Tag: orange cassidy

CMLL 91st Anniversary live results: Mistico vs. Chris Jericho

Posted on by Marc Quill

In a year of massive success with their weekly events, CMLL holds their biggest event of the year tonight at Arena Mexico with their 91st Anniversary show.

The headliner will see AEW star Chris Jericho make his promotional return for the first time since 1995 to take on the legendary Mistico. While the two briefly shared the ring twice in WWE, they have never gone one-on-one adding some extra excitement for tonight.

Another major match will see Hechicero vs. El Valiente vs. Esfinge vs. Euforia in a four-way where the loser will have to remove their mask.

Orange Cassidy will make his CMLL debut, teaming with Rocky Romero and current MLW Champion Satoshi Kojima against ROH TV Champion Atlantis Jr., Volador Jr. and Ultimo Guerrero.

CMLL Women’s Champion Willow Nightingale will defend the title against Zeuxis in her first title defense since winning it in July.

Other action includes Titan vs. Mascara Dorada in the finals of the Copa Independencia Tournament.

Our live coverage begins at 10:30 PM Eastern.

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We opened the evening from inside the legendary Arena Mexico with Roberto Lopez Olvera greeting fans from outside the arena.

Inside Arena Mexico, ring announcer Omar Garcia stood inside the ring and welcomed everyone to tonight’s 91 Aniversario event. He introduced the two championship matches we’ll be seeing tonight: Titan vs. Mascara Dorada in the Copa Independencia Tournament finals and Willow Nightingale vs. Zeuxis for the CMLL Women’s Championship.

Six-Man Tag Match: Los Viajeros (Futuro, Max Star, & Hombre Bala Jr.) def. Los Depredadores (Magia Blanca, Magnus, Rugido)

Magia Blanca & Futuro were announced as the team captains for their respective teams.

The match was underway with the two teams locking horns in the ring. Max Star hit a nice set of hurricanranas as his team dazzled with high-flying moves that left Los Depredadores on the flatfoot outside the ring. Hombre Bala Jr. topped it off with a running dive outside.

Magia Blanca soared from the top roe with an el tornillio. Back in the ring, the action was fast and furious, with Max Star managing to hold his own against Magnus and Rugido. Fantastic avalanche arm drag by Futuro on Blanca, was followed by a dive to the outside on Magnus.

Los Depredadores briefly regained the advantage by tripping up Futuro as tge three proceeded to hit consecutive maneuvres on their foe. Hombre Bala was sent to the elevated ramp outside the ring as he fell victim to a triple-team assisted triple dropkick.

The rudos remained in the driver’s seat as they worked over Max Star in the corner before focusing their attention on Hombre Bala Jr.

Magnus found himself floored by an arm drag from Hombre Bala Jr., who then glew outside with. The tecnicos regained advantage with stereo avalanche hurricanranas on opposite ends from Max Star & Hombre Bala Jr. The count was made, and Los Viajeros scored the victory in this opener.

A fantastic opening contest that was fast paced and helped set the tone for the night ahead.

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Six-Man Tag Match (2/3 Falls): Soberano Jr., Niebla Roja, and Angel de Oro def. Neon, Star Jr., and Templario

Niebla Roja and Templario were the designated captains for their respective teams.

Templario and and Soberano started off for their respective teams as the bell rang. Lockup in the middle of the ring between the two ended with a brief headbutt exchange before Templario was caught in a leg hold by Soberano.

Templario escaped as he and Soberano sized each other up in the middle of the ring. Soberano backed off and taggked in Angel de Oro, as Star Jr. entered for his team.

We get an exchange of arm drags and shoulder blocks between Star and Angel before Neon and Niebla were tagged in. The action spilled outside the ring as Templario and Angel hit a double team maneuver on Star. The rudos suddenly had the upper hand as they had Templario isolated in the ring with Neon and Star down at ringside.

Niebla, Angel, and Soberano slammed Templario with an amazing triple powerbomb before they hooked up Neon and Star with simultaneous slams onto Templario. We got a triple pin from the rudos, who went up one-nil in this 2/3 Falls Match.

The second fall began with Niebla, Angle, and Soberano attacking their foes outside the ring as the action resumed in-ring with Star Jr. isolated in the corner of the rudos.

Soberano lifted Angel on his shoulders for a dive onto Star as Templario tried to mount a comeback for his team. Neon attempted to intervene, but his leg was targeted by repeated kicks that left him down and out. Angel hooked up Neon by the legs as Soberano stomped on him.

Now Templario returned to the match to try and spark something for his team, but that was to no avail as he got stomped on by the rudo team. Star Jr. and Neon regained momentum with dual hurricanranas, followed by dual dives to the outside to take out Soberano and Angel.

In the ring, Templario scored the fall for his team after he hit a diving powerbomb on Niebla for the one, two, three.

Fall number three began with Soberano attacking Templario’s mascot on the ramp as Templario and Angel faced off in the ring. With impressive agility, Templario managed to keep the two members of Los Hermanos Chavez at bay before he turned his attention to Soberano. The crowd was on their feet for Templario’s amazing display as he tagged in Star Jr.

Star Jr. took down Niebla with repeated chops, followed by a Superman Punch. He followed that up with some aerial offense on both Niebla ansd Angel before he had Soberano in his sights with a guillotine leg drop. Neon entered the match and kept up with his own fantastic display of aerial excellence that kept the rudos flatfooted.

The tecnicos regrouped on the ramp and hit a series of dives to their opponents, but Templario’s dive to Angel was a very close near fall. Templario had a rush of adrenaline after Soberano kicked him in the back, but that wasn’t enough as Angel took him down with a tope.

Back in the ring, Star Jr. and Niebla faced off as the action remained fast and furious. The finish saw Soberano, Niebla, and Angel get the pin and win after Los Hermanos drove Neon onto Star with a slam, and Soberano got a powerbomb of his own.

Even more fast-paced trios action. Lucha libre excitement at its finest. Even going in blind, I found myself having a good time seeing this here.

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Flip Gordon was backstage for some remarks as he said that he was here to confront Rocky Romero.

Copa Independencia Finals: Titan def. Mascara Dorada

As the bell rang, both Titan and Mascara Dorada played to the crowd before they faced off in the middle of the ring with an exchange of holds.

Titan attempted to use his agility to break out of Mascara Dorada’s hold, but was met with a springboard flip from Dorada as the two continued to lock horns. Neither man could get the upper hand as they met each other with flips and dropkicks.

As Mascara Dorada rolled outside, Titan tried for a plancha, but was stopped short. At ringside, Mascara Dorada was sent to the barricade, but he flipped over to the crowd and landed on his feet. Titan responded with a Michinoku Driver, followed by a diving two-foot stomp from the apron.

Back in the ring, Titan had the first pinfall attempt after a running kick to a seated Dorada, but that was not enough. Titan maintained control until Mascara Dorada avoided calamity with a flipping dodge. With Titan outside the ring, he got floored by a superhuman-like dive from Mascara Dorada.

Mascara Dorada kept command of the match with a suplex inside the ring to Titan. Both men sized each other up as they traded chops and taunted one another. Dorada caught Titan with a spinning kick as he then escaped an attempted tornado DDT from Titan.

Titan avoided a clothesline from Dorada with a Matrix-style dodge before he took him down with a dropkick. Mascara Dorada countered a running corner strike by Titan with a modified black hjole slam for a two-count.

Dorada headed up top for a 450 Splash, but Titan got his knees up as he took advantage with a Falcon Arrow for the near-fall. Mascara Dorada countered a diving stomp from Titan and lifted him up for a leg submission. Titan managed to counter it into a leg lock of his own as he pulled away on both Dorada’s arms. However, Dorada reached the ropes to break the hold.

Titan caught Dorada with a springboard DDT, but couldn’t connect with the subsequent superkick as Dorada caught his leg and slammed him for a near-fall. Again, Dorada headed up top for the 450 Splash and connected, but that wasn’t enough.

Dorada’s attempted corner attack was intercepted by Titan, who ended up taking out Dorada with a corner clothesline of his own, followed by the two-foot stomp from the top rope. Dorada managed to kick out at the last second.

Titan wrenched in his leg submission once again and grabbed at Dorada’s neck for extra pain. Dorada tried to fight out of it, but he had no choice but to tap out, which gave Titan the win and the Copa Independencia.

After the match, El Fantasma and CMLL officials awarded the Copa Independencia to Titan, as Mascara Dorada showed him respect in a sign of good sportsmanship.

I found myself enjoying this match up and the back and forth action from Titan and Mascara Dorada was just great to see. So far, a great show from CMLL with their 91st Anniversary event.

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CMLL World Women’s Championship: Zeuxis def. Willow Nightingale (NEW CHAMPION)

Lockup between Zeuxis and Nightingale to start off as the challenger looked to have the advantage early on here. Zeuxis trapped Nightingale in the middle of the ring with a submission hold, but that was quickly broken out of.

Zeuxis had Nightingale pinned by the hand in the middle of the ring, but the champion fought out of the hold. Lots of technical-based offense from Zeuxis, but that was met by the sheer power of Nightingale. In the corner, Zeuxis had Nightingale stunned briefly, but she fell victim to a fisherwoman’s suplex for a two. A hurricanrana from Zeuxis sent Nightingale outside the ring as the action spilled over to ringside.

Nightingale ran across the apron and took down Zeuxis with a fierce cannonball to the outside. Nightingale continued her assault on Zeuxis with a spinebuster for another near-fall. She worked over Zeuxis in the corner for a bit before the challenger fought back with kicks to the back of Nightingale.

Now it was Zeuxis with the upper hand as she charged at a prone Nightingale with double knees in the corner, followed by a suicide dive that sent Nightingale crashing into the barricade at ringside. The battle headed to the apron, where Nightingale dropped Zeuxis onto the apron, back-first.

Zeuxis lfited Nightingale on her shoulder,s but couldn’t capitalized. She did manage to floor the champion with a running Meteora for the near-fall in the ensuing standoff. Sit-down powerbomb from Nightingale wasn’t enough to keep Zeuxis down for the count.

Nightingale headed up top and missed with the moonsault as Zeuxis dodged it at the last second. Now Zeuxis had her try at a moonsault, but Nightingale avoided calamity. Things began to pick up as Zeuxis and Nightingale fought on the top rope, which ended with Zeuxis hitting an avalanche powerslam. And that’s it, over, Zeuxis is the new CMLL Women’s Champion.

A fantastic match and this was certianly the right time to crown Zeuxis as the new CMLL Women’s Champion. Hard hitting and an intense showdown between champion and challenger.

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Six-Man Tag Match (2/3 Falls): Atlantis Jr., Ultimo Guerrero, & Volador Jr. def. Satoshi Kojima, Rocky Romero, and Orange Cassidy

Romero and Volador Jr. were named the captains for their teams before the bell rang.

Ultimo Guerrero and Kojima started things off for their teams as they got into a shoving contest. The fans were solidly behind Ultimo as he locked up with Kojima. Ultimo was backed into Kojima’s corner as Cassidy was tagged in and Romero’s team began to target him.

Atlantis Jr. entered the match and got taken down by a double suplex from Romero and Cassidy. Romero’s team were booed as the rudos by the Arena Mexico crowd. They had Ultimo Guerrero isolated in the middle of the ring as they worked him over with tandem offense.

Romero flew to the outside to take Volador out with a dive as Atlantis Jr. was flatlined by a double stomp and Beach Break combo from Romero and Cassidy for the first fall.

Flip Gordon was shown in the crowd taunting Rocky Romero, who started to attack him. Atlantis held Gordon back as Romero mocked him and backed away.

The second fall began with Romero and Kojima hitting Volador Jr. with a double shoulder block. Romero’s team then turned their attention to Atlantis Jr. Cassidy and Romero took Atlantis down with a double suplex as Ultimo Guerrero entered the match once again. Guerrero was outnumbered by the rudo team as Volador Jr. tried to make the save. He took down Kojima and Cassidy with a double handspring strike, followed by a hurricanrana and suicide dive on Romero.

The action picked up as Cassidy was hit with a piledriver from Atlantis, while Guerrero caught Kojima with a face-first superplex for the double pin to tie the match up at one fall a piece.

Fall three kicked off with Romero’s team trying to keep Atlantis isolated, but couldn’t on the account of Atlanti’s high-speed offense. Atlantis monkey flipped Romero halfway across the ring as Volador Jr. and Cassidy faced off in the ring.

Cassidy did his “hands in pocket” bit and the weak kicks on Volador as things began to pickup. A superkick from Volador sent Cassidy rolling out of the ring as Romero entered the fray. Ultimo Guerrero got the crowd pumped as he and Romero exchanged strikes.

