NJPW held night one of their Strong Showdown tapings Saturday night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Minoru Suzuki vs. Chris Dickinson headlined night one. Sunday’s show will be headlined by Suzuki and Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston in a Philadelphia street fight.
Below are night one’s results.
*Thanks to Travis L.*
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Hikuleo defeated Kevin Knight
Hikuleo won by pinfall with a Tongan Driver.
BATEMAN, Misterioso & Barrett Brown defeated Brody King, Karl Fredericks & The DKC
BATEMAN won with the This is a Kill tombstone, pinning The DKC.
JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson defeated David Finlay, Alex Coughlin & Yuya Uemura
Nelson pinned Uemura after a springboard cutter.
Juice Robinson defeated El Phantasmo
Juice won by pinfall and reportedly debuted a new finisher.
Alex Zayne defeated Ariya Daivari
Zayne won by pinfall with a Taco Driver.
Fred Rosser & Rocky Romero defeated Tom Lawlor & Danny Limelight
Rosser pinned Lawlor after reversing a rear naked choke.
Ren Narita & Clark Connors defeated Will Ospreay & TJP
Narita pinned TJP after a bridging suplex.
Jay White defeated Fred Yehi
White won by pinfall with the Blade Runner.
Minoru Suzuki defeated Chris Dickinson
Suzuki won by pinfall with the Gotch-style piledriver.
Jay White vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Juice Robinson vs. Moose and the debut of Buddy Matthews were announced for NJPW Battle in the Valley on November 13 in San Jose.
AEW returns for the first of two nights of live programming from Miami, Florida, with Friday featuring both Rampage on TNT and a Buy In pre-show on YouTube.
The pre-show will see Bryan Danielson take on Minoru Suzuki for the first time since 2004 in New Japan Pro Wrestling. This will be Danielson’s third singles outing in AEW and the second for the New Japan star who debuted with a loss to Jon Moxley last month.
The pre-show will also have Bobby Fish vs. Lee Moriarty and Tay Conti vs. Santana Garrett.
Rampage will be headlined by CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal, their first match since 2005 on the indies. Punk will look to run his AEW record to 4-0 while Sydal will be looking for his first singles win since July.
The rest of the show will see Ruby Soho take on The Bunny while Chris Jericho, TNT Champion Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager team up against Men of The Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) and the debuting former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos, flanked by Jorge Masvidal and Dan Lambert.
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The Buy In.
Excalibur, Taz and Ricky Starks are on commentary.
Tay Conti (w/ Anna Jay) defeated Santana Garrett (4:50)
Kinda surprised they didn’t open with Danielson & Suzuki. This match won the first quarter-hour for NXT against AEW (seriously).
The crowd was behind Conti, who ducked a clothesline and took Garrett down to the mat headfirst. Conti missed a pump kick in the corner, but got it on the second try and Conti fired up. She followed up with a series of pump kicks in the corner, and Garrett stumbled out of the corner and into the DDT-Tay. Conti got the win.
– Recap of the Men of Year/American Top Team/Dan Lambert storyline. Lambert has excelled on the microphone since his debut, and plenty of clips of his great work are shown. Excalibur points out that the Men of the Year and American Top Team have gotten the physical advantage. This package did a great job building up the Rampage main event. Excalibur and Tony Schiavone also spent a lot of time building up Jorge Masvidal, who will be in the American Top Team corner tonight. I think that might be foreshadowing.
“The Infamous” Bobby Fish defeated Lee Moriarty (7:54)
Fish got his first win in AEW over Moriarty, who looked very impressive despite the loss.
Big chant for Bobby at the start of the match. Moriarty and Fish exchanged angle locks early. Moriarty switched up to an armlock, and Fish fought out of that with fists and backed Moriarty in the corner for an elbow. Moriarty continued to tenaciously work over Fish’s arm. Fish finally powered Moriarty into the corner and hit a sliding lariat. Dueling “Let’s go Bobby!/Let’s go Lee!” chants from the crowd. Fish hit a slingshot senton for a near fall, then followed up with a snap suplex for another near fall.
Fish buried a knee in Moriarty’s gut and then locked in a keylock. Moriarty battled out of the move and caught Fish with a clothesline, then went back to attacking the arm. Moriarty hit a flying back elbow, a gamingiri and then a sliding dropkick on Fish for a near fall. Fish came back with a round kick and a backdrop suplex for a near fall. Fish went for go behind, but Moriarity attacked the arm again and did a backdrop suplex of his own. Fish hit a running knee strike, then gave Moriarty an exploder suplex into the ropes before taking him out with a round kick to the head for the win. This turned into quite the match.
– A video package hyped the Buy In main event between Bryan Danielson and Minoru Suzuki.
Bryan Danielson defeated Minoru Suzuki (19:14)
Danielson and Suzuki delivered a classic match.
With over 30 minutes remaining in the broadcast, the crowd and TV audience got the full “Kaze Ni Nare” expreience. The match was announced with a 30 minute time limit. The crowd was hugely behind Danielson and greeted him with very loud “Yes!” chants. The bell rang and the crowd chanted “AEW!”
Danielson worked an arm lock on Suzuki while the crowd chanted “This is wrestling!” Suzuki quickly transitioned out of that into an abdominal stretch, then transitioned into a chinlock. Danielson countered and went for a knee bar, but Suzuki got to the ropes. Both men got to their feet and Suzuki taunted the fans a bit.
Danielson got an ankle pick and went for the dragon screw legwhip, but Suzuki escaped. Danielson gave Suzuki a hard kick, and Suzuki was not impressed. So Danielson unloaded with a forearm that sent Suzuki back into the ropes. Suzuki came back with a hard chop. Suzuki taunted Danielson, who unloaded on Suzuki with a round kick. Suzuki responded with another chop. Danielson came back with another front kick. Finally, Suzuki absolutely flattened Danielson with a forearm that knocked Danielson to the mat and elicited a “Holy Sh!t” chant from the crowd.
Danielson got up and nailed Suzuki with a series of kicks, then rained down on him with elbows and forearms. Suzuki got into the ropes and caught Danielson with the juji gatame in the ropes, then took Danielson and the fight to the floor.
Back in the ring, Suzuki worked over Danielson while the crowd engaged in “Let’s go Bryan!/Su-ZU-KI!” chants. Suzuki did nasty things to Danielson’s arm on the way to locking in a hammerlock, which Danielson broke by getting to the ropes. Danielson tried to escape to the floor, but Suzuki followed. Suzuki tried to whip Danielson into the post, but Danielson countered and sent Suzuki into the post headfirst. Danielson followed up with a running knee strike off the apron to the floor.
Back in the ring, Danielson unloaded onto Suzuki with front kicks. Danielson grabbed Suzuki by the arms and stomped Suzuki. Then Danielson locked in the Cattle Mutilation and rolled into a pinning combination for a near fall. Danielson backed Suzuki in the corner and hit chops and kicks in the corner, then followed up with a running dropkick in the corner. Suzuki countered with a kick in the corner of his own, then hit the place kick… but Danielson popped right up! Suzuki went for it a second time, and Danielson got up again. The third time was enough to keep Danielson down for a two count.
Suzuki allowed Danielson to recover, and Danielson won another battle of strikes. Suzuki countered and locked in a Fujiarwa arm bar, but Danielson got to the ropes. Suzuki allowed the ref to distract him, and this allowed Danielson to go for the LeBelle Lock, then into a pinning combination, but Suzuki got his feet on the ropes. Justin Roberts made the 15 minute time call.
Both men got back to their feet while the crowd chanted “Fight Forever!” and I’m totally on board.
Suzuki and Danielson went back to exchanging forearms. Suzuki put his hands behind his back and gave Danielson a free shot, and Danielson was more than happy to oblige. After Danileson jarred Suzuki with a particularly nasty forearm, Suzuki responded in kind and both guys went back to exchanging forearms, and a double slap knocked both guys down.
“If you aren’t watching this on YouTube, you’re dumber than a box of rocks!” exclaimed Taz.
