AEW Dynamite live results: ROH World title match, Continental Classic begins

The Full Gear fallout edition of AEW Dynamite returns to Chicago with a Ring of Honor World title match plus the kickoff to the Continental Classic.

In just their second career singles meeting, Chris Jericho and Tomohiro Ishii will square off with Jericho’s ROH title on the line. The previous match between the two was also on a Thanksgiving Eve edition of Dynamite in November 2022.

The second-ever Continental Classic kicks off with Darby Allin vs. Brody King and Ricochet vs. Claudio Castagnoli in the Gold league, and Mark Briscoe vs. Shelton Benjamin in the Blue league.

In the kickoff to the AEW qualifier portion of the Wrestle Dynasty International Women’s Cup, Queen Aminata takes on Jamie Hayter.

The follow-up from Full Gear will start to play out after Jon Moxley retained the AEW World Championship with a victory over Orange Cassidy in last Saturday’s PPV main event, followed by a chaotic scene.

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AEW Dynamite comes on the air with a November Rain recap video from Full Gear, ending with Darby Allin outside the arena, bloody and stumbling out of the car he ran into The Death Riders truck, saying it’ll be hard for Jon Moxley to kill AEW, when he’s the one who dies first.

Excalibur welcomes us alongside Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness and says there will be some changes to the format of the Continental Classic this year, as everyone is barred from ringside and there is a 20-minute time limit. Similar to last year, 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw. We’re told the Gold League winner will face the Blue League runner-up and Blue League winner faces the Gold League runner-up at World’s End, as well as the Continental Classic Finals. So, both winners will be competing twice that night.

The Hurt Syndicate make their way to the ring, as MVP has an official announcement for the audience. Seeing as they’re in Chicago, it’s fitting to say he’s standing between two of the finest ever to grace a wrestling ring and compares Shelton Benjamin to Walter Payton and Bobby Lashley to Michael Jordan. The crowd chants for MVP, but he said it’s not about him, it’s about The Syndicate and lessons they teach. When he offers you his business card, it’s giving you a golden ticket. If you turn them down and are arrogant like Swerve Strickland, as they throw to highlights of Lashley defeating Strickland at Full Gear. MVP said Strickland isn’t the most dangerous man in AEW, Lashley is, the walking Armageddon. Their mission statement is to take championship titles and leverage them to more money and power. They are the merchants of misery and tonight, Benjamin will show you what they’re capable of. They’re the best in the industry at hurting people.

Shelton Benjamin defeated Mark Briscoe in the Continental Classic Blue League

(These two hadn’t faced each other since the Worlds Greatest Tag Team & Briscoes feuded in Ring of Honor, so it’s nice to see them pick up where they left off. This will be a running trend to say this for the entire C2, but this was a very good match to kick off the tournament. Benjamin has looked awfully impressive since coming to AEW and there’s not many better than Briscoe to make his opponent look good. I’m hopeful Briscoe gets more wins this year than he did last year, but tonight, it was important to make Benjamin look strong and he did just that.)

Briscoe had a stare-down with Lashley, as he & MVP were heading to the back and is a match I really want to see in the near future. Seemingly we had a Code of Honor, but Benjamin tried to pull Briscoe in, who quickly threw a chop and dive to the outside. Briscoe tried to fire up the crowd, but the delay led to an overhead suplex by Benjamin, who drove Briscoe into the steps and wanted a count-out. Briscoe recovered, brought Benjamin back outside and hit a somersault dive landing on his feet. Briscoe went up top, as Benjamin sprung to his feet, scaled the ropes and hit a superplex as things went to commercial.

Benjamin remained in control when things returned, until Briscoe started no-selling and firing up. Palm strikes backed up Benjamin, allowing Briscoe to fire off chops and rolling Death Valley Driver. Up top again, Briscoe successfully hits the Froggy Bow, but clutched his own ribs in the process. Benjamin rolled outside, but Briscoe hit another elbow from the apron. Back inside, Briscoe wanted a third, but Benjmain got the knees up and hit a series of German suplexes before Briscoe put on the brakes with an enzugiri. Benjamin avoided Jay Driller and hit the rewind kick, followed by the step-up corner knee and monster thrust kick for two. Benjamin hit another flush before hitting the T-Bone Suplex for the victory. Post match, Lashley & MVP came to the ring to celebrate with Benjamin, who is on the board first in the Continental Classic tournament.

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-Tony Schiavone welcomes TBS Champion Mercedes Mone to the stage, as balloons are set on the entrance. Mone comes out with Kamille, still with her arm in a sling, as she demands Chicago say hello to their C.E.O. Schiavone said Mone turned the wrestling world on it’s head after her victory at Full Gear with Kris Statlander and said many consider it the women’s Match of the Year. Mone said it feels good and Statlander proved she’s one of the best, but Mone proved she’s the greatest TBS Champion of all time. Mone said since Kamille can’t get anything right, (she was about to fire her) when Kamille took the mic and demanded she shut up. She questioned if Mone is stupid or dumb and said Mone can’t fire her, she quits. Kamille stormed out and Mone had a temper-tantrum as the crowd chanted “You Deserve It.” This whole falling out has felt super rushed and pretty underwhelming, but the crowd did react to Kamille finally standing up for herself.

-Video package of Big Boom AJ, Big Justice & The Rizzler defeating QT Marshall on Zero Hour at Full Gear and the social media traction it received.

Chris Jericho (w/Big Bill & Bryan Keith) defeated Tomohiro Ishii to retain the ROH World Title

(I enjoyed the closing moments the most in this, as the Judas Effects that Jericho was able to connect with were some of the most violent of his career. Their first match was filled with chops galore and this was similar, just with slaps to the face. I think they overdid it with them, as the crowd weren’t as wild as they were for their first encounter. Regardless, Jericho retains and I’m not sure who he’s on track to face come Final Battle. They should build that story up on ROH TV a while.)

Bill joined commentary and presented Schiavone with a sapling tree he hopes can grow over time, as the quizzical look on Schiavone’s face was hysterical. The match begins and similar to their last match, was nothing but chops. Jericho hit a big boot, but Ishii bounced back with a lariat as Bill made a Devin Hester reference on commentary, while making tree references that McGuinness said was very insightful. Both men fought to the apron where Jericho spiked Ishii with a DDT on the apron, which, despite not having a neck, still had to be painful. Back in the ring, Jericho opted to start a slap battle, which did nothing but wake Ishii up. Jericho is bleeding from the mouth, as things went to commercial with the slap exchange continuing throughout.

Back from break, the slaps continued, but they went up the ropes and Jericho hit a superplex, which Ishii popped right up from. The slaps pick back up until finally Jericho hit a release German suplex. Jericho wanted a Judas Effect, but Ishii threw a lariat at the same time and both collapsed. Both up slow, but Jericho hit a fireman’s carry slam into the Lionsault for two. Judas Effect landed flush, then a Code Breaker, but Ishii kicked out at one, stumbled to his feet and kicked away from the Walls of Jericho, hitting a charging tackling headbutt for two. Sliding D avoided by Jericho, but Ishii managed a Code Breaker and wild lariat for two of his own. Ishii wanted the Sliding D, but Jericho hit two more Judas Effects right on the button to get the win. He fell onto Ishii with his own shoulders down as well, but it wasn’t really noticed by referee Aubrey, who awarded the match to Jericho.

-Renee Paquette is backstage with Swerve Strickland & Prince Nana who said rebuilding is something they do very well. He’s never been hit by anyone as hard as Lashley when Max Caster strolls by with a smile. Strickland asked him what’s so funny and Caster said Chicago is where he pinned Strickland to win the AEW Tag Team Titles. Caster called himself the Best Wrestler Alive and brought up Strickland’s house fire, as Strickland snapped, threw Caster against the wall and punted him in the ribs, as Nana had to usher Strickland away. For AEW always having security close by, there was none for Caster getting his ass kicked.

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-Tony Schiavone introduces Hangman Adam Page to the ring, as Excalibur tells us Orange Cassidy is not medically cleared following his match with Jon Moxley at Full Gear, as well as the chemicals being poured onto him by Moxley & Wheeler Yuta in the post-match.

Schiavone brings up Page losing to Jay White, attacking Christopher Daniels, then helping Christian Cage nearly securing a World Title match, all at Full Gear. Page said if Daniels ever gets in his way again, he won’t get back up. Page also said he kept up his end of the deal at Full Gear and would’ve been home for Thanksgiving the AEW World Champion, but Christian Cage failed. It should’ve never been Swerve’s, Danielson or Moxley’s, as that World Title has always been his.

Switchblade Jay White asked Page what happened in his match with White at Wrestle Dream and Full Gear, which was two loses. If anyone deserves a shot at the AEW World Title, it should be White, not Page. If Page wants another reminder, he’ll happily give him that chance. PAC appeared behind White, swept the leg and chucked him into the barricade, as Wheeler Yuta hit the ring and attacked Page. White unintentionally made the save, cleared the ring of PAC & Yuta, but Page dropped him. Marina Shafir blasted Page with the briefcase holding the AEW World Title, as White recovered and teased a Blade Runner on Shafir, but Jon Moxley showed up and choked White out, until Shafir hit a Judo throw and applied her Mother’s Milk submission, as White went out. The Death Riders put the boots on White, picked him up, as PAC cracked him with the briefcase as well, leaving White laying.

-As Claudio Castagnoli made his entrance through the crowd for the upcoming match, a video package featuring The Death Riders riding in the desert is shown as a plug for the World’s End PPV in December.

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Ricochet in the Continental Classic Gold League

(The match itself I thought was good, but the bald chants, though pretty darn funny, seemed to distract both guys. The finish seemed flat, but it was the same way Castagnoli put away Darby Allin last week, so it’ll take a little bit to get a standard lariat over as a finisher, no matter how hard you throw it. That said, the second week in a row, Castagnoli looked like a beast and hopefully has a strong run in this Continental Classic.)

Castagnoli enjoyed the advantage early with the power game, as he ate one hurricanrana from Ricochet, but blocked the second attempt. He tried a choke slam, but Ricochet managed his hurricanrana, as Castagnoli regrouped outside as Ricochet did the Spiderman flip and pose. Castagnoli caught a dive and dropped Ricochet throat first on the barricade. After firing off an uppercut, Castagnoli pressed Ricochet into the ring, but took too long to regroup, as Ricochet hit a dive. A springboard attempt back inside was thwarted, as Castagnoli knocked out the ropes and gained control into break. The crowd seems to have been coming up with chants for both guys being bald and it lasted throughout the commercial break. Yes, this included Bald Forever and Baldy Sh*t.

When things returned, Ricochet hit a dive through the ropes and went up top back inside, looked for a dive, but Castagnoli caught him into a back breaker and big boot for two. Castagnoli wanted a pop-up uppercut, but Ricochet stood on his chest, backflipped out into a round the world head scissors and another dive over the top to the floor. Back inside, a springboard clothesline connects, followed by a Lionsault for a near fall. Ricochet tried a springboard off the second rope, but Castagnoli hit an uppercut in mid-air for two. Sharpshooter transitioned into the Crossface by Castagnoli, who wanted a Ricola Bomb, but Ricochet rolled through for two.

Castagnoli chucked Ricochet to the floor and into the barricade, as he wanted a countout, but Ricochet broke the count. Castagnoli hit the big-time lariat and got the win.

