Two new bouts have been announced for tonight’s AEW Collision from Oakland, California.
Roderick Strong will return to action against Darius Martin after a backstage confrontation that included Strong, The Kingdom, Martin and Action Andretti.
This will be Strong’s first match since a mid-September loss to Samoa Joe in a World title eliminator tournament.
Nick Wayne will face former Ring of Honor World Champion Dalton Castle for the first time ever. This will be Wayne’s first televised AEW match since a loss to Luchasaurus as part of October’s WrestleDream pre-show.
Castle is coming off a failed attempt to win the AEW Trios titles with The Boys and will also challenge ROH World Champion Eddie Kingston on this Thursday’s ROH on HonorClub.
Here’s the current lineup that was taped Friday:
Sting, Darby Allin & Adam Copeland vs. Lance Archer & The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch)
La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush & Dralistico) vs. The WorkHorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)
John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.
Also back is our top five pro wrestling stories of the week.
Our first story was about the pivot from where the MJF/Juice Robinson storyline seemed to be going last week before Saturday’s Collision and Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite. We also looked at the main event for AEW Full Gear and how it’s looking right now.
Some of the other things we talked about on this episode include:
Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight and where to do that match
John Cena’s role in bringing Knight to the main event
The guiding of young Nick Wayne so far
Sting’s retirement
How Jade Cargill is being presented so far
We also had a short Wrestling Prospectus segment on a tag team wrestler who had to go the singles route of late.
The next Pure title match will take place on next week’s ROH TV.
On Saturday’s AEW Collision, it was announced that Katsuyori Shibata will wrestle Nick Wayne on next week’s edition of ROH television. Shibata also announced that he would be wrestling at AEW WrestleDream on October 1. However, he didn’t announce who he would face.
Since winning the Pure Championship earlier this year, Shibata has been making regular title defenses. Some of his most recent championship matches have had him defeat the likes of Daniel Garcia, Josh Woods, Lee Moriarty, and Alex Coughlin. He also appeared at Forbidden Door earlier this summer, losing a four-way match for the AEW International title involving Garcia, Zack Sabre Jr., and then-champion Orange Cassidy, who emerged victorious.
Wayne made his debut for AEW back in July and has associated himself with Darby Allin. On this week’s Dynamite, they defeated Angelo Parker and Matt Menard. He also participated in the recent AEW World Title Eliminator Grand Slam Tournament, losing to Allin in the quarterfinals.
The tournament to determine the challenger for AEW World Champion MJF at this month’s Dynamite Grand Slam has its first two matches.
In a meeting of mentor vs. trainee, former TNT Champion Darby Allin will take on Nick Wayne in a quarterfinal bout on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
Wayne has been by Allin’s side since officially signing with AEW this summer, teaming with each other twice. However, Wayne has been upset with Allin making peace with AR Fox so quickly after Fox briefly aligned with Swerve Strickland and bloodied up Wayne in a recent attack at his home. After Strickland fired Fox from his group prior to All In, Allin came out to aid Fox from an attack and make amends.
The other match will see Roderick Strong against Trent Beretta.
Strong has made it known to former friend Adam Cole that he doesn’t like his recent friendship with MJF and wants to win the tournament to defeat him. Beretta’s profile has increased in recent weeks following an anything goes three-way on Dynamite, a parking lot brawl on Rampage, and Stadium Stampede at All In.
The semifinals take place this Saturday on Collision.
MJF will face the tournament winner at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, on Wednesday, September 20th.
Here’s the current lineup for Indianapolis, Indiana:
Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
Grand Slam World title eliminator tournament: Darby Allin vs. Nick Wayne
Grand Slam World title eliminator tournament: Roderick Strong vs. Trent Beretta
With just a few days to go before AEW All Out, one of the final pieces will be put into place on tonight’s AEW Rampage from Chicago.
20 men representing ten teams will compete in an over the top battle royal with the winners advancing to a Ring of Honor Tag Team title match at All Out against new titleholders MJF & Adam Cole.
Teams include Aussie Open, Best Friends, Action Andretti & Darius Martin, Ryan Nemeth & Peter Avalon, The Righteous, Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds & John Silver, Matt & Jeff Hardy, Gates of Agony’s Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona, The Butcher & The Blade, and The Outrunners.
