TNA World Champion Mike Santana reached a big milestone in his sobriety journey this week.
February 16 marked three years since Santana made the decision to check himself into rehab and get sober from drugs and alcohol. Santana was at “rock bottom” at this point in 2023 but has worked to turn his life around, bettering himself for his daughter along with becoming one of the faces of TNA in his wrestling career.
“3 YEARS SOBER. 2/16/23 I took the first step to change my life and everyday since, I’ve been grateful for what this life has given me,” Santana wrote. “Crazy to think that at one point, I thought I’d never be able to maneuver through life without drugs and alcohol. And I’d be lying if I said it was easy but nothing worth it in life is. It’s truly a day at a time and today, the challenges of life motivate me because it’s where strength, knowledge, and character is built.
“LOVE AND RESPECT YOURSELF. ITS THE ONLY WAY. THANK YOU to everyone who’s taken this ride with me the last couple years.”
Santana, once a tag team specialist with his former partner Ortiz, is now a singles star and two-time TNA World Champion. He regained the title from Frankie Kazarian last month on TNA Impact’s AMC premiere.
TNA star Mike Santana will be making his WWE in-ring debut on NXT this Tuesday night.
Santana was interviewed backstage during the NXT Battleground broadcast, saying he’s coming after the TNA World Championship and is at tonight’s show to watch the Joe Hendry vs. Trick Williams title match. He was interrupted by No Quarter Catch Crew, with Charlie Dempsey saying he’s sick and tired of there being too many outsiders in NXT. Things were getting tense between Santana and Dempsey, but Tavion Heights took a more respectful approach in saying he wants an opportunity to face Santana on NXT this Tuesday night. Santana shook hands with Heights and accepted the challenge.
This will be Santana’s first time ever competing in a WWE ring. He joined TNA in 2024 after departing AEW.
“It’s taken me 16 years to finally walk through the doors here at the WWE, so to say I’m having a hell of a time is a definite understatement. But listen, I’ve made it very clear that I’m coming after the TNA World title. So I’m here to watch Joe and Trick throw hands against each other,” Santana said.
“And to the WWE Universe that don’t know who I am, I’m a loud and proud Boricua from the Bronx, New York, baby. I don’t mix words and keeping it [100] has been engrained in me since day one. So I’m going to keep it plain and simple for you. I’m here because I want the winner of tonight’s match. I want who’s walking out TNA World Champion.”
Lucha Libre AAA was also represented at Battleground with Dalys and Chik Tormenta, two members of the AAA women’s division, briefly meeting with NXT general manager Ava. We’re now less than two weeks away from Worlds Collide, which is the biggest AAA event since it was announced that the promotion is being acquired by WWE. Worlds Collide is taking place in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 7 and will feature wrestlers from WWE, NXT, and AAA.
After departing AEW, Mike Santana is excited to see what the future holds.
It was confirmed earlier this week that Santana is no longer with AEW. He had been part of the company’s roster since 2019 but hadn’t wrestled for AEW in nearly five months.
Santana posted a statement to social media on Friday addressing his AEW departure. Writing that he feels “truly blessed and grateful,” Santana said he’s thankful to have been given the opportunity to be part of AEW’s history at the ground level.
“But as you know, there comes a time in life where you have to make decisions and take a bet on yourself,” Santana wrote. “We only get one chance at this life thing and life is about taking risks.”
Santana noted that he’s excited for the future and believes the best is yet to come. His full statement can be read below:
Took a few days to reflect and I can’t tell you how truly blessed and grateful I feel.
It’s been 5 years full of ups and downs, but above all it taught me so much about myself and this business. I’m thankful for the opportunity I was given to be a part of history at the ground level. I can say that I’ll forever be a part of that legacy right at day one.
But as you know, there comes a time in life where you have to make decisions and take a bet on yourself. We only get one chance at this life thing and life is about taking risks. You’ll never know your true potential unless you really put it to work. I’m a big believer in ‘When one door closes, a bigger door opens’, and im so excited for what the future holds for me.
With that being said, I want to thank God and my father for continuing to guide me. My family for their endless support. All the fans who have backed me endlessly no matter what. To Ortiz, for the years. And AEW for the knowledge and opportunity.
I TOLD YOU THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Santana arrived in AEW with his tag team partner Ortiz at All Out 2019. Before signing with AEW, they were tag team champions for Impact Wrestling.
