Tiger Driver. She followed it up with the Clearwater Cloverleaf, Deeb controlled Ivelisse, and Diamante tapped out.
Nyla Rose attacked after the match with Vickie Guerrero. They and Ivelisse and Diamante continued their beatdown, but Red Velvet ran out with a steel chair, sending the heels packing.
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After the commercial break that occurred during the previous match, a video aired promoting AEW’s new partnership with Rooster Teeth, headlined by Scorpio Sky.
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The Best Friends and Orange Cassidy addressed Miro outside. They said they’d make an appearance at Kip and Penelope’s wedding.
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A video aired highlighting Jurassic Express, who will face “5” and “10” of the Dark Order next week. FTR and Tully Blanchard came out to commentary to complain, calling Jurassic Express a sideshow. They’re offended that as the greatest tag team in the world, time is being sent on a gimmick like Jurassic Express.
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Lineup for next week’s Dynamite:
Young Bucks (c) vs. The Acclaimed for the AEW Tag Team Championships
Chris Jericho & MJF vs. Top Flight
Dustin Rhodes vs. Evil Uno
Jurassic Express vs. Colt Cabana, “5”, and “10
PAC vs. The Butcher
Hikaru Shida in action
Also, Chris Jericho will be on commentary. Dynamite will air either at its normal time or immediately following the end of NBA on TNT.
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No Disqualification match: Kenny Omega (w/ Don Callis) defeated Joey Janela (w/ Sonny Kiss)
Janela tossed a garbage can in Omega’s face during his entrance as Callis told Schiavone to get out of commentary so Callis could speak. Schiavone told Callis “kiss my ass.”
Janela landed a tope suicida and set up a chair, but Omega turned it into a Kotaro Crusher onto the chair. Omega hit a baseball slide and his Terminator dive as Callis called the match with a house microphone, calling it “personal commentary.” Omega attacked Janela with a cookie sheet.
Callis handed Omega a microphone and Omega used it to amplify his attack as he and Callis bantered. Omega then landed a moonsault through a trash can. He continued his attack with chops and strikes with the cookie sheet before hitting a springboard stomp through the trash can. Omega set up for the One-Winged Angel, but Janela countered out with a reverse hurricanrana.
Kiss set up a table on the outside as Janela looked for weapons. Janela set up Omega on the table and put him through it with a diving leg drop. Back in the ring, Omega rolled out of the way of a top-rope moonsault and landed two V-Triggers. The One-Winged Angel followed for the win in about six minutes.
After the match, Callis said that there are no more unanswered questions after the AEW Title eliminator tournament. The Death Triangle came out and PAC said that there was unfinished business, as Fenix never lost to Omega because he couldn’t compete due to injury.
Callis said that wrestlers don’t tell the world champion what to do, but PAC had already spoken to Tony Khan, and on December 30, Omega will defend the AEW Championship against Fenix. Callis and Omega berated them as the show closed.
Figure Four Daily with Bryan Alvarez is back with special guest and Impact VP Don Callis to discuss the just-announced main event of January’s Hard To Kill: AEW World Champion Kenny Omega & Impact World Tag Team Champions Good Brothers vs. Impact World Champion Rich Swann and Motor City Machine Guns.
With Impact Wrestling’s Final Resolution special being taped in advance, AEW World Champion Kenny Omega appeared on the show on the same night as he defended his AAA Mega Championship at Triplemania.
It was announced during Final Resolution that Omega and Don Callis were outside of the building in Omega’s bus. Later in the show, Callis did an interview outside of the bus and was asked if Omega planned on getting involved in the show. Callis said there’s no way he would allow Omega to get involved in Final Resolution. Callis said Omega was there visiting family.
That family ended up being Omega’s former Bullet Club stablemate Karl Anderson. He met with Omega and Callis on Omega’s bus and reminisced with Omega about the good old days. Anderson said he’d love to talk with them all night, but he had to go wrestle Ethan Page. Callis said Anderson could beat Page in a couple of minutes and be back in time for cocktail hour.
Anderson said it might take a little longer than that, but Omega and Callis told him that the Machine Gun Karl Anderson who made the 2012 G1 Climax finals wouldn’t even need a minute to defeat Page. Anderson asked if this was a roast. Callis said they just wanted Anderson to come back so they could get on with the partying. Omega called Anderson an inspiration and asked if the 2012 G1 finalist version of Anderson was gone. Anderson got hyped up and said he’d show them the Machine Gun.
