Will Ospreay is heading to AEW Collision this week for a first-time matchup.
Ospreay vs. Lee Moriarty will take place on AEW Collision from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada this Saturday night. It’s the first time they’ve ever faced each other.
Roderick Strong, Ospreay’s Double or Nothing opponent, will be on commentary for the match. Ospreay is challenging Strong for the AEW International Championship at Double or Nothing later this month. The pay-per-view is set for Sunday, May 26.
Ospreay won a Casino Gauntlet Match on the April 24 episode of Dynamite to become the number one contender to Strong’s title. Since starting full-time with AEW, Ospreay has a 7-0 record.
Collision is airing on TBS this Saturday as part of a three-hour live AEW programming block. Collision takes place from 8-10 p.m. Eastern, then Rampage airs from 10-11 p.m.
Here’s the updated Collision lineup:
AEW Collision (Saturday, May 11) —
TNT Champion Adam Copeland defends against Kyle O’Reilly
Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin)
After the events of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, former Ring of Honor Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata will take on Lee Moriarty as part of this Saturday’s edition of AEW Collision.
In a trios match Wednesday, Moriarty got the pin on Shibata to help put this into motion. This will be a rematch from their May 2023 bout on AEW Rampage for the Pure title that saw Shibata gain the win.
Shibata is 1-2 in AEW singles action this year while Moriarty is 0-3.
Here’s the updated card for this Saturday’s event from Highland Heights, KY, that will also feature a live Battle of the Belts X special directly after it:
Collision:
AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs. AZM in a title eliminator match
The fallout from last Friday’s Supercard of Honor will be felt on tonight’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub.
After surviving a tough challenge against Lee Johnson Friday, ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher will take on former TV Champion Rhett Titus in a Proving Ground match. With a win or draw, Titus will earn a title shot.
Following their big trios win on Dynamite, Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty will be in action against Julian Ward & Kaz Jordan.
ROH legend Christopher Daniels will take on Cole Karter while Action Andretti will take on Isiah Kassidy in a battle of tag team specialists.
Following her loss to Mariah May Wednesday, Anna Jay will look to rebound with a match against LMK.
Ahead of his AEW match with Angelo Parker on Rampage, Zak Knight will look go 4-0 in ROH action.
Tonight’s action was taped both in Worcester, MA, and Charleston, West Virginia.
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Things jumped to an immediate start on ROH TV this week. The show opened with footage of a bandaged and iced up Eddie Kingston and new ROH Champion Mark Briscoe sharing a beer after Supercard of Honor. They cheers’ed had a laugh. It’s unknown what this meant for Kingston’s sobriety threats, but time will tell. They will team with Adam Copeland to take on the House of Black at AEW Dynasty in just over a week’s time.
Action Andretti defeated Isiah Kassidy
Kassidy, one half of Private Party took on Adretti who in recent weeks has been the third member of Top Flight. Kassidy showed his true colors right off the Code of Honor, sucker-kicking Andretti.
Kassidy was in control through most of the match, sending Andretti to the outside and working him against the barricade, as well as landing several high-impact and high-flying moves, including a Side Effect. Andretti didn’t show much offense until about halfway thought when he reversed an irish whip into a hard lariat. Kassidy slunk to the outside, where Andretti landed a suicide dive before tossing him back in.
Kassidy and Andretti traded moves in the ring, including a killer swanton by Kassidy. Andretti hit a poison-rana as the two traded near falls. Andretti countered a moonsault in mid-air, slamming Kassidy to the mat. After a split-legged moonsault of his own, Andretti covered Kassidy for the win.
-The Kingdom had some post-Supercard words for the infantry. Now that they have the “Big Man” (Warldow, who cost the infantry the tag titles at Supercard) there’s no chance they lose the titles. Immediately, the Infantry responded, saying that no matter how much help their opponents have, they will overcome. You can’t kill the Infantry.
Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty defeated Julian Ward & Kaz Jordan
Next to the larger Taylor, both Ward and Jordan looked absolutely tiny. Fortunately for Ward, Moriarty started things off with him, which was a much more even physical match.
Moriarty set the pace in this one, fast and hard hitting. Taylor tagged in with Jordan and it was like Nash/Mysterio in WCW. Some absolutely devastating shots from Taylor practically broke Jordan in half. Taylor literally threw him across the ring, and tagged in Moriarty for a very unnecessary double team attack.
Taylor and Moriarty toyed with their opponents, until a Marcus Garvey Driver from Taylor on Jordan ended the assault.
-After a recap of Billie Starkz bait & switch at Supercard to win the ROH Women’s TV Title, footage was shown of Starkz showing off her new belt to her Mom. Mama Starkz was very disappointed in her daughter winning in a sleazy way. Athena then showed up and was very proud of her for the sleaze, declaring herself Starkz’ “new Mom” and the two ran off.