Santana and Ortiz’s tag team in AEW disbanded after a real-life falling out between the two. They later worked together in AEW as in-ring rivals. Santana’s last match in AEW was a victory against Ortiz on Rampage last October.
Mike Santana, 33, has left the company. This isn’t a surprise as he hasn’t been happy there in a long time. He was wanting a singles push and it wasn’t materializing, so he just wanted out. He beat Ortiz on 10/25 in a great grudge match on television, and then was never used again.
Santana currently holds the Heavyweight Championship for indie promotion House of Glory Wrestling.
AEW wrestler Mike Santana has reached a huge personal milestone.
On Friday, Santana revealed that he’s reached one year of sobriety. Santana wrote that one year ago today was when he hit rock bottom and realized that he needed to take care of himself. Santana said that, if he didn’t, he would have lost his life, his family, his career, and everything that he worked to build.
Santana made the “greatest/hardest decision” he’s ever made by checking himself into rehab. Over those 30 days, Santana learned to “finally let go of the pain and trauma” that he carried for so long.
Santana noted that he struggled to share this publicly, but he hopes that doing so will help others in his situation. His full social media post can be read below:
A year ago today, was the day I hit my rock bottom. The day that I realized it was time to turn around and face those demons that I’ve ran from for years. The day that I made the decision to change or I was going to lose my life, my family, my career and everything I worked so hard to build. It was the day that I decided to finally take care of myself after years of just taking care of others.
I checked myself into rehab.
And I can tell you here and now, that it was truly the greatest/hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life. I learned more about myself in those 30 days than in my lifetime. I learned to finally let go of the pain and trauma I carried around for so long. It taught me to genuinely love myself. To live and not just exist. Along with so many other great things. I also say that my injury was God’s greatest gift to me. Because that time is what gave me and made me who I am today. I can go on and on about my sobriety journey because it’s been exactly that. And maybe one day I’ll open up more about it. But I just want to take the time to appreciate this accomplishment. I actually struggled a bit with sharing this with the world, as it was something I dealt with in private and away from everyone. But if I can help give strength and hope to someone else with my story and journey, then so be it. We’re taught that what helps us is giving away the gift that was so freely given to us. So that’s what I’ll do whenever I can.
I want to say thank you to God and my father for continuing to guide me. My amazing family for sticking by me and always seeing the light that I carried inside, even thru all the darkness. And all those who offered their support during those dark times. Much love to you all.
#ADayAtATime #Recovery #Thankful
Santana suffered a torn ACL in June 2022 and didn’t compete agin until August 2023. Upon his return, Santana became a singles wrestler in AEW and feuded with his former tag team partner Ortiz. Santana defeated Ortiz in a no DQ match on Rampage last October.
Since that Rampage episode, Santana hasn’t had any other AEW matches. He’s competed on the indies, including winning the House of Glory World Championship.
Ortiz says his tag team with Mike Santana split up because his partner was “very adamant” about not working with him anymore.
Ortiz appeared on today’s episode of The Shining Wizards podcast and spoke about what led to the team’s break up and the program they worked together on Rampage feeling “kind of rushed.”
He said:
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the company’s call to split us. Me and Santana just couldn’t get it together personally and he just was very adamant about not working with me anymore, for whatever reason. So, the company kind of had no choice but to split us up.
So they’re like, ‘Okay, you’re not going to just not tag, it doesn’t make any sense. Let’s at least make this make sense why you split.’ But even when we did it on TV, it just ended up, I feel like, being kind of rushed and you know what I mean? Due to stuff that was going on backstage and it was making it hard to really put forward a program.
Earlier in the conversation, Ortiz mentioned that there had been plans on more than one occasion for Proud N Powerful to win the AEW Tag Team Championships but it never panned out.
Ortiz said:
We could have forced a hand a little bit more where we did have the opportunities that we had. I can’t completely blame the company because there was talks about (us winning the tag titles) but it was almost like it was never the right time. It just wasn’t our time and it was just because we were always intertwined with a huge storyline with the Inner Circle and it would have been hard to like sway off and do our own tag thing and go after the tag titles.
It was actually supposed to happen more than once but just due to stuff out of our control, or out of my control, it just never seemed to pan out.
It’s not like those people on the internet that were clamoring for us to be tag team champions, it was noticed by the people in AEW and above. It almost happened two times, it just never panned out. I won’t get into the weeds of things only because I think I’ll get in trouble if I do.
