A match for the AEW Women’s Championship has been made for the April 5 edition of Dynamite.
Former champion Rhio will challenge current champion Jamie Hayter. The match was announced during Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation. On commentary, it was mentioned that Riho is currently the number one contender for the championship.
Since returning to action in late February, Riho has been picking up wins. On the March 1 edition of Dynamite, she defeated Toni Storm. She’s also defeated the likes of Emi Sakura, Nyla Rose, and Diamante, who she wrestled and defeated on Elevation.
The only other match announced for the April 5 edition of Dynamite is Ricky Starks facing Juice Robinson. After Robinson blindsided Starks on a recent edition of Dynamite, Starks called out Robinson to challenge him to a match this past Friday on Rampage. Robinson refused, saying he wouldn’t do it in Missouri and instead would wrestle in New York.
Here is the updated lineup for the April 5 edition of Dynamite:
It’s Monday and you know what that means: AEW Dark Elevation from the Cable Dahmer Center in Independence, MO, with Paul Wight and “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard on the call.
Ari Daivari & Tony Nese defeated Campbell Myers & Lane Summers
There was no special entrance this week for the Varsity Athletes. Nese started by showing off his “sweet bod.” The Athletes put on a clinic in this one, whether it was fair or not. Lane Summers (aka Kody Lane) finally got the hot tag, but it took one boot to shut him down. They connected with a cutter and frog splash on Summers for the quick win.
Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose defeated Briar & Sage Hale
The commentary team heavily emphasized again this week that Shafir doesn’t wear shoes. The Hales had zero chance in this match. Shafir hit Briar with an exploder and pin attempt, but Sage broke it up. She actually kept breaking up pins until Rose finally had enough and threw her into the steel steps on the outside. Shafir locked in a triangle choke that included Briar’s leg for the tapout.
Willow Nightingale defeated Maggie Lee
There was a big pop for Nightingale, as usual. Nightingale used her size for most of her offense. They went for a test of strength, but Lee, who is considerably taller, just held her hand over Nightingale. Nightingale took offense and fired up, hitting Lee with a cannonball in the corner and a power bomb in the middle for the pin. She moves on to face Ruby Soho on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
The Firm (Big Bill & Lee Moriarty) defeated Anaya & Zack Clayton
Clayton was the one who started on the offensive, but Moriarty was too much for both he and Anaya. Anaya got the most of it with some rough knees and an enziguri. The crowd chanted for Bill and he finally got the tag. He threw around Anaya like a rag doll until both he and Moriarty hit an assisted Blue Thunder bomb for the win. Both Bill and Moriarty even did a little jig after the match
ROH Women’s Champion Athena defeated Tootie Lynn in a Proving Ground match
Lynn came out of the gates with a dropkick and a lariat. When she went for a wraparound DDT, Athena caught her in the air and turned it into her own. Lynn looked knocked out and Athena even checked on her, but she was out cold. Athena pinned her to win the match.
Afterward, Athena went to help her up but just took her to the outside for a back suplex on the apron. While Athena was on the outside attacking Lynn, Emi Sakura was in the ring grabbing the title belt and attacking Athena with it. They will meet for Athena’s title this Thursday with the winner moving on to defend against Yuka Sakazaki on Friday’s Supercard of Honor.
The Firm (Ethan Page, Isiah Kassidy & Matt Hardy) defeated Spanish Announce Project (Angelico, Luther & Serpentico)
The SAP got their own entrance followed by The Firm coming out and Hardy giving Ethan Page a hug to start. Apparently, Page was sad so Hardy and Kassidy tried their best to get him to feel better by moaning and partying hardy with Hardy Party.
Angelico and Kassidy started with some chain wrestling. Hardy got the first tag, hitting Angelico with an elbow from the middle rope. The domination continued as the fans started chanting for Page. There was wrestling going on, but it didn’t seem like anybody cared as they were more focused on Page. He finally got the hot tag and they set up the triple team onto Serpentico in the corner. Page went for the power bomb, but Hardy let him hit the Twist of Fate. Before going for the pin, he tagged in Kassidy to let him get the pin and win the match. This is an awesome team.