-Renee Paquette is backstage with Kyle Fletcher & Don Callis, as she asks about Fletcher’s biggest win of his career. Callis said they destroyed Will Ospreay because that’s what people do to get ahead in this business. They proved what Callis has said all along, that Fletcher is better than Will Ospreay and they’re just getting started. Fletcher said they made it certain that he’s better than Ospreay in every single way and tells people to tune in on Collision, as the Continental Classic belongs to the Proto-Star.

-Adam Cole came out with The Kingdom and said he’s sick and tired of playing this game with MJF, who keeps ducking him because he’s a little bitch. After what MJF did to Roderick Strong, he swears on his mother he’ll beat Max within an inch of his life. Kyle O’Reilly then stormed to the ring and said with all due respect, Cole fought Max and it didn’t work out, so let him fight MJF. O’Reilly was going to call MJF out, when Cole cut him off and said what O’Reilly said to him last week stuck, he can’t let his friends fight his battles for him, he has to fight MJF. O’Reilly said it’s not for Cole, it’s for Roddy.

MJF is shown on the big screen playing a piano and declined the challenge by both O’Reilly & Cole and said he’s more focused on the Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal next week. MJF says he’ll play them out and plays his theme song on the piano. Cole then enters the Battle Royal, as O’Reilly is the second with both arguing until he left Cole, Taven & Bennett.

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-Excalibur runs over the Internation Women’s Cup 4-Way taking place at Wrestle Dynasty, as the upcoming match will be one of the Semifinal’s for AEW, as Willow Nightingale vs. Serena Deeb will be the other AEW Semifinal taking place December 7th on Collision. The Finals will occur at Winter Is Coming December 12th with the winner advancing to Wrestle Dynasty and representing AEW in the 4-Way. The winner of which, will receive a title shot in any of the participating promotions. Ring of Honor will have Athena vs. Red Velvet vs. Billie Starkz vs. Leyla Hirsch at a future date, while CMLL have announced Zeuxis vs. Sanely vs. Persephone vs. Reyna Isis on their December 13th show. No word at the moment who the Stardom competitors will be.

Jamie Hayter defeated Queen Aminata in an International Women’s Cup Qualifier Semifinal

(To say this was hard hitting is an understatement, as these two beat the hell out of each other. Aminata crushes it most of the time she gets a chance on TV and this was no different. I wish she’d get pushed more, which, hopefully down the line, as they shouldn’t have had Hayter lose this early in her return. This win advances Hayter to the Finals and will face the winner of Serena Deeb & Willow Nightingale.)

Hayter tried grounding Aminata in the opening moments, but Aminata spun out into a hip toss. Hayter up first and fired off a forearm before driving Aminata into the corner repeatedly, as a series of chops followed. Aminata turned the tables and the two start lighting each other up with loud chops and forearms. Hayter reversed a corner whip and drove Aminata into the corner with a suplex as things went to commercial.

When things returned, both ladies continued slugging it out, cutting one another off until they trade near falls. Aminata blocked a lariat into a snap suplex, as Hayter stumbled into the ropes, allowing Aminata to hit her charging kick that leveled Hayter to the floor. Back inside, Aminata wanted a slam, Hayter slid out, tried a big boot, but Aminata caught it and hit a face buster. Aminata up top, as she wanted a double stomp, rolled through, as Hayter connected on a Hayt-Breaker, but as she went for Hayter-ade, Aminata got a roll-up for two. Both ladies scramble around for pin attempts until Hayter sank in a choke, which Aminata rolled out of for two. Hayter up first for a big boot and Hayter-ade that wiped Aminata out for the win.

Post match, the lights went out until a spotlight appeared on stage. Hayter was left alone in the ring, wondering where Julia Hart was, knowing she was behind the mind games, but Hayter’s music started playing again and nothing else happened.

-Renee Paquette is backstage sitting with Mina Shirakawa and asked about her heartbreak from Mariah May at Full Gear. Shirakawa said she knew this day would come, as if Mariah could do this to Toni Storm, she could do it to her as well. This is unfortunately the real Mariah May, selfish, who has to kill anyone who gets close to her. If that’s the real Mariah, then it’s time to introduce her to the real Mina. May charges in and busts a bottle over Shirakawa’s head and beats her down with the AEW Women’s Title before telling her she wants Mina. We’re then told it will be Mariah May vs. Mina Shirakawa in two weeks at Winter is Coming for the AEW Women’s Title.

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Brody King defeated Darby Allin in the Continental Classic Gold League

(The story here was the damage that Allin chose to do to himself at Full Gear was his own demise, as King controlled almost all of this one, aside from the hope spots towards the end. King got his revenge on Allin from their Wrestle Dream battle and I liked the visual of King almost standing up for his rival when Castagnoli tried to do damage in the post-match. King & Castagnoli should be excellent next week.)

Allin is ribs are heavily bandaged up from t-boning his car into The Death Riders truck to conclude Full Gear. His knee is also wrapped, as Allin offered a handshake to King, who almost seemed to reluctantly accept. King blocked a kick and backflipped Allin to the mat before connecting on running sentons for a near fall. It was all King, who kept chopping the hell out of Allin, who fell from the top to the floor as things went to break, as Allin hasn’t gotten off any offense yet.

It was all King annihilating Allin during break, until King missed a senton charge into the barricade, letting Allin recover at least briefly. Allin wanted a Coffin Drop, but his legs were swept out, tied to the Tree of Woe, as King hit his corner cannonball for two. King looked for a superplex, but Allin bit the hands and head, connecting on an Avalanche Code Red for a near fall. King rolled outside where he was immediately met with a charging Allin dive and top rope Coffin Drop. Allin connected on another one on the downed King, as he went for another back inside, but King caught him in a rear naked choke. Allin rolled through for two, but King was right back into trapping him in the choke. King released the hold and destroyed Allin with a Gonzo Bomb to get the win.

Post match, King left the ring, as Claudio Castagnoli showed up with a chair, but King returned and had a stare-down with Castagnoli, as we’re told they will face one another next week in the Gold League.

Continental Classic Gold League Standings

3 Points: Claudio Castagnoli, Brody King

0 Points: Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Juice Robinson, Darby Allin

Continental Classic Blue League Standings

3 Points: Shelton Benjamin

0 Points: Mark Briscoe, Kazuchika Okada, The Beast Mortos, Kyle Fletcher, Daniel Garcia

AEW Collision 11/30/24 (special start time 4pm ET/3pm CT/1pm PT)

  • Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. TNT Champion Daniel Garcia in the Continental Classic Blue League
  • Will Ospreay vs. Juice Robinson in the Continental Classic Gold League
  • Kyle Fletcher vs. The Beast Mortos in the Continental Classic Blue League
  • Hangman Adam Page vs. Wheeler Yuta

AEW Rampage 11/30/24 (immediately following Collision)

  • Thunder Rosa vs. Harleygram (Harley Cameron in a Hologram mask)
  • Hechicero vs. Komander
  • The Beast Mortos vs. Serpentico
  • Katsuyori Shibata, Atlantis Jr. & Mascara Dorada vs. Top Flight & Action Andretti

AEW Dynamite 12/4/24

  • Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal (MJF, Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly announced competitors so far)
  • PAC vs. Switchblade Jay White
  • Brody King vs. Claudio Castagnoli in the Continental Classic Gold League

Ring of Honor TV live results: NJPW stars return

Several NJPW stars will be part of tonight’s Ring of Honor on HonorClub — a show that will also feature a men’s TV title defense.

In a non-title match, NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi will battle Ariya Daivari in Takagi’s first match for the promotion since June 2023.

NJPW men’s Strong Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd will battle Angelico in non-title action. It’s Kidd’s second ROH match and first since October’s title defense over Anthony Henry.

Tomohiro Ishii will face Mike Bennett as he looks to keep momentum going ahead of his challenge of ROH World Champion Chris Jericho Wednesday.

Kevin Knight will make his ROH debut as he faces Serpentico.

ROH men’s TV Champion Brian Cage defends against AR Fox while ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will also be in action, taking on Leila Grey in a Proving Ground match.

Shane Taylor & ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty will face JD Drake & Beef while The Righteous will make an appearance.

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All right, friends! You know the drill: Thursday, Ring of Honor, Honorclub. Now let’s get to the fights!

NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd defeated Angelico

KIdd brings to ROH the NJPW STRONG Openweight title, which you know is important because it has a lot of CAPITAL LETTERS. He retained that title against Anthony Henry on episode #85 of ROH on Honorclub back in October. Angelico would love to add that title to his collection, but sadly, this was a non-title match. No worries though, he’s cool.

Kidd started things off just like his title; strong. He rained down chops, shoves, kicks and stomps on Angelico. It wasn’t until Angelico managed to duck a lariat and deliver his own clotheslines that he got some offence in. Once he got moving though, Kidd seemed confused b the fluid style of Angelico. A punch to the face fixed that and brought the match back under Kidd’s control.

Kid launched himself at Angelico and managed to fold him up like an accordion. 1-2-3 and it was over, Kidd wins, and delivered a parting kick to the head for good measure.

Shane Taylor Promotions (Lee Moriarty & Shane Taylor) defeated BEEF & JD Drake

STP beat up a lot of people a couple of weeks ago. After adding The Infantry and Trish Adora to their ranks, they brawled with some nameless NPC’s in the back, and made their intentions to take the ROH tag belts away from Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara vary, very clear. BEEF and Drake (which sounds like an excellent dinner special at a mid-sized pub) have been reluctantly teaming together since BEEF’s 2nd cousin and Drake’s normal tag partner Anthony Henry got hurt. 

Moriarty and Taylor are an excellent team. They both have a particular set of skills that perfectly compliment each other. Drake started off against Taylor, but tagged BEEF in fairly quickly. The crowd was chanting for BEEF, but Taylor’s experience level was too much for him and Taylor sat him down hard.

This match was interesting in that it featured a lot more yelling at each other than a normal match would. Taylor’s trash talk is legendary, but BEEF was able to get a few shots in verbally too. Moriarty tagged in and matched up with Drake, who brought the chops until Taylor made a blind tag and clotheslined Drake into next week.

Taylor and Drake stood each other up and spent about 60 seconds just hitting one another. Not wrestling, just a brawl, and it was awesome. Drake got a hot tag to BEEF who fed some right hands to Moriarty. BEEF hit a big bulldog (or BEEFdog, as they kept calling it) and drake tagged in to slam Moriarty. Drake missed a big splash from the top and Taylor tagged in got a big splash on Drake to get the pin.

After the match, Top Flight jumped in and all of STP laid a beating on Drake and BEEF. Suddenly, they were interrupted by the Undisputed Kingdom of all people! Bennett and Taven ran off STP and jawed at them as the helped BEEF and Drake to their feet.

-The Righteous cut a promo from an undisclosed location. Dutch read a poem to Dustin Rhodes, his “long-lost brother.” He talked about how Rhodes’ father Dusty had loved him like a son. Soon, the Righteous will take those tag titles, and then everyone will know who Dusty really thought of as his son.

Kevin Knight defeated Serpentico

Kevin Knight (who I discovered quickly is NOT my cousin of the same name) has been hanging out in NJPW for the last couple of years with a guy named KUSHIDA. This would be his ROH debut, and who better to go up against than the Laid-Back Luchadore, Serpentico? Last week he and his SAP partner Angelico picked up a win (and Angelico a singles loss this week) and a singles victory would be icing on the very delicious cake. 

Knight had a bit of a size adventage on Serpentico, buy you can never count Serpentico out (unless he leaves the ring for 20 seconds. But that didn’t happen). Anyway, it was a fast one off the top with Knight showing why his nickname is “the Jet” and Serpentico keeping up in a neon green blur.

