Rob Van Dam shared an update on Chris Bey during the latest episode of his 1 of a Kind podcast.
Bey sustained a serious neck injury at the October 27, 2024, TNA Wrestling TV tapings and underwent emergency surgery that night. According to RVD’s comments, Bey recently returned home after spending two months in hospital. RVD says Bey broke his neck and was paralyzed but is now “getting everything back.” Katie Forbes and RVD live near Bey, and the couple visited him recently.
RVD said:
“Chris Bey happens to live very close to us. Katie and I went and visited him because he made it home. He was stuck in the hospital for like two months. He had a match, if you don’t know, with the Hardy Boyz. I know very little about it, but they were going for a move that didn’t work out safely, and Chris broke his neck and then he was paralyzed.”
He continued:
“I don’t know how much we should talk about, really, but let me just say that he’s going to wait until he’s ready to talk. Of course, I invited him on here. He is much better than I imagined and much better than he was when he was paralyzed. So, he’s not (paralyzed) anymore, and he’s getting everything back. He’s going to make a come back too, a full comeback, I’m sure of it but it’s going to be a long journey, and we’ll probably check in with him a lot because, like I said, he lives really close.”
RVD also shared that he spoke with Bey about Hayabusa suffering a broken neck in 2001 when he slipped on the ropes during a quebrada attempt. Hayabusa was paralyzed but would eventually regain the ability to walk with a cane. They also spoke about Darren “Droz” Drozdov’s injury in October 1999. RVD says he would feel something “almost like survivor’s remorse” around Hayabusa or Droz after their injuries.
“I told him when Hayabusa would come around, and he was in the wheelchair, and he couldn’t move his limbs. I don’t know exactly if he could move his arms or not, regardless, I would have… I guess, the closest thing to can compare this feeling to would be survivor’s remorse. Like, ‘Why him? Like, why not me? How’s he looking at me taking those DDTs and all those crazy high-risk bumps? Is he looking at me like, ‘What an a–hole’? He doesn’t realize I can’t even f—king move anymore? ‘What does he need to stop it?'”
“That was part of the experience when I’d see Droz (Darren Drozdov) as well,” RVD added.
“He’s got an awesome girlfriend to help him too. That’s really important,” RVD continued.
“Brittnie Brooks, she’s a wrestler. She’s a sweetheart and she’s there helping him and I think moved in with him. That’s definitely going to be a big help.”
“I feel good about his current health and his future,” RVD concluded about Bey.
The new issue of the Wrestling Observer is up on the site right now. It was a huge news week as it’s the largest issue in some time:
ull coverage of Crown Jewel with the matches, business and interest level
Thoughts on the programs going forward
TKO gives its quarterly business update
Why profits are lower than usual.
UFC’s media rights deal thoughts
Talk about the future of Fight Pass
Revenue for UFC & WWE in different categories
Stock value
How much debt TKO currently has
How the Cung Le lawsuit factors into all this
More on the show at Sphere
Thoughts about Dana White and/or Nick Khan getting involved with boxing from Mark Shapiro
More Netflix plans
A look at the Wrestle Kingdom lineup
Where New Japan’s business currently stands
Upcoming New Japan tag team tournament notes
Power Struggle coverage, great matches and angles
NXT and AEW go head-to-head, the most detailed breakdown as to what happened and why
Where AEW stood in the overall standings that night
How every quarter did
Coverage of the Conor McGregor trial going on
Update on Full Gear, announced matches, other matches, ticket buying interest
Notes on WWE cuts like Baron Corbin, Indi Hartwell and Tegan Nox.
Dragon Gates runs a major show
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the shows this past week, with standings for the night and week, segment-by-segment numbers, and all the competition.
CMLL to fill the historical middleweight title vacancy by Mistico this week
Arena Mexico draws the week’s largest crowd for themed show
Update on El Hijo del Vikingo
Stardom tag team tournament update
King of Gate tournament update
Davey Boy Smith Jr. wins Triple Crown and background of that
Death of Scorpio Jr.
Hall of Fame candidate health issue update
The life of AWA’s Al DeRusha
Can actual wrestling draw more than 40,000 each to six events over three days. 2028 we’ll get the chance to find out.
Marko Stunt talks retirement
Santo retirement tour noes
Mike Mansury talks AEW production changes for 2025
All the PPV business updates
Ricochet talks leaving WWE
International TV ratings and streaming numbers
Jon Jones talks Tom Aspinall and why he’s not interested in that ight
More on the Bruce Prichard and Michael Hayes leave of absences
WWE scheduling updates
Yoshhiki Inamura comes to NXT
WWE signs former Olympic athletes
Lots of WWE injury updates
Notes from all the live arena events and the European tour
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue
While appearing on This is Wrestling Life, Rob Van Dam reflected on his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. RVD said it was an honor to be inducted, but having the induction happen during the pandemic era was a little disappointing:
It was very validating, you know, to be thought of on that Mount Rushmore of wrestlers. That’s something that they can never take away from me now. Like, it felt like I elevated up to a level and now people like yourself refer to me as a Hall of Famer. It’s very prestigious, so I was honored. The fact that it was during COVID and we didn’t have a crowd was kind of disappointing after going to Hall of Fame for so many years and watching the really long speeches. And then they told us to go 3-5 minutes on our speeches after hearing these guys [doing long speeches in the past].
The thing about the time and there not being people there, if you’ve seen my speech, then you’ve seen like nine minutes of it, but the whole thing was actually 27 minutes. So I actually went, in theory, maybe like 24 minutes over the three-minute request. I didn’t hear anything when I got back except I said, ‘That was a little long, wasn’t it?’ But I had no idea until I saw the whole thing that it was that long. You’re playing off of somebody turning the volume up and down on a response… I’ll have to get in it again.
Paradigm Talent Agency – which represents several WWE stars – has announced the launch of The Sports Group, which is “a dedicated, all-encompassing division established to represent a roster of elite athletes and iconic teams.” Damian Priest, Tiffany Stratton, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, and Liv Morgan are among the WWE wrestlers that Paradigm represents.
We had a common goal in destroying Willow [Nightingale], and I think we accomplished that. But I think we just didn’t have any sort of, like, we didn’t have any other goals after that. The goal was to take care of her. I think after that, we just kind of decided like, you know what, the job is done. It’s kind of like a handshake and, ‘You helped me. I helped you. We’ll see if our paths cross again in the future or something.’ Then he tried to pass a Spanish quiz and put my [CMLL Women’s] title shot on the line that I rightfully won. He put that on the line without me knowing, lost it. So, not my fault. I also decided to give him a boot for that, because how dare you take my opportunities away from me.
