The much-anticipated first time ever clash between Will Ospreay and Josh Alexander will headline next Thursday’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV.
Alexander was unable to wrest the Impact World title from Alex Shelley at October’s Bound for Glory while Ospreay picked up a victory over “Speedball” Mike Bailey in what many have called a match of the year candidate.
The Impact Tag Team titles will be on the line as ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defend against Kenny King & Sheldon Jean after a backstage confrontation Thursday led to the match being made.
Former champions The Rascalz welcomed a new member to the group Thursday in former MLW Middleweight Champion Myron Reed. Reed, Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel will take on Juventud Guerrera, Laredo Kid & Black Taurus in trios action.
Knockouts Champion Trinity will face Sonny Kiss in non-title action as the former AEW talent makes his Impact singles debut.
After their own backstage confrontation Thursday, World title no. 1 contender Moose will take on Heath.
In a match made out of last month’s Call Your Shot gauntlet match, Jordynne Grace will team with Bully Ray against Steve Maclin & KiLynn King. This was made during Thursday’s show in a heated backstage segment.
Here’s the full lineup:
Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay
Impact Tag Team Champions ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) defend against Kenny King & Sheldon Jean
The Rascalz (Myron Reed, Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) vs. Laredo Kid, Black Taurus & Juventud Guerrera
Moose vs. Heath
Trinity vs. Sonny Kiss
Bully Ray & Jordynne Grace vs. Steve Maclin & KiLynn King
Despite having debuted for Impact Wrestling at Bound for Glory, the 29-year-old says she has not signed with the promotion.
“I am not signed to Impact Wrestling,” Kiss said on Women’s Wrestling Talk recently. “Let me just give that disclaimer right now.”
“I’m open to wherever I’m supposed to be,” she continued.
Kiss had been with AEW from 2019 until her contract expired earlier this year. When asked about Kiss at the All Out post-event presser, Tony Khan said he likes Kiss and it’s possible they will return to AEW some day. When asked if she heard Khan’s comments, Kiss responded that she had.
“I did, and I want to say this too, I am so grateful for Tony Khan,” Kiss said. “Tony Khan has always been great to me in the sense of …first of all, he helped pay my bills during a global pandemic . You know, there’s so many great things about Tony Khan and people expect me to say something negative about him, but no he’s given me my life… he gave me stability in my life. Like I said he helped pay my bills during a time where a lot of people were not, you know, things weren’t so uncertain. So, yeah, no, I’m forever grateful for Tony Khan.”
Kiss appeared on Busted Open Radio shortly after her departure from AEW. Show host Tommy Dreamer hinted that he’d like to bring Kiss into Impact during the interview.
“Tommy Dreamer, a good friend of mine. Always loved him. He has been such a shining light, in my life and in my career for a long time. Since way back when Sonny Kiss was first a thing,” Kiss said. “So he’s always been there in some kind of guidance, you know, like helping me out, giving me ideas, telling me you know, to try certain things. I did Busted Open and then Tommy was like, ‘Text me after this’. And that’s what I did. I texted him after that. And we talked about it and he was like, the entire staff thinks you’ll be great for the call your shot. And I said yes, sir, sign me up for it; I would love that. And then it happened and it was a wonderful experience and the Impact locker room is absolutely amazing.”
Kiss wrestled Trinity at the Bound for Glory Fallout show on October 22 but she did not take part in Impact’s UK Invasion tour last week. She continued to say that she would like to team with Trinity and win the Knockouts titles.
“Honestly I would love to team with Trin and become Knockouts Tag Team Champs,” she said. “I think that that would be really fun, like a really fun feud with Gisele and Jai Vidal and Savannah. That would be really, really fun.”
At Bound for Glory on Saturday night, a former AEW wrestler made their surprise Impact Wrestling debut.
Sonny Kiss appeared as one of the entrants in the Call Your Shot gauntlet match at Bound for Glory. Kiss entered the 20-person match as the ninth entrant. She was eliminated by Matt Cardona and Brian Myers.
This September, Tony Khan confirmed that he did not renew Kiss’ AEW contract. Kiss had been with the promotion since its launch in 2019. Khan said he really likes Kiss, but it’s hard to get everyone on television with such a big roster.