Suzuki and Daneilson kept exchanging forearms while the crowd chanting “Si!” for Danielson and “No!” for Suzuki. Suzuki locked on the sleeper, but Danileson escaped. Suzuki went for the piledriver, but Danielson backdropped Suzuki, ran the ropes and caught Suzuki with a flying knee. Danielson got the pin.
Absolutely epic.
– With five miinutes to go, a recap of CM Punk’s AEW debut and a package on the Matt Sydal/CM Punk match. Sydal and Punk both got their first big breaks in the midwest, and Sydal was coming into the business just as Punk was becoming the first big midwestern independent star.
Sydal is making his entrance as the Buy In ends and Rampage begins!
Rampage
CM Punk defeated Matt Sydal (14:44)
The match aired with no commercial breaks and it was awesome.
Of course, the crowd was hugely behind Punk. They started with a handshake and show of respect before the lock up. Punk is 4-0 against Sydal in previous meetings, the last in 2010.
The commentators pointed out that Sydal’s plan might be to try and blow up Punk. Sydal got Punk in a bow and arrow, but Punk escaped and slammed Sydal. Punk tried to slam Sydal again, but Sydal slid out and hiptossed Punk and caught him with a kick.
Sydal got Punk in a chinlock, then turned that into almost a stump puller that he rolled into a pinning combination for a near fall. Sydal followed with a series of kicks to Punk’s leg, and worked on Punk’s knee. Sydal went for the lightning spiral early, but Punk slid out and hit a dropkick for a near fall. Punk followed up with a leg lariat and went for a hangman’s neckbreaker, but Sydal rolled through and caught a kick. Sydal followed up with a sliding knee strike in the corner.
Punk went to the apron and Sydal went after him, but Punk caught Sydal and slammed him on the apron. Ouch. Back in the ring, Punk hit a slingshot senton for a near fall. Punk hug Sydal in the tree of woe and went for a sliding dropkick, but Sydal pulled himself up. Punk and Sydal battled to the top rope, and both guys knocked each other to the floor.
Both guys got back in the ring before the ten count and exchanged strikes. Punk tried for a suplex, but Sydal countered with a knee strike and got a nearfall. Sydal went for the lightning spiral, but Punk countered with a hangman’s neckbreaker. Punk followed up with a knee strike in the corner and a short arm clothesline for a near fall. Punk went to the middle rope, but Sydal caught him with a jumping rana for a near fall.
Sydal locked on a ankle lock and then transitioned into a straight jacket. Punk countered into the Anaconda Vice, but Sydal got to the ropes. Punk went for the Pepsi Twist, which Sydal escaped. Sydal blasted Punk with a roundhouse kick and hit the lightning spiral (which the commentary team had been putting over all night as a match ender), but it only got two.
Sydal went to the top, but Punk got to his feet and avoided Sydal’s attack. Sydal went for a crucifix, but Punk countered the move with the GTS. Punk got the pin.
Punk didn’t look like he’s lost a step to me.
– John Silver challenged the Super Kliq on behalf of the Dark Order. “Those sons of a gun!” “Uh, that’s the Gunn Club.”
Ruby Soho defeated Bunny (9:45 w/ break)
Following Bryan/Suzuki and Punk/Sydal, this match pretty much died with the live crowd.
Bunny drop kicked Soho while her necked was wedged against the turnbuckle. Bunny then yanked Soho off the ropes and Soho smacked her neck against the turnbuckles. Neither of those bumps looked fun to take. After a commercial break, Soho made a comeback. Bunny caught Soho with a german suplex off the middle ropes for a near fall. Bunny went for her finish, but Soho countered into a backslide and got the pin.
After the match, Penelope Ford attacked Soho. Ford and Bunny double teamed Soho and Ford knocked her out with the brass knuckles.
– Rundown of Upcoming Shows: In addition to what has been previously announced for Dynamite tomorrow night, Kiera Hoga is taking on Penelope Ford and Jon Moxley is taking on Wheeler Yuta. On Rampage next week, the TBS title tournament brackets will be announced, there will be a first round match for the World Title Eliminator Tournament and Pac takes on Andrade El Idolo.
Mark Henry moderated a face-to-face segment with American Top Team and the Inner Circle.
Jorge Masvidal & Men of the Year (w/ Dan Lambert & Jorge Masvidal) defeated Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager (11:25)
The crowd was hot for this match.
Lambert immediately went heel on the crowd for singing “Judas” and demanded the crowd sing his team to the ring as well. Shockingly, they did not. Other members of the American Top Team were shown in the crowd.
Scorpio Sky brutalized Guevara with elbows to start, but Guevara came back with a spring kick off the ropes and a dropkick. Jericho got the tag and so did Dos Santos, who looked huge next to Jericho. Dos Santos brutalized Jericho with fists but looked kind of clumsy in his first exchange. Dos Santos looked more comfortable out there as the match went on. Hager got the tag and the advantage with a takedown. Dos Santos came back with a knee and got the tag to Scorpio.
Jericho got the tag and dropped to the floor to confront Lambert and Masvidal. The other members of Men of the Year attacked Jericho on the floor, and the show went to a picture-in-picture break with Jericho in trouble.
Back from break, Dos Santos power slammed Jericho for a near fall. A pretty good powerslam, too. Ethan Page missed a kick and Jericho caught him with an enziguri, then got the tag to Guevara. Guevara hit a double springboard cutter on Sky and a Spanish fly on Page. Jericho came back in and hit a springboard dropkcick on Page, a double axehandle on Sky and then the Lionsault for a near fall. Everything broke down with Hanger and Dos Santos fighting on the floor. Guevara and Page did some kind of crazy highspot that the cameras missed (I know because the crowd popped huge for whatever it was), while Hager put Dos Santos through a table on the floor with an uranage.
Back in the ring, Jericho went for the codebreaker, but Sky countered into a TKO attempt. Jericho countered that and got the Walls of Jericho. Paige VanZant left her seat and jumped on the apron to distract the ref. This allowed Masvidal to run in an hit a running knee on Jericho. Scorpio got the pin.
After the match, VanZant took selfies while all the members of American Top Team and Men of the Year beat down Jericho. Santana and Ortiz ran in to chase off the members of Lambert’s crew. The crowd chanted for the Inner Circle as the show closed.
Final Thoughts:
This was such a great night of AEW action. Danielson/Suzuki is well worth seeking out, as is Punk/Sydal. The Inner Circle/American Top Team angle is definitely leading to some kind of mulitman match, if not a Jericho/Masvidal match. And Paige VanZant is a fantastic heel.
Minoru Suzuki is heading to Las Vegas for Impact Wrestling’s next set of television tapings.
Impact Wrestling has announced that Suzuki will be appearing at their post-Bound for Glory TV tapings on Sunday, October 24 and Monday, October 25. The tapings are being held at Sam’s Town Live.
A video aired on Thursday’s Impact hyping that Suzuki would be coming to Impact Wrestling soon. The NJPW star has been doing a tour of matches in the United States in September and October, with him also appearing at NJPW’s New Japan Strong tapings both months. The October tapings are taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia this weekend.
Sam’s Town Live is hosting Impact’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view on Saturday, October 23. That night, Suzuki will be facing Nick Gage at Game Changer Wrestling’s War Ready event in Los Angeles. Suzuki will also be in action at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 7 on Friday, October 22.
Suzuki is facing Bryan Danielson on tonight’s Buy-In pre-show for AEW Rampage.
In a video package that aired on Thursday’s Impact, highlights from the New Japan Pro Wrestling career of the “The King” aired, followed by a “coming soon” tease.
His debut will mark the first time that Suzuki has ever appeared for the company.
He follows Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Jay White, Satoshi Kojima and El Phantasmo as other New Japan wrestlers who have worked in Impact this year.
Recently, Suzuki has been on a tour in the United States, appearing for Game Changer Wrestling, PWX and West Coast Pro in addition to NJPW Strong.