It’s interesting. I’m excited to find out (what’s next for me). My contract expired with AEW in June, so I just left them. I’m currently working independents, but I’m 42 and I think it’s time to — I don’t know. I want to find a way to be home more with my kids and so I’m looking into more business opportunities; construction, rental properties and I’d love to sit down with you John (Bradshaw Layfield) and get some pointers about announcing and maybe stay on camera that way. But really, just doing what I can. I had a great career, very blessed to have that career. So, now, it’s kind of easier. The pressure’s off and just try to be a good dad and good example for my kids.
More stars from ECW’s past will appear next week at the ECW Arena.
Rob Van Dam appeared on Tuesday’s NXT and said he wanted to be part of the show next Wednesday. Ava asked RVD to leave it up to her in regards to what he could do next week. Later, the final moments of the show saw Wes Lee and Je’Von Evans brawling backstage when they were stopped by referees and Ava. RVD then came in and said he had a great idea for next week, without saying what it was. Lee and Evans continued their brawl as the show ended.
Earlier on Tuesday, Francine announced that she would be heading to the ECW Arena next week for NXT 2300. The Queen of Extreme was a longtime manager in the company from 1994 to its closure in 2001.
An unidentified voice was heard on Tuesday’s show via a phone message addressed to Tony D’Angelo. He asked D’Angelo why he had to hear secondhand that he would be heading to Philadelphia next week, saying it was blatant disrespect. He told D’Angelo to bring the North American title next week as he’ll see him there. Commentary later speculated if that was Nunzio on the line.
While appearing on the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast, Rob Van Dam explained how being under a WWE Legends contract affects how AEW is able to utilize him.
RVD has wrestled six AEW matches, sporadically appearing for the promotion since August 2023. He told Cheap Heat Productions that — while he’s able to wrestle for AEW — his Legends deal with WWE means that AEW could not put him in a video game or make an RVD action figure.
“So I’m not under contract with AEW. I sign a per-match contract with them, which I’ve done five, maybe six times,” RVD said. “And it’s only wrestling. The first time that I talked to Tony Khan about doing this, a factor was that I still have a WWE Legends deal. So my use to AEW would be limited — as far as, like, they can’t put me on video games, action figures, stuff like that. So you could say it’s limited on both ends — or you could say I got both ends going, best of both worlds. Or you could just say RVD does whatever he wants.”
RVD’s most recent match for AEW was on the April 20 edition of Collision earlier this year.
A WWE Hall of Famer, RVD made an appearance on WWE programming last month when SmackDown moved back to USA Network. He was one of several legends shown in the crowd.
Rob Van Dam had an “awesome” time attending WWE SmackDown’s first episode back on USA Network.
RVD was one of the legends shown in the front row at last Friday’s episode, which was held at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. It marked the start of WWE and NBCUniversal’s new five-year deal for SmackDown’s return to USA Network. The show had aired on Fox since 2019.
On SmackDown, RVD and his wife Katie Forbes were briefly shown in the crowd prior to a tag team match where Kevin Owens & Randy Orton defeated Grayson Waller & Austin Theory.
“How about that? RVD just pops up wherever he feels like. That’s part of being The Whole F’N Show, you know? [laughs],” RVD said on his 1 Of A Kind podcast. “It was an invite that happened not with a lot of notice at all. It was awesome to be there.”
RVD said he was contacted by WWE last Wednesday to see if he was available to fly out the next day. While at SmackDown, he also filmed interviews for future WWE content. RVD said on his podcast that everyone was cool backstage and there was a good vibe at the show.
Paul Heyman and Paul “Triple H” Levesque were among the people RVD talked with backstage. RVD said the young talent in WWE was very respectful toward him, and the fans brought a lot of energy.
In 2021, RVD was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He’s had occasional matches for AEW since first competing for the promotion last year.
WWE uploaded a post-show interview with RVD after he attended Friday’s SmackDown:
WWE stars of the past and present made an appearance on SmackDown.
Several WWE Hall of Famers, along with main roster stars, appeared on Friday’s show in Seattle. The show celebrated 25 years of SmackDown, which made its debut on UPN in August of 1999.
Rob Van Dam, Vickie Guerrero, Booker T & Sharmell, Michael Hayes, Ron Simmons, Teddy Long, William Regal, and Bobby Roode were all acknowledged in the crowd during Friday’s premiere on the USA Network. It was the first time Guerrero has appeared in WWE since her contract with AEW ended last July.
Roode, who has been out of action since undergoing neck surgery in 2022, has since transitioned to working backstage as a producer.
Along with stars of the past, Gunther & Ludwig Kaiser, Sheamus, and Damian Priest from Raw also were shown in the crowd.
SmackDown on Friday marked the return of the blue brand to the USA Network after a five-year run on FOX. Along with new graphics and a new logo, the show also had a new theme song, ‘Neva Play’ by Megan Thee Stallion, featuring RM of BTS.
AEW’s three-hour Saturday night block will feature a special live edition of Rampage ahead of Sunday’s AEW Dynasty.
A noted marijuana enthusiast, Rob Van Dam will take part in the first-ever “High Flying 4-2-0” elimination four-way that also includes Komander, Isiah Kassidy, and Lee Johnson.
Prior to tonight, RVD last wrestled for AEW on the February 21st Dynamite, teaming with Hook & Hangman Page in a trios loss to Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland & Brian Cage.
Angelo Parker will also be on hand with some thoughts.
A rematch of the 2021’s AEW Women’s World title eliminator tournament Japan bracket is also set with Yuka Sakazaki taking on Emi Sakura. This will be their sixth overall match against each other in AEW, five of which have been tag team matches.
A preview for tomorrow’s Dynasty PPV is on tap as Kyle O’Reilly, Rocky Romero & Matt Menard face The Kingdom’s Roderick Strong, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett.
Rampage started with the IWGP World Champion Jon Moxley complimenting how strong Don Callis’ phone is after making his match with Powerhouse Hobbs on next week’s Dynamite for the IWGP Title. Moxley didn’t mind, as he wasn’t planning on losing anyway. Moxley knew Hobbs had something special, but if Hobbs didn’t find it, Moxley would give him a very bitter lesson. Moxley told Hobbs not to hesitate because he wouldn’t.
High Flying 4/20 Four Way Elimination Match – Rob Van Dam defeated Komander, Isiah Kassidy (w/ Marq Quen), Lee Johnson
It felt like there was a joke I was missing here.
We got four-way action to start before Kassidy and RVD paired off. Kassidy mocked RVD before RVD moved out of the way of a Rolling Thunder attempt. RVD hit one of his own before Johnson dived onto everyone on the floor. Johnson and Kassidy paired off in the ring, where Kassidy eliminated Johnson with a tights-assisted roll-up.
