AEW Announces Remaining Dates and Locations

for 2024 Pay-Per-View Events

— New York, Illinois, Washington, New Jersey and Florida Added as Hosts

of Upcoming AEW Pay-Per-Views —

April 11, 2024 – Following AEW’s biggest pay-per-view schedule in company history last year and the record-breaking success of the recent AEW: Revolution, AEW CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan today announced the remaining dates and locations for this year’s events.  The full 2024 pay-per-view schedule includes:

  • Sunday, April 21 – AEW: Dynasty at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis

  • Sunday, May 26 – AEW: Double or Nothing at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas

  • Sunday, June 30 – AEW: Forbidden Door at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y.

  • Sunday, August 25 – AEW: All In London at Wembley Stadium in London, UK

  • Sunday, September 1 – AEW: All Out at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

  • Saturday, October 12 – AEW: WrestleDream at Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Wash.

  • Saturday, November 23 – AEW: Full Gear at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

  • Saturday, December 28 – AEW: World’s End at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Fla.

“Last month’s AEW: Revolution was the best pay-per-view event in company history, further cementing AEW’s dominance as the leader in cutting-edge professional wrestling pay-per-view events worldwide,” said Khan.  “With AEW: Dynasty on the horizon next Sunday, we are solidifying our remaining 2024 pay-per-view schedule by returning to familiar places and debuting in iconic locations, giving fans around the world the opportunity to make plans in advance to be part of the excitement live in-person."

Tickets for AEW: Dynasty in St. Louis, AEW: Double Or Nothing in Las Vegas and AEW: All In London in the UK are currently on sale via AEWTix.com.  Additional information on the remaining events, including on sale dates, will be announced in the coming weeks.  Fans interested in exclusive presale opportunities can register to become an AEW Insider by visiting allelitewrestling.com/aew-insider.

About AEW

Founded by CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan in 2019, AEW is a red-hot professional wrestling promotion featuring a world-class roster that is injecting new spirit, freshness and energy into the industry. “AEW: Dynamite” airs every Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. ET on TBS, “AEW: Rampage” airs every Friday from 10-11 p.m. ET on TNT, and “AEW: Collision” airs every Saturday from 8-10 p.m. ET on TNT. AEW’s multi-platform content also includes “AEW Unrestricted,” a weekly podcast series. For more info, check out Twitter.com/AEW; Instagram.com/AEW; YouTube.com/AEW; Facebook.com/AEW

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After a tremendous night of action on RAMPAGE, All Elite Wrestling continues on a hot streak this Saturday night with an all-new COLLISION! Emanating from Gas South Arena in Gwinnett County, AEW presents two hours of hard-hitting professional wrestling action with Bryan Danielson taking on Shane Taylor, the new Elite of The Young Bucks and “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada in action, Chris Jericho taking on AAA’s Titan, and Toni Storm’s 1st ever Toni Awards! Plus Mark Briscoe will team up with Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett for an Atlanta Street Fight against The House of Black, and Mariah May will step back into competition after her performance as Toni Storm last Sunday night!

The night gets underway at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, and the AEW faithful can get prepped for it by visiting the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s other social media platforms, for highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER! Then join us next Wednesday evening in Boston for DYNAMITE: BIG BUSINESS coming to you from the TD Garden, and already looking to be another of the biggest nights in AEW’s television history!

ATLANTA STREET FIGHT…

Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal, & Jeff Jarrett vs. 

The House of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews, & Malakai Black)

Well, a week ago we all watched as Mark Briscoe attempted to use pyro to set fire to Buddy Matthews, and this week it looks like the situation is about to get even hotter because The House of Black is looking to burn Mark Briscoe’s world down around him! Yet in situations such as these, though he may seem like a fraying rope, Mark Briscoe is actually in his happy place…

Though will he be happy with Jeff Jarrett standing by his side? Can he put aside his distrust of Double J long enough to focus on the fight with The House? Can Mark take the trust he has in Jay Lethal, a man he has called one of his best friends, and apply it to Jarrett? If he can’t, then Mark’s trio is doomed for failure against the onslaught of Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Malakai Black, but if Mark, Lethal, and Double J can get it together, they just might be able to burn The House down to its foundation!

THE NEW ELITE IN ACTION!

There had been a buzz around the wrestling landscape that “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada could be making his way to All Elite Wrestling on a more permanent basis. Sure he’d dipped his toes in the elite waters with the FORBIDDEN DOOR events, and even stepped into the DYNAMITE ring to team up with Orange Cassidy, but it wasn’t until this past Wednesday night that the world learned that Okada was indeed All Elite!

Unfortunately, as Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston learned the hard way, Okada wasn’t just All Elite, he was now also one of The Elite. That’s right, Okada came to AEW from NJPW and immediately signed on the dotted line with The EVP’s, Matthew and Nicholas Jackson! Now there’s a great deal of history between the three men dating back to 2010 with Okada’s first forays into the United States, as well as their engagements in NJPW several years later, but it was still quite a shock to see “The Rainmaker” standing over the fallen Kingston with those two individuals rather than fighting them at Kingston’s side.

Well this Saturday night on COLLISION it won’t be a sneak attack putting The Young Bucks and Okada together, it will be the first Trios match together for this new iteration of The Elite, and whoever steps into the ring across from them best be wary. Matthew and Nicholas are none too happy after the events of REVOLUTION 2024, and though the addition of Okada may have boosted their spirits, they are still looking for some poor unfortunate souls to take out their frustration.

ONE-ON-ONE…

“Lionheart” Chris Jericho vs. Titan

He has been the CMLL World Welterweight Champion for over 1,500 days, he is a member of Los Ingobernables de Japon in NJPW, and is one of the most exciting high-flyers in Lucha Libre today! He is Titan (pronounced Tee-tan), and this Saturday night he makes his AEW debut on COLLISION against “Lionheart” Chris Jericho!

As the original AEW World Champion, Jericho is one of the standard bearers, but his career has deep roots in Mexico with CMLL, including fighting a different man competing under the Titan name in his very first match. It’s where “Lionheart” was born as “Corazon de Leon”, and where Jericho learned much of the skills that bolstered him to international stardom in the first place. 

As was witnessed recently when Jericho took on Atlantis Jr., the involvement of CMLL in All Elite Wrestling has given “The Ocho” a new fire, a new outlet to focus his energies towards, though he is being pulled in multiple directions given his engagement with HOOK, and his perpetual issues with The Don Callis Family. If Jericho wants to have the same success with Titan that he had with Atlantis Jr, he better have his head in this particular game on COLLISION, or the CMLL World Welterweight Champion is going to add “Corazon de Leon” to the list of his fallen opponents!

SINGLES MATCH…

“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Shane Taylor

This past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, the professional wrestling world witnessed a moment they’d been longing to see for years when “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson stood in the ring with “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay. It was a moment that seemingly would never happen, but then Ospreay officially signed on with All Elite Wrestling and it became a distinct possibility, though not one fans expected to see come together so quickly! Bryan’s intent in spoiling Ospreay’s moment at the end of DYNAMITE was clear, he wants a fight, but until we hear from the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion we can only assume he feels the same.

But that’s not the issue at hand, at least not for Bryan Danielson, his issue is the fight looming on Saturday night with Shane Taylor! Hopefully Bryan was paying attention when his BCC mate Jon Moxley went to war with Taylor several weeks ago, hopefully Bryan uses Moxley as a resource to learn what Shane T brings to the table, because what Danielson is going to get is a hellacious fight. Danielson has been hit by the hardest strikers in the world throughout his career, but he’s never been hit by the former ROH World TV Champion, and there are few men who can compare. After the war Bryan went through at REVOLUTION 2024 with Eddie Kingston, is he up to the task?

LUCHA LIBRE!

Mistico vs. Angelico

AEW fans have gotten familiar with Mistico since his epic clash with Rocky Romero last October first introduced CMLL to All Elite Wrestling while his bout with Matt Sydal, as well as the 8-Man tag that preceded it, helped further showcase his skills. This Saturday night on COLLISION, the current World Historic Middleweight Champion will return to AEW for a bout with a man with whom he shared the AAA ring a handful of times between 2014 and 2015: Angelico!

Between two Three Way tags, one being a AAA World Tag Title bout, and a Trios bout, Angelico’s teams hold one victory over Mistico’s, while Mistico’s hold none over Angelico’s, but this is a solo affair, and in that vein of professional wrestling Mistico has excelled. He is one of the best professional wrestlers on the planet, the most famous Luchador in modern wrestling, a man who changed the game for man, and now he’s back in All Elite Wrestling to give Angelico the toughest test of his AEW career! If Angelico can pull out a victory, it will be the biggest one of his career, the biggest moment of his professional wrestling career, and it will put Angelico on the map worldwide!

ONE-ON-ONE…

Mariah May vs. Trish Adora

She finally got it! After months of desperately searching for the approval of AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm, Mariah May finally got a bit of approval from her idol, she just had to cosplay as Toni Storm in order to get what she craved. Clearly the how of it all was of no matter to Mariah, all that mattered is it happened, and that just leaves one to wonder if this Saturday night on COLLISION, when Mariah is back in action against The Infantry’s Trish Adora, will she continue to dress the part of old Toni Storm, or if May will return to her own style? Whichever it may be, her head best be in the game otherwise the hard-hitting Adora is going to knock it off Mariah’s shoulders first chance she gets!

And speaking of “Timeless” Toni Storm…

1ST EVER TONI AWARDS…

After her victory at REVOLUTION 2024, it seems like AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm is intending to present herself with a Toni (with an “I” for legal purposes) Award for her performance! Mind you, it was clear as day to the viewing audience that Toni tapped out to Deonna Purrazzo during the course of the match, but the official missed the moment and thus it was not “The Virtuosa” who left Greensboro as new champion. So is Toni Storm actually deserving of an award? She certainly seems to believe so, and we will see if she actually celebrates herself this Saturday night on COLLISION!

COLLISION begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT this Saturday night on TNT, featuring Danielson versus Taylor, an Atlanta Street Fight, Mariah May, The Toni Awards, and more, so before the first bell, visit the official AEW YouTube channel, plus AEW’s other social media sites, to catch up on highlights from Wednesday’s DYNAMITE, Friday’s RAMPAGE, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER! Then meet us in Beantown next Wednesday for DYNAMITE: BIG BUSINESS at the TD Garden with Wardlow challenging Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship, Willow Nightingale versus Riho, and so much more!

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It’s been 15 months since the last time All Elite Wrestling came home to Jacksonville, FL and Daily’s Place, but this Wednesday night the time is upon for a Homecoming! For some competitors it is a return to the familiar, for many it means a first time trip to AEW’s home base, one of those being AEW World Champion Samoa Joe. In addition to Joe’s first time live in Duval, “The Icon” Sting will have his final match at the place where his AEW journey began, two big singles bout, and two loaded eight-person tag matches on tap as well!

AEW DYNAMITE gets underway at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so make sure to swing by the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s assorted social media platforms, for highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, the newest CONTROL CENTER, and more! This is just the beginning of a loaded week for AEW, capping off with BATTLE OF THE BELTS IX and COLLISION in Norfolk! 

THE CHAMPION ARRIVES!