Nyla Rose defeated Kat Von Heez
Rose was still looking to climb the ladder back up into the ROH Women’s Championship picture, but Von Heez wasn’t really much of a rung to overcome. While having a similar size and power to Rose, Heez was on her Heelz from the start and Rose just dominated.
Rose taunted her opponent and the crowd by interrupting her own pin on Heez at one. Rose aggressively beat up Heez until finally getting bored and putting Heez away with a big splash from the top rope.
Christopher Daniels defeated Cole Karter
Karter came to the ring alone, something new for him as both his partner and his… mom?, Maria were nowhere to be seen. Taking on a veteran like Daniels in a singles match was a big opportunity for Karter and he was focused and ready to go.
Karter was a bit arrogant in the match, often pausing to mug for the crowd after dropkicks and during holds. He also sucker-slapped Daniels who was trying to shake his hand. Daniels turned it up a notch at that point, using his experience to keep the younger Karter on his toes with lariats and an STO.
In the end though, arrogance was no match for experience and Daniels landed an Angel’s Wing to put Karter on his back for the 1-2-3.
-Some highlights from Dalton Castle and Johnny TV’s Fight Without Honor were shown. This led to footage of Castle after the match with Lexi Nair. Castle said that he breathes TV and has surrounded himself with the most talent TV people in the world, including Paul Walter Houser. House said he was a lifelong fan of Castle, and he’s got his back going forward. Castle claimed there was nothing that could stop him, Hauser or his boys! They are the TV that ROH has been craving!
The Righteous (Vincent and Dutch) defeated Bryce Donovan and Chico Adams
Squash matches were aplenty this week and this one was no exception as Dutch laid out both Adams and Donovan with a double lariat before the bell.
Vincent’s psychological warfare was no match for Adams, even though he was trained by Afa, the Wild Samoan. Dutch tagged in and mercilessly pounded on Adams, taunting Donovan in the process. Donovan’s main contribution to the match was to break up a pin attempt by Vincent on Adams, but he did layin a few hard shots on Dutch that seemed to surprise the big man.
An Orange Sunshine on Adams by Vincent was enough to give The Righteous the win.
Anna Jay defeated LMK
Jay was fresh off a loss at Supercard, and looking to bounce back against LMK, who, frankly, looked a little intimidated.
Much smaller than Jay, LMK tried to get the jump on her opponent off the top, but Jay rolled through and the match began in earnest.
Jay found her footing and began raining down strikes and slams on LMK. In the corner, chops were the meal of the day, and Jay served them up hard. Unlike a lot of the matches tonight though, LMK managed to hold her own and it was a pretty even affair.
Eventually Jay hit a Blockbuster into a Gory Bomb and got the pin on LMK.
Zak Knight defeated Alvin Alvarez
Brother of AEW’s Saraya, Knight was looking to extend his Undefeated In ROH streak against the much larger Alvarez.
Knight sped in off the top, moving so fast he was able to spear Alvarez and send him to the corner. Knight didn’t seem to stop moving in the ring, his speed giving him a clear edge over Alvarez. Once Alvarez was able to slow things down, he showed some powerful offense, until Knight reversed a suplex on him and regained control.
The crowd got behind Alvarez to the disbelief of Knight. Alvarez rode that momentum to get some shots in on Knight, but a devastating lariat from Knight laid out the big man for a pin. Knight’s undefeated streak continues.
ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher defeated Rhett Titus in a Proving Ground match.
-Earlier in the evening Lexy Nair talked to Lee Johnson about his match with Fletcher at Supercard of Honor. Johnson was uncharacteristically calm, but claimed that even though he didn’t win, just earning the opportunity at the TV title was a win. A quick cut to Fletcher, and the Champion responded. Fletcher said the he proved to Johnson why he is the Protostar and he hopes he never forgets it.
This was a Proving Ground match. If Titus could last 10 minutes or get a pin or submission on Fletcher, he’d earn an ROH TV Title match at a later date.
Eager to get things going, Fletcher waived off a Code of Honor and the match began. Titus knew he was the underdog here and threw a variety of strikes and holds at Fletcher. None of them were effective though. Fletcher actually laid back a bit in this match, letting Titus do the work at take the fight to him. When the fight arrived though, Fletcher was clearly in control.
Titus wrestled a more technical style, which made his attempt at a falcon arrow surprising to everyone, including Fletcher. At this point Fletcher began to see Titus as a bit of a threat and turned up the heat on him. Titus managed catch Fletcher in a half-crab though, which was about as close as he got to winning the match.
In the end, two dragon suplexes, a ripcord knee and a piledriver ended Titus’ hopes for a title shot, and gave Fletcher the win.
Blackpool Combat Club’s Jon Moxley vs. Lee Moriarty is one of four matches announced for the Friday, January 26 AEW Rampage episode.
After accompanying Shane Taylor to the ring for a match against Moxley on last week’s Collision show, Moriarty will get his shot at Mox on this Friday’s Rampage episode.