After a commercial, Komander hit a big step-up moonsault to Kassidy on the floor to a big pop. Komander took RVD over with a rana out of a powerbomb attempt before hitting a springboard senton to Kassidy for a nearfall. Komander went for a ropewalk, but Kassidy cut him off and crotched him on the ropes. Kassidy teased giving RVD something but turned on him. Quen pulled RVD out of the ring, but Komander hit the ropewalk Shooting Star Press to eliminate him.
It was down to Komander and RVD, and they traded flash pins before RVD cut off Komander on the top rope. After avoiding a leg sweep, RVD hit the Five Star Frog Splash to win.
Yuka Sakazaki defeated Emi Sakura
Sakura got a jump start, hitting a Tiger Driver for a nearfall. Sakazaki came back with a sliding lariat for a nearfall. Sakazaki went to hop over the ropes onto the apron, but she fell to the floor. Sakura stalled as Sakazaki tested her knee on the floor, but eventually Sakazaki was able to continue and hit a rana off the apron.
After a commercial, Sakura sent Sakazaki to the floor with a crossbody off the apron. Sakura followed up with a crossbody into the stairs. Sakura hit a butterfly backbreaker for a nearfall. Sakura teased Sakazaki, but Sakazaki came back with a rope-assisted German to get the win.
In what was called Rampage exclusive footage from after Dynamite, Angelo Parker came to the ring. He left his mentor and lost his friends over the past year, before gaining and losing the love of Ruby Soho. All he had left was his match against Zak Knight, but he lost that too. He didn’t have much left to fight for and teased retiring before Soho came to the ring. Soho said it broke her heart to hear him say that he had nothing to fight for because he had something very special to fight for. Soho announced that she was pregnant to a big pop. The two embraced, with Parker saying that he was going to be a father. Congratulations to the happy couple!
Kyle O’Reilly, Matt Menard, & Rocky Romero defeated The Undisputed Kingdom (Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett)
What’s cooler than cool? Outkast would say ice cold, but my answer would be The Undisputed Kingdom. This is a stone-dead act, and honestly, I would pull the plug and take these talented guys in other directions. The interactions between O’Reilly and Strong were good, which is promising for tomorrow’s International Title match.
Strong teased starting with O’Reilly before bailing. The first advantage came when Bennett stuffed a headscissor attempt and had Taven hit an assisted powerbomb for a nearfall. After an extended beatdown, Romero eventually got the tag out to Menard, who ran wild. Menard locked Bennett in the Boston Crab, but Taven cut him off with a Kick of the King. O’Reilly tagged in and ran wild. Taven caught Bennett in a triangle choke before getting Taven in an ankle lock at the same time.
Strong broke it up and finally faced off with each other, teeing off with chops and kicks until Strong caught O’Reilly with a backbreaker. O’Reilly caught Strong with an armbar and tapped him out, but Bennett had blind-tagged in. O’Reilly caught Bennett with the rebound lariat before hitting the brainbuster and tapping him out with the armbar. After the match, O’Reilly told Strong that in 24 hours, he would become the new International Champion.
Rob Van Dam will be in action on this Saturday’s edition of AEW Rampage.
Tony Khan announced in a social media post that RVD will take part in a “High Flying 420 Elimination Four-Way” also featuring Komander, Isiah Kassidy, and Lee Johnson on this week’s live Rampage.
RVD had previously been announced for the joint Collision-Rampage event, but the announcement is the first confirmation of his match for Saturday.
In a separate social media post, Khan announced a second bout for Rampage, a rematch from the 2021 Women’s World title eliminator tournament Japan bracket, with Yuka Sakazaki facing Emi Sakura.
This Saturday will mark the second consecutive week with a three-hour prime time AEW block on TNT following last Saturday’s Collision and Battle of the Belts X shows.
Rampage will air immediately following Collision this Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern time.
The announced cards for AEW’s three-hour block Saturday:
Collision —
Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher in a Bunkhouse Brawl
Kazuchika Okada & The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) vs. PAC & FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler)
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) vs. The Gunns (Austin & Colten Gunn)
Adam Copeland, Mark Briscoe, & Eddie Kingston vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) & Action Andretti
Rampage —
Rob Van Dam vs. Komander vs. Isiah Kassidy vs. Lee Johnson in a four-way elimination match
The annual Wrestlecon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow as part of WrestleMania weekend returns with its usual array of interesting first-time matches.
Two tremendous athletes from two generations will clash for the first time as Rob Van Dam will battle “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
In a Philadelphia street fight against Sami Callihan, award-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser will look to remain undefeated in his third-ever match.
Multi-promotional champion Nic Nemeth will take on Joey Janela while former TNA World Champion Josh Alexander will battle Masato Tanaka.
RevPro undisputed British heavyweight champion Michael Oku will defend against Titan.
In an eight-man tag team match, The FBI (Little Guido, Tommy Rich & Tony Mamaluke) will team with a mystery partner against Los Boricuas (Huracan Castillo Jr., Jose Estrada, Miguel Perez Jr. & Savio Vega).
Averno, Cavernario, Mistico, Star Jr. & Villano III Jr. will take on Ben-K, Dragon Kid, Kota Minoura, Shun Skywalker & YAMATO in a ten-man match.
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Show Report —
The show started with a photo slideshow featuring the show’s namesake, the late Mark Hitchcock.
Kevin Gill & Veda Scott were on the call.
Nic Nemeth defeated Joey Janela
Janela dominated early on. Nemeth started a comeback but was dropped with a dragon suplex. They started trading big moves, including back-and-forth superkicks for the double down. Janela nailed Nemeth with a Death Valley driver on the apron.
Back in the ring, Nemeth avoided a diving stomp and hit a jumping DDT for two. Janela blocked the Famouser and turned it into a powerbomb, following it up with a package piledriver for a near fall. Nemeth came back with the Famouser and the Danger Zone for the win.
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– Former ECW referee Jim Molineaux came out to officiate the following match.
The FBI (Little Guido & Tommy Rich) and Deonna Purrazzo (w/ Tony Mamaluke) defeated Los Boricuas (Miguel Perez Jr., Nathalya Perez, & Savio Vega) (w/ Huracan Castillo Jr. & Jose Estrada)
The Virtuosa joined the Full Blooded Italians for one night.
This was obviously more for novelty and fun than anything else. Los Boricuas were good heel foils for the FBI. Guido can still go! Molineaux sent the rest of the Boricuas to the back midway through.
The best actual wrestling in the match was between Purrazzo and Nathalya. Eventually, it was Purrazzo getting the submission victory with the Fujiwara armbar.