Neither Santana nor Ortiz has wrestled in AEW since they faced each other at the October 25 Rampage taping. Santana won the no-disqualification match in just over 10 minutes. Our own Dave Meltzer gave the match a four-star rating.
Former tag team partners Mike Santana & Ortiz will square off in a singles match on next week’s AEW Rampage.
The bout was announced during this week’s episode after weeks of vignettes explaining the dissolution of the Santana & Ortiz tag team and Santana’s decision to strike out on his own as a singles competitor.
Santana was on the shelf with a torn ACL from June 2022 until his return to AEW in August of this year. Santana & Ortiz briefly reunited and teamed as part of the Stadium Stampede match at All Out on August 27, but Santana declared his intentions to become a singles star in a video promo on the September 8 Rampage show.
In the weeks that followed, video promos with Santana & Ortiz aired, playing off a real-life falling out that the two had.
As a duo, Santana & Ortiz held Tag Team titles in 10 different promotions from 2015 to 2019, most notably holding the Impact World Tag Team Championship on four occasions. They joined AEW in 2019.
Santana vs. Ortiz is the only bout announced for next week’s Rampage to this point.
Mike Santana is ready to chart his own path as a singles wrestler.
A video aired during AEW Rampage on Friday night with Santana announcing that he’s going to be a singles wrestler in AEW going forward. Santana was previously part of a tag team with Ortiz as Proud-N-Powerful.
“The road I’ve chosen to take is one that must be taken on my own,” Santana said. “No crutch, no crew, straight dolo — exactly how I like it. All I’ve done my entire life is bet on myself. But I’ll tell you this: I’m not here to be another guy in the game. I’m here to be The Guy. And I know I’m gonna piss a lot of people off, but you could ask me if I give a damn. I ain’t here to make friends, I’m here to make money. And if you ain’t down, you’re gonna get run down. The nastiest is yet to come.”
On social media, Ortiz posted a message responding to Santana’s promo:
What a way to find out years of having your back meant nothing.Good luck without your "crutch" Just remember it helped you walk for the last 14+ years. Hope your legs are good. Thank you for being honest for once. But you couldn't say it to my face?You know you still can, right? https://t.co/KWrXLiCDe1pic.twitter.com/qKBWlqQJvq
Santana was out of action with a torn ACL from June 2022 to August 2023. He made his return last month, reuniting with Ortiz ahead of All In. They were part of Stadium Stampede at the pay-per-view, teaming with Blackpool Combat Club in a loss to Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, Eddie Kingston & Penta El Zero Miedo.
Santana & Ortiz were a top tag team for Impact Wrestling and on the indies before signing with AEW in 2019.
While in AEW, Santana and Ortiz had a falling out in their real-life friendship.
Santana & Ortiz returned to AEW, reuniting as a duo and aligning with the Blackpool Combat Club ahead of Sunday’s All In Stadium Stampede match.
Santana made his return for the first time since suffering a devastating knee injury in last year’s Blood & Guts match on the June 29, 2022 Dynamite. Ortiz has intermittently appeared for AEW since last year’s Blood & Guts, occasionally working as a single or in mixed tags, but Dynamite marked his first appearance for company since an ROH match taped on April 5.
In their return, Santana & Ortiz aligned with Blackpool Combat Club, turning on Eddie Kingston in the process in an angle that involved Jon Moxley & the BCC attacking Rey Fenix as Kingston & Penta El Zero Miedo ran in for the save. Santana, Ortiz, Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli took out Kingston & Penta, then Orange Cassidy & Best Friends entered to even the odds.
Fenix was taken out of the arena on a stretcher after the angle, creating a scenario where the originally announced six-on-six Stadium Stampede match for All In was changed to a five-on-five, with Moxley, Castagnoli, Yuta, Santana & Ortiz facing Kingston, Penta, Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor & Cassidy.
The updated All In lineup:
AEW All In, Sunday, August 27, 1 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
AEW World Championship: MJF defends against Adam Cole
AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida defends against Toni Storm, Britt Baker & Saraya
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defend against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
Real World Championship: CM Punk defends against Samoa Joe
AEW World Trios Championship: The House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews & Brody King) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & Billy Gunn
Stadium Stampede match: Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo, Orange Cassidy & Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta), Santana & Ortiz
Coffin match: Sting & Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland & Christian Cage
Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay
The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Hangman Page) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White & Juice Robinson) & Konosuke Takeshita
Zero Hour pre-show, 12 p.m. Eastern time on AEW’s YouTube & social media channels —
ROH World Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defend against Better Than You Bay Bay (MJF & Adam Cole)
Santana posted a new video on Friday amidst reports he is nearing a return from injury.