Team Romero took down Guerrero and once again attempted to triple-team the big man. Guerrero managed to fight out it, but Kojima caught him in the corner and hit his patented rapid-fire chops and elbow from the top. Only a two-count.

Cassidy entered the match and tried his hands in the pocket on Guerrero. Nice hands-free hurricanrana from Cassidy is followed by a suicide dive to Guerrero outside the ring. Atlantis responded with a dive of his own to Cassidy.

In the ring, after a wild back and forth, Volador got the pinfall with a high-octane Canadian Destroyer on Romero.

While I enjoyed the other six-man tag 2/3 falls match more than this, what we got here was still good. Having some familiar faces in the form of AEW stars like Cassidy, Romero, and Atlantis helped bring a familiar feeling. I enjoyed this trios match.

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“Cuadrangular de Mascaras”: Hechicero def. Euforia, Valiente, and Esfinge

Fast and furious to start off as we got simultaneous dives to the outside from Esfinge and Valiente. Back in the ring, Euforia slammed Valiente as Hechiero targeted his legs.

Roll-up pin by Valiente on Euforia did not work as the action found its way onto the apron. Hechicero is pulled down to the floor by Valiente and Esfinge, who began to fight in at ringside. Euforia attempted for a dive, but the other three men caught him and dropped him down on the mat with a triple powerbomb of sorts.

Back in the ring, Esfinge contended with Hechicero and Valiente as the three men exchanged offense on one another. Hechicero spun Valiente around and dropped him on his knee for a backbreaker. Euforia stopped Esfinge’s attempt at a dive, but he got sent to the canvas with an armdrag from the top rope. Esfinge followed this up with a powerful monkey flip on Euforia.

Hechicero and Valiente both entered the ring and tried for dual pins, but that would not work. Esfinge took down the other three competitors with spinning kicks as he then trapped Hechicero with a unique pinning combination. Hechicero managed to get a foot on the rope to break it up.

On another corner of the ring, Euforia dropped Valiente with a superplex, but that only got a two. Euforia caught Hechicero for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker as he then took Valiente hit a modified GTS for a two. All four men struggled to their feet until a Euforia dropped Esfinge with a scoop powerslam for the near-fall.

The numbers whittled down as Esfinge caught Hechicero in another pinning combination, but that wasn’t enough. Valiente tried for a piledriver, but Esfinge countered it into a slam of his own. Euforia caught Esfinge in a submission hold to eliminate him from the match.

Valiente hit Euforia with a suicide dive as Hechicero ran and leapt off the top turnbuckle onto both Valiente and Euforia. At ringside, Valiente sent Euforia over the barricade as he began to mix it up with Hechicero.

Valiente kept Hechicero grounded with a swinging neckbreaker, but that wasn’t enough for the three. Hechicero rolled through and tried for a sleeper hold, but Valiente got out of it and appplied a leg submission of his own.

Valiente missed with a springboard moonsault as he got caught in a knot with a submission from Hechicero to force an elimination via submission. Now the match woudl be down to Hechicero vs. Euforia, with the loser being forced to unmask.

Hechicero pulled down the straps as he hit Euforia with a nice single-leg kick that sent him outside the ring. With a full head of steam, Hechicero ran across the ring and landed a vaulting diving press onto a prone Euforia outside the ring.

The Arena Mexico crowd were firmly behind Hechicero as they chanted his name. Euforia was draped across the top of the barricade as Hechicero flew right into him with a dive. He tried again for a leg drop, but Euforia moved out of the away at the very last second.

As the referee tried to check up on Hechicero, Euforia continued the asssault by targeting the shoulders and arms of his wounded opponent. In the ring, Euforia tried to rip away at Hechicero’s mask. With Hechicero outside the ring, Euforia soared with a backflip tope onto him.

Euforia tried to go up top, but Hechicero met him at the pass and took him out with a top rope hurricanrana. That got a close two-count. Hechicero caught Euforia with a knee in the corner and tried for another attack. Euforia reversed it into a powerbomb from the corner, which got a near-fall.

Hechicero got sent for a ride as Euforia tried once again for the mask of his foe, to no avail. Hechicero trapped Euforia on the top rope and attempted a springboard armdrag, but that only got a two.

The two men traded clotheslines as Hechicero now had his turn at ripping away at Euforia’s mask. In the corner Hechicero battered Euforia with nine punches and an elbow strike. Euforia recovered long enough to hit an avalanche powerbomb on Hechicero. An incredibly close near-fall as Hechicero kicked out at the very last second.

Hechicero rolled Euforia around the ring with his feet as desperation began to set in among the two competitors in this high-stakes encounter. Euforia regained the advantage with a dangerous running Meteora to a prone Hechicero in the corner. The cover and Hechicero just barely managed to kick out.

Hechicero trapped Euforia in a figure-four leglock, but that would be enough. Once Euforia escaped, he locked in a submission reminiscent of the Rings of Saturn on Hechicero, who got a foot on the bottom rope to escape.

With the advantage now his once more, Hechicero ascended to the top, but he was met by Euforia, who hit an avalanche butterfly suplex. Yet again, Hechicero kicked out at the last possible second.

Euforia with the rollthrough and the chokehold on Hechicero as he leaned backwards to add more pain to it. Hechicero refused to give up on that hold. Hechicero kicked Euforia in the back of the head and hit a running splash afterwards.

With both men back up, they began to exchange strikes, with Hechicero ultimately having gotten the better of Euforia. In the corner, Hechicero’s attempt at a hurricanrana is blocked and gets turned into another avalanche powerbomb by Euforia. Once again, Hechicero kicked out at two.

Euforia had Hechicero dead to rights with the dive, but he got nothing as Hechicero had his second wind. Euforia was trapped in a a submission hold that held both his arms, in a painful position, as he had no choice but to tap out.

After the match, Euforia was emotional as he had lost the match and was now asked to remove his mask. He addressed the crowd afterwards and seemed to show respect to Hechicero for a hard fought battle. Euforia removed his mask and handed it it over to Hechicero, who showed his appreciation for everything Euforia has done for lucha libre.

I surprisingly enjoyed this match a lot more once it became a one-on-one match. The stakes of the loser being forced to unmask just added to the intensity of it all and the battle between Euforia and Hechicero was just something that kept my interest from start to finish, especially when considering the circumstances their battle played out in (Hechicero was stablemates with Euforia as part of Los Infernales, but got kicked out last year). Probably my favorite match of the evening as a whole.

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Mistico def. Chris Jericho (w/ Big Bill) (2/3 Falls)

Both men took time to play to the crowd as the bell rang on the first fall. Jericho tried to take advantage with a shoulder block, but he found himself in an exchange of armdrags and dropkicks with Mistico.

Jericho was in firm control early after he took Mistico down with a two punches and a couple of chops. Mistico recovered and sent Jericho to the outside with an amazing leaping armdrag. Jericho escaped a dive from Mistico, as Big Bill took the brunt of it instead.

On the apron, Mistico leapt off the rope for a springboard dive as he had command of the match at this point. Jericho blocked a tiger feint kick and applied the Walls of Jericho. Mistico instantly tapped out, which gave Jericho the first fall.

Round two began with Jericho taking the ringside camera and waving to the crowd as he attacked Mistico. In the ring, Jericho tried to rip away at Mistico’s mask while punching him in the face repeatedly. Jericho seemingly had momentum on his side as he continued to work over Mistico along the middle rope. Mistico created an opening by dodging a running attack from Jericho, as he then avoided Jericho’s signature dropkick.

Mistico launched himself from inside the ring onto Jericho outside not once, but twice, which created some much needed separation. In the ring, Jericho once again snatched away momentum as he had Mistico trapped on the top turnbuckle. Mistico managed to fight Jericho off as he then flew through the air with a swanton bomb. He followed that up with a springboard frogsplash for the one, two, three to tie this match up at one fall a piece.

The third and final fall began with Big Bill attacking Mistico outsidde the ring, as he slammed him across the apron with a chokeslam. Jericho looked for an opportunistic pin, but Mistico kicked out.

Jericho missed with a running corner splash as he flew out of the ring. Mistico attempted for a running dive, but Big Bill pulled Jericho at the last second, which caused Mistico to have a crash landing. Bill and Jericho had a laugh at Mistico’s expense at ringside.

In the ring, Jericho held Mistico up for a good while for a stalling suplex, but that got a two. He placed Mistico up on the top turnbuckle and battered away at him before he threw Mistico across the ring. Jericho maintained his control over the match as he planted a foot across Mistico’s head along the bottom rope.

Mistico responded with a running superkick that sent Jericho falling to the canvas. Jericho dropped Mistico across the mat and he went for the Lionsault, but he got nothing.

Roll-up pin by Mistico only got a near-fall. Jericho started to pummel Mistico with punches as he yet again tried to rip at Mistico’s mask. Mistico found a second wind with repeated superkicks that sent Jericho across the middle rope. He tried for the tiger feint kick, but Big Bill held him up. Jericho ended up hitting Bill by accident, wich led to the feint kick from Mistico.

Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho again, but Mistico refused to give up as he eventually escaped. Mistico tried for a springobard dive, but Jericho caught him with the Codebreaker.

Mistico reversed Jericho’s Judas Effect and applied his spinning armbreaker submission. Jericho had no choice but to tap out, which gave Mistico the victory.

After the match, Big Bill attacked Mistico as Jericho threw the referee outside the ring. Jericho and Bill had Mistico cornered, but Orange Cassidy made the save. Jericho fled as Cassidy struck Bill with an Orange Punch, with Mistico following that up with a dropkick from the top.

Cassidy put his sunglasses on Mistico and left as the commentary team wrapped up the evening by signing off.

After the high-stakes action of the mask versus mask match, that main event match felt like a bit of a letdown, especially through the later stages of the third fall. Things between Jericho and Mistico felt like it kind of slowed down by the time we got to the finish, and it didn’t feel nowhere near as exciting as previous matches on the night.

All in all, a strong 91st Anniversary show for CMLL with a flat main event, but I still found myself enjoying the show as a whole, even as a new viewer of CMLL. I’d check out this show for the two 2/3 falls six-man tag match, the four-way mask vs. mask match, and Willow Nightingale vs. Zeuxis.

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Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy announced for next AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A feud between two of AEW’s top stars has been rekindled ahead of next week’s Dynamite from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, as Chris Jericho will go one-on-one with Orange Cassidy.

It will be the fourth career singles meeting between Jericho and Cassidy and the first since their Mimosa Mayhem match at 2020’s All Out.

The 2020 feud has been referenced throughout the build to this new bout with Jericho repeatedly bringing up that Cassidy still owes him $7000 for ruining one of his jackets that same year. Jericho recovered the ruined jacket, but recently stole Cassidy’s backpack for revenge.

In angle on Dynamite following a Jericho, Big Bill, and Bryan Keith trios win, Jericho revealed a framed picture of Cassidy and the Best Friends, insulting him for caring too much about the past. Cassidy then appeared on the screen to pay Jericho his money, enlisting Mark Briscoe and Kyle O’Reilly to dump $7000 worth of coins into Jericho’s convertible using a forklift.

The Jericho vs. Cassidy match is the only bout confirmed for Wednesday as of now.

Field of opponents confirmed for Continental title match at AEW All Out

Posted on by Josh Nason

AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada now knows his three opponents for a four-way title match set for this Saturday’s All Out pay-per-view.

In three qualifying matches that took place during Friday’s edition of Collision, Orange Cassidy, Ring of Honor Champion Mark Briscoe and Konosuke Takeshita (seen above) all qualified by virtue of their victories.

Cassidy upended Bryan Keith, Briscoe defeated Lance Archer, and Takeshita survived a hard-hitting bout with The Beast Mortos to punch their tickets. Of note, Briscoe and Cassidy are teammates within The Conglomeration.

The three men will challenge Okada for the title he won back in March and has defended four times since then. None of them have ever held the Continental title.

Here’s the current card for Chicago:

  • AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson defends against Jack Perry
  • Unsanctioned lights out steel cage match: Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page
  • Chicago street fight: Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Statlander
  • AEW International Champion Will Ospreay defends against PAC
  • AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) defend against Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta)
  • MJF vs. Daniel Garcia
  • TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Hikaru Shida with Kamille banned from ringside
  • AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy and The Beast Mortos
  • Zero Hour pre-show: Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) and Action Andretti vs. Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty & The Beast Mortos vs. Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven, Mike Bennett & Roderick Strong)

AEW Collision & Rampage live results: All star eight-man tag match

Posted on by Suit Williams

For the first time in company history, all of AEW’s male champions will be part of an eight-man all star tag team match to headline tonight’s AEW Collision — the go-home show for Saturday’s All Out.