Also set for Rampage, a four-way will decide Orange Cassidy’s challenger in an International Championship match on Saturday’s Collision, as Kip Sabian faces The Butcher, Komander, and El Hijo del Vikingo.
Anna Jay will take on Ruby Soho in a women’s division contest on Friday’s episode.
Also set, Christopher Daniels will face Konosuke Takeshita of The Don Callis Family.
Friday’s Rampage is being taped Wednesday night in Savannah, Georgia.
The announced card for the Friday, January 26 show:
Jon Moxley vs. Lee Moriarty
International Championship number one contender’s match, winner faces Orange Cassidy on Collision: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander vs. Kip Sabian vs. The Butcher
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) and House of Black (Malakai Black & Buddy Matthews) vs. Komander & Gravity have also been added to the card for tonight’s Collision. Plus, we’ll hear from Adam Copeland on the show and Tony Schiavone will interview Ricky Starks & Big Bill.
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New match announcements have been made for tonight’s episodes of AEW Collision and Rampage.
– AEW has announced that Keith Lee vs. Lee Moriarty will take place on Collision tonight. The match is part of Lee’s feud with his former tag team partner Shane Taylor. Moriarty is aligned with Taylor in Shane Taylor Promotions.
Tony Khan wrote:
TONIGHT on @TNTdrama Pittsburgh Saturday Night #AEWCollision
@RealKeithLee vs @theleemoriarty
Limitless Keith Lee will fight the steel city’s own Lee Moriarty, who is advised by Keith’s former partner Shane Taylor!
Rampage and Collision are both airing live on TNT tonight. Rampage airs at 7 p.m. Eastern time, then Collision airs from 8-10 p.m. Eastern. The shows are going up against WWE Survivor Series.
– Khan also revealed that Kris Statlander vs. Diamante is set for tonight’s Rampage. The updated lineups for both shows are listed below:
AEW Rampage —
ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata defends against Wheeler Yuta
Kris Statlander vs. Diamante
AEW Collision —
Continental Classic tournament match: Eddie Kingston vs. Brody King
Continental Classic tournament match: Daniel Garcia vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Keith Lee vs. Lee Moriarty
FTR vs. The Righteous
House of Black vs. Komander & Gravity
We’ll hear from Adam Copeland
Tony Schiavone interviews AEW Tag Team Champions Ricky Starks & Big Bill
The fallout from last Friday’s Death Before Dishonor will be felt on tonight’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub.
After successfully defending the Six-Man titles last Friday, The Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona) will defend against the Iron Savages & Jacked Jameson.
Former champions Dalton Castle and The Boys (Brandon & Brent Tate) will face The Trustbusters (Sonny Kiss, Jeeves Kay & Slim J).
ROH Women’s Champion Athena will be in non-title action against Christina Marie, Trish Adora will battle Trish San Antonio, and Leyla Hirsch will take on B3CCA.
Ahead of their match on Rampage, The Kingdom will face Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams.
Josh Woods takes on Eli Isom in a Pure rules match as he pursues a future opportunity against Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata.
Big Bill will continue his recent tag team run as he will reunite with Lee Moriarty against opponents to be named.
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This week’s ROH was taped last Saturday in Newark, New Jersey as part of the AEW Collision taping. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were on the call.
We got a recap of Death Before Dishonor, highlighting every match.
Pure Rules Match – Josh Woods (w/The Varsity Athletes) defeated Eli Isom
The judges for this match were Jerry Lynn, Jimmy Jacobs, and Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata – who got his own entrance.
Woods tied up Isom in the ropes, forcing his first use of a rope break. They jockeyed for position until Woods booted Isom on an up-and-over in the corner. Woods focused his attack on Isom’s arm. Woods tried to Irish whip Isom, who hooked the ropes and thus used his second rope break.
Woods did more work on the arm until Isom began forearming Woods to fight back. Woods laid in the forearms to Isom’s arm, but Isom hit an offensive flurry that sent Woods into the corner. Woods walked into a Blue Thunder Bomb, but Isom only got a one count on it. Woods hit a Chaos Theory that transitioned into an armbar, forcing Isom to use his third rope break. Woods sent Isom onto the apron, caught him in a sleeper hold, then dragged him into the ring. Woods then hit a Penalty Kick, while looking at Shibata, before locking in the Gorilla Lock to win.
After the match, Smart Mark Sterling talked trash to Shibata before laying out the challenge for next week. Shibata got in the ring and stared down Woods, accepting the title challenge for next week.
Backstage, Lexy Nair spoke to Trish Adora and asked her what was next after her loss to Leyla Hirsch at the Death Before Dishonor Zero Hour. Adora said that she would have let this get her down a year ago, but now that she’s part of the Infantry, she’s focused on bouncing back.
Trish Adora defeated Vita Vonstarr
Vonstarr is a former member of the Righteous. Adora focused on the arm before locking in a submission that Vonstarr used her flexibility to get out of. Vonstarr hit a Northern Lights suplex for a nearfall before locking on an Octopus Stretch. Adora spun Vonstarr out with a backbreaker before firing up, hitting a big boot and a senton for a nearfall.