Serpentico laid in a bunch of SuperPunches on Knight in the corner, but couldn’t put him away. Knight fought back and took Serpentico’s head off with a lariat. Knight hit a sky high slam followed by a running frog splash that was really impressive. Knight hit one hell of a kick (clearly inspired by Sami Zayn) and follow it up with a big clothesline to put Serpentico down for the count.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Mike Bennett

You have to go all the way back to May of this year to find Bennett’s last singles match, which was a loss to Matt Menard. Since then, he’s been a big part of the Undisputed Kingdom stable, winning (and losing) the ROH Tag Titles and warring with The Conglomeration. Said Conglomeration features the membership of Tomohiro Ishii, so these two know each other well. Ishii has a date with Chris Jericho for the ROH title in the wings on Dynamite, so this was a heck of a warmup.

Ishii refused a code of honor from Bennett and the two locked up. Ishii had the power, but Bennett was able to match it as they two traded chops for what seemed like 45 minutes. It was actually about 5 though, as Ishii nailed Bennett with a shoulder and sent him into the corner. Bennett fought back with a lariat and knocked Ishii off his feet.

Bennett hit Ishii with a spear, but it seemed to hurt him more than Ishii. A big spinebuster followed that, but Ishii kicked out at two. Bennett tried to go up top but Ishii caught him and put him in a stalling suplex from the top rope. Ishii went for a brain buster and that was it for Bennett. Ishii nailed it and got the pin.

ROH CLASSIC MATCH: Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kensuke Sasaki (Final Battle 2008, December 27, 2008)

The attempted to give a reason for showing this match that made sense in-story, but it did not work. I’m pretty sure they showed this classic ROH match because it’s someone in production’s favourite match. That’s not a bad thing, mind you because it was a very, very good match! It deserves to be the favourite of the guy in production! Anyway, back in the here and now:

Shingo Takagi defeated Ariya Daivari

Takagi spent a lot of time in ROH between 2005-2008, but has only made a handful of appearances since then, choosing NJPW as his home where he’s done, well, just about everything. His last ROH match was in 2023 as part of a 6-man affair against pre-crisis Cage of Agony, The Mogul Embassy (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage & Toa Liona). Daivari has been having mixed singles results lately, having lost to Tomohio Ishii, Komander and Sammy Guevara. With Mark Sterling in tow, Daivari and the Premier Athletes as a whole, needed a win here. 

Daivari’d have his work cut out for him though with the much larger Takagi standing across the ring. Trying to outpower him did not work as Takagi returned everything Daivari threw at him with gusto. Even a cheap shot from behind that sent Takagi out of the ring didn’t really seem to do much to hurt him.

Daivari relied on his technical skills to work the arm of Takagi, taking away his big lariat. Takagi fought back though, drawing his second wind from the turnbuckle. He peppered Daivari with massive elbows, both front and back. Takagi went for a pumphandle slam but Sterling caused a distraction, letting Daivari hit a hammerlock DDT.

Daivari tried a clutch, but Takagi fought out of it and delivered a DDT of his own. Daivari ascaped up the ropes and tried a frog splash, but Takagi wasn’t done. On pure instinct he hit a massive lariat and then Last of The Dragon, a truly terrifying finisher, to get the pin.

PROVING GROUND MATCH: ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defeated Leila Grey

For those just joining us, this was a Proving Ground match. If Grey could pin the champion or last to a 10-minute time limit, she would get a shot at the ROH Women’s World Championship at a later date. Athena retained her title in October against Abadon, but there are plenty of women waiting in the wings to try and dethrone the Forever Champion, including disgruntled Minion in Training, Billie Starkz.

Athena took things with her usual seriousness, playing with Grey’s hair and running around the ring like an airplane. Grey jumped on this underestimation though, and got a couple of near falls off of some hard-hitting offense, and then sending Athena to the outside.

Athena turned the tables there, sending Grey’s face into the steel steps. Athena returned to the ring and Grey followed, right into the hands of the Champion with over three minutes gone in the match. All Grey had to do was last seven more minutes and she would get her title shot.

Grey started to pick up steam, hitting a bulldog that Athena kicked out of at two-and-three-quarters. Athena then started to bring out the big guns. Handspring slams in the corner, big power slams and lariats. She went to the top rope for the O Face, but Grey beat her to it and hit a sunset bomb from the top rope!

Time was running out though and Athena resorted to raking eyes and drawing Grey into a triangle choke. Grey lasted a few seconds, but was forced to tap before time ran out, dashing her hopes of a title match.

ROH WORLD TELEVISION TITLE MATCH: Brian Cage ( c) defeated AR Fox

In the Main Event: AR Fox has actually been on something of a roll in ROH the last couple months. He’s posted wins over Jack Cartwheel and Josh Woods and was part of a few tag victories as well. This is enough to earn him a shot a Brian Cage’s ROH World TV Title. This will mark Cage’s second defense of the belt, as he retained vs Komander a few weeks ago and has been hanging out with the Don Callis Family ever since. He even brought a Lance Archer with him!

Cage, in a very subdued outfit compared to his usual gear, was the same height as Fox, but about twice as wide. In a normal situation, this would be a case of Speed vs Strength, but as anyone who’s seen him wrestle knows, Cage has just as much speed as he does strength.

Fox tried everything he could including a Shooting Star Press and then a full moonsault onto Cage on the outside. Cage was resilient though, getting to his feet every time. Fox let Cage get to close, and got his eyes raked for his trouble. Cage moved into a series of power moves and suplexes to knock Fox silly.

Cage did some bicep curls with Fox, ending his set with a slam. From there, Cage tried a simple chin lock to wear down the challenger. Fox battled back though, hanging Cage up in the ropes. Fox pulled an Elix Skipper and matrix-dodged a big lariat. Cage looked a little sluggish at this point as Fox hit a DDT.

Cage managed to catch fox and hit a blue thunder pumphandle bomb. He tried to lock in a reverse cloverleaf, but Fox was able to get to the ropes. Fox responded with a Code red, but only got the two count. Fox then hit Cage with a spiccoli driver followed by a big 450 splash. Somehow, Cage kicked out though.

Fox set Cage up on the top rope, but Cage swatted him down and hit a satellite DDT, followed by a series of powerbombs, but still, Fox kicked out. Cage hit a discus lariat and a brainbuster and that finally put Fox on his back and out of his misery. Excellent match though! Excellent show!

Jericho-Ishii contract signing added to AEW Dynamite

Contracts will be signed this Wednesday.

It was announced on social media Tuesday that Chris Jericho and Tomohiro Ishii will meet on AEW Dynamite to sign a contract for their future ROH World Championship match that will take place on the November 27 edition of Dynamite.

The feud between Jericho and Ishii dates back to earlier in the year, when Ishii was written out of AEW storylines following an attack by Jericho. Since then, Ishii has made his return and even pinned Jericho when the Conglomeration fought The Learning Tree in a Fight Without Honor on the November 6 edition of Dynamite.

Ishii previously challenged Jericho for the ROH World title during Jericho’s first run as champion in 2022, but was unsuccessful.

Here’s the updated lineup for Reading, PA:

  • Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta
  • Darby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli
  • Will Ospreay, Ricochet, Powerhouse Hobbs & Mark Davis vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Lance Archer & Brian Cage
  • Big Boom A.J. appearance
  • Kris Statlander vs. Hikaru Shida
  • Chris Jericho/Tomohiro Ishii ROH World title contract signing
  • Hechicero, Atlantis Jr., and Mascara Dorada in action

Two new matches official for Wrestle Dynasty

Two new additions to the Wrestle Dynasty card have now been made official.

Taking place the day after Wrestle Kingdom 19, Wrestle Dynasty is being held at the Tokyo Dome on January 5. It’s airing on NJPW World and will feature wrestlers from NJPW, AEW, Stardom, CMLL, and ROH.

Jack Perry vs. Yota Tsuji is now official for the event. It was set up when AEW wrestler Perry showed up and attacked Tsuji at NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed last Friday.

It’s also been announced that, in a potential double title match, Tomohiro Ishii will face either Shingo Takagi or Konosuke Takeshita at Wrestle Dynasty. Takagi is defending his NEVER Openweight Championship against Takeshita at Wrestle Kingdom. If Takeshita is still AEW International Champion, that title will be on the line as well. The winner will then defend against Ishii at Wrestle Dynasty.

The updated Wrestle Dynasty card is listed below:

Wrestle Dynasty (Sunday, January 5) —

  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet
  • Jack Perry vs. Yota Tsuji
  • Tomohiro Ishii challenges either Shingo Takagi or Konosuke Takeshita for the NEVER Openweight Championship (will be a double title match with the AEW International Championship also on the line if Takeshita is still champion going into Wrestle Kingdom 19)

AEW Collision live results: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kyle Fletcher

Tomohiro Ishii is in singles action this week on Collision.

The NJPW star is set to take on Kyle Fletcher of the Don Callis family on this week’s show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Both are coming off of losses, as Ishii lost in the opening match of Wednesday’s Dynamite by losing to Hangman Page. Fletcher on the same show was defeated by Ricochet in his AEW debut.

This week’s show will also see The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) taking on FTR in what will be their first match since All In. A four-way has also been announced, as Hikaru Shida will take on Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, and Queen Aminata, who has been recently working on Ring of Honor tapings.

A trios match will also take place. Collision staple Hologram will team with Kyle O’Reilly and Orange Cassidy to take on Lee Moriarty, Johnny TV, and The Beast Mortos.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 pm ET.

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AEW Collision comes on the air with Tony Schiavone welcoming us alongside Nigel McGuinness as the music for Orange Cassidy hits and it’s time for the opening Trios match of the evening. Schiavone welcomes McGuinness back to the ring at All In and mentions Christian Cage costing him in the Casino Gauntlet, something McGuinness says they’ll get to later.

Hologram, Orange Cassidy & Kyle O’Reilly defeated ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty, Johnny TV & The Beast Mortos (w/Shane Taylor, Anthony Ogogo & Taya Valkyrie)

(Action packed opener, as Hologram is now 6-0 since debuting in AEW. The crowd were loudly behind him and teaming with The Conglomeration only benefitted him in this one. I also can’t put over Mortos enough, he’s such a great big man. I know he just got an ROH Title match, but would love to see him get more of a push in AEW. He’s been on quite a few shows lately, just wish he’d get in the win column more.)

Cassidy & O’Reilly poked Hologram during his entrance to make sure he was real. O’Reilly & TV trade kicks and mat work in the early going before Cassidy tagged in with some nonchalant double teaming before Hologram joined and we get locomotion splashes in the corner. Hologram & Moriarty tagged in with fast back and forth action, as Moriarty dodged a head scissors, but Hologram got a cazadora into a roll-up for two. Mortos sprinted in with a spinning crucifix and laid out O’Reilly & Cassidy in the process. Lightning quick déjà vu from Hologram, who wanted a dive, but was cut off by Moriarty. Everyone stacked up with each other applying sleeper holds, until Mortos got a running charge and Pounced the pile. Mortos tried a spinning dive outside, but took out both his teammates in the process. Cassidy leapt off the apron with a punch, as Hologram, with the crowd chanting loudly for him, hit a somersault dive on the pile heading to picture in picture.

