Guevara defeated Darby Allin to advance in the AEW Grand Slam Tournament of Champions on Friday’s Rampage. The finish had Taynara Melo distracting Guevara on the top rope. Guevara used this to his advantage, low blowing Allin then powerbombing him on top of a skateboard. Guevara then pinned Allin after hitting the GTH.
With the win, Guevara will now move on to next week’s Dynamite, where he faces Jon Moxley. The other semifinal that will take place next week will have Chris Jericho facing Bryan Danielson. The winners of these two matches will then move on to AEW Grand Slam on September 21 at Arthur Ashe Stadium where the winner of the tournament will become the new AEW World Champion.
The AEW World Championship was vacated on Wednesday, when Tony Khan announced the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions. Bryan Danielson defeated Hangman Page to advance, while Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho each got byes to the next round.
Eddie Kingston and Sammy Guevara have agreed to “move on” from their recent dispute.
According to a report from PW Insider, Kingston and Guevara sought each other out backstage at AEW Dynamite on Wednesday. They are said to have shaken hands, apologized to each other, and agreed that the issues between them are now in the past.
Kingston is returning to the company after serving a two-week suspension following a backstage incident involving Guevara. Kingston is said to have “pie-faced” Guevara after objecting to comments said about him in a promo segment taped for Rampage.
Kingston would later release a statement regarding his suspension.
“You know the truth. I wouldn’t lie. I was wrong for being unprofessional. That is the blind fact. He did what he did and the public can judge that but I know for a fact I was wrong.”
Guevara also released a statement on the incident.
“So after the promo I get to the back and Eddie is flipping out yelling “YOU CANT CALL ME FAT” over and over as I’m trying to walk down the stairs in gorilla making a big scene. People get in between us, Eddie try’s to pie face me and he more life touches my face it was weird. And everyone backs everyone up,” the statement reads.
“It was unfortunate cause this promo was on a taped show and easily could have been edited (which they ended up doing anyways).”
“[I] know this isn’t Eddie’s first time being aggressive and getting out of control backstage. I know he had to do some kind of anger management after this whole thing.”
Tay Melo, who won Most Improved in the 2021 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, has been with AEW since 2020 after her release from WWE.
In two years, she has become one of the company’s familiar faces as the young brand builds new stars. Melo started her AEW journey by aligning with the Dark Order, teaming with Anna Jay, and eventually joining the Jericho Appreciation Society.
Her biggest break came at last year’s Full Gear when she challenged Britt Baker for the AEW Women’s title. Although she has yet to win gold, her growth as an in-ring competitor has not gone unnoticed.
Ahead of Sunday’s All Out, I talked with Melo on a variety of topics including her time with the company, what she’s working on outside of pro wrestling, and how she handled a lot of the social media rumors she has faced being in the spotlight.
Here are some highlights with the full video available here:
Goals outside of wrestling
If you scroll through Melo’s Instagram, you’ll notice that she loves to travel and shares a lot of fitness photos with her 638,000+ followers. One the things she revealed to me are the plans she has outside of pro wrestling with one of those being becoming a nutrition coach and personal trainer.
“I started studying to be a nutrition coach. It’s kinda good for me because it takes my head away from wrestling a little bit because I have my own life you know. I have to have something outside, too,” she said. “I like to work out and I like to have a good diet, so I am super excited. After that, I want to keep studying and another goal is to be a personal trainer, I wanna combine everything and I want to learn as much as I can and maybe start my own business. For now, it is more for me to learn.”
Prior to wrestling, Melo came from the world of judo in which she holds a black belt. However, prior to coming to the United States, she was pursuing an entirely different career in Brazil. She attended law school for over four years and was going to join the equivalent of the FBI in her home country.