Anderson defeated Page in their match. If Page won, The North (Page & Josh Alexander) would have gotten a shot at Anderson & Doc Gallows’ Impact Tag Team titles. Gallows didn’t appear at Final Resolution following a previous attack by Page.
Omega didn’t appear again on Final Resolution after his segment with Anderson. The segment is available to watch below:
Impact Wrestling returns from Nashville, TN for this week’s historic episode, where the newly crowned AEW World Champion Kenny Omega will have his first interview after capturing the title. Furthermore, this is the last stop before the Impact+ special Final Resolution, taking place Saturday on Impact+.
The opening video was a full recap of AEW Dynamite’s World title main event from last week, where Kenny Omega, with the aid of Don Callis, defeated Jon Moxley to capture the AEW World title.
The show opened with Callis and Omega’s bus arriving at the Impact venue, where Josh Mathews will personally interview them both later.
Chris Sabin (with Alex Shelley) defeated Josh Alexander (with Ethan Page)
Alex Shelley made his return two weeks ago and ever since, Sabin and Shelley set their sights on the Tag Team titles, but before that, he’d take revenge on XXXL and The North. On the other side of the ring, The North has been on a downward spiral ever since losing the titles to Anderson and Gallows. They are hoping to earn a title shot at Final Resolution, but before Saturday, Alexander has to take on Sabin.
This was power vs. speed. Alexander dominated about half of the match until Sabin managed to escape Alexander. Towards the end, Alexander regained control but got distracted by his own tag partner, who pushed for Alexander to take Sabin out of action. The distraction was enough for Sabin to recover and roll up Alexander for the win.
With all the buzz around Impact this week, you couldn’t start with a better match. Two of the best wrestlers in the promotion went at it, even if the finish was somewhat weak.
The North is still likely to earn a tag title match at Final Resolution, but given that the MCMGs have gained a win over Alexander, we may be looking into a three-way feud.
– Josh Mathews and Madison Rayne ran down tonight’s card and talked about the upcoming interview with Kenny Omega and Don Callis. They’re really hyping up that the AEW Champion is at Impact.
– Backstage, Chris Bey approached Moose about the main event tonight, where they’re teaming against Rich Swan and Willie Mack. Moose completely ignored Bey but told him that they’ll be talking on Saturday if Bey manages to win the Impact World title.
– We got an old school NWA-style paid ad with AEW President Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone promoting Dynamite. It was also a promo from Khan, talking about how he’s not going to reprimand Omega for breach of contract. Instead, he bought some time from Impact’s programming to invite Don Callis to tomorrow’s Dynamite, where he’ll accommodate him and Omega. Khan even dropped the rumor that he was buying Impact Wrestling.
Brian Myers defeated TJP
This match came from TJP challenging Myers last week after Myers had been bullying himself, Crazzy Steve, and Suicide..
Good match, it got a bit more time than I would have expected. Match started with an arrogant Myers dominating. Soon after, TJP turned things around. The rest of the match was back and forth, with TJP chasing the mamba splash, and Myers mostly hitting big moves. Finish saw TJP land the mamba splash, only to get reversed into a pin for a near fall, followed by a lariat for the win by Myers.
Wasn’t expecting for Myers to win, but I’m sure this will add some fire between the TJP and Rohit Raju story, and hopefully push Myers to a bigger feud.
– Backstage, Cody Deaner told Cousin Jake that he was gonna go out there alone, but Cousin Jake told him that he’d be there to counter Joe Doering. Cody Deaner told him to not get involved no matter what happened.
– Rohit Raju saw TJP backstage and made fun of him for losing yet again. Raju said that at Final Resolution, he is having his final Defeat Rohit Challenge, opened to anyone except TJP. Raju left, but not before TJP wished him good luck in his challenge.
Eric Young (with Joe Doering) defeated Cody Deaner (with Cousin Jake)
For the last couple of weeks, Eric Young and Doering have been attacking random people, Deaner included. So Deaner challenged EY to a match, so he can prove to Young that he isn’t a nobody.
