Title match, Owen Hart women’s tourney bout set for AEW Collision

While the overall lineup for this Saturday’s AEW Collision is a bit light in terms of total matches, the show from Youngstown, Ohio, will feature both an AEW Women’s Tag Team title match and a women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament quarterfinal.

Divine Dominion will put their titles on the line against TayJay after the challengers not only survived a five minute challenge last Saturday on Collision to earn the shot, but nearly had Megan Bayne beat as time ran out. Bayne and Lena Kross haven’t defended the titles since April and will be looking for their fourth successful title defense.

The worlds of CMLL and Stardom will clash as CMLL Women’s Champion Persephone battles Hazuki for the first time ever as part of a quarterfinal in the women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament. It will be Persephone’s first match since getting injured on the April 22 Collision while Hazuki made her AEW debut last Saturday on Collision.

The winner takes on Mercedes Mone in a semifinal after she made her surprise return Wednesday to defeat Alex Windsor in a quarterfinal.

Current AEW Collision lineup | This Saturday

  • AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions Divine Dominion (Lena Kross & Megan Bayne) defend against TayJay (Tay Melo & Anna Jay)
  • Persephone vs. Hazuki in a women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament quarterfinal

Women’s Tag Team title, Owen Hart Foundation tournament matches set for next AEW Collision

A match in the women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament will take place on next week’s AEW Collision.

It was confirmed that next week’s show in Youngstown, Ohio will see Persephone take on Stardom’s Hazuki, who defeated Maya World on Saturday. Persephone, the CMLL Women’s Champion, was at ringside and did commentary for the match. This was her first appearance since earlier this month, when it was announced that she was ‘out indefinitely’ after Julia Hart misted her during a match.

After the match Persephone, whose eyes still seemed to be injured as a result of the attack, had a staredown with Hazuki ahead of next week.

The women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament bracket is in a state of flux after Willow Nightingale had to pull out of the tournament due to injury. Her scheduled match with Alex Windsor was moved to this coming Wednesday’s Dynamite, where Windsor will now face a wild card opponent.

Meanwhile, Megan Bayne & Lena Kross will defend the AEW Women’s Tag Team titles against TayJay. The two challengers were victorious on Saturday in Huntsville, Alabama, becoming the first team to endure five minutes with the dominant champions.

Current AEW Collision lineup | Next Saturday

  • AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions Megan Bayne & Lena Kross defend against TayJay
  • Women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament quarterfinal: Persephone vs. Hazuki

Tony Khan gives timeline for Sareee & Persephone to compete in AEW Owen Hart tournament

On Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, the full bracket for the women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament was revealed with several surprises including debuting Japanese stars Sareee and Hazuki in addition to reigning CMLL Women’s Champion Persephone.

However, with Sareee saying Thursday that she was taking a month off for “neck maintenance” and Persephone out of action to the point she had to be pulled from Friday’s ROH Supercard of Honor, it raised questions as to both woman’s health for the tournament that begins next weekend.

AEW head Tony Khan was asked about their status during the Supercard of Honor media call Thursday and said that both are expected to wrestle in the tournament as planned. However, he said their quarterfinal matches will likely take place in June as opposed to right away, noting that the finals of the eight-woman tournament aren’t until late-June at Forbidden Door.

Our Bryan Alvarez reported Thursday after the call that as of Wednesday night, all women in the tournament were expected to compete.

Sareee is scheduled to face Skye Blue while Persephone is slated to go one-on-one with the aforementioned Hazuki of Stardom on the left side. Both matches are on opposite sides of the bracket. Persephone last wrestled on the April 22 Collision in a tag team match after which she was sidelined indefinitely. She was tabbed for the first-ever women’s Survival of the Fittest match at Supercard of Honor before being pulled.

Sareee to make AEW debut in women’s Owen Hart tournament, full bracket revealed

The full bracket has been revealed for the women’s AEW Owen Hart Foundation tournament which will feature the promotional debuts of Japanese standouts Sareee and Hazuki.