Riho defeated Diamante
Wight and Menard mentioned how great Diamante looks and how Riho is the no. 1 contender for Jamie Hayter’s AEW Women’s title. Diamante used her power in the early going, going up for a top rope move before Riho shoved her off and hit the top rope double stomp.
Riho followed up with a high knee, but Diamante fought back in with a nec breaker and a few Germans. Every time Diamante tried to get something going, Riho was able to counter and after a big uppercut from Diamante, Riho rolled her up to get the surprise win. I’m not sure why they did it this way instead of just giving Riho a clean pin, but whatever.
This week’s AEW Dark was taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds) defeated The Outrunners
Silver and Truth Magnum started out and after some flexing, Turbo Floyd came in, but Silver took both of them out of the ring with a double clothesline. Floyd re-entered and tried to wear down Silver, but Reynolds came in. Both of The Outrunners tried to double team Reynolds, but it didn’t work out.
Reynolds then positioned Floyd on the turnbuckle for a DDT, prompting Silver to come off the top rope and assist with a stomp to Floyd’s back. Moments later, Reynolds made the pin.
Riho defeated Diamante
Riho started with a few armdrags, but Diamante responded with a bit more physicality, tossing Riho out of the ring and into the barricade.
Riho fought back with the will of the crowd and eventually hit a big 619 that would change the course of the match. After coming off the top rope with a crossbody, Riho seemingly had control. However, Diamante changed course after launching the former AEW Women’s Champion over her head with a German suplex.
Riho would go on to win after hitting Diamante with a double foot stomp from the top rope, followed by a running knee strike.
Sonny Kiss defeated Terry Kid
Kiss was dominant from the get go. After hitting Kid with the splits and a backspring elbow into the corner, Kiss went on to win the match after a rotating roundhouse kick.
Julia Hart defeated Zoey Lynn
Hart hit Lynn with a back hand to start the bout, but Lynn fought back and hit a nice dropkick to the shoulder while Hart was down. Lynn was quickly put away moments later after Hart submitted her with her Heartless submission — good for her 19th straight win.
Action Andretti defeated Lee Johnson (w/ Cole Karter)
Andretti and Johnson exchanged various holds throughout the opening stages, but Andretti ended up with the advantage. After teasing a dive onto Johnson, Andretti faked him out and instead posed in the middle of the ring.
Karter distracted Andretti which led to Johnson regaining control. After keeping Andretti in a headlock for a solid minute, Johnson tried to hit a few big moves, but Andretti started reversing things left and right. After hitting a tornado DDT, Andretti was hit with a superkick from Johnson.
The final stages saw Johnson attempt to go to the top rope, but Andretti met him up there which led to a big superplex spot. Andretti then took out Johnson with a dive at ringside before hitting Karter with a superkick. Moments later, Andretti pinned Karter with a floating neckbreaker.
AEW announced five matches for Tuesday’s AEW Dark that will see Riho, Julia Hart and Action Andretti all compete.
Former AEW Women’s Champion Riho will look for her fourth straight win as she takes on Diamante. Riho is coming off victories over Toni Storm, Emi Sakura and Nyla Rose as she looks to get back into title contention.
Julia Hart has quietly built up a long winning streak on Dark/Dark: Elevation and will go for her 19th straight win against Zoey Lynn. Hart hasn’t been beaten since an April 2022 loss to Kris Statlander.
Dark Order’s John Silver & Alex Reynolds will look to rebound from their loss to the Blackpool Combat Club as they face The Outrunners.
Action Andretti will look to snap a two-match losing streak (both to Sammy Guevara) as he faces Lee Johnson.
Sonny Kiss will return to singles action for the first time since late-August as he takes on Terry Kid.
Sammy Guevara vs. Action Andretti II will headline Friday’s AEW Rampage as Andretti will be looking to avenge his late-February loss.
Andretti made the save for Ricky Starks at Revolution as Guevara walked down to the ring to aid Chris Jericho.