Match saw a fired-up Cody Deaner start strong, but after accidentally going shoulder-first into the ring post, EY turned things around and worked over his shoulder for a while. Cody Deaner managed to make a strong comeback, coming close to hitting a top rope headbutt on Young, but unfortunately for him, he distracted himself with Doering and Cousin Jake, giving Young time to counter by hitting a piledriver to pick up the win.
This was arguably the best we’ve seen from Cody Deaner ever on Impact, even if the match was short and he lost.
After the match, Rhino came for the save before Doering and EY took out both Deaners with piledrivers.
At this point, it seems we’re getting a Rhino vs. Doering match soon, but no real direction for the EY/Doering team.
– Tommy Dreamer confronted Larry D about the whole John E. Bravo shooting. Larry D challenged Dreamer to a match at Final Resolution: if he wins, he gets off scot-free, but if he loses, he goes to prison. Hopefully, Final Resolution is the end to this terrible storyline.
– Afterwards, Dreamer approached Scott D’Amore, who told him that he hated wrestlers making matches. Dreamer wanted to talk about Kenny Omega and Don Callis because he knew these situations tend to send the wrong messages to the locker room. D’Amore was happy about Omega and Callis being there. There you go, seeds for the inter-promotion rivalry being planted.
Taya & Rosemary defeated Deonna Purrazzo & Kimber Lee in a Knockouts Tag Team Championship tournament first-round match
This is the last of the four first-round matches in the Knockouts Tag Team Championship Tournament. Winners of this match advance to face Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz in the semifinals.
This was one of the better first-round matches we got, both teams meshed nicely together and all went all out. Purrazzo and Lee cut off Taya early on, but once Rosemary came in with the hot tag, all hell broke loose between the four women. Finish saw Purrazzo accidentally kick Lee, giving Rosemary the opening to spear Purrazzo. Taya took Purrazzo out of the ring, leaving Lee for Rosemary to pin.
The semi-finals are set, with Taya and Rosemary facing Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz, and the team of Jordynne Grace and Jazz taking on Havok and Nevaeh.
– Backstage, Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb with a K approached Alisha Edwards about matching outfits. Edwards said that she had bigger problems to deal with right now and berated Dashwood as she needs to focus on her husband. Dashwood was insulted that Alisha didn’t have time for her and told her that she would teach her a lesson.
– Purrazzo and Lee complained to D’Amore that she was being forced to deal with a zombie and the tag team tournament. D’Amore told her that she now had to defend the title against Rosemary at Final Resolution.
– Sami Callihan cut a promo in the ring about being the best since day one. He said that Impact needed Callihan more than he needed Impact. He replayed footage when he took out Edwards’ eye, saying that it meant a lot of ratings, and thus he had done it again two weeks ago.
Alisha Edwards came out. Callihan told her to not even think about it, because she’d break her neck if she got in the ring. With the distraction, Eddie Edwards snuck behind Callihan and got into a brawl until he sent Callihan running with a bat in hand.
Eddie Edwards was all fired up about being back backstage. Alisha told him that they needed to deal with her problem now, so we’re likely getting Dashwood & Kaleb with a K vs. Eddie & Alisha Edwards soon.
Moose & Chris Bey defeated Impact World champion Rich Swann & Willie Mack
There are several stories between these four men. Moose and Bey have been making advances at Swann’s championship by going after Willie Mack. So far, Moose has defeated Mack, but hasn’t earned a title shot yet. Meanwhile, Bey lost to Willie Mack last week but managed to enrage Swann into putting his title on the line at Final Resolution.
Match saw Moose and Bey cut off Mack early on and work over him for about half of the match until Mack hit two desperation stunners on Moose so he could tag out. Swann came in like fire, running wild on both Moose and Bey, Mack joined in a couple of minutes later, but was caught by Moose’s lights out, and beaten up for Bey to simply come in and pin him, getting his win back. Good main event, everyone looked great and it helped build Chris Bey for saturday’s title shot.
At this point, Chris Bey is likely losing his title shot at Final Resolution, but Moose has not a straight path to the title going into 2021.
– After Mathews and Rayne hyped the Omega and Callis interview one last time, we saw Rich Swann all packed up, heading out of the arena. He was stopped by security because ‘the world champion’ had the whole parking lot blocked off. Swann said HE was the champion. The security guard told him that it was Kenny Omega doing so, by order of ‘the world champion’. Swann angrily walked away. More seeds being planted!