Cardona and Juventud Guerrera were other surprise participants in the Call Your Shot gauntlet. The match came down to Jordynne Grace and Bully Ray. After hitting the Grace Driver, Grace pinned Bully Ray to get the victory.
The Call Your Shot winner receives a title shot of their choosing whenever they want it. And it didn’t take long for Grace to reveal her plans. Grace declared that she’ll be challenging for the Knockouts Championship at Impact’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view in January 2024.
Sonny Kiss says she was shocked to learn her AEW contract was not being renewed.
The 29-year-old had been with the company since its inception in 2019 until her deal expired recently. Tony Khan addressed not renewing Kiss’ contract at the All Out media scrum, citing AEW’s large roster as the reason. However, Khan also said she could be brought back in the future.
“It’s like a heartbreak, it’s been a little rough because this is everything I’ve ever wanted to do,” Kiss said during an appearance on Busted Open Radio on Wednesday. “I worked tirelessly for this not to happen.”
Kiss says she was notified in late August that her contract was not being renewed.
“When I got the call, I was shocked,” she said.
Kiss says anytime she was booked for television she took advantage of having the opportunity to train with Dustin Rhodes and develop as a wrestler. She would ask to be sent to television tapings even when not booked simply so she could work with him.
“Every single time I got sent to TV, I was there hours before doors opened. I worked my ass off every single week to make sure that this didn’t happen. So, it’s heartbreaking, 100 percent.”
“I would beg sometimes to go to TV. ‘Can I go just to train with Dustin, please?'”
Kiss keeps an active schedule on the independents, including wrestling at GCW Effy’s Big Gay Brunch 7 earlier this month. She plans to work as much as she can now that she’s a free agent.
“Obviously, I’m a free agent. I’m just going to work as many indies as I can,” she said. “We’ll see what happens.
As talk regarding Kiss’ future continued, co-host Tommy Dreamer, who works backstage for Impact Wrestling, suggested Kiss text him after the show.
Sonny Kiss is ready to start a new chapter after departing AEW.
Kiss was recently removed from the roster page on AEW’s website. While speaking to the media after All Out earlier this month, Tony Khan confirmed that he chose not to renew Kiss’ contract. Khan said he really likes Kiss, but with such a big roster it’s hard to get everyone spots on television.
Kiss posted a statement on Sunday reflecting on the four years she spent with AEW. Kiss, who is genderfluid, wrote that she showed people like her that anything is possible when you work your ass off for it.
“Sometimes you have to fall all the way down to reignite that fiery passion again,” Kiss wrote. “So, now what? I’m the Concrete Rose, Sonny Kiss and I am a free agent. I am SO ready for this next chapter. Let’s continue to break those barriers down, shatter those glass ceilings, and make $h*t happen! Where to next?”
The full statement is available below:
4 years of living my dream, traveling, making everlasting friendships, working with my childhood heroes, growing into the human I’ve become right before everyone’s eyes, and of course, being part of some historical events with groundbreaking wrestling promotion: All Elite Wrestling (AEW). I have made quite a few mistakes along the way. But I also have learned some valuable lessons, too. I am incredibly grateful for it all. In December, I’ll be 30 years old with 10 years of wrestling under my belt. The fun part is: I haven’t nearly touched the surface of what I am capable of.
I knew my journey in pro wrestling would not be an easy one, regardless of my talents. The best part of it all is that I showed people like me that anything is possible when you’re working your ass off for it. It may not come easy, but it WILL come. Sometimes you have to fall all the way down to reignite that fiery passion again. So, now what? I’m the Concrete Rose, Sonny Kiss and I am a free agent. I am SO ready for this next chapter. Let’s continue to break those barriers down, shatter those glass ceilings, and make $h!t happen! Where to next?
XO,
Sonny
Kiss was part of the original AEW roster when the promotion launched in 2019. While addressing not renewing Kiss’ contract, Khan pointed to the loss of AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation as a reason for the decision. It was confirmed in May that both editions of Dark were done for the time being due to an exclusivity clause between AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Khan left the door open for Kiss to potentially return to AEW in the future:
Sonny and a number of people who are not necessarily with AEW anymore, we’ll keep an eye on them and certainly I’d be open to bringing them back if something opens up, if I get an idea for a story or if anybody has an idea that I like for a story that I would do or if they get really hot and I get interested.