In a battle of the first two AEW Women’s Champions, Riho faces Nyla Rose in their first singles match since February 2020. These two squared off on the first-ever Dynamite that saw Riho win the inaugural title.
Konosuke Takeshita will look to extend his recent winning streak as he faces Preston Vance of La Faccion Ingobernable.
Former AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed will also be in action as they continue their climb back into contention.
Fresh off his win over Christian Cage at Revolution in The Final Burial, “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry will share some thoughts and perhaps give a hint as to what is next for him.
**********
Taped in Sacramento.
Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone and Chris Jericho were on commentary.
Sammy Guevara defeated Action Andretti (12:10)
This is a rematch from last month. Andretti lost that encounter after some malfeasance from Guevara and Daniel Garcia, who was not at ringside for this encounter.
The fight went to the floor early, where both men exchanged chops and Guevara threw Andretti into the ring barricades. When Andretti got the upper hand, Guevara tried begging off, and Andretti caught him with a pescado through the ropes.
Back in the ring, Andretti hit a shotgun dropkick and the split legged moonsault for a near fall. Andretti clotheslined Guevara to the floor. He tried to follow him out with a springboard, but Guevara countered with a knee strike. Both guys were out on the floor and that usually means it’s time for a split-screen ad break.
After the break, Andretti fought out of a chinlock, only to collide with Guevara when they both went for crossbody blocks. Both men fought to their feet while exchanging forearms, and Andretti took Guevara down with a backbreaker/neckbreaker combination. Andretti hit Guevara with an Arabian press on the floor. There was a light chant for Andretti, who hit a springboard 450 splash for a near fall. Andretti caught Guevara with a Spanish fly for another near fall. Andretti went for a standing shooting star press, but Guevara got his knees up. Guevara hit a DDT-like move, but Andretti rolled to the floor before Guevara could get the cover.
On the floor, Guevara set up Andretti on the time keeper’s table. Andretti popped up and caught Guevara, hit a superkick, and set up Guevara on the table. Andretti came off the top with a splash on Guevara, though the table, which finally livened up the crowd a bit.
Andretti rolled Guevara back in the ring, who was selling his knee. While the ref tended to Guevara, Andretti went to the top. Daniel Garcia ran in and shoved Andretti off the top. Guevara then hit the GTH and got the pinfall.
It didn’t feel like the crowd was really into this match, which was not as good as their encounter a few weeks ago.
– Darby Allin video package. Allin will make his intentions clear on Dyanmite next week.
– Jungle Boy Jack Perry recapped the Final Burial from Sunday. He’s done with Christian, and every man with a championship belt around their waist better watch out!
– Powerhouse Hobbs & QT Marshall cut a promo. Hobbs’ championship belt is on his shoulder, so he’s safe from Perry. Marshall will unveil the first episode of QTV on Dynamite next week.
The Acclaimed (w/ Billy Gunn) defeated Jack Cartwheel & Starboy Charlie (1:41)
Something got bleeped from Caster’s rap, but he got in a good line about running their opponents out of California like Walgreens. Starboy Charlie got made fun of by the commentary team for wearing overalls.
The Acclaimed got the win after the Arrival and Mic Drop. After the match, Matt Menard and Angelo Parker came out with a JAS t-shirt, but the Acclaimed still aren’t interested. If the Acclaimed aren’t gonna be in the tag title picture, they need somthing better than a feud with than the JAS C-team.
– In a pretaped interview, Chris Jericho promised to win the World Trios title in Winnipeg by the spirit of Bob Holliday and Roddy Piper.
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Preston Vance (w/ Jose the Assistant) (6:49 aired)
Takeshita’s name on the KhanTron was the first thing that really popped the crowd all night. Don Callis (Tony Schiavone’s favorite guy from Winnipeg) joined the commentary team to watch Takeshita. Takeshita hit Vance with a flying clothesline while Callis compared his body type to Lou Thez on commentary.