The AEW World Champion is set to be in Jacksonville this Wednesday night, live for the very first time with that title over his shoulder, and he is willing to fight everyone who wants a piece of his AEW World Championship! He specifically mentioned Hangman and Swerve Strickland during the WORLDS END Media Scrum, but there is undoubtedly a slew of other competitors ready to step up as challengers. One of them let himself be heard loud and clear on COLLISION this past Saturday:

Currently reigning as FTW Champion for the second time, HOOK was less than a year old when Samoa Joe stepped into a wrestling ring for his first professional match, just shy of four years old when when Joe’s historic ROH World Championship began, and had his first professional match just after Joe marked his twenty-second year in the sport. Despite that experience disadvantage, both in life and in wrestling, HOOK is quite clearly fearless if he’s calling out Joe for a fight. Will Joe address that challenge on Wednesday night? What else does the champion have to share with the AEW faithful in Daily’s Place and those watching around the world?

ONE-ON-ONE…

AEW World Tag Champion Ricky Starks vs. Sammy Guevara

It has been five years since the last time Ricky Starks and Sammy Guevara went one-on-one inside the squared circle, just not an AEW squared circle. See theirs is a history that predates the existence of All Elite Wrestling, matches as far back as 2014 on the Texas independent circuit, but it wasn’t until January of 2023 that they ever met under the auspices of AEW. That night it was a tag team bout stemming from Starks’ issues with Chris Jericho, Guevara teaming with Jericho while Starks had Action Andretti in his corner, and it was The J.A.S. team that was victorious.

Ten months later at FULL GEAR 2023, Jericho stood beside a different partner, a former foe named Kenny Omega, and together they laid claim to the AEW World Tag Team Championship opportunity that belonged to The Young Bucks. While the brothers Jackson have not been seen since that November loss, Kenny and Chris prepared to face AEW World Tag Team Champions Big Bill and Ricky Starks at WORLDS END, at least that was the plan. Omega not only had to pull out of that match due to diverticulitis, but he had to step away from professional wrestling period in order to get the necessary treatment. That left Jericho with a championship match still owed him, but with no partner to claim it. That all changed the night Chris Jericho came to the aid of Sammy Guevara when “The Spanish God” was assaulted by The Don Callis Family; the former allies mended their battered fences, and are now a unified front barreling towards BATTLE OF THE BELTS IX and their Tag Team Championship opportunity.

But first, a stop on the road, to the place where Ricky Starks first appeared in AEW to answer the TNT Open Challenge of Cody Rhodes, and where Guevara went through the hell of two Stadium Stampedes, as well as the first Blood & Guts Cage. Guevara hasn’t competed inside Daily’s Place since December 2021, while for Starks it’s been since April of that same year, but it is still the place that shaped each of them as competitors and their AEW careers. This Wednesday night, when Starks and Guevara face off for the first time in AEW, it will also shape their impending AEW World Tag Team Championship fight 

A CHALLENGE…

Claudio Castagnoli vs. “Hangman” Adam Page

Claudio Castagnoli and “Hangman” Adam Page are no strangers to one another; over the course of this past year they were on opposite sides of a few of the most violent matches in AEW’s history. Between Anarchy in the Arena at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023, and Blood & Guts III in July, not to mention FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 and other DYNAMITE fights, they’ve gone to war plenty of times in the last twelve months. 

But one thing Claudio and Hangman have never done is go one-on-one, but that changes on Wednesday night when Hangman returns to Daily’s Place, a site of both triumph and tragedy for his career, to take on “The Swiss Superman” for their very first singles bout! Hangman is on a warpath, looking to fight anyone and everyone, though much of his rage is focused on Swerve Strickland, and Claudio Castagnoli is more than happy to give Page that fight!

This is going to be a hard-hitting clash, of that there is no doubt, but will it be won by the anger of The Hangman or the focus of The Blackpool Combat Club? 

TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH…

Darby Allin & Sting vs. The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita & Powerhouse Hobbs)

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Sting is on the highway to REVOLUTION 2024 and his final professional wrestling match, but with so much road between now and then, there’s plenty of stops along the way for fans to experience “The Icon” one last time, and for his foes to try and take one last stab at The Stinger! Over the last few weeks one of those foes, or rather a group of them, has set their sights on Sting and Darby Allin. It all began when the painted pair helped Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara defeat The Don Callis Family and the AEW World Tag Champions at WORLDS END, and continued last week on DYNAMITE when Konosuke Takeshita defeated Darby Allin in singles competition

Now coming off of a victory over The Workhorsemen on COLLISION, Sting and Darby Allin are ready to head back to where it all began again for “The Icon”, where WINTER IS COMING 2020 brought him to AEW for the first time, and started this magnificent 26-0 winning streak Sting has been on since REVOLUTION 2020. Being a man who loves to ruin everything around him, Don Callis has taken it upon himself (or rather put it upon his collection of combatants) to add that first loss to Sting’s record before AEW gets to REVOLUTION 2024. Can they pull it off at HOMECOMING 2024, or will The Don Callis Family be another victim of The Stinger/Darby Allin team?

EIGHT-MAN TAG…

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, Adam Copeland, Dustin Rhodes, & LFI’s Preston Vance

vs.

ROH World Six-Man Champions The Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, & Toa Liona) and Lance Archer

Daily’s Place will always be a special venue at the heart of All Elite Wrestling; not only is it home base for the company, but for sixteen months it was our only home. It was the place where everyone involved in AEW bonded with one another, where AEW grew into a family, a building where every crevice of the facility was explored, where a lounge became known as The Dark Order Room, and became the location for so many memorable moments featuring Evil Uno, Stu, Alex and John, Anna, Alan, Ten, Cabana, Hangman, and others. But one of the biggest parts of what made that room special, what gave Jacksonville such life, was the presence of the late Mr. Brodie Lee. Just over three years since his passing, the shadow of Brodie still looms large over AEW and those who knew him, those who loved him, and returning home to Jacksonville, stepping foot back into Daily’s Place, it serves as another reminder of the great man we all lost way too soon. 

That is why this Wednesday night The Exalted One’s hand-picked pupil, Preston Vance, will forego uniting with his La Faccion Ingobernable brethren, and instead stand side-by-side three of the AEW fan’s favorite competitors! Just as he did on December 30, 2020 as part of the Tribute Show, Vance will team up with Orange Cassidy, only now their group will be rounded out by one of the men who went to war with Brodie over that TNT Championship, Dustin Rhodes, and one of the newest entrants into the AEW family: Adam Copeland.

Standing across the ring will be four of the most fearsome competitors on the AEW roster, ROH World Six-Man Champions The Mogul Embassy of Kaun, Toa, and Brian Cage, as well as “The Murderhawk Monster” Lance Archer! Preston Vance’s quartet certainly has their work cut out for them in this fight, but with the memory of Mr. Brodie Lee fueling them, they aren’t going to back down from the fight no matter the odds!

EIGHT-WOMAN TAG…

Anna Jay, Kris Statlander, Thunder Rosa, & Willow Nightingale

vs.

TBS Champion Julia Hart, Ruby Soho, Saraya, & Skye Blue

And speaking of those inspired by the memory of “The Exalted One”, Anna Jay was brought into The Dark Order by Mr. Brodie Lee as well, given the number “99” as a nod to the legendary Wayne Gretzky, and under his tutelage, she learned quite a bit in her earliest years as a professional wrestler. Now Anna Jay returns to the site where her AEW career truly began, having transformed from who “The Star of the Show” was in 2020, into a woman who truly embodies that nickname in 2024. Wednesday night she will team up with three other fan favorites in Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander, and the newly-returned Thunder Rosa to do battle with the rather intriguing quartet of TBS Champion Julia Hart, Skye Blue, and The Outcasts of Ruby Soho and Saraya. Hart and Skye have made quite the fearsome pair over the last few weeks since Skye Blue fully embraced the darkness the TBS Champion spat into her soul, but The Outcasts duo have not exactly been on the same page as of late. It felt at one point like Saraya was trying to pull Anna Jay into their orbit, and now it’s Harley Cameron standing at their side, though she’s acting like quite an unhinged individual.

On the other side of the ring, Stokely Hathaway has been trying, quite unsuccessfully, to drive a wedge between Willow and Statlander, while this is just Thunder Rosa’s second match since returning to action after 16 months rehabilitating injuries. It should be noted that the first match back for the former AEW Women’s World Champion was a tag team victory over Julia Hart and Skye Blue with Abadon at her side! So in addition to Anna Jay wanting to pay homage to her mentor and friend Brodie Lee, this one has a load of other threads wrapped around the eight women involved in this bout!

The era of AEW World Champion Samoa Joe began at WORLDS END, and for the first time-ever he will be in Jacksonville this Wednesday night for DYNAMITE: HOMECOMING 2024! In addition, AEW World Tag Champ Ricky Starks takes on Sammy Guevara ahead of their BOTB XI championship clash on Saturday, Castagnoli versus Hangman, two huge eight-person tags, and so much more on tap! It all begins again at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so be sure to swing by the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s various social media platforms, for highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, the newest CONTROL CENTER, and more!

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First recorded in 1944 by The Mills Brothers in 1944, the song bearing the title of this retrospective has been covered by Connie Francis, Fats Domino, Ringo Starr, Michael Buble, and even Ryan Gosling in the heartbreaking film “Blue Valentine”. The lyrics include lines such as “You always break the kindest heart with a hasty word you can’t recall, so if I broke your heart last night, it’s because I love you most of all.”

It’s a song very easily projected onto a romantic relationship, but that’s just one type of love, and if nothing else, since the two men first became entangled in All Elite Wrestling, it’s been pretty clear that there is a lot of love between Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley. Love built on shared experiences, on treading common grounds, on time spent together both inside the ring and out, knowing each other’s families, not to mention spilling blood along similar roads en route to the promised land of AEW. 

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Moxley got here first, making his impact on as grand a scale as possible in the closing moments of DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019, taking out both Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega, and beginning the path that led him to his first AEW World Championship at REVOLUTION 2020, just weeks before the wrestling landscape as we knew it, as well as the world at large, became a different place under pandemic restrictions.

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That’s the world in which Eddie Kingston was birthed into AEW, a world where fans were only able to watch from the safety of their own homes, a world where the hard-traveled Kingston was forced to sell his wrestling boots in order to make rent. So with nothing left to lose, and then-TNT Champion Cody Rhodes holding an Open Challenge for his title, Kingston took his shot and called out Cody during one of the few independent wrestling shows running at the time. This led to Eddie walking out on the stage on the July 22, 2020 DYNAMITE, no pomp or circumstance, and fighting Cody in a No DQ match for that championship. Eddie failed to become the champion, but he made such an impact on the AEW landscape that nine days later, Kingston got his “…IS ALL ELITE” graphic.