Back from break, Cassidy found himself isolated, trying desperately to get to his corner, until he shrugged off a Moriarty sunset flip and just strolled over and made a hot tag to O’Reilly. Mortos absorbed O’Reilly’s offense and starched him with a discus lariat. A weird little sequence of who was the legal man with Mortos & TV, as it allowed O’Reilly to dive to a Hologram hot tag. Hologram incredibly hit a somersault springboard double arm-drag on Moriarty & TV into a hurricanrana pin on Mortos for two. Hologram tried another springboard, but Moriarty & TV launched him high in the air right into a massive Mortos spear for two. Cassidy made the tag and, along with O’Reilly, lit up Mortos with kicks, but he absorbed it all. Stundog Millionaire connected as the match broke down with high impact moves, leading to a spinning DDT and Orange Punch from Cassidy, shotgun dropkick from Moriarty, almost a moonsault Samoan Drop from TV, who opted to pose, allowing Hologram to hit a reverse Spanish Fly into his roll-up pin for the victory.

-Footage of Jon Moxley returning on Dynamite, as well as the backstage beating security suffered at the hands of his new associate, “The Problem” Marina Shafir, is shown.

Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson, Austin & Colten Gunn) defeated The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari & Josh Woods w/Mark Sterling)

(Pretty quick win for the Bang Bang Gang to get them back in the win column following their loss at All In. The crowd were really behind Robinson & The Gunns in this one.)

After arguing with the official in the opening moments, Woods was able to get a cheap shot in on Austin and keep him isolated. Austin was able to fight his way out and make the hot tag to Robinson, who was a house of fire with jabs aplenty, firing off Left Hands of God before a full nelson slam took out Nese. Colten made the tag, as Robinson wiped out Daivari with a dive. Corner splashes and dropkicks to Nese & Woods, as Sterling ran distraction, but Nese collided with him. Woods ran into 3:10 to Yuma by The Gunns, as Colten got the pin.

-Footage of Mercedes Mone defending her NJPW Strong Women’s Title last night at Capital Collision against Momo Watanabe is shown. Mone challenged anyone from STARDOM to come face her for the title and said Mone changes everything. We’re told that the winner of tonight’s main event will receive a TBS Title shot against Mone at All Out. A quick Hikaru Shida video package is then shown about being the ace of the AEW women’s division.

**********

-Footage of the 10-man tag at All In Zero Hour was shown with The Von Erichs, Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes all applying the Iron Claw to Gates of Agony & The Undisputed Kingdom.

FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) defeated The Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven)

(Solid tag match, as FTR also get back in the win column following All In. Post match is the bigger story, with GYV making another statement beatdown in a match I wouldn’t be surprised is announced for All Out. If you want Gibson & Drake as contenders in the tag division, I think they need to get a win over a team like FTR to make that happen.)

Taven reminded Harwood who he was to start, but after taking him down, Taven reminded the camera man and walked into multiple chops. Wheeler tagged in and FTR slammed Taven down by the hair until Wheeler was backed to the wrong corner. Bennett & Taven with quick tags, but Wheeler battled back with a charging uppercut, as Taven & Bennett were launched to the floor. The Kingdom recovered, dodging a Harwood corner charge, as he posted himself, as Bennett & Taven stayed in control during the entire break.

When things returned, Harwood has a visual roll-up on Taven, but Bennett took the ref, who missed it. Harwood hit a DDT for the double down and dove for a Wheeler hot tag, who ran wild. Corner float over led to a leaping lariat, as Wheeler got the crowd hyped with FTR chants, but Taven ran distraction, allowing a Bennett discus forearm. The Kingdom tried a double team on Harwood, but Wheeler leapt off the top for a double crossbody. Stereo rolling Germans until Wheeler tried a jackknife pin for a near fall. FTR wanted a Power-Plex, but Taven superkicked Wheeler to the floor. Harwood tried a Sharpshooter on Taven, who raked the eyes, as Bennett hit a Death Valley Driver and Taven with a charging knee for two. Taven was crotched in the corner, as Bennett ate a Shatter Machine. Power-Plex to Taven connected, as Harwood got the cover and victory.

Post match, James Drake & Zack Gibson attacked from behind and hit a high/low on Harwood. They took the microphone and made something clear, AEW is where the best wrestle, which is why they’re here. This is the second time in one week they’ve laid out FTR, the living legends. They are bitter and have a chip on their shoulders after being compared to FTR by the idiot fans. The only name the fans will remember when they’re done are the Grizzled Young Veterans.

-Video package for Thunder Rosa is shown ahead of tonight’s main event. She said the wild claims by other women saying they’re the ace of the women’s division makes her chuckle and tonight, she’ll remind everyone why she’s the ace.

**********

Backstage Lance Archer is shown laying out a bunch of folks with any weapon near him before smacking a fella with a shovel and chokeslamming him on a crate. Archer grabbed the camera and said “everybody dies”.

Lio Rush, Action Andretti & Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin w/Leila Gray) defeated The Iron Savages (Bronson, Boulder & Jacked Jameson) & Turbo Floyd (w/Truth Magnum)

(I know the babyface team were victorious, but despite being on the heel team, Turbo Floyd was super over with the crowd and they went wild when he finally was able to tag in. Just a quick little match, but it reminded folks how great The Outrunners act is, even in defeat.)

Floyd kept getting robbed of tagging in during the early going, as The Savages continuously found themselves the victim of the speed game of Andretti, Rush & The Martins. Finally, Floyd made the tag, tried a bodyslam, but Jameson pulled him off and made another tag, only to suffer an airplane spin by Dante. Bronson tried to make the save, but was hit with an airplane spin as well. He tried it to Boulder, who didn’t budge, so all four men hit a suplex on the big man. Floyd was left alone and wanted to take everyone on and he was a house of fire. Rush ducked a charged, as Floyd collided with Bronson, as did Jameson. Low tope from Rush on Bronson, Andretti took out Floyd, leaving Dante to hit a huge Frog Splash on Jameson for the win.

-Lexy Nair is backstage with Queen Aminata & Serena Deeb, as Aminata says the advantage she has tonight is that she’s been in the ring with everyone involved in the main event. Deeb interrupted and said no one knows this game better, as she’s defeated all the ladies. She can’t stand Rosa, but thinks Aminata is one of the best up and comers on the roster, but she’s not ready. Deeb has a proposition, they work together. Aminata went to interrupt, but Deeb cut her off, saying to think about it.

Kyle Fletcher (w/Don Callis) defeated Tomohiro Ishii

(The Summer of Ishii in AEW has been a whole lot of fun to say the least. I’m so glad he was able to come over here instead of being part of the G1 this year. Fletcher is another on the list of guys Ishii has had excellent battles with. The crowd were into this the entire time, as this was a great match. Fletcher looked really good here and gets him back on track following his loss to Ricochet on Dynamite.)

Fletcher tried an early shoulder tackle and Callis on commentary said it’s like tackling a telephone pole. Both men had a wild forearm exchange, with neither backing down, so they changed to shoulder tackles, as Ishii mowed Fletcher down. Ishii was planted with a spinning bodyslam and hit with corner punches, as Callis said he wouldn’t do that, as Ishii’s head is shaped like a cinderblock. Ishii charged and turned Fletcher inside out, as both went to the apron, where Fletcher hit a thrust kick and violent brainbuster on the apron taking things to commercial.

Back from break, Ishii started absorbing forearms and turned Fletcher into a mannequin with a home run shot. Ishii really had to battle for, but got a Backdrop Driver for a near fall. Fletcher side stepped Ishii, sent him to the apron, hit a leg lariat and dive to the outside. Back inside, both men no sold snap Germans, as Fletcher countered a hurricanrana into a sit-out powerbomb for the double down. Fletcher hit a thrust kick, but Ishii no sold a lariat and flattened Fletcher with a headbutt before turning him inside out with a lariat. Fletcher rolled out of a brainbuster and lawn darted Ishii into the bottom turnbuckle. Fletcher attempted an Avalanche Tombston, but Ishii headbutted free and hit a leaping top rope hurricanrana, leaving Callis speechless. Sliding D connected, but Fletcher kicked out. Brainbuster attempt was countered into one by Fletcher for another near fall. Both traded switches and forearms until Fletcher hit a series of thrust kicks, lariat and spinning Tombstone for another close two. Fletcher hit a brutal piledriver and finally got the win. This match was fantastic.

-Video package for Queen Aminata is shown and her recent success in Ring of Honor.

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-Footage of Bryan Danielson winning the AEW World Title at All In is shown, along with his promo on Dynamite, saying it’s not time to go home yet. Jack Perry answering the challenge, saying his future is to win the AEW Title and retire Bryan Danielson. The match is official for All Out.

-Lexy Nair is backstage with PAC, who said don’t think he’s content, despite having his Wembley moment. He’s still full of piss and vinegar, but it’s a crock of crap for those who say good thing comes to those who wait. If it wasn’t for contractual obligation, he’d fight Will Ospreay tonight. Instead, he challenges Ospreay to a tag match on Dynamite, as he’ll get his partners, Ospreay can get his. Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy walk in with O’Reilly on the phone with Mark Briscoe, saying they’ll be Ospreay’s partners. PAC smacks the phone out of O’Reilly’s hands, stares down Cassidy saying it’s even better that he’s Ospreay’s partner.

Buddy Matthews defeated Komander (w/Alex Abrahantes)

(One hell of a sprint, as these two worked really well with each other. The post-match set up the tag next week on Collision, which we’re reminded is before Rampage next Friday night.)

Matthews tried to keep Komander grounded early, but was unsuccessful doing so, as Komander went to work on the arm. Wall walk from Komander, who sprung off the ropes into an arm drag, leapt off the top, but Matthews caught him. Matthews wanted a powerbomb, but Komander countered into a hurricanrana to the floor. Komander looked for a dive, but Matthews caught him in mid-air and hit a suplex on the outside to take things to commercial.

Back from break, Komander tried a tilt-a-whirl DDT on the apron, but Matthews countered into a brutal pump knee. Hung up between the ropes, Komander responded with a hurricanrana, completely spiking Matthews. The match reset, as both traded strikes until Komander fired off a thrust kick, enzugiri and poison rana combo. Matthews to the outside, as Komander successfully hit his dive and back inside, tried a moonsault, only to get caught. Komander countered into a Tornado DDT for a near fall. Tiger Feint Kick in the corner from Komander, who tried a springboard, but Matthews hit a pump knee in mid-air. The pumphandle into Death Valley Driver (the former Murphy’s Law) connected, giving Matthews the victory.

Brody King came to the ring to check on Matthews, but MxM Collection were shown on the big screen, congratulating Matthews on his win. The demonic dipsticks will be inducted into the House of Black and Blue and go out of style along with slap bracelets and frosted tips. Mansoor asked Madden to frost his tip, as they touched tips and told Matthews & King to get prepared to be House of Blacked. Next week is their week, fashion week and they’re laying down the gauntlet, Friday Night Fashion Fight, House of Black against MxM Collection. They lower out of camera shot as Matthews said it’s their funeral and accepts.

-A video package for Serena Deeb is shown ahead of tonight’s main event.

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-Video for Nyla Rose is shown, along with Mariah May winning the Women’s Title at All In. It will be May vs. Rose on Dynamite with the title on the line.

Hikaru Shida defeated Queen Aminata, Serena Deeb & Thunder Rosa to earn a TBS Title match at All Out

(This match had a lot going on, maybe too much towards the end. I really hope Rosa is ok following the scary Deeb-tox she took, as even Nigel McGuinness on commentary screamed when it happened. While the match itself had some good moments, it did feel like it fell apart at the finish. Regardless, Shida now earns her rematch against Mercedes Mone at All Out. For a moment, I thought they would go with a new challenger like Aminata, but the Shida/Mone match a few weeks ago was fun and I expect the rematch to be no different.)