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Rob Van Dam (w/ Bill Alfonso) defeated “Speedball” Mike Bailey – with special guest referee Jerry Lynn
RVD was super over, he got by far the biggest reaction of anyone on the show to this point. They started with some back-and-forth chain wrestling, leading to a couple standoffs. RVD got the upper hand on the outside, landing a spinning kick to a prone Speedball. Speedball fired back and landed an Asai moonsault to the floor.
After an extended control segment, RVD put together a comeback. Fonzy entered the ring but was sent packing by Lynn. Speedball landed his rapid-fire kicks and avoided Rolling Thunder, earning enough breathing room to hit a missile dropkick. RVD avoided the Ultimate Weapon.
Fonzy tossed RVD a chair and distracted the official, allowing RVD to kick the chair into Speedball’s face. The Five-Star Frog Splash followed for the win.
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RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Michael Oku (c) defeated Titán
After the opening exchange, they went right into trading chops. Oku sent Titán to the outside after a headscissor takeover, but Titán countered the follow-up and landed a tope suicida. After that, it was Titán in control for a while.
Oku came back with a Fosbury Flop and a diving crossbody for two. Titán nailed a superkick and a diving double stomp but missed another before getting the knees up on an Oku moonsault. Oku fired back with a running knee and a lionsault before locking on a half Boston crab. Titán fought his way to the ropes.
Titán hit a psycho driver for two. Oku returned fire with a superkick, but Titán fought back with his through-the-ropes clothesline. Titán stuck the diving double stomp but was too slow on the cover. He immediately applied an inverted Figure Four leglock, but Oku escaped and put on the half crab. Titán nearly made it to the ropes, but Oku dragged him back into the center of the ring and bridged back, forcing the tap.
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Mustafa Ali & Matt Riddle defeated The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel)
This match was unadvertised. Riddle and Wentz went back-and-forth at the start, then their partners did the same. Riddle & Ali hit some tandem offense with Riddle holding the ropes open for an Ali suicide dive, but the Rascalz cut them off for a heat segment.
Riddle eventually reached Ali for the hot tag, getting a near fall. The Rascalz returned fire with a strike combination for two. Riddle strung together some offense with a ripcord knee, an exploder suplex, and a Bro-ton to both Rascalz. Riddle hit a double RKO on both Rascalz before nailing Miguel with the Bro Derek for the win.
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Josh Alexander defeated Masato Tanaka
This was a hard-hitting heavyweight battle in the early portions. Alexander held the control sections, continuing to beat Tanaka down until Tanaka fought back with a brainbuster. Alexander hit three consecutive German suplexes, bridging into a kickout at 2.
Tanaka hit a big superplex, but Alexander popped up and slapped on the ankle lock. Tanaka was bleeding from the forehead. Alexander landed a nasty car crash crossbody for a near fall.
They had a really cool back-and-forth fight towards the end that fired up the crowd. We got the cursory forearm exchange before simultaneous clotheslines led to the double down. Tanaka hit Diamond Dust, but Alexander avoided the Sliding D and hit a powerbomb onto a knee before the C4 got him the win.
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Team CMLL (Místico, Cavernario, Averno, Star Jr., & Villano III Jr.) defeated Team Dragongate (Shun Skywalker, YAMATO, Kzy, Kota Minoura, & Dragon Kid)
Cavernario vs. Dragon Kid to start. The participants in the match each paired off early on in this order: YAMATO vs. Averno, Shun vs. Místico, Kzy vs. Star, and Minoura vs. Villano.
It was pretty messy in the early portions. Interestingly enough the Dragongate team leaned into being heels even though Shun is the only true heel on the team. Minoura even went for Místico’s mask at one point.
It was Místico who was the catalyst for Team CMLL’s comeback. Star Jr. landed a running tornillo to the outside, followed by Místico hitting a diving crossbody into the front row. The other CMLL wrestlers took turns hitting big moves on Dragon Kid in the ring. Averno hit a double-tap powerbomb on Shun, but Dragon Kid ran in to break it up.
YAMATO hit Go To Hospital 2 on Averno, allowing Dragon Kid to hit the elevated top-rope Frankensteiner, which Kzy followed up with a frog splash. Cavernario broke up the pin and hit a splash on Dragon Kid for two. Villano landed a corkscrew splash for two of his own.
We got the parade of big moves until a Místico vs. Kzy face-off in the middle of the ring. Shun cut his own partner off, trying to steal all the glory, before just booting Kzy. Místico capitalized on the infighting, allowing Star to lock on a wacky submission. Meanwhile, Místico applied La Mística to Kzy for the win.
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Philadelphia Street Fight: Paul Walter Hauser defeated Sami Callihan
Hauser is an actor known for roles in films like Richard Jewell and I, Tonya. He’s also made a couple of AEW appearances.
The actor teased a dive at the start, but Callihan cut him off with a shot from a trash can lid. Callihan cut between Hauser’s fingers and squeezed lemon juice on the wounds. He then pulled out a pizza cutter and ran it over Hauser’s forehead. Hauser donned the crimson mask.
Hauser tossed powder in Callihan’s face before nailing a big boot on the outside. Callihan didn’t stay down for long, but Hauser moving out of the way led to Callihan chopping the ring post. Back inside, Hauser smacked Callihan with a chair. He propped Callihan up against a door, but Callihan rolled out of the way, sending Hauser crashing through it.
The two men each acquired staplers and took turns stapling each other. A falling headbutt from Hauser got two. Hauser then planted Callihan on some thumbtacks with a Samoan Drop. He tried to follow it up with a diving elbow drop, but Callihan moved out of the way.
Callihan powerbombed Hauser through a table for a near fall. He attacked the official. Bill Alfonso came out, and Callihan took him out too. The lights then went out, Enter Sandman played, and The Sandman appeared.
Sandman attacked Callihan with a kendo stick. He handed the kendo to Hauser, who hit a cane-assisted side Russian leg sweep onto tacks for the win.
A trios match with Revolution implications takes place on AEW Dynamite.
World Champion Samoa Joe teams with Swerve Strickland & Brian Cage against Hangman Page, Hook & Rob Van Dam in a six-man tag team bout on tonight’s episode. Joe is set to defend the World title against Strickland & Page in a three-way at the Revolution pay-per-view on Sunday, March 3.
Blackpool Combat Club will square off with FTR in tag team action on the show as well, as BCC’s Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli face FTR’s Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler. Moxley defeated Harwood on last week’s Dynamite as a feud between the two teams heats up as they look to climb the tag team rankings.
Both participants in the Women’s World title match at Revolution will also be in singles competition on tonight’s episode. Women’s World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm will be in action, as will her Revolution challenger Deonna Purrazzo.
AEW Dynamite comes on the air with Excalibur welcoming us alongside Tony Schiavone and Taz as they go to the entrances for the opening contest of the evening.