Collision will be followed by a live Rampage, completing a three-hour block on AEW action in Chicago.

The main event will feature AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson teaming with the AEW Trios Champions (Claudio Castagnoli, PAC & Wheeler Yuta) against AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada & TNT Champion Jack Perry.

Collision will feature three qualifying bouts for Saturday’s four-way title defense by the aforementioned Okada with Orange Cassidy vs. Bryan Keith, Konosuke Takeshita vs. The Beast Mortos, and Mark Briscoe vs. Lance Archer.

Former AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida will face Deonna Purrazzo ahead of Shida’s Saturday challenge of TBS Champion Mercedes Mone.

Our live coverage begins at 8 PM EST and continues with Rampage at 10 PM EST in this same post.

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Collision began with Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness replaying the angle from the end of this past week’s Dynamite, with Hangman Page lighting Swerve Strickland’s childhood home on fire. Schiavone noted that AEW has refused to sanction the Steel Cage match, making it a Lights Out Steel Cage match. The announcers then threw to footage of Jon Moxley & Marina Shafir entering the building earlier in the day.

Continental Contenders Challenge Match – Mark Briscoe defeated Lance Archer

This was a bloody start to the show, with Briscoe eventually chopping Archer down to get into tomorrow’s Continental Title match. I’ve been hoping for a Briscoe/Okada singles match down the line, but I’ll take some interactions in a four-way.

The winners of the three Continental Contenders Challenge matches tonight will challenge Kazuchika Okada for the Continental Championship tomorrow night at All Out.

Archer jumped Briscoe during his entrance, pinballing him around the floor. A bloodied Briscoe threw some strikes before Archer sent him back to the floor. Briscoe dodged a cannonball against the barricade, then hit his chair-assisted dive to Archer on the floor. Archer came back with a spinebuster as we went to a commercial break.

Archer was still in control after the commercial break, hitting Briscoe with a chokeslam on the apron. Briscoe chopped his way free of another chokeslam before kicking Archer into the post. Briscoe hit a blockbuster off the apron and fired up, hitting a Death Valley Driver and a Froggy Bow for a nearfall. Archer powered out of the Jay Driller and had a flurry of offense, ending with a Bossman Slam for a nearfall.

Archer took Briscoe up for a superplex, but Briscoe knocked him down and hit a Froggy Bow. Archer kicked out at one, so Briscoe followed up with a sliding lariat and another Froggy Bow for the win and the second spot in tomorrow’s Continental Championship match.

The Learning Tree was backstage. Chris Jericho spoke on how the Conglomeration worked together as a well-oiled unit, but Tomohiro Ishii had to go back to Japan. They talked about how time was a valuable commodity, and that time ran out for everyone. The camera panned down to show a beaten Ishii laying at Jericho’s feet, with a chair around his neck. Jericho said sayonara to Ishii.

Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) defeated Iron Savages (Bronson & Boulder) (w/ Jacked Jameson)

The Veterans started by chopping down Boulder at the knee. Boulder took both men over with a double suplex, but Drake cut down the Transformer Slam with a chop block. They both sent Boulder to the floor and after surviving a Bronson flurry, they dropped Bronson across the ropes with a double Hotshot. The Vets hit a High-Low for the win.

After the match, FTR came out. They brawled with the Vets, forcing them to bail out. Jacked Jameson raised FTR’s hands and ate a Shatter Machine for his troubles.

We got a video package hyping the International Championship match between PAC & Will Ospreay tomorrow night at All Out.

Orange Cassidy was backstage with Lexy Nair. He said that Kyle O’Reilly was taking care of Ishii, and that he would punch Bryan Keith for what the Learning Tree did to Ishii. Then, he would win the Continental Championship tomorrow night and put it in his backpack next to his $7,000 in cash. A bit of advice, don’t leave that bag around Logan Square.

Continental Contenders Challenge Match with $7,000 of Cassidy’s Money On The Line – Orange Cassidy defeated Bryan Keith

Another good match, with Cassidy joining Briscoe in the Continental Title match. This would have been a good spot to have Bryan Keith get an upset win to build up the budding feud between the Conglomeration and the Learning Tree. I didn’t think either man was winning the title tomorrow night, but a win for Keith in a spot like this would have been a marquee win for him at this point of his career.

If Keith wins this match, Cassidy will reimburse Chris Jericho for his $7,000 suit jacket that he ruined on a 2020 episode of Dynamite, on top of earning a shot at the Continental Championship tomorrow night at All Out.

Cassidy shot out of his corner, sending Keith to the floor with a dropkick and following with a trio of dives. Cassidy ran Keith into the barricades, but Keith was able to throw Cassidy’s right hand – his Orange Punch hand – into the stairs. After a commercial, Cassidy made his hands-free comeback. The two jockeyed for position before Cassidy hit a Penalty Kick. Keith rolled through and hit an Exploder Suplex.

Keith hit a rising headbutt to Cassidy on the top rope. Cassidy fought Keith off, but Keith hit an Exploder into the turnbuckle and followed with a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Keith hit a pair of arm wringers, but Cassidy turned it into an inside cradle for a nearfall. Cassidy hit the Stundog Millionaire and a Beach Break for a nearfall.

Cassidy went for an Orange Punch, but Keith blocked it and hit a knee for a nearfall. Keith went for a running knee, but Cassidy caught him with an Orange Punch and a tornado DDT. Cassidy hit a Deep Impact DDT off the top rope for the win.

Chris Jericho was backstage, outside of Orange Cassidy’s locker room. Jericho has absconded – that means stolen – Cassidy’s backpack, and said he’ll keep it until Cassidy pays his debts. The backpack was empty, so I guess Orange was going to hit up the ATM after the show.

Mercedes Mone & Kamille were backstage with Lexy Nair. She wondered why Vice Principal Christopher Daniels was getting in her business and warned that Kamille wasn’t banned from the building tonight.

The Outrunners (w/ Erica Leigh) defeated Davey Bang & August Matthews

AEW may not have as many world-class tag teams as they used to have, but they have a solid division of teams. Getting teams like the Outrunners, Top Flight, and Private Party somewhat credible can generate some more energy in the currently stagnant tag team division.

The announcers noted that the Outrunners, who got a big pop on their entrance, had never won on television. That changed tonight, as they quickly hit a double-team powerslam called the Total Recall for the win.

Continental Contenders Challenge Match – Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated The Beast Mortos

An absolute slugfest, and one I would suggest you go out of your way to watch. Both of these men are fantastic talents on this roster that I would push harder as AEW homegrowns, for lack of a better term. Takeshita in particular is truly unbelievable, and he needs to start circling the top of these cards sooner than later.

The two rammed into each other with shoulder blocks to start. You would think Mortos would have the advantage when it came to ramming people. Takeshita sent Mortos to the floor and hit a tope. Takeshita clubbered on Mortos on the floor before throwing him back in the ring, where Mortos popped Takeshita before hitting his tornado tornillo. Back in the ring, Takeshita and Mortos battled on the top rope before Takeshita hit a superplex as we went to a commercial.

Mortos hit a reverse Slingblade and a headbutt as we came back from the break. Mortos hit a Bane-style backbreaker, then followed with a pop-up Samoan Drop for a nearfall. Takeshita dumped Mortos on his head with a German suplex, then followed with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. They battled for positioning on the top rope again before Mortos dumped Takeshita off the top rope with a Gorilla Press for a nearfall.

Takeshita sidestepped a spear, but a second attempt scored. Takeshita fired out at a one count and hit a World Class elbow, but Mortos came back with a spinning lariat. Both men headbutted each other down. Takeshita countered another pop-up Samoan Drop with a crucifix bomb, then hit the jumping knee and the Raging Fire falcon arrow for the win.

AEW Women’s Champion Mariah May was backstage. She said that she hasn’t shaken any hands in the locker room, because she knows the best way to get to know a woman is by making them scream at her feet. Her words, not mine. She still hasn’t held her title celebration and intimated holding it at All Out. She said that the shame about being Mariah May is that she would never be able to meet Mariah May.

Hikaru Shida defeated Deonna Purrazzo

The two got in an early pinning predicament before Purrazzo sent Shida shoulder-first into the turnbuckle as we went to a commercial. After the break, Shida came back with a second rope dropkick. Shida got the counter punches in the corner before hitting a running knee for a nearfall. Purrazzo moved out of the way of a double stomp and hit a La Mistica, then got a nearfall off of a powerbomb.

Purrazzo went for a running boot, but Shida caught her in a Stretch Muffler. The two traded boots before Shida hit a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall. Shida hit the Katana for the win. The announcers noted that Shida could be the first woman to win both the World and TBS Titles.

After the match, Mercedes Mone came out. She ran distraction as Kamille jumped Shida from behind. Mone went to attack Shida with the kendo stick, but Shida ducked and caused Kamille to get hit with the stick. It was the one thing they didn’t want to happen. Shida fought them both off and hit Mone with the Katana to stand tall before the PPV.

FTR was backstage with Alicia Atout. They made the challenge to the Grizzled Young Veterans for next week’s Collision in Dayton, Ohio.

The Acclaimed were backstage with Lexy Nair. Max Caster noted that none of the top teams in the division have beaten them and that the road to the tag team titles still runs through them. MxM Collection interrupted them to hype their match on Rampage, then told the Acclaimed to get some fashion tips from them. Billy Gunn interrupted their touching of tips as Anthony Bowens said that only one team did finger stuff in AEW.

All Star Match of Champions – AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson & AEW World Trios Champions Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, & PAC defeated The Elite (TNT Champion Jack Perry, Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada, & AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks)

I hope you packed a lunch folks, because this was a long one. I don’t have an official time, but I would be stunned if this match went less than thirty minutes. They missed the peak by a few minutes, but as an all-star champions showcase, it was a fun use of the time.

They teased Okada starting with Danielson, but Okada tagged Perry in. Perry baited Danielson into the Elite corner and laid in the stomps, but once Matthew tagged in, Danielson took him into the BCC corner. Both teams cycled through tags before we got a Pier Six brawl in the ring and quadruple counter punches. The Elite saved Perry from getting his head kicked in as we went to the final commercial break of Collision.

Back from the break, the Elite had PAC under control in their corner. After another melee, The Elite held up the Trios Champions for a Nick Jackson senton onto all three for a nearfall on PAC. PAC was your Geordie-in-peril, getting worked on for several minutes before getting to his corner to tag Castagnoli. Castagnoli ran wild alongside Yuta, but Nicholas cut them off with superkicks before an assisted Sliced Bread got a nearfall.

Okada tagged in and toyed with Castagnoli before they traded uppercuts. Castagnoli countered a Tombstone attempt by deadlifting Okada up for a suplex. Danielson and Perry tagged in, with Perry fighting off a flurry of kicks with a claw to the eyes. We got a move train ending with a Danielson missile dropkick to Perry off the top rope. Danielson laid in Yes Kicks as the Collision show ended.

We missed nothing in the one second of transition, as another move train ended with Yuta taking two superkicks and a Tombstone for a nearfall broken up by the BCC. We got a dive train ending with Okada flipping off Chicago. PAC sent Okada to the outside and hit a Fosbury Flop. PAC came back into the ring with a springboard 450 to Okada for a nearfall.

The BCC team controlled Okada in their corner as we went to our first Rampage commercial of the third hour. Okada went for a Tombstone, but Castagnoli reversed it, leading to a triple Tombstone from the Trios Champions. Okada back-dropped out of the Neutralizer, but Castagnoli caught a Nicholas crossbody leading into an assisted crossbody of his own.

Perry broke up a Rocket Launcher attempt, then ran away from Danielson as he chased him to the back. The Bucks hit the EVP Trigger on Yuta for a nearfall. The Bucks went for the TK Driver, but Castagnoli caught a launching Nicholas and took him on the Giant Swing. Yuta hit a dropkick for the sudden stop and got the pin on Jackson ahead of the BCC’s tag team title challenge.

The Outrunners were backstage with Lexy Nair. They were excited about their win before Jon Moxley & Marina Shafir came down the stairs behind them and killed them dead.

Queen Aminata defeated Missa Kate

Matt Menard joined the commentary team for Rampage duties. Serena Deeb watched from the back at a relatively normal angle as Aminata won this one quickly with the Brain Drain headbutt.

We got a video package of the history between Daniel Garcia & MJF ahead of their match tomorrow night.