Shida ran wild in the opening moments, stacking all three ladies in the corner for a charging knee. Rosa cut off corner punches on Aminata, as Deeb dispatched Shida, leaving Rosa & Deeb slugging it out. Northern Lights by Rosa was broke up by Aminata, who hit a snap suplex and German suplex to follow. Shida attacked from behind and went to the outside with Aminata, as Deeb locked in an Octopus Hold on Rosa, so Shida booted her square in the face to break it up. All four ladies attempted a double suplex, as Aminata & Deeb won the battle, with commentary going back to Deeb’s invitation to Aminata earlier in the evening to work together.

They both controlled Rosa & Shida during break until Deeb was pulled off the apron by Shida, while Aminata hit a release German on Rosa and snap suplex on Shida. Aminata hit hip attacks and running sliding boots to Rosa & Shida in the corner and got a two counter on Shida, so Deeb decided to attack. Clotheslines for all, as Deeb laid out Rosa with a neckbreaker through the ropes and dragon screw on Shida in the ropes. Deeb with a swinging neckbreaker on Aminata, but as she had a half crab on Shida, Rosa hit a running charge that left all four ladies down.

Rosa fought off Aminata, tried a dropkick through the ropes, but Deeb wasn’t in position and Rosa caught nothing but air. Rosa kicked Shida in the face before laying out Aminata with a backstabber. Running dropkick to the face of Shida & Aminata, as Deeb broke up the cover. Deeb got the Indian Death Lock on Rosa while hitting a snap suplex on Shida at the same time. Bounce back German and wrist clutch lariat from Deeb on Shida, as Rosa flew in, as did Aminata, leaving all four down once again. Deeb & Aminata got a double roll-up, but Rosa & Shida rolled through with charging knees. Rosa & Shida slugged it out until Rosa hit a hurricanrana out of the corner and DVD to follow. Deeb wanted Deeb-tox and stacked Rosa on her neck, which looked really scary. Deeb sank in a half crab, as Aminata started lighting her up with kicks to break it up. Shida got just enough of a missile dropkick, as she clocked Aminata with the Kitana to win the match.

AEW Dynamite 9/4/24

  • AEW International Champion Will Ospreay, Kyle O’Reilly & Orange Cassidy vs. AEW Trios Champions PAC, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta
  • Mariah May defends the AEW Women’s Title against Nyla Rose

AEW Collision & Rampage 9/6/24

  • House of Black (Brody King & Buddy Matthews) vs. MxM Collection (Mansoor & Mason Madden)

Four matches announced for AEW Collision

New matches have been announced for Saturday’s AEW Collision.

Tomohiro Ishii will be in action, as he will take on Kyle Fletcher. Both are coming off of losses, as Ishii lost to Hangman Page in the opening match of Wednesday’s AEW Collision. Fletcher, meanwhile, lost to Ricochet in what was Ricochet’s AEW debut.

Saturday will also see The Undisputed Kingdom taking on FTR. This will be FTR’s first match since All In, where they lost the three-way tag team match that was for the AEW Tag Team titles. A four-way has also been announced, with Hikaru Shida taking on Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, and Queen Aminata, who has mostly been working in Ring of Honor as of late.

A Trios match will also take place. Collision staple Hologram will team with Kyle O’Reilly and Orange Cassidy of the Conglomeration to take on ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty, Johnny TV, and The Beast Mortos.

Here is what has been announced for Saturday’s AEW Collision in Sioux Falls:

  • Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kyle Fletcher
  • The Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) vs. FTR
  • Lee Moriarty, Johnny TV, and The Beast Mortos vs. Hologram, Kyle O’Reilly, and Orange Cassidy
  • Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb vs. Queen Aminata

Strong Tag Team title match set for NJPW Royal Quest IV

The next challengers for the New Japan Strong Tag Team titles have been set.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii won a three-way tag team match to open Friday’s NJPW Capital Collision event in Washington DC. They defeated TMDK’s Bad Dude Tito & Robbie Eagles and The Grizzled Young Veterans after the duo isolated Tito, allowing Tanahashi to hit the high fly flow for the win.

Later in the show, champions Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls retained the titles, defeating CMLL’s Hechicero and Virus. After the match, the new number one contenders came to the ring. Tanahashi announced that they wanted their tag team title match at Royal Quest on October 20 in London, and as the president of NJPW, he can make it official. TMDK ended up accepting their challenge.

TMDK have held the titles since June 9, when they defeated Kenta & Chase Owens and Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) at Dominion to win both the NJPW Strong and IWGP Tag Team titles.

The current card for NJPW Royal Quest:

  • NJPW Strong Tag Team titles: TMDK defend against Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii

Ring of Honor TV live results: Mina Shirakawa vs. Rachael Ellering

Mina Shirakawa will return to Ring of Honor on tonight’s weekly HonorClub TV show against Rachael Ellering.

It’s Shirakawa’s first ROH appearance since April’s Supercard of Honor and her first ROH singles match since a March win over Anna Jay. Ellering is looking for her second straight victory.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will battle Aleah James in a Proving Ground match where if James can beat her or go to a draw, she earns a future title shot.

Tomohiro Ishii will look to rebound from Wednesday’s defeat to Hangman Page when he takes on Ariya Daivari.

After not making it into the Casino gauntlet match at All In, Evil Uno will battle Jacoby Watts.

Other announced action includes Johnny TV vs. Sidney Akeem, Blake Christian vs. Rosario Grillo, and Leila Grey vs. Promise Braxton, in addition to matches featuring both Top Flight & Action Andretti and former ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods.

Shane Taylor Promotions will also share some thoughts about what’s next for them.

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Thursday arrived as Thursday does and that means Ring of Honor action! The “Board of Directors” Era of ROH was in full effect and as such, the card was jam-packed with good matchups. Starting with with the huge opening match:

PROVING GROUND MATCH: ROH Women’s World Champion Athena defeated Aleah James

ROH’s “Forever Champion” graced us all with her presence and offered James the gift of a Proving Ground match (Athena’s 31st since winning the title). That meant that if James could last until the 10-minute time limit or pin the champion outright, she would get a shot at the ROH Women’s Championship at a later date. Athena had one eye over her shoulder though as not only has she been having difficulty with demoted Minion-in-Training Billie Starkz, but also Abadon has been lurking near the champ in recent days.

Athena has been ROH champion for a million billion days and someone like James was an opponent that didn’t really require her to do much beyond going through the motions. Even when James got in a quick flurry of offense, it didn’t seem like Athena really was going to have a problem with her.

James managed a surprise two-count after a flying crossbody, which got the Champ’s attention. Athena turned up the heat at that point, with big clubbing strikes and a series of powerbombs. Finally, Athena locked in the crossface submission and James tapped out.

-After the match, Athena mocked James and was about to lay in a beating when Abadon showed up! Athena’s eye’s filled with fear as Abadon stared her down in the ring. The crowd chanted “this is spooky” and Abadon chased Athena from the ring where Starkz lay in wait and clocked Abadon with the ROH Women’s Championship belt, knocking her out cold.

Johnny TV w/Taya Valkyrie defeated Sidney Akeem

Akeem has been making a name for himself on the indies lately, partially because of his background training with Cirque de Soleil. That matched up pretty well with the parkour-focused Johnny TV who was looking to spoil Akeem’s ROH debut.

The two seemed a little shaky off the top, but quickly reset with some speed and high dropkicks, ending up with TV on the outside to regroup with Valkyrie. Because of his gymnastics background, Akeem was able to keep up with TV no problem. TV changed up his strategy and tried to keep Akeem on the ground, taking away some of his skills.

TV hit a shining Wizard on Akeem and headed up for Starship Pain. Unfortunately, two things happened: 1) Akeem rolled out of the way, and 2) TV clipped the rope with his foot causing him to land hard on his head. By design or accidental, it looked like it dazed him pretty good.

After a swinging neckbreaker, TV tried another Starship Pain, this time landing it on the prone Akeem. TV rolled him over for the 1-2-3.

Lance Archer defeated “Ozzy”

Archer made a surprise appearance, dragging his opponent, a young man known only as “Ozzy” down to the ring. Archer did not say why he was there, or why he jumped the much smaller Ozzy in the back. He just toyed with him and beat the living hell out of him for a few minutes before hitting a Blackout and pinning him to get the win? I guess?

-We were then joined by Shane Taylor of Shane Taylor Promotions and ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty. Taylor ran down Moriarty’s opponent for the night Angelico. Moriarty suggested that Angelico protect his neck in their main event match.

RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Champion Mina Shirakawa defeated Rachael Ellering 

For those not in the know, Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) is a British wrestling promotion founded in 2012 by Andy Quildan after separating from International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom. 

Shirakawa hasn’t been seen in ROH since a surprise Stardom showcase trios match at Supercard of Honor. Ellering won a tough battle against Brooke Havok three weeks ago, which one has to think puts her in title contention.

Ellering had a size advantage on the Joshi star, but Shirakawa was able to keep pace with her until Ellering picked her up and attempted to side slam her. Shirakawa was able to wriggle free and taunt Ellering, causing her to lose focus and give Shirakawa a chance to lay in some big kicks.

Ellering, who used a more technical style, didn’t seem prepared for the bouncy, high-energy style of Shirakawa. Ellering resorted to clubbing blows, lariats and standing kicks to imposer her will on Shirakawa. Shirakawa fought back with some spinning kicks and back elbows, stunning Ellering.

Ellering hit a pendulum slam out of a fisherwoman’s suplex that seemed to do some real damage to Shirakawa’s shoulder. That didn’t stop her from climbing to the top rope and landing a big splash on Ellering. Shirakawa grabbed Ellering and went for what looked like a crab hold at first, but instead Shirakawa pulled Ellering on her back and pinned her for the win!

Respect was being shown between the two women when suddenly Taya Valkyrie appeared! She tossed Ellering out of the ring and beat up Shirakawa, leaving her lying in the ring for reasons only she knows.

Top Flight (Darious and Duante) & Action Andretti w/ Leila Grey defeated Ace of Space Academy (LSG, Colton Charles, and GKM)

Andretti kicked things off with LSG, quickly isolating him in Top Flight’s corner. GKM tagged in next but found himself across from Darious who spun him into the feet of Andretti. GKM hit a splash in the corner that saw him getting at least 4 feet of air. Charles tagged in next showboating against Andretti. After a dropkick, Andretti hit a hot tag to Duante who cleared the ring.

Andretti hit a springboard crossbody from the top rope on GKM. Darious set up Colton for a big slam on the outside and Andretti and Top Flight hit a big triple team to knock GKM silly and get the pin.

EJ Nduka defeated Demo Diamond

The 2-0 Nduka arrived to big cheers from family and friends at ringside. The big man worked the crowd for a moment and then hopped into the ring to face Diamond, who was almost the same size. Almost.

The two locked up and when these two behemoths threw each other around the ring, you could feel each impact. Nduka hit a massive hammer strike on Diamond that seemed to send him spinning. Nduka continued with some should blocks in the corner until Diamond managed to get out of the way. Nduka didn’t give up the momentum for long though, planting Diamond with a massive spinebuster. An arrogant standing cover later and it was over, with Nduka emerging victorious.