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli went to a 20 Minute Time Limit
(To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t paying attention to the announced 20 Minute Time Limit at the start of the match, so I was caught completely by surprised when I heard Justin Roberts announce 5 minutes remaining at one point. While it might not be ideal to do another time limit draw after Swerve Strickland & Hangman Page a few weeks ago, to get this rematch to happen at Revolution, the finish made complete sense. These two beat the hell out of each other, the crowd were into it and should be even better in a few weeks.)
Quick tags from both teams in the early going, as after Moxley & Wheeler started quick, it was Wheeler who wasn’t backing down with Castagnoli during an uppercut exchange. After suffering a double team, Moxley regrouped outside and came in trading brutal head butts with Wheeler. Harwood flew off the top for a double cross body, as Castagnoli & Moxley opted to take the fight to the floor. Harwood took the bullet, shoving Wheeler out of the way from a Moxley Tope, but Wheeler retaliated, sending Moxley into the steps. Back inside, Moxley again was double teamed in the corner, as FTR heeled it up with the assisted abdominal stretch spot, getting caught immediately by the ref. After eating a double slingshot throat first under the bottom rope, Moxley exploded out of the corner with a lariat. Castagnoli ran wild briefly and delivered a double back suplex. Harwood went after Moxley on the floor, but ultimately suffered a stuff piledriver with Castagnoli leaping off the apron, taking things to picture in picture.
Harwood was controlled during the entire break, but broke free from Castagnoli’s clutches and Wheeler & Moxley made the tag, with Wheeler a house of fire. Wheeler spun out of a Paradigm Shift into a brainbuster for two as we’re given a 5 minute call from Justin Roberts. Castagnoli saved his partner from a Shatter Machine, but Moxley missed a blind tag from Harwood and was dropped with an assisted powerbomb for two. FTR wanted the Power-Plex, but Castagnoli uppercut Wheeler out of the corner. Harwood avoided a Doomsday Device, posted Castagnoli and hit his part of the Power-Plex, but Moxley got his knees up on a diving Wheeler. Castagnoli immediately did a Giant Swing on Harwood, with Moxley doing the Tyson Kidd special, dropkicking him mid revolution. Anvil elbows from Moxley, who switched to a Bulldog Choke, as Castagnoli locked a choke in on Wheeler, who just fell back onto Moxley, with everyone down with 2 minutes remaining.
Harwood & Moxley slugged it out before Harwood got the Sharpshooter locked in. Castagnoli followed suit by applying one to Wheeler, as Castagnoli & Harwood had a slap battle with both submissions applied. They both let go as Harwood planted Castagnoli with a piledriver, but Moxley nearly stole a pin off a crucifix for two. Moxley was sent off the ropes and was about to suffer Shatter Machine when the bell sounded and the time limit expired. Both teams continued to slug it out with officials, security and other wrestlers running down to break it up, having little success.
-Renee Paquette is backstage with Orange Cassidy and runs down the recent history between Best Friends and The Kingdom, along with Cassidy’s matches along the way, including last weeks Texas Death Match. She turns to the doctor, who said unfortunately or fortunately, Cassidy has met minimal medical clearance, so he’s cleared. Paquette said that’s insane, but the doctor said what can he do, Cassidy is minimally cleared. With Trent Beretta apparently not cleared, Cassidy said he’ll take his match with Mike Bennett tonight.
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-We see footage of the Rev Pro show this weekend with Orange Cassidy popping up as a surprise to defend his International Title in a 7 Way match.
-Alex Marvez is backstage with FTR, who said they were 10 more seconds away from winning that match with the BCC. Harwood was about to lay out the challenge for Revolution when Castagnoli Moxley came in, held back by officials, as they argued before anything could officially be set for the Pay Per View.
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defeated Mike Bennett (w/Matt Taven)
(With Cassidy taking out Taven last week, it makes sense for Bennett to be next on his revenge tour on his way to Roderick Strong at Revolution. I know Jake Hager is from Oklahoma, but I don’t know why he saved Cassidy here, as they’ve never had any friendship. We were told afterwards that Hager is wrestling Strong on Friday, so I guess that’s all the reason we need.)
Commentary talked about how the Undisputed Kingdom laid out Chuck Taylor & Rocky Romero, while Trent Beretta wasn’t cleared after the ending of the main event last week, leaving Cassidy flying solo. Cassidy charged up the ramp, ducked a Bennett belt shot attempt and leveled Taven with a Superman Punch. The match officially began in the ring, with Bennett quickly taking over on offense, but Cassidy hit a Stundog Millionaire and spinning DDT. Roderick Strong hit the ring and distracted the ref long enough for Bennett to punch Cassidy low and hit a piledriver for two.
Bennett controlled the entire commercial break and took a headset from commentary to run down Cassidy. All this did was allow Cassidy to recover and hit multiple dives. Bennett responded with a spinebuster on the apron and Death Valley Driver on the floor. Back inside, Bennett took too long to follow up, as Cassidy exploded out with a desperation Orange Punch. Bennett fought off Beach Break and hit a Gotch Style Piledriver for a close near fall. Multiple roaring elbows dropped Cassidy, who countered a third piledriver attempt into Beach Break out of nowhere for the win.
Right as the bell sounded, Matt Taven hit the ring with Roderick Strong, who was going to hit a knee when Oklahoma’s Jake Hager ran out to make the save and clear the ring. The crowd popped loud for their hometown Hager, who we’re told will face Roderick Strong this week on Rampage.
-Renee Paquette is backstage with Angelo Parker, asking him about his date tonight with Ruby Soho. Parker said he’s excited when Soho walked in wearing a dress, as Parker asked if she’s ready to go as a car pulls up and Soho asks if that’s for them. Parker said no, as they have a Lyft. They leave and we see Ric Flair getting out of the car.
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-Renee Paquette is backstage with Ric Flair and asks about Sting’s final match at Revolution. Flair said he doesn’t care who likes it, he felt upset he’s not a bigger part of things. Flair isn’t upset at Sting, but disappointed he hasn’t been around for three or four weeks, so he’s going to explore some options. Flair walks away before knocking on The Young Bucks locker room, asking if they have time to talk. They welcome him in, but close the door on the camera.
Christian Cage Makes Things Personal With Daniel Garcia
Tony Schiavone welcomes Daniel Garcia to the ring and talks about what happened last week, with Adam Copeland being unable to compete after Christian Cage’s attack. Schiavone informs Garcia that he will receive a TNT Title match against Cage at Revolution and got You Deserve It chants from the crowd. Garcia thanked the crowd and said a few months ago, he was at his lowest on his losing streak, but at the end of the Continental Classic, all he needed as three seconds and winning his final match changed his life. Every time he got down on himself, the fans picked him up and Garcia thanks them restoring his confidence. Garcia said he was about to make Copeland tap out last week and promises that wasn’t the last time they’ll see one another. Garcia has a message for Christian Cage, whose music hit immediately, as the entire Patriarchy came to the stage.