“Not many people know this, but I went to law school in Brazil. I didn’t finish. I did four years and-a-half but then I had to come here and I had to make this decision: finish my school or come to the U.S. And I was like, ‘I am going to take the risk and I am gonna come to the U.S.’ I didn’t finish my school back then and I also wanted to go back and do something. But I got super busy wrestling, I had to learn English, so I never really did.”
Melo did emphasize that while she did study this for a while, it was not what she loved.
“My goal in Brazil was kinda to be like the equivalent of what the FBI is here. So I never wanted to be a lawyer; I wanted to have law school because I needed to have law school to pursue the career that I wanted. I was never really in love with it. It was just something that I had to do.”
A second wedding for she and Sammy
Melo married fellow AEW roster member Sammy Guevara in August with Tony Khan, Cody Rhodes, Ricky Starks, Thunder Rosa, Nikki A.S.H and several others in attendance. However, due to travel and visa issues, Melo’s family was unable to attend.
“I was super sad because my family was not able to make it. We were trying so hard but because of the visas, we were not able to get them here which I was super upset about, of course, but it’s just an excuse to have a second wedding (in Brazil).”
Melo said it will be a smaller wedding that they are hoping to do in December.
“If we’re able to go in December, I want to spend Christmas with my family. It’s been six years that I (haven’t) spent Christmas with them. With wrestling, we cannot plan anything long term like that, but that’s the main plan for now.”
Dealing with social media pushback
Prior to their romantic Paris engagement and the big wedding, Guevara and Melo’s relationship received a lot of online backlash due to rumors birthed on social media.
Guevara had a relationship for eight years with ex-girlfriend Pamella Nizio that got more of a spotlight when he proposed to her in an AEW ring in Houston.
Although Guevara and Nizio had split prior to his relationship with Melo, many on social media accused Guevara of cheating and accused Melo of being a homewrecker. The two moved past that, but Melo talked about the impact the situation had on her mentally.
“I am pretty sure everyone knows the whole drama. I came from judo and my life was always super stressful, cutting weight and then tournaments, so I always took care of my mental health. So, I always thought that I was a strong person mentally until I got into wrestling.
“I love wrestling but man, it’s tough. It is really tough, especially now. At the end of 2021, there was the whole drama that happened with me and Sammy and I was super sad because that was the best year of my career in wrestling. Then at the end of the year, this whole drama happened and then I was really going through a hard time. I didn’t want to defend myself or anything because I was like, ‘Nothing that I say right now, people aren’t gonna listen. They are gonna say whatever they want.’
“But whenever I go to bed and I put my head on a pillow, I know who I am. I know I did nothing wrong and I was calm. I was like, ‘I have nothing to worry about. This is just like people talking sh*t.’ I always say if you don’t know me personally, I am not gonna take it personally because you don’t know me. You know the character that I play on TV. You know a little bit of my life. I don’t put my life out there as everybody thinks I do. They just know whatever I want them to know and they don’t realize it, which is great. I am doing my job well.
“I deactivated my Twitter. I never really talked about that before so it feels really good to put it out there right now. So I was like ‘What am I doing with my life after this?’ I was thinking a lot. I am doing whatever makes me happy and I did nothing wrong. People were making a lot of comments saying that, “Do you think Sammy is not gonna do the same thing to you? He did it to his ex. How do you live with that?’ And I am, like, ‘Well, I live with that because he didn’t do that.’ And I knew it.
“Sammy and Pam were in a relationship for eight years. It’s a life together. Every time that Sammy talks about her, every time we’ve had a conversation about her or whatever, Sammy always talks about her with a lot of respect and love. They had a life together. I had a relationship before too for almost eight years. We both had long relationships, we respect each other. Sammy and Pam always had a good relationship and they still have. It’s like nobody needs to know that. I don’t need to go to social media and put everything out there how people think that I need to do. After the whole drama, she was the one that texted us to check on us: “Hey, I saw everything that is happening, I hope you and Tay are okay, I’m sorry.’