Hologram & ROH World Tag Team Champions Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara defeated The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds, John Silver)

Hologram and Evil Uno started, with Hologram evading him to start. Guevara allowed Hologram to use him as a base to launch into a tornado DDT. After a commercial, Rhodes got a hot tag and ran wild before the Dark Order shut them down. The Premier Athletes were watching backstage. They triple-teamed Hologram, but Hologram evaded the Ragnarok. Guevara and Hologram hit stereo dives off of the ring posts, and the tecnicos got the win after a Hologram 450 splash.

The Bang Bang Gang were backstage. Juice Robinson noted that they needed momentum before Austin Gunn wanted them to give him a nickname. Cage of Agony entered the frame, and after the Bang Bang Gang brought up beating them for the ROH Six Man Titles way back when, Cage said that was only because they were teaming with the Acclaimed and had six people in their trio. They’ll be having a match.

Lexy Nair was backstage, where she announced that there would be a three-way trios match on the All Out Zero Hour with big money implications. Two of the teams were Top Flight & Shane Taylor Promotions…with The Beast Mortos. The Undisputed Kingdom entered the frame, wondering why their buddy Mortos was with STP, with Taylor saying that he followed the money. The Kingdom said that they were the third team and insulted Top Flight’s nifty pilot outfits. Top Flight said that they would win.

House Of Black (Brody King & Buddy Matthews) defeated MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason Madden)

I was ready to bury MxM Collection under the earth with the goofy judges, but King killing them quickly spared my wrath. After that, this was a good tag match. Like I said earlier, AEW has a lot of talented pairings and can make as many as they need to with the roster that they have. It’s a matter of consistently showcasing them in higher-profile spots. Why can’t King and Matthews get a tag title eliminator on a Dynamite, or MxM get one on a Collision?  

MxM came out with three judges to rate their poses. I thought they only had ten cards to rate MxM, but they gave Matthews a three when he did a move. The big men tagged in, only for Mansoor to tag back in and give a chop to King. King responded with a chop that got a good score, and as Mansoor was yelling at the judges, King killed all of these goofs with a crossbody.

MxM had the advantage on Matthews after the commercial until Matthews drilled Mansoor with a jumping knee. The crowd erupted with MEAT chants as the big men tagged in and traded shots. King sent Madden into the corner with a throw, then hit a cannonball for a nearfall. King tried to choke Mansoor on the apron, but Mansoor dropped King with a jawbreaker before hitting him with a leftover chair from the judges. Madden hit a chokeslam for a nearfall.

Matthews tagged in and ran wild. After maneuvering around the top rope, Matthews sent Madden to the floor, where King followed him out with a dive. Matthews took Mansoor off the top rope with a superplex before sending him into Dante’s Inferno from King for the win.

Will Ospreay was backstage. Ospreay said that he was feeling as good as he could feel after getting a poisonrana on a stage and a brainbuster on a packing crate. Ospreay had been getting compared to PAC all throughout his career, through the backyards, the British independents, and Japan. Ospreay referenced the thirty-minute time-limit draw the two had at Revolution Pro Wrestling five years ago, and said that he hadn’t forgotten about PAC. No one forgot about PAC, he had just been in this position so many times that maybe the people had lost faith in him. PAC had 24 hours on the clock to change that.

AEW Collision live results: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kyle Fletcher

Posted on by Ryan Howard

Tomohiro Ishii is in singles action this week on Collision.

The NJPW star is set to take on Kyle Fletcher of the Don Callis family on this week’s show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Both are coming off of losses, as Ishii lost in the opening match of Wednesday’s Dynamite by losing to Hangman Page. Fletcher on the same show was defeated by Ricochet in his AEW debut.

This week’s show will also see The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) taking on FTR in what will be their first match since All In. A four-way has also been announced, as Hikaru Shida will take on Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, and Queen Aminata, who has been recently working on Ring of Honor tapings.

A trios match will also take place. Collision staple Hologram will team with Kyle O’Reilly and Orange Cassidy to take on Lee Moriarty, Johnny TV, and The Beast Mortos.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 pm ET.

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AEW Collision comes on the air with Tony Schiavone welcoming us alongside Nigel McGuinness as the music for Orange Cassidy hits and it’s time for the opening Trios match of the evening. Schiavone welcomes McGuinness back to the ring at All In and mentions Christian Cage costing him in the Casino Gauntlet, something McGuinness says they’ll get to later.

Hologram, Orange Cassidy & Kyle O’Reilly defeated ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty, Johnny TV & The Beast Mortos (w/Shane Taylor, Anthony Ogogo & Taya Valkyrie)

(Action packed opener, as Hologram is now 6-0 since debuting in AEW. The crowd were loudly behind him and teaming with The Conglomeration only benefitted him in this one. I also can’t put over Mortos enough, he’s such a great big man. I know he just got an ROH Title match, but would love to see him get more of a push in AEW. He’s been on quite a few shows lately, just wish he’d get in the win column more.)

Cassidy & O’Reilly poked Hologram during his entrance to make sure he was real. O’Reilly & TV trade kicks and mat work in the early going before Cassidy tagged in with some nonchalant double teaming before Hologram joined and we get locomotion splashes in the corner. Hologram & Moriarty tagged in with fast back and forth action, as Moriarty dodged a head scissors, but Hologram got a cazadora into a roll-up for two. Mortos sprinted in with a spinning crucifix and laid out O’Reilly & Cassidy in the process. Lightning quick déjà vu from Hologram, who wanted a dive, but was cut off by Moriarty. Everyone stacked up with each other applying sleeper holds, until Mortos got a running charge and Pounced the pile. Mortos tried a spinning dive outside, but took out both his teammates in the process. Cassidy leapt off the apron with a punch, as Hologram, with the crowd chanting loudly for him, hit a somersault dive on the pile heading to picture in picture.

Back from break, Cassidy found himself isolated, trying desperately to get to his corner, until he shrugged off a Moriarty sunset flip and just strolled over and made a hot tag to O’Reilly. Mortos absorbed O’Reilly’s offense and starched him with a discus lariat. A weird little sequence of who was the legal man with Mortos & TV, as it allowed O’Reilly to dive to a Hologram hot tag. Hologram incredibly hit a somersault springboard double arm-drag on Moriarty & TV into a hurricanrana pin on Mortos for two. Hologram tried another springboard, but Moriarty & TV launched him high in the air right into a massive Mortos spear for two. Cassidy made the tag and, along with O’Reilly, lit up Mortos with kicks, but he absorbed it all. Stundog Millionaire connected as the match broke down with high impact moves, leading to a spinning DDT and Orange Punch from Cassidy, shotgun dropkick from Moriarty, almost a moonsault Samoan Drop from TV, who opted to pose, allowing Hologram to hit a reverse Spanish Fly into his roll-up pin for the victory.

-Footage of Jon Moxley returning on Dynamite, as well as the backstage beating security suffered at the hands of his new associate, “The Problem” Marina Shafir, is shown.

Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson, Austin & Colten Gunn) defeated The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari & Josh Woods w/Mark Sterling)

(Pretty quick win for the Bang Bang Gang to get them back in the win column following their loss at All In. The crowd were really behind Robinson & The Gunns in this one.)

After arguing with the official in the opening moments, Woods was able to get a cheap shot in on Austin and keep him isolated. Austin was able to fight his way out and make the hot tag to Robinson, who was a house of fire with jabs aplenty, firing off Left Hands of God before a full nelson slam took out Nese. Colten made the tag, as Robinson wiped out Daivari with a dive. Corner splashes and dropkicks to Nese & Woods, as Sterling ran distraction, but Nese collided with him. Woods ran into 3:10 to Yuma by The Gunns, as Colten got the pin.

-Footage of Mercedes Mone defending her NJPW Strong Women’s Title last night at Capital Collision against Momo Watanabe is shown. Mone challenged anyone from STARDOM to come face her for the title and said Mone changes everything. We’re told that the winner of tonight’s main event will receive a TBS Title shot against Mone at All Out. A quick Hikaru Shida video package is then shown about being the ace of the AEW women’s division.

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-Footage of the 10-man tag at All In Zero Hour was shown with The Von Erichs, Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes all applying the Iron Claw to Gates of Agony & The Undisputed Kingdom.

FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defeated The Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven)

(Solid tag match, as FTR also get back in the win column following All In. Post match is the bigger story, with GYV making another statement beatdown in a match I wouldn’t be surprised is announced for All Out. If you want Gibson & Drake as contenders in the tag division, I think they need to get a win over a team like FTR to make that happen.)

Taven reminded Harwood who he was to start, but after taking him down, Taven reminded the camera man and walked into multiple chops. Wheeler tagged in and FTR slammed Taven down by the hair until Wheeler was backed to the wrong corner. Bennett & Taven with quick tags, but Wheeler battled back with a charging uppercut, as Taven & Bennett were launched to the floor. The Kingdom recovered, dodging a Harwood corner charge, as he posted himself, as Bennett & Taven stayed in control during the entire break.

When things returned, Harwood has a visual roll-up on Taven, but Bennett took the ref, who missed it. Harwood hit a DDT for the double down and dove for a Wheeler hot tag, who ran wild. Corner float over led to a leaping lariat, as Wheeler got the crowd hyped with FTR chants, but Taven ran distraction, allowing a Bennett discus forearm. The Kingdom tried a double team on Harwood, but Wheeler leapt off the top for a double crossbody. Stereo rolling Germans until Wheeler tried a jackknife pin for a near fall. FTR wanted a Power-Plex, but Taven superkicked Wheeler to the floor. Harwood tried a Sharpshooter on Taven, who raked the eyes, as Bennett hit a Death Valley Driver and Taven with a charging knee for two. Taven was crotched in the corner, as Bennett ate a Shatter Machine. Power-Plex to Taven connected, as Harwood got the cover and victory.

Post match, James Drake & Zack Gibson attacked from behind and hit a high/low on Harwood. They took the microphone and made something clear, AEW is where the best wrestle, which is why they’re here. This is the second time in one week they’ve laid out FTR, the living legends. They are bitter and have a chip on their shoulders after being compared to FTR by the idiot fans. The only name the fans will remember when they’re done are the Grizzled Young Veterans.

-Video package for Thunder Rosa is shown ahead of tonight’s main event. She said the wild claims by other women saying they’re the ace of the women’s division makes her chuckle and tonight, she’ll remind everyone why she’s the ace.

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Backstage Lance Archer is shown laying out a bunch of folks with any weapon near him before smacking a fella with a shovel and chokeslamming him on a crate. Archer grabbed the camera and said “everybody dies”.

Lio Rush, Action Andretti & Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin w/Leila Gray) defeated The Iron Savages (Bronson, Boulder & Jacked Jameson) & Turbo Floyd (w/Truth Magnum)

(I know the babyface team were victorious, but despite being on the heel team, Turbo Floyd was super over with the crowd and they went wild when he finally was able to tag in. Just a quick little match, but it reminded folks how great The Outrunners act is, even in defeat.)

Floyd kept getting robbed of tagging in during the early going, as The Savages continuously found themselves the victim of the speed game of Andretti, Rush & The Martins. Finally, Floyd made the tag, tried a bodyslam, but Jameson pulled him off and made another tag, only to suffer an airplane spin by Dante. Bronson tried to make the save, but was hit with an airplane spin as well. He tried it to Boulder, who didn’t budge, so all four men hit a suplex on the big man. Floyd was left alone and wanted to take everyone on and he was a house of fire. Rush ducked a charged, as Floyd collided with Bronson, as did Jameson. Low tope from Rush on Bronson, Andretti took out Floyd, leaving Dante to hit a huge Frog Splash on Jameson for the win.

-Lexy Nair is backstage with Queen Aminata & Serena Deeb, as Aminata says the advantage she has tonight is that she’s been in the ring with everyone involved in the main event. Deeb interrupted and said no one knows this game better, as she’s defeated all the ladies. She can’t stand Rosa, but thinks Aminata is one of the best up and comers on the roster, but she’s not ready. Deeb has a proposition, they work together. Aminata went to interrupt, but Deeb cut her off, saying to think about it.

Kyle Fletcher (w/Don Callis) defeated Tomohiro Ishii

(The Summer of Ishii in AEW has been a whole lot of fun to say the least. I’m so glad he was able to come over here instead of being part of the G1 this year. Fletcher is another on the list of guys Ishii has had excellent battles with. The crowd were into this the entire time, as this was a great match. Fletcher looked really good here and gets him back on track following his loss to Ricochet on Dynamite.)