While Moxley went about building the AEW World Championship up with one of the most impressive streak of defenses amassed to date, Kingston drew men like Butcher, Blade, and The Lucha Brothers to his side, and when the opportunity opened up to take his shot again, Kingston didn’t hesitate to take aim at a man who had been his friend for years…

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That fight did not go the way of “The Mad King”, but the aftermath of it set the table for the violent affair that would result at FULL GEAR 2020, a match that would turn out to by Moxley’s final successful title defense before losing to Kenny Omega at DYNAMITE: WINTER IS COMING 2020. Suffice it to say, the “I Quit” bout was twenty minutes of two men hurting the one they love, and came to an end with Kingston failing to claim the crown he’d risked destroying his friendship over…

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Shockingly, despite how that fight came to its conclusion, when Moxley fought Kenny Omega in an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match at REVOLUTION 2021, it was Eddie Kingston who came to the aid of Jon Moxley. That moment of sacrifice, Kingston’s choice to put his own safety at risk to protect his brother, that was a defining example of the core relationship between Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley. They were brothers, two men who cared about and supported one another, whose passion for pro wrestling bonded them, and whose capacity for violence mirrored one another’s. This reunion led Eddie and Mox into tag team competition, and a march towards The Young Bucks and the AEW World Tag Team Championship…

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Though that DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2021 championship bout did not go in favor of Kingston and Moxley, it solidified their bond before the AEW faithful, and created a duo that continued on throughout the remainder of 2021, including a wild Lights Out fight with Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer at RAMPAGE: GRAND SLAM 2021. Then the FULL GEAR 2022 Eliminator Tournament began, and though the layout of the brackets meant Moxley and Kingston could collide in the finals, Mox having to pull out of the field ended that possibility, and Eddie losing to Danielson in the Semi-Finals nixed his hopes of challenging for the title. 

Moxley would return to the fold in January 2022, refreshed and ready for the fight, a return that would lead him into battle with Bryan Danielson at REVOLUTION 2022, and then into the formation of The Blackpool Combat Club alongside “The American Dragon” and William Regal. At the same time, Kingston was in the midst of battle with Chris Jericho, a battle he actually won at REVOLUTION 2022, but would only be the precursor to much greater wars as Jericho abandoned The Inner Circle in the aftermath and formed The Jericho Appreciation Society. The paths of Kingston, Santana, Ortiz, and The Blackpool Combat Club would converge at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2022 when they and The J.A.S. went to battle under Anarchy In The Arena rules. Perhaps it should have been clear before the unit even stepped into Las Vegas that the inherent strife between Kingston’s side and Mox’s side would make success unlikely…

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Still, the attempt was made, Kingston tried to work with Bryan Danielson as best he could, but in one of the most horrifying visuals in AEW history, it ended up with Eddie dumping gasoline on Bryan, as well as his foes, in a failed attempt to actually light them all on fire! Perhaps it was fate that Danielson got injured during the course of Anarchy in the Arena and was unable to compete in the Blood & Guts cage match that followed, but much to the chagrin of Eddie Kingston, his friend Jon Moxley would ally himself with yet another of Kingston’s hated foes, perhaps the most hated of them all, Claudio Castagnoli.

The history between Kingston and Claudio has been well-documented since “The Swiss Superman” came into AEW, suffice it to say that it took everything Kingston had in him to fight alongside Castagnoli rather than rip his head off and chuck him off the top of the cage. The fact that Castagnoli, in Eddie’s eyes, stole the victory for their team from him did not help matters, and it sent Kingston back on his own path, completely separate from Moxley, as Jon and The BCC pursued theirs.

But those paths would once again intertwine, as friendships often too, only this time the circle had come back around to their AEW beginning, and Kingston was standing alongside Moxley’s enemies in The Elite, men he himself could not stand and did not respect, but his hate for Claudio burned far hotter. Strange bedfellows indeed…

This animosity put Eddie opposite his brother-by-choice at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 and during the course of that match, in unarguably the most emotional portion of the fight, the two actually came to blows. The scene would repeat two months later at ALL IN: LONDON, albeit with a twist, as Kingston allied himself with The Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, and Penta El Zero Miedo to fight Moxley, Yuta, Claudio, Ortiz, and Santana in Stadium Stampede! Eddie’s team actually won the fight, though he and Moxley would throwdown with one another yet again, and it certainly left a question as to the status of their relationship moving forward. 

For Eddie moving forward meant finishing his issues with Claudio Castagnoli once and for all, and that meant facing him at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2023 with both Kingston’s NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship and Claudio’s ROH World Championship on the line. In front of his hometown, his family, and his loved ones, Kingston put the final nail in the coffin of his rivalry with Claudio Castagnoli, and became the holder of both the NJPW STRONG title and the ROH one!

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For Moxley moving forward meant capturing a championship of his own, one he’d never held before, the AEW International Championship held by Orange Cassidy. That came to be at ALL OUT 2023, though the triumph turned to tragedy quite quickly when Rey Fenix dethroned him just 17 days later, and putting Moxley on the injured list for the next few weeks. Moxley’s return to AEW competition meant failure in regaining the AEW International Championship, once again held by OC who’d beaten Fenix himself in Jon’s absence, but then finding a new focus as the Continental Classic was announced.  Another man who found focus in the tournament was Moxley’s brother Eddie, only he chose to up the ante on the entire game, putting both of his championship belts in the mix, to create an American Triple Crown Championship…

Thus on November 22nd, with the field split into two groups dubbed the Gold League and the Blue League, twelve men began their trek towards WORLDS END, the Continental Championship, and now both the ROH World Championship and NJPW STRONG Openweight Title. For Moxley the road began with Mark Briscoe, and was followed in successive weeks with fights against Jay Lethal, RUSH,  and Swerve Strickland. Four consecutive victories meant 12 points for the 3-time former AEW World Champion, and berth in the finals of the Gold League, all that remained was his final match with Jay White to either solidify his spot atop the Gold, or to turn the League Final into a more complex situation with a “Switchblade” victory. But that’s exactly what Jay White did, he squeezed out a victory to tie up Moxley at 12 points, then Swerve did the same against RUSH in their fifth bout, thus leaving the Gold League with a three way tie to determine the victor. As we witnessed this past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, Moxley would get his back on Jay White, and earn his spot in the Continental Classic finals this Sunday night!

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With Kingston slotted into the Blue League, there was a possibility that he and Jon Moxley could end up in the finals together, but the road to get there would be long and arduous for “The Mad King”. Though his two championship titles were not at stake in each of his five matches, each loss brought him closer to losing hold of them without technically being beaten for them in a title bout, but that was the risk Kingston took when he threw them into the pot for the Continental Classic. Unfortunately for Eddie, he started the tournament off on bad footing by dropping matches to Brody King and Bryan Danielson in his first two bouts, the latter especially stinging given the dismissive rhetoric Danielson has long used towards Eddie.

Those losses also put Kingston in a position where each match became a must-win situation if he hoped to have a shot at keeping the two titles in his camp, and gaining the Triple Crown he’d created with his choices. The third match of Kingston’s journey put him opposite Claudio Castagnoli, a man he’d only ever beaten once in their careers, and somehow Eddie found a way to make it two straight wins over this Blackpool Combat Club member. It was as if somewhere along the way, possibly the night he first held the ROH World Championship overhead in front of his mother and father, Eddie learned how to best handle his demons. He knew they were creeping up behind him, just waiting for him to slip up and stumble into their waiting arms, but instead of slipping, Eddie Kingston kept moving forward “humble in victory, humble in defeat”, and that made the difference as he rattled off a second victory in the tournament over Daniel Garcia, and secured himself a spot in the Blue League finals with a win over Andrade El Idolo.

That set Kingston versus Danielson as the match, and put Eddie in a situation where he had to do something he’d never done before: beat Bryan Danielson. Without a twenty-minute time limit hanging over their heads, the two warriors brutalized each other for nearly twenty-five, absorbing blow-after-blow, suplex-after-suplex, and surviving multiple submission attempts, before it came down to Kingston dropping Bryan with the same Kawada-style Folding Powerbomb that defeated Claudio at GRAND SLAM 2023 some months earlier.

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With their respective wins in the Gold and Blue Leagues, for the first time since FULL GEAR 2020’s “I Quit” match, Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley will go one-on-one at WORLDS END in the Continental Classic Finals with the winner walking away as a Triple Crown Champion, simultaneously holding the ROH World Championship, the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship, and the Continental Championship! It also means, if Eddie doesn’t want to see his last day as champion of the first two titles, he has to do something else he’s never done before: beat Jon Moxley. 

This Saturday night on pay-per-view, as part of AEW’s WORLDS END presentation, Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley will do to each other what they’ve done for years now, hurt the one they love, and in the end they will either embrace one another as brothers, happy for the success of the other, or they will see the rift in their friendship gutted even deeper. For as important as the championship aspect of this fight is, for as historic a contest as it is, this is undoubtedly the most personal fight of either man’s career…

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After an exciting pair of nights in Oklahoma City for DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, All Elite Wrestling returns to San Antonio for the first time in a year when the Freeman Coliseum hosted the 2022 Holiday Bash! This time we are coming to San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center and bringing COLLISION to River City with us! With the Gold League coming to a head in a Three Way fight between Moxley, Swerve, and Jay White in next week’s finals, eyes turn to the Continental Classic’s Blue League to see who will advance from this group!

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This Saturday night, the final three matches in the Blue League take place to see whose points total puts them in the finals! The Blackpool Combat Club will be tested against itself when Bryan Danielson takes on Claudio Castagnoli for the first time in AEW, as well as their first bout in nearly three years! Andrade El Idolo and Eddie Kingston fight it out for the first time, and Daniel Garcia attempts to get on the board, and throw a monkey wrench in the works, by beating Brody King! The bouts begin at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, and the best way to get ready is to visit the official AEW YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFN4JkGP_bVhAdBsoV9xftA/videos), as well as AEW’s other social media platforms, for highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as events from last week’s COLLISION, the latest CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

CONTINENTAL CLASSIC: BLUE LEAGUE…

Standings

Andrade El Idolo (9)

“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson (9)

Brody King (6)

Claudio Castagnoli (6)

ROH World Champion/NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston (6)

Daniel Garcia (0)

Bryan Danielson (9) vs. Claudio Castagnoli (6)

For the first time in All Elite Wrestling, “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli will go head-to-head in their final match of the Continental Classic’s Blue League! These two members of The Blackpool Combat Club have quite a checkered past with one another, first coming to blows in September 2005 as part of the Ted Petty Invitational Tournament, fighting in multiple independents around the country, but it was their shared time in Ring of Honor that created both a strong rivalry and a mutual respect. Beginning with their June 28, 2008 match at VENDETTA II, the two men could lock-up in four singles matches, culminating in a No Disqualification bout at SOUTHERN HOSTILITY. Danielson won three of those four one-on-one bouts, including that final match, but their rivalry also included tag matches, Three Way fights, and Four Corner Survival matches. One of those Four Corner bouts, a ROH World Championship one, actually saw Claudio try to stomp Bryan’s skull in with a Steel Chair! The two had a few other matches after that No DQ bout, including a memorable Three Way at INSANITY UNLEASHED that also included Kenny Omega, but their final singles match as independent wrestlers actually took place in Germany for wXw on May 1, 2009.

Now that’s not to say their paths didn’t continue to cross over the next several years when the two occupied the same space once again, in fact from 2013-2021 they went one-on-one seven times, five of which were won by Danielson, with the last two going to Claudio. Prior to entering AEW, the two were actually working on the same page, and it’s that, along with the respect forged through their wars together, that likely led Danielson to bring Claudio into The Blackpool Combat Club! 