He first appeared at AEW All Out where he went face-to-face with Jon Moxley. The two had a match on the following Dynamite which then led to Suzuki teaming up with former stablemate Lance Archer to face Moxley and Eddie Kingston in a lights out match on the Grand Slam edition of AEW Rampage a few weeks later.
Suzuki is also scheduled to face Bryan Danielson on Friday’s episode of Rampage.
The 53-year-old has spent the vast majority of his 33-year in-ring career with NJPW. He has won multiple championships in his run with Japan’s top promotion, including reigns with both the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and the NEVER Openweight Championship.
NJPW has unveiled the full lineups for this weekend’s Showdown events at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Four new matches have been added to Saturday’s show.
NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Tom Lawlor will team with Danny Limelight against Rocky Romero and Strong regular Fred Rosser.
Three other members of Lawlor’s Team Filthy will be in action, as JR Kratos, Jorel Nelson and Royce Isaacs face David Finlay, Yuya Uemura and Alex Coughlin. Brody King, Karl Fredericks and The DKC will face Bateman, Barrett Brown and Misterioso in another trios match. Hikuleo will face LA Dojo’s Kevin Knight in the other added match.
For Sunday’s show, three new matches have been announced.
Juice Robinson and David Finlay will face Yuya Uemura and Kevin Knight. Brody King, Chris Dickinson and Daniel Garcia will take on Bateman, Barrett Brown and Misterioso in a trios match. New United Empire member TJP will face Clark Connors in singles competition.
Sunday’s show will be headlined by Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston vs. Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer in a tag team Philadelphia street fight match, while Minoru Suzuki vs. Chris Dickinson is listed as Saturday’s main event.
Detailed look at the WWE draft, the rosters in different categories, strengths, weaknesses, depth and why so many picks were expected going in. Divisions strengthened, weakened, decimated, key personalities and more looking forward on the WWE roster
This past week in G1, who were the stars, standings, key matches and a rundown of every match, what to see, what to miss, storylines and what’s coming next
WWE Crown Jewel update
The death of Reggie Parks, the famous beltmaker who had a long career in the industry
WWE & AEW business in September, the numbers, what do they mean, comparisons, who watches what show and live attendance
Complete rundown of this past week’s UFC show and what’s coming this week
TV changes for the month of October
Detailed look at ratings, including what shows people watch together with the most frequency, how wrestling rates with sports and entertainment programming, men vs. women viewership
Promotion in serious talks about a new TV deal
The return of Women of Wrestling and distribution
How U.S. wrestlers fared in world championships
Behind the Alberto Rodriguez lawsuit over the Tito Ortiz fight
Lots of wrestlers getting TV media gigs
Promotion has new distribution method for next major PPV
Ticket sales for all the major shows between now and the end of the year
What regulatory incompetence led to the death of a fighter
International TV ratings
New WWE coaching staff members
Another top star contract expiring soon
Oldest skewing major wrestling show of the year and what’s being done to fix it
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
An angle aired on social media prior to tonight’s NXT where Legado del Fantasma kidnapped B-Fab and Top Dolla in broad daylight. Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott defends the NXT North American title against Santos Escobar on tonight’s show.
Matches taped for Main Event this week prior to Raw include John Morrison vs. Angel Garza and Drew Gulak vs. T-Bar.
The company has trademarked the term ‘the suplex-orcist”, in reference to Roman Reigns.
G4 has confirmed that the network, which will feature Xavier Woods as an on-air personality, will relaunch on November 16. It will be available on Comcast XFINITY, Cox, and Verizon Fios TV subscribers. Additionally, the network will stream through Twitch, YouTube, and Philo.
Raquel Gonzalez talked to Yahoo Sports about her latina heritage and how it shaped her WWE career.
In an interview with Allure, Bad Bunny talked about his match at WrestleMania. “It was like I died and went to heaven,” he said. “I’ve never sat to watch a recording of one of my concerts. Never. But my wrestling fight — I’ve watched it a hundred times. For like a week, I would go to bed watching it.”
Bryan Danielson wrote on Twitter regarding his upcoming match against Minoru Suzuki: “In 2004, I wrestled Minoru Suzuki 1 on 1. He beat the sh*t out of me. Showed me what violence and sadism inside a wrestling ring looks like. Since then, I’ve learned a thing or two about violence myself. And sadism. Excited to show Mr. Suzuki what I’ve learned #DANIELSONvsSUZUKI”
In place of Dynamite, AEW will air an episode of AEW Dark: Elevation tomorrow on their YouTube channel at 8 pm ET and an episode of AEW Dark on October 20. Both will be “best of” specials.
MLW has announced the signing of Joe Dombrowski to their announce team. He will start with the MLW Fusion: Alpha show that will air on MLW’s YouTube channel on Wednesday night.
Combat Zone Wrestling, which has not run a show since March of 2020, announced a pay-what-you-wish event called Renaissance of Tradition for October 24 at Studio Z in Blackwood, NJ. Fred Yehi, Diego Hill, Vinny Talotta, and Lucky 13 have been announced for the show.
PWInsider reported that at one point, there was a Memorandum of Understanding signed for Game Changer Wrestling to purchase CZW. However, CZW owner DJ Hyde pulled out of the deal.
Alberto el Patron’s trial for aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault begins on October 25 in San Antonio, Texas.
Aja Kong told Tokyo Sports she is undergoing surgery to put an artificial joint in her knee. She said that she does not expect to be out of action long.
Heels’ season finale on Starz scored 81,000 viewers, up from last week’s 73,000. In the 18-49 demo it scored a 0.01, down from last week’s 0.02.
Shaquille O’Neal told PopCulture that any match with Paul Wight would need to take place in New Jersey. “It has to be done in Northern New Jersey. Because you saw what I did to Cody [Rhodes]. …And see, I took it easy on Cody because he was a little guy, but big guys, I don’t take it easy on big guys, Paul Wall, or whatever your name is.”
Forbes has a video feature on Tony Khan and his involvement running AEW.
Lio Rush was the guest on this week’s Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette. He talked about his current relationship with Mark Henry (h/t Fightful): “Me and Mark Henry’s relationship is super cordial now,” he said. “I think it came down to two very strong personalities and two very different eras of wrestling and we agree to disagree. We’re about to be working together now and AEW is such an incredible place to be. It would be foolish of us to carry on any kind of whatever it was as it was pretty random and wild.”
Chelsea Green on her Green With Envy podcast said that WWE had sent out a text telling talent they were not allowed to be at All Out. “I will say that I really wish Matt [Cardona] had been able to go,” she said (h/t WrestlingInc). “Every one at WWE who had a spouse or a partner that was on All In got a text the week or two out from talent relations at WWE, saying they were not allowed to be at All In. So originally, of course, Matt and people like Deonna and Adam Cole, so many people were going to be at All In, just backstage watching us. And when they sent that text, I mean, it was way too risky for any of them to be there, especially after being told not to. It was such a bummer, but it still feels like yesterday when I came back from my match to a hundred texts from Matt saying how awesome it was. I actually could cry thinking about it all.”
Tonight’s episode was called Autumn Attack and was filmed in front of a crowd in Dallas. Matt Rehwoldt (fka WWE’s Aiden English) filled in for Kevin Kelly tonight on commentary. Kelly is in Japan right now for the G1 tournament.
The show opened with a pre-taped promo from Fred Rosser where he explained why he needs the STRONG Openweight title, and in order to do that, he’d have to beat Suzuki.
Minoru Suzuki defeated Fred Rosser
Rosser jumped Suzuki before the bell. Suzuki smiled and answered back with hard elbow shots. Rosser shouted that NJPW Strong was “his house” a few times. When Suzuki was seated, Rosser got into his face to let him know this again. Suzuki slapped him.
Suzuki would next go to work on Rosser’s left arm. He did an armbar while draped over the rope, then started smashing Rosser’s arm against the barricade on the floor and around the ringpost. Suzuki rolled back into the ring and did the Los Ingobernables tranquilo pose—sort of.