Three minutes of the match took place during a split-screen break. After the commercial, both guys were down after hitting each other with rolling forearms. Takeshita hit a knee strike off the middle rope, then hit the blue thunder bomb for a near fall. Takeshita hit another knee strike, but Jose assisted Vance by putting his foot on the rope to break up the count. Takeshita took out Jose with a forearm, and Vance hit a discus lariat for a near fall. Vance went for the full nelson, but Takeshita escaped, caught Vance with a backslide and got the pinfall.
– Swerve Strickland (who might be getting more evil by the day) has more in store for Keith Lee. Both the Mogul Affiliates are on the shelf (not Trench!) thanks to Lee, but Strickland has more bullets in the chamber.
– Mark Briscoe (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite performers) was in the ring to cut a promo. Briscoe announced a “Reach for the Sky Ladder Match” for the ROH World Tag Team Titles at the next ROH pay-per-view. The crowd popped huge for this announcement. Briscoe announced the first team to enter the ladder match, The Lucha Brothers.
I hope Briscoe and the Lucha Bros continue to team in trios matches, and the team is named “Dem Lucha Boys.”
– Matt Hardy promised to train Stokley Hathaway for his match with Hook. I’m all for some Rocky-style training vignettes for the next month before Hook gets his hands on Hathaway.
Riho defeated Nyla Rose (w/ Marina Shafir) (12:01)
Riho won the World Women’s title on the first episode of Dynamite in October 2019. Nyla won the return match in February of 2020 to take the title. And three years later, this is the rubber match.
Riho got a near fall after a crossbody off the top. Riho tried for a suplex, but Rose easily reversed the move. Riho snapped Rose’s neck on the top rope. Shafir pulled Riho out of the ring behind the ref’s back and threw her to the floor.
After a break, Riho charged into a body block from Rose. Rose for a superplex, but Riho fought back, then came off the top with a diving hurricanrana. Riho hit a double foot stomp off the top for a near fall. Riho tried for a northern lights suplex, but Rose blocked that and hit a powerslam for a near fall. Rose hung Riho up in the ropes and delivered a guillotine knee drop for another near fall.
Rose went to the top for a senton bomb, but Riho got out of the way. Riho hit the northern lights suplex to a huge pop, but only got two. Riho went for a running knee strike, but Rose dodged her and Riho hit the corner. Rose went for a cannonball in the corner, but Riho avoided that and caught Rose with a crucifix bomb for a near fall. Shafir tripped up Riho. With Riho distracted, Rose tried for the Beast Bomb, but Riho rolled through and cradled Rose to get the pinfall.
After the match, Shafir and Rose laid out Riho. As they walked to the back, The Outcasts (Saraya, Toni Storm & Ruby Soho) came out. Rose and Shafir let them pass, and then they attacked Riho and spray painted a green “L” on Riho. The heels left Riho laying to end the show.
Final Thoughts:
I don’t want to say this was a bad show, but it definitely lacked energy. The arena was darkened for most of the show and it felt like the crowd didn’t react to very much.
Our own Dave Meltzer reported in Friday’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the 25-year-old will be able to return to the promotion as early as next week.
Meltzer wrote:
Regarding Riho, she can be back as early as next week or soon thereafter.
Riho last wrestled on November 24 & 25 at a set of television tapings in Singapore for Singapore Pro Wrestling. She last wrestled for AEW on the Dark: Elevation tapings held on November 9 from the Agganis Arena in Boston. It’s not clear what led to her recent absence from the ring.
Meltzer continued to speculate that Riho could be paired up against ROH Women’s Champion, Athena, rather than placed in the ongoing “Homegrown AEW wrestlers” vs. Toni Storm & Saraya angle.
Meltzer wrote:
Maybe they could use her for Athena and ROH since the AEW stories for women seem all based around Baker, Hayter, Soho, Saraya, Storm, and feeding one person after another to Cargill. The others either aren’t used or are filling up time on the streaming shows
Riho has a career 34-13 record in AEW. She defeated Nyla Rose to become the inaugural AEW Women’s World Champion on the first edition of Dynamite. Riho held the title for 133 days before dropping it to Rose on the 19th edition of AEW Dynamite.