Vonstarr avoided the Lariat Tubman and hit the Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Adora followed up with a successful Lariat Tubman for the win.
ROH World Six Man Tag Team Title Match – The Mogul Embassy (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage & Toa Liona) (w/Prince Nana) (c) defeated The Iron Savages (Boulder & Bronson & Jacked Jameson)
This was fun and energetic, with the Embassy seeing a much different type of challenge than they are used to seeing.
Cage started with Bronson, dropping him with a back elbow. Bronson came back with a bodyslam before the Savages triple-teamed Cage in the corner. Cage hit a strike flurry on Jameson to take back control before tagging in Kaun. Jameson tagged out to Bronson, who hit a dive onto Cage and squished Liona on the apron. That left him open to a dropkick from Kaun into a powerbomb on the floor from Liona.
The champions clubbered on Bronson, hitting a strike train that ended with Cage’s apron superplex for a nearfall. Bronson sat down on a sunset flip by Cage before tagging out to Boulder, who ran wild on the Embassy. He dropped Cage and Kaun with a double flapjack. Boulder and Liona faced off, with Boulder taking Liona down with a jumping shoulder block. Boulder dropped Kaun with a powerslam for a nearfall.
Boulder went for a moonsault but missed. The match broke down into a Pier Six brawl, ending with Bronson hitting a Sky High for a nearfall. Liona cut Boulder down with a knee on a crossbody attempt, and Cage took down Bronson with a spinning lariat. The Embassy isolated Jameson, with Kaun hitting a Pedigree to score the win.
Leyla Hirsch defeated Becca
Ian Riccaboni mentioned that his four-year-old daughter’s favorite wrestler was Leyla Hirsch. I figure it’s because they’re the same height, but that’s beside the point. Hirsch took Becca down with a lariat and a gutwrench suplex. After fighting out of a waist lock, Becca fought back with the crowd behind her. Becca hit a shotgun dropkick but missed a missile dropkick off the top rope. Hirsch hit a German suplex and a running knee to score the win.
Backstage, Lexy Nair was with Athena. Athena wanted more competition, ragdolling Lexy around while doing so. She said if Lexy didn’t get her more competition, she would take it out on Lexy.
The Renegades (Charlette Renegade & Robyn Renegade) defeated JC & Tiara James
James looked good in her 30-second flurry here.
Charlette started with JC, who fought off both Renegades to start until she got tripped up by Robyn. The Renegades hit a double suplex on JC for a nearfall. The Renegades clubbered on JC until she slipped out of another double suplex attempt and made the tag to James. James ran wild on them until Charlette took her down by the hair. The Renegades hit a double superkick on JC before finishing off James with a Hart Attack.
Proving Ground Match: ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Christina Marie
Marie took the fight to Athena after the Code of Honor, sending her into the buckles and hitting a handspring splash. Marie hit a snapmare for a nearfall before Athena flung her across the ring. Athena laid in the strikes before hitting a baseball slide that sent Marie off the apron to the floor. Athena ragdolled Marie in the ropes before hitting a knockout forearm for the win.
Athena beat up Marie on the floor, flinging her into the barricades and booting her down before standing tall.
The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams
A very good match between these four veterans.
Williams laid in forearms to Bennett, forcing him to tag out to Taven. Bennett then caught Williams with a knee in the back, leading to a strike combination from the Kingdom. Williams avoided a top rope attack from Taven, tagging in Titus. Titus hit a modified airplane spin for a nearfall, but got caught up by a Bennett lariat from the apron. Bennett hit a main event spinebuster, but Titus got his knees up on Taven’s lionsault attempt.
Williams tagged in and ran wild on the Kingdom, hitting the top-rope DDT on Taven before locking on a cloverleaf that Bennett broke up. Titus sent Bennett flying with a belly-to-belly suplex before Titus and Williams hit a series of heavy strikes on Taven for a nearfall. Taven forced Williams into the corner and made a tag to Bennett, who got into a strike exchange with Williams. They locked the other man’s partner in submission holds but kept wailing on each other. They hit tandem piledrivers on their partners before re-engaging, ending with Williams hitting a lariat for a nearfall.
Titus and Taven tagged in, with Titus drilling Taven with a dropkick. Taven held onto the ropes on a belly-to-belly suplex attempt, allowing the Kingdom to take control and hit the Proton Pack for the win.
Backstage, Lexy Nair was with ROH Board Member Stokely Hathaway & ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe. Hathaway announced an eliminator tournament to determine the next challenger for the TV Title. Joe took offense to Lexy’s claims of favoritism shown towards Joe, saying that Hathaway was his own man.
ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament Match: Christopher Daniels defeated JD Drake
A solid TV match here, and one with some real stakes too. I would’ve preferred Drake moving on as the fresher name, but I’ve got no strong issue with Daniels moving on.