The 32-year-old has been out of action since suffering a knee injury during the Blood & Guts match on June 29, 2022. Moments after entering the cage, Santana attempted a uranage on Daniel Garcia but landed awkwardly on his leg. He would eventually be helped to the back. Tony Khan revealed the following week that Santana was looking at a long recovery time.
Last week, Santana posted the following to Twitter:
Last week, our own Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Santana is nearing a return. He also mentioned the rumored falling out with Santana’s LAX teammate, Ortiz, who is not featured in any of the above videos.
Meltzer wrote:
Santana is going to be ready to return soon. Not sure where he’ll fit in since he and Ortiz had a falling out. They are better off as a team than singles and Ortiz hasn’t done much since Santana was gone. They were one of the better teams in the company.
Ortiz had been teaming with Eddie Kingston early in 2023 but has been used sparingly since Kingston was moved to the ROH roster. He hasn’t wrestled since dropping a match to Brian Cage on the ROH TV tapings held on April 5. Prior to that, he hadn’t wrestled since the Face of the Revolution Ladder match on March 1.
Santana and Ortiz began teaming with each other in 2012. They would eventually join Impact Wrestling and become members of the new LAX in 2017. They signed with AEW in 2019 and quickly joined Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle faction. Together they are four-time Impact tag champions, three-time HOG tag champions, and one-time CZW champions.
For the first time since last Wednesday’s Blood & Guts, AEW head Tony Khan acknowledged the injury Santana suffered in that match, confirming that it was a knee injury.
One half of the Santana & Ortiz tag team injured his left knee during a uranage spot with Daniel Garcia mere minutes after he entered the double cage. It was a non-contact injury.
While speaking on Busted Open Radio Wednesday, Khan didn’t give any details as to the severity or his timetable for return other than saying “it could be a relatively long injury.”
Khan said he talked to Santana after the match and that the company will stand by him and support him through his recovery which “is the right thing to do.”
On Monday, Santana commented publicly for the first time since sustaining the injury — a thank you with nothing further added.
The 31-year-old made his AEW in-ring debut along with Ortiz on the first Dynamite, teaming with Chris Jericho against Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks. While primarily a tag team wrestler, but has also ventured into singles action on the indies with high profile matches on Terminus and Warrior Wrestling this year.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including an update on Santana, the situation with Kenny Omega and his rehab, Double or Nothing vs. Forbidden Door PPV buys, ratings, Mistico, UFC this coming weekend, full reviews of Dynamite and NXT 2.0, Rampage spoilers and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: Santana injury update
1:23: Kenny Omega, social media, and pro wrestling
17:19: Dave’s poll on Double or Nothing & Forbidden Door
24:31: Ratings
31:36: Notes on Natsupoi vs. Tam Nakano, Mistico, UFC 276
Santana was injured during tonight’s Blood and Guts main event on Dynamite.
When it was Santana’s turn to enter the match, he quickly went after Daniel Garcia. Santana went for a uranage, but his leg positioned awkwardly upon landing and fell to the floor. He spent the rest of his time in the match near the cage, talking to referees. Towards the end of the match, he was taken out of the cage and helped to the back.
Santana’s team, which included Eddie Kingston, Claudio Castagnoli, Ortiz, and Wheeler Yuta, defeated the Jericho Appreciation Society after Castagnoli was given the win after submitting Matt Menard with the sharpshooter while Kingston had Jericho tapping out with the stretch plum. The two showed dissension after the match, but the show ended with everyone on the team minus Santana posing on top of the cage.
Prior to tonight’s Blood & Guts match, Santana’s last match was at Double or Nothing, where he, Kingston, Ortiz, and the Blackpool Combat Club lost to the Jericho Appreciation Society in an Anarchy in the Arena match.
A member of the AEW roster is set to challenge for Jonathan Gresham’s ROH World Championship at Terminus.
Gresham and Baron Black’s new Terminus promotion has announced that its second event will be held in Atlanta on Thursday, February 24. AEW’s Santana will challenge for Gresham’s version of the ROH World title at the show.
The match was set up by a challenge that Santana issued to Gresham at Terminus’ debut event on Sunday.