After Kiss was removed from the roster page on AEW’s website last week, Tony Khan was asked about Kiss’ status at the post-All Out press conference on Sunday night. Khan confirmed that Kiss’ contract was not renewed. Khan said he really likes Kiss, but it’s hard to get everyone on television with such a big roster. Khan mentioned that Kiss wrestled a lot on AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation, which are no longer being produced.
Khan left the door open for Kiss to potentially return to AEW in the future.
Khan said:
I really like Sonny Kiss. We have a roster of over 100 wrestlers now across AEW — and Sonny is a great wrestler. I think I’ve done a lot to really keep the locker room stable. I have a lot of people that I not only keep under contract, but also I’ve done well, I think, to not do like major mass layoffs and let 20, 30 people go at a time.
But I do think — I can’t renew every single contract in AEW. It would be impossible. And with such a big roster and a limited amount of TV spots — I think Sonny Kiss is a great wrestler and had a lot of potential from the very beginning of AEW and still has a lot of potential as a wrestler. And I really like Sonny Kiss. I think Sonny Kiss could certainly be back potentially, too. We’ve seen wrestlers go on and do some exciting stuff and come back like Stu Grayson, for example. So you never know what the future holds for Sonny Kiss or AEW, but I think Sonny Kiss has a lot of talent and I definitely wish him the best as a wrestler and still really hold Sonny in very high regard.
It’s true that I didn’t renew that contract, but not because I don’t like Sonny. I like Sonny a lot. Every opportunity Sonny’s had, every match I’ve booked Sonny in, I’ve put some thought into and put it together. But I would say the same of every wrestler here. And right now with a huge crew, I think it’s hard to get everybody on TV. One thing that also is a challenge to be honest is losing Dark and Elevation. It’s put more of an emphasis on five hours of television. So I think some of that was made up with TV spots. A lot of people have stepped up, but the roster has grown and grown. There’s more wrestlers than there were when we started. It’s a much, much bigger roster than the original AEW roster that Sonny was a great part of. Sonny and a number of people who are not necessarily with AEW anymore, we’ll keep an eye on them and certainly I’d be open to bringing them back if something opens up, if I get an idea for a story or if anybody has an idea that I like for a story that I would do or if they get really hot and I get interested.
Kiss had been part of AEW since the promotion launched in 2019.
Kiss was in action on an ROH television episode this July. The last time Kiss wrestled for AEW was on an episode of Dark that was taped in March and aired in April.
It was confirmed in May that Dark and Dark: Elevation were done for the time being due to an exclusivity clause between AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery. The timing coincided with the launch of AEW Collision.
Below are notes from the post-AEW All Out media scrum.
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Adam Cole —
Cole said that he’s having the most fun he’s had in 15 years in wrestling in his pairing with MJF. He notes that the two were just “thrown together” and neither thought it would click as well as it has.
Cole said that he & MJF are open to facing any tag team on the AEW or ROH roster in defending the Ring of Honor Tag Team titles.
Christian Cage —
Cage spoke entirely in character.
Cage said that Khan had recently re-signed him to a “fat” contract.
Cage said that he collects things of great value including watches, and wrestling titles.
Cage said that he had added so much prestige to the TNT Championship that he thinks it might soon be called the TNT World Championship.
When asked about the possibility of his friend Adam Copeland joining AEW, Cage said that he has no friends besides Luchasaurus.
Kris Statlander —
When asked about Mercedes Mone, Statlander said that she would welcome the challenge. She also mentioned a rematch with Jade Cargill, Toni Storm, Jamie Hayter, Saraya, and Willow Nightingale as potential future opponents.
Statlander said that she appreciates everyone’s concern for her health after returning from two knee injuries, but that she wouldn’t have come back if she wasn’t capable of doing everything in the ring she could before the injuries. She noted that she hasn’t modified her style since returning.
Statlander put over Orange Cassidy as her best friend and noted that the Best Friends group with herself, Cassidy, Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor are legitimately best friends who travel together and hang out together.