Ian Riccaboni noted that this was the first of four tournament matches. Daniels dropped Drake with a jumping back kick, but Drake dropped him with a barge attack and a bodyslam. Drake laid on Daniels, hitting a Bossman Slam for a nearfall before hitting a pair of sentons. Drake laid into Daniels with chops, but Daniels fired up and engaged in a chop battle before taking Drake down with a flatliner.
Daniels took Drake down with a rabbit lariat hitting a spinning flatliner off the ropes for a nearfall. Daniels went for the Angel’s Wings, but Drake hit a big boot and a cannonball for a nearfall. Drake set Daniels up for a moonsault, but Daniels moved out of the way. Daniels hit the uranage and the Best Moonsault Ever for the win.
Big Bill & Lee Moriarty defeated Adrian Soriano & Gabriel Hodder
Soriano and Hodder are a regular team known as Primal Fear, who have made appearances in the tail-end of the Sinclair-era of ROH. Moriarty snagged Soriano in the Border City Stretch immediately, but Soriano got to the ropes. Hodder and Soriano worked hard to keep Bill out of the ring, but they wasted time posing. That allowed Moriarty to tag in Big Bill, who ran wild. Bill hit a double rotation Bossman Slam and a chokeslam on Soriano to score the win.
ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament Match: Tony Nese (w/ The Varsity Athletes) defeated Cheeseburger
Nese had the mic on his way to the ring, claiming that cheeseburgers were ruining this country. He wanted to start a group exercise before Cheeseburger’s music hit, bringing out Nese’s opponent. Cheeseburger used his technique to control Nese early, but Nese hung him up on the top rope and hit a gutbuster to take control. He tied Cheeseburger up in the Tree of Woe before hitting crunch kicks to Cheeseburger’s chest.
Cheeseburger fought out of a waistlock and hit a suplex. Cheeseburger hit a superkick before landing the Shotei palm strike – passed down to him by Jushin Thunder Liger himself – for a nearfall. Cheeseburger hit a DDT for a nearfall, then set up a second Shotei. Sterling got on the apron to distract him, allowing Nese to hit a pumphandle Greetings From Asbury Park for the win.
ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament Match: Gravity defeated Anthony Henry
More of this please! Two newer faces getting time to work and shine, with legitimate question as to who could win. Henry looked great here, as I was biting on a few of his nearfalls.
Gravity tried to do multiple kip-ups to get out of an arm hold, but Henry simply released the arm to have Gravity fall down. Gravity worked his way out of another hold, but Henry booted him down. Gravity sent Henry to the floor, then hit a dive onto him. Henry caught Gravity mid-handstand with a superkick before cranking his neck on the apron.
Henry caught Gravity with a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall before cranking the neck again. Henry laid in a kick to Gravity’s back, but Gravity started to fire up. He caught Henry with a lucha armdrag and a handspring elbow before gorilla-pressing him into a dropkick. Gravity twisted Henry into a Ground Octopus, but Henry reversed it into a Stretch Muffler. Gravity pulled Henry into a roll-up, but Henry caught him with a Penalty Kick and a cross-legged Michinoku Driver for a nearfall.
Henry missed a double stomp but scored with an elevated DDT for a nearfall. Henry hit a pair of kicks, but Gravity caught him with a powerslam before hitting a top rope splash for the win.
ROH TV Title Eliminator Tournament Match: Shane Taylor defeated Serpentico
Serpentico caught Taylor with a few strikes and hit a rana that sent Taylor into the corner. Taylor burst out of the corner with a forearm, then beeled Serpentico across the ring twice. Taylor hit a back splash and a lariat for a nearfall. Serpentico escaped off of Taylor’s shoulders but ran into a body shot. Taylor hit the World’s Strongest Slam for a nearfall.
Serpentico begged off, then flipped Taylor off before firing off a few strikes. Taylor caught Serpentico on a crossbody before cracking him with a headbutt. Taylor then hit the uranage before hitting a splash for the win.
Dalton Castle & The Boys (Brandon & Brent) defeated The Trustbusters (Jeeves Kay, Slim J & Sonny Kiss)
I did not miss hearing the Trustbusters music. Castle and Kiss tried for lariats in the corner for about 30 seconds until Castle just flung Kiss with a suplex. The Trustbusters isolated Brandon after some multi-person shenanigans. Castle tagged back in and flung the Trustbusters around with suplexes before asking for a boy. Castle threw the Boys around before Castle got Kay isolated. Castle hit the Bangarang for the win.
This week’s AEW Dark: Elevation was taped at the UBS Arena on Long Island, New York, last Wednesday with Paul Wight and Matt Menard on the call.
They mentioned this is the most exciting hour in pro wrestling, so exciting, in fact, that it only lasted 25 minutes tonight. These tapings actually had eight matches, but presumably were split in two as only four aired this evening.