Cage said Adam Copeland will never have another shot at the TNT Title and the only reason Garcia was in harm’s way last week was because of Copeland. Cage said he doesn’t believe he should wrestle Garcia at Revolution, as Garcia isn’t ready. Cage said Garcia’s constant distractions like dancing and catering to the fans is what will keep him from being great. Cage said he knows about Garcia’s dark childhood and brings up Jackie Garcia from Buffalo, who was married to David Garcia, Daniel’s father, who is dead. Cage said it’d be a fairytale ending for Garcia to win the TNT Title in tribute to his father, but they both know his father was a piece of crap, loser alcoholic. Unlike his father, Cage doesn’t want to hurt Garcia; he wants him to realize his full potential. Cage doesn’t want to be Garcia’s opponent; he wants to be his father. Garcia said if Cage mentions his mother again and since Cage likes to bring up his father, come to the ring and he’ll put Cage in the ground right next to him.
Cage nodded to Nick Wayne, who hit the ring and was immediately put in the Dragon Tamer. Killswitch was next, who came to the ring, but was leveled from behind by a Matt Menard chair shot. Menard & Garcia stood tall in the ring with chairs, as Cage said he doesn’t want to hurt Garcia, he just wants to guide him.
-Renee Paquette is backstage with Hangman Adam Page, Rob Van Dam & HOOK and asks about the main event tonight. Page said tonight is full of opportunities, as HOOK can get revenge on Brian Cage and RVD can get revenge on Swerve Strickland, who had he beaten a few weeks ago, we wouldn’t have been in the situation they’re in to begin with. RVD said he wasn’t happy about it and asked if Prince Nana was even there, as he heard Nana might have something he’s interested in (implying weed, which Page said months ago he’d beat Nana up and take). A frustrated Page cut him off and stormed out.
Storm is now being introduced as hailing from Stage 7 at Warner Studios, as she rushed Winnell at the bell. Winnell got off a few strikes, but Storm met her with a Thesz Press and punches in bunches. Storm connected on a corner splash and running bulldog, as Sweet Cheek Music and Storm Zero followed. Storm applied the ankle lock she called Break a Leg before applying a Venus De Milo for the submission, taking a page out of Deonna Purrazzo’s playbook.
As Storm was helped out of the ring by Luther, Purrazzo’s entrance hit and it’s time for her match, stealing the spotlight from Storm, who just ran to the back, I think to get out of the camera shot before Madison Rayne’s entrance. Taz covered this up by saying Storm was visibly upset.
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Madison Rayne
(This was Rayne’s first match in AEW in little over a year, as commentary talked about how she was Purrazzo’s mentor. This was the match that mostly took place during commercial, but what we did see felt very slow. I really hope Rayne is ok after taking such a scary bump on her head, a bump, for some reason, was replayed as part of a Turbo Tax sponsorship post match.)
Some early mat wrestling to start things off, with Rayne the first to start throwing punches after hitting a leg trip. Purrazzo did a misdirect leg sweep, sending Rayne to the floor, where she met her with a baseball slide that took us to commercial. Rayne took control during break, but a double clothesline led to the reset. Purrazzo fired up with a series of offense, hitting a Side Russian Leg Sweep until a slow forearm exchange led to Purrazzo trying a Flatliner, but Rayne rotated and landed right on her head violently. The ref checked on Rayne, as the doctor was right there ringside, but Paul Turner said she was ok and Purrazzo quickly put on Toni Storm’s ankle lock, Break a Leg, to get the quick tap. Toni Storm hit the ring post match with a shoe, but ate a pump kick by Purazzo. Luther ran distraction long enough for Storm to attack from behind and clamp on the Break a Leg. Storm let the hold go and applied a crazy amount of lipstick before staring down with Purrazzo. The black and white and color they used for the same shot between both ladies was pretty cool visually.
-We hear comments from Darby Allin & Sting, as Allin said material objects we chase we think define us, don’t mean a thing. Allin shows some photos of Sting’s sons with their dad at the same age The Young Bucks children are right now. Allin said the only thing that matters in the end, is family. Sting walked into the shot and agreed, saying in all his years in wrestling, no one has ever messed with his family until The Bucks. Sting said a lot has been going on over the last week for his family, including losing his father, which makes him think about his own mortality. Sting used to think he was invincible, but time catches up to everyone, catching up with himself for sure. Sting realizes he’s not invincible, but realizes everything he has left in him, he’s bringing to Revolution. The Bucks have a fight on their hands, the fight of their lives. This was a brief but fantastic promo by the Stinger.
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-Tony Schiavone introduces Wardlow to the ring, as he walks out pissed off and told Schiavone to get out of the ring before he knocks him on his old ass again. Wardlow said two years ago, thousands of people were chanting his name in a matter that hasn’t been heard or seen in decades. Apparently the rocket strapped to his back was put on upside down, as he’s been screwed time after time again. Wardlow said you’d think the one home grown mega start would’ve been champion a long time ago, but he’s never received a World Title shot, something people in the back should be thrown in jail for. Wardlow brought up the “Best in the World” and “Real World Champion” whose body is still falling apart because of him. Wardlow brought up how he squashed MJF like no one else has. Finally, Wardlow mentions choking Samoa Joe out and how suits and shiny titles look better on him than Joe. Wardlow said he’s the uncrowned king of AEW and it’s time he starts eating like one, as he’s everything a World Champion is supposed to be. If anyone wants to get in his way, this is no longer wrestling, this…is…War.
-We hear post match comments from the Bang Bang Scissor Gang following their 12 Man Tag victory on Rampage last week. Daddy Ass apologizes running into Switchblade Jay White during the match, as White said it’s fine and suggest he, Austin Gunn & Daddy Ass are the Collision Cowboys this Saturday. Anthony Bowens said it doesn’t matter the combo, everyone loves The Acclaimed, Bang Bang.
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-Renee Paquette is backstage with the Don Callis Family, asking Callis if he’s given any more thoughts on how the match between Will Ospreay & Konosuke Takeshita will affect the Family after Revolution. Callis said it’ll help them big time, as win or lose, the best wrestlers in the world will still be part of the Family. Callis is on his way to the UK to pick up Ospreay himself to bring him to Revolution. Callis called Sammy Guevara a fly in the ointment and a little cuck who Meat Madness Powerhouse Hobbs and himself will deal with on Rampage.