Bryan Danielson —
Danielson said Ricky Starks carried him through their match at All Out. He said he thought that Starks was good in the ring before, but that the two had never touched prior to their match and that Starks is every bit as good as he thought he was. He praised Starks for using his promo on Saturday’s Collision to elevate Big Bill.
Danielson said it was very hard to argue against Jon Moxley being the best wrestler in the world after stepping up with another great performance at All Out.
Danielson noted that the Blackpool Combat Club can straddle the line between being good guys and bad guys depending on what the particular story they are involved in calls for.
Danielson said that he was cleared not only by AEW’s medical staff but by an outside surgeon (implied that the surgeon who performed surgery to repair the broken arm he suffered at Forbidden Door) to return for his match with Starks.
In light of people being concerned for his health, Danielson said he would pull back the curtain and noted that there were lots of smoke and mirrors in the match with Starks to protect Danielson’s arm, mentioning that he never threw a strike with his right arm.
In speaking about Tony Khan calling him out as being a point person to help run AEW should anything happen to Tony, Danielson said that balancing work and his personal life is something he strives for and that he spends a lot of time thinking about. He said that he would want to help AEW out.
Khan noted that Danielson working Collision on Saturdays would probably be good for that work/life balance.
Khan said that Danielson traveled with him for a few weeks and could not keep up with Khan’s schedule and recommended that Khan hire Jimmy Jacobs to travel with him and help keep him organized.
Tony Khan —
Asked about Sonny Kiss, Khan confirmed that he had not renewed Kiss’ contract. He put Kiss over as a great wrestler and a person that he likes a lot, but that he can’t keep everyone under contract. He did not rule out Kiss returning at some point, pointing to Stu Grayson as an example of someone who left the company and came back.
Khan said that he found out Saturday that Billie Starkz was not cleared to compete and that forced him to change some booking for All Out: Zero Hour, but that he wanted to showcase Athena on the card.
Regarding the business of All Out, Khan said that preliminary numbers indicate 100,000-plus pay-per-view buys and somewhere in the range of 10,000 tickets sold for a gate north of $800,000.
Khan said that CJ Perry had not signed any type of long-term deal, but didn’t rule out the possibility of signing her depending on how the story with Miro plays out.
Khan said that Jack Perry is suspended indefinitely following the backstage incident with CM Punk.
Khan thanked Punk for his contributions to AEW as a wrestler, and would not comment when asked if there would be a non-compete period following Punk’s termination, noting that he was not a lawyer who would interpret the language of a separation agreement.
When asked about running WrestleDream on a Sunday against the NFL, Khan said that he would like to avoid running against the NFL if at all possible and called it the most powerful media entity in the world. He said that he felt strongly that WrestleDream this year needed to take place on October 1 to honor the first anniversary of Antonio Inoki’s passing.
Khan said that All Out will likely be held at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois next year due to an event held at the United Center [I believe he was referring to the Democratic National Convention, but that is taking place a week prior to what would be All Out weekend].
Tuesday’s AEW Dark will feature six matches that includes Dark Order, Harley Cameron and Blake Christian.
Dark Order’s John Silver & Alex Reynolds will look to continue their recent string of success as they take on the Varsity Athletes’ Josh Woods & Tony Nese.
In a rare in-ring appearance, Harley Cameron of QTV will be in action against Mafiosa and trying to score her second overall AEW win.
Zack Clayton will be looking for his sixth straight AEW singles victory as he faces Jake Logan.
Blake Christian will take on Lee Johnson as both men are in search of their second straight AEW victory.
Here’s the announced lineup:
Lee Johnson vs. Blake Christian
Harley Cameron vs. Mafiosa
Varsity Athletes (Josh Woods & Tony Nese) vs. Dark Order (John Silver & Alex Reynolds)
Emi Sakura & Mei Suruga vs. Reka Tehaka & Ashley D’Amboise
The Wingmen (Ryan Nemeth & Cezar Bononi) vs. Brock Anderson & Brian Pillman Jr.
A former WWE NXT wrestler will make her AEW debut on Tuesday’s AEW Dark.