This fired Rosser up. He tried bringing a chair into the ring but the referee grabbed it from his hands. Suzuki continued working over Rosser’s arm. Rosser was able to catch Suzuki off the ropes with a scoop Emerald Flowsion for two.
Rosser ripped his wrist tape off and wrapped it around Suzuki’s next before applying a chicken-wing facelock. I don’t think I’ve seen Rosser use this since he was Darren Young in WWE when he was feuding with the Miz with Bob Backlund, master of the chicken-wing, in his corner. Suzuki looked amused while he was in the hold.
Rosser had to break the hold when Suzuki made it to the ropes. Rosser dragged Suzuki to the apron and landed a back suplex.
Suzuki was able to put Rosser in a sleeper, then readied him for his patented Gotch-style piledriver. He got the crowd pumped for it, but he waited too long, and Rosser back bodydropped himself out of harm’s way. The crowd booed this. Rosser reacted perfectly and flexed at the crowd while they continued booing.
Rosser threw a few closed fists and headbutts, but it wasn’t enough to put Suzuki away, as Suzuki hit Rosser with the Gotch piledriver for the win.
STRONG Openweight championship: Tom Lawlor (c) defeated Ren Narita to retain the title via submission
We saw a segment centered on Ren Narita promo next. He has beaten Chris Dickinson, Karl Fredericks and Fred Rosser this year. Lawlor had already beaten Narita previously in the New Japan Cup USA tournament.
They felt each other out for a minute or so as things got started. Lawlor shot on Narita a few times but wasn’t able to take Narita down. Narita grabbed a waistlock, dragged Lawlor to the mat and went for an armlock, but Lawlor slipped out. This was a great example of modern chain wrestling, two guys going hold for hold while also demonstrating actual wrestling and submission grappling techniques.
Lawlor got frustrated after a few minutes and slapped the ring post. He threw Narita into a side headlock and clearly pulled Narita’s hair. Narita slipped out the back door and locked Narita into an achilles lock. Lawlor tried chopping his way out but Narita wouldn’t let go. Lawlor had to use a few dirty closed fists so that he could stand up and create space. Narita shut it down and went back to the achilles lock. Lawlor literally had to drag Narita out of the ring by the arms, then smashed him into the guardrail. “Filthy” celebrated with a short strut on the floor.
Lawlor blasted a seated Narita with two low kicks. Narita ate both and asked for more. He sat cross-legged like Shibata. Narita’s new facial hair and tan makes him look an awful lot like his trainer these days. Lawlor threw another and Narita again ate it, then stood up and delivered a low kick of his own to Lawlor.
Narita went suplex-crazy towards the end, putting Lawlor down with three different variations by around the ten-minute mark. The crowd really enjoyed Narita throughout the match.
Lawlor responded with two giant drop uranages. Narita somehow slid into a ankle slicer/achilles hold that looked to have Lawlor close to tapping until he grabbed the ropes for a break. Later, Lawlor earned a two-count after a big exploder suplex.
The two traded sleeperholds towards the end of the match. They traded maybe four sleepers until Narita got the better of the exchange. He’d transition to an octopus hold, but Lawlor escaped, then jumped guard and locked Narita in a guiltillione choke. Narita powered out of it with a wrist-grip suplex with a bridge for two. Lawlor saw an opening and quickly locked Narita in a triangle choke, then moved into an armbar submission, but Narita escaped and eventually locked in a figure-four. Lawlor sold this like he knee was ripping in half. Narita would later move into an STF; Lawlor barely escaped.
Lawlor would eventually score the submission win with a wild 10th Planet-style double-arm, double-leglock. I’ve never seen this one before. Narita, effectively limbless, had no choice but to tap: Lawlor retained via submission.
Lawlor shouted “STRONGEST FOR THE LONGEST” after the match. This was one of the top matches of the show this year.
Jay White defeated Robbie Eagles
This was a non-title bout between Eagles, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion, and the NEVER Openweight champion in White.
White went to “too sweet” the ex-Bullet Clubber, but when Eagles refused, White slapped him in the face. When the bell rang, Eagles ran at White, ducked a lariat, then unloaded a barrage of punches. White shut Eagles down with shoulder blocks and chops, but he couldn’t control Eagles’ rhythm.
Eagles wears a handkerchief around his neck when he wrestles, so White choked him with it minutes into the match. When he flexed to the crowd, they actually cheered him. White got similar reactions at NJPW’s Resurgence show in Los Angeles; while he’s technically a heel, in the US, he’s popular, regardless of character.
At five minutes in, Eagles landed a jumping double knee strike on White in the corner. White spiked him on top of his head with a DDT. Eagles landed a somersault dive through the middle ropes, onto White and over the barricade, landing on his feet.
From here, a frustrated White made Eagles pay for a good section of the match. Nothing flashy, just a slow, methodical beatdown. At one point, he did a stalling Saito suplex where he carried Eagles around the ring with one arm, like a doll, before spiking him.
When White set Eagles up for the Bladerunner, Eagles smacked White in the face before he could do the move. Eagles then went after White’s knee and leg, then finally locked on his reverse figure-four variation, his submission finish. White teased tapping but eventually broke the hold.
Eagles landed a 450 splash from the top on White’s knee, and again applied his inverted figure-four. White escaped and planted Eagles with a snap sleeper suplex. After a brainbuster and finally the Bladerunner, that was it, and White walked away with the win in just over 15 minutes. This was really good.
“When I’m away, everybody else seems like they get over-confident and get carried away with the decision making in Bullet Club.”
White specifically referred to EVIL, who the Dallas crowd booed.
‘It’s almost like they’ve forgotten who makes the decisions. It’s almost like they’ve forgotten who is in charge!”
He said he was the leader of Bullet Club, he confirmed that he still makes the decisions, and that this was still his “new era” before exiting to the back. Those who were in attendance ate it up.
Final thoughts:
This felt more like a special edition episode of Strong than what we’re used to. It was almost 30 minutes longer than the show usually is, and each match had relatively high stakes either because of the wrestlers involved (guests like Suzuki, White and Eagles) or because of titles on the line (Lawlor vs. Narita).
While everything on this episode was very good, I preferred the STRONG Openweight title the most. White and Eagles had an excellent match as well, though I imagine they’ll top themselves whenever they meet again in their next bout.
Rosser vs. Suzuki was good, but I can’t say it was better than Rosser’s match with Ren Narita a few weeks ago. Ultimately, I think what this match did was build Rosser as a more believable contender on the show as it unfolds over the rest of the year.
Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston vs. Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer in a street fight has been added to NJPW Strong Showdown tapings in Philadelphia.
Moxley and Kingston will face Suzuki and Archer on Sunday, October 17 at the 2300 Arena in a rematch from their Lights Out match on this week’s AEW Rampage Grand Slam show.
The match will be taped for a later episode of NJPW Strong, which airs Saturday’s at 8 p.m. Eastern time on NJPW World.
For the first time in its short history, AEW Rampage expands to two hours for a special Grand Slam edition of the show that was taped Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York.
CM Punk will have his first non-PPV match in over seven years as he takes on Powerhouse Hobbs. This started coming together after All Out when Taz told Punk to not think about calling out any of Team Taz when looking for his next opponent.
The Super Kliq of The Young Bucks and Adam Cole will team up to face Jurassic Express and Christian Cage. All six men got into it on Wednesday following the Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega match.
In a Lights Out match, Jon Moxley and hometown favorite Eddie Kingston will take on the reunited Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer.
The rest of the show will see Chris Jericho and Jake Hager against the Dan Lambert-led Men of the Year; Tag Team Champions The Lucha Brothers and Santana & Ortiz against The Butcher & The Blade and Private Party; and Anna Jay against Penelope Ford.
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Excalibur, Ricky Starks and Taz were the commentary team for the night (Jericho would be here but he is wrestling later).
CM Punk defeated Powerhouse Hobbs (w/ Hook) (13:33)
It’s clobberin’ time for the first time on free TV in seven years, as CM Punk made his return to wrestling on television. Punk started off fast with kicks to Hobbs’s legs and forearms, but Hobbs came back with punches of his own and a rake to the face. Punk responded with a drop toehold and more kicks to the leg. Punk hit a Russian leg sweep and then gave Hook the finger. Punk went for the GTS early, but Hook distracted Punk, Hobbs escaped and crushed Punk with a crossbody for a near fall.