Sareee will take on Skye Blue in a quarterfinal on the right side of the eight woman bracket with the winner moving on to face reigning Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Athena vs. Mina Shirakawa. It will be the first AEW match for Athena since last December. She competed in last year’s tournament, falling to Mercedes Mone in a semifinal.

On the left side, CMLL Women’s Champion Persephone will return to action after getting injured in a late-April Collision bout that saw her pulled from this Friday’s ROH Supercard of Honor. She will take on the debuting Hazuki of Stardom who will be making her promotional debut in a first time ever match.

The winner takes on the winner of TBS Champion Willow Nightingale vs. Alex Windsor which was announced for next weekend’s Double or Nothing in another first time matchup. Of the four announced matches, it’s the only one with a set date.

The finals take place at June’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view from San Jose, California, with the tournament winner presumed to challenge for the title at August’s All In.

Persephone ‘out indefinitely’ following AEW Collision mist angle

Persephone is out of action.

Tony Khan announced shortly before AEW Collision on Saturday that the CMLL Women’s Champion is injured and “out indefinitely” after recently being misted by Julia Hart. He said that as a result, she would be unable to participate in the Survival of the Fittest match for the ROH Women’s Championship at Supercard of Honor on May 15. Khan reiterated that she would be out of future AEW and CMLL appearances.

Persephone wrestled on last week’s Collision, where she and Alex Windsor lost to the Triangle of Madness. Hart misted Persephone which led to the finish.

First-ever women’s Survival of the Fittest

It was announced last month that the first-ever women’s Survival of the Fittest would take place at Supercard of Honor. Maya World, Trish Adora, Yuka Sakazaki, Billie Starks, and Persephone have all won qualifying matches for the chance to dethrone Athena, who remains ROH Women’s Champion after over 1200 days, winning it back in December of 2022.

Earlier this year Tony Khan announced that Persephone had signed with AEW, becoming the latest CMLL wrestler to earn a dual contract.

Tony Khan names two AEW wrestlers to ‘watch for the future’

Tony Khan has named Kevin Knight and Persephone as two bright young stars who have a great future ahead of them.

While appearing at Super Bowl Radio Row on Thursday, Khan spoke with Compas on the Beat. When asked to name one male and one female AEW wrestler that could be AEW’s next big star, Khan had his response ready.

“I would say we have a great young group of wrestlers. I’m very excited about AEW and our partnerships with companies around the world. And, I think two wrestlers that are under dual contracts, that I’d say you want to watch for the future in AEW and worldwide, ‘The Jet’ Kevin Knight, who is coming from New Japan Pro Wrestling and is a fantastic young American wrestler, ‘The Jet’ Kevin Knight,” Khan stated.

“Who is signed to both AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling. And he is now one-third of the AEW World Trios Champions as the Jet Set Rodeo. I think, ‘The Jet’ Kevin Knight, whether it’s in trios, tag teams as JetSpeed or ‘The Jet’ as a singles star. That’s one to watch for the future in any wrestling promotion in the world.”

“As far as young female wrestlers, Persephone, who works with AEW and CMLL, has come in. I think Persephone is fantastic. She also wrestled for me in ROH, and I think Persephone has all the tools. And again, talk about our partnerships, dual contracts, she’s a great star for CMLL, and she can be a great star in AEW too.”

Last year, after Persephone competed at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025, WWE reportedly became interested in her. However, Bryan Alvarez later provided an update on her and claimed that WWE never approached her with a contract offer because of her CMLL contract obligations.

Persephone, 24, has been competing in CMLL since 2023 and has also been an active part of AEW and ROH since 2025.

Knight, 29, made his first AEW appearance in 2022, while still working with NJPW. Following several more sporadic appearances, Knight made his Collision singles debut in 2025, before finding himself in the popular tagteam with JetSpeed with ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey. Knight currently holds the World Trios titles with Bailey and Adam Page.

