In the main event of the WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow, fans witnessed AEW Trios teams, The Demand (Ricochet & Gates of Agony), facing off against JetSpeed (along with Michael Oku).
However, according to a recent report by PWInsider, The Gates of Agony’s (Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona) flight into Las Vegas was delayed and landed well beyond late.
Soon after their flight landed, Liona and Kaun rushed from their plane and headed toward the Horseshow in Las Vegas, where WrestleCon was taking place. In the process, they also abandoned their luggage at the Las Vegas airport and had their gear in their carry-ons.
“Wrestlecon added extra time to some of the undercard matches and even added an additional match between Man Like DeReiss and Ethan Allen in order to give GOA time to get to the venue, so that the main event could go on as planned,” PWInsider wrote.
In the end, everything worked out, although there were worries throughout the show about delivering what was promised to the audience. The new main event was planned and arranged after TNA had decided to pull out their talents from matches against AEW wrestlers.
Tony Khan has announced another match for AEW’s Dynamite Maximum Carnage this Wednesday, and this one will name new contenders for the World Tag Team Championship.
Khan announced a four-way tag match on social media: The Young Bucks vs. GOA vs. JetSpeed vs. Davis & Doyle of the Don Callis family.
The Bucks have won four straight matches, though all have been trios matches: two teaming with Josh Alexander, one with Kenny Omega, and one with Jack Perry.
The Gates of Agony are coming off a win on Collision last weekend, teaming with Ricochet to beat JetSpeed and Anthony Bowens. They had lost three straight matches before that, though each was a trios or eight-man tag. Their last tag team match was a win over the Hurt Syndicate in October.
JetSpeed have not had many tag team matches in AEW recently as both Speedball Bailey and Kevin Knight were wrestling as singles in the Continental Classic tournament. They did pick up a win over Big Bill & Bryan Keith on Collision on January 3.
This will be the first match for Marc Davis and Jake Doyle as a tag team, and the first AEW match for Doyle, formerly known as Jake Something.
The lineup for this Wednesday’s Collision:
AEW Dynamite Maximum Carnage (January 14)
AEW World title: MJF defends against Bandido
The Babes of Wrath & Kris Statlander vs. Triangle of Madness
Four-way match, winner gets future AEW Tag Team title match: The Young Bucks vs. GOA vs. JetSpeed vs. Mark Davis & Jake Doyle
AEW has filed a trademark for “The Demand” — Ricochet & The Gates of Agony’s new faction name.
The newly named group was victorious at All Out this past weekend, defeating The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin & MVP) in trios action. Records show that AEW made a filing on September 21 to secure the rights to “The Demand” trademark.
In the application, it’s stated that the trademark covers goods and services related to pro wrestling performances:
Conducting entertainment exhibitions in the nature of professional [wrestling] exhibitions and performances by professional wrestlers, namely, performances by a team of wrestlers during professional wrestling events; Entertainment services in the nature of live professional wrestling performances
At the post-All Out press conference, Ricochet said The Demand made a statement with their victory and now have their sights set on getting another Trios title shot. The Opps (Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Katusyori Shibata) retained the belts over Ricochet & The Gates of Agony this August after MVP Interfered and hit Ricochet with a cane.
The Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) are former ROH Trios Champions with Brian Cage prior to linking up with Ricochet in this new faction.
All Out marked the second straight PPV for Ricochet & The Gates of Agony, with them having defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight & Michael Oku on the Forbidden Door 2025 pre-show.
Two new matches were added to this month’s AEW All Out from Toronto, Canada, that will see the former AEW World Tag Team Champions in action in addition to the TBS Champion.
Announced near the end of Wednesday’s Dynamite, it was revealed that TBS Champion Mercedes Mone will defend her title against former AEW Women’s World Champion Riho.
That follows Riho’s surprise return earlier in the evening after more than a year out of action. She came out as Mone had Alex Windsor in the Statement Maker after their match had wrapped, breaking it up and then dropkicking the champion out of the ring.
It will be their first-ever encounter.
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After a challenge was issued earlier in the show by Ricochet and the Gates of Agony, The Hurt Syndicate of Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin and MVP later accepted.