Steph De Lander, the former Persia Pirotta in NXT, will wrestle her first bout in a Tony Khan organization as she faces Marina Shafir. Pirotta was released last year and made her Impact Wrestling debut this year.
De Lander’s former NXT rostermate Brady Booker (Bodhi Hayward) will have his second AEW outing as he takes on Serpentico.
Tuesday’s lineup was taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, last month.
Konosuke Takeshita will look to keep his recent win streak going as he faces Cole Karter.
Karter’s former mates who are now QTV (QT Marshall & Aaron Solo) will be in action against Austin Green & Vary Morales. Nick Comoroto, another former Factory member, will also take on AR Fox on the show.
Here’s the full nine-match lineup:
Top Flight vs. Liam Gray & Adrian Alanis
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Cole Karter
Brady Booker vs. Serpentico
Evil Uno vs. Alexander Moss
Zack Clayton vs. Schaff
Queen Aminata vs. Skye Blue
QT Marshall & Aaron Solo vs. Austin Green & Vary Morales
It’s Tuesday and you know what that means: an eleven-match AEW Dark taped in The All Elite Zone at Universal Studios. As usual, Taz and Excalibur were on the call.
Lee Johnson defeated Darian Bengston
Bengston and Johnson were pretty much equal in terms of speed and things were pretty much a tie between both wrestlers. Bengston tried to go for a moonsault but failed to hit his target. Johnson then connected with theFisherman’s Buster for the win. Johnson was able to pick up his first win of 2022 in AEW and his record is now 1-1.
Sonny Kiss defeated Ashton Starr
Sonny started the match with a very impressive hurracarrana and Starr, not wanting to be outclassed, pulled off a great tilt a whirl backbreaker. Sonny Kiss with a Gamengiri was able to pick the win. His record is 2-1 in 2022 following this match.
The Acclaimed defeated B. Jack & Donovan Izzolena
This match was the AEW debut of Jack and Izzolena. Squash match, Max Caster with a Mic Drop to Izzolena and Bowens covered to improve their overall tag team record to 34-8.
Marina Shafir defeated Danielle Kamela
This match was the AEW debut of Kamela. Kamela worked Shafir’s left arm and shoulder for a good portion of the match. Shafir followed it up with a brutal bow and arrow to Kamela’s lower back. Shafir with a modified gogoplata won this match by submission and improved her 2022 record to 3-0, remaining undefeated.
Dante Martin defeated Jack Evans (w/ Jora Johl & Angelico)
This match had a very hot start. Martin tried to go for his usual high-flying stuff, but Evan’s experience helped him anticipate and counter any move from Martin. Evans used some llaveo (grappling) on this match to try to ground Martin, all while Johl and Angelico helped him from ringside. Evans worked most of the match on Martin’s chest with kicks and chops. Evans during the match pulled off a Suicidal Rider kick, a staple from The Great Sasuke. Dante Martin connected with an outside tornillo and the nosedive, and he was able to win this match and improve his overall record to 42-20.
Abadon defeated Sahara Seven
Sahara Seven dropped the biggest scream someone has never done during a match with Abadon, and it was pretty funny. This was basically a squash match. Abadon was able to win this match with a leg hook stomp and Abadon’s record is now 28-3.
Diamante defeated Vipress
Short match, Diamante with Code Red won this match, and her overall record is 35-19.
Kiera Hogan defeated Kelsey Raegan
This was the AEW debut of Kelsey Raegan. Hogan with several dropkicks during the match was able to keep Raegan at bay. A superkick by Hogan was able to end the match and improve her record to 5-1.
Daniel Garcia (w/ 2point0) defeated Josh Woods
Two technical wrestlers going at it. Woods worked Garcia’s left arm, all while using his size to take control of the match. Garica slowly took Woods down and took control of the match with his grappling. Garcia got a near fall with a stacked Saito suplex. Garcia tried to go for a Scorpion Deathlock, but Woods was able to counter into a small package. Garcia with a Gotch-style piledriver was able to win the match and his record is now 18-15.
Shawn Dean defeated Will Austin
Dean before this match talked about the upcoming Who We Are album and his track. Dean tried to go for a suicide dive but Austin connected with a kick and was able to stop Dean. However, Dean came back with a combination of a frog splash and The Deal was able to score the win. His record is now 3-0 in 2022.