-Rachel Ellering was interviewed by Lexy Nair backstage. Ellering was interrupted by Harley Cameron who introduced herself to Ellering, in spite of them having met before. Cameron mocked Ellering for losing and showered her with backhanded praise, calling her “kid” and then leaving a flustered Ellering.

Dark Order’s Evil Uno defeated Jacoby Watts w/ Nick Comoroto

Watts was all by himself this week, with his partner Nick Comoroto out of action for the year with injury. Evil Uno took a break from playing video games with Adam Cole to enter this singles bout, and has been on a really aggressive tear the last few weeks with his Dark Order compatriots. 

Watts started the match off by trying to recruit Uno into his “flock.” Uno declined via punch to the face and the match began. Uno laid in some massive chops in the corner on Watts. Watts turned his back, trying to outsmart Uno, but Uno just chopped his back.

Comoroto approached Uno on the outside, but the Order’s John Silver was there and the two exchanged words as Watts hit a big clothesline in the ring. Uno fought back with a big boot and DDT. Uno got Watts up for a piledriver and was able to pull off a pin to get the victory.

Premier Athletes’ Josh Woods w/ Mark Sterling defeated Barrett Brown

Sterling yapped his way to the ring, hyping up Woods and tearing down the rest of ROH. Brown was definitely not as “premier” as Woods, giving up about 8 inches in height. Brown tried to lure Woods into a more technical match, but nothing he managed to hit on Woods really had much of an effect.

Woods hit a hige running knee and then threw Brown across the ring with a massive tombstone 540 suplex. He then sat on Brown to get the pin.

Leila Grey defeated Promise Braxton

Grey’s second appearance of the night was a singles match against Braxton. Top Flight and Andretti accompanied her to the ring, cheering on their Flight Attendant. Braxton had the chance to pick up a huge win if she could get by Grey.

Grey controlled the pace for the most part, lots of armdrags and off-the-rope strikes. Braxton tried to out-muscle Grey, but it didn’t seem to work for her as Grey reversed a hold into a massive slam. Grey hit a blockbuster off the top rope, but Brown only gave up a two count.

Grey put Braxton on her back with a full nelson slam and followed it up with a butterfly brainbuster to win the match.

Blake Christian defeated Rosario Grillo

Christian won 5 matches in the Best of The Super Juniors tournament in Japan. Not moving further in the competition seems to have weighed heavily on him and given him a bit of an attitude. Grillo is a student of the Nightmare Factory and Christian laid him out right off the top, with a vicious stretched shoulder stomp.

Christian threw Grillo around the ring for a bit then finally pinned him. There wasn’t much to this match, but Christian looked good, and has a bright future in ROH.

Tomohiro Ishii defeated Ariya Daivari

The Premier Athletes and the Conglomeration explode! Or, at the very least, had this match. Daivari had his athletic background to rely on and Ishii had the fact he appears to be made of stone to his advantage. Sterling ran down the Conglomeration on the way to the ring, claiming that the Premier Athletes have the class the Conglomeration does not.

Daivari didn’t really know what to do with Ishii. He tried chops, no dice. He tried tying up with no result. He even tried leaving, but that didn’t work either. Diavari made a critical mistake early on by putting Ishii in a headlock. Ishii, famously neckless, was able to break free easily and chop Daivari into next week.

On the outside, Daivari managed to get ahold of Ishii’s chopping hand and slam it into ringposts and the steel steps, robbing Ishii of one of his bigger weapons. Daivari was able to maintain control of the match, working the hand over and over.

Ishii fought back though, clotheslining Daivari in a circle. Ishii hit a big german suplex and a back ground elbow to knock Daivari out and get the pin. Ishii left favouring his chopping hand.

ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Lee Moriarty(c) w/Shane Taylor defeated Angelico w/ Serpentico

After a very impressive turn in his first-ever Pure Rules match last week, Angelico decided he was ready for the big time and issued this challenge to current ROH Pure Champion, Moriarty. In a Pure Rules match, each competitor gets three rope breaks and one closed fist warning and after that they are out of luck. If the match went to time, a panel of judges (Christphoer Daniels, Jerry Lynn and Paul Wight) would award the match based on points.

The gangly Angelico had about 6 inches in height on Moriarty, but in terms of pure muscle, Moriarty had the one-up on his opponent. Moriarty’s strategy seemed to be to keep Angelico still, locking in holds that didn’t give the high-flyer a chance to get into the flow of things.

From there, the match went back and forth, with neither man getting control over the other. They did dance though, so there was that. At 3:30, Moriarty used his first rope break and got some words of encouragement from Taylor. These two worked extremely well together, everything in the match flowed really well and it was a calm, yet edge-of-your-seat vibe. At 6:37, Angelico was forced to use his first rope break, and began favoring his shoulder.

Angelico managed to get an ankle lock on, causing Moriarty to use a second rope break at 8:08. Moriarty responded with a bridge stretch, causing Angelico to use his second rope break at 9:20. Moriarty hung up Angelico’s shoulder on the ropes and began to take control. He locked in a Kimoura on Angelico at 10:37, forcing the challenger to use his last rope break.

Angelico put Moriarty in a twisting figure four at 11:22 and Moriarty grabbed the rope by his fingertips, exhausting all rope breaks. The two exchanged moves back and forth until Moriarty got a surprise rollup on Angelico, ending the match at approximately 12:30 and keeping the belt on Moriarty. The two showed respect in the ring and Moriarty stood tall as the show came to a close.

RevPro 12th Anniversary Show notes: Saraya, Luke Jacobs, Tomohiro Ishii

Notes from RevPro’s annual anniversary show.

The company held their 12th Anniversary Show at the Copper Box in London Saturday. In the main event, Luke Jacobs defeated Michael Oku to win the Undisputed British Heavyweight title for the first time. After the match, Tomohiro Ishii came out and had a staredown with Jacbos in what would be the first challenge for the new champion. Ishii wrestled earlier in the night, defeating JJ Gale.

Oku lost the title on Saturday amid rumors he may be heading to AEW, having competed in a dark match prior to AEW’s Dynamite show on Wednesday, defeating Serpentico.

Another AEW star, Saraya, made a surprise appearance supporting her brother Ricky Knight Jr. as he defeated Zozaya.

Other title changes saw Mina Shirakawa defeat Dani Luna to win the Undisputed British Women’s title and Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper defeat Grizzled Young Veterans to capture the Undisputed British Tag Team titles. In a six-way match for the Undisputed British Cruiserweight title, Will Kaven defeated Cameron Khai, El Phantasmo, Leon Slater, surprise participant Dante Martin, and champion Neon to become the new champion.

Mixed tag team match official for AEW All In Zero Hour

A mixed tag team match is set for Wembley Stadium.

It was made official during AEW Collision that Willow Nightingale will team with Tomohiro Ishii to take on Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway. This came following an in-ring segment that took place Saturday.

After video was shown of Willow Nightingale telling Tomohiro Ishii she had a plan for Wembley Stadium, Lexy Nair announced to Statlander and Hathaway in the ring that Nightingale had issued a mixed tag team challenge for All In’s Zero Hour. Hathaway started to say there was no way he’d do that, but Statlander cut him off and accepted the match for August 25.

Nightingale and Statlander have been feuding since the events of Double or Nothing, when Statlander turned on her former friend. On the July 31 edition of AEW Dynamite, Stalander defeated Nightingale in what was a CMLL Women’s Championship eliminator match, meaning Statlander has earned a future shot at Nightingale’s title.

Here’s the updated card for Sunday, August 25th in London:

  • AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland defends against Bryan Danielson
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Mariah May
  • AEW American Champion MJF defends against Will Ospreay
  • TNT Champion Jack Perry defends against Darby Allin
  • TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Britt Baker
  • Casino gauntlet match for future AEW World title match
  • AEW Trios Champions The Patriarchy (Christian Cage, Nick Wayne & Killswitch) defend against either House of Black or Bang Bang Gang
  • Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kris Statlander & Stokely Hathaway

Ring of Honor TV live results: Sammy Guevara returns, Tag Team title defense

For the first time since February, Sammy Guevara will be in action as part of tonight’s Ring of Honor TV on HonorClub.

After making his surprise return last week to defend Dustin Rhodes from an attack by Dark Order, Guevara will team up with Rhodes against John Silver & Alex Reynolds.

The Infantry will get another crack at winning the ROH Tag Team titles as they challenge current champions The Undisputed Kingdom after issuing a challenge last week backstage. Bravo and Dean were unsuccessful at besting the champions earlier this year.

Tomohiro Ishii will make his return to the black and red brand against Tony Nese.

Rachael Ellering will also be in action while The Outrunners will go heads-up against Stephen Barrett & Wolf Brown.

Darian Bengston will make his ROH debut against NJPW’s Robbie Eagles.

ROH power couple Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie will be in action as TV battles Fuego del Sol while Valkyrie will take on Hyan.

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Ring of Honor opened with a quick rundown of a packed card and went right into a huge matchup:

Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara defeated The Dark Order (John Silver and Alex Reynolds, w/Evil Uno)

Last week, Guevara made a surprise appearance on ROH, saving Rhodes from a beatdown at the hands of a very cranky Dark Order. The Order, Uno specifically, feel like Rhodes is taking up a spot in ROH that they deserve. His winning the 6-Man Titles with the Von Erichs stuck in Uno’s craw and had Guevera not interfered last week, they would have taken out Rhodes. Guevara is the wild card here as he seems to have turned over a new leaf, but is still Sammy Guevera, so can he be trusted? 

Guevara and Silver kicked things off before Rhodes tagged in for a quick double team. Considering they had never tagged together, Rhodes and Guevara seemed very comfortable with each other and kept control of things through the opening portion of the match. Then my head exploded as Rhodes attempted a Spinarooni in the ring, an obvious homage to his former WWE tag partner, Booker T.

In an exchange with Reynods, Rhodes seemed to injure his knee (which had been worked over pretty well by Evil Uno last week). Rhodes got back to his feet and seemed to be ok, just in time for Evil Uno to hit the injured knee with a chair while the Ref’s back was turned. Silver and Reynolds tagged in and out, isolating Rhodes’ and brutalizing his knee as Guevara begged for a tag in the corner.

Rhodes finally got a hot tag to Guevara who literally leapt into the ring to crush Silver with a splash. Guevara went for a Spanish Fly, but only got a two count out of it. A GHT later though, and Guevara was able to get the pin on silver and win the match for his team.

-Backstage, ROH Women’s World Champion Athena had a word with Billie Starkz. Anthena said that she was getting used to Starkz disappointing her. She should not have lost her ROH Women’s TV Title at Death Before Dishonor, and Athena had to revoke her Minion Status, and demote her to Minion-In-Training again. Suddenly, the person that took that title, Red Velvet arrived with Queen Aminata. They called out the cheating that occured at Death Before Dishonor. Aminata said that she went to the board of directors and booked a tag match for all four women, tonight.

Taya Valkyrie w/ Johnny TV defeated Hyan

Valkyrie has had an interesting few months in ROH. She has been supporting her husband, Johnny TV, in his endeavours and having decent, but ultimately pointless matches within the Women’s Division. Is tonight the night she sets herself on a path to clashing with some of the heavy hitters in ROH? 

Hyan has been around ROH since 2021, but Valkyrie didn’t really respect her tenure, calling her “an embarrassment” to the crowd. Valkyrie had control over the match, landing some devastating knees to a prone Hyan in the corner. The two battled back and forth as “womens wrestling” chants broke out in the arena.

The sheer strength of Valkyrie was difficult for Hyan to keep up with and after a Shania Pain, Valkyrie pinned her for the 1-2-3.