Fletcher tried an early shoulder tackle and Callis on commentary said it’s like tackling a telephone pole. Both men had a wild forearm exchange, with neither backing down, so they changed to shoulder tackles, as Ishii mowed Fletcher down. Ishii was planted with a spinning bodyslam and hit with corner punches, as Callis said he wouldn’t do that, as Ishii’s head is shaped like a cinderblock. Ishii charged and turned Fletcher inside out, as both went to the apron, where Fletcher hit a thrust kick and violent brainbuster on the apron taking things to commercial.

Back from break, Ishii started absorbing forearms and turned Fletcher into a mannequin with a home run shot. Ishii really had to battle for, but got a Backdrop Driver for a near fall. Fletcher side stepped Ishii, sent him to the apron, hit a leg lariat and dive to the outside. Back inside, both men no sold snap Germans, as Fletcher countered a hurricanrana into a sit-out powerbomb for the double down. Fletcher hit a thrust kick, but Ishii no sold a lariat and flattened Fletcher with a headbutt before turning him inside out with a lariat. Fletcher rolled out of a brainbuster and lawn darted Ishii into the bottom turnbuckle. Fletcher attempted an Avalanche Tombston, but Ishii headbutted free and hit a leaping top rope hurricanrana, leaving Callis speechless. Sliding D connected, but Fletcher kicked out. Brainbuster attempt was countered into one by Fletcher for another near fall. Both traded switches and forearms until Fletcher hit a series of thrust kicks, lariat and spinning Tombstone for another close two. Fletcher hit a brutal piledriver and finally got the win. This match was fantastic.

-Video package for Queen Aminata is shown and her recent success in Ring of Honor.

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-Footage of Bryan Danielson winning the AEW World Title at All In is shown, along with his promo on Dynamite, saying it’s not time to go home yet. Jack Perry answering the challenge, saying his future is to win the AEW Title and retire Bryan Danielson. The match is official for All Out.

-Lexy Nair is backstage with PAC, who said don’t think he’s content, despite having his Wembley moment. He’s still full of piss and vinegar, but it’s a crock of crap for those who say good thing comes to those who wait. If it wasn’t for contractual obligation, he’d fight Will Ospreay tonight. Instead, he challenges Ospreay to a tag match on Dynamite, as he’ll get his partners, Ospreay can get his. Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy walk in with O’Reilly on the phone with Mark Briscoe, saying they’ll be Ospreay’s partners. PAC smacks the phone out of O’Reilly’s hands, stares down Cassidy saying it’s even better that he’s Ospreay’s partner.

Buddy Matthews defeated Komander (w/Alex Abrahantes)

(One hell of a sprint, as these two worked really well with each other. The post-match set up the tag next week on Collision, which we’re reminded is before Rampage next Friday night.)

Matthews tried to keep Komander grounded early, but was unsuccessful doing so, as Komander went to work on the arm. Wall walk from Komander, who sprung off the ropes into an arm drag, leapt off the top, but Matthews caught him. Matthews wanted a powerbomb, but Komander countered into a hurricanrana to the floor. Komander looked for a dive, but Matthews caught him in mid-air and hit a suplex on the outside to take things to commercial.

Back from break, Komander tried a tilt-a-whirl DDT on the apron, but Matthews countered into a brutal pump knee. Hung up between the ropes, Komander responded with a hurricanrana, completely spiking Matthews. The match reset, as both traded strikes until Komander fired off a thrust kick, enzugiri and poison rana combo. Matthews to the outside, as Komander successfully hit his dive and back inside, tried a moonsault, only to get caught. Komander countered into a Tornado DDT for a near fall. Tiger Feint Kick in the corner from Komander, who tried a springboard, but Matthews hit a pump knee in mid-air. The pumphandle into Death Valley Driver (the former Murphy’s Law) connected, giving Matthews the victory.

Brody King came to the ring to check on Matthews, but MxM Collection were shown on the big screen, congratulating Matthews on his win. The demonic dipsticks will be inducted into the House of Black and Blue and go out of style along with slap bracelets and frosted tips. Mansoor asked Madden to frost his tip, as they touched tips and told Matthews & King to get prepared to be House of Blacked. Next week is their week, fashion week and they’re laying down the gauntlet, Friday Night Fashion Fight, House of Black against MxM Collection. They lower out of camera shot as Matthews said it’s their funeral and accepts.

-A video package for Serena Deeb is shown ahead of tonight’s main event.

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-Video for Nyla Rose is shown, along with Mariah May winning the Women’s Title at All In. It will be May vs. Rose on Dynamite with the title on the line.

Hikaru Shida defeated Queen Aminata, Serena Deeb & Thunder Rosa to earn a TBS Title match at All Out

(This match had a lot going on, maybe too much towards the end. I really hope Rosa is ok following the scary Deeb-tox she took, as even Nigel McGuinness on commentary screamed when it happened. While the match itself had some good moments, it did feel like it fell apart at the finish. Regardless, Shida now earns her rematch against Mercedes Mone at All Out. For a moment, I thought they would go with a new challenger like Aminata, but the Shida/Mone match a few weeks ago was fun and I expect the rematch to be no different.)

Shida ran wild in the opening moments, stacking all three ladies in the corner for a charging knee. Rosa cut off corner punches on Aminata, as Deeb dispatched Shida, leaving Rosa & Deeb slugging it out. Northern Lights by Rosa was broke up by Aminata, who hit a snap suplex and German suplex to follow. Shida attacked from behind and went to the outside with Aminata, as Deeb locked in an Octopus Hold on Rosa, so Shida booted her square in the face to break it up. All four ladies attempted a double suplex, as Aminata & Deeb won the battle, with commentary going back to Deeb’s invitation to Aminata earlier in the evening to work together.

They both controlled Rosa & Shida during break until Deeb was pulled off the apron by Shida, while Aminata hit a release German on Rosa and snap suplex on Shida. Aminata hit hip attacks and running sliding boots to Rosa & Shida in the corner and got a two counter on Shida, so Deeb decided to attack. Clotheslines for all, as Deeb laid out Rosa with a neckbreaker through the ropes and dragon screw on Shida in the ropes. Deeb with a swinging neckbreaker on Aminata, but as she had a half crab on Shida, Rosa hit a running charge that left all four ladies down.

Rosa fought off Aminata, tried a dropkick through the ropes, but Deeb wasn’t in position and Rosa caught nothing but air. Rosa kicked Shida in the face before laying out Aminata with a backstabber. Running dropkick to the face of Shida & Aminata, as Deeb broke up the cover. Deeb got the Indian Death Lock on Rosa while hitting a snap suplex on Shida at the same time. Bounce back German and wrist clutch lariat from Deeb on Shida, as Rosa flew in, as did Aminata, leaving all four down once again. Deeb & Aminata got a double roll-up, but Rosa & Shida rolled through with charging knees. Rosa & Shida slugged it out until Rosa hit a hurricanrana out of the corner and DVD to follow. Deeb wanted Deeb-tox and stacked Rosa on her neck, which looked really scary. Deeb sank in a half crab, as Aminata started lighting her up with kicks to break it up. Shida got just enough of a missile dropkick, as she clocked Aminata with the Kitana to win the match.

AEW Dynamite 9/4/24

  • AEW International Champion Will Ospreay, Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy vs. AEW Trios Champions PAC, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta
  • Mariah May defends the AEW Women’s Title against Nyla Rose

AEW Collision & Rampage 9/6/24

  • House of Black (Brody King & Buddy Matthews) vs. MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason Madden)

Four matches announced for AEW Collision

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New matches have been announced for Saturday’s AEW Collision.

Tomohiro Ishii will be in action, as he will take on Kyle Fletcher. Both are coming off of losses, as Ishii lost to Hangman Page in the opening match of Wednesday’s AEW Collision. Fletcher, meanwhile, lost to Ricochet in what was Ricochet’s AEW debut.

Saturday will also see The Undisputed Kingdom taking on FTR. This will be FTR’s first match since All In, where they lost the three-way tag team match that was for the AEW Tag Team titles. A four-way has also been announced, with Hikaru Shida taking on Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, and Queen Aminata, who has mostly been working in Ring of Honor as of late.

A Trios match will also take place. Collision staple Hologram will team with Kyle O’Reilly and Orange Cassidy of the Conglomeration to take on ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty, Johnny TV, and The Beast Mortos.

Here is what has been announced for Saturday’s AEW Collision in Sioux Falls:

  • Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kyle Fletcher
  • The Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) vs. FTR
  • Lee Moriarty, Johnny TV, and The Beast Mortos vs. Hologram, Kyle O’Reilly, and Orange Cassidy
  • Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb vs. Queen Aminata

Orange Cassidy to make CMLL debut at 91st Anniversary show

Posted on by Josh Nason

Former two-time AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy will make his CMLL debut at September’s 91st Anniversary show.

Announced Wednesday night, Cassidy will team with Rocky Romero and reigning MLW Champion Satoshi Kojima against Volador Jr., Ring of Honor TV Champion Atlantis Jr. and Ultimo Guerrero.

The event is set for Friday, September 13th at Arena Mexico.

Cassidy won’t be the only AEW star on the show as Chris Jericho will make his official in-ring return to CMLL for the first time since 1995 when he takes on Mistico in one of the night’s featured matches. While the match was announced two months ago, the promotion put out the official graphic for the match on Thursday.

The moves are the latest in the partnership between AEW and CMLL that has seen Mistico, Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, and many others compete in AEW while MJF, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and others have made their way to Mexico.

A trios bout between Futuro, Max Star & Hombre Bala Jr. against Magnus, Rugido & Magia Blanca was also announced for the event.

The additions join the previously announced Jericho vs. Mistico match and a four-way mask match between Hechicero, El Valiente, Esfinge and Euforia.

First Casino gauntlet entrant set, stipulation made for Darby Allin vs. Jack Perry at AEW All In

Posted on by Josh Nason

The first entrant for the Casino gauntlet match at this month’s AEW All In is now set after a three-way on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.

Orange Cassidy defeated both Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong in a three-way to determine who would guarantee they have a shot at participating in the gauntlet in which the winner earns a future AEW World title match.

Cassidy pinned O’Reilly with a crucifix after O’Reilly was attempting to get Strong in an armbar as a counter to End of Heartache.

As the rules of the gauntlet match go, two men will start but the bout ends after the first pinfall or submission, meaning the earlier a wrestler enters the better.

**********

After a backstage brawl between TNT Champion Jack Perry and Darby Allin, their title bout for London’s Wembley Stadium is now a coffin match.

After a promo during a video package, Allin came out to the ring and then got jumped by the champion. A brawl ensued and eventually ended up backstage where Perry put Allin under a large bay door and then threatened to roll a cart into his prone head twice before being stopped by security. Perry then called for the new stipulation which was later made official.

At last year’s All In, Perry battled Hook for the FTW title where the infamous “cry me a river” line was uttered that led to a backstage skirmish between he and CM Punk that helped lead to Punk’s exit from the company.

On that same show, Allin competed alongside Sting in a tag team coffin match against Swerve Strickland and Christian Cage. Allin is undefeated in four AEW coffin matches, three of them as a singles wrestler.

Here’s the current AEW All In card for Sunday, August 25 from London’s Wembley Stadium:

  • AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland defends against Bryan Danielson
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Mariah May
  • AEW American Champion MJF defends against Will Ospreay
  • TNT Champion Jack Perry defends against Darby Allin in a coffin match
  • TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Britt Baker
  • Casino gauntlet match for future AEW World title shot
  • FTW Champion Chris Jericho defends against Hook
  • Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kris Statlander & Stokely Hathaway

AEW Rampage live results: The Conglomeration vs. Undisputed Kingdom

Posted on by Matt Boone

The AEW Trios division will continue to heat up on tonight’s AEW Rampage between some rivals with serious grudges.

The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly) will team up to battle The Undisputed Kingdom’s Roderick Strong, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett. Cassidy and O’Reilly have had their issues with all the Kingdom members with Ishii recently entering the fray to lend the babyfaces a hand.

Another NJPW star — Minoru Suzuki — will return to the rings of AEW against The Butcher. Suzuki will challenge Chris Jericho for the FTW title this Wednesday.

Jericho will be on the show teaming up with Big Bill against The Outrunners.

Two longtime AEW teams will clash once again as the Lucha Bros will battle Private Party. This will be their first match against each other since July 2022.

Former TBS Champion Kris Statlander will be in action for the first time since attacking Willow Nightingale during her Owen Hart tournament final match.

**********
The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly) defeated The Undisputed Kingdom (Roderick Strong, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)

Orange Cassidy makes his way out with Tomohiro Ishii and Kyle O’Reilly. The Conglomeration trio settle inside the squared circle, where their opponents, The Undisputed Kingdom trio of Roderick Strong, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett are waiting for them.