Since FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022 when Claudio first arrived to replace Bryan in the scheduled match with Zack Sabre Jr., we’ve seen how well the two work together, and how The BCC operates like a well-oiled machine, but this night we will get to see how they operate as foes! Claudio is on a mission to fight his way into the finals, a real possibility if he defeats Danielson, while Bryan is on the precipice of securing his position with a victory. Unfortunately “The American Dragon” may be coming into this as the underdog, not due to skill or ability, but because of the injuries he’s sustained over the last year. We know he’s not 100% recovered from the broken arm suffered at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, we’ve seen how foes in the Continental Classic have gone after the still-healing orbital bone injury, that eye patch serving as a constant reminder to his opponents of what to target.

So how will this play out? We know the phrase “iron sharpens iron” is embedded in the ethos of the Blackpool Combat Club, but does that mean doing whatever is necessary to win when it is one of your own group who is most vulnerable? Will Claudio follow in the footsteps of Andrade and Brody King and attack the weakest part of Danielson’s anatomy? Or are there some lengths the BCC members won’t go to in order to win? We will find out when Claudio and Bryan lock-up this Saturday night! As for the probable outcomes, let’s save that for a minute…

Eddie Kingston (6) vs. Andrade El Idolo (9)

The start of this tournament was not favorable to ROH World/NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston. Despite putting both his titles into the mix to form, along with the Continental Championship, a modern American Triple Crown Championship, Kingston dropped his first two  atches to Brody King and Bryan Danielson. Fighting out of a hole heading into this three remaining matches, “The Mad King” rallied with victories over long-time nemesis Claudio Castagnoli and newer rival Daniel Garcia, to notch himself six points in the tournament. Those two victories restored some hope that Kingston could actually win this tournament but, in a tournament filled with the best fighters in the world, Eddie has what may be his toughest fight in this last fight.

Unlike Eddie, Andrade El Idolo started this tournament with three consecutive victories in large part as a result of his willingness to do whatever it took to win. He topped Daniel Garcia to begin his streak, took advantage of Danielson fighting with that eye injury to get his six points, and used an exposed turnbuckle to help defeat Brody King in their fight for nine points. It was only Claudio Castagnoli’s willingness to do the same in their fight that kept Andrade from hitting the 12-point mark, instead putting him in a tie for points lead with Danielson.

So that is what’s at stake here for Andrade, potentially a definitive lead in the Blue League depending on how Bryan/Claudio plays out, but for Eddie it’s a fight for survival, his survival in this tournament, and his survival as a dual champion. If Kingston loses here, he can absolutely say goodbye to his ROH World Title and his NJPW STRONG Openweight as well as he will be mathematically eliminated from any hope of the Blue League Finals, much less the full tournament. This is truly do or die for Eddie Kingston…

Daniel Garcia (0) vs. Brody King (6)

The one man in the Blue League who has no hope of seeing the finals in Orlando is Daniel Garcia, his inability to notch any points in the previous four matches guaranteed that, but there is still the possibility he can play spoiler to the aspirations of one Brody King. It wouldn’t be the first time Garcia surprised the AEW faithful with a victory over this House of Black member, he did it at ST. PATRICK’S DAY SLAM 2023 back in March, so it’s certainly possible for him to repeat that feat. It has to be incredibly frustrating for Garcia to have had this opportunity and get nothing more than experience out of these fights. So is one win redemption for the failures that have come before this Saturday night? Mark Briscoe certainly experienced something akin to an awakening with his lone tournament victory on Wednesday night, perhaps Garcia can have his own moment of clarity, his own personal epiphany about what the future could hold. Then again, he’s got to step inside The House to try and get to that moment…

As for Brody King, victory in this tournament is not yet out of reach despite his loses to Andrade and Bryan Danielson. This current situation putting Brody, Claudio, and Eddie in a three-way tie at six points is rich with possible outcomes, but any hope for making it to the Blue League Finals hinges on Brody winning his fight, as well as requiring either Eddie or Claudio to win their fight. Now this is where things can get complicated, given how close the scores are between the five men still in the race,  there are so many possible outcomes for this tournament.

The simplest outcome is that both Bryan and Andrade win, netting each 12 points, and putting those two in the finals next Wednesday night in Orlando. The outcome of Brody and Garcia is then irrelevant in the grand scheme of things because even with a win, the House of Black member has no choice with only nine points to his name. If Andrade and Claudio win, then El Idolo is the clear top man with 12 points, but the second place spot all depends on the outcome of King/Garcia. We could potentially see Bryan, Claudio, and Brody King all end up with 9 points to close the field, and that same situation plays out with Bryan and Eddie winning, only Bryan takes the top spot, while Andrade, Claudio, and Brody could potentially end with a three way 9-point tie.

There’s even one situation that could end the Blue League in a five-way tie! If Eddie Kingston, Claudio Castagnoli, and Brody King all win their respective fights, then everyone but Garcia ends this with 9 points to their name! It’s the wildest possible outcome, but given that we saw the Gold League end in a Three Way tie, anything is possible when athletes of this caliber are competing against one another. The most likely scenarios end with Bryan and/or Andrade in the top spot, but nothing will be certain until the bell rings at the end of each match! Who will head to Orlando next Wednesday to determine the winner of the Blue League?

A CHAMPION RETURNS…

TBS Champion Julia Hart & Skye Blue vs. Abadon & Thunder Rosa

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We haven’t seen Thunder Rosa in action since the August 15, 2022 edition of DARK: ELEVATION where the then-AEW Women’s World Champion was victorious in a Trios match alongside Hikaru Shida and Toni Storm. Coming off a hard-fought title defense at BATTLE OF THE BELTS III against Jamie Hayter, and heading towards ALL OUT 2022, Rosa finally succumbed to a nagging back injury and was forced to relinquish her status as champion. Toni Storm would pick up that crown at ALL OUT 2022 in a Four Way with Dr. Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, and Hikaru Shida to begin her first stint atop the division, and from there the landscape has continued to shift in numerous ways in Rosa’s absence from competition.

That’s not to say Thunder has been completely AWOL from AEW, since the beginning of COLLISION she has served as one of the Spanish announcers for the program, but was still quite removed from any in-ring competition. During Thunder’s time away, she watched the title shift from Toni Storm to Jamie Hayter, saw Saraya become a part of All Elite Wrestling and form The Outcasts en route to experiencing her own time atop the division, and she saw Hikaru Shida become the first-ever 3-Time Women’s World Champion. 

Rosa watched Toni Storm become “Timeless”, watched Skye Blue rise up the ranks through hard work and grit, saw Julia Hart transform from cheerleader to Princess of the House of Black, and watched the TBS Championship go from the grips of Jade Cargill to the waist of Kris Statlander to residing inside the walls of The House. That’s not all the Women’s division has experienced during the sixteen months Thunder has been unable to compete, there’s been a great deal of talent who’ve stepped up, some who have departed AEW, and some new faces who have entered the scene. Through it all, Thunder Rosa has had both the luxury of being able to observe it happen while suffering with the knowledge that she was unable to be in the mix herself.

That is until last week; when Abadon fell victim to the somewhat surprising attack of TBS Champion Julia Hart and Skye Blue, it was Thunder Rosa who rose up as an ally for “The Living Dead Girl”, saving them from a further beating, and surprising everyone with the later revelation that she would step up as Abadon’s partner in conjunction with AEW’s return to the city Thunder Rosa calls home! The last time Thunder competed for AEW in the River City was the ST. PATRICK’S DAY SLAM 2022 Cage Match where she bested Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D for the AEW Women’s World Championship, but by HOLIDAY BASH 2022 in December, “La Mera Mera” was on the sidelines.

So while the fight of this match is largely about Abadon’s issues with Julie Hart, the TBS Championship, and now Skye Blue, the return of Thunder Rosa in her hometown is a huge moment in her life, and a major moment for the Women’s Division! Once this match is done, win or lose, then the questions can be asked about what plans the former Women’s World Champion has for her return to competition, but for Saturday night at least, there will be at least a moment for San Antonio to celebrate  the return of a champion!

AEW TRIOS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) and Daddy Ass(c) vs. Action Andretti & Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin)

The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass, though reigning as AEW World Trios Champions since August 27th, have been out of action since the November 8th edition of DYNAMITE where they were taken out by The Devil’s masked goons in response to their willingness to help MJF. That doesn’t change the fact that with nine defenses they are the most successful Trios Champions to date, but it does mean they may not be quite ready to get back into action with a fight like this against opponents such as these high-flying young men.

That’s right; in their first match in 45 days, The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass will put their AEW World Trios Championship on the line against Top Flight and Action Andretti! Though his layoff was much longer than that of the champions’, and the severity of his injuries potentially career-ending, Dante Martin has recently returned to competition alongside his brother and Andretti, and has looked superb in his handful of bouts.

Dante is coming off a strong singles victory during Thursday night’s ROH ON HONOR CLUB presentation, while Darius and Action scored a Three Way Tag Team win of their own, and collectively this trio has picked up two big trios wins in the month since Dante’s return. Stepping up to challenge the champions is a huge undertaking for this young trio, but this may be the perfect time to knock The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass off their throne! Can the champions pick up where they left off before The Devil’s henchmen knocked them off the playing field, or did the time away stall the momentum they’d worked so hard to build and leave them easier targets for their challengers? We shall see this Saturday night on TNT! 

ONE-ON-ONE…

ROH World Six-Man Champion Brian Cage vs. “Limitless” Keith Lee

Following his FINAL BATTLE 2023 victory over former tag team partner Shane Taylor, Lexy Nair interviewed Keith Lee under the assumption that Shane Taylor was the “him” Keith had been referring to, but “Limitless” quickly corrected her. Of course this would lead to speculation just who “him” actually was, but Keith Lee did not let that mystery simmer for very long when, as witnessed in the video above, he confronted The Mogul Embassy on COLLISION, making it abundantly clear that it was Swerve Strickland who he’d been talking about all along.

Clearly Keith feels like he’s let this unfinished business with this former AEW World Tag Team Championship partner go unresolved, and is ready to bring it to a conclusion, much like he did with the decade-long simmering issues with Shane Taylor. But before Keith can get his hands on Swerve, and while Strickland is still wrapped up in the Continental Classic, The Limitless One has to deal with “The Machine” Brian Cage!

Over the course of their careers, Cage and Lee have gone one-on-one three times, all prior to All Elite Wrestling’s existence, with the last being nearly four years ago. Each of those contests went in favor of Keith Lee, but a pair of Three Way contests they were involved in both went in Cage’s favor. But here in AEW, the only shared ring time these two behemoths have experienced has been mutual participation in the Blackjack Battle Royale at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 and an 8-Man tag in June won by Keith, Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, and Sting.