Riho came to the aid of interim AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm as she was getting beaten down by Jamie Hayter and Rebel following Storm’s title defense over Hikaru Shida. She took out both Rebel and Hayter before raising Storm’s hand in the ring in a sign of unity.
The 25-year-old has been away from AEW since late-May and has been in Japan for several months, competing in a handful of matches. One of those was at the Tokyo Game Show as part of AEW’s presence there.
Her last AEW match was in trios action taped for a late-May AEW Dark: Elevation. That followed her elimination nearly two weeks earlier in the first round of the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament.
After unsuccessfully challenging then-AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker at January’s inaugural Battle of the Belts, Riho broke her collarbone during the match and missed several months of action.
It’s FriYAY! And it’s time for Denise Salcedo’s most chill podcast episode of the week! Tune in to hear about everything that went down on the May 6th editions of both WWE Smackdown and AEW Rampage!
The first twenty minutes of this show focuses on WWE Smackdown and the remainder of the show focuses on AEW Rampage!
Two matches have been announced for next week’s AEW Rampage episode.
Scorpio Sky will defend the TNT Championship against his former SCU teammate Frankie Kazarian. Sky had promised Kazarian a title shot several weeks ago in a backstage promo segment, then lived up to the promise on this week’s Rampage.
Sky and Kazarian were the first-ever AEW World Tag Team Champions, defeating the Lucha Brothers in a tournament final on Dynamite in October 2019 to win the belts.
Also set for next week’s Rampage, Ruby Soho will face Riho in an Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament first round matchup. Riho returned for her first match in nearly three months on this week’s show, defeating Yuka Sakazaki in a qualifier.
Next week’s Rampage will be taped on Wednesday, set to air next Friday. Next week’s start time is listed as 6 p.m. Eastern time on TNT’s website. Here is the announced lineup:
AEW Rampage, Friday, May 13 —
TNT Championship: Scorpio Sky (c) vs. Frankie Kazarian
Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament quarterfinals: Ruby Soho vs. Riho
Riho defeated Yuka Sakazaki to qualify for the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament on this week’s AEW Rampage episode.
In her first match in nearly four months, Riho defeated Sakazaki to qualify, setting up a first round matchup against Ruby Soho. That match will take place on next week’s AEW Rampage episode.
AEW commentator Excalibur said during Friday’s Rampage broadcast that Riho had been out of action with a shoulder injury suffered in a match with Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. at Battle of the Belts in January.
The full bracket for the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament was revealed on Rampage. Toni Storm will face Jamie Hayter in the first quarterfinal matchup on Dynamite on Wednesday. Riho vs. Soho will take place on next week’s Rampage. Red Velvet vs. Hikaru Shida, plus Baker vs. a Joker mystery opponent are the remaining first round matchups. No date was announced for Baker vs. Joker or Shida vs. Velvet.
Meltzer reported that Riho is expected to be out of action for three months due to a broken collarbone. The injury happened during the match where Riho challenged Britt Baker for the AEW Women’s Championship at last month’s Battle of the Belts special on TNT.
Meltzer noted that he doesn’t know the the exact spot where Riho suffered the injury, but it was very early on during her match against Baker. Riho finished the match and never complained about her injury.
Battle of the Belts took place on January 8. Baker retained her AEW Women’s Championship by submitting Riho with the Lockjaw.
Last week, Riho posted a picture on social media with her arm in a sling. Riho wrote that she was taking a rest for a bit. She then tweeted yesterday that she was back in Japan and recovering from a broken collarbone.
Riho got the title shot against Baker by defeating her in a non-title match on the Black Friday episode of Rampage last November.
Riho was the inaugural AEW Women’s Champion, holding the title from October 2019 to February 2020.
Last Thursday, she tweeted the picture seen above saying, “I’m taking a rest a little” which raised questions as to the severity of the injury. It’s unknown where and when it occurred.
The 24-year-old was last in action on Saturday, January 8th as she was unsuccessful in defeating Women’s Champion Britt Baker at the first-ever AEW Battle of the Belts. That snapped a 13-match winning streak dating back to May 2021.