Strong and O’Reilly kick things off for their respective teams in this trios opener. The two lock up and jockey for position. O’Reilly goes behind Strong and takes his back standing. Strong ends up on the mat on his back. O’Reilly looks for a submission but Strong defends and gets back up.

Cassidy and Taven tag in for their respective teams and the pace quickly picks up. Cassidy comes off the ropes with a ton of speed and runs over Taven before tagging in Ishii. The fans in the building chant the name of the Japanese legend as he goes to work on all three members of The Undisputed Kingdom.

Bennett and Taven attack Ishii from behind. They look for a double suplex, but Ishii defends it. O’Reilly and Cassidy join him in the ring and the three hit a suplex on Bennett and Taven at the same time. Ishii and Bennett are alone in the ring when the smoke clears.

Ishii goes to work on Bennett, bringing him into the corner of his team. O’Reilly and Cassidy come back in and the two hit some multi-person spots with Ishii for a big crowd reaction. The show then heads into a mid-match commercial break as the trios opener continues.

When the show returns from the break, Taven, Bennett and Strong hit multi-person spots on Ishii to shift the offensive momentum in their favor. Strong is left as the legal man with Ishii. He blasts him with loud chops in the corner that get funny reactions from the Japanese legend.

Fans try and rally behind Ishii, but to no avail, as The Undisputed Kingdom members utilize frequent tags and cut the ring in half, keeping him on their side of things. Ishii hits a German suplex on Taven, which buys him enough time to tag in O’Reilly.

O’Reilly goes to work on Taven as Cassidy hits a dive onto the other members of The Undisputed Kingdom on the floor. Cassidy hits a top-rope splash and pops up for a quick tope suicida to the floor. Ishii tags in and hits Chasing the Dragon for a two-count, after Bennett broke it up.

Cassidy hits Stun-Dog Millionaire on Bennett. Ishii follows up with a lariat. Taven hits a big splash off the top-rope for a super-close two-count on Ishii. Ishii and Strong trade shots back-and-forth. Ishii gets the better of things and stumbles back to tag in Cassidy.

We see Cassidy go for a dive through the ropes to the floor, but he is met by Bennett and Strong, who both slam him back-first into the ringside barricade. As The Undisputed Kingdom trio settle back into the offensive lead, the show heads into another mid-match commercial break.

After the show returns from the break, we see Ishii connect with a top-rope superplex on Taven. O’Reilly trades shots in the center of the ring. Cassidy hits a sunset flip off the top-rope but the pin attempt is broken up.

Cassidy hits a DDT counter off the ropes to Bennett. O’Reilly and Cassidy hit the high-low sweep and then Ishii and Strong each take the other out with a double clothesline. Taven goes for a roundhouse kick but spins right into an Orange Punch from Cassidy for the pinfall. Good opener to kick things off on this week’s show.

Once the match wraps up, Don Callis comes out and stands behind Cassidy in the ring. Cassidy turns and notices him and gets angry. He takes his arm pad off as he backs him into the ropes, but before anything can happen, Kyle Fletcher from The Don Callis Family attacks from behind.

ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe runs out to make the save, but ends up getting laid out by Roderick Strong. Strong takes Briscoe’s ROH World Championship and holds it high in the air as he poses over him with The Undisputed Kingdom as the commentators promote their title tilt coming up at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2024.

Saraya & Harley Cameron Backstage Interview

Backstage, Saraya and Harley Cameron are interviewed. Saraya talks about how they are trying to keep her off of the show at AEW ALL IN at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 25.

Harley says that would be like having Beverly Hills Cop without the Beverly Hills Cop. Great analogy, Harley. Saraya insists she will be on the show.

The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho & Big Bill) defeated The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)

We hear a super enthusiastic “Hi guys!” from the longest “For The World” champion in the history of planet Earth. On that note, The Learning Tree duo of Chris Jericho and “The Redwood” Big Bill make their way down to the ring for advertised tag-team action.

Already in the ring are their opponents, The Outrunners team of Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd. Bill kicks things off for his team while Jericho hangs on the apron with his FTW title still around his waist. He pulls out a cell phone.

Jericho begins texting someone multiple times as Bill easily handles both members of The Outrunners by himself. Bill stomps away at one of The Outrunners in the corner while frantically laughing like a psycho. Truth tags in and lands a shot on Bill, which changes his happy-go-lucky persona quick, fast, and in-a-hurry.

“The Redwood” gets serious now as he charges from one corner of the ring to the other, splashing Magnum and Floyd. After Bill finishes things off with his chokeslam finisher, Jericho finally asks for the tag and comes in with his FTW title still around his waist for a foot-on-the-chest arrogant pin.

Minoru Suzuki defeated The Butcher

As Jericho sends a text boasting about teaching people something tonight, he and Bill and Bryan Keith head to the back, but are stopped when Minoru Suzuki makes his way out for the next match of the evening.

The Japanese legend settles inside the squared circle after intimidating Jericho briefly on the entrance ramp. The commentators promote Suzuki vs. Jericho for the FTW title for next week’s episode of AEW Dynamite. The show heads into another commercial break.

When the show returns, The Butcher is in the middle of finishing up his ring entrance. The bell sounds to get this one started. The Butcher and Suzuki stand in the middle of the ring and Butcher tells him he wants to trade shots to start things off.

They do and Butcher gets a little over confident. This leads in Suzuki going to work on him with flurries. Moments later, Butcher tries chopping Suzuki a few times, with one eliciting an audible laugh from Suzuki that pops the crowd.

Butcher says he’s going to break Suzuki’s back. He hits a big suplex and floats over for a pin attempt. After he kicks out, Suzuki chokes out Butcher and dumps him on his dome for the victory.

Mark Briscoe Reacts To Roderick Strong’s Attack

Backstage, the four members of The Conglomeration are standing by for a promo segment. As usual, ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe does the talking. He says today’s word of the day is “Miscombobulation.” O’Reilly asks for the country of origin, and Briscoe says America.

When asked to use it in a sentence, Briscoe says, “In the midst of my miscombobulation, Roderick Strong cracked me in the face with a knee and stood over me holding my ROH World title high in the air.” He tells him next week at ROH Death Before Dishonor, he’ll have something for him.

But before that, on AEW Collision tomorrow night, Roderick Strong will go one-on-one against Tomohiro Ishii. He vows that Ishii will show them how they do in The Conglomeration and then barks like a madman into the camera to wrap things up.

Kris Statlander (w/ Stokely Hathaway) defeated Syndi Winnell

Back inside the arena, the theme for Kris Statlander hits and out she comes accompanied by Stokely Hathaway for the next match of the evening. Already in the ring is her opponent, Syndi Winnell.

The bell gets things started and an overconfident Statlander is caught off guard by a ferocious onslaught and wild flurry of strikes from Winnell. This backs Statlander in the corner and Winnell unloads on her.

Schiavone jokes with Excalibur on commentary about how they are fortunate that Don Callis and Stokely Hathaway both came out tonight and they didn’t have to deal with either of them joining them at the desk.

Back inside the ring, Statlander takes over with ease and within seconds, hits her Stater-day Night Fever finisher for the pin fall victory. This is her 85th victory, according to Schiavone on commentary.

Stokely hits the ring to push the referee aside so he can raise Statlander’s hand. Statlander drops down and does push-ups while Stokely puts his foot on her back.

The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)

It’s main event time!

After the women’s singles match wrapped up, the show went into another quick commercial break. Upon returning, the catchy theme song for The Lucha Bros hits and out comes the duo of Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix, accompanied by Alex Abrahantes.

The popular masked duo settle inside the squared circle to a big pop and then their music dies down. The red velvet rope is set up at the top of the entrance ramp and out comes their opponents for tonight’s main event, the Private Party team of Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy.

Fenix and Kassidy kick things off for their respective teams. Fenix establishes the initial offensive lead, but Kassidy hits Rob Van Dam’s old step-through roundhouse kick to shift the momentum into the favor of Private Party.

Quen tags in and takes over. He goes to bring Penta, now the legal man for The Lucha Bros, into the ring the hard way, but Penta blasts him with a kick that knocks him silly. Penta enters the ring and nearly beheads him with a follow-up kick that sends him to the floor.

Penta fires up for a dive to the floor, but comes off the ropes into a cross-body splash from Kassidy. Fenix hits a missile dropkick off the top-rope immediately after that. As Penta and Quen are nose-to-nose in the middle of the ring, the show heads into a mid-match commercial break.

When the show returns, The Lucha Bros go on an offensive rampage (pun intended), hitting many of their trademark high spots. Fenix walks the tight rope top-rope for a big punt kick, which sends Quen into Penta for a big sling blade.

They go for a double-team spot off the ropes in the corner, but it gets broken up. Prrivate Party hit an insane double-team spot that pops the crowd and shifts the offensive momentum back in their favor. Fenix sends Quen into the mat with authority for a two-count.

Penta and Fenix sandwich him in between a pair of stereo super kicks. They follow-up with the fear factor double stomp double-team finisher for the pinfall victory. Good main event.

After it wraps up,The Lucha Bros celebrate as Excalibur does a speed-read through the updated lineup for tomorrow night’s AEW Collision. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter/X.

AEW Collision live results: Number one contender’s match for ROH World title

Posted on by Suit Williams

A match to determine Mark Briscoe’s next challenger will take place on Collision.

Saturday’s show taped in Calgary will have Roderick Strong take on Dalton Castle in a match that will determine Briscoe’s next challenger for the ROH World Championship at Death Before Dishonor on July 26. 

The two other members of The Conglomeration, Kyle O’Reilly and Orange Cassidy, will take on The Undisputed Kingdom’s Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. Despite having turned on O’Reilly earlier in the year, Roderick Strong is still looking to get Kyle O’Reilly to join The Undisputed Kingdom. O’Reilly has refused, instead joining forces with Cassidy and Briscoe.

Other matches set includ Konosuke Takeshita taking on Tommy Billington, the nephew of the Dynamite Kid. Skye Blue will face Harley Cameron, while Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty and Anthony Ogogo) will take on Top Flight.

Additionally, Nyla Rose and the Bang Bang Gang will be in action.

Join us for live coverage beginning at 8 pm ET.

We are live (to tape) from Calgary, Alberta with this week’s Collision. Sir Elton John is at the Stampede this week, as the show kicked off with Konosuke Takeshita’s ring introduction. Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness were on the call.

Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tommy Billington

An excellent opener, as Billington brought a ton of fight to Takeshita. The angle afterward was interesting, as FTR inserted themselves into Callis Family business. Could we see the Dynamite Kid walking out at Wembley Stadium?

Don Callis joined commentary, noting how his mentor Bad News Allen also mentored the original Dynamite Kid. Billington surprised Takeshita by taking him down with a shoulder block that sent him to the floor. Takeshita forced Billington into the corner, but Billington fired out with a dropkick and another shoulder block. Billington sent them both to the outside with a crossbody against the ropes.

Billington laid Takeshita out with a bodyslam on the outside, but Takeshita cut him off as they came back into the ring. Takeshita bit Billington before taking him off the ropes with the greatest superplex you’ll ever see. Billington’s feet came off the turnbuckles, and Takeshita basically deadlifted him up and over for the move. It was incredible. Takeshita sent Billington into the ring post as we went to a commercial break.

We came back from the break with Billington hitting a high cross to Takeshita on the floor. Billington came back with a Dynamite clothesline and a snap vertical suplex. Billington went to the top rope, but Takeshita took him down Flair-style. Billington avoided a boot in the corner and eventually hit a Tombstone but couldn’t make a cover.

The Calgary crowd chanted for Tommy as he went up for the diving headbutt, but Takeshita sat up out of the way. The two traded waist locks before Takeshita snatched him up for a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Takeshita kicked out of an O’Connor Roll and ran through a lariat before delivering one of his own. Takeshita put Billington away with the running knee, which Callis called the T-Trigger.

Callis had been praising Billington on commentary, and after the match, he got in the ring and praised him on the microphone. Callis showed pictures of himself with Bad News Allen, then showed pictures of Allen with the original Dynamite Kid. Callis offered Billington a spot in the Don Callis Family, saying it is what Allen and his uncle would want. Billington shook his hand but told Callis to kiss his ass.

Callis slapped Billington across the face, leading Takeshita to drop Billington from behind. Kyle Fletcher joined in the attack before FTR came out to make the save.

We got a video package highlighting Mariah May’s victory in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament and her immediate turn on Toni Storm.