“People just created a whole storyline, a whole drama for something that really never happened. I saw a couple comments that I cheated on my ex, which I was separated from for a long time. It’s just that my relationship wasn’t as public as Sammy’s. So I never felt the need to put it out there and I do whatever I want with my personal life. So I was, like, ‘This is just bulls*t. Nah it’s okay, people are gonna forget about it.’
“But I got really bad in (my head). My mental health was not doing okay. After a couple days, a couple weeks, it was like ‘Well, this is my job, this is the life that I chose to do so I need to deal with the consequences and then try to do my best.’ Everything at home and in our personal life was going great. The relationship with Pam…she was super nice. When we got engaged, she texted us too. So they talk sometimes and it’s okay. It’s an eight-year relationship, same thing with mine. People don’t understand. They like to look for drama and really there was no drama at all which was unfortunate. It is what it is. We are all okay, we are all happy. And that’s what really matters. She’s doing good, we’re happy, it’s okay. We’re human beings, relationships end, and I am pretty sure it was super hard for the four of us.
“We all had relationships before, so it was super hard. It’s already hard to let it go even when you know it doesn’t work anymore. You’re used to this person, you love this person in a different way, it is hard. People were making bad comments: you’re not helping, you’re just poking something that already hurts. But I am glad that everything is okay now, people are still kinda talking but it’s not that much.
“We’re okay, all of us. In our own personal lives, we are happy. So that’s what really matters. Sammy and I were meant to be, it’s crazy. He’s really my best friend like before our relationship, we were really good friends. He helped me so much with stuff that I was going through and he was always there for me. I cried so much with him. I think that’s how we became this force together. When he was going through his personal stuff, I was there for him. We’re just best friends. We really are, it’s crazy. We always say to each other, ‘Nothing that happens outside of our relationship can affect us.’ It doesn’t, because we love each other. We have fun with each other.”
AEW goals
Melo decided to change her performing name to her real last name after getting married because she was using her ex-husband’s last name prior to that. Her short term goal is to rebrand herself with her new last name.
In the long term, she wants to get back into the AEW Women’s title picture.
“I want to go back, of course, for the main title picture. More than that, I want to keep learning and growing. Keep working with people that bring so much to the table. I wanna work with Toni Storm, I wanna work (Hikarua) Shida again, I wanna work Thunder Rosa, I wanna work Britt again, Britt was one of my favorite matches; she brings so much when she’s on the mic. She’s a beast on the mic. I wanna learn. I think that’s my main goal all the time. I want to do my best and keep growing.”
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio talking all the latest news in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter including what’s going on with AEW, AEW Dynamite’s rating, Will Ospreay’s great week, and British wrestling in general.
We discuss ideas for the CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley rematch at All Out, talk about the storyline so far, and what may influence the match.
We also talk about the WWE Draft, the Netflix documentary on Vince McMahon, and the Mike Tyson miniseries on Hulu.
In the wake of Wednesday’s news that Eddie Kingston recently came off a two-week AEW suspension for a backstage altercation with Sammy Guevara, Kingston took to Twitter Friday morning in an attempt to end the conflict.
While Kingston had released brief statements to several media outlets admitting his wrongdoing, including ours, Friday’s comments followed Guevara’s Thursday statement and recounting of the issue, saying Kingston didn’t do “the professional thing” and communicate any issues about off-limit topics to him.
It began around 9 AM Eastern when Kingston referenced an old Chris Jericho-ism about never “burying” your opponent because when you beat them, it’s as if you beat a nobody.
In the most viral of the tweets, Kingston then took aim at former WCW wrestler Disco Inferno who commented that wrestlers that didn’t want people talking about their appearances should get in shape.
At one point, Kingston vs. Guevara was scheduled for next Sunday’s All Out, but it’s unknown whether that match will happen or if either man will be on the show at all.
AEW’s Sammy Guevara has issued a statement detailing his side of the story following a backstage incident with Eddie Kingston that led to a Kingston suspension.