Orange Cassidy & Wheeler Yuta defeated Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto (w/ QT Marshall)
Wheeler Yuta made the mistake of trying to overpower Nick Comoroto and paid big time for that mistake. Comoroto took Cassidy’s sunglasses off him with a kick, Cassidy was able to get them back and put them back on. Marshall intervened in favor of Solo and Comoroto during this match and was later sent to the back by referee Bryce Remsburg. This match had all the comedy bits we are used to in Orange Cassidy’s matches. An Orange Punch and a German Suplex from Yuta on Solo was all Cassidy and Yuta needed to win.
Final Thoughts:
Taz and Excalibur were fun to listen to as usual, especially anything regarding Taz and his hatred of Bryce Remsburg. The Wingmen had a fun backstage promo segment talking about fashion and spring. Dante Martin vs. Jack Evans the highlight of the show, but I would also recommend watching Garcia vs. Woods and the main event.
AEW has added four matches to Tuesday’s AEW Dark lineup.
Top Flight’s Dante Martin will take on Danny Limelight in singles competition. Dante’s brother Darius is out of action after undergoing ACL surgery, so Martin has been working as a single or in trios matches in his absence.
In a pair of added tag matches, Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela will face Kit Sackett and Justin Law, plus The Acclaimed will take on David Ali and Vary Morales.
In the women’s division, Big Swole will take on Megan Bayne.
AEW Dark airs on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Eastern time on YouTube.
Here is the announced lineup for this week’s show so far:
As he announced on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, Miro will return to singles action on this Tuesday’s edition of Dark against Sonny Kiss.
This is just the second AEW singles match and the fifth match overall for Miro since he debuted in late September while Kiss will be looking to extend a two-match winning streak.
The show will also include the return of TNT (the twin sons of D-Von Dudley) in action against the Gunn Club (Austin and Colten).
The rest of the lineup as announced:
Dark Order (Colt Cabana, Five and Ten) vs. Fuego del Sol, Aaron Solow and Ray Jaz
Sixteen matches are set for this Tuesday’s edition of AEW Dark.
AEW’s social media announced today that a match between Sammy Guevara and Marko Stunt had been added to the lineup, which was posted earlier this morning.
Additionally, a three way tag team match will be taking place. Chaos Project will meet the Dark Order’s Evil Uno & Stu Grayson as well as the team of Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela.
The Waiting Room, a new talk show hosted by Britt Baker, will also make a return. This week’s guest will be Tay Conti.
Here is the entire lineup for this week’s Dark, which will stream on Tuesday at 7 pm EST:
Sammy Guevara vs. Marko Stunt
Chaos Project vs. Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs. Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela
Gunn Club vs. Cezar Bononi, KTB, & Seth Gargis
The Acclaimed vs. Alex Chamberlain & Damian Fenrir
Brandon Cutler vs. Adam Priest
Penelope Ford vs. Dreamgirl Ellie
Fuego del Sol vs. Peter Avalaon
Ivelisse & Diamante vs. Lady Frost & “Bionic Beast” Jenna
Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs. Lee Johnson & Aaron Solow
Kilynn King vs. Rache Chanel
Trent vs. Michael Nakazawa
Matt Sydal vs. Alan Angels
The Hybrid2 vs. Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.
A positive COVID-19 test result has resulted in a major change to tonight’s AEW Dynamite.
Mr. Brodie Lee vs. Orange Cassidy for the TNT Championship was set to headline the show, while Jon Moxley, Will Hobbs & Darby Allin were going to face Lance Archer, Brian Cage & Ricky Starks in a six-man tag. Archer revealed a positive COVID-19 test, so now Moxley will defend his AEW World title against Eddie Kingston.
Kingston was technically never eliminated from the Casino Battle Royale at All Out and has been mentioning that fact in his promos ever since. So tonight, he gets the World title shot he’s been clamoring for.
Lee will be making his second defense of the title since winning it from Cody on August 22. Lee brings an AEW career singles mark of 7-1 into the contest. Cassidy is 8-4 in AEW singles matches in 2020 and is coming off wins over Chris Jericho and Angelico.