Bullet Club Gold (Juice Robinson, Austin & Colten Gunn) defeated London Lightning, Michael Allen Richard Clark & Shaun Moore

This felt like a way of getting the titles off Jay White without setting a Freebird Rule precedent in AEW. Meanwhile, Christian Cage has taken out members of two different trios in the past few weeks and is a step closer to getting the Trios Titles.

This was a quick squash, as the Gunns hit Clark with the 3:10 to Yuma for the win.

After the match, Colten Gunn took to the microphone and announced that Jay White was hurt by Christian Cage’s attack last week. Gunn announced that Robinson was now officially a Trios Champion, a claim Tony Schiavone disputed. Christopher Daniels disputed the claim as well, noting that replacement partners cannot be named when a tag team champion gets hurt. Daniels officially stripped the Bullet Club Gold of the Trios Championships.

The Patriarchy came out. Christian Cage demanded that the Patriarchy be awarded the Trios Titles. Daniels denied that request, saying they would wrestle the Bullet Club Gold for the vacant titles. Austin Gunn challenged the Patriarchy to the title match right now, but after taking a jab at the Calgary Flames, Cage turned them down.

We got a quick video package highlighting Jack Perry’s TNT Title win and his defense last week.

The House of Black was backstage. Malachi Black said they would be in Arlington, TX next week and start building the foundation of Wembley. Brody King barked.

We got a video package of Jeff Jarrett meeting with Martha & Oje Hart backstage at Dynamite. There is a full version of this video on AEW’s social media pages, which is well worth a watch.

ROH World Title #1 Contendership Match – Roderick Strong (w/Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated Dalton Castle (w/ The Outrunners)

The winner of this match between these two former ROH World Champions will challenge Mark Briscoe for the ROH World Title at Death Before Dishonor on July 26th. Castle outwrestled Strong on the mat, forcing Strong to boot Castle in the face. The Outrunners fired up Castle by flexing at him, leading Castle to set Strong up on the ropes and hit a running knee. Strong tried to make space on the floor, but Castle hit a headscissors off the apron.

There were some distractions on the floor between the Kingdom and the Outrunners, allowing Strong to hit a baseball slide and a backbreaker on the barricade. After a commercial break, Castle caught a kick and turned it into a back suplex as he peacocked up. Whoops, this is on TNT, he Max’ed up. Castle hit a set of gutwrench throws and a high knee, but Strong came back with a backbreaker on the apron.

Strong tried to counter out of a Bangarang attempt, but Castle countered the counter and stuffed him for a nearfall. Castle went for another Bangarang, but Strong fought out and hit a jumping knee to score the win and a shot at becoming a two-time ROH World Champion at Death Before Dishonor.

We cut to video from Sandy Fork, Delaware, where we heard from ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe. Briscoe talked about getting a week off but using that week off to train for Blood & Guts. He warned the Elite that they may get Blood & Guts on their nice business suits. Then, two days after Blood & Guts, he had to defend the ROH World Title against Roderick Strong. He said a lot had changed since the last time he and Strong went one-on-one. He got a lot wiser in the time since and would use that wisdom to beat Strong. He wished his friends Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy good luck in the main event tonight.

We got another video teaser for Hologram, ending with the words “NEXT WEEK.”

Stokely Hathaway & Kris Statlander were in the back with Lexy Nair. Statlander said that she and Hathaway were petty haters and that the first match wasn’t the end of things between her & Willow Nightingale. Hathaway said that Nightingale was a con artist, preaching about how smiling through it would get her through tough times. It hadn’t worked out for Nightingale, as everything she earned was because of them. Statlander said that it would never be over.

Nyla Rose defeated Ava Lawless

Rose got a quick win with the Beast Bomb.

We got a video package of Bryan Danielson’s victory in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, along with Swerve Strickland’s words from Dynamite.

Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) (w/Action Andretti) defeated Shane Taylor Promotions (Anthony Ogogo & Lee Moriarty) (w/Shane Taylor)

The two teams traded the advantage until Dante helped Darius counter a suplex attempt, then hit a con hilo over the ropes. Ogogo caught Darius in the ropes, then took the referee as Moriarty booted his arm. After a commercial break, Darius countered a Moriarty uppercut with a German suplex, then tagged his brother. Dante ran wild, hitting a high cross on Ogogo for a nearfall.

Ogogo hit a pop-up punch to Dante to send him out of the ring. Moriarty caught Darius with a lifting lariat for a nearfall. Darius and Moriarty traded strikes before Darius hit a bulldog through the ropes. Taylor hooked Darius’s leg from the outside, forcing Andretti to hit him with a high cross to the floor. Darius countered a move from Moriarty and hit an F-5 into a DDT for the win.

After the match, Taylor jumped Top Flight and laid Andretti out with a right hand.

Deonna Purrazzo was backstage with Lexy Nair. Purrazzo spoke on her attack on Thunder Rosa last night on Rampage before Rosa entered the frame. Rosa challenged Purrazzo to a lumberjack match next week on Collision in Rosa’s home state of Texas.

After a commercial break, Nyla Rose was backstage with Lexy Nair. She noticed Mercedes Mone’s open challenge for a TNT Title match next week on Dynamite. Rose listed her accomplishments before accepting the challenge. She’s never driven a Mercedes but will be sure to break one on Wednesday.

Skye Blue defeated Harley Cameron (w/Saraya)

The last two matches have a strong “end of a double taping” feel.

A lot of cowboy hats are going around in this one. Cameron got the advantage with a gamengiri in the corner and a clothesline. Blue came back with a superkick in the corner and a boot off the apron. Saraya got in Blue’s face, allowing Cameron to drop her from behind as we went to a commercial.

After a commercial, Blue made her comeback with a rising knee and a neckbreaker. Cameron caught Blue with a sunset flip for a nearfall. Cameron hit a running knee for a nearfall. Blue held onto the ropes on a backstabber and got Cameron up for a TKO. Blue locked on something approximating a Dragon Sleeper for the win.

We got a video package of the Stampede Street Fight between Chris Jericho & Samoa Joe, with Jericho driving Joe through a wall.

Skye Blue was backstage after her win. She wanted some respect on her name and challenged Hikaru Shida to a match next week to get it.

The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defeated The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy)

A much-needed shot of energy here in this main event. These guys went 160 kilometers an hour to get the crowd into this one, and it worked to an extent. We had more converging stories here, as Beretta still hasn’t let go of his issues with Cassidy.

Roderick Strong joined the commentary booth. Both Taven & Bennett were reluctant to wrestle O’Reilly, so Cassidy tagged in and hit a dive onto both of them. Cassidy ran wild on them until O’Reilly got a blind tag in and teed off of Bennett with kicks. Taven raked O’Reilly’s eye, but Cassidy hit him with the Stundog Millionaire. O’Reilly got an ankle lock on Bennett, but Taven broke it up. Cassidy hit a dive onto Bennett, but Bennett caught Cassidy with a rebound forearm.

Bennett hung up O’Reilly on the ropes. O’Reilly held onto a sleeper hold, but The Kingdom hit the Proton Pack for a nearfall. More four-way action ended with O’Reilly hitting a double rebound clothesline as we went to a commercial.

After a commercial, Bennett hit Cassidy with a pop-up forearm for a nearfall. Cassidy fought and fought his way to the corner and made the tag to O’Reilly, who ran wild on both Kingdom members. There was a wacky double Dragon Screw leg whip before O’Reilly caught both of them in submissions. O’Reilly locked on a guillotine choke, but Taven caught him with the Kick of the King. The Kingdom hit the Neck Check for a nearfall.

O’Reilly catapulted Bennett into Taven, then tagged Cassidy. Cassidy got an Orange Punch cut off with a forearm. After O’Reilly fought off an interfering Taven, Cassidy hit a Beach Break for a nearfall. Strong left commentary to try to talk sense into O’Reilly when Tomohiro Ishii pulled him off of the apron and fought him off. Meanwhile, Trent Beretta attacked Cassidy and threw him into the barricade. That left O’Reilly alone with the Kingdom, who hit the spike piledriver to score the win.

Beretta shouted at Cassidy and went to lay the boots into O’Reilly, but the Kingdom pulled him away. Cassidy re-emerged with a monkey wrench and laid Beretta out from behind. The Kingdom backed away before Ishii laid them out with clotheslines.

The show ended with a hype video for Will Ospreay vs. MJF, which will kick off Dynamite 250 on Wednesday night.

Orange Cassidy & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Undisputed Kingdom part of AEW Collision lineup

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

The feud between The Undisputed Kingdom, Orange Cassidy and Kyle O’Reilly will continue on this Saturday’s AEW Collision.

Cassidy will team with O’Reilly to take on reigning Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions Matt Taven & Mike Bennett in non-title action from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. O’Reilly has been at odds with former pals Taven, Bennett and Roderick Strong since returning to action while Strong and Cassidy battled over the International title earlier this year.

Speaking of Strong, he will be in one-on-one action against former Ring of Honor World Champion Dalton Castle.

As announced last week, Konosuke Takeshita of the Don Callis Family will take on the new “Dynamite Kid” Tommy Billington in Billington’s second-ever AEW match.

Three members of the AEW Trios Champions The Bang Bang Gang — Juice Robinson and The Gunns — will be in action against opponents to be named.

After their trios bout on Friday’s AEW Rampage, Top Flight’s Darius & Dante Martin will continue their conflict with Shane Taylor Promotions’ Anthony Ogogo & Lee Moriarty.

Skye Blue will look to snap a three-match AEW losing streak as she takes on Harley Cameron who has lost two straight.

Former AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose will be in action against an opponent to be named.

Here’s the full lineup taped Wednesday after Dynamite:

  • Orange Cassidy & Kyle O’Reilly vs. The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
  • Konosuke Takeshita vs. Tommy Billington
  • Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson & The Gunns) vs. TBA
  • Roderick Strong vs. Dalton Castle
  • Skye Blue vs. Harley Cameron
  • Nyla Rose vs. TBA
  • Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin) vs. Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty & Anthony Ogogo)

Zack Sabre Jr: I knew Orange Cassidy was cool way before all of you

Posted on by Ian Carey

Zack Sabre Jr. was a fan of Orange Cassidy before it was cool to be a fan of Orange Cassidy.

ZSJ defeated Cassidy last night at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. He then praised his opponent at the post-event press conference.

“I don’t think there’s a wrestler in the world that respects Orange Cassidy more than me,” ZSJ said. “I think anyone that knows my personality or my taste in music and film probably thinks that I’m a pretentious wanker, but I actually knew that Orange Cassidy was cool way before all of you.”

“10 years ago, roughly, on the Northeast Indies, if I was on before Orange Cassidy, I’d be at the match stand watching the match losing my mind and the rest of the crowd, like, would shout, ‘What is this maniac doing?'”

“We both wanted this match for a long time,” he continued. “Obviously, I’d hoped it was going to happen last year but it didn’t work out.”

“If there is anyone disregarding how talented Orange Cassidy is at pro-wrestling, they’re a f**king idiot,” he continued.

ZSJ’s trip to the United States continues later this month as he’s scheduled for NJPW x CMLL Fantasticamania in San Jose on July 13. He’s set to team with Bad Dude Tito in a tag match against Hechicero and Virus on the show. After that, ZSJ is entered into G1 Climax 34, which kicks off July 20 in Osaka. He’s entered into the B Block and will have his first match on July 21 against Tetsuya Naito.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door preview & predictions: Open door policy

Posted on by Mike DellaCamera

The following is an opinion-based preview and does not reflect the views of the website.

Image: AEW

The Forbidden Door doesn’t seem as forbidden this year.

With the cross-pollination of talent built through AEW’s working relationships with CMLL and NJPW, the newness of the event isn’t what it was. These relationships are undeniably good. The influx of CMLL talent in AEW on a more regular basis had led to some of the better matches on AEW TV this year, but it does make this event lose some of its rarity.

MJF can (and should) wrestle Hechicero on any episode of Dynamite, same with Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy. We’ve reached a point where there isn’t as much of a need for a standalone event like this. The headliner this year is Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland: a main event-worthy match under any circumstance, but one that is predictable and even expected. The previous Forbidden Doors were headlined by Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada and Jon Moxley vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi while this year’s are just two regular AEW wrestlers. 

The overall match quality is excellent though. There are matches up and down the card worth tuning in for — all of which offer something different. MJF’s return to the PPV stage against a beautiful opponent, Bryan Danielson and Shingo Takagi beating the brakes off each other, the IWGP title being is on the line, the progression of a long-simmering women’s program with Storm and Mariah May…I could go on forever, baby. There’s really only one stinker on the whole card (read on to find out more, it should be no surprise), so let’s give AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door (Sunday at 8 PM Eastern on PPV) a rundown.