Clarification on whether Persephone chose AEW over WWE

Our Bryan Alvarez has provided some clarification on Persephone’s decision to sign with AEW.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Persephone is among the wrestlers who are now under dual contracts with CMLL & AEW. It was officially confirmed that Persephone, Mascara Dorada, and Hechicero are contracted to both promotions.

WWE has been interested in Persephone since she competed at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025. However, Alvarez notes that WWE never made a contract offer to her. Because she is under a CMLL deal, WWE would not have contractually been able to.

“I am told Persephone did not pick AEW over WWE because she never actually got a WWE offer,” Alvarez notes. “She has been under CMLL contract and hasn’t been able to talk with WWE at all. Like a lot of others she took the opportunity to add the AEW contract to the CMLL one.”

Along with the Forbidden Door match, Persephone has made appearances in ROH, including headlining Final Battle 2025 against ROH Women’s World Champion Athena.

Tony Khan told Q101 Radio last month that he views these type of dual contracts as “beneficial” for AEW, which has a close partnership with CMLL.

“Yes, there will be more attempts to do things like that, which are very beneficial to us,” he said.

Tony Khan announces three CMLL wrestlers under dual AEW contracts

On Wednesday, CMLL stars Mascara Dorada and Persephone revealed they are both signed to dual contract status with AEW with Tony Khan confirming the news on social media while also confirming the same for Hechicero.

The news was announced on the January 14th edition of CMLL Informa during a sit-down talk with both wrestlers.

Dorada, 24, recently competed in AEW’s Continental Classic tournament as part of the Blue League. Meanwhile, Persephone, 24, has actively participated in multiple matches for both AEW and ROH. At December’s ROH Final Battle, she unsuccessfully challenged Athena for the ROH Women’s World title.

Hechicero has been a fixture in AEW since 2025, competing frequently on both Dynamite, Collision and ROH TV. He has unsuccessfully challenged for both the ROH World title and AEW TNT title in recent weeks, and is a member of the Don Callis Family.

CMLL and AEW’s partnership will continue at upcoming weekend shows at both Arena Coliseo and at Arena México.

Two title matches official for Ring of Honor Final Battle

Next month’s Ring of Honor Final Battle card gained two new title matches on Thursday’s HonorClub show.

In one, Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion Athena will defend against CMLL star Persephone. The match was made following Athena’s successful title defense over Harley Cameron and subsequent confrontation with Persephone after her own victory.

It will be their first-ever singles match. Athena will look to extend her 1000+ day run while the challenger is looking for her first major title.

The other match will see ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Shane Taylor Promotions defend against Skyflight. This came together after The Infantry’s match with Top Flight and subsequent brawl. Taylor’s group has defended the titles twice since winning them in August.

The streaming special is set for Friday, December 5 in Columbus, Ohio, as part of GalaxyCon.

Current ROH Final Battle card | Friday, December 5 | Columbus, Ohio

  • ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Persephone
  • ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defends against Komander
  • ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champion Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) defend against Skyflight (Scorpio Sky, Dante Martin & Darius Martin)
  • AEW National title defense
  • Finals of ROH Women’s Pure Championship tournament

CMLL notes: Tessa Blanchard, Mercedes Mone, Persephone

CMLL made two major announcements regarding their women’s division on their Wednesday night CMLL Informa talk show.

Tessa Blanchard will return to the promotion for the first time in 2025 on the Friday, October 10 event at Arena Mexico as announced on Informa. Blanchard was a regular for the promotion throughout 2023 and 2024, but has not worked for the promotion in 2025 after rejoining TNA Wrestling at the beginning of this year.

No opponent has been announced for Blanchard.

Also announced on Informa, Mercedes Mone will make her next defense of the CMLL World Women’s Championship on their Friday, October 17 event. Persephone will challenge Mone for the title at that show.

Persephone was part of the TBS title four-way at Forbidden Door in London in August, a match where Mone retained the Championship. Mone has held the CMLL World Women’s title since defeating Zeuxis for the gold at AEW Grand Slam Mexico this past June.