Miro and Kip Sabian will team against Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss in Miro’s AEW in-ring debut.
AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida and NWA World Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa will team against Ivelisse and Diamante. Rosa defeated Ivelisse on last week’s Dynamite. Diamante and Ivelisse attacked Rosa after her win and Shida made the save.
An appearance by Chris Jericho and an appearance by Matt Hardy and Private Party have also been advertised.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Jim Ross, Excalibur and Tony Schiavone were the broadcast team.
This was a mixed bag. I thought they used Miro smartly and he played to his strengths, mostly tagging in for a few power spots.
I thought that any talk of Miro having a new physique was overblown last week but I was wrong. He’s gigantic.
Janela and Kiss got some shine on Sabian early. Sabian and Miro cut Kiss off and worked him over. This was formulaic but the work was very good at this stage.
Janela got a hot tag and things got sloppy. Miro, Janela and Sabian brawled to the floor. Miro sold his ankle and was limping for a bit.
Miro tried to launch Sabian over the barricade to Janela. Janela was supposed to hit something mid-air but the camera crew didn’t get a good shot of it and it looked like they botched it anyway.
Miro used the former Accolade, now possibly called Game Over, for the submission win on Kiss.
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Eddie Kingston entered and demanded the hard camera be focused on him. He said he and Mox used to be cut from the same cloth but then Mox sold out and became a sports entertainer, selling his soul to the devil.
He demanded that Moxley face him. Moxley entered and faced off with Kingston. A security team kept them apart.
This was an excellent segment. Give me a Kingston promo every week.
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The announcers previewed the card. Kenny Omega joined the commentary desk for the next match.
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Hangman Page defeated Evil Uno (w/Dark Order)
This was exactly the same thing they did last week, there was no storyline advancement with Omega and Page. Omega was better on commentary this week than last week but still managed to talk under Page’s ring introduction.
JR tried to help Omega get over the storyline here and asked if he was going to help Page out. Omega said he was staying put because he’s a singles guy now.
Page is still getting his legs under him as a singles guy and his matches aren’t clicking on all cylinders yet.
They had a back and forth brawl before an ad break. Uno worked Page over in a picture-in-picture ad break.
Page made a comeback. Uno tossed him to the stage. Uno asked Dark Order to go to the back rather than interfere.
Page made another comeback and hit a standing shooting star for a two count. Uno hit a senton atomico for a two count.
Page hit a powerbomb with a stack cover for a near fall, then followed with a Buckshot Lariat for the pin.
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Schiavone interviewed Matt Jackson backstage. Matt said fans may have noticed that he and Nick have been acting out of character lately.
He broke Tony’s phone and continued to act like a jerk.
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TNT Championship match: Mr. Brodie Lee defeated Orange Cassidy to retain the title
Not much to the match here but it was more a backdrop for the post-match angle.
Cassidy did his comedy kicks and pockets spot.
Cassidy tried a suicide dive but the Dark Order lackies caught him and allowed Lee to take over. Lee beat on Cassidy through an ad break.
Cassidy made a comeback and ran wild with suicide dives. JR went on his weekly crusade to undermine talent by ripping on dives. Cassidy hit a pair of tornado DDTs for near falls.
John Silver jumped in. Cassidy hit him with an Orange Punch. Lee used the distraction to hit a powerbomb and a discus lariat for the pin.
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After the match, Cody’s music hit.
Cody entered. He has dark hair now.
Cody beat up some Dark Order lackies while Lee escaped.
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After a commercial, Lee cut a promo. He asked what kind of man Cody was for sending Dustin and Brandi to do his work for him while he was in a bubble somewhere.
Lee asked what kind of man Cody was that his wife was posting thirst traps and calling Lee “Daddy.”
Lee pulled out a dog collar and challenged Cody to a dog collar match. He gave Cody a week to respond.
This was another strong promo. The high point of this show tonight is the promos by a wide margin.
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Matt Hardy and Private Party made their way to the ring. Hardy said it was his birthday.
Hardy said he was attacked from behind last week. He used a lot of words to say that someone with a mask attacked him with a pipe or bat and noted that right after he was laid out, Jericho and Hager entered with a bat.