The Butcher, The Blade & Kip Sabian (w/ Penelope Ford) defeated MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ueno
MAO, Katsumata & Ueno are part of the DDT faction Sauna Club that is led by Konosuke Takeshita. After a quick start by Sabian, Butcher made the tag and no sold a dropkick by MAO, only to get popped with a no look punch. Triple dives connected from Ueno, MAO & Katsumata, as back inside, Butcher used his strength to run through the opposition.
A snap powerslam by Blade led to fast tags, but a missed corner cannonball by Sabian allowed MAO to hit a series of kicks. The hot tag was made to Katsumata who connected with a diving splash and rolling cutter to Butcher on the apron. Ueno tried to keep the momentum going, but was caught with a Blade pop-up powerbomb.
Ueno countered Drag the Lake as MAO hit a 450 splash, but the tide turned with Blade planting him with a rolling neckbreaker. The second Drag the Lake attempt connected to give Butcher, Blade & Sabian their first win as a trio.
Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose defeated The Renegades
Shafir used an early throw to drop Robyn Renegade who tried to respond with an enzuigiri, but Shafir kept on an ankle lock. Charlette Renegade was able to make the tag and a double team by the Renegades only made Shafir angry who flat out punted Charlette in the liver.
Rose cleaned house immediately with a corner splash and double snap suplex on both Renegades followed by a spear. Robyn avoided the first Beast Bomb, but as Charlette ran to help, Shafir clocked her and Rose planted Robyn with the second Beast Bomb attempt for the victory.
Shafir & Rose are now 14-1 in standard tag team action.
Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, John Silver & Evil Uno) defeated Aaron Rourke, Alvin Alvarez & Brother Greatness
Uno wasted no time clobbering Greatness with a running boot and short arm lariat. This show was taped in Long Island last week, so Silver got a big hometown pop. After a delayed vertical suplex, Rourke tried to cut off Silver’s momentum, but was caught in a fireman’s carry along with Greatness in a demonstration of Silver’s power. The numbers were too much for Silver as he was isolated, but Rourke, Alvarez & Greatness were playing to the crowd too much, thus Silver made the hot tag to Reynolds.
A discus punch, dive to the floor and leaping boot on the apron led to Reynolds hitting a power bomb on Rourke for two. Uno made the blind tag and Greatness was dropped with the triple slam. Rourke suffered the Wombo Combo from Reynolds & Silver to get the win.
Big Bill & Lee Moriarty defeated Rex Lawless & Traxx
Wight questioned if Traxx was wearing ankle weights while Menard wondered if he was Scott Norton. Bill got a nice reaction being from Queens, dropping Traxx easily in the corner. Moriarty was able to easily pick through the pieces with corner knees and snap elbow drop. Traxx got in one shot as Lawless used Moriarty to squish Bill in the corner, but tried it again and ate a running Bill big boot and chokeslam for the easy quick three count.
A live AEW Rampage will kick off two hours of action on Friday with Battle of the Belts VI coming right afterward.
Darby Allin will look to stake his claim to an AEW World title shot as he takes on Lee Moriarty. Allin is looking to keep pace with Jungle Boy and Sammy Guevara in pursuit of MJF.
After defeating Ethan Page on Wednesday following a title belt shot from Matt Hardy, FTW Champion Hook will rematch with Page.
Swerve Strickland will make an important announcement that will hopefully give some clues as to his future.
The Acclaimed, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker will be in eight-man tag team action while Julia Hart of the House of Black (and 20-match win streak) will take on Anna Jay A.S. of the Jericho Appreciation Society.
TBS Champion Jade Cargill and Taya Valkyrie will have a sit-down confrontation as the build to their eventual match continues.
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FTW Rules Match: Hook (c) defeated Ethan Page via submission
This match had FTW no-disqualification rules, falls-count-anywhere match. They brawled into the crowd early on. Hook used a T-Bone suplex to Page on the floor. Page would later powerslam Hook through a table at ringside.
Back in the ring, when Page went for a chair shot but Hook moved away and Page hit the rope instead, which ricocheted and hit Page in the face. Hook did a Twist of Fate onto the chair for two. Page hit a big pump kick. The finish saw Hook lock Page into Redrum (f.k.a. Tazmission) for the submission win.
Afterwards, Hook would T-Bone Page through a table in the corner.
QTV segment
QT Marshall’s team did a bit where they spoof the TMZ set and gossip with each other about AEW business. They talked about their ROH Tag Title match later tonight. Aaron Solo pretended not to know how to pronounce “lucha libre,” then Marshall said he wouldn’t be dead doing any of that “flippy shit” in the match. When someone told Marshall to “break a leg” he replied with “Who am I, Dante Martin?” and then everyone started laughing all campy-like.
Jericho Appreciation Society & The Acclaimed defeated LSG, Bobby Orlando & The Infantry
Jake Hager came out with JAS.
Max Caster rapped about JAS being more annoying than Marjorie Taylor Greene while they were coming out.