Finally, it was time for the Kenny Omega and Don Callis interview. We saw Josh Mathews enter the tour bus where he met Callis and Omega. They started with the ceremonial nameplate change from Jon Moxley to Kenny Omega’s.
Mathew’s first question was to Callis, asking when this whole plan had started. Callis said that this went back 27 years, back when he was trained as a wrestler under the Golden Sheik. They became family, and that is where he met the Sheik’s nephew, Kenny Omega. Callis said he didn’t make a comeback to start a podcast or be a commentator for NJPW, but it was all part of the plan of joining Omega to make history. He said that he already made history by booking Omega vs. Jericho, which subsequently led to the birth of AEW.
Callis said that last week, they made history for a second time by crowning Omega the AEW World Champion, and setting the course of history on the right path. He and Omega are not there to make matches, nor make memories, but make history.
Mathews asked Omega if what happened last week could tarnish his legacy. Omega put it in perspective, saying that if Mathews had a father figure and he saw someone attacking this given father figure, he’d also go after revenge. He tried to adhere to the gentlemen’s agreement but Moxley broke that when he attacked Callis. That is why he did what he did on Wednesday.
Omega said that he has the top matches on AEW, in Mexico, in Japan, in the UK, everywhere, and so he is now here in Impact Wrestling. Omega said that he is a collector, and while he already has the most coveted item in his collection, he was not opposed to adding other coveted items.
Kenny Omega teased having a big surprise for tomorrow’s Dynamite before closing with his signature phrase of goodbye, good night, and BANG! All three men were perfect.
Final Thoughts:
Great show by Impact. They showcased a lot of their best talent with good matches, they kept the comedy and weirdness to a minimum, and played the AEW angle perfectly subtle, though not ambiguous.
Sting, a WCW icon, WWE Hall of Famer, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famer, made his long-rumored AEW debut last night.
After Cody Rhodes & Darby Allin defeated Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs in tag team action on last night’s Winter is Coming edition of Dynamite, Starks, Hobbs, and fellow Team Taz member Brian Cage began to take out their frustration on Rhodes, Allin, and Rhodes’ manager, Arn Anderson.
As Hobbs threatened to hit Cody with Cage’s FTW title belt, the lights went out. Music played, snow fell, and Sting made his first AEW appearance.
Sting displayed his trademark baseball bat and made his way to the ring. Team Taz fled, leaving Sting to ominously stare at Anderson, Rhodes, and especially Allin.
In the main event, Kenny Omega used an assist from Impact Wrestling executive and longtime friend Don Callis to win the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley.
After Callis made his way to ringside with a microphone, he took a bump from Moxley. With the ref distracted, Omega hit Moxley with the mic and a One Winged Angel to win the title. Omega and Callis ran to a waiting car and promised to address the situation on Tuesday’s Impact Wrestling episode on AXS TV.
In the show’s opener, MJF and Orange Cassidy won the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale. The two will face off next week for the Dynamite Diamond Ring.
Chris Jericho was victorious over Frankie Kazarian, but his Inner Circle faction showed signs of disharmony. Jericho declared an ultimatum for next week’s Dynamite and said the group will either band together or split apart forever.
For more of what you missed, including Britt Baker vs. Leyla Hirsch, scroll down.
The ending of Super ShowDown brought a scary end to what was an embarrassing night for WWE.
Goldberg vs. The Undertaker reinforced the amount of risk that exists when you put two 50-year-old wrestlers against each other. The match was laid out exactly as it should have been and was on its way to being good, but things fell apart when Goldberg got knocked out.
Goldberg (who already had a mark on his forehead going into the match) got busted open when he went for a spear into the corner and rammed his head into the post less than three minutes in. From there, things only got worse.
A look at Undertaker vs. Goldberg, Naito vs. Ibushi and why referees and doctors need to be stopping matches when talent is legitimately hurt is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. Look at how small independents are ahead of the game when it comes to precautionary measures involving talent this past week.
Read complete coverage of New Japan Dominion, WWE Super Showdown and UFC 238, with business notes, poll results, match-by-match coverage and star ratings for the pro wrestling shows.