Hardy said he has a lot of enemies but was pointing the finger at Jericho.
Jericho and The Inner Circle entered. Sammy Guevara is back. Jericho said he didn’t attack Hardy. Jericho was carrying a baseball bat.
Hardy wanted to fight the whole Inner Circle. Quen and Kassidy talked sense to him and reminded him he’s not cleared yet.
Quen said he is cleared and laid out Jericho last week. Kassidy said he’s ready to make Le Champion his bitch next week.
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FTR and Tully Blanchard came to the ring for a promo. Tully said that Tag title matches on TV will now have a 20 minute time limit and he and FTR get to pick the opponents.
FTR are branding this as a weekly “brush with greatness.” They mentioned Best Friends as potential opponents.
Best Friends entered. FTR acted like they were ready to defend the titles right away. A referee came out and was about to ring the bell when Dax stopped him.
Cash said it wouldn’t be fair to Best Friends if they wrestled tonight and advised them to take a couple weeks to heal up and then maybe call Tully and they’ll set something up.
This was an effective segment.
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Thunder Rosa & Hikaru Shida defeated Ivelisse & Diamante
Rosa is great, Shida is great, this match was laid out really well, there’s just only so much Ivelisse and Diamante are capable of.
Rosa’s facepaint was a tribute to Road Warrior Animal.
Shida and Rosa were attacked during Shida’s intro.
Diamante and Ivelisse cut Rosa off. It’s kind of like when Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss are in together when Rosa and Ivelisse are in there at the same time in that it feels like a fight could break out at any time.
Shida got a hot tag during a commercial break. The match broke down.
Shida pinned Diamante after a falcon arrow and a shining wizard.
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Dasha Gonzalez was backstage with Chris Jericho.
Jericho said Isiah Kassidy is going to be a big star one day but not next week. He said next week he’s going down when he faces Le Champion.
MJF entered. Jericho and MJF continued to do their mutual appreciation society gimmick. It was very good.
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Jericho vs. Kassidy, Britt Baker in action, Ricky Starks vs. Darby Allin, FTR vs. SCU and a Jon Moxley appearance were advertised for next week’s Dynamite.
A 30 years of Jericho celebration was announced for the October 7 Dynamite.
The main event is next.
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AEW World Championship match: Jon Moxley defeated Eddie Kingston to retain the title
Kingston is 38 and has worked a hard style for a long time. He’s at the top of his game as a promo and a character and that makes up for whatever physical limitations he has.
They had a brawl. It was intense and very good.
They traded a couple of cursory holds right awy but things quickly became the brawl that you would expect. They lit each other up with chops and strikes.
Kingston was in control before a commercial break and beat Moxley around ringside.
Moxley made a comeback with a tope and a piledriver for a near fall. Kingston hit a powerbomb for a two count. Kingston sold like he might have a stinger.
Moxley avoided two backfists and used a bulldog choke for the submission win.
A key point in the finish here is that Kingston never tapped, the referee called for the bell after Kingston appeared to be out.
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After the bell, Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix ran in to attack Moxley.
Will Hobbs ran in for the save. Penta and Fenix recovered and laid out Hobbs.
Darby Allin ran in to join the brawl. Allin sent Fenix and Penta outside wth skateboard shots.
Ricky Starks ran in and attacked Allin. Starks hit a big spear and hit Allin with the skateboard.
An interesting name was brought up during a video hyping this Wednesday’s Fight for the Fallen. You can watch the video below:
The video started with Cody and his coach Arn Anderson talking about Sonny Kiss, who will challenge for the TNT title. Cody put over Kiss’ ability. When the question was brought up about other possible challengers on the independent scene, Arn Anderson mentioned the name Warhorse. The video cut to the next segment before Cody could answer.
The video also highlighted the other matches on the card. FTR and The Lucha Brothers talked about their match, which comes off of a match last week both teams were in. Brian Cage and Taz were also featured, hyping Cage’s bout against Jon Moxley for the AEW World title.
Another match announced for Fight for the Fallen is The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) vs. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasarus, and Marko Stunt).
This year’s Fight for the Fallen will be raising money for COVID-19 relief.