The full CMLL Informa episode is embedded below.

AEW wrestlers announced for CMLL appearance

Two AEW wrestlers have been announced for a CMLL appearance next month, with another AEW vs. CMLL matchup also being teased.

Multiple AEW notes came out of Wednesday’s CMLL Informa talk show, including the official announcement that the new AEW Tag Team Champions Brodido (Brody King and Bandido) will appear in Arena Mexico for the traditional Friday night show on September 12:

Also on CMLL Informa, Persephone issued a challenge to the AEW TBS Champion and CMLL World Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone for a match in Arena Mexico.

Peresphone, who was part of the four-way for the TBS title at Forbidden Door in London last Sunday, cut a promo on Mone and challenged her to come face her in her house, Arena Mexico:

Mone was featured on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite in a segment where she teased a one-on-one match against Alex Windsor for the TBS Championship as her next AEW program.

This week’s full CMLL episode is embedded below.

CMLL reveals AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door TBS title match representative

CMLL has revealed which wrestler they will send to London to represent the promotion in the TBS title match set for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

On Wednesday’s CMLL Informa talk show, the promotion announced that Persephone will challenge for the TBS Championship in the four-way set for the show. Mercedes Mone will defend against Persephone, Alex Windsor, and a representative from Stardom yet to be announced.

The updated Forbidden Door lineup:

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, Sunday, August 24 on pay-per-view —

  • AEW World Champion Hangman Page defends against MJF
  • AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against Swerve Strickland
  • AEW Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) defend against winner of Tag Team title eliminator tournament
  • Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. Nick Wayne & Kip Sabian
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Athena
  • TBS Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Alex Windsor, Persephone and Stardom TBD
  • TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher defends against Hiromu Takahashi
  • Lights out steel cage match: Darby Allin, Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi vs. The Death Riders (Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli), Gabe Kidd & The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

Interim Women’s TV title match part of mass additions to ROH Supercard of Honor

An interim Women’s Television Champion will be crowned at Supercard of Honor.

Tony Khan on Friday afternoon officially announced a Worldwide Wild Card four-way for the interim ROH Women’s Television championship for Friday’s show in Texas. The winner between Persephone, Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki, and Mina Shirakawa will face current champion Red Velvet at a later date to unify the titles.

Additionally, it was announced that Hechicero will face Michael Oku. A $50k four-way was also added, with Atlantis Jr., Lee Johnson, Adam Priest, and AR Fox squaring off:

Earlier in the week, Khan announced that Velvet was injured, and as a result an interim title match would be taking place. The current champion was last seen wrestling CMLL’s Kira on their Fantasticamania event in Arena Mexico on June 20.

Two additional Zero Hour matches were also added to the show late, with Diamante facing Lady Frost, Jay Lethal facing Blake Christian, and The Von Erichs facing Premier Athletes:

Twelve matches are now confirmed for Friday’s show, which will stream for subscribers on Honor Club. The updated lineup:

ROH Supercard of Honor, Friday, July 11, 8 p.m. Eastern time on Honor Club —

  • ROH World Champion Bandido defends against Konosuke Takeshita
  • ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defends against Thunder Rosa
  • ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty defends against Blue Panther
  • ROH Tag Team Champions Sons of Texas (Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara) defend against The Infantry (Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo)
  • ROH TV Champion Nick Wayne defends against Titan
  • Worldwide Wild Card four-way for interim ROH Women’s TV Championship: Persephone vs. Mina Shirakawa vs. Miyu Yamashita vs. Yuka Sakazaki
  • Hechicero vs. Michael Oku
  • $50k four-way: Atlantis Jr. vs. Lee Johnson vs. Adam Priest vs. AR Fox
  • Zero Hour: The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Evil Uno) vs. The Frat House (Griff Garrison, Preston Vance, Cole Karter)
  • Zero Hour: Diamante vs. Lady Frost
  • Zero Hour: The Von Erichs vs. Premier Athletes
  • Zero Hour: Blake Christian vs. Jay Lethal

Two matches announced for ROH CMLL Global Wars Mexico

Two matches have been announced for ROH & CMLL’s Global Wars event.