AEW World Champion Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland & Brian Cage (w/Prince Nana) defeated Hangman Adam Page, FTW Champion HOOK & Rob Van Dam
(This was quite the party match main event, with multiple commercial breaks and a whole heck of a lot of chaotic action throughout. With RVD involved, you knew if anyone was eating a pin or submission, it’d be him, as Joe standing tall when all was said and done made the most sense. Despite playing the heel in recent weeks, Page was cheered here quite a bit.)
HOOK wanted to start against Joe, who slammed HOOK down multiple times, bringing a smile to Joe as a result. HOOK switched to body shots and a flying clothesline that took Joe down, as Joe turned the table in the corner with body strikes of his own before tagging in Cage. HOOK escaped and made a tag to RVD, who had a quick sequence with Cage, who showed off his strength, leading to a double team with Strickland. After a series of switches, Page made the blind tag and came face to face with Strickland after RVD side stepped a Flatliner attempt. Before things got physical, HOOK & Cage pulled their teammates back for some reason, as Cage & Page remained during commercial.
Back from break, it was HOOK held up in a Cage delayed vertical suplex for two. Cage wanted a Death Valley Driver, but HOOK countered enough into a DDT, leading to a RVD hot tag, angering Page that he didn’t get it. RVD ran wild, hitting Rolling Thunder on Strickland and Five Star Frog Splash on Cage for two. Joe argued with referee Aubrey, as Strickland blindsided Page on the apron with a running boot. Fast tags made by Joe’s team, as they head to another commercial.
RVD was isolated the entire break before Joe missed a charge and RVD hit a spin kick into the double down. Page & Cage made the double tag, as Page sprinted right at Strickland to get his revenge before dropping Cage with a hurricanrana. Strickland side stepped a slingshot dive, but Page hit a pump kick to counter a Strickland rolling Flatliner. Back inside, Page dropped Cage with a Death Valley Driver, but Joe was there to clobber him with a running boot. The match broke down with everyone hitting a high impact move leaving Page to choose between a Buckshot on Cage or Moonsault on Strickland and he chose Strickland, as Cage cut him off before the move could happen. HOOK was there and we got a Tower of Doom spot. HOOK sank in REDRUM on Cage, who made a blind tag to Joe. HOOK ate a pop up powerbomb by Cage and a brutal House Call from Strickland, as Page flew in with a Buckshot on Cage.
Joe, Strickland & Page were left alone in the ring, as the Revolution graphic showed at the bottom of the screen. Strickland & Joe took out Page, who rolled to the floor and Joe hit a Tope. Strickland went for a pump kick off the apron, but missed Page and took out Joe. Page then powerbombed Strickland off the apron through the announce table. Joe ducked a Buckshot back inside and hit a snap powerslam for two, as RVD took out Cage with a slingshot splash and made the tag. Joe was waiting, but didn’t see HOOK waiting and ate an Exploder. RVD went up for the Five Star, but Cage shoved him off and wiped out HOOK with a discus lariat. Joe sank on the Coquina Clutch, as RVD faded and passed out.
Joe held up the AEW Title, as Strickland looked on with Nana, while Page kept telling the camera man not to shoot him, as he was holding his ankle. Hopefully Page isn’t legit injured.
AEW Rampage 2/23/24
· Matthew & Nicholas Jackson will be In Action
· Roderick Strong battles Jake Hager
· Private Party & Matt Sydal vs. Top Flight & Action Andretti vs. Penta El Zero Miedo, Komander & Bryan Keith
· Mariah May takes on Anna Jay
· We hear from Sammy Guevara
AEW Collision 2/24/24
· Bryan Danielson vs. Jun Akiyama
· Switchblade Jay White, Austin Gunn & Daddy Ass in Trios Action
On a holiday for marijuana enthusiasts, Rob Van Dam will return to AEW Collision.
AEW head Tony Khan announced on X Friday that the former WWE and ECW star will be part of the company’s Saturday, April 20th edition of Collision — the location of which hasn’t been revealed.
The 4:20 time is a long-standing cultural nod to smoking marijuana with April 20th annually recognized by the industry with festivals, events at shops, and the like. Van Dam has long been associated with marijuana with VICE News even calling him a “weed icon” in this feature.
Van Dam will make his next appearance for AEW on this Wednesday’s Dynamite from Tulsa, Oklahoma, as he teams with Hook and Hangman Page against AEW World Champion Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland and Brian Cage.
The 53-year-old made his AEW debut last August in a match against Jack Perry. Since then, he has wrestled three additional times and aligned with Hook due to the ECW connection with Hook’s father Taz.
Van Dam last appeared on the January 31st Dynamite, losing a hardcore match to Strickland.
Rob Van Dam made a surprise appearance in the main event of this week’s AEW Dynamite.
On an episode where Hangman Page & Swerve Strickland selected opponents for each other in Dealer’s Choice bouts, Page chose RVD to face Swerve in a hardcore match in the Dynamite main event.
Strickland defeated Van Dam in the contest, plus Page defeated Toa Liona earlier in the show to set up a number one contender’s match between the two for next week’s Dynamite. The winner of that bout will face Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship at the Revolution pay-per-view on Sunday, March 3.
Wednesday’s match with Swerve was the fourth career AEW match for RVD, and his first since the October 25, 2023 Dynamite where he teamed with Hook to defeat The Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds & John Silver in tag team action.
Prior to that, RVD & Hook defeated Matt Menard & Angelo Parker on the September 23, 2023 Collision episode, plus Jack Perry defeated RVD in a singles match on the August 9, 2023 Dynamite in RVD’s other AEW matches.
Kelani Jordan is one of the five participants headed to tonight’s NXT Deadline to compete in the women’s Iron Survivor Challenge, competing against Tiffany Stratton, Lash Legend, Blair Davenport and Fallon Henley for a future NXT Women’s title shot.
She earned her spot with a late-November win over Kiana James.
Ahead of the biggest matchup of her young career, I talked with the former gymnast about her time thus far in wrestling and tonight’s big opportunity.
Her fast rise
Given that WWE NXT is a developmental brand, fans have seen a lot of talents grow on the weekly program with Jordan as one of them. While she had primarily had been working on NXT Level Up and the NXT house show loops for the better portion of 2023, she wasn’t on NXT TV until June when she took part in a battle royal.
Fast forward to October, Jordan was named as one of the eight women taking part in the 2023 women’s Breakout Tournament. After wins over Izzi Dame and Arianna Grace to advance to the finals, she got some good crowd reactions and showcased her athletic ability in an eventual defeat to Lola Vice.
Now, she finds herself on the doorstop of a big opportunity.