Gresham and Bandido are each staking a claim to being the true ROH World Champion. Bandido was supposed to defend the title against Gresham at Final Battle last month, but the match didn’t happen due to Bandido testing positive for COVID-19. Gresham instead defeated Jay Lethal to win the original ROH World Championship belt.
In the main event of Terminus’ first show, Gresham put his title on the line against Josh Alexander. The match ended in a draw when there was a double pin.
Bandido, who retained his version of the ROH World title against Black earlier in the night, then made his way out to confront Gresham. The two were about to shake hands, but Santana’s music hit and he made his way down to the ring.
Santana spoke about challenging himself this year and proposed an ROH World title match against Gresham for February 24. Gresham accepted Santana’s challenge and also told Bandido that the time for them to face off will come.
Before the next Terminus show, Gresham will defend his ROH World title against Blake Christian at Game Changer Wrestling’s The Wrld on GCW. That show is taking place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City this Sunday (January 23).
Terminus’ first show aired live on Fite TV. Lenny Leonard and Dave Prazak were the commentary team.
AEW has announced the first match for the Friday, January 7 edition of Rampage.
In a rematch from this past week’s Dynamite, Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz will face Daniel Garcia and 2point0’s Matt Lee and Jeff Parker. This time, the bout will have a no DQ, no holds barred stipulation.
Garcia and 2point0 defeated Kingston, Santana and Ortiz on the Dynamite New Year’s Smash episode after Lee pinned Santana with a roll-up. The match further served as a backdrop to the beginnings of a Kingston-Chris Jericho feud, as Jericho made the save for Kingston, Santana and Ortiz after the match, clearing the ring with a baseball bat.
The January 7 Rampage will be preceded by Dynamite’s TBS debut on Wednesday, January 5, and followed by a Battle of the Belts special on TNT on Saturday, January 8. The AEW World title will be on the line on Dynamite, as Hangman Page defends against Bryan Danielson. Dr. Britt Baker will defend the AEW Women’s World title against Riho at Battle of the Belts.
The Young Bucks will put their AEW World Tag Team Championships on the line tonight, taking on Santana and Ortiz.
The Bucks had been set to defend the titles against Chris Jericho and MJF at Revolution on March 7, but The Good Brothers pointed out in a backstage segment last week that Santana and Ortiz had eliminated them from the tag team battle royale the week prior. Matt Jackson then said that they would put the titles up this week.
Jon Moxley will team with Lance Archer and Rey Fenix against Eddie Kingston, The Butcher and The Blade. Moxley and Archer also teamed on last week’s Dynamite in a losing effort against KENTA and Kenny Omega.
The AEW Women’s World title eliminator tournament will continue as Riho makes her AEW return after 11 months away due to travel restrictions. She will take on Serena Deeb in a first round match.
Hangman Page and Matt Hardy will team up again, this time against The Hybrid 2. This was originally announced as an eight-man with Hangman, Hardy and Private Party vs. TH2 and Chaos Project. Hardy managed Private Party in a losing effort at Saturday’s Impact Wrestling No Surrender event. Hardy berated Private Party after their loss and the story continued on this week’s Being The Elite, where Hardy refused to answer Private Party’s phone calls.
A segment with Sting calling out Team Taz, plus FTR vs. Matt Sydal and Mike Sydal and Orange Cassidy vs. Luther have also been announced for tonight.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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“Hangman” Adam Page & Matt Hardy defeated TH2 (Angélico & Jack Evans)
TH2 immediately took the fight to Page, but the Hangman fought them off and tagged in Hardy, who hit a neckbreaker for two. Page re-entered with a running Shooting Star Press for another two. Page and Hardy continued to dominate until Angélico made a blind tag and kicked Hardy after a BT bomb.
Evans stomped Hardy into a sidewalk slam for two. Hardy tried to make his comeback but Evans, the illegal competitor, continued to attack him.
Hardy avoided a clothesline and hit a Side Effect, buying him enough time to reach Page for the hot tag. Page flattened Angélico with a spinebuster and sent Evans to the floor with a springboard clothesline. He concluded the flurry of offense with a fallaway slam and a plancha.
Angélico blocked a clothesline, but Page was able to hit a brainbuster for two. Page hit a pop up powerbomb on Angélico, then countered an Evans dive into another powerbomb.