-Backstage, Melissa Santos interviewed Griff Garrison and Maria backstage. Before it could begin though, the SAP arrived to interrupt. Serpentico and Angelico demanded one more match for custody of Serpentico’s old mask. Maria considered this and then agreed as long as Angelico was banned from ringside. Oh, and also, if he loses, Serpentico must unmask for the rest of his career! A confident SAP agreed to the stipulations.

ROH Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett and Matt Taven)  defeated The Infantry (Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean)

The challenge for this match came from the Infantry last week, interrupting another Kingdom promo about how there is no one in ROH who is on their level. Bravo and Dean have been on a hot streak lately, a look to be worth foes for the Champions. They entered in their X-Men themed gear too, which was really fun to see.

The Kingdom jumped the Infantry off of the Code of Honor, but they were able to dodge the attack and send Taven and Bennett to the outside. The Kingdom tried to walk away from the match, grabbing their belts and heading up the ramp, but the Infantry caught them and brought them back to the ring. Taven and Bravo ended up the legal men, and Dean jumped in for some double teaming.

Dean and Taven worked each other in the ring, neither holding back and both wanting to end things early. Numerous pins were attempted, but it was kickouts all around. Bennett tagged in and caught Bravo in a sleeper, but he managed to wriggle out. The Infantry stayed on the offensive though, until Taven reversed favor with big suplex on Bravo.

The Kingdom then tagged in and out, pounding away on an isolated Dean. There was much mocking and strutting from Bennett as Taven continued beating up Dean, until he tried to get a hot tag to Bravo. Bennett saw it coming though, and knocked him off the apron before the tag could be made.

Bravo finally tagged in and went for a big salute splash and pin, but Taven broken up the pinning attempt on Bennett. A miscommunication between the Champs left Bennett alone in the ring and Bravo and Dean tried to nail him with Boot Camp. Taven returned though and broke things up, distracting everyone so Bennett could punch Dean in the junk. A Hail Mary later and Bennett got the pin to retain the ROH Tag Titles in a really, really good match.

Rachael Ellering defeated Brooke Havok

Not a lot has been said about Ellering lately. Ellering entered the inaugural ROH Women’s World Television Championship tournament earlier in the year, and faced her friend Leyla Hirsch in the first round but was unsuccessful. Havok was trained at the Nightmare Factory, so she wasn’t just a flash in the pan.

Ellering had a size and experience advantage over Havok, but but Havok was able to keep up with her off the top. Ellering seemed reluctant to really lay into Havok for some reason, but kept control of the match just the same. The crowd was absolutely dead for this, you could hear a pin drop.

Ellering managed to get agressive and bloody Havok’s nose. Havok drew some energy from this, but now that the gloves were off, Ellering had her right where she wanted her. An unnecessarily complicated dropkick attempt from Havok opened things up for Ellering, and she crushed her with a BossWoman Slam to get the win.

-The new ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty was joined backstage by Shane Taylor. Moriarty challenged Action Andretti to a match for the Pure Title to prove who was best. Taylor then called out Andretti’s friends Top Flight, saying they need to bring their best when they deal with Shane Taylor Promotions (now called STP apparently)

The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeated Stephen Wolf and Barrett Brown

The Lambo Duo! The Speedboat Dreamboats! The Youngest Men Alive! Whatever you call them, Turbo and Magnum have made The Outrunners a household name amongst ROH fans and one would have to think will be in line for a Tag Title shot in the future. For this episode  though, the Kings of “Spin to Win” (whatever that means) were up against Wolf anf Brown, a relatively low-tier team on the ROH roster.

This match was the exact right amount of cheese and schmaltz that the Outrunners always bring. Lots of big slams, posing and dancing about. The crowd loved it. After a refusal from their opponents, Floyd and Magnum gave themselves a Code of Honor to start the match.

Wolf and Brown were in this match for one reason: to get absolutely beat up, thrown around and crushed to make the Outrunners look good. And that they did. I thought that Wolf was broken in half after a big clothesline. Brown didn’t fare much better, falling victim to Magnum using Floyd as a weapon. The Outrunners hit Total Recall and pinned Brown, clearing the way for much celebration.

Robbie Eagles defeated Darian Bengston

Darian Bengston is a wrestler. So is TMDK’s Robbie Eagles. Ergo, it makes sense to have them wrestle each other. That was about all there was to this match, story wise. Bengston, a Nightmare Factory graduate, also studied at the prestigious London School of Lucha Libre.

Eagles took control off the top, working a very technical style. Bengston was able to keep up, but it was obvious to see that he didn’t have the experience level of Eagles. He did have a speed advantage on Eagles, and that was apparent as the two ran the ropes, ending up with Bengston eating a big double kick.

Eagles set up Bengston in the corner for a Rock The Bells, an absolutely devastating set of knees to the face. Eagles kept going for a Ron Miller Special, but Bengston countered every time. Bengston proved himself to be a really hard hitting striker, but Eagles finally locked in the Ron Miller Special and Bengston was forced to tap out.

Tomohiri Ishii defeated Tony Nese w/ Mark Sterling and Aria Diavari

This was a clash of the two biggest small guys I’ve ever seen. Premier Athlete Nese is ripped to the heavens and The Conglomeration’s Ishii is such a brutal domineering force that his body swallowed his neck. It was like The Hulk fighting the Juggernaut and everyone was excited for it. Sterling announced that he had gotten the rest of the Conglomeration banned from ringside to keep the match one-on-one.

The match started with both men, well, hitting each other a bunch. Ishii’s chops reddened the chest of Nese who responded with punches of his own. Ishii just took it and begged for more. Sterling distracted the Ref and Diavari pulled Ishii off the apron to the outside. Nese distracted the ref while Diavari and Sterling beat up Ishii on the outside before throwing him back in.

Nese took advantage, putting a Chinlock on Ishii. What he didn’t count on though was Ishii’s lack of neck, rendering the hold useless. Ishii fought back and knocked Nese around with shoulder tackles and chops. Ishii went for the Brainbuster, which put Nese on his back for the pin.

-Racheal Ellering was interviewed backstage about her win earlier in the night. Ellering was interrupted by Harley Cameron who had a suggestion for Ellering: Change everything.

Johnny TV defeated Fuego del Sol

When we last saw TV, he was being eliminated from the 6-man Elimination match for the ROH TV Title at Death Before Dishonor. Outside of that match and his prior feud with Dalton Castle, TV really hasn’t really been doing much. Hopefully tonight’s bout would set him on a new course in ROH.

This match was very by-the-numbers. Aside from watching two great workers wrestler there really wasn’t much going on. Sol got in flurries of offence and TV heeled it up as only he can. Valkyrie caused distractions, and the couple made out a lot (TV and Valkyrie that is, not del Sol. Though that would have been a great twist).

TV locked a sleeper on del Sol but the luchadore fought out of it and delivered several high kicks to TV’s cranium. TV regained the momentum, but crotched himself on the ropes trying a superplex off the top turnbuckle. TV recovered and managed to set up Starship Pain and win the match.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena and Billie Starkz defeated ROH Women’s TV Champion Red Velvet and Queen Aminata

This unannounced main event was made earlier in the evening when tensions began to appear between Starkz and Athena. Aminata and Velvet were looking to end the Minion Reign for good, and it remained to be seen if a very dejected Starkz would be a help or hindrance in the match.

Athena soaked up the crowd’s adulation while Starkz sulked in the background. Athena started things off against Aminata, but immediately tagged in Starkz, avoiding Aminata altogether. Aminata and Starkz have history going back to the Women’s TV Title Tournament that Starkz won through trickery. Aminata didn’t forget and tossed Starkz around the ring while Athena disapproved in the corner.

Champion took on Champion as Velvet tagged in and peppered Athena with punches in the corner. Starkz cheered on her mentor and Athena tagged her in to lock in an armbar on Aminata and gnaw on her fingers behind the ref’s back. Starkz began to get a bit of her smile back ans she and Athena tagged in and out to beat up Aminata.

The match continued as Aminata planted Athena on her head. That brought in Starkz and Velvet, and Starkz bit Velvet’s arm. That enraged Aminata who tagged in and levelled Starkz. Athena tagged in and fall-away slammed Aminata AND Velvet at the same time! Starkz tagged in and tried to pin Aminata, but it was only two.

Athena called for Lexy to pass her a mic just like Death Before Dishonor, but Aminata intercepted it. The two had a tug of war over it, while Lexy handed the TV title to Starkz who hit Velvet with it to get the pin and win the match.

Starkz may have made her way back into the good books, but Athena still refused to high-five her after the match, so she wasn’t out of the Minion Dog House yet.

Three-way Continental title eliminator part of AEW Collision lineup

The next challenger for AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada will be determined in a three-way on Saturday’s AEW Collision that starts at a special time of 5 PM Eastern.

In a clash of styles, Claudio Castagnoli will take on Tomohiro Ishii and new ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty with the winner to take on Okada at a date to be announced, possibly at this month’s All In from London’s Wembley Stadium.

Here’s a look at the rest of the card:

CMLL star Mistico and budding AEW lucha star Hologram will team up against Ari Daivari & Tony Nese of the Premier Athletes. It’s Mistico’s first AEW appearance since June’s Forbidden Door while it will be the third straight week of Collision action for Hologram.

Ahead of his challenge of MJF on this Wednesday’s Dynamite, former ROH men’s TV Champion Kyle Fletcher will go one-on-one with Brian Cage.

As she prepares to defend her title against Mariah May at All In, AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm will be in non-title action against an opponent to be named.

Thunder Rosa will look to get some momentum following her recent losses to Deonna Purrazzo as she battles Taya Valkyrie.

The show will also feature appearances by both the AEW Trios Champions The Patriarchy and ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Von Erichs & Dustin Rhodes.

The new additions join the previously announced eight-man tag team match between FTR, Darby Allin & Mark Briscoe vs. The Beast Mortos & The Undisputed Kingdom.

Here’s the full lineup, taped Thursday in Arlington, Texas:

  • Mistico & Hologram vs. Premier Athletes (Tony Nese & Ari Daivari)
  • Kyle Fletcher vs. Brian Cage
  • AEW Continental title eliminator: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Lee Moriarty
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs. TBA
  • Thunder Rosa vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • FTR, Darby Allin & Mark Briscoe vs. Undisputed Kingdom (Roderick Strong, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) & The Beast Mortos
  • The Patriarchy promo
  • Dustin Rhodes & Von Erichs promo

New match added to AEW Collision lineup

A member of The Conglomeration will face a member of The Undisputed Kingdom on Saturday’s AEW Collision episode.

In a new bout added to Saturday’s Collision lineup, The Conglomeration’s Tomohiro Ishii will face Roderick Strong of The Undisputed Kingdom in singles competition. The bout was added to Saturday’s card during Friday’s AEW Rampage episode.

NJPW’s Ishii will be a regular on the AEW roster for the rest of the summer as revealed by the promotion last week.

Also added to Saturday’s card, FTR will speak on the show after making their return to the company on last week’s Collision in saving Tommy Billington from an attack at the hands of The Don Callis Family.

The updated lineup for the Saturday, July 20 AEW Collision:

  • AEW Unified Trios Championship match: The Patriarchy’s Christian Cage, Killswitch & Nick Wayne vs. The Bang Bang Gang’s Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn
  • Lumberjack match: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Thunder Rosa
  • Hologram debuts
  • Skye Blue vs. Hikaru Shida
  • Darby Allin vs. The Beast Mortos
  • Tomohiro Ishii vs. Roderick Strong
  • FTR speaks

AEW Rampage live results: The Conglomeration vs. Undisputed Kingdom

The AEW Trios division will continue to heat up on tonight’s AEW Rampage between some rivals with serious grudges.