Ricochet, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun contributed to The Hurt Syndicate’s Tag Team title loss at last month’s All In, attacking the champions and fighting to the back. They never came back out, leaving Brodido to defeat FTR to win the titles in a three-way title match.
Last Wednesday, the former champions got revenge, costing Ricochet and the Gates of Agony in their attempt to win the AEW World Trios titles against The Opps.
The show will now start at 3 PM Eastern.
Updated AEW All Out card | Toronto, Canada | Saturday, September 20
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler)
TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Riho
The Hurt Syndicate (Shelton Benjamin, MVP & Bobby Lashley) vs. Ricochet and the Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)
The Gates of Agony will be sticking around AEW for years to come.
A new report out by Fightful on Thursday confirmed that Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona have both signed long-term, multi-year contracts with AEW — a day after the duo individually posted a picture of them with Tony Khan on X, retweeted by their agent Steve Kay of Paragon.
The two are currently aligned with Ricochet.
The 35-year-old Kaun made his AEW debut in December 2021 on AEW Dark: Elevation, eventually getting paired with the 34-year-old Liona who debuted in October 2021, also on Dark: Elevation.
The two debuted as a team in April 2022 at ROH Supercard of Honor and were put into a program with then-ROH Tag Team Champions FTR which culminated with a title match at AEW Battle of the Belts IV.
They were members of The Mogul Embassy, winning the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Titles twice. Their first run with Brian Cage lasted 284 days from December 2022 through September 2023 before they lost to The Elite. They eventually regained the titles from the Young Bucks & Hangman Page in November 2023, holding them for 77 days before dropping them to the Bang Bang Gang (Jay White & The Gunns).
Kaun is a three-time ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champion as he held the titles with Shane Taylor & Moses in 2021 before Tony Khan owned the company.
They have yet to hold the AEW or ROH Tag Team titles.
The end of the ongoing AEW Tag Team title eliminator tournament is now in sight following Thursday’s AEW Collision.
The first finalist is now official as FTR defeated The Bang Bang Gang (Austin Gunn & Juice Robinson) in a semifinal bout. The former AEW Tag Team Champions beat JetSpeed (Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight) in their quarterfinal match while Gunn & Robinson upended Bryan Keith & Big Bill.
FTR now awaits the winner of The Young Bucks vs. Brodido in the finals. Brody King & ROH World Champion Bandido defeated The Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) on Thursday to advance to the semifinals against the Jackson brothers.
The winner of the tournament will challenge reigning champions The Hurt Syndicate (Shelton Benjamin & Bobby Lashley) at August’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in London, England.
FTR is looking for their third run with the gold and first since October 2023 while the Bucks want their fourth run and first since October 2024. King and Bandido have never held the titles.
House of Torture has recruited two new members to help with their cheating ways.
At today’s NJPW World Tag League show in Shizuoka, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona were offered and accepted a spot in the stable. The invitation comes just before Kaun & Liona are set to wrestle House of Torture’s Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL on Friday’s show.
The opening match on Wednesday’s World Tag League show saw Kaun and Liona team with Yuto Nakashima in a loss to EVIL, Takahashi, and SHO. After the match, EVIL & Takahashi offered the Gates of Agony a handshake and two House of Torture t-shirts, which they accepted.
Backstage, Kaun alluded to comments made the night before- ‘You think you know whose house it is- but you’ve gotta go through the gates first’. Kaun said ‘we never said whose house it was. It was the HOUSE OF TORTURE. You want to get in the house, you’ve got to go through the gates first.’
Just what does that mean for these two teams as they meet December 1 in Wakayama?
'You think you know "whose house"? If you want to get to the house, you've gotta go through the Gates first!'
Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta will be in action on next Friday’s Rampage.
The Gates of Agony attacked Bryan Danielson on Collision Saturday after he defeated Aussie Open’s Kyle Fletcher. Fellow Blackpool Combat Club members Castagnoli and Yuta then ran in to make the save. Later on Collision, it was announced that the two teams will face off on Friday.