For the first time since May, former AEW World Champion Hangman Page will be in singles action as he takes on indie standout Bryan Keith.
Two of the top young talents in the game — El Hijo del Vikingo & Nick Wayne — will team up in AEW for the first time as they take on Kip Sabian & Gringo Loco.
Willow Nightingale & Skye Blue will face Anna Jay & Taya Valkyrie.
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Taped in Chicago, Illinois.
John Silver & Alex Reynolds of The Dark Order won a Tag Team Battle Royal for a Shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles (11:38).
“We love battle royals here on Rampage!” Yeah Jericho, no kidding.
The Outrunners were the first team eliminated; both members of the team were eliminated consecutively. Aussie Open hung out on the floor at the start of the battle royal and pulled Bishop Kaun ofThe Gates of Agony through the bottom rope. Chuck Taylor ofThe Best Friends dumped Ryan Nemeth, and Peter Avolon was abused by The Hardy Boys, then dumped by Trent Beretta. The Best Friends and The Hardys had a stand off in the middle of the ring, until the rest of the men in the battle royal attacked then. Lots of action in and out of the ring. Mark Davis of Aussie Open dumped Bishop Kaun. Toa Leona dumped the Blade from the ring apron. The Blade held onto Leona’s foot, and Kyle Fletcher of Aussie Open dropkicked him to the floor to eliminate him.
After a split-screen break, Dutch of The Righteous eliminated The Butcher. Jeff Hardy clotheslined Vincent of The Righteous to the floor. The Hardy Boys were eliminated separately by the Dark Order, and Action Andretti eliminated Dutch. Andretti got a bit of shine against the Aussie Open before he took a man-sized bump over the top rope and into the railing. Darius Martin eliminated Alex Reynolds, (ostensibly injuring his knee) and John Silver eliminated Martin.
The match got down to Aussie Open, the Best Friends, and John Silver. Aussie Open dumped Taylor. Silver feigned an alliance with Aussie Open to eliminate Baretta, but then ducked away and let Aussie Open do all the work. Beretta ducked a charge from Fletcher and he flew over the top rope. Davis knocked Silver to the floor, but Alex Reynolds (who was still at ringside being tended to because of his “injury”) caught him to keep him from hitting the floor. Davis and Beretta fought in the ring, with Beretta using a front facelock to eliminate Davis. Once Andews dropped to the floor, Sliver ran in to dump Beretta and win the match for his team.
Yeah, AEW has too many battle royals, but they’re usually pretty decent and this was no exception.
The Dark Order v. Better Than You, Bay-Bay for the ROH World Tag Team Titles is official for All Out.
After a commercial break, Aussie Open came out to the announcer’s desk to attack Chris Jericho. Sammy Guevara came out with Floyd the Bat to make the save. Feels like we’re gonna get a match between these teams soon.
Mike Santana took us back to the beginning. Four months after his debut, his dad passed away. This brought out a lot of negative thoughts that he’d tried to keep buried. And then he destroyed his knee in the Blood and Guts match. Now, he has a story to tell.
El Hijo Del Vikingo & Nick Wayne defeated Kip Sabian & Gringo Loco (w/ Penelope Ford) (7:20 aired)
This feels very random. Wayne hit a step up hurricanrana on Sabian. Ford jumped up on the apron to distract Wayne. Well the kid is 18. This led to Wayne getting dumped on the floor and double-teamed into the commercial break.
Gringo Loco tried a springboard moonsault on Wayne, but Wayne got his knees up and got the tag to Vikingo. He took out Sabian with a corkscrew kick, then caught Loco with an enziguri. Vikingo hit a springboard dropkick while Loco was hung up in the ropes for a near fall. Vikingo and Loco took way too long to set up a top rope poison rana (where they were both standing up on the top rope). Wayne hit Wayne’s World on Sabian, then followed him to the floor with a tope con hilo. Vikingo hit the 630 senton on Loco to get the pinfall.
– The QTV crew set up some footage of QT Marshall defending his AAA Championship. Johnny TV is apparently in charge of QTV, and he dumped his coffee on Harley Cameron.