Since debuting with AEW at Double or Nothing in May 2019, Riho has worked in both the U.S. and Japan where she has appeared primarily for Stardom. For the majority of 2021, she worked with AEW in the U.S.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzales and I will be doing a show tonight talking Royal Rumble, TNT vs. TBS for Dynamite, GCW, Tyson Fury and more tonight. Bryan and I will be doing a post Royal Rumble show tomorrow night.
Stories in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer:
Royal Rumble preview, surprises, business, WrestleMania updates
Match & Performer of the week
Francis Ngannou & Dana White and the contract situation
GCW PPV coverage, what worked and what didn’t
AAA’s TripleMania plans
What the move to TBS has meant for AEW and the key its value down the line
Grappl top 20 matches of 2021
What to learn from this week’s ratings including what segment did great with men 18-34 but fell badly with women
More Japanese awards
Story on the death of former Memphis wrestler Ken Raper
Coverage of major indie shows of the week
How tickets are moving for all WWE & AEW shows over the next month plus
What DVR viewership of AEW Dynamite shows
The death of Sheldon Silver and his role in keeping UFC out of the state of New York for years
Tons of news on NXT and WWE prospects in NXT
WWE contacts with Jeff Hardy
WWE job head counts
International TV ratings
WWE NIL signees in wrestling update
With the death of Ken Raper,a look back at one of the most memorable segments in Memphis TV history.
Smackdown tonight is from Kansas City, MO. Tommaso Ciampa, Io Shirai, Roderick Strong, Dakota Kai and LA Knight are all backstage as is Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins. Matches announced are Big E & Kofi Kingston vs. Happy Corbin & Madcap Moss, Naomi vs. Sonya Deville and Ricochet & Cesaro vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland. There will also be some kind of angle with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. 205 Live has Draco Anthony vs. Joe Gacy, Josh Briggs vs. Damon Kemp and Lash Legend & Amari Miller vs. Yulisa Leon & Valentina Feroz.
We’re looking for reports from Kansas City with dark matches and anything notable not on television to [email protected]
We’re doing weekend polls for Stardom’s PPV tonight from Nagoya at 3 a.m. Eastern and midnight Pacific with Syuri vs. Mirai for the World of Stardom title, Mayu Iwatani vs. Giulia vs. Tam Nakano for the next shots at the title, and Saya Kamitani defending the Wonder of Stardom title against Unagi Sayaka, as well as tomorrow’s Royal Rumble, so you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, best & worst match to [email protected]
Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. has Jon Moxley vs. Anthony Bowens, FTR vs. Lee Johnson & Brock Anderson, Jade Cargill vs. Julia Hart for the TBS title and Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus vs. Private Party for the tag titles.
PWInsider reported Celeste Bonin is in St. Louis for WWE. She wrestled as Kaitlyn between 2010-2014. Kurt Angle is also there. That doesn’t mean for sure they are in the Rumble although most of the women who are there like Melina, Cameron, Aksana and Ronda Rousey are expected to be.
Riho has some sort of an arm or shoulder injury as she posted a photo of her arm in a sling saying “I’m taking a rest a little.”
Brock Lesnar is being advertised for TV dates on 2/14 in Indianapolis, 2/21 in Columbia,SC, 2/25 in Hershey, PA and 3/11 in Birmingham, AL. Except for Hershey, all of those shows had slow ticket sales, so we’ll see if he can jump start sales.
Bellator tomorrow night at 10 p.m. from Phoenix on Showtime
Sabah Homasi (170.8) vs. Jaleel White (170.2)
Henry Corrales (145.8) vs. Aiden Lee (145.8)
Benson Henderson (155.8) vs. Islam Mamedov (155.6)
Ryan Bader (232.2) vs. Valentin Moldavsky (234.4) for the heavyweight title
CMLL at Arena Mexico tonight has Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero on top plus the Reyes del Aire elimination match wit Titan, Gran Guerrero, Soberano Jr., Templario, Atlantis Jr., Cavernario, Volador Jr., Negro Casas, Stuka Jr., and Dragon Rojo Jr.