Danielson is set to face Swerve Strickland on Tuesday’s Dynamite to determine the next contender for Christian Cage’s TNT title. Both are coming off of major wins: Danielson defeated Zack Sabre Jr. in what was billed as a dream match at WrestleDream, while Strickland defeated Hangman Page, also at WrestleDream in Strickland’s hometown of Seattle.
The Gates of Agony, along with Brian Cage, most recently lost the ROH Six-Man Tag team titles at AEW Rampage Grand Slam to The Young Bucks and Page.
Here is the updated lineup for AEW Rampage:
Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs. The Gates of Agony
On Collision this week, Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho are teaming up for the first time ever.
AEW has announced that Omega & Jericho will face the Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) on Collision this Saturday. The episode is taking place the night before AEW’s WrestleDream pay-per-view.
Omega & Jericho will be on the same side of a trios match at WrestleDream. They’re teaming with Kota Ibushi against Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara & Will Ospreay.
Omega and Jericho are both coming off PPV losses to members of the Don Callis Family. Takeshita defeated Omega at All Out, while Ospreay defeated Jericho at All In.
Jericho picked up a victory against his protege Guevara at Dynamite Grand Slam earlier this month. Following the match, Guevara betrayed Jericho and aligned with Callis.
Collision and WrestleDream are both taking place from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle this weekend. The updated Collision lineup is listed below:
Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta & FTR vs. Ricky Starks, Big Bill & Aussie Open (Zack Sabre Jr. will be on commentary)
The Ring of Honor World title will be on the line as part of tonight’s ROH TV on HonorClub.
Reigning titleholder Claudio Castagnoli will defend against Rocky Romero in hopes of gaining his 10th defense of the gold.
Ethan Page will make his first ROH appearance since 2014 as he takes on Griff Garrison.
Former NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale will face off with Lady Frost.
After failing to defeat AEW International Champion Jon Moxley recently, AR Fox will go one-on-one with Tony Nese. In a similar situation, Shane Taylor will look to rebound from his loss to ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe at All Out when he wrestles Lee Johnson.
The Gates of Agony (Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) will be in tag team action against GCW regular Cole Radrick & Matt Brannigan.
Former ROH Women’s Champion Mercedes Martinez will be in action as will former ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods.
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ROH World Title Match – Claudio Castagnoli (c) defeated Rocky Romero
This was Castagnoli’s tenth title defense.
The announcers talked about how Romero could throw a spanner in both Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston’s plans, as Romero would defend the title against Kingston at Dynamite: Grand Slam if he won here. Romero sent Castagnoli to the floor with a headscissors. Romero hit a pair of dives before Castagnoli cut off a third dive with an uppercut. Castagnoli sent Romero into the top turnbuckle with a Gorilla Press before dropping him with a big boot for a nearfall.
Romero tried fighting back with a rewind kick, but Castagnoli caught him in the Giant Swing for ten revolutions. Romero sent Castagnoli to the floor with another headscissors before sending Castagnoli over the vacant Collision announce desk with a dive. Romero hit a dropkick to Castagnoli while he was tied up in the ropes. Romero hit a tornado DDT for a nearfall.
Romero hit the rewind kick before landing a 619 and a Standing Sliced Bread for a nearfall. Romero went to the top rope, but Castagnoli cut him off with an uppercut. Romero knocked Castagnoli down and went for a crossbody, but Castagnoli caught him and hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a nearfall. Castagnoli clubbered Romero in the corner before hitting a short-arm lariat for a nearfall. Romero caught Castagnoli with a couple of flash pins, but Castagnoli cut off a Tornado DDT. He hit Swiss Death before landing another heavy European Uppercut for the win.
The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) & Willie Mack defeated The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) & Kevin Ku
The Infantry and Mack held firm control, with Dean hitting a dive onto all three of his opponents. The Outrunners cut him off while he was getting in the ring, allowing their team to take control of him. The Outrunners and Ku took time to pose, allowing Bravo to tag in and run wild. Mack tagged in and traded elbows with Ku. Ku landed a heavy kick, but Mack came back with a pop-up forearm and a Stunner before the Infantry hit their move for the win.