“It’s so rewarding. It’s amazing because, like you said, about six to seven months ago, I had my first debut match on Level Up. And so now to see how far I’ve come to be on a major PLE, in the Iron Survivor Challenge, the second one ever, it’s so rewarding. I’m just so happy because I never would have thought so. I’m like, ‘Well, if I can do this in six months, imagine the next six months how far I’ll be.'”
Transitioning from gymnastics
Like a lot of the new crop of developmental students at the Performance Center, Jordan excelled at a different sport before pursuing wrestling. Jordan’s athletic background stems from gymnastics.
While she was attending Michigan State in 2022, she was finishing her fifth year in gymnastics when she received a direct message on Instagram from the WWE recruiting account, asking her if she was interested in attending their tryout at SummerSlam.
Jordan says that when she received the message, she was surprised WWE reached out to her. She ended up taking a chance and ended up getting selected by Paul “Triple H” Levesque to further her training at the Performance Center.
“At first, I’m like, ‘Is this real?’ There’s no way that WWE is contacting me and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to go for it.’ So I went down to Nashville, I did the tryout, and thankfully I was blessed with the opportunity for Triple H himself to offer me to come to the Performance Center and start training.
“And that’s how I got into pro wrestling. I never would have thought in a million years that I would be a WWE superstar so being here is so surreal.”
Once she began training, she said that learning how to be safe and rolling in the ring was the easiest part for her to learn, revealing that the most “painful” thing was learning how to hit the ropes.
“So learning how to just control your body with safety, like rolling and stuff, that was the easy part. But hitting the ropes the first time was so painful and just learning how to bump and stuff. That was probably the most painful thing, the most difficult thing ever. Hitting the ropes was the most difficult.”
Given how quickly she has taken to wrestling, Jordan explained to me how her background in gymnastics has attributed to her learning this new sport so quickly.
“I will say it’s very, very different. It’s foreign to me. But then again, the physicality of it helps me a lot because I’m able to catch on to the small details easier, I would say just because in gymnastics, everything is based on perfection. So I have to make sure I know all the details to make sure the margin of error is very small.”
She emphasized that her background in gymnastics has helped her a lot with body control and what she calls “air awareness.”
“I believe that helps me in the ring with like body control and details. Just making sure I’m aware, I have air awareness. So, I believe gymnastics helped me. But then again, it’s so different because I’m not used to having someone hit me or being in the ring with someone else. In gymnastics, it’s just me by myself.”
Key influences
Given that Jordan is so new to the world of professional wrestling, I asked her who are some of the performers she studies. Three very different wrestlers were her answer: Rob Van Dam, Bryan Danielson and Bianca Belair.
“Starting with in-ring wise, I would say RVD is someone whose style I absolutely love. I love also how authentic he is, how unapologetically himself he is. And that’s something that I want to strive to be. I want people to be able to relate to me.
“And then also Bianca Belair: someone because she’s so elegant, but she’s also so powerful and even she has this sass to her where she doesn’t let anyone walk over her.
“And then for promo wise, I love hearing (Bryan Danielson) cut his promos. He’s very energetic and it’s cool to see his evolution of how he started promos to where he was doing promos.”
Matt Riddle vs. Rob Van Dam has been announced for an independent event next year.
Bobby Fulton revealed on social media today that the match will take place on Saturday, March 9, 2024, when Big Time Wrestling presents The Reunion 3 at the OU-Shoemaker Center in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Breaking News! Saturday March 9th Double D’s Auction House & Big Time Wrestling presents The Reunion 3 in Chillicothe OH at the OU-Shoemaker Center! For the FIRST TIME EVER, Matt Riddle vs Rob Van Dam! Tickets will be available Noon Today at https://t.co/l20M4oypW4! pic.twitter.com/Yw6jtXIs8n
Both RVD and Riddle will also take part in a fan fest scheduled for before the event. Others participating include Kurt Angle, The Rock N Roll Express, Tommy Rich, Fred Ottman (Tugboat/Typhoon/Shockmaster), Ernest Miller, Kevin Sullivan, Missy Hyatt, Baby Doll, and Glacier. Riddle vs. RVD is currently the only match announced for the show.
Riddle was released from WWE in September. What comes next for the 37-year-old was addressed recently by our own Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“Regarding Matt Riddle, his people have already been in talks with a number of pro wrestling, MMA and boxing companies regarding working there,” Meltzer wrote. “The only two that have come out are PFL and Bare Knuckle Boxing. Nothing can be announced until December when his non-compete ends, and yes, his non-compete does extend to MMA and boxing.”
During an interview with ITNWWE in 2021, Riddle spoke about him and RVD having mutual respect. He also mentioned wanting to either team with or wrestle RVD in a singles match.
“I don’t know if I want to go one on one with him or I want to form a super tag team with him,” Riddle said about RVD. “We got mutual respect for one another but I think we can also fight one another too. He is the newly inducted Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam. If I can get a singles match or a tag match with Rob Van Dam, I would be pretty juice. I looked up to his career early on and my career and his work rate, the way he talks, the way he does his things. He didn’t care. I don’t care. He is one of a kind.”
It doesn’t look like Rob Van Dam will be stepping away from the ring any time soon.
While appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the 52-year-old RVD was asked if he ever thinks about how much longer he’s going to be able to wrestle. RVD said it’s not something he really thinks about anymore. He might quit taking bookings one day, but he may never officially retire.
RVD said:
Not really. I mean, sometimes the thought goes through my head like if I’m having a bad travel day for instance: ‘I’m done. I hate this. I just want to be home. Traveling sucks.’ I’ll have those moments inside my head, but they usually don’t last that long.
And I used to think I was going to retire, that was like several years ago, and I thought I was probably close to hanging the boots up. And now I just don’t even think I will. I think I’ll be like Dory Funk Jr. I may quit taking bookings, but I don’t think I’m going to make a big deal out of being retired because the credibility of wrestlers retiring is so blown anyway, you know?
Sabu used to say it’d be cool if we did a retirement tour and we went around the world and wrestled for all the companies that we’ve wrestled for. But the timing of that didn’t work out too well because he finished up before me.
RVD said he doesn’t have a goal that he still wants to accomplish in wrestling. He wrestles because he enjoys doing it. It gives him a reason to stay conditioned and he likes connecting with the fans.
RVD noted that, because he doesn’t have the back issues he used to have, he feels better in his 50s than he did in his 40s.
In recent weeks, RVD has wrestled twice for AEW. He made his AEW debut in a loss to Jack Perry on the August 9 episode of Dynamite. RVD then returned to AEW on Collision last Saturday, teaming with Hook in a victory against Matt Menard & Angelo Parker. The Collision episode took place in RVD’s home state of Michigan.
RVD was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. He’s a former WWE, ECW, and TNA World Champion.