The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly) will team up to battle The Undisputed Kingdom’s Roderick Strong, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett. Cassidy and O’Reilly have had their issues with all the Kingdom members with Ishii recently entering the fray to lend the babyfaces a hand.

Another NJPW star — Minoru Suzuki — will return to the rings of AEW against The Butcher. Suzuki will challenge Chris Jericho for the FTW title this Wednesday.

Jericho will be on the show teaming up with Big Bill against The Outrunners.

Two longtime AEW teams will clash once again as the Lucha Bros will battle Private Party. This will be their first match against each other since July 2022.

Former TBS Champion Kris Statlander will be in action for the first time since attacking Willow Nightingale during her Owen Hart tournament final match.

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The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly) defeated The Undisputed Kingdom (Roderick Strong, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)

Orange Cassidy makes his way out with Tomohiro Ishii and Kyle O’Reilly. The Conglomeration trio settle inside the squared circle, where their opponents, The Undisputed Kingdom trio of Roderick Strong, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett are waiting for them.

Strong and O’Reilly kick things off for their respective teams in this trios opener. The two lock up and jockey for position. O’Reilly goes behind Strong and takes his back standing. Strong ends up on the mat on his back. O’Reilly looks for a submission but Strong defends and gets back up.

Cassidy and Taven tag in for their respective teams and the pace quickly picks up. Cassidy comes off the ropes with a ton of speed and runs over Taven before tagging in Ishii. The fans in the building chant the name of the Japanese legend as he goes to work on all three members of The Undisputed Kingdom.

Bennett and Taven attack Ishii from behind. They look for a double suplex, but Ishii defends it. O’Reilly and Cassidy join him in the ring and the three hit a suplex on Bennett and Taven at the same time. Ishii and Bennett are alone in the ring when the smoke clears.

Ishii goes to work on Bennett, bringing him into the corner of his team. O’Reilly and Cassidy come back in and the two hit some multi-person spots with Ishii for a big crowd reaction. The show then heads into a mid-match commercial break as the trios opener continues.

When the show returns from the break, Taven, Bennett and Strong hit multi-person spots on Ishii to shift the offensive momentum in their favor. Strong is left as the legal man with Ishii. He blasts him with loud chops in the corner that get funny reactions from the Japanese legend.

Fans try and rally behind Ishii, but to no avail, as The Undisputed Kingdom members utilize frequent tags and cut the ring in half, keeping him on their side of things. Ishii hits a German suplex on Taven, which buys him enough time to tag in O’Reilly.

O’Reilly goes to work on Taven as Cassidy hits a dive onto the other members of The Undisputed Kingdom on the floor. Cassidy hits a top-rope splash and pops up for a quick tope suicida to the floor. Ishii tags in and hits Chasing the Dragon for a two-count, after Bennett broke it up.

Cassidy hits Stun-Dog Millionaire on Bennett. Ishii follows up with a lariat. Taven hits a big splash off the top-rope for a super-close two-count on Ishii. Ishii and Strong trade shots back-and-forth. Ishii gets the better of things and stumbles back to tag in Cassidy.

We see Cassidy go for a dive through the ropes to the floor, but he is met by Bennett and Strong, who both slam him back-first into the ringside barricade. As The Undisputed Kingdom trio settle back into the offensive lead, the show heads into another mid-match commercial break.

After the show returns from the break, we see Ishii connect with a top-rope superplex on Taven. O’Reilly trades shots in the center of the ring. Cassidy hits a sunset flip off the top-rope but the pin attempt is broken up.

Cassidy hits a DDT counter off the ropes to Bennett. O’Reilly and Cassidy hit the high-low sweep and then Ishii and Strong each take the other out with a double clothesline. Taven goes for a roundhouse kick but spins right into an Orange Punch from Cassidy for the pinfall. Good opener to kick things off on this week’s show.

Once the match wraps up, Don Callis comes out and stands behind Cassidy in the ring. Cassidy turns and notices him and gets angry. He takes his arm pad off as he backs him into the ropes, but before anything can happen, Kyle Fletcher from The Don Callis Family attacks from behind.

ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe runs out to make the save, but ends up getting laid out by Roderick Strong. Strong takes Briscoe’s ROH World Championship and holds it high in the air as he poses over him with The Undisputed Kingdom as the commentators promote their title tilt coming up at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2024.

Saraya & Harley Cameron Backstage Interview

Backstage, Saraya and Harley Cameron are interviewed. Saraya talks about how they are trying to keep her off of the show at AEW ALL IN at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 25.

Harley says that would be like having Beverly Hills Cop without the Beverly Hills Cop. Great analogy, Harley. Saraya insists she will be on the show.

The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho & Big Bill) defeated The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd)

We hear a super enthusiastic “Hi guys!” from the longest “For The World” champion in the history of planet Earth. On that note, The Learning Tree duo of Chris Jericho and “The Redwood” Big Bill make their way down to the ring for advertised tag-team action.

Already in the ring are their opponents, The Outrunners team of Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd. Bill kicks things off for his team while Jericho hangs on the apron with his FTW title still around his waist. He pulls out a cell phone.

Jericho begins texting someone multiple times as Bill easily handles both members of The Outrunners by himself. Bill stomps away at one of The Outrunners in the corner while frantically laughing like a psycho. Truth tags in and lands a shot on Bill, which changes his happy-go-lucky persona quick, fast, and in-a-hurry.

“The Redwood” gets serious now as he charges from one corner of the ring to the other, splashing Magnum and Floyd. After Bill finishes things off with his chokeslam finisher, Jericho finally asks for the tag and comes in with his FTW title still around his waist for a foot-on-the-chest arrogant pin.

Minoru Suzuki defeated The Butcher

As Jericho sends a text boasting about teaching people something tonight, he and Bill and Bryan Keith head to the back, but are stopped when Minoru Suzuki makes his way out for the next match of the evening.

The Japanese legend settles inside the squared circle after intimidating Jericho briefly on the entrance ramp. The commentators promote Suzuki vs. Jericho for the FTW title for next week’s episode of AEW Dynamite. The show heads into another commercial break.

When the show returns, The Butcher is in the middle of finishing up his ring entrance. The bell sounds to get this one started. The Butcher and Suzuki stand in the middle of the ring and Butcher tells him he wants to trade shots to start things off.

They do and Butcher gets a little over confident. This leads in Suzuki going to work on him with flurries. Moments later, Butcher tries chopping Suzuki a few times, with one eliciting an audible laugh from Suzuki that pops the crowd.

Butcher says he’s going to break Suzuki’s back. He hits a big suplex and floats over for a pin attempt. After he kicks out, Suzuki chokes out Butcher and dumps him on his dome for the victory.

Mark Briscoe Reacts To Roderick Strong’s Attack

Backstage, the four members of The Conglomeration are standing by for a promo segment. As usual, ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe does the talking. He says today’s word of the day is “Miscombobulation.” O’Reilly asks for the country of origin, and Briscoe says America.

When asked to use it in a sentence, Briscoe says, “In the midst of my miscombobulation, Roderick Strong cracked me in the face with a knee and stood over me holding my ROH World title high in the air.” He tells him next week at ROH Death Before Dishonor, he’ll have something for him.

But before that, on AEW Collision tomorrow night, Roderick Strong will go one-on-one against Tomohiro Ishii. He vows that Ishii will show them how they do in The Conglomeration and then barks like a madman into the camera to wrap things up.

Kris Statlander (w/ Stokely Hathaway) defeated Syndi Winnell

Back inside the arena, the theme for Kris Statlander hits and out she comes accompanied by Stokely Hathaway for the next match of the evening. Already in the ring is her opponent, Syndi Winnell.

The bell gets things started and an overconfident Statlander is caught off guard by a ferocious onslaught and wild flurry of strikes from Winnell. This backs Statlander in the corner and Winnell unloads on her.

Schiavone jokes with Excalibur on commentary about how they are fortunate that Don Callis and Stokely Hathaway both came out tonight and they didn’t have to deal with either of them joining them at the desk.

Back inside the ring, Statlander takes over with ease and within seconds, hits her Stater-day Night Fever finisher for the pin fall victory. This is her 85th victory, according to Schiavone on commentary.

Stokely hits the ring to push the referee aside so he can raise Statlander’s hand. Statlander drops down and does push-ups while Stokely puts his foot on her back.

The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)

It’s main event time!

After the women’s singles match wrapped up, the show went into another quick commercial break. Upon returning, the catchy theme song for The Lucha Bros hits and out comes the duo of Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix, accompanied by Alex Abrahantes.

The popular masked duo settle inside the squared circle to a big pop and then their music dies down. The red velvet rope is set up at the top of the entrance ramp and out comes their opponents for tonight’s main event, the Private Party team of Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy.

Fenix and Kassidy kick things off for their respective teams. Fenix establishes the initial offensive lead, but Kassidy hits Rob Van Dam’s old step-through roundhouse kick to shift the momentum into the favor of Private Party.

Quen tags in and takes over. He goes to bring Penta, now the legal man for The Lucha Bros, into the ring the hard way, but Penta blasts him with a kick that knocks him silly. Penta enters the ring and nearly beheads him with a follow-up kick that sends him to the floor.

Penta fires up for a dive to the floor, but comes off the ropes into a cross-body splash from Kassidy. Fenix hits a missile dropkick off the top-rope immediately after that. As Penta and Quen are nose-to-nose in the middle of the ring, the show heads into a mid-match commercial break.

When the show returns, The Lucha Bros go on an offensive rampage (pun intended), hitting many of their trademark high spots. Fenix walks the tight rope top-rope for a big punt kick, which sends Quen into Penta for a big sling blade.

They go for a double-team spot off the ropes in the corner, but it gets broken up. Prrivate Party hit an insane double-team spot that pops the crowd and shifts the offensive momentum back in their favor. Fenix sends Quen into the mat with authority for a two-count.

Penta and Fenix sandwich him in between a pair of stereo super kicks. They follow-up with the fear factor double stomp double-team finisher for the pinfall victory. Good main event.

After it wraps up,The Lucha Bros celebrate as Excalibur does a speed-read through the updated lineup for tomorrow night’s AEW Collision. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter/X.

Tomohiro Ishii will be with AEW for rest of summer 2024

With him missing out on the NJPW G1 Climax this year, Tomohiro Ishii is set for an extended stay in AEW.

Ishii was in action on Wednesday night’s Dynamite, taking part in an International title number one contender’s fatal four-way match. PAC won the match and will challenge either Will Ospreay or MJF for the AEW International Championship.

Tony Khan sent out a tweet after Dynamite praising Ishii and announcing that he will be with AEW for the rest of the summer.

“It’s so great having @njpwglobal all-time legend Tomohiro Ishii here in AEW on Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite TONIGHT! We love having Ishii here,” Khan wrote. “[And] now he’s going to stay here in @AEW with us for the rest of summer 2024!”

This marks the first time that Ishii hasn’t competed in the G1 since 2012. He was involved in a qualifier tournament to decide the final two participants for this year’s G1 but lost in the semifinals.

The G1 begins on July 20 and runs through August 18.

Among the best in-ring wrestlers of his era, Ishii was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2023. He has made sporadic appearances for AEW since the promotion started its working relationship with NJPW.