Lexy Nair was backstage with Ethan Page. Page said that he’s let his ego take control of his career, chasing the money and losing his competitive edge. He doesn’t know who he is anymore, but he knows who he wants to be. He’s here in Ring of Honor to prove it to the people and to himself.
Mercedes Martinez defeated Zoey Lynn
This match was dominated by Martinez. Lynn made a short comeback that got cut off with a main event spinebuster. Martinez had the win but pulled Lynn up to hit a rabbit forearm. Martinez locked on the Brass City Stretch to win by submission.
Gates Of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) (w/Prince Nana) defeated Cole Radrick & Matt Brannigan
Kaun quickly hammered Brannigan before menacing Radrick off of the apron. Radrick tried running away, but Liona pounced him into the barricade. Liona and Kaun quickly ended things after flapjacking Radrick into Brannigan.
We got a video package recapping the history between Athena & Billie Starkz. After that, we got Lexy Nair in the back with Starkz. Nair gave Starkz a to-do list from Athena to be done before Athena came back in two weeks. Starkz initially balked, but after Nair reminded her that Athena would take it out on the both of them, Starkz decided to get it done. This story is very silly.
Darius Martin defeated Christopher Daniels
The two went back and forth to start before Daniels dumped Martin on his head with a back suplex. Daniels cut off a Martin springboard before leg dropping him off of the ropes for a nearfall. Daniels spun Martin around with a lariat. Daniels went for the uranage, but Martin turned it into an armdrag.
Martin fired up, but Daniels cut him off again, catching him in a Koji Clutch. Martin backdropped his way free of the Angel’s Wings, and after a pinning predicament, Martin held Daniels for a three count for the win.
Shane Taylor defeated Lee Johnson
Johnson tried bouncing around to gain advantage on Taylor before Taylor dropped him with a punch. Taylor flung Johnson across the ring multiple times before sending him into the barricade. Taylor hit an apron legdrop for a one count, then leveled Johnson with a lariat for a nearfall. Johnson tried fighting back, but Taylor headbutted him. A pull-up uranage followed by a splash only got a two count for Taylor.
Johnson came back, dropping Taylor to a knee after a pop-up dropkick. Taylor hit a pendulum DDT for a nearfall. Johnson went to the top rope before Lee Moriarty appeared at ringside to distract him. Taylor hit the Marcus Garvey Driver for the hometown win. Taylor shook hands with Moriarty before they left together.
Willow Nightingale defeated Lady Frost
Nightingale held serve until Frost ducked an enzuigiri. Frost cartwheeled off of Nightingale’s back before hitting a big kick for a nearfall. Frost kept control before running into a Pounce from Nightingale. Nightingale rocked Frost with short-arm lariats before landing an enzuigiri for a nearfall. Frost hit a hurricane kick before going for the Frostbite moonsault for a nearfall. Nightingale cut off Frost with a main event spinebuster before hitting the Babe With The Powerbomb for the win.
Lexy Nair was backstage with Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty. Taylor said that he and Shane Taylor Promotions have carried Ring of Honor for years, and now it’s time for him to start making history. He officially introduced Moriarty as the newest member of Shane Taylor Promotions. I’m interested in this pairing.
Josh Woods (w/Mark Sterling) defeated Dominic Garrini
This wasn’t a Pure Rules match, but this still had a technical flair to it with both men having similar styles. They traded gutwrenches and wristlocks before Woods sent Garrini flying with suplexes. Woods hit the Anarchist Suplex for the quick win.
Ethan Page defeated Griff Garrison
Garrison hit a big splash in the corner while Maria Kanellis-Bennett & Cole Karter watched from the stage. Page hit a stalling suplex for a nearfall. Garrison hit a big boot and a knee drop to take control. Page cut off Garrison on the top rope and hit a powerslam for a nearfall. Garrison slipped out of the Ego’s Edge and hit a rolling elbow for a nearfall. Page came back with an outside-in cutter to score the win.
The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) defeated The Boys (Brandon & Brent)
The Workhorsemen got a jump start on the match, but the Boys were able to evade corner attacks and isolate Henry for a moment. Drake got a blind tag in before Henry baited Brandon into a forearm. Drake hit a twisting Vader Bomb for a nearfall.