Page went for the Buckshot Lariat, but Hardy tagged himself in and fell victim to a TH2 double team. Evans mostly landed a Phoenix Splash for a near fall. Hardy avoided a standing 450 and both of TH2 ran into the Buckshot, allowing Hardy to hit Twist of Fate for the win.
– After the match, Hardy grabbed a mic and asked the fans to cheer Page. He said Page looked like a billion bucks, and he’s excited for Page to make a lot of money, because he will get 30% of it.
Page brought out the Jaguars’ mascot to look over the contract, hinting that he switched it out last week. The contract isn’t for talent representation, it’s for a match: Page vs. Hardy at Revolution. If Page wins, he gets all of Hardy’s earnings for Q1 2021.
Hardy proposed that if he beats Page, he gets all of Page’s earnings for the same time period. Page accepted, and they shook hands, but the mascot attacked Page and unmasked as Isiah Kassidy.
TH2 joined the beatdown of Page, but the entire Dark Order, including -1, ran out to make the save. Alan “5” Angels was left in the ring with Hardy, but Hardy dispatched him and just barely avoided a Buckshot Lariat from Page. Hardy and Kassidy retreated as Page celebrated with the Dark Order.
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Alex Marvez interviewed Santana and Ortiz, flanked by the entire Inner Circle, about getting their first tag title shot. They said that it took this long because the tag division was scared.
MJF said that Sammy Guevara crossed the line last week, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Jericho asked MJF to shut up, because everyone saw him goading Guevara into quitting the Inner Circle.
Jericho said this was all MJF’s fault, but it’s also Guevara’s fault. When you walk out on the Inner Circle, you walk out on Chris Jericho, and now Guevara is dead to him. He said that Santana and Ortiz would win the tag titles later tonight.
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It was announced that the next round of the American side of the Women’s Eliminator Tournament would be broadcast on YouTube.
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AEW Women’s Eliminator Tournament Round 1: Riho defeated Serena Deeb
This was Riho’s first AEW match since March of last year, and it was fantastic, maybe Riho’s best match as part of AEW.
They grappled at the start, with neither competitor gaining an advantage. Deeb won a test of strength, but Riho maintained a perfect bridge throughout. Deeb downed Riho with a shoulder block, but Riho bridged out of the pinfall and landed a dropkick.
Riho landed a jumping body press for two before dropping Deeb into the ropes. Deeb caught the tiger feint kick and catapulted Riho neck-first into the ropes. She maintained control throughout a commercial break.
Deeb locked on a straitjacket, but Riho broke free and hit a dragon suplex. Riho laid in corner forearms, but Deeb turned it around and hit a series of uppercuts. Riho kicked out of the corner and landed a running hurricanrana.
Riho escaped a brainbuster and downed her opponent with a dropkick before landing a diving crossbody. Deeb rolled through and targeted Riho’s left leg. Riho tried to evade the attack, but Deeb cornered her and hit a dragon screw.
Deeb hit a big swinging neckbreaker for a close near fall. Riho held onto Deeb’s leg, but dropped it and instead opted for more forearms. She sent Deeb into the ropes and hit the tiger feint kick before landing a diving foot stomp.
Riho hit a diving crossbody for two, and Deeb rolled out of the ring. Riho brought Deeb back into the ring, but Deeb caught her upon re-entry with a dragon screw. Deeb then hit a powerbomb and locked on a stretch muffler, but Riho turned it into an inside cradle for two.
A Northern Lights suplex from Riho got two, and then Riho stuffed Deeb with a diving foot stomp for a great near fall. Deeb avoided the running knee strike, Deeb went for the Deeb-tox, then they had a cradle exchange where Riho locked on a Gedo Clutch to win.
Riho will face Thunder Rosa in the next round.
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A video package showed Jade Cargill training. She’s got a real superstar look.
Luther knocked Taylor off the apron and Serpentico landed a tope suicida on Taylor before the match started. Luther then surprised Cassidy with a big powerbomb for a quick two-count. He ripped Cassidy’s shirt off and moved to the apron, where Cassidy escaped and powerbombed Luther onto the floor.
Serpentico looked like he was about to go for a dive, but Taylor surprised him with the Awful Waffle. Cassidy then hit the Orange Punch on Luther for the quick win.
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A video package played recapping the Darby Allin, Sting, and Team Taz feud.
Taz, Brian Cage, and HOOK came out to the ring. Taz ridiculed the “Sting will call out Team Taz” advertisement and said that Starks and Hobbs were out due to the weather. He challenged Sting to come out and call them out.