Hobbs slowed the pace down with a chinlock and forearms. Hobbs literally whipped Punk from pillar to post. Punk slid out of a suplex attempt and got a near fall with an O’Conner roll, and Hobbs responded with a pounce-style bodyblock for another near fall. Hobbs then stole the Mark Henry spot where, while his opponent was prone on the ropes, Hobbs jumped on their back and basically through the opponent to the floor. This led to a quick in-picture ad break.
Back from the break, Hobbs punished Punk with a bearhug. Punk broke the hold with right hands, and caught Hobbs with a leg lariat and a swinging neckbreaker to regain the momentum. Punk hit the charging knee in the corner and short-arm clothesline. Punk then dropped a top rope elbow for a near fall. The crowed chanted “You still got it!” for Punk.
Punk went for the GTS, but Hobbs counted it and maneuvered Punk into a spinebuster for a near fall. Hobbs picked up Punk for the Town Business, but Punk slid through and locked in a sleeper. Hobbs started to fade, but he turned into Punk and dropped him with a back suplex. Hobbs hit a stampede powerslam, but it only got two. Hobbs went to the middle rope, and made the mistake of doing the GTS taunt, which gave Punk the time to recover and hit some forearms. Punk went for a hurricanrana off the top, and although Hobbs tried to block it, Punk powered Hobbs over and hit the move. This got another near fall.
Punk went for the cross arm breaker, and then switched over into a triangle choke, but Hobbs powered up and powerbombed Punk for two. Hobbs and Punk began exchanging forearms in the ring. Punk got the advantage and landed a roundhouse kick to knock down Hobbs. Hook got up on the apron a second time, and Punk went to confront him. Hobbs charged at Punk, Punk ducked, and Hobbs collided with Hook, sending him to the mat. Punk then hit the GTS on Hobbs and got the pinfall. Great match!
– Quick recap of Thunder Rosa, Nyla Rose and Jade Cargill feud and fallout from the All Out Casino Battle Royal. Sounded like it’s leading to a three way match.
Adam Cole & The Young Bucks (w/ Brandon Cutler & Luke Gallows) defeated Christian Cage & Jurassic Express (w/ Marko Stunt) (10:56 aired)
Don Callis came out with the Bucks, then joined the crowded commentary desk for this match. The Bucks and Cole are officially known again as “The Superkliq ” and made their AEW Trios debut tonight. Man does this company need trios titles.
Cole teased starting out with Cage, then immediately tagged out to Matt Jackson. Christian dominated Matt early and got a near fall with a back elbow off the middle rope. Jungle Boy got the tag and he and Christian double-teamed the Bucks. Matt hit Jungle Boy with a double chop to the throat. The Bucks tried to double team Jungle Boy, but Jungle Boy was able to get the advantage and send both Bucks out to the floor.
Jungle Boy began to stare down Cole, and he chased Cole to the floor and around the ring. Jungle Boy turned the corner and ran right into a double superkick from the Bucks. Back in the ring, Cole held Jungle Boy in a chinlock while the Bucks ran the ropes. They both stopped to give Cole a kiss on the cheek, then superkicked Jungle Boy as the show went to a break.
Back from the break, Jungle Boy escaped the Bucks and got the tag to Luchasaurus. Luchasarus went for a double chokeslam on both Bucks, but Cole broke that up. Luchasarus then chokeslammed Cole on top of one of the Bucks. Luchasarus then grabbed Nick Jackson on the top rope and chokeslammed him for a near fall. Luchasuarus had him by the throat for the cover, but terrible referee Rick Knox didn’t notice.
The match broke down. Cole and one of the Bucks hit a double superkick on Luchasarus. The Bucks went for More Bnag for Your Buck on Jungle Boy, but he took Nick down with a top rope hurricanrana, German suplexed Matt and Christian flew in with a flying headbutt and Jungle Boy got a near fall. JB went for the snare trap on Matt, but Luke Gallows distracted him to break that up.
Tags were made on both side to Luchasaurus and Cole, but soon all six men were in the ring and it was pure chaos. Cole and Luchasaurus knocked each other out with pump kicks. The Bucks, Christian and Jungle Boy all fought on the ramp. Matt Jackson low blowed Christian and threw him off the ramp to the floor. Then The Bucks dumped Christian to the floor as well.
Back in the ring, Cole hit a shining wizard on Luchasaurus for a near fall. Cole then hit the Panama Sunrise on Luchasaurus, The Bucks hit the BTE trigger, and Cole lowered the boom to get the three count.
After the match, Adam Cole and Jungle Boy stared each other down.
The Men of the Year (w/ Dan Lambert) defeated Chris Jericho & Jake Hager (10:48 aired)
Even Taz shuts up on commentary so we can hear the 20,000 fans in the stadium. Ricky Starks points out that the song the fans are singing is about Chris Jericho turning on the fans!
Jericho and Scorpio Sky (who is the first man to pin Jericho in an AEW ring) start out, and Jericho battered him with chops and a back suplex. Jericho flipped off Page on the apron, then battered Sky in the corner with a series of clotheslines. Hager got the tag, fell victim to a jawbreaker, and Page was able to get the tag. Page was immediately hip-tossed by Hager. Hager followed up with a belly to belly suplex for a near fall. Jericho got the tag and Page kicked Jericho’s head off. The show goes to a picture in picture break while the Men of the Year are dominating Jericho.
During the picture-in-picture, Hager got the tag and ran wild on Page and Sky until Page tripped up Hager on the apron, then flew off the apron to the floor with a shoulder tackle. Back in the ring, Sky wore down Hager with a chinlock. Sky hit a chop block on Hager’s knee. Hager came back with a clothesline on Page. Jericho and Sky got the hot tags, and Jericho hit a springboard dropkick to knock Page off the apron, then dropped Sky with a fist off the top rope. Jericho hit the Lionsault for a near fall. Hager tagged in a hit a huge beel and a Hager bomb for a near fall. Hager got the ankle lock on Sky, and Jericho locked in the Walls of Jericho, and that’s the end of the first hour!
Hour 2 saw Lamberg get on the apron to distract the babyfaces and break up the submission holds. Hager ran the ropes and Lambert tripped him up, and this allowed Sky to roll up Hager with a small package to get the pin!
After match, Hager took out the Men of the Year, Jericho and Hager got their hands on Lambert. Then, emerging from the crowd were the members of America’s top team. Junior Dos Santos, Paige Van Zant, and Austin Vanderford, Andre Arlovski and Dalton Rosta and Jorge Masvidal surrounded the ring. They all attacked Jericho and Hager. Paige Van Zant worked over Jericho with brass knuckle punches to the gut, and then Jorge Masvidal hit a running knee to Jericho’s head, which took him out and busted him open. Great angle.
Lucha Bros & Santana & Ortiz (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Private Party & The Butcher & The Blade (w/ Matt Hardy & Jack Evans) (5:55 aired)
Crazy brawl to start, that ended with all of the HFO on the floor and all of the babyfaces hitting crazy over the top dives to the floor on their opponents. Penta and Ortiz then combine for a double team splash on Blade for a near fall. Lots of insane double teams in and out of the ring. Private Party hit Ortiz with a crazy flippling DDT on the floor. Hardy then threatened to cut the hair of Ortiz. This brought out Orange Cassidy. Jack Evans tried to cut him off at the aisle, but ate the orange punch. The show went to another quick break.
Back from break, Santana and Ortiz double teamed Blade. Private Party got the tag in and Kassidy hit a crazy neckbreaker/Stunner on Santana. Penta got the tag in and took out Kassidy. Butcher came in and took out Penta. Fenix hit the hook kick on Butcher, then got a pump kick from Blade. Blade followed up with a flying clothesline and both guys were down.