Look at the injury situation and risks, look back at the Undertaker vs. Mick Foley Hell in a Cell match and what resulted from that, and the heyday of All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Look at what happened with the attempt to put on a women’s match in Saudi Arabia, the silliness of TV coverage in the past and not allowing women to wrestle there, and more behind the scenes at the show.
Also look at the upcoming G-1 Climax tournament and who to expect to be in it, TV coverage in the U.S. expanding, the newcomers to G-1, who is out from last year, the new Super J Cup tournament, a history of the Super J Cup, G-1 announcement plans and New Japan going to Australia.
Look at a wrestling television show being voted on for a nomination for a major award, John Cena’s future, FS 1 talk show on wrestling, HHH working in Japan and latest cards, and a Sasha Banks update.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight for Wrestling Observer Radio, covering Raw, G-1 and the latest news. You can send questions to tonight’s show to [email protected].
Impact head of creative Don Callis tweeted earlier today that he was trapped in the basement with terrified people after a shooting at Eaton Centre in Toronto. Hours later, he tweeted “Survived”. The only news reports I’ve seen only talk about two stabbings in the area about four hours ago. The area is filled with a ridiculous amount of people today for the Toronto Raptors NBA championship winning parade.
Regarding Aero Star, in the fall at Verano de Escandalo yesterday in Merida, Mexico, the last word we got is that he’s okay. He was backstage joking about it after with a lump on his head. He went to the hospital and they reported no serious injuries. He was very lucky. Aero Star fell off about a 20+ foot lighting stand and had his fall very slightly broken by Chessman but he flipped over and landed on his head. This looked not as gruesome as the Kota Ibushi bump at Dominion last week, but scarier.
Ibushi was back wrestling on Friday night, so didn’t miss even one scheduled show.
PWInsider reported Jonathan Gresham signing an ROH deal which will include moving to Baltimore and working more heavily with the ROH Dojo.
WWE
Raw is going heavy into the delivery of a great match tonight, and Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins matches are arguably two of the three best wrestlers on the main roster. With basketball over, ratings tonight should give an indication where things stand for a normal summer show. It’s the go-home Raw for Stomping Grounds.
The MTV Movie & TV Awards air tonight on MTV. The show was taped. Dwayne Johnson will be getting the MTV Generations Award on the show, which is their version of a career achievement award. This is the show where Roman Reigns was nominated for Best Real Life Hero and the Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair match was nominated for Best Fight along with a number of movie fights. I’m not sure a live one-take pro wrestling match and movie fight scenes are close to the same thing. But still, if they were going to honor something from Mania, it should have been Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston, but that didn’t have Ronda Rousey in it.
WWE has started heavily advertising Raw and Smackdown on the WWE Network.
Stephanie McMahon is in France for the Women’s World Cup to help promote Smackdown moving to FOX in October.
MISCELLANEOUS
There is still limited information regarding the arrest of Gable Steveson, the University of Minnesota heavyweight who was heavily coveted by just about everyone in MMA and WWE. Steveson, 19, took third in the NCAAs and second last week at the U.S. Open and was considered the greatest high school wrestler ever in the state of Minnesota by many, having won age group world championships. He and teammate Dylan Martinez were arrested on suspicion of sexual conduct. The alleged victim went to the hospital for treatment, and police have not released more details. Both wrestlers were arrested Saturday night after an alleged victim told police she was penetrated with an object. The wrestlers have not been charged. Steveson is expected in court tomorrow. Both were suspended by the team.
Regarding Martinez, who was a state champion at Fresno City College, the local media covered here.
Minoru Suzuki turned 51 today.
Defy Wrestling results from Saturday night in Portland, OR: Artemis Spencer b TJ Perkins to keep the Defy title, Brian Cage b Mike Santiago, Rebel Kel b Reia Von Slasher, Sonico & Leon Negro b Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs, Sloan b Danika Della Rouge, Judas Icarus & Elii Surge b Chris & Patrick Voros, Schaff b Travis Williams.
Defy Wrestling results from last night in Tacoma, WA: Schaff won four-way over Mike Santiago, Travis Williams and Cody Chhun, Danika Della Rouge b Reia Von Slasher, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs b Chris & Patrick Voros, Jordan Oasis & Liiza Hall b Guillermo Rosas & Cat Power, Rebel Kel b Sloan, Judas Icarus & Eli Surge b Brian & Kevin Cook. The next shows are 6/26 and 6/27 in Seattle at Washington Hall for the Defy 8X Grand Prix tournament. A poster seems to show L.A. Park, Tama Tonga and Joey Janela.