Sting made his entrance, bat in hand. Taz said that stepping in the ring was the worst thing Sting could’ve done, and said that without that bat, he’s done. Sting dropped the bat and took off his coat, attacking Cage.
HOOK tried to get involved, but Sting dispatched him. Cage took advantage by powerbombing Sting in the center of the ring. That wasn’t a light powerbomb, Cage absolutely planted Sting in the ring.
Team Taz celebrated as Sting recovered in the ring.
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Eddie Kingston, flanked by Butcher, Blade, and Bunny, talked about his match later tonight. He called out each of his opponents (Lance Archer, Rey Fénix, Jon Moxley) and his beef with each one. He highlighted Moxley and said that the only way he could get rid of him was through beating him.
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Alex Marvez caught up to Kenny Omega, who was speaking at a preschool. Callis sent Marvez away.
Omega started to read the Young Bucks’ “Killing the Business” book, but before he started answered some questions from the students.
He read a passage talking about how he was the main reason NJPW’s business went up. Callis interrupted and said they were short for time, and they led the children in a “Kenny” chant.
The kids wanted to play with Omega, but Callis volunteered Michael Nakazawa. The kids said they hated Nakazawa and beat him up.
This was total comedy.
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AEW World Tag Team Championships: Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (c) defeated Santana & Ortiz (w/ Inner Circle)
This was a very good title match, although it wasn’t quite at the level of recent Bucks matches.
Santana & Ortiz came out to the Inner Circle’s theme music, not their own.
Santana out-wrestled Nick at the start. Ortiz tagged in and maintained control on Nick, but Matt was able to tag in and dispatch both opponents with hip tosses. Ortiz hit a lucha-style arm drag but walked into a dropkick, so Santana tagged in.
Omega, Callis, and the Good Brothers were shown looking on. The Bucks downed Santana with dropkicks. Santana and Ortiz came back with a big dropkick on Matt. MJF tried to get involved but was immediately sent packing by the official, who kicked out the rest of the Inner Circle for good measure.
Santana and Ortiz isolated Nick throughout the entire commercial break. Nick avoided a senton and hit a superkick, buying him enough time to reach Matt for the hot tag.
Matt hit clotheslines on both opponents before hitting a hurricanrana and laying in punches on Santana. Ortiz took advantage with a kick, but Matt dispatched Ortiz and hit a springboard stunner on Santana.
An Iconoclasm/powerbomb combination from the Bucks got two. They went for More Bang For Your Buck, but Santana had it scouted, hitting an avalance Falcon Arrow on Nick for two.
Santana and Ortiz hit a twisting neckbreaker and Ortiz applied a grounded octopus hold to Nick. Nick tried to bridge out of it, but Ortiz maintained the hold. Matt broke it up with a diving elbow drop.
Matt stopped a double superplex and put Santana in the electric chair, setting up a Doomsday Device. The Bucks hit their buckle bomb enziguiri combination followed by superkicks, but Ortiz broke up the pinfall.
The Bucks set up for the BTE Trigger, but their knees collided and Santana hit a double cutter. Santana and Ortiz then hit the Street Sweepter, but Nick broke up the count at the very last second.
Santana and Ortiz powerbombed Matt into the crowd at ringside, but upon re-entry to the ring, Nick cradled Ortiz for the three count, retaining the titles.
– The Inner Circle immediately attacked right after the match. Omega, Callis, and the Good Brothers were shown looking on. Omega wanted to out and make the save, but Callis wasn’t having it.
Brandon Cutler ran out, but he couldn’t take on the Inner Circle by himself, falling victim to Jake Hager. Jericho and MJF applied their signature submissions to the Bucks, and then the Good Brothers ran out. so Jericho and MJF escaped to the outside.
The Bucks’ parents were at ringside, and Jericho and MJF got in their face. Papa Buck shoved Jericho, who smirked as the segment ended.
**********
A Brandi Rhodes video played where she said she misses the fans. She’s the only one who knows their baby’s sex – not even Cody knows.
Cody and Brandi came out to the ramp, and pink pyro shot off as “It’s a girl!” showed up on the video board.
**********
Ahead of the next match, Cody joined commentary.
It was announced that there would be a six-way ladder match to determine the next TNT Championship challenger at Revolution. Cody, Scorpio Sky, and Penta El Cero Miedo were announced for the match.