In a statement issued to Fightful, Guevara said that the incident with Kingston stemmed from verbiage that Guevara used in a promo to set up a match with Kingston at All Out.
Guevara says that when involved in storylines, AEW talent communicate certain subjects that they do not want to be used for promo material in building to a match. Guevara says that he communicated things that he did not want Kingston to say about him, but that Kingston did not communicate what should be off-limits.
“As a professional you communicate things that you don’t want to be said (like other people I’ve been in programs with and have worked with Matt Hardy, Jericho and others) and I did communicate of what I didn’t want to be said in this angle and Eddie didn’t. But Eddie did not do the same and Eddie did not mention to me or the coaches or TK or anyone in AEW what he didn’t want said,” Guevara’s statement reads.
“So after Tay’s and my match with Sky Blue and Dante I cut a promo on Eddie insulting Eddie and the fans as a heel. Which I know the thing everyone loves to do is hate Me & Tay so I’m the perfect person to play this ass hole character for Eddie to ultimately beat at All Out. I see what people say online about Eddie and his appearance. (Which anyone who legitimately shames Eddie for how he looks can go to hell, it’s the same people who shame me for being too small) so Sammy Guevara the character I could be the physical person playing that person that Eddie can shut up at All Out.”
“But Eddie did not do the professional thing and communicate to me, which if he did I never would have said it cause the last thing I want to do is hurt someone for real,” Guevara’s statement reads.
Guevara says that Kingston attempted to pie-face him, but the two were “backed up” (kept apart).
“So after the promo I get to the back and Eddie is flipping out yelling “YOU CANT CALL ME FAT” over and over as I’m trying to walk down the stairs in gorilla making a big scene. People get in between us, Eddie try’s to pie face me and he more life touches my face it was weird. And everyone backs everyone up,” the statement reads.
Guevara says that his promo calling Kingston “fat” ended up edited off AEW programming and never aired.
“It was unfortunate cause this promo was on a taped show and easily could have been edited (which they ended up doing anyways).”
Guevara says that Kingston has been “aggressive and getting out of control backstage” in AEW before.
“[I] know this isn’t Eddie’s first time being aggressive and getting out of control backstage. I know he had to do some kind of anger management after this whole thing,” the statement reads.
Guevara says that the situation with Kingston was unnecessary.
“This whole thing was very unnecessary but it Is what it is, Live & learn I guess, onto the next we go,” Guevara’s statement reads.
This story was updated at 7:30 AM Eastern Thursday.
Eddie Kingston has recently completed a suspension from AEW.
Dave Meltzer reported that Kingston was suspended from AEW a few weeks ago after getting into a verbal dispute with Sammy Guevara. The suspension has now ended.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said Kingston told him sometimes he does things that he shouldn’t, he was sorry and he owns up to whatever he did.
Kingston told PWInsider early Thursday morning that “You know the truth. I wouldn’t lie. I was wrong for being unprofessional. That is the blind fact. He did what he did and the public can judge that but I know for a fact I was wrong.”
Meltzer said he is unsure if the Kingston vs. Guevara match for All Out is still happening.
The two have been feuding since Guevara helped Chris Jericho defeat Kingston on the July 20th Rampage. On the August 3rd Dynamite, Kingston interrupted a Guevara/Tay Melo video package to say that he got a contract for a match at All Out between himself and Guevara and told him to sign the contract.
At the August 10th AEW Rampage tapings, Guevara accepted the challenge for All Out. Kingston appeared on the video screen and said he was going to do what Guevara and Melo did — take a vacation.
Ruby Soho and Ortiz then appeared, saying they would get Guevara and Melo. However, Guevara’s acceptance of the match and Kingston’s promo never made television, and no reference to the match has been made since.
May you have 50+ years of health, happiness and love. My beautiful, talented and smart friends Tay and Sammy. ❤️ @TayConti_ @sammyguevarapic.twitter.com/xXpJ890Xsy
Neither Guevara nor Conti were at AEW Dynamite or Rampage last week. With Guevara not present at Dynamite, Eddie Kingston challenged him to a match at All Out.