So thus begins Keith Lee’s road to settle his score with Swerve Strickland, and if every member of The Mogul Embassy is thrown in his path, this is going to be a very rough journey indeed. But if anyone is capable of surviving that grueling gauntlet, it is “Limitless”, and if there is anyone capable of matching the combination of power and speed Lee possesses, it is “The Machine” Brian Cage! Can this ROH World Six-Man Champion stifle Keith Lee’s aspirations at the starting line?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/pQs1-0U0Kes?si=3sXjDcEFj-l-GM7L

All Elite Wrestling is coming back to San Antonio, TX this Saturday night for our debut at the Frost Bank Center, and with it comes an all-new, loaded edition of COLLISION! The Blue League battle for points wraps up this Saturday with Castagnoli versus Danielson, Kingston battling Andrade, and Garcia fighting King! Plus, the AEW World Trios Championship will be at stake when Daddy Ass and The Acclaimed return to action against Top Flight and Action Andretti, while San Antonio’s own Thunder Rosa returns after sixteen months to team with Abadon for a fight with TBS Champion Julia Hart and Skye Blue!  COLLISION begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, and to get prepared for it all, drop by the official AEW YouTube channel to watch highlights from this week’s editions of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as events from the last COLLISION, and the latest CONTROL CENTER!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/T1dOgrFCT34?si=vXjA5D6qaLe7-lxq

All Elite Wrestling returns to Garland, TX and our home for the last four years at the Curtis Culwell Center! It’s the first time COLLISION has emanated from this great venue, and with WORLDS END fast approaching, that means more Continental Classic action in the Blue League! We saw Brody King take his first loss in the tournament on DYNAMITE, falling to Andrade El Idolo in each man’s third League bout, and boosting El Idolo up to the top spot with 9 points.

This week the Blue League continues with Claudio Castagnoli taking on Andrade, ROH World & NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston fighting an old rival in Daniel Garcia, and Bryan Danielson facing the immense challenge of Brody King! The bouts begin at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, and the best way to get ready is to visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s other social media platforms, for highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as events from last week’s COLLISION, the latest CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

CONTINENTAL CLASSIC: BLUE LEAGUE…

Standings

Andrade El Idolo (9)

Brody King (6)

“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson (6)

Claudio Castagnoli (3)

ROH World Champion/NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston (3)

Daniel Garcia (0)

Daniel Garcia (0) vs. Eddie Kingston (3)

The Continental Classic is getting down to the wire, we’ve passed the halfway point, and unfortunately for Daniel Garcia there is no way for him to win the Blue League on points, nor even come in second in order to battle it out with the points leader for that spot in the Continental Classic Finals at WORLDS END. All Garcia can do now is play spoiler to those with hope in their hearts, and with enough points to potentially get them to the Blue League Finals.

One of those men who has to hold onto hope right now is Eddie Kingston, an opponent Garcia has battled many times over the last two years, because after dropping his first two Blue League bouts, Kingston finally scored his first three points last week over Claudio Castagnoli.

But with Bryan Danielson, as well as Brody King, at six points and Andrade El Idolo at nine points, Kingston finds himself with two must-win bouts left in the league, and also dependent on the failings of others. Save the possibility of a draw, either Danielson or King will walk out of Saturday with nine points to their name, and Kingston has lost to both of them already. With the other bout pitting Castagnoli against Andrade, either Claudio walks with six or Andrade with 12, the latter result puts that top spot in the league totally out of Kingston’s reach, with only a hope of second place to hold onto.

Now this is where things get very interesting, the possibility of ties and what draws could potentially do to shake up the entire Blue League, but the bottom line for the ROH World/NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion is that he must defeat Daniel Garcia to have hope, he must defeat Andrade El Idolo in his next match to have hope, otherwise Kingston’s gamble with his two championship titles will have failed. 

But is it a failure to risk it all in order to achieve something greater? Is that willingness to fail actually what makes a person great? Is it brave or foolhardy for an athlete to look at their future and be willing to gamble everything at the risk of walking away with nothing? Only at the end of this road will Eddie Kingston be able to answer that question for himself…

Bryan Danielson (6) vs. Brody King (6)

In his first two matches in the Continental Classic, Brody King showed the world just how dangerous an individual he can be. Generally competing in tags and trios with his fellow House of Black devotees, Brody took it to Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli with a fierceness. That first match with Kingston kind of shook up the competition as many thought Eddie, as the ROH World and NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion, would come into the tournament strong. Instead Brody dropped “The Mad King”, and moved onto Claudio Castagnoli, who was coming off a strong win on Daniel Gacris. Just as he did with Kingston, Brody King handed Castagnoli his first loss in the tournament, shocking the world once more with his dominance in singles competition, and with eyes on his third bout against Andrade El Idolo.

But Brody’s power and capacity for violence were no match for Andrade’s cunning as El Idolo took advantage of an exposed turnbuckle, cracked Brody’s head against the steel, and ended up with the victory of The House’s behemoth. Every man coming into this tournament did so knowing loss was a possibility, if not an inevitability, so King will take the defeat as a lesson and move forward with no excuses into his last two fights. For better or worse, Brody King has to meet former multi-time World Champion and Blackpool Combat Club member Bryan Danielson in his next fight.

Bryan has been through a bit of hell during 2023; from the litany of injuries sustained after REVOLUTION 2023’s Iron Man Match with MJF to his broken arm from FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 against Okada to the fractured orbital bone suffered at the hands of both Okada and Orange Cassidy, the body of “The American Dragon” has gone through the ring.

And yet he never stops, Bryan Danielson never yields, and that is why he is a part of this tournament in spite of how much his body has endured. It seems with Danielson that no matter what his body may feel, his mind is strong, his will is iron, and his drive to compete is inevitable. That’s why he went through three Continental Classic matches in a week against Eddie Kingston, Daniel Garcia, and Andrade El Idolo. The first two were victories for Dragon, hard-fought, still victories nonetheless, but then came Andrade and his willingness to do something that the other two competitors did not: attack the eye.

With a relentless aggression, Andrade went after Danielson’s eye to the point that many wondered if Dragon would even be able to fight the match through to its end, but anyone who questioned that clearly doesn’t know the heart of Bryan. He fought through to the bitter end, taking the pain and punishment Andrade dished out, never stopping his fight, but ultimately succumbing. So now that the man who many thought would run the table with a perfect bracket has tasted defeat, what is his road to the finals? What is Brody King’s?

Obviously for both victory here is the goal, putting the winner at nine points in the Blue League, and potentially tied with Andrade El Idolo depending on how his battle with Claudio sways. If that’s the case, it comes down to the final match of the League for each, for Bryan that is actually fellow BCC member Claudio Castagnoli while for Brody King it is Daniel Garcia, someone who holds a victory over Brody from earlier this year. Win or lose, both men are still in the fight to win the Continental Classic, but whoever walks out of this with hand raised will be just a bit more comfortable in their position…that is if anyone is in position to walk away from this fight. Add in the fact that Bryan Danielson had a Fight Without Honor war last night at ROH’s FINAL BATTLE 2023 that ended with Mark Briscoe dropping “The American Dragon” with a Jay Driller to win the match, and it’s really questionable how Danielson is even capable of walking into this one, much less expecting to walk out the winner!

Claudio Castagnoli (3) vs. Andrade El Idolo (9)

Though some may have questioned whether or not Andrade El Idolo was wise to take on CJ Perry for his management, it’s hard to question the results as El Idolo is undefeated thus far, with victories over Daniel Garcia, Bryan Danielson, and Brody King just this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE. In each case Andrade has looked strong, dominant even, and as evidenced in both the Danielson and Brody King matches, willing to do anything it takes to secure that victory. In Bryan’s case it meant attacking that eye injury, and in King’s making use of the exposed turnbuckle, either way it ended with points for Andrade, enough to put him at the top of Blue League with just two matches left.

As for Claudio, he had a great first outing against Daniel Garcia to score his three points, but then ran into the brick wall of Brody King, and stumbled once more in his DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2023 rematch with Eddie Kingston. The latter likely stung greater than the former given the ill will between Kingston and Castagnoli, but the Brody loss is still a loss and Castagnoli finds himself in the same hole as Kingston.

Claudio’s path to possibly make the cut for League Finals means defeating Andrade and, in his final match, his own Blackpool Combat Club brother Bryan Danielson. Even that would only net him nine points, leaving The Swiss Superman also dependent on the outcome of other matches in order to be one of the last two men standing for the Gold League Finals in Orlando on December 27th. Andrade is obviously in the Gold League driver’s seat, but he could end up fighting for that second place spot if he drops this match and his final bout with Eddie Kingston. No one in this Blue League should let themselves get too comfortable…especially considering four of these six men fought at ROH’s FINAL BATTLE 2023 event last night. All but Andrade El Idolo and Brody King went through a fight, so it will be very intriguing to see how those may effect these three bouts!

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

“Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy(c) vs. “The Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith

Last night at FINAL BATTLE 2023, Bryan Keith came into ROH for the very first time with nothing more than an opportunity to qualify for the ROH World Television Championship Survival of the Fittest Elimination bout. “All” Kieth had to do was beat Jack Cartwheel on the ZERO HOUR to get there.

Well he did that, and in the span of the seven minutes that fight lasted, Bryan also won over the ROH faithful in Garland, TX. Then “The Bounty Hunter” stepped into the Survival of the Fittest Finals and hung in there for seventeen minutes, eliminating Lee Moriarty in the process before Kyle Fletcher took him out, and Bryan Keth solidified himself as a force to be reckoned with anywhere he goes.

Obviously someone took notice because Orange Cassidy, the 2-Time AEW International Champion, actually stepped up to “The Bounty Hunter” and offered him an opportunity to challenge for the title this Saturday night on COLLISION! Now Orange is coming into this off a fight of his own, teaming up with The Von Erichs on RAMPAGE to beat Cool Hand Ang, Daddy Magic, and Jake Hager, but that took far less a toll on the champion than FINAL BATTLE 2023 did to his challenger!

Can Bryan Keith upset the defending champion this Saturday night in Garland, and continue to show the world what he brings to the table inside that squared circle? Will OC’s own challenge backfire on him come COLLISION?

All Elite Wrestling has called Garland, TX and the Curtis Culwell Center home since 2019, and for the first time we are bringing COLLISION action to town! The Blue League tournament action heads into its fourth round with Castagnoli versus Andrade, Kingston battling Garcia, and Danielson tackling King! COLLISION begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, and to get prepared for it all, drop by the official AEW YouTube channel to watch highlights from this week’s editions of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as events from the last COLLISION, and the latest CONTROL CENTER!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/iU2f9k6xFo8?si=It9RW9st5dq1vkI_

— Latest Canadian Tour Runs from March through July, Including Debut Shows in Four New Markets —

December 6, 2023 – During tonight’s live episode of “AEW: Dynamite” from Montreal, AEW CEO Tony Khan announced that the red-hot promotion will make eight separate stops across Canada in 2024 for its shows “AEW: Dynamite,” “AEW: Rampage” and “AEW: Collision.”

After drawing the then-largest gate in AEW history with “AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door” this past June at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto as part of an eight-show tour that concluded at the iconic Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, AEW will make return stops throughout Canada next year in March, April, May and July. In addition, AEW’s 2024 Canadian tour will include market debuts in Ottawa and London, Ontario, Quebec City, Quebec, as well as Vancouver, British Columbia.

AEW’s eight Canadian shows in 2024 are as follows:

• Saturday, March 16: “AEW: Collision” live from the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario.