The show will be held on Wednesday, the same day as AEW Grand Slam Mexico. Tony Khan announced two matches for the event, the first being a singles match between ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty and Blue Panther, who both picked up wins during the recent DEAN~!2 event held before Double or Nothing.

“After both men were victorious at DEAN~!2 to honor the late great Dean Rasmussen, ROH Pure Champion @theleemoriarty will fight vs icon Blue Panther in Arena México Wednesday!,” he wrote.

Additionally, a tag match will be taking place. ROH Women’s Champion Athena and protoge Billie Starkz will face Thunder Rosa and Persephone. 

“After Thunder’s altercation with The Fallen Goddess, La Mera Mera will team with Persephone vs ROH Women’s World Champion Athena + Billie Starkz!,” Khan wrote.

Thunder Rosa in a promo earlier in the month indicated she would be teaming with CMLL’s Persephone in Arena Mexico:

ROH CMLL Global Wars lineup:

  • Lee Moriarty vs. Blue Panther
  • Athena & Billie Starkz vs. Thunder Rosa & Persephone

Ring of Honor TV live results: Persephone debuts

Ahead of the upcoming AEW/ROH vs. CMLL week in Mexico, Persephone will make her promotional debut on tonight’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub.

The young CMLL star will team with former AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa will take on CMLL’s Dulce Tormenta and Leila Grey. It’s Tormenta’s first ROH bout since July 2024.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will return for the first time since the AEW Owen Hart Foundation women’s tournament as she hosts a Proving Ground match against Rachel Armstrong. A win or draw by the challenger gives her a future title shot.

Wheeler Yuta of the Death Riders will look for his fourth straight win as he faces Aaron Solo.

The show is rounded by an initiation by The Frat House.

**********

A bunch of debuts and a returning champion headlined this week’s episode of ROH on Honorclub (number 119 for those scoring at home).

Persephone & Thunder Rosa vs. Dulce Tormenta & Leila Grey

CMLL’s Persephone makes her ROH debut here teaming up with none other than Thunder Rosa. Rosa last appeared in ROH with a win back in February over Brittnie Brooks. Their adversaries are ROH mainstay Leila Grey and CMLL’s Dulce Tormenta who just a couple of weeks ago won the GCWA Women’s Championship. Neato! 

Persephone kicked things off against Grey and the crowd was already chanting for both. Persephone wasted no time in laying out Grey with a big scoop slam. That brought in Rosa who used speed to get a few near falls on Grey. Grey fought back with a sunset flip though and a couple of rollups.

Grey has really stepped up her game, delivering punishing strikes to Rosa before tagging Tormenta in. Persephone followed suit and these two put on a Luchadore show that was fantastic. Persephone was in total control until Tormenta dodged a big splash from the top rope.

Grey tagged in and took the fight to Persephone, hitting a shining wizard into a dragon sleeper. Rosa broke up the hold, but Grey locked it right back in. Persephone came back with a spear worthy of that Copeland guy.

Tormenta and Rosa faced off next with Rosa getting the upper hand with a huge dropkick. Rosa locked in a cobra clutch on Tormenta and she was forced to quickly tap out. Fun match!

Match Result: Persephone & Thunder Rosa defeated Dulce Tormenta & Leila Grey

-Footage was shown of the Frat House backstage, bragging about their drinking skills. They called Ian Riccaboni over and yelled at him about the way he talked about them on commentary. He asked what was next for the Frat House and they offered Riccaboni a drink. Then they yelled the boooooooze part of their catchphrase and left…

…Which brought us to the entrance ramp. Someone tragically gave Jameson a mic and he yelled Fraaaaaat Hoooouuuse and claimed that “hot chicks” were watching Ring of Honor for the first time because of them.