Guevara last wrestled at AEW Fight for the Fallen on July 27. He defeated Dante Martin in singles action. As for Conti, she hasn’t wrestled for AEW since Double or Nothing back in May. She teamed with Guevara and Frankie Kazarian and lost a trios match to Ethan Page, Scorpio Sky, and Paige VanZant on the show.
Tony Khan went to Tay and Sammy's wedding. Fucking amazing.
Job Listing: Onlamp php/mysql developer. Experience with vbulletin and drupal/WordPress a plus. Email [email protected] with subject PHP DEVELOPER with resume.
Ric Flair’s last match show, the good, the bad, the ugly, and where it stands among the biggest indie shows in history
The life and legacy of Ric Flair
Behind-the-scenes notes on the show
Business coverage of the show
UFC 277 coverage by Ryan Frederick, match-by-match, what happens next for all the key fighters on the show, business notes and more
Full G1 coverage with the standings, key stories, notes on the matches this week and coverage of all the past week shows.
Coverage of Dragon Gate’s two major shows over the weekend including one of the company’s best matches, title changes and future notes
The life and career of Gil Hayes, a Stampede Wrestling Hall of Famer who was one of the key building blocks of WWC in Puerto Rico, a unique life of a headliner who is largely forgotten today
Ratings and trends of all the national shows
CMLL announces the biggest matches for its anniversary show, the biggest event of the year
CMLL announces its annual World Grand Prix
First two nights of the Stardom Five Star Grand prix
More on the new IWGP World Women’s Championship and why it is happening
Karl Fredericks leaves New Japan
New Japan’s U.S. show rundown
XFL news under Dwayne Johnson
Women of Wrestling starting up
New book on ECW
More news on King of Indies
Old promotion in Mexico restarting with a national TV deal
The WBD financials and how it affects AEW, as well as where AEW could be very valuable
Cost of AEW compared to usual Discovery fare, ratings, and compared to WWE programming
New trademark by AEW and what does it mean
More on new AEW promotions
Upcoming WWE & AEW ticket sales
Streaming numbers for WWE & AEW
International TV ratings
Major new UFC fight scheduled
Jake Paul-Rahman fight falling apart notes
Sasha Banks & Naomi
Peacock financials
New PPV location
WrestleMania launch party
How Nick Khan got to WWE and his deal making ability
What was the match that never happened which led to Nick Khan’s first interaction with WWE
Dana White talks his only live WrestleMania
Bryan Danielson talks famous Talking Smack segment with Miz
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Sunday News Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering the latest news including Battle of the Belts, G1, Smackdown, AEW drama and WWE changes.
Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti were scheduled to be married today.
The Saturday G1 show from Osaka was easily the best G1 show so far, to no surprise. Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi was everything it was expected to be and more. But the weekend’s biggest story was Jonah knocking Kazuchika Okada from the ranks of the unbeaten. G-1 continues Tuesday and Wednesday in Hiroshima with Tuesday having Yoshi-Hashi vs Yujiro Takahashi, Sanada vs. Chase Owens (who had a career match with Ishii earlier today), Tama Tonga vs Taichi, Lance Archer vs. Jonah and Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenta. It starts at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday morning.
No updates on the Tatum Paxley and Carmella past the injuries were legit from last night’s shows. Paxley looks to be a jaw injury and Carmella a head injury but nothing is confirmed. (thanks also to help from Matthew Ray and Shaun Burn)
Ric Flair was in action last night at the WWC Aniversario event in Bayamon, PR. Andrade vs. Carlito as the main event. Ric Flair was in Andrade’s corner. This led to Carlos Colon coming out and gave Flair a few punches and a headbutt. Carlito pinned Andrade to win the match.