• Wednesday, March 20: “AEW: Dynamite” and “AEW: Rampage” live from the Coca- Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario.

• Wednesday, March 27: “AEW: Dynamite” and “AEW: Rampage” live from the Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Quebec.

• Saturday, March 30: “AEW: Collision” live from the Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario.

• Wednesday, April 10: “AEW: Dynamite” and “AEW: Rampage” live from the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

• Wednesday, May 8: “AEW: Dynamite” and “AEW: Rampage” live from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

• Saturday, May 11: “AEW: Collision” live from Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

• Wednesday, July 10: “AEW: Dynamite” and “AEW: Rampage” come to the Calgary Stampede live from the Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta.

Tickets for all eight shows go on sale Friday, December 15 at 10 a.m. local time. Tickets make great holiday gifts and can be purchased at AEWTix.com.“I think that the global successes of 2023, especially our historic ticket sales record set at ‘AEW: All In London’ at Wembley Stadium and our foray into Canada where we saw incredible moments such as ‘AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door’ in Toronto and the crowning of the second Owen Hart Foundation Tournament winners in Calgary, helped make this a banner year for AEW,” said Tony Khan. “We’re in a great position going into 2024, and I can’t wait to plant AEW’s flag in four new markets across Canada, and revisit some of the amazing cities we debuted in last summer. Everyone at AEW is proud to continue paying homage to Canada’s rich wrestling heritage, and serving the great Canadian fans with massive shows across the country in the new year.”

About AEW

Founded by CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan in 2019, AEW is a red-hot professional wrestling promotion featuring a world-class roster that is injecting new spirit, freshness and energy into the industry. “AEW: Dynamite” airs every Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. ET on TBS, “AEW: Rampage” airs every Friday from 10-11 p.m. ET on TNT, and “AEW: Collision” airs every Saturday from 8-10 p.m. ET on TNT. For more info, check out Twitter.com/AEW; Instagram.com/AEW; YouTube.com/AEW; Facebook.com/AEW

https://www.youtube.com/embed/EsV-iRW6TTk?si=S-oTV5YMUO87UXV8

Last week was another exciting one in the world of All Elite Wrestling, and it all began with AEW World Champion MJF teaming with AEW World Trios Champions Daddy Ass & The Acclaimed to take on BULLET CLUB GOLD in a wild eight-man tag! Unfortunately for the World Champ, the bout ended with Jay White pinning his shoulders to the mat, but at least it bonded the one Max with the other, and garnered the World Champ with some friends besides Adam Cole. Then on Saturday night at COLLISION, the World Trios Champs got to celebrate 69-Day in a fashion only they could, and capped off their 69th day as champions with a record-setting victory over Dalton Castle & The Boys!

We also saw FTR and LFI defeat the AEW World Tag Champions and The Gates of Agony in their own 8-Man Tag on COLLISION, watched Darby Allin and Lance Archer go to battle in a fight lost by Archer, but one in which he and Jake “The Snake” Roberts garnered new allies in The Righteous. Willow Nightingale defeated Emi Sakura, The Kingdom continued to deliver their #NeckStrong message with a “miracle” for Roderick Strong, and much more as AEW barrels towards the Fabulous Forum for FULL GEAR 2023!

AEW is returning to Portland, OR but this time it’s with DYNAMITE and marking our debut at the Moda Center, the home of the Portland Trailblazers! We’ve got MJF, with FULL GEAR 2023 getting closer, defending his AEW World Championship against Daniel Garcia as well as ROH World TV Champion Samoa Joe acecpting the challenge of “Limitless” Keith Lee! Plus Swerve versus Penta, Julia Hart versus Red Velvet, and Mark Briscoe battling Jay White; the action begins at at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, and at AEWPlus.com for international fans. Be sure to drop by the official AEW YouTube channel to watch highlights from last week’s DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as this week’s CONTROL CENTER, plus so much more!

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

MJF(c) vs. Daniel Garcia

Prior to last Friday night’s edition of RAMPAGE, Daniel Garcia had not competed in an AEW match that wasn’t a tag, trios, or multi-man since the Four Way International Championship match at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, with his last one-on-one encounter being in a top-shelf fight with Dax Harwood only seen by those in attendance for HOUSE RULES: TUPELO on June 2, and his last televised being a loss to Roderick Strong on the May 24th edition of DYNAMITE. As a man whose AEW resume includes victories over Brody King, Ricky Starks, and Bryan Danielson, it has clearly been frustrating for the former ROH Pure Champion, and the interpersonal issues he and his friends have been experiencing since walking away from The Jericho Appreciation Society have not helped matters.

Perhaps that is why Garcia, after his victory over Trent Beretta, chose to grab the microphone and shoot his shot by challenging Maxwell Jacob Friedman to put his AEW World Championship on the line. Clearly Garcia is tired of fighting with his friends, both inside and outside the ring, and tired of feeling overlooked despite being one of the best technical wrestlers in the game today. In Daniel’s eyes this is a fight that should’ve happened a long time ago, not MJF specifically but rather a World Championship opportunity, and he just had to take it upon himself to breath it into existence.

To MJF’s credit (it still somewhat bristles to write that), despite coming off that COLLISION clash with Kenny Omega and the 8-Man bout on DYNAMITE that saw him pinned by Jay White, he still plans to face Daniel Garcia this Wednesday night and to put the AEW World Championship on the line! That means, by the end of DYNAMITE, fans could see the entire face of the FULL GEAR 2023 championship match change! We could end up with Mark Briscoe taking on MJF, or Mark Briscoe versus Daniel Garcia, as well as the possibility of Jay White versus Daniel Garcia, in addition to the scheduled White/MJF bout. There could be a shake-up on the horizon for All Elite Wrestling, but should MJF survive the night with the championship still…well…not in his possession…but at least attached to his name, then he will tie the 9-defense record set by Jon Moxley during his first reign, making FULL GEAR 2023 the night Maxwell could add “most successful” to the “longest reigning” credit in his championship bio.

Can Garcia step up to that next level of competition and conquer AEW’s own devil? Or will Maxwell Jacob Friedman survive another day as champion and be able focus his sights on the KIA Forum, Jay White, and FULL GEAR 2023? The challengers are circling all-around…

ROH WORLD TV CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Samoa Joe(c) vs. Keith Lee

When the calendar turned from Wednesday November 1st to Saturday the 2nd, Samoa Joe officially became the longest-reigning World Television Champion in Ring of Honor history, surpassing Jay Lethal’s record that had stood since October 23, 2015, and with no seeming end in sight. When Samoa Joe walks into Portland on Wednesday night, he will stand with 575 days as champion to his resume, a number that actually puts the ROH Legend just 71 days away from breaking his own 645-day record as ROH World Champion, maintaining Joe’s status as the longest-reigning champion across all titles in ROH’s nearly 22-year history only now with the Television Championship rather than the World.

Though Samoa Joe felt he’d cleared out all challengers after putting down former TV Champion Rhett Titus on the October 28th COLLISION, and has thus devoted a good deal of his focus on MJF’s AEW World Championship, there was a man willing to step up to that challenge this past Saturday night, someone with a bit of ROH experience of their own, but who has never shared the ring with Samoa Joe: “Limitless” Keith Lee!

Though he’s only made one ROH appearance in the new era of honor, that being at FINAL BATTLE 2022, Keith Lee first competed in Ring of Honor, alongside Shane Taylor, on the May 29, 2015 event known as ROAD TO BEST IN THE WORLD 2015: NIGHT 1. Though never title holders, The Pretty Boy Killers (as Keith and Shane were known) did face top teams like The Briscoes, War Machine, and the All Night Express before Keith Lee left Shane Taylor in February 2017 following UNDISPUTED LEGACY. That’s a whole other issue, one Taylor and Lee still need to sort between each other, merely brought up to show that ROH is not unfamiliar territory to Keith Lee.

That bring multiple questions to bear regarding this fight set for Wednesday’s DYNAMITE: will we see Keith Lee return to Ring of Honor as a champion? Can Samoa Joe continue his run as the “King of Television” and press own towards breaking his own championship record come January 19, 2024? Though both men have issues beyond this title fight, Joe with MJF and Keith with Shane Taylor, they will no doubt be focused on the battle at hand, a battle pitting two of the biggest behemoths in All Elite Wrestling or Ring of Honor against one another!

ONE-ON-ONE…

Jay White vs. Mark Briscoe

***FULL GEAR 2023 TITLE SHOT ON THE LINE***

Once upon a time in 2016, a young lion named Jay White left the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo and traveled to the United States on excursion. This is a common happening among the young men coming out of the NJPW Dojo, though the destination is not always the same, and in the case of Jay White it was a year-long voyage to Ring of Honor. Yes he spent time in promotions like RevPro in the UK, fought in American indies like PWG, IWC, and House of Glory, but Ring of Honor was his home until October 28, 2017.

During that time, Jay White would find allies in a group known as Search and Destroy that consisted of White, The Motor City Machine Guns, Lio Rush, and Jonathan Gresham, and with that unit would end up in a several battles with two pillars of Ring of Honor: Jay and Mark Briscoe. One of White’s earliest matches in ROH was a 20-Minute draw with Jay Briscoe, and he would first collide with the brothers from Sandy Fork on the 9/3/16 edition of ROH WRESTLING with Lio Rush at his side. Though that S&D team was unsuccessful, Jay White would find success against The Briscoes at ALL-STAR EXTRAVGANZA VIII when he, ACH, and KUSHIDA defeated Jay, Mark, and Toru Yano in the inaugural World Six-Man Title Tournament and again when he, Lio, Sabin, and Shelley bested Jay, Mark, Silas Young, and Jay Lethal in an 8-Man tag.

As the young lion in those situations, Jay White took his beatings even in victory, and it all helped him prepare for the inevitable birth of “Switchblade” that came with his return to NJPW in November 2017. Jay and Mark would clash with White on one more occasion in May 2022, after “King Switch” had ascended to the head of BULLET CLUB and brought a young man named Chris Bey into the fold, but as it was in their only other straight-up tag match, The Briscoes claimed victory over Jay White and his partner.

All that being said, with that history lesson on the relationship between Mark Briscoe and Jay White, it’s a brand new day and both men are now members of the All Elite Wrestling family. Jay White and his BULLET CLUB GOLD brethren have absconded with MJF’s AEW World Championship title belt, leaving “Switchblade” to walk around AEW and claim himself the true champion. The old saying goes “possession is 9/10ths of the law”, but it’s tantamount to “finder’s keepers, losers weepers” here with Jay White, and Mark Briscoe has decided to put his foot down on the shenanigans he’s watched unfold over the last several weeks.

That is what has led the former 13-Time ROH World Tag Champion to challenge Jay White to this fight on DYNAMITE, a fight in which White’s FULL GEAR 2023 World Championship opportunity will also be on the line! Mark Briscoe’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain with this one, and in just his second match back from injury he could be the next challenger to either MJF or Daniel Garcia. Mark will likely have to contend with the full Bang Bang Gang contingent in Jay’s corner, but perhaps someone in the back with their own BC GOLD issues will be watching Briscoe’s back.