The Acclaimed did their “Scissor Me Timbers” double-team move on Orlando. Caster did The Mic Drop (frog splash elbow drop) for the win.
Despite winning together, the JAS with Jake Hager would attack the Acclaimed during their post-match celebration.
Swerve’s PSA
Swerve said he had a public service announcement for everyone, that he’d announce his new “merger” (partner, possibly?) later tonight.
Darby Allin defeated Lee Moriarty (w/ Big Bill)
According to Jim Ross and Excalibur, yesterday, Darby Allin was run over by a car while skateboarding in New York City. He was cleared to wrestle for this match’s though.
The Rhode Island crowd broke out into a loud “DAR-BY!” chant before the match.
They showed a picture-in-picture shot of Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti watching the match from a remote location.
Allin grabbed a headlock early. He earned a near fall when he hooked Moriarty into a La Casita pin. Another loud chant for Allin broke out.
Moriarty began took over from here. He worked over Allin’s midsection. On the floor, he slammed Allin into the barricade. He’d go for a running kick next, but Allin moved out of the way, so Moriarty got crotched on the guardrail. When Allin threw him back in the ring, the ref went to check on Moriarty, so Big Bill appeared and blasted Allin with a boot, keeping him laid out on the outside.
When the program returned from break, the crowd was again chanting for Allin. He exploded at Moriarty into the corner with a shotgun dropkick that sent Moriarty flying. When Allin went to the top rope for another attack, Big Bill appeared again, distracting Allin and causing him to crash onto the ropes.
Moriarty lifted Allin up in a vertical suplex and dropped Allin stomach-first over the tope rope. He’d follow up with a superplex, but Allin held on and locked Moriarty into a small package two. Moriarty went for a wrist-clutch pin but got two himself.
Allin hit a Code Red on Moriarty before taking Big Bill out with a dive through the bottom rope before finishing Moriarty off with a Coffin Drop for the win. Good match.
Before Allin could make it to the back, Swerve’s music hit. An image for MOGUL AFFILIATES appeared on the monitor. Swerve appeared and offered Allin a handshake. The two have a history in the Pacific Northwest and on commentary it sounded like it’d be possible they could join up. Before Allin could shake Swerve’s hand, Brian Cage appeared and decked Allin. He’d then LAUNCH Allin with a helicopter spin that saw Allin do two full rotations, I think. Prince Nana also appeared. It seems as if this is the new “merger” Swerve was talking about.
Jade Cargill & Taya Valkrie sitdown
The two had a sit-down “mediation” about the usage of Cargill’s “Jaded” (or “Glam Slam”) finisher which Valkyrie had already been using. Valkyrie insisted the champion show some more respect for history, but Cargill wasn’t impressed. The two ended up in a shouting match with each other before things were broken up and the segment finished.
Julia Hart defeated Anna Jay
Jay attacked Hart before her introduction could finished. They brawled on the floor for the first few minutes. Hart whipped Jay into the barricade.
When the match spilled back out onto the floor, Anna Jay lifted Hart up in a power bomb, then let her hang down vertically before she slammed an upside-down Hart head-first into the barricade. The program cut to commercials at this point.
Jay was on offense for much of the break, but when the show returned, Hart had just regained the upper hand. She did a running basement elbow that connected with Jay’s back. Jim Ross said she is Hart is AEW’s youngest wrestler right now. She did a standing moonsault and earned a two for it.
Jay came back and earned a two-count before putting on the Queenslayer sleeper hold but she couldn’t synch it in fully. Hart returned fire and fought Jay into the corner before placing her on the top rope. Hart was hanging in a Tree of Woe before pulling her body up to grab Jay and throw her into the ring. She’d then hit a nice moonsault press and earned two for it.
Jay would try for the Queenslayer again, but the two would end up falling out of the ring as they tussled for leverage. Jay rolled back into the ring and Hart was almost counted out, but when the referee wasn’t looking, Hart appeared and spit poison mist into Jay’s face. Back in the ring, she’d roll Jay into an inside cradle for the hollow win.
As Hart exited, Orange Cassidy’s theme song sounded. This looked like it pissed Hart off. She eyeballed him as he went to the back.
This Friday’s live edition of AEW Rampage will feature another one of the “Four Pillars” staking their claim to a future shot at AEW World Champion MJF.
Darby Allin will take on The Firm’s Lee Moriarty in Allin’s first singles match since losing the TNT title to Samoa Joe in early-February. He’ll be looking to follow Sammy Guevara and Jungle Boy who picked up victories recently.
Swerve Strickland will make an announcement and based on Keith Lee’s challenge of Chris Jericho for next Wednesday, his words will help give a clue as to what’s next for him.
In a rematch from Wednesday, FTW Champion Hook will defend against Ethan Page. Hook picked up a win Wednesday after Matt Hardy hit Page with the title belt as Page walked right into Redrum for the submission.
TBS Champion Jade Cargill and Taya Valkyrie will have a sit-down confrontation as their road to an eventual clash continues.