Jake Paul attempted to put together a fight with KSI on 8/27. KSI beat Logan Paul to start this entire story of web celebrities drawing huge money. Paul’s fight with Hasim Rahman Jr. scheduled for last night fell through due to weight issues as has been talked about. KSI was scheduled to fight on 8/27 but his opponent fell through and said he would get a new opponent. Jake Paul said he’d cut to 180 to make the fight. He claimed KSI’s people said they would agree to the fight only if Paul did the fight without getting paid and his side took 100 percent. Paul agreed to those terms and KSI said he would do the fight, but not on 8/27, because a fight that big should be a Wembley Stadium. Paul called him all kinds of names.
A&E tonight has the Lex Luger biography at 8 p.m., Rivals is on the WWE vs WCW war (I’m sure this will be a fair portrayal of that) at 9 p.m. and Smack Talk at 10 p.m. will also feature Lex Luger.
Jerry McDevitt stated to us that he has never spoken or dealt with the woman in question in the first Wall Street Journal article in any way. The WWE investigation of Vince McMahon started in March when a friend of the woman sent an email to the Board of Directors. The Wall Street Journal reported that the letter sent referred to McDevitt, but McDevitt said that was categorically false. We had mentioned that story on the recent Talk is Jericho show.
We’re looking for reports from the WWC Anniversary show in Bayamon, PR lat night, Friday and Saturday NXT shows in Largo, FL and Gainesville, FL, as well as tonight’s WWE show in Fayetteville, NC to [email protected]
Thanks to Thomas Simpson and Alan Thomas for the report from Greenville.
The Canadian National Post actually picked up the Ronda Rousey suspension and reported it as real news.
MMA Fighting reported that Leandro Lo, a BJJ legend, was shot in the head and passed away while attending a concert earlier today in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was 33. Police officer Otavio Oliveira Velozo is a suspect as witnesses said that Velozo grabbed a bottle from Lo’s table, which led to Lo taking him down and holding him on the ground. They were pulled apart and then Velozo allegedly pulled a gun and shot him in the head. Lo had won eight IBJJF world championships in the black belt division since 2012.
Sam Alvey reported suffering a broken jaw in his fight last night against Michael Oleksiejczuk at the UFC event in Las Vegas last night.
We’re looking for your thoughts on both G-1 show in Osaka, thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
There was nothing this week from pro wrestling, boxing or MMA that cracked the Google search listings except Conor McGregor on Friday finishing No. 8 with 100,000 searches because his fiance, Dee Devlin, got a tattoo of McGregor’s name as she celebrates her 35h birthday. That means Saturday’s UFC show on ESPN didn’t even chart, which is unusual. Nothing from WWE charted.
Rob Van Dam will be inducted into the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia’s Hardcore Hall of Fame on 12/17. If ever there was a no-brainer pick for what that Hall of Fame is, RVD would be right there with the likes of Sabu, Taz and Terry Funk.
Bully Ray said that he tore his hamstring in a match last night at the 2300 Arena. He said it after the main event where he and PCO wrestled Atsushi Onita & FMW Leather. Results: Brian Kendrick b VSK, Ray Jaz b Facade, Dark STG & Beastman b Afa Jr. & Charlie Haas, Rich Swann b Willie Mack, Jasmine Allure b Myka, Buddy Matthews & Tony Nese b Brian Cage & KC Navarro, Ken Shamrock b Davey Boy Smith Jr., Atsushi Onita & Super Leather b PCO & Bully Ray. Next show is 12/17 wit RVD vs. Rhino, Bubba & Devon team up plus Shane Douglas, Tod Gordon, Bill Alfonso, Sabu and Sandman.
WWE
WWE Performance Center strength and conditioning coach Sean Hayes finished up. He will be taking a new job as a strength and conditioning coach for the XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia.