PARA LA FAMILIA…

Swerve Strickland vs. Penta El Zero Miedo

Alex Abrahantes could not have made it more clear; this fight is about something greater than just the match itself. Much like Mark Briscoe standing up for what he sees as wrong, this challenge made to Swerve Strickland on Penta El Zero Miedo’s behalf is also about what the latter sees being done wrong by the former.

After watching what Swerve did at “Hangman” Adam Page’s home, that complete violation beyond the pale of professional wrestling, Penta was disgusted and as a man who cherishes his family, decided to do something about it. So for the first time in AEW, and for the first time since December 2018, Swerve Strickland and Penta El Zero Miedo will go one-on-one on DYNAMITE! History tilts in the favor of Strickland, three previous meetings and all won by the boss of The Mogul Embassy, but this week Penta fights with his family in mind, with Hangman’s family in mind, and that’s the kind of motivation that will push a man to some dark deeds.

Then again, Swerve seems to thrive in those dark deeds as well based on his invasions of both Nick Wayne’s and Hangman Page’s private spaces, and clearly has no issues about crossing the lines decent human beings won’t, and certainly not in the name of a professional wrestling contest. Whose darkness is going to win out in this one-on-one clash?

SINGLES MATCH…

Julia Hart vs. Red Velvet

The last time Julia Hart was inside the squared circle was a month ago at WRESTLEDREAM 2023 after Kris Statlander bested her in their TBS Championship bout. Not only was that night a championship loss for The House of Black member, it was also the loss that snapped a 28-match win streak that Julia had built since May 2, 2022. The other night when The House of Black returned to the COLLISION stage in full force, so too did Julia Hart arrive, and with them the AEW landscape shuddered.

The last time Red Velvet appeared inside an AEW ring was on the February 1st edition of DYNAMITE when she fell to Jade Cargill in their TBS Championship bout, suffering an injury in the process that has kept her out of action for the last nine months.

That marks two things these women have in common, a TBS Championship loss in their last match, and some time off following that fight. Obviously for Velvet it was a far less of a choice to remain away from the ring, where as with Hart it was more of a regrouping alongside The House.

This Wednesday night the path of these two women will intertwine once more, the first time since their bout on the July 19, 2021 edition of DARK: ELEVATION, a match won by Red Velvet on her road to fighting Dr. Britt Baker for the AEW Women’s World Championship on the very first episode of RAMPAGE.

While Velvet has never contended with this dark, twisted version of Julia Hart, neither has Hart dealt with the Red Velvet of today who learned so much from her time as a Baddie, her challenges for the TBS and Women’s World Titles, and the motivation of long-term injury recovery. What will each bring to the table this Wednesday evening, and whose eyes will be watching it go down?

TAG TEAM TUSSLE..

Darby Allin & Sting vs. The Outrunners (Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/AL-tv2XIWKk?si=poR8ke5FEWiRhekU

Ahead of their COLLISION trios bout where Adam Copeland will join Darby Allin and Sting to fight Lance Archer and The Righteous, Darby and “The Icon” will be in tag team action against a team who’s been very impressive in their AEW outings to date: The Outrunners!

The Outrunners, Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd, have been in the ring with The Acclaimed, Butcher & Blade, The Kings of The Black Throne, Aussie Open, and The Gunns, just to name a few of their AEW opponents, and they’ve managed to impress in their losses.

This Wednesday night they’ve got a huge opportunity when they square off with Darby Allin and Sting on the home stretch of The Icon’s career! This could be the biggest night in the lives of The Outrunners, can they take advantage of the situation, particularly all the damage done to Darby by Lance Archer?

HAVE A SEAT WITH TONY, TONI, & SHIDA..

https://www.youtube.com/embed/UVOiTX_eaQc?si=jzUDbIiju8IVbFAp&start=263

Last week, following Hikaru Shida’s AEW Women’s World Championship defense against Willow Nightingale, Toni Storm made her way to the DYNAMITE stage and stole the spotlight from the champ for the third time. This time Shida had had enough, and as Storm rolled about on the stage, the 3-Time Champion came charging up the ramp, knocking down Luther, and delivering a solid knee strike to Toni’s face.

Storm went scurrying away with Shida in pursuit, but there will be no running this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE when both women, ahead of their FULL GEAR 2023 title fight, sit with Tony Schiavone for a chat! Will tempers flare up and turn this interview into a disaster not seen since THE ROOM?

AEW is back in Portland, OR this Wednesday night for DYNAMITE and our debut at the home of the Portland Trailblazers: the Moda Center! The AEW World Championship will be on the line, as well the ROH World Television Title, plus Swerve Strickland takes on Penta El Zero Miedo, Red Velvet is back in action for the first time in nine months to take on Julia Hart, Mark Briscoe and Jay White clash, and plenty more on top for AEW’s flagship! The night gets underway at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, and at AEWPlus.com for international fans so make a point to visit the official AEW YouTube channel to catch-up on highlights from recent episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as this week’s CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/PZMeWw12TDk?si=-KRcf6vaIDxHItoO&start=290

Last Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, fans were witness to a must-see clash between Orange Cassidy and Claudio Castagnoli over the AEW International Championship, and in the aftermath, with OC still standing as champ, we all witnessed Jon Moxley’s response to the win. In addition, while AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida bested Willow Nightingale, AEW World Champion MJF and The Acclaimed fell to BULLET CLUB GOLD with Maxwell himself getting pinned by “Switchblade” Jay White. Plus, Adam Copeland agreed to side with Sting and Darby against TNT Champion Christian Cage and company, Julia Hart returned only to be surprised by Skye Blue, and The Elite lost their ROH World Six-Man Championship back to The Mogul Embassy!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/lPykeRLwfJU?si=Zw0rlZQgiNSwDFgR&start=124

AEW RAMPAGE get underway this Friday beginning at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, just be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel before the show begins to catch highlights from last Wednesday’s DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE and COLLISION, THE CONTROL CENTER, and a great deal more!

Lucha del Día de los Muertos…

AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo vs. AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Komander vs. Penta El Zero Miedo

What a match this will be when three of the world’s premier Luchadores collide in a Three Way bout this Friday night on RAMPAGE! All three of these individuals are quite familiar with one another, particularly Penta El Zero Miedo and El Hijo del Vikingo whose relationship dates back to 2019 bouts in AAA, and they even teamed up a pair of times on episodes of ROH ON HONOR CLUB (www.watchroh.com) during the summer, but this will be the first time they’ve competed against one another in this format! Penta and Vikingo clashed in singles competition for AAA in April 2020, Komander won the ROH World Title #1 Contender’s match on RAMPAGE a month ago that also featured Penta, while Vikingo holds seven singles victories over Komander as well as an additional six in multi-man matches that featured both men, including a AAA Mega Championship match on RAMPAGE back on June 2nd.

Suffice to say there is a great deal of history between Vikingo and Komander, and with both reigning as champions in AAA, there are a great many eyes on this contest, and given the skill sets of both men, it is quite the unpredictable bout! Now add in Penta El Zero Miedo, himself a former champion in AAA, and this is going to be one of the wildest fights could hope for! They can all fly, they can all hit, and Penta especially has a sadistic streak when it comes to inflicting pain; one can’t help but wonder, with two AAA champions involved, if this outcome could have an impact on those title pictures, but even if not, this match honoring Dia de los Muertos will be a showstealing affair!

Click here for detailed information on just what Dia de los Muertos means, and to read about its history.

One-On-One…

Marina Shafir vs. Skye Blue

https://www.youtube.com/embed/UVOiTX_eaQc?si=iGpNQcsa4MNYuiVM&start=361

As seen in the above embedded clip, this past Wednesday night fans finally got a clearer idea of where Skye Blue’s head has been since being misted by Julia Hart. Though we’ve all seen her adopt a darker look, bend the rules a bit, and repeatedly refuse the handshake/help of Kris Statlander, she hadn’t gone full-Julia in this descent from the bright, shiny disposition the AEW faithful had grown to know and love. There was certainly a fear that was Skye’s trajectory, but on Wednesday night, when she misted Julie with her own blue-tinted variation on the theme, it became clear that while Skye had been changed by her experience, she was not signing on with Julia and The House!

So with that in mind, this Friday night on RAMPAGE Skye will back in action against a familiar foe! Marina Shafir and Skye Blue have gone into battle eight previous times against one another since 2022, three of those in singles competition, with “The Problem” holding a 5-3 edge overall, and a 2-1 in their singles matches. Their most recent bout went down on September 13th in Cincinnati and was won by Skye, leaving Shafir hungry to get one back.

With the skies looking a little more clear, and fans seeing what Blue meant when she said she’d handle Julia, it will be interesting to see how she approaches this next fight with Marina Shafir! Though Skye Blue will likely never be the same woman she was when 2023 began, will she continue forward with a bent towards the shadows, or will the light of friends like Willow Nightingale shine through the darkness?

Tag Team Action…

The Gunns (Austin & Colten Gunn) vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal

Coming off The Bang Bang Gang’s major victory on DYNAMITE, and with their ROH World Tag Team Championship opportunity pending during FULL GEAR 2023: ZERO HOUR, Austin and Colten Gunn will be in tag team action this Friday on RAMPAGE! Looking to build greater momentum before they get to L.A., the Gunns will take on two men who held the ROH World Tag Team Championship over 15 years ago, and who now want to add the phrase “2-Time” to their resume!

Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal reigned from November 25, 2006 until February 24, 2006, dethroning The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero) before being bested by Jay & Mark Briscoe, and netted themselves three successful championship defenses during that time. Though the partnership was short-lived, the bond remained strong, and in the new era of honor Daniels and Sydal have reunited to once again pursue ROH championship success.

So to see The Gunns jump the line and basically corner MJF into a championship shot at FULL GEAR 2023: ZERO HOUR has not sat well with the two veterans of the squared circle, and this Friday on RAMPGE they mean to teach The Gunns about repercussions for their actions! Austin and Colten are riding high after Wednesday night’s victory, as are the rest of BC GOLD, so you know they won’t be traveling alone to this shindig. Can the former ROH Tag Champions contend with the BC GOLD numbers and put a damper on the Bang Bang Gang party?

Singles Match…

Daniel Garcia vs. Trent Beretta

It’s been awhile since the AEW fans have seen Daniel Garcia in a singles match on TV, since May 24th to be exact when Roderick Strong defeated him, with his last one overall taking place at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 when he was part of the AEW International Championship Four Way with Shibata, Zack Sabre Jr., and defending champion Orange Cassidy. That’s quite a long time for the self-proclaimed “greatest technical sports entertainer in the world” to go competing in only tags, trios, and battle royals, but this Friday night Garcia is back at it!

His opponent for this return to singles action is none other than Trent Beretta who, while certainly versed in singles competition, has spent a great deal of his AEW career embroiled in tag team action with Chuck Taylor, or Trios situations with Orange Cassidy. With Chuck on the injury list and Cassidy engaged in his work as a 2-Time International Champion, Beretta is going it solo once again!

Both are hungry for competition, and to prove their skills once more, but who’s will to win will prove stronger this Friday night on RAMPAGE?