Quen went for the shooting star press on Santana, but Santana avoided it and the Lucha Bros hit the Fear Factor on Quen. Satnana and Ortiz followed up with the street sweeper and Santana got the pin on Quen. This was insanity.
– Post match, Tony Schivone interviewed Matt Hardy, who challenged Orange Cassidy to a hair v. hair match… on behalf of Jack Evans. “You better win, Jack.” Jack looked less than enthused about this.
– Sammy Guevara and Fuego Del Sol came out on the stage to do Sammy’s gimmick with the signs/cue cards, but Miro attacked. Guevara got destoryed and Del Sol was beeled off the stage and through some tables on the floor. Miro then locked in the game over on Guevara. “The Next TNT Champ.” That card was torn up by Miro.
– Video package with Andrade El Idolo. He challenges Pac again, this time without Chavo so Pac won’t have an excuse for losing.
Penelope Ford defeated Anna Jay (3:07 aired)
Jay attacked Ford on the entrance ramp before the bell. Ford briefly got the advantage in the ring, but Jay dumped Ford to the floor and whipped her into the post and barricade around ringside. Back in the ring, Jay continued to dominate and went for the sleeper. The Bunny came down the ramp and distracted Jay, causing her to break the hold. This distraction gave Ford the advantage. Ford choked Jay on the ropes and the show went to a break.
Back from break, Ford and Jay were exchanging slaps. Jay went for the sleeper again, but Ford broke it by backing Jay into the corner. Bunny jumped up on the apron to distract the ref, and at the same time throw brass knucks to Ford. Ford hit Jay with knux and got the pin.
Post match, Ford and Bunny beat down Jay, and Tay Conti ran in and tried to make the save. She got a brief advantage on Ford, but Bunny stomped her back and Ford knocked out Jay with the knuckles.
The Hardy Family Office came out to keep anyone from making the save, and they stood with their backs to the ring. Orange Cassidy and Kris Statlander came out, and were backed up by the Dark Order. All of the Dark Order. This 12 on 5 advantage for the babyfaces sent the HFO packing.
In the ring, Alex Reynolds and Preston Vance tried to apologize to Evil Uno and Stu Grayson, but Stu and Uno left, along with Colt Cabana. Although Cabana looked more confused than committed to leaving with the other two. Nonetheless, the divide within the Dark Order continues.
Update for Wednesday’s Dynamite: Jungle Boy v. Adam Cole, and Penelope Ford & The Bunny v. Anna Jay & Tay Conti. For next Friday’s Rampage: Orange Cassidy v. Jack Evans in the hair versus hair match.
– Face to face, Mark Henry interviewed Suzuki Gun and Moxley and Kingston. This broke down quickly. Archer thought things were unfair in Cincinnati, but New York is Kingston’s town!
Lil Uzi Vert was enjoying himself in the crowd. If that means anything to you, you are probably much younger than me.
The lights went out to signify the end of the official card and it’s time for the Lights Out Match.
Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston defeated Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki in a Lights Out Match (11:44 aired)
They started Kaze Ni Nare in the middle of song to make sure the crowd got to sing along. We have about 16 minutes of TV time remaining.
Archer brought out some plunder to the ring. The brawl started on the floor. Moxley paired off with Suzuki and Kingston with Archer. Suzuki and Moxley dueled with chairs on the entrance ramp. Suzuki and Kingston then paired off in the ring and there was a massive chant for Eddie. Kingston hit a chop and Suzuki laughed it off before responding with chops of his own. Kingston tooked Suzuki down and brought a table in the ring. Suzuki booted Kingston through the table, taking him out for a bit. Moxley and Archer in the ring, and Archer took Moxley down with a boot.
Archer dropped to the floor and found four AEW young boys to beat up. Like, where did they even come from? Archer then chokeslammed Moxley from the ring apron to the pile of AEW young boys (the commentators called them “ring attendants”) on the floor.
Archer found a strap under the ring. Back in the ring, Moxley and Suzuki exchanged forearms, then Archer hung Moxley with the strap. The show went to its last commercial break.
Back from break, Archer and Suzuki have taped Moxley’s arms behind his back with duct tape, and they whipped Moxley with the leather strap. Did Kingston go to get concessions or something? He’s been gone forever, and I heard lines were bad. Anyway, Suzuki worked over Moxley with a single crab, and then Archer beat him about with a trash can lid. Kingston finally came around but Archer cut him off on the floor.
Suzuki and Archer kept working over Moxley in the ring. Moxley made the mistake of spitting in Suzuki’s face, so he punched him and tried to bite his head off. Literally. Moxley couldn’t defend himself because his hands were still taped up. And just as I typed that, Moxley tried to go on offense with headbutts. Kingston finally made it back in the ring and took down Suzuki with an enziguri, then stunned Archer with an eyepoke and the machine gun chops. Kingston hit an exploder on Archer, but Suzuki got him in the sleeper, and Archer followed up with a helicopter black hole slam.
Suzuki set up chairs in the ring, and Archer set up Kingston for a black hole slam. Before Archer could hit the move, unfamiliar music played and the name Homicide was displayed on the ramp. “The baddest wrestler to ever come out of New York,” (according to Excalibur) Homicide ran in from the crowd and attacked the heels, then cut Moxley free. This allowed Moxley and Kingston to come back. Moxley hit a DDT on Archer. Kingston put a trash can on Archer’s head, then beat the can with a kendo stick for a full 30-40 seconds. Kingston then got the pin.
Homicide is apparently in All Elite Wrestling, and Kingston, Moxley, and Homicide celebrated to end the show.
Final Thoughts:
Great night of wrestling. This show + Dynamite would be a strong contender for pay-per-view of the year. Go watch all this.
A match between Nick Gage and Minoru Suzuki was made for next month’s GCW event in Los Angeles.
At tonight’s Highest in the Room event, Suzuki defeated Jonathan Gresham and was celebrating when Gage came out and confronted Suzuki. The two brawled, with Gage sending Suzuki out of the ring. He told Suzuki that he wanted to fight him. Suzuki acted like he was going to re-enter the ring, but instead accepted his challenge and left.
Announcers confirmed that the challenge was for their event on October 23 in Los Angeles. Bloodsport 7, which was also announced during tonight’s event, will take place the day prior at the Ukrainian Cultural Center, which was where tonight’s show took place.
Suzuki has spent September touring the United States. He has appeared on AEW television, losing to Jon Moxley on the September 8 edition of Dynamite. He will team with Lance Archer to take on Moxley and Eddie Kingston next week in a Lights Out match that will air as part of a special two-hour Grand Slam edition of AEW Rampage that will be held at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York.
NJPW has announced the first two matches of next month’s NJPW Strong New Japan Showdown tapings in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena.
On night one on Saturday, October 16, Minoru Suzuki will take on NJPW Strong regular and former Team Filthy member “The Dirty Daddy” Chris Dickinson.
On night two on Sunday, October 17, Will Ospreay will face Alex Zayne. Zayne is coming off a short WWE run, where he wrestled as Ari Sterling. Aside from one appearance on NXT, Zayne’s entire WWE stint was confined to 205 Live. Zayne’s original WWE signing was officially announced with the December 2020 Performance Center class. He was released by WWE on August 6, 2021.
Tickets for both nights of NJPW action in Philadelphia are on sale now.
NJPW Strong New Japan Showdown night one, Saturday, October 16 —
Minoru Suzuki vs. Chris Dickinson
NJPW Strong New Japan Showdown night two, Sunday, October 17 —
Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley are scheduled for action this Wednesday on Dynamite.
“Before Moxley & Kingston answer for The Suzuki Incident, what Suzuki-gun @suzuki_D_minoru + Lance Archer perceived as disrespect last week to the legend Suzuki, tomorrow night Mox & Eddie will try to settle the score for last month’s savage attack by 2point0 LIVE on #AEWDynamite!,”AEW wrote on social media when announcing the bout.
The Suzuki Incident refers to the singles match last week between Jon Moxley and Minoru Suzuki that had to be cut short due to time restraints. Suzuki’s music was also cut off early during his entrance.