Canadian Elite Wrestling on 8/12 to 8/14 in Dauphin, Oak Lake and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Sanctuary Fight Club form last night in Hamtramck, MI: Ren Jones won over Shane Sabre and Joe Demaro, N8 Mattson b Kyler Coleman, Gavin Quinn & Juntai b Solo & Jody Threat, Alex Shelley b James Alexander, Karam b Dickie Bronson (thanks to Leonard Brand)
The annual AIW JT Lighting Invitational tournament takes place 8/19 and 8/29 in Cleveland, OH at the Odeon. The biggest names in the 24-man field are Drago, Colin Delaney, Jack Evans, Dom Garrini, Eric Young, Adam Priest, Dalton Castle and Ernest the Cat Miller.
The King Jerry Lawler Memphis BBQ Company has opened a restaurant in Houston on the East Side and the Houston Chronicle has a story about it (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
On Friday’s PFL show at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden, they had the semifinals of the lightweight and light heavyweight tournament on ESPN. Stevie Ray beat Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision and Olivier Aubin-Mercier to Alexander Martinez in the lightweight semifinals. For light heavyweights, Omari Akhemdov beat Josh Silveira and Robert Wilkinson beat Delan Monte. The finals will be in December.
Eugene Palermo, the son of longtime WWF ref Bucky Palermo passed away this morning (thanks to Norm Connors)
Eddie Kingston has issued a challenge to Sammy Guevara for AEW All Out.
Speaking in a backstage segment on this week’s Dynamite, Kingston interrupted a video package celebrating the impending wedding of Guevara and Tay Conti.
Kingston made fun of the WWE trope of standing at an awkward angle to watch TV screens backstage, then mocked the Guevara-Conti video. Kingston said that Guevara “has a receipt coming” and issued the challenge for All Out.
All Out is set for Sunday, September 4 at the NOW Arena in Chicago. The finals of a tournament to crown the first AEW World Trios Champions is the only match official for All Out.
Guevara and Kingston were on opposite sides in the Blood & Guts match on the June 29 Dynamite, with Kingston, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Santana, and Ortiz defeating Jericho Appreciation Society’s Guevara, Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Daniel Garcia.
A new match has been announced for this week’s AEW Dynamite Fight for the Fallen.
Returning to AEW action for the first time since last month’s Blood & Guts match, Sammy Guevara of the Jericho Appreciation Society will face Dante Martin on Wednesday’s show. AEW president Tony Khan announced the match on Twitter on Tuesday.
Guevara vs. Martin joins three title matches, plus the return of Bryan Danielson for the first time since Double or Nothing in Wednesday’s Fight for the Fallen lineup. A two-on-one match, and a Jungle Boy promo have also been advertised.
Here is what has been announced for this week’s Dynamite:
Interim AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Rush
AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Miyu Yamashita
FTW Championship: Ricky Starks (c) vs. Danhausen
Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia
Sammy Guevara (w/Tay Conti) vs. Dante Martin
Swerve Strickland vs. Tony Nese & “Smart” Mark Sterling – Keith Lee banned from ringside
The following are spoilers from Wednesday’s pre-Dynamite Dark: Elevation taping and post-Dynamite Rampage taping in Duluth, Georgia.
AEW Rampage for July 22:
Hangman Adam Page & John Silver def. The Butcher & The Blade. Page pinned the Butcher with a buckshot lariat for the win.
Claudio Castagnoli cut a promo and thanked AEW fans for making him feel welcome. Castagnoli went on to promote his upcoming ROH World Title Match against Jonathan Gresham. Castagnoli said that Gresham’s foundation is about to crack because he tugged on Superman’s cape.
Lee Moriarty def. Dante Martin after pinning him with a handful of tights.
Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter def. Skye Blue & Ashley D’Amboise. This was a pretty short match where nothing of substance really happened. Baker submitted D’Amboise to score the victory.