The annual Harley Race Wrestling camp will take place Labor Day weekend. Trainers and scouts will be announced later. Check here for more info.
Empire State Wrestling on 6/29 in North Tonawanda, NY at the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall featuring Josh Alexander vs. Jay Freddie, Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Kevin Bennett, Zachary Wentz vs. Anthony Gaines and more.
A new episode of Ten Pounds of Gold is now avaliable. It’s building Nick Aldis & Colt Cabana vs. The Briscoes at the ROH Best in the World PPV event.
Brett Hull wore a Ric Flair shirt to the St Louis Blues Stanley Cup parade and rally. (thanks to Matt Burrows)
Don Callis will be calling future shows for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The promotion’s global Twitter account tonight tweeted that Callis would be back for multiple events, including January’s Wrestle Kingdom 13 event. Callis responded to the news on Twitter, saying “Hello my little darlings… I’ve missed you.”
According to the October 22 issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Don Callis wasn’t called to do King of Pro Wrestling. He didn’t appear for the last three days of the G1 Climax tournament either due to scheduling conflicts with Impact Wrestling, where he is in charge as an executive vice president. Individuals that have replaced Callis since his absence include Rocky Romero, Marc Warzecha, Chuck Taylor and Beretta.
Lanny Poffo mentioned in his podcast recently that he would be auditioning for a color commentator role for New Japan during this weekend’s Road to Power Struggle events. With Don Callis returning to the fold, his status isn’t currently known.
Ahead of their match at the Tokyo Dome, Chris Jericho made a surprise appearance and got into it with Kenny Omega in an angle at this morning’s World Tag League finals.
Omega & The Young Bucks defeated Rocky Romero, Sho & Yoh at the show, with Omega pinning Romero with the One Winged Angel after the others had fought to the back. A video of Jericho aired following the match. He congratulated Omega, asked if he’s ready for Wrestle Kingdom at the Tokyo Dome and said we’ll find out who the best in the world is then, and told Omega he’s going to beat the hell out of him.
When the video stopped playing, Jericho appeared inside the ring and gave Omega the Codebreaker. Jericho continued to beat Omega down and hit him with the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. He laid out the referee and one of the young lions before continuing to attack Omega, who had been bloodied by this point. Omega briefly fought back until being hit with another Codebreaker.
Don Callis went into the ring to check on Omega as Jericho started to walk away, but Jericho came back and gave Callis a Codebreaker. Jericho continued to attack Omega before holding the US title up, then The Young Bucks ran out with a baseball bat to chase him off. As he went to leave, Jericho got on the mic to say he’ll see everyone at the Tokyo Dome.
Callis was taken out on a stretcher to close the angle. Jericho later cut a brief promo on Instagram, saying the attack was his way of introducing himself to Omega ahead of their match.
This morning’s show marked the biggest remaining stop on the road to the Tokyo Dome, which will host Wrestle Kingdom 12 on January 4th.
Scott D’Amore, who had already been working with Impact, and Don Callis were named executive vice presidents of the company. They join Ed Nordholm on a three-member executive committee that will handle the responsibility of “developing the creative direction for the company and managing the execution of the company’s business plan.”
Impact’s press release notes that Callis will continue in his role as color commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Callis has filled that spot on the English-language broadcast team next to Kevin Kelly since January following the departure of Steve Corino.
Callis clarified reports that he’d be leaving New Japan for Impact in November by saying that he’ll be with NJPW for as long as they want him. Dave Meltzer reported then that it wasn’t out of the question that Callis would end up with Impact in a behind-the-scenes role at some point while still maintaining his job with NJPW.
“I am excited that Don and Scott have made this commitment to the company,” Nordholm said. “The 50 years of experience and success in the wrestling industry brought by Don and Scott, combined with the global media, marketing, sales and financial expertise of Anthem, provide the management depth and expertise that will propel Impact Wrestling to greater success as we continue to expand our footprint, embrace digital opportunities and grow the brand.”
Jeff Jarrett had led the creative side of Impact until his leave of absence, with the promotion later announcing the end of their business relationship with him.