“Hangman” Adam Page defeated “The Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith (3:29)
Someone put a bounty on Adam Page in Chicago? Bryan Keith actually got an inset promo to explain his motivation.
Crowd chanted for Page at the start of the match. Page hit a stiff lariat on Keith. Keith came back with an exploder and some weak looking clotheslines. Page caught Keith with a fallaway slam. Page set up the Buckshot Lariat, but goofed around with the crowd too much and Keith mounted a brief comeback. Page caught Keith with a boot, then hit the Buckshot Lariat to get the pin.
– Danny Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker got some interview time with Rene Paquette to plug their Trios Title shot on Collision.
– Rene Paquette has a sit-down interview with Roderick Strong. Strong refused to answer Paquette’s questions and left. That felt pointless.
– Ricky Starks will challenge Ricky Steamboat to a strap match tomorrow night at Collision.
– Orange Cassidy v. Jon Moxley was confirmed as the main event for All Out. Also added was Eddie Kingston & Shibata v. Claudio Castignoli & Wheeler Yuta.
Skye Blue & Willow Nightingale defeated. Taya Valkyrie & Ann Jay (8:27)
Nightingale countered a suplex attempt with a small package for a near fall. Blue (who was over with her hometown crowd) came in with a cartwheel into an elbow strike on Valkyrie. Jay caught Nightingale with a kick from the outside, and Valkyrie followed up with a backstabber to take control.
After a long split-screen break, Nightingale hit Valkyrie with an enziguri. Tags were made on both sides, and Blue dominated Jay with a shotgun dropkick, a knee strike and an enziguri. Blue hit a crossbody for a near fall. Blue hit another knee strike for a near fall. Valkyrie ran into break up the pin, and Nightingale hit her with a spinebuster. Nightingale hit Valkyrie with a Pounce. Nightingale held Valkyrie up in an Electric Chair for Blue to come in off the top, but Jay pushed her to the mat. Valkyrie held Blue open for a superkick, but Blue ducked and Jay superkicked her partner to the floor. Blue hit her own superkick on Jay, then hit the Code Blue for the win.
After the match, Valkyrie hit Blue with a cheap shot. Nightingale made the save and celebrated with Blue to end the show.
Final Thoughts:
Of all the hours (and hours) of wrestling on this weekend, this was definitely one of them.
The following are spoilers for Friday’s AEW Rampage, taped after Wednesday’s Dynamite in Chicago, Illinois.
The show was highlighted by a 20-man battle royal comprised of ten teams competing for a shot at Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions MJF & Adam Cole at Sunday’s All Out.
These come courtesy of PWInsider:
Dark Order’s John Silver & Alex Reynolds won a battle royal to earn a ROH Tag Team Title shot at AEW All Out. Teams included Aussie Open, Best Friends, Action Andretti & Darius Martin, Ryan Nemeth & Peter Avalon, The Righteous, Matt & Jeff Hardy, Gates of Agony’s Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona, The Butcher & The Blade, and The Outrunners.
Afterward, Aussie Open got into a fight with Chris Jericho as he was at the announcers’ desk with Sammy Guevara coming to Jericho’s aid.
El Hijo del Vikingo & Nick Wayne defeated Kip Sabian & Gringo Loco
Hangman Page defeated Bryan Keith
Willow Nightingale & Skye Blue defeated Anna Jay and Taya Valkyrie. Blue pinned Jay with the code blue.
Nick Wayne is set to make his NJPW debut next month at the All Star Junior Festival USA.
As announced by NJPW and confirmed by Wayne on social media, the 18-year-old phenom will wrestle his first match for the promotion in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena at the All Star Jr. Festival USA pay-per-view on Saturday, August 19, teaming with Jordan Oliver against Mao, and NJPW stalwart El Desperado.