For what it’s worth, for Raw in Cincinnati, they are advertising Bobby Lashley & Kevin Owens & Seth Rollins vs. Big E & Street Profits and Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan vs. Bianca Belair for the women’s title. (thanks to Brian Henke)
Paul Craig vs. Nikita Krylov looks to happen on the 3/19 show in London.
OTHER NOTES
The Hardys first match back as a tag team will be on 3/12 in Webster, MA for Big Time Wrestling. They will face the winner of a match with the Briscoes vs. Jose & Joel Maximo earlier in the show.
Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Ricky Morton and Scotty 2 Hotty are scheduled for Prestige Wrestling on 5/28 and 5/29 in Roseland, OR.
AAW on 2/4 in Merrionette Park, IL at 115 Bourbon Street is headlined by Lio Rush vs. Josh Alexander, plus a no rules match with Fred Yehi vs. Schaff, Silas Young vs. Manders bullrope match, Hakim Zane & Karam vs. ACH & Jah-C, Christi Jaynes & Ren Jones vs. Lady Frost & Victor Benjamin and Russ Jones vs. Jake Something plus Ace Austin, Mat Fitchett and more.
MCW Fan Fest 1-5 p.m. on 2/5 in Hollywood, MD at the Fire
Department has a meet and greet with Taya Valkyrie, Kevin Nash, Jimmy Hart, Lex Luger, Angelina Love, Quinn McKay, Velvet Sky, The Headbangers, Serena Deeb, Lita, Adam Cole, Thunder Rosa, Sabu, Lio Rush and Bushwhacker Luke Williams. They also have a wrestling show and another on 2/6 in Glen Burnie, MD at La Fontaine Bleue.
Former UFC fighter Tom Breese (12-3) has signed a multi-fight deal with the Levels Fight League and will debut on 3/13 in Amsterdam, Holland, against David Ramies (8-4).
Defy has its fifth anniversary month with shows on 2/12 and 2/26 in Seattle at Washington Hall. On 2/12, Christopher Daniels defends the Defy interim title against Nick Wayne and Midnight Heat vs. Bollywood Boyz (formerly the Singh Brothers) in a ladder match.
The first title match for AEW Battle of the Belts has been announced.
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. will defend the AEW Women’s World Championship against Riho on the Saturday, January 8 show. The match was made official during tonight’s AEW Rampage.
Riho defeated Baker in a non-title match on the November 26 Rampage, with the stipulation being that if she won, she would earn a future title match. Riho won the bout with a surprise cradle.
The loss to Riho was Baker’s first singles loss since AEW Dynamite St. Patrick’s Day Slam, taped on March 11, 2021, where she lost an unsanctioned Lights Out match to Thunder Rosa. Prior to that, Baker’s last singles defeat in a sanctioned match came to Nyla Rose on the February 24, 2021 Dynamite, taped on February 18.
Battle of the Belts will air as a quarterly special on TNT. The January 8 show will take place at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Riho defeated AEW Women’s World Champion Dr. Brit Baker, D.M.D. in a Black Friday Deal match on Rampage to earn a future title shot.
Riho pinned Baker with a cradle in the non-title Rampage bout to stake her claim to a Championship match.
Riho is a former AEW Women’s World Champion, having held the title from October 2019 to February 2020. Riho was unable to compete for AEW due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to February 2021. On her return to the company, she competed in the Women’s World title eliminator tournament, ultimately losing to Thunder Rosa in the semifinals.
Riho also unsuccessfully challenged Serena Deeb for the NWA World Women’s Championship at the Buy-In for the Double or Nothing pay-per-view on May 30, 2021.
Baker’s loss to Riho was her first singles defeat since dropping an unsanctioned Lights Out match to Thunder Rosa at AEW Dynamite St. Patrick’s Day Slam, taped on March 11, 2021. Her last sanctioned defeat before the loss to Riho came to Nyla Rose on the February 24, 2021 Dynamite, which was taped on February 18.