The Elite (The Young Bucks & Kazuchika Okada) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) and Hiroshi Tanahashi

Maybe Tanahashi’s perfect aura can make up for The Acclaimed being colder than a Yeti cooler at a Luke Bryan concert in northern New Hampshire. While they are next in line for a shot at the tag titles, they feel galaxies away from that. I don’t buy Caster as someone you can ever take seriously and The Acclaimed being part of Blood & Guts, AEW’s flagship match, is a profoundly confusing decision.

The outcome shouldn’t be in doubt. The Acclaimed already got their fluke win a few weeks ago with no Okada involved. The Continental Champion is not taking an L this early in his AEW career. At least we get to see President Tanahashi and Okada in the ring together for maybe the last time. The crowd should justifiably go nuts for that.

Prediction: The Elite

The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Jeff Cobb) vs. Samoa Joe, Hook & Katsuyori Shibata

I will not indulge in this madness for long. Samoa Joe is the real king of kings™ for even agreeing to be involved in this program. Unsurprisingly, this current situation illustrates an incredible lack of self-awareness for Jericho. His faction, as always, is purely self-serving, designed only to keep him on TV and elevate no one other than himself. Miss me with the “Oh, Big Bill gets to show some personality.” This dude was already a Tag Team champion, so this is neither an upgrade nor growth for him. Meanwhile, the other side is at least working toward elevating Hook and attempting to give him actual character growth.

One of these things is not like the other and putting the spotlight on it only drives the point home even more.
Prediction: Joe, Hook & Shibata

MJF vs. Hechicero

MJF is so back. New hair, new body, new Max, right? We’ll see. So far, it’s been more of the same. To be clear, MJF in his current form is an incredible performer. But to get to the level of the all-time greats, adjustments are needed. It’s more fine-tuning as opposed to wholesale changes that will push him into that top tier: the one where the air is thin and the true greats reside.

He certainly has the talent to get there. Everything he needs already exists within him, but every great book has an editor, someone to reign in the misguided notions and focus on the strengths and less extended fourth-wall fracturing promos replete with ‘zingers’ that may pop the crowd for a few seconds only to be forgotten an instant later. We need more of the CM Punk version of Max and less of the four pillars one; more pro wrestler than sports entertainer. That’s when the talk of generational talent will come to bear.

His opponent on Sunday is a good one. More specifically, the goods. Hechicero is it, cats and kittens. A unique and rare mat technician, he’s exactly the type of wrestler who can bring the best out of MJF. Someone who knows exactly who they are in the ring and works in a way that doesn’t allow Max to indulge in some of his worst habits. Hechicero can ground the match and give it structure which is where MJF truly shines. More MJF matches should just get announced and then happen without a six-week-long promo battle. A recent example: his recent very good television match against Rush on Dynamite. I’m excited to see what he can do against a very different type of luchador.

Prediction: MJF 

Shingo Takagi vs. Bryan Danielson in an Owen Hart Foundation tournament first round match

This should be a wonderful symphony of violence — not necessarily in a bloody way, but a vicious one. Takagi is an intense, unrelenting striker and a master of controlled brutality. And what needs to be said of the greatest of all time in Danielson? A violent chess master who adjusts his style to attack his opponent’s weaknesses. Chameleon-like in his ability to work any kind of match with any type of opponent, Danielson gets to step in the ring with someone close to a true peer, someone who can match his pace, and push him to the edge of his abilities. But no one is better when pushed to the edge than the American Dragon.

Likely, Danielson will never get to wrestle in the G1, so why not give him a G1-style match on Sunday? Both wrestlers are known for their ability to test the limits of their endurance and deliver matches that are as grueling as they are exhilarating. This is a match that meets the true spirit of the Forbidden Door and is the one I’m most excited about. It’s time for Bryan to win a big match on a big show and this is it.

Prediction: Danielson advances to face PAC

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy

The story they’re telling is of a new Cassidy — one without his best friends for the first time in AEW. He never explicitly relied on them to win his matches, but Best Friends were a unit. They supported each other. They celebrated their successes and picked each other up after losses. But the most wholesome and supportive unit in AEW doesn’t exist anymore. Recently, Cassidy has paired up with Kyle O’Reilly and Mark Briscoe, but that isn’t the same. Those are work friends, not real ones. I am very interested in seeing how he would do standing completely alone for the first time.

Few are better at taking a beating – and selling the believability of said beating – than Cassidy. Luckily for us and unfortunately for him, few are better at providing a believable stretching than the bendy man himself. ZSJ was born to play the unwanted interloper. He’s never better than when he gets to go full dickhead mode between the bells and cut odd, fascinating promos outside of them. He has his own vocabulary and in-ring style, entirely unique to him. He should be positioned as the top gaijin for NJPW moving forward. A win here makes too much sense.

Prediction: ZSJ

Jack Perry vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Dante Martin vs. Lio Rush vs El Phantasmo in a ladder match for the vacant TNT title

All the tea leaves point to Perry walking out of this match with gold around his waist. The evil faction running the company trope works better with everyone strapped up. I wish that wasn’t the case because otherwise, this could be Takeshita’s seventh official coming-out party. The participants in this match are perfect foils for how he best works in smaller, athletic wrestlers that he can throw around and knock out. His match with Darby Allin was my favorite AEW TV match this year, and he has two Darby-sized replacements in Rush and Perry.

Multi-person ladder matches always deliver in AEW and this should be no different. A ripper of a good time with outrageous spots all over the place. I just hope I’m wrong with my prediction.

Prediction: Perry wins the TNT title

TBS Champion Mercedes Mone vs. NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer in a title vs. title match

This could easily steal the whole show. These two wrestled back in May 2023, but a lot has changed since then. Mone overcame a career-threatening injury while Vaquer added championships in two companies while increasing her global reputation. In-ring, these two are about as good as it gets. Mone can make in-ring magic with almost anyone, but when she gets the chance to lock up with someone close to her level, the ceiling does not exist. Vaquer is certainly at that level. Her movements are crisp and sudden, and she’s so fluid in the ring. Mone has to be licking her chops thinking about the wild stuff they can pull off together.

Vaquer’s star may be on the rise, but the Strong belt was made for Mone. It was always designed with her in mind. Giving her an additional championship to parade around with fits. I’ve even talked myself into thinking that her awful theme song adds to how easy it is to dislike her. Song aside, she adds more gold this weekend

Prediction: Mone becomes the champ-champ

AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Mina Shirakawa

Shirakawa has it. That special charisma is instantly clear when she’s on screen. Before Big Business in March, she wrestled Anna Jay in a match for Ring of Honor and it was immediately obvious that she was someone. The music, the presentation, the presence, everything. The live crowd reacted because they knew they were seeing someone worth paying attention to and those reactions carried over to live TV. She moves on screen with the confidence that comes from the comfort of being yourself and owning your character.

Mariah May looms large over this match and for good reason. She is destined to be a top star for as long as she chooses. In many ways, this match is more about her than the title, one she will most likely be challenging for at All In. AEW is frequently criticized for their booking and rightfully so. Too often it is short-sighted and changes without warning.

But credit must be given where it’s due. From the moment May stepped on screen in AEW last November, she began a steady climb up to the top of the card and toward her inevitable crowning moment. It was a dedicated and deliberate attempt to build someone into a main event-level star. Guess what? It’s working. Toni and Mira may be wrestling, but all eyes should be on Mariah. She brings the intrigue to this program, and she is next in line.

Prediction: Storm retains

IWGP World Champion Jon Moxley defends against Tetsuya Naito

In a world that increasingly lacks certainty, it’s nice to be reminded that it can still exist. Few things are as certain as Moxley performing on a big stage. He is one of the most consistently bankable big-match performers of this decade. He has become an incredible all-around performer while staying true to who he is. With so much of modern wrestling being consumed with creating fleeting GIFs or ephemeral moments at the expense of all else, Moxley is anything but that. The man is, simply, a wrestler. We are all better off as fans because of him.

Surely, Naito is popping the t-shirt off for this one? Curiously minimized from the first two Forbidden Door events (he only wrestled in a six-man tag last year and you know he kept the top on for that), he gets a big-time spot on this year’s show. He can’t move like he used to, but he’s smart with his matches, saving the big bumps and big spots for the most important moments and an IWGP title match is certainly that. If Moxley wasn’t based in the States, I’d think a longer title run is in his future. That changes Sunday.

Prediction: Naito gets his belt back 

AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland defends against Will Ospreay

For something that should feel like a big deal, something is missing here. There have been good individual moments in the lead up, but it hasn’t all come together. Strickland says one thing but his actions show the opposite. He bragged that even if he loses the title, he’s still an entertainer, a mogul, a podcaster (lol), so he’d be fine. That’s all a strange thing for the World champion to admit.

But when Ospreay touched the title for the first time, he warned him not do it again. When Ospreay touched it for the second time, he paid for it. So which is it? We could generously interpret this as a man in conflict, but this is pro wrestling and it’s rarely that deep. 

What did work was Strickland bringing up Ospreay’s family. It would be great if Strickland becomes the guy who terrorizes happy families like Christian Cage does to people without fathers. He already broke into Hangman Page’s house and threatened a newborn. Why wouldn’t he come after another healthy family unit? Lean into this! Prove to us that the pursuit of greatness has changed him. Make everything personal because the title is all that matters. Forget all the extra stuff. Become obsessed with the title above all else. Make the championship everything and the only thing. 

It’s only a matter of time before Ospreay wins the big title. He is so clearly the guy in AEW now and going forward. This is their new Kenny Omega: the person who has the biggest matches on the biggest shows and receives tremendous critical acclaim. Some might not like it and his particular brand of wrestling, but AEW and most of the audience sure do. Health permitting, this is a top-of-the-card performer taking AEW through the latter half of the decade.

But it’s not time for Billy Two Belts quite yet. A babyface coming into a company and winning the title instantly is a story not worth telling. There must be some struggle, some challenges to overcome before winning it all. I’m not talking about a Cody Rhodes-level finishing of the story, but he needs to fail at least once before his ultimate triumph.  

Prediction: Swerve retains

All-Star eight-man tag, Swerve/Ospreay face-off added to AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Bryan Rose

An all-star eight man tag has been added to the next AEW Dynamite.

Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy, and Dante Martin will team together this Wednesday to face off against Roderick Strong, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, and Zack Sabre Jr. The match was announced during an O’Reilly/Anthony Henry match on Collision. After O’Reilly won, he and Strong, who was doing commentary, had a staredown.

Briscoe, Martin, and Takeshita have all qualified for the upcoming ladder match at Forbidden Door that will determine the next TNT Champion. Cassidy and Sabre will meet at Forbidden Door as well after Sabre issued the challenge.

A face-to-face between Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay has also been added after the two confronted one another at the end of Dynamite. After Strickland said Ospreay couldn’t hold both the AEW World and International titles on his shoulders, Ospreay defied Strickland by taking the AEW World Championship and placed it on his shoulder. Strickland took the belt back, telling Ospreay he’s only standing now because they are friends.

Here is the updated lineup for Wednesday:

  • MJF vs. Rush kicks off the show commercial-free
  • AEW Tag Team title eliminator: The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens)
  • Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy, and Dante Martin vs. Roderick Strong, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, and Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa contract signing
  • Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay face-to-face

Zack Sabre Jr. challenges Orange Cassidy for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

Posted on by Josh Nason

A year after they did battle in a four-way, Zack Sabre Jr. has declared that he will return for this month’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door and wants to face Orange Cassidy.

On a video package that played during Saturday’s AEW Collision, Sabre Jr. referred to last year’s bout for Cassidy’s then-International title in which he defeated Sabre Jr., Daniel Garcia and Katsuyori Shibata to retain.

The two have yet to face each other one-on-one, but have shared the ring twice: once in the aforementioned four-way which was preceded by a tag match with all four combatants.

Cassidy did not answer Sabre Jr.’s challenge Saturday as he picked up a win over Kyle O’Reilly and was then attacked by Trent Beretta and Kyle Fletcher.

Sabre Jr. lost to Claudio Castagnoli on the inaugural show while Cassidy fell to then-IWGP U.S. Champion Will Ospreay.

Here’s the current confirmed card for the Sunday, June 30th card:

  • AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland defends against Will Ospreay
  • TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defends against NJPW Women’s Strong Champion Stephanie Vaquer
  • AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm defends against Mina Shirakawa
  • Ladder match for the vacant TNT Championship: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. TBD participants