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. Matt Sydal & Mike Sydal
No Tully Blanchard with FTR tonight. This was a really fun little sprint, with Matt Sydal in particular looking strong.
Wheeler immediately flattened Mike with a back suplex and laid in a big chop. Mike came back with a dropkick and tagged in his brother., who laid in kicks on Harwood. Wheeler made a blind tag and surprised Mike with a big German suplex ahead of the commercial break.
Back from break, Mike was able to tag in his brother and hit a hurricanrana. Matt hit kicks and knee strikes followed by the lightning spiral, sending Harwood to the floor. Mike then hit a top-rope Orihara moonsault all the way to the floor.
Matt rolled Harwood into the ring and covered for two. He rolled Harwood up, but on the kickout, ran headfirst into a Wheeler forearm. Matt tried to fight back against the double team but was met with a dragon suplex for two.
The Sydals both hit top-rope moves, but Wheeler reached the ropes on the cover. Harwood made a blind tag and FTR hit the Big Rig for the win.
– After the match, FTR took Doc Sampson’s medical kit and removed the scissors from it, setting up to cut Mike Sydal’s hair. The lights went out, and when they came back on, Jurassic Express were in the ring. Luchasaurus has a new mask
The Jurassic Express beat down FTR, as Jungle Boy put Harwood in the Snare Trap and Luchasaurus flattened Wheeler with a chokeslam.
**********
Next week’s Dynamite lineup:
“Hangman” Adam Page vs. Isiah Kassidy
Women’s Eliminator Tournament Semifinals (winner of Anna Jay-Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose-Tay Conti)
Team Taz (Ricky Starks & Brian Cage) vs. Varsity Blonds
Jake Hager vs. Brandon Cutler
In two weeks:
Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet vs. Shaquille O’Neal & Jade Cargill
FTR & Tully Blanchard vs. Jurassic Express
Women’s Eliminator Tournament Finals
**********
Jon Moxley addressed Eddie Kingston. He said he’d whoop Kingston’s ass as many times as he needs to.
He then promoted his upcoming IWGP US Championship defense against KENTA on NJPW Strong before setting his sights on the AEW World Championship. He’ll pursue Omega as long as it takes to settle the score.
Jon Moxley, Rey Fénix, & Lance Archer (w/ Jake Roberts) defeated Eddie Kingston, The Butcher, & The Blade (w/ The Bunny)
They brawled all over early on. Blade isolated Moxley and allowed Butcher to crush him with a leg drop in the ring. Kingston and co. worked together, allowing Blade to hit Moxley with a powerslam for two.
Moxley hit a neckbreaker on Blade and tagged in Archer, who downed all three opponents, concluding with an overhead choke suplex. Archer hit a series of running elbows and a belly to belly slam. He went to the top for his arm-trap moonsault, but Butcher tried to break it up, so Fénix walked the ropes and kicked Butcher out of the way, allowing Archer to hit the moonsault.
The babyface team maintained control throughout the break until Kingston tripped up Archer. Kingston’s team isolated Archer on their side of the ring until Archer caught Kingston and Butcher, downing them both with a running crossbody.
Fénix got the hot tag and hit a springboard heel kick on Butcher before nailing a springboard armd drag on Kingston. He followed it up with a tope con hilo on Kingston and a rolling cutter on Butcher. Fénix then landed a frog splash for two.
Kingston interrupted with an exploder suplex, leading to a parade of moves. Every single competitor hit a big move, leading to everyone being down. Moxley and Kingston were the first men up, and they both tagged in.
Moxley and Kingston exchanged forearms in the center of the ring. Kingston hit an enziguiri, but Moxley avoided the spinning backfist and after his partners attacked, Moxley locked in the Bulldog Choke. After the choke was broken up, Archer chokeslammed Fénix onto Butcher and Blade and hit a running cannonball himself.
Kingston and Moxley traded more strikes. Kingston hit the spinning backfist, but Moxley no-sold and hit a lariat and the Paradigm Shift for the win.
– After the match, the Good Brothers ran out and attacked Moxley, followed by Omega and Callis. Omega said that Moxley looks pathetic, revealing that Moxley slipped a rematch clause into his championship contract.
Omega granted Moxley the rematch, proposing that it takes place in an exploding barbed wire deathmatch. Moxley headbutted Omega, busting him open, but was met with a V-Trigger and then a second one as Omega berated Moxley to end the show.