As Matt Menard and Angelo Parker continue to attempt to recruit The Acclaimed into the Jericho Appreciation Society, the four men will team up for an eight-man tag team match.
Here’s the full lineup for the company’s debut in Kingston, Rhode Island, followed by Battle of the Belts VI:
Anna Jay A.S. vs. Julia Hart
FTW Champion Hook vs. Ethan Page Il
A face-to-face confrontation between Taya Valkyrie & Jade Cargill
The Acclaimed, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker vs. TBA
AEW has made its first match announcement for this weekend’s House Rules live event in Troy, Ohio.
Blackpool Combat Club’s Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli will be teaming up at the house show, taking on Big Bill & Lee Moriarty of The Firm. The show is being held at Hobart Arena this Saturday (March 18).
This will be the first event on AEW’s House Rules tour. It’s the second-ever AEW house show. The first, named The House Always Wins, took place in April 2021.
Moxley was originally supposed to wrestle at OTT ScrapperMania 7 in Dublin, Ireland this Saturday, but he was pulled from the booking after AEW announced the House Rules event. Ohio is Moxley’s home state.
AEW is sending Eddie Kingston and PAC to ScrapperMania as Moxley’s replacements.
Moxley & Castagnoli defeated Alex Reynolds & John Silver on Dynamite last week. On this Wednesday’s episode of the show, Moxley, Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta will face Hangman Page, Evil Uno & Stu Grayson in a six-man tag match.
The All-Atlantic Championship will be defended on AEW Rampage.
Orange Cassidy will defend his title against Lee Moriarty on the show.
AEW set the match up with a backstage segment posted to social media on Thursday. Lexy Nair attempted to interview Stokely Hathaway in the back but they were interrupted by Danhausen and Cassidy.
Cassidy is just the second wrestler to hold the All-Atlantic Championship. After defeating PAC to win the belt in Toronto last October, he has since defended it successfully 10 times.
AEW Rampage this week was filmed on Wednesday from the El Paso County Coliseum. The advertised lineup for the show is as follows:
All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Lee Moriarty w/ Stokely Hathaway
Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Kip Sabian and The Butcher & The Blade
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will compete in another title eliminator match this Wednesday as he takes on Lee Moriarty.
After Moxley’s win over Matt Menard Friday in another title eliminator match, The Firm’s Stokely Hathaway and Moriarty came out to issue the challenge which Moxley quickly accepted.
Moxley, and later MJF, was jumped by Hathaway’s The Firm this past Wednesday despite MJF’s request to Hathaway to leave Moxley alone.
A TBS title match has been added to the show as Jade Cargill will defend against Marina Shafir. The actual title belt was stolen by Nyla Rose who continues to hold open challenges for it.
Cargill already has defended against Shafir, beating her this past April on Rampage.
The matches join a previously announced lineup that includes ROH Champion Chris Jericho holding an open challenge against any previous ROH champion of any kind.
Here’s the current lineup for Wednesday’s show from Baltimore, Maryland:
ROH Champion Chris Jericho defends against a former ROH champion of any kind
AEW All-Atlantic Champion Orange Cassidy defends against Rey Fenix and Luchasaurus
TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Marina Shafir
Jon Moxley vs. Lee Moriarty AEW World title eliminator match
In what is billed as a student vs. teacher match, Lee Moriarty will take on Matt Sydal on next Friday’s Fight for the Fallen edition of AEW Rampage.
During Friday’s Rampage, Moriarty was taking on Sydal charge Dante Martin in singles action. After a competitive match, Moriarty grabbed the middle rope on a roll-up to help him get the pin, raising the ire of Sydal.
After the match ended, Sydal challenged Moriarty to a match next Friday as Moriarty was being courted by manager Stokely Hathaway.
The 27-year-old Moriarty teamed with Sydal frequently in late-2021 and early-2022 with Martin joining them in occasional trios matches.
The 39-year-old Sydal enters the match on a three-match winning streak. He was last seen in action teaming with Martin in a mid-June Dark: Elevation match against QT Marshall.
That’s the only match to be announced for next Friday’s show which will be taped after Wednesday’s Dynamite debut in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Dante Martin vs. Lee Moriarty has been announced for AEW Rampage Fyter Fest week two.
The bout was announced during this week’s Fyter Fest edition of Rampage in a backstage segment.
Moriarty was unsuccessful in challenging Jonathan Gresham for the ROH World title earlier in the show, and was part of a backstage interview segment with Lexy Nair. Stokely Hathaway interrupted and offered to hire Moriarty as a member of The Baddies, but Matt Sydal interrupted Hathaway and proposed the match with Martin for next week. Martin then entered, shook hands with Moriarty, and the match was officially set.
AEW announced during this week’s Rampage that more match announcements for next week’s Fyter Fest edition of the show will be made on social media in the upcoming days.
Here is the lineup for next week to this point:
AEW Rampage Fyter Fest week two, Friday, July 22 —
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.