Wayne called the debut “a dream come true,” and noted that teaming with Oliver was special, tweeting:
New Japan Pro Wrestling debut. A dream come true. And i’m doing it with my brother, @TheJordanOIiver
Wayne & Oliver vs. Desperado & Mao is the first match officially announced for the All Star Jr. Festival USA. The event will air on NJPW World pay-per-view. An NJPW card with the All Star Jr. Festival branding was also run in Japan in March of this year.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the debut of Nick Wayne, Ibushi debuting for AEW with Blood and Guts, the death of Mantaur, Adrian Adonis, full recaps of AEW and NXT and tons more. A packed show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Fallout from AEW Dynamite, AEW may move to 12 pay-per-views
20:34: Manutar passes away
28:08: Ratings
34:42: A huge weekend ahead, G1 Climax lineups
38:28: Dave’s Adrian Adonis Dark Side of the Ring thoughts
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including WWE stock hitting an all-time high, AEW Wembley and WrestleMania in London, the world famous NXT report, Bryan’s memories of Nick Wayne dating back to his BIRTH, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.
We got right into our Top Five of the week where we discussed the following:
NXT Underground featuring Damon Kemp, Eddy Thorpe and Gable Steveson
Adam Cole and MJF as the new odd couple in AEW
AEW Collision going up against a UFC pay-per-view this Saturday
Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk 19 years later and how to book Saturday’s Collision match to set up a bigger match
Nick Wayne’s impending AEW debut and whether or not Swerve Strickland should be his opponent
Roman Reigns’ feud with Jey Uso and overall WWE Money in the Bank thoughts
We also brought back our Break It Down segment and discussed the Pete Dunne & Ilja Dragunov vs. WALTER & Alexander Wolfe match from the October 15, 2020 episode of NXT UK.
A vignette hyping the debut of Nick Wayne aired on Wedneday’s Dynamite.
In the vignette, which appeared to be the first in a series, Darby Allin was shown at the Buddy Wayne Academy in Washington, where he trained to become a wrestler back in 2014. Allin talked about how he trained with Buddy and with Nick, then talked about how when Buddy passed away in 2017, he made a pact with himself that he was going to watch over Nick and that he would make sure he gets everything he wants in life. They showed footage of Allin giving Nick his AEW contract back in February of 2022. He said Nick is now 18 and ready to show the world what he can do.
Later, it was announced Wayne would debut on next week’s Dynamite against Swerve Strickland. Nick defeated Strickland for the DEFY World Championship back on April 4, eventually losing the title to KENTA on June 3.
Wait until you see what wrestling prodigy @TheNickWayne does in #AEW!
In the last year, Nick has wrestled for GCW, DEFY, Progress, and DDT, with key matches against the likes of Strickland, Will Ospreay, and Konosuke Takeshita.
Wrestling prodigy and new DEFY Champion Nick Wayne will make his AEW debut on the July 12th AEW Dynamite, days after his 18th birthday.
His opponent: Swerve Strickland.
Strickland lost his DEFY title to Wayne Saturday in Seattle, Washington, and after the match, Strickland called his shot for a third meeting in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, for Wayne’s AEW debut.
The two are 1-1 in their series thus far. This match will not be for the title.
Wayne, son of the late wrestler and trainer Buddy Wayne, signed a contract with AEW last February after being presented with the contract by Darby Allin at a DEFY event.
At the time, our Bryan Alvarez noted the deal was more of an apprenticeship as Wayne, then 16, had to finish high school first. After his 18th birthday, he would then become a fully contracted wrestler.
Since breaking out onto the scene, Wayne has been a regular on the indies and has wrestled worldwide while still working his way through high school. He’s been a GCW regular, notably competing against Will Ospreay last year in a dream match of his after his appearance for last January’s WRLD of GCW in New York City had to be scrapped due to his age.
Nick Wayne and his mother are back in Seattle safe following a diverted flight home caused by a bomb threat.
Wayne confirmed on Tuesday afternoon on social media that he is now home.
“Made it back to Seattle. I appreciate all of you for everything,” he wrote.
Wayne and his mother were flying from Frankfurt, Germany to Seattle on Condor flight DE2032 when a bomb threat was found on the bathroom mirror inside the plane. Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Radio Tuesday morning described the situation.
“Somebody apparently went into the bathroom and wrote either ‘bomb’ or ‘explosion’ on the mirror in the bathroom,” he said. “They turned around, they landed in Iceland, they took everybody off the plane, they herded them into some secure area.”
Airlive reported that there were 266 people on the flight. The plane was diverted to Keflavik, Iceland into an area guarded by police.
Wayne defeated Robbie X at a PROGRESS event on Sunday in London, England.