The Frat House were holding an “initiation” and had two pledges with them. Immediately they began beating them up, four on two. Vance let the pledges know that they could be in the group if they win a match against Garrison and Karter.

The Frat House (Griff Garrison and Cole Karter) vs. Two Unnamed Pledges

They never got around to saying the names of the two pledges (but I think one was Dale Springs? Maybe?) Any way, Jameson yelled at them while Garrison and Karter beat them up.

There really wasn’t much to say about this entirely pointless “match.” Surprising no one, Garrison got a pin and that was it.

“Match” Result: The Frat House (Griff Garrison and Cole Karter) defeated Two Unnamed Pledges

-Backstage Persephone and Thunder Rosa cut a promo. Persephone asked Rosa to join her in CMLL for a match since their ROH match went so well. Rosa accepted and that was that.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Aaron Solo

Yuta, who’s playoff beard is admirable but out of control, is six-time ROH Pure champion who just barely survived Anarchy in The Arena at AEW Double or Nothing just 10 days ago. Solo is still the BTW Heavyweight Champion and a genuine workhorse, so this match looks promising from the get-go. 

Both men waved off the Code of Honor and locked right up. Yuta seemed to underestimate Solo and left himself open for a couple of chin locks. Yuta turned to strikes then and Solo returned the favor, followed buy a quick dropkick.

Yuta turned the tables with a big suplex and elbow drop from the top rope. Yuta locked in an inside grapevine and started posing, leaving himself open to some shots form Solo. Yuta caught him with a german suplex but missed on the follow through allowing Solo to hit a double stomp form the top rope.

Yuta caught Solo with a big knee to the head and that knocked him clean out. 1-2-3 and Yuta got the win.

Match Result: Wheeler Yuta defeated Aaron Solo

-Backstage, MxMxTV joined us to announce that Mansoor is going to face ROH World Champion Bandido in a Proving Ground match! Taya Valkyrie translated Mansoor’s broken Spanish and predicted that he would win next week’s contest.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena vs. Rachel Armstrong in a non-title Proving Ground match

Ring of Honor’s Forever Champion Athena is back! Athena’s last ROH match was a tag team win with Diamante back in March that was largely used as something to rub in the face of the Milhouse of Minions, Billie Starkz. Tonight, Athena took on Rachel Armstrong in her ROH debut in a proving ground match. Yeesh, talk about trial by fire… 

Athena is not a tall champion, but Armstrong actually looked tiny next to her. The crowd welcomed back Athena, who offered up a Code of Honor and then quickly turned it into a Punch In The Face of Honor.

Athena did not let up from there. She pounded Armstrong in the corner to the point the Ref had to stop it. Armstrong tried to get some offense in with an arm drag and quick super kick followed by a DDT. Armstrong went up top, but Athena slid out of the ring. Armstrong tried a suicide dive, but Athena caught her and threw her into the barricades over and over.

The crowd chanted for Athena who responded by throwing Armstrong into the steel ring stairs. She tossed Armstrong back into the ring and clubbed her in the back of the head. Repeatedly.

Armstrong then got a near fall by reversing a powerbomb attempt into a hurricanrana. That upset the champ and she pulled Armstrong up to the second rope in an electric chair. Armstrong rained down punches though and Athena had to bail. Armstrong went for a 450 but Athena dodged it and picked her up for a sit out powerbomb. That got her the three count and the win in her big return.

Match Result: Athena defeated Rachel Armstrong

After the match, Athena continued beating up Armstrong in the ring. The ref tried to stop her, but Athena tossed him out of the ring. Suddenly, Thunder Rosa appeared and chased Athena out of the ring. Athena sulked up the ramp, but forgot her title belt. Rosa held it up in the ring which made Athena very very angry.

After the match, not unlike an after credits scene in a Marvel movie, a video aired. A spaceship landed in the desert where a certain group of boys were waiting. The flying saucer landed and the door to the ship opened and out stepped…. DALTON CASTLE!