Max Caster and Austin Gunn’s rap battle. Gunn touched on Caster being one of Bobby Lashley’s sisters, stealing John Cena’s gimmick, and more. Meanwhile, Caster had lines about Zach Wilson, Pokémon, and more. The guest DJ awarded Caster with the win, which prompted a brawl between The Acclaimed and The Gunn Club. The segment ended with Austin Gunn hitting Caster with a trash can.
Jay Lethal def. Christopher Daniels via Lethal Injection. This featured some interference from Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh. After the bout, the trio beat up Daniels at ringside to end the show.
AEW Dark: Elevation for July 25:
AFO’s Angelico & Private Party defeated AR Fox*, Adrian Alanis & Liam Grey. This marked Fox’s debut in the promotion. He is a longtime indie veteran having worked for GCW, CZW, EVOLVE, and others.
Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir defeated Angelica Risk & Shalonce Royal
Toni Storm defeated Emi Sakura
Kris Statlander defeated Brittany
Hikaru Shida defeated Robyn Renegade
Dark Order’s Evil Uno & 10 defeated The Factory’s Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto
Ortiz lost his hair on tonight’s episode of Dynamite after interference from Sammy Guevara.
Chris Jericho defeated Ortiz after Guevara, who was dressed as Fuego del Sol, used Jericho’s bat to attack Ortiz. After the match, Jericho took off Fugeo’s mask, revealing it to be Guevara. Ortiz then took the shaver and shaved off his own hair, with Eddie Kingston, who was at ringside, saying Ortiz was a man of his word. Ortiz repeatedly said Blood and Guts as the segment ended.
The hair match was set up on Dynamite two weeks ago after Eddie Kingston and William Regal issued the challenge to the Jericho Appreciation Society for a Blood and Guts match. Jericho at first didn’t agree to the stipulation. But after Ortiz came out and managed to snip a piece of Jericho’s hair, Jericho agreed to the match as long as he was able to get a hair match against Ortiz on this week’s Dynamite.
The Blood and Guts match will take place on the June 29 episode of AEW Dynamite, which will take place in Detroit, Michigan.
AEW couple Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti are now engaged to be married.
In an announcement that was made via TMZ on Friday, it was revealed that Guevara and Conti have gotten engaged. Guevara proposed to Conti at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
“Guevara, 28, asked Tay, real name Taynara Melo de Carvalho, to be his wife with one of the world’s most iconic (and romantic) structures as a backdrop,” TMZ wrote. “In classic, old-school fashion, Sammy got down on one knee before asking Conti — who he’s been dating since December — to marry him.”
Guevara and Conti’s relationship has been incorporated into their on-screen characters in AEW, with the couple recently turning heel after crowds reacted negatively to their pairing.
Guevara, Frankie Kazarian & Conti lost to Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page & the debuting Paige VanZant at Double or Nothing this past Sunday. As a stipulation of the match, Guevara and Kazarian can’t challenge for the TNT Championship again while Sky is still champion.
Last December, Guevara and his former fiancee Pam Nizio issued a statement announcing that their relationship had come to an end. Guevara had proposed to Nizio at an episode of Dynamite last August.
After there was backlash on social media to the announcement of their breakup, Guevara clarified that he and Nizio broke up in October of last year and said their relationship ending had nothing to do with anyone else.
A mixed gender tag team match involving Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti against Paige VanZant and either Ethan Page or Scorpio Sky is “internally listed” for AEW Double or Nothing.
While the match has not been officially confirmed, our own Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that he’s been told it is “tentatively scheduled” for the show.
“The plan for sure was a mixed tag. I know people who presume that still is the idea,” Meltzer said.
On AEW Rampage this week, Guevara, Conti, and Frankie Kazarian took a sledgehammer to the TNT title and said they would continue to do so until they got the match they wanted.
“I was outright told over the weekend that it was ‘listed’. Until it’s announced it’s not announced, they could do it a different way,” Meltzer continued. “But, I was actually outright told that that match is tentatively scheduled for the pay-per-view and that is probably where they would do it.”