Prior to All Out, Kingston and Moxley had been feuding with 2point0 and Daniel Garcia. They teamed with Darby Allin on the August 4 edition of AEW Dynamite where they defeated the trio.
Here is the lineup for Wednesday’s Dynamite, which will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey:
Adam Cole vs. Frankie Kazarian
Jade Cargill vs. Leyla Hirsch
Darby Allin (w/ Sting) vs. Shawn Spears (w/ Tully Blanchard)
Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer will issue a challenge to Jon Moxley
Bryan Danielson will address Kenny Omega
Dan Lambert and Men of the Year open challenge
Additionally, CM Punk will join the broadcast booth as a special guest commentator.
Following a loss to Jon Moxley in the main event of Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, AEW announced Thursday that Minoru Suzuki will appear on next week’s Dynamite alongside former Suzuki-gun stablemate Lance Archer to issue “a new challenge” to Moxley.
The tweet stated that Suzuki and Archer were both “furious about preferential hometown treatment” that Moxley received Wednesday as the former AEW World Champion headlined in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Archer and Suzuki have history together from the time they spent together in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Archer was a founding member of the popular Suzuki-gun faction when they debuted in 2011. Archer won the G1 Tag League with Suzuki in 2011 and was a member of the group until February 2020 when he departed the company.
NJPW recently announced that Archer and Suzuki would reunite at night two of the New Japan Strong Autumn Attack TV tapings in Dallas, Texas — the first time they have done so since November 2019.
This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite will feature fallout from Sunday’s All Out pay-per-view.
Jon Moxley’s homecoming match against Minoru Suzuki has been announced for the show. Moxley defeated NJPW’s Satoshi Kojima at All Out, then was confronted by Suzuki. Suzuki laid Moxley out with his Gotch-style piledriver finisher. Tonight, Moxley gets his chance for revenge in his hometown of Cincinnati.
Moxley and Suzuki last squared off at NJPW’s The New Beginning in Osaka in February 2020, an IWGP United States Championship match won by Moxley.
After debuting as the joker in the women’s Casino Battle Royale at All Out, Ruby Soho will make her Dynamite debut against Jamie Hayter.
Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole will also appear following their debuts at All Out. Plus, we’ll hear from CM Punk after his in-ring return against Darby Allin.
Malakai Black will be in action against Dustin Rhodes. This match was set up on Rampage as Black defeated, then further attacked Nightmare Family member Lee Johnson. Rhodes then ran in for the save.
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Dante Martin and The Pinnacle’s FTR & Shawn Spears vs. Dark Order’s Evil Uno, Stu Grayson & John Silver are also set for tonight. Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Show Report —
Excalibur was absent from commentary due to his upcoming wedding. He was replaced by Taz.
The show began with a recap of all the biggest moments from All Out, including the debuts of Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole.
Malakai Black defeated Dustin Rhodes
This was a hot opener. Black continues to impress, and Dustin is reliable as ever.
They went right after each other at the bell. Dustin landed a couple quick clotheslines and an atomic drop. He followed it up with a German suplex out of the corner. Dustin kept up the attack on the floor and thought about a destroyer, but Black fought out and back suplexed Dustin through the timekeeper’s table.
Black continued to dominate. We got a nice loud dueling chant for both men. A knee lift to the gut from Black got two. Black then applied a choke before transitioning into a heel hook, forcing Dustin to fight to reach the ropes. Dustin tried to fight back with right hands, but Black easily kicked out his leg.
Dustin collapsed on a hammer throw attempt, selling the leg. “Are you not entertained?” from Black. Eventually, Dustin came back with shoulder tackles and the snap powerslam for two. Dustin cradled Black for two. He landed corner punches until Black kicked out his leg yet again. A running knee from Black got a near fall.
Black moved to the floor and pulled Cody’s boot out from underneath. He brought the boot into the ring and taunted Dustin with it. Dustin fired up and hit the drop-down right hand followed by a Canadian destroyer for a good near fall. “You still got it!” chant for Dustin.
Dustin went for the running bulldog, but Black countered it and sent him into an exposed turnbuckle. The spinning heel kick followed to finish it.
– After the match, Dustin’s mouth was bleeding profusely.
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A Lucha Bros video promo aired. Their championships cost them blood, sweat, and tears, so anyone who wants them is welcome to try and take them. “Cero miedo.”
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Eddie Kingston cut a promo. He called Miro out for using a low blow at All Out. Miro came back by saying he’d offer Kingston’s broken bones to his wife, and his soul to God.
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CM Punk speaks
Punk thanked Darby Allin, Sting, and all the fans. Wrestling is like “riding a violent bicycle,” and he’s back. Loud “You still got it!” chant. Punk hyped up Minoru Suzuki’s appearance later on in the show, leading to a big “Moxley” chant. He addressed Aunt Linda, the woman who raised Brian Pillman, in the front row, before listing all the big surprises from All Out.
The first person Punk texted after his match was his wife April. She asked him “what’s next,” so Punk decided to leave it up to the crowd.
On commentary, Taz had enough and he grabbed a mic. He’s known Punk a long time, and he’s tired of this BS love-fest he’s got going on. He told Punk to never mention any members of Team Taz he wants to face.
Powerhouse Hobbs and HOOK emerged. Punk challenged Taz to send him any member of Team Taz, telling them to beat him if they can, or survive if he lets them.
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Santana & Ortiz said that their feud with FTR sparked something within them. Now, they’re turning their attention to the rest of the tag team division.
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Ruby Soho was asked about her open challenge. She said she didn’t want people to think she just got lucky at the Casino Battle Royale.
Britt Baker and co. walked up, saying Soho’s just the flavor of the month. Soho came back saying she was one of the people who helped break Baker into the business. She thinks Baker’s got all these nicknames as a defense against letting people see who she really is.
Baker told Soho to run away to catering, just like the last few years. Soho told Schiavone “I know she’s your girl, but I’m going to whoop her ass.”
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Powerhouse Hobbs (w/ HOOK) defeated Dante Martin
Dante immediately went to the skies, but Hobbs caught a springboard. Dante used evasive maneuvers and hit a dropkick that sent Hobbs to the floor. He tried to follow it up with a tope, but Hobbs caught him and sent him hard into the ring post. He followed it up by sending Dante repeatedly into the barricade ahead of a commercial.
Once back, Hobbs was in complete control as he pummelled Dante on the mat. Dante came back with a shotgun dropkick and a running senton for two. Hobbs rolled to the floor. Dante looked to hit a tope, but HOOK hopped up on the apron to block it. Dante decided to hit a tope con giro instead over the top of HOOK’s head onto Hobbs out on the floor.
Dante kind of hit a gamenguiri, but then Hobbs avoided a springboard. Dante hit a running kick before Hobbs turned the running offense into a spinebuster for the win. Hobbs was definitely knocked loopy at the end there, leading to some miscommunication.
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Dan Lambert appeared in the stands, flanked by the Men of the Year. He congratulated AEW for bringing in all this new talent, but it’s all to avoid the truth, which is that this company has only two real men wrestling for it: Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page. Together, they will scream their truths, so if there are any tough guys who would like to shut them up, they better do so soon.
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Matt Hardy promised to shave Orange Cassidy’s hair. Orange came back with “Whatever.”
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MJF promo
He came out flanked by Wardlow. MJF explained that he beat Chris Jericho three times before Sunday, and then he beat him a fourth time, but after the bell, the match was restarted due to extreme bias against him. This bias comes from the fact that everyone wants to be him.
MJF insulted Cincinnati and brought up “cheap heat.” Ugh. It’s called the “midwest” because everything within it is “mid,” including skyline chili and the Reds. He dared people to jump the guardrail, but they won’t, because they’re all cowards.
He turned his attention to Aunt Linda, who raised Brian Pillman, in the front row. She was with Pillman’s daughter, who MJF also insulted.