Henry and Drake worked over Brandon for a while before Brent eventually tagged in. They teamed up to take down Henry, but Drake proved to be too much to handle. A strike combination took out Brandon before a Henry double stomp took out Brent for the win.
Lexy Nair was backstage with Griff Garrison. He was quickly interrupted by Maria Kanellis-Bennett & Cole Karter. Bennett told Garrison that he had potential but needed to surround himself with like-minded people. There was then some humor about Maria’s pearl necklace.
AR Fox defeated Tony Nese (w/Mark Sterling)
You’ll never guess, but Tony Nese wanted to do group training. AR Fox interrupted, thus giving us our match. A quick back-and-forth exchange ended with Nese almost scoring the win with a roll-up with the tights for a nearfall. Fox caught Nese with a series of kicks before mockingly jumping jacks. Sterling tried to cut off Fox, but Fox kept control and hit a skin the cat dropkick in the corner for a nearfall.
Nese choked Fox in the ropes before hooking him over the top rope. Sterling got a few shots in while Nese distracted the referee. Nese brought Fox to the top rope and hit a rolling uppercut. Fox held onto the ropes on a hurricanrana attempt, but Nese came back with the spinning heel kick for a nearfall. Fox came back with a pendulum DDT in the ropes.
Fox fired up, hitting his walkthrough cutter for a nearfall. Nese countered another cutter with a German suplex for a nearfall. Nese went for the Running Nese, but Fox moved. Fox got Nese to the top rope and hit Lo Mein Pain for the win.
After another brawl during Wednesday’s Dynamite, WarJoe (TNT Champion Wardlow & ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe) will take on the Gates of Agony on Friday’s Rampage.
Joe & Wardlow have been feuding recently with The Embassy which includes the Gates of Agony, Brian Cage and the newly-added Powerhouse Hobbs. Hobbs has made it clear he wants a shot at Wardlow’s title after taking him out twice.
Joe & Wardlow are 2-0 since first teaming in late-September.
Friday’s live show from Atlantic City, New Jersey, is headlined by the AEW in-ring debut of Katsuyori Shibata as he challenges for Orange Cassidy’s All-Atlantic title. Boxing legend Mike Tyson will be on commentary.
Here’s the full lineup:
AEW All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Katsuyori Shibata
Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter vs. Madison Rayne & Skye Blue
A tag team match featuring the ROH World Champion is set for next week’s Rampage.
On tonight’s show, Jonathan Gresham was interviewed saying he was the best technical wrestler in the world, dismissing others such as Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson. He said he will prove that in a match on next week’s Rampage, when he teams with Lee Moriarty to face Tully Blanchard’s The Gates of Agony (Kaun and Toa Liona).
On last week’s Rampage, Gresham and Moriarty were interviewed about a possible match against one another when Blanchard came in saying Tully Blanchard Enterprises deserved a title shot. It was eventually agreed to that Gresham and Moriarty would face members of Blanchard’s stable sometime in the near future.
Tully Blanchard Enterprises was formed during the first ROH pay-per-view under Tony Khan, Supercard of Honor, back in April. Blanchard first managed Kaun and Toa Liona to a victory, then later introduced his other client, Brian Cage, who defeated Ninja Mack.
A new name has reportedly signed with Ring of Honor/All Elite Wrestling.
Kaun, one half of the new tag team Gates of Agony with Toa Liona that made their debut at ROH’s Supercard of Honor event, has signed with the two companies according to Fightful Select.
Previous to the sale of Ring of Honor to Tony Khan, Kaun had been part of the Shane Taylor Promotions stable, where he was one third of the Six-Man Tag Team titles along with Taylor and former tag team partner Moses. They lost the titles to Vincent, Bateman, and Dutch at Final Battle in December. Since ROH shut down temporarily following Final Battle, Kaun had made appearances on AEW Dark.
At Supercard of Honor earlier this month, Tully Blanchard introduced Kaun and Liona as the first members of his new stable called Tully Blanchard Enterprises. Later, Blanchard introduced another member of his stable, Brian Cage, who took out Ninja Mack during the Supercard of Honor main card.