Brian Pillman Jr.’s music played, and he came out in a Bengals jersey. He called him “Maxwell Jerkoff Friedman.” Pillman knows MJF had a silver spoon upbringing, but Cincinnati breeds badasses like Pillman and Jon Moxley. MJF may be from Long Island, but Pillman is from the streets of Cincinnati. “Welcome to the jungle.”
MJF brought up Pillman’s “drug-addicted mother,” and Pillman got hot, but Wardlow stood in between them. MJF suggested that Pillman’s mother should have “swallowed.” He told Wardlow to go stand in the corner and look pretty. He was about to say he was going to “abort” Pillman, so Pillman attacked and beat him down.
Wardlow intervened, but Pillman escaped briefly to continue the attack. Wardlow gave chase again and killed Pillman with a German. Griff Garrison ran out but was immediately crushed by Wardlow, who propped him up and allowed MJF to strike him with the Dynamite Diamond Ring.
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Jon Moxley addressed Minoru Suzuki, saying he’s in the jungle tonight. “You gonna die.”
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Ruby Soho defeated Jamie Hayter (w/ Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.)
Hayter used her power advantage at the start. Soho caught a pump kick and returned with a kick of her own, but Hayter sent Soho into the ropes and to the floor ahead of the break. Upon return, Soho used a headscissors to send Hayter face first into the turnbuckle. She followed it up with running kicks and a modified DDT for two.
Some kind of facebuster from Soho got two. Hayter overpowered Soho and hit a sliding lariat for two. Soho hit the wind-up kick (the former Riot Kick) out of nowhere for the win.
– After the match, Baker and Rebel immediately attacked. Riho ran out to make the save but was immediately taken out. Kris Statlander came out with a chair to chase off the heels.
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Brian Cage and Ricky Starks cut a dueling promo. Starks is tired of this. Cage wants a one-on-one match.
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Earlier today, the Dark Order were asked about their problems. Uno said they were fine, but Angels got hot. Anna Jay walked up and told everyone to act like a team.
The Pinnacle (Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, & Shawn Spears) (w/ Tully Blanchard & Wardlow) defeated Dark Order (Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, & John Silver)
Silver immediately blind tagged himself in. Spears knocked him down with a shoulder tackle, so Silver returned fire with a body slam. He pulled Spears into the corner for a tag, but hesitated before bringing in Grayson. Grayson was forced into the Pinnacle’s corner before he took out Spears with a backflip kick. Grayson and Uno hit a combination elbow drop slam for two.
A jawbreaker from Spears allowed him to tag in Dax. Dax went for repeated covers but only got two. Silver fired up with a suplex, but Spears and Cash knocked off his Dark Order partners, preventing a tag. Silver fought off all three Pinnacle members and hit a running kick followed by a German suplex for two.
However, the three-on-one disadvantage for Silver was too much, and the Pinnacle hit a modified C4 on Silver for the quick win. Grayson was late coming in to break up the pin, leading to more miscommunication.
– After the match, Uno got in Silver’s face. Silver had enough and took out Uno. Grayson and Angels were hot as 10 and Cabana tried to cool everyone off.
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We got a series of quick promos from women in the Casino Battle Royale: Anna Jay, Jade Cargill, Nyla Rose, and Thunder Rosa.
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Tully Blanchard was backstage. He said everyone just saw an example of leadership out in the ring. He wants Tony Khan to book Darby Allin vs. Shawn Spears next week, and at some point it will be Tully vs. Sting, one more time.
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Sammy Guevara did his sign gimmick through a picture in picture.
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The Varsity Blonds were interviewed about their brawl earlier tonight. Pillman decided to challenge MJF to a match, which will happen in two weeks. The Acclaimed walked up, and Caster revealed he has a match with Pillman for this Friday’s Rampage.
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The Elite & Bryan Danielson promo
The entire Elite, sans Adam Cole, came out. Callis brought up that Kenny Omega won the top spot in the PWI 500. All Out was all about The Elite. Nick brought out Adam Cole, who made his entrance.
Cole started off by looking Schiavone straight in the eyes. “If you even look at [Britt] the wrong way, I will slap those glasses off your face and whoop your ass.” He told that “nerd” Schiavone to get out of the ring.
He called AEW the greatest professional wrestling company in the entire world, and it’s thanks to The Elite. Cole may be new to AEW, but he’s been in the Elite for a very long time. He is a once-in-a-generation professional wrestler, and he’s with the very best. The fans should be thanking them, because now, The Elite is complete.
Next week, Cole will make his in-ring debut. Everyone will all see how elite he really is. Omega said that sounds like a cause for celebration, but he hates interruptions. So, of course, Bryan Danielson interrupted.
Omega cut Danielson off before he could start. He sent away the rest of The Elite and invited Danielson into the ring. Danielson snatched the microphone away and asked the fans if they wanted to see Bryan Danielson fight Kenny Omega. He said Omega talks about being the best wrestler in the world, but he’s afraid of Danielson. Omega isn’t on his level.
Danielson stopped an attack and locked on the Lebell Lock. The Elite all attacked, but then Christian Cage, Frankie Kazarian, and the Jurassic Express came out to make the save. Luchasaurus pressed Stunt onto the pile and Jungle Boy hit a huge dive.
They all cornered Brandon Cutler in the ring, who fell victim to Danielson’s running knee. Danielson posed to end the segment.
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AEW Rampage lineup:
PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo
Darby Allin & Sting promo
Britt Baker, Rebel, & Jamie Hayter vs. Ruby Soho, Kris Statlander, & Riho
Brian Pillman, Jr. vs. Max Caster
AEW Dynamite lineup:
Adam Cole vs. Frankie Kazarian
Jade Cargill vs. Leyla Hirsch
Darby Allin vs. Shawn Spears
AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam (9/22):
Cody Rhodes vs. Malakai Black
MJF vs. Brian Pillman Jr.
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They cut off Suzuki’s entrance before they could get to the “Kaze Ni Nare”!
Jon Moxley defeated Minoru Suzuki
This was good, and Suzuki’s bloodied eye was a great visual, but this wasn’t anywhere close to their match from last year. It only went about eight minutes.
They immediately traded forearms and boots. Suzuki laid in a strike combination, and Moxley came back with elbow smashes ahead of a commercial. During the break, Suzuki used leverage within the ropes to gain control.
Once back, Suzuki was still in control. Moxley caught a soccer kick and bit at Suzuki’s face. Suzuki returned the favor. They traded headbutts, leading to a double down. They traded forearms once more. Suzuki ducked under a lariat and locked on the rear naked choke. He transitioned to the piledriver position, but Moxley fought out and hit the Paradigm Shift.
Suzuki was busted open badly over his eye and managed to kick out at one. He shrugged off repeated lariats before cutting Moxley off with a running dropkick. Suzuki locked on the sleeper, but Moxley escaped and hit a series of punches. A high angle Paradigm Shift followed for the win.
– Moxley celebrated in the stands in his hometown to end the show.
NJPW star Minoru Suzuki made a surprise appearance at AEW’s All Out pay-per-view, confronting Jon Moxley following Moxley’s match against Satoshi Kojima.
After Moxley defeated Kojima at All Out tonight, Suzuki’s “Kaze Ni Nare” theme music hit and he made his way to the ring. Moxley and Suzuki went face-to-face and then began trading forearm strikes. They tried to knock each other off their feet, then Suzuki put Moxley in a sleeper. Suzuki let go of the sleeper and laid out Moxley with a Gotch-style piledriver.
Moxley vs. Suzuki is set for Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite. The show is taking place in Moxley’s hometown of Cincinnati.
Moxley defeated Suzuki when they faced off at NJPW’s New Beginning in Osaka in February 2020.
Suzuki is in the United States for NJPW’s New Japan Strong tapings this month and next month. He’ll also be working a tour of independent wrestling matches, including four appearances for Game Changer Wrestling.
This month’s New Japan Strong tapings are being held at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas on Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26. Suzuki vs. Fred Rosser has been announced for night one. Suzuki & Lance Archer will team against Tom Lawlor & Royce Isaacs at night two.
Next month’s New Japan Strong tapings are taking place at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 17.