RAMPAGE begins at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so be sure to drop in on the official AEW YouTube channel before to the show for highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE, plus previous episodes of RAMPAGE and COLLISION, THE CONTROL CENTER, and much, much more! This Friday night, with the Lucha del Dia de Los Muertos Three Way, Skye versus Shafir, Garcia taking on Beretta, and The Gunns in tag team action, is going to be action-packed!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rz0YmnooOL4?si=rwqETaiF2CRY1770&start=290

https://www.youtube.com/embed/83MiJcWtEOc?si=ZTlIs0hiMA7ELgqv&start=168

Saturday night’s edition of COLLISION brought the AEW faithful an epic World Championship match between Kenny Omega and Maxwell Jacob Friedman that saw the defending champion top his challenger to not only retain, but to also cement his status as the longest-reigning AEW World Champion of all time. As of Wednesday November 1st MJF has officially hit the 347-day mark of his reign atop the mountain, thus surpassing Kenny Omega’s record, and leaving him with one World Championship record left to break, that being Moxley’s nine successful defenses. A win over Jay White at FULL GEAR 2023 would tie that marker, but Max still has a ways to go before he gets to The KIA Forum, and part of that is his fight with The Bang Bang Gang on DYNAMITE!

Also last Saturday, Hikaru Shida continued her third reign as AEW Women’s World Champion by defeating Abadon in a Fright Night Fight, the aforementioned BULLET CLUB GOLD was successful in picking up two victories in their Saturday night fights, and Samoa Joe continued his march towards breaking Jay Lethal’s 567-day record reign as ROH World TV Champion with his victory over Rhett Titus!

DYNAMITE is stacked for AEW’s debut in Louisville, KY at the KFC YUM! Center with MJF possibly taking on the entirety of BULLET CLUB GOLD by himself, Hikaru Shida facing Willow Nightingale’s challenge, the AEW International Championship on the line, and more! The night begins at at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so swing by the official AEW YouTube channel to watch highlights from last week’s DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, an unforgettable COLLISION, as well as this week’s CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

EIGHT-MAN TAG MATCH…

AEW World & ROH World Tag Champion MJF, ???, ???, & ???

vs. BULLET CLUB GOLD (Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Jay White, & Juice Robinson)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/qlIAH9PxiTo?si=mI0WGdh9CfXavtxo&start=168

As of Wednesday, after topping Kenny Omega in their epic COLLISION bout, Maxwell Jacob Friedman has officially become the longest-reigning AEW World Champion in history, surpassing Omega, with the only record associated with that championship left to break being the most championship defenses. That record is currently held by Jon Moxley during his first title reign, holding steady at nine, with MJF having the potential to tie it at FULL GEAR 2023 when he faces “Switchblade” Jay White in his next title defense. The fact that Jay has physical possession of the MJF’s prized Triple B is meaningless to the actual lineage, just merely a tool for “King Switch” to use to antagonize the actual champion as long as the belt sits in the BC GOLD camp.

Clearly the issue is getting to Max as he attempted, despite having that match with Omega on his plate later in the night, to reclaim the title belt following Jay White’s victory over AR Fox. Once again unsuccessful in his attempt, MJF now has to take on the whole of The Bang Bang Gang this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE if wants to get the Triple B back from Jay White. There’s only one problem, Max has essentially told everyone willing to help him out to kick rocks, not The Kingdom, not Roderick Strong, not The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass, and as far as Samoa Joe’s offer, well Max didn’t scream Joe’s name for help, but he didn’t say no either.

So who will it be? Will it even be anyone? Is there anyone MJF will accept help from, or who will even be willing to stick their neck out for him? After all, despite his recent titling towards the side of the angels, this man is still The Devil who perpetrated a great deal of pain and suffering on many individuals throughout All Elite Wrestling, and why anyone would trust him is generally beyond logic. Yet here is Joe offering a hand, albeit with that championship caveat, and Max Caster searching for friendship based on their shared history at the Create A Pro Academy, while The Kingdom and Roderick Strong are doing it to stay in Adam Cole’s good graces.That’s a lot of firepower that could be on Max’s side, but he doesn’t want a part of any of it, even with the full power of BULLET CLUB GOLD standing in front of him. There’s brave, and then there is foolhardy, and it is very clear which of the two that the AEW World Champion is choosing…

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli

On Wednesday night in Philadelphia, Claudio Castagnoli pinned AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy to win the bout for the Blackpool Combat Club. Unfortunately that victory came at a cost to “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson as Claudio detailed Saturday night on COLLISION. Whether it was The Rainmaker Clothesline or The Orange Punch, the end result was Danielson suffering a fracture to his orbital bone. So while Claudio had the thrill of pinning a champion, he also had the agony of knowing his BCC brother was down at the hands of their opponents.

For Claudio, there can at least be some solace knowing that he can get revenge for Danielson in short order because, as a result of pinning Cassidy on DYNAMITE, the former 2-Time ROH World Champion will challenge for the AEW International Championship! This marks the first time Castagnoli, a former 2-Time ROH World Champion, will challenge for a singles title in All Elite Wrestling, with that recent AEW World Tag Title loss to Big Bill & Ricky Starks being Claudio’s only other AEW title fight.

Orange has proven he won’t back down from any fight, he even had the gumption to shoulder into Jon Moxley unprovoked which nearly led into a brawl of its own at BATTLE OF THE BELTS VIII, and he has stated his intention to move forward in his second reign as International Champion just like he did with the first. That means defending at every opportunity against every opponent who wants an opportunity, despite the physical and mental toll it took on the man. It was obvious, and OC didn’t hide it, that losing the title shook him to the core and he lost some sense of identity without it around his waist. Reclaiming it, albeit from Rey Fenix rather than Mox, restored some of that identity, but it is not a reach to assume Cassidy wants another fight with Moxley; why else purposefully run into the man? But before that’s even a possibility, Cassidy has to survive the onslaught of The Swiss Superman in his next championship defense! Will the AEW International Championship return to The Blackpool Combat Club this Wednesday night in Louisville?

TAG TEAM CHALLENGE…

Daddy Magic & Cool Hand Ang vs. Golden Jets (Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega)

Much to the chagrin of Daniel Garcia, and the utter annoyance of Anna Jay, last Friday on RAMPAGE Daddy Magic, Cool Hand Ang, and maybe even Jake Hager, seemed buy into the garbage that Don Callis was selling to them. It certainly took some of the focus of Anna’s attempts to earn that COLLISION title match with Shida, in fact she was the one that Abadon defeated to take the title match, and perhaps knowing that some of her friends were focused on other business kept her from focusing 100% on her own.

Disappointingly, Menard and Parker have decided to take Don Callis up on his offer and this Wednesday night in Louisville, they will face Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho in tag team action! The Golden Jets, as Jericho dubbed them, are coming into this one with Omega fresh off a hard-fought AEW World Championship bout with MJF this past Saturday night and Chris Jericho hopefully recovered from the assault he suffered at the hands of Powerhouse Hobbs!

Will Callis’ newfound allies be successful against the two former AEW World Champions, or will the unlikely allies be victorious and frustrate Callis?

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Willow Nightingale

https://www.youtube.com/embed/eWSobRJB5-E?si=7F-yVW4geE6YxNqq&start=168

Coming off a COLLISION’s Fright Fight with Abadon, the AEW Women’s World Champion is right back in action defending her title against all-comers, and the next one to step up to the plate is fan favorite Willow Nightingale!

As of late Willow has invested her time in whatever is going on with Skye Blue since both were misted by Julia Hart’s “spooky dust” (as Willow dubbed it), and we’ve all seen it bring some changes to Skye while Nightingale has remained true to herself. TBS Champion Kris Statlander tried to bridge the gap on COLLISION to no avail, and now with this opportunity on her table, Willow Nightingale is really going to have to put Skye on the back burner and focus on the task at hand. This is just Willow’s second opportunity at the title, the first coming back at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 against Toni Storm, and her second ever match with Hikaru Shida with the first actually taking place on the Jericho Cruise earlier this year.

Will Willow be frustrated by Shida in this championship bid, or can the first-ever NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion add an AEW title to her trophy case as well? Tune in Wednesday night to see how it all goes down!

DYNAMITE comes your way with AEW’s Louisville, KY debut hailing from the KFC YUM! Center. We will see AEW World Champion MJF, and perhaps some partners, taking on the whole of The Bang Bang Gang, Hikaru Shida defends her title against Willow Nightingale, AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy fights The BCC’s Claudio Castagnoli, and much more in store! The show kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, and at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so drop in on the official AEW YouTube channel to catch highlights from last week’s DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, as well as this week’s CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/_9VrmRqRfDM?si=1BlI598LbYO71Hq2

After a jam-packed week of action with three events, All Elite Wrestling returns to one of DYNAMITE’s first homes at the Liacouras Center on the Philadelphia campus of Temple University! With it comes the Dynamite Diamond Ring clash between AEW World & ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF and BULLET CLUB GOLD’s Juice Robinson ahead of Max’s scheduled clash with “Switchblade” Jay White at FULL GEAR 2023! In addition, Hikaru Shida will put her AEW Women’s World Championship on the line against Ruby Soho, Rob Van Dam and HOOK will clash with The Dark Order, and we will hear from Chris Jericho as he sits down with Renee Paquette!

But that’s not all: we will also see a huge dream team match-up as AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy brings Kazuchika Okada back to AEW for a tag team clash with Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli of The Blackpool Combat Club! In addition, AEW President Tony Khan has a gift for “The Icon” Sting after his stunning announcement last week, and The Elite will put their ROH World Six-Man Championship on the line against The Hardys and Brother Zay!

DYNAMITE is loaded for AEW’s return to Philadelphia, and the action gets underway beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans! Before the night starts, visit the official AEW YouTube channel to watch highlights from last week’s DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION and BATTLE OF THE BELTS, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

DYNAMITE DIAMOND RING MATCH…

AEW World & ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF vs. “Rock Hard” Juice Robinson

https://www.youtube.com/embed/h7YT96gSsEY?si=aEdUS4wRjsySHB6j&start=113

As of this moment, AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman is set to clash with BULLET CLUB GOLD’s “Switchblade” Jay White at FULL GEAR 2023 (https://www.allelitewrestling.com/aew-event/aew-full-gear-2023) on Saturday November 18th, and with that on the horizon, The Bang Bang Gang has done everything they can to make Max’s life hellish. They’ve attacked him, stolen his Triple B championship belt, mocked the Dynamite Diamond Ring MJF has managed to keep in his possession since 2019, and now after Juice Robinson won the Battle Royale last week, they aim to rob him of that accessory as well.

Sure Max, or at least someone wearing his signature devil mask, and a gang of other disguised individuals fired back at Jay White by assaulting him backstage, but circumstantial evidence aside, and taking the man’s word with a grain of salt, MJF claims the mask was stolen from his bags. Now historically speaking Maxwell Jacob Friedman has not been the most trustworthy individual, but his somewhat matured attitude towards everything lends him a credibility he didn’t have earlier this year.

But MJF is going to have to put all that aside, everything BC GOLD has put him through the last several weeks and the distractions of everything surrounding Adam Cole’s surgery, and focus on the task at hand with Juice Robinson. With Cole’s out, and MJF clearly not interested in the help offered by Max Caster, the AEW World Champion is quite alone in a situation where Juice and The Bang Bang Gang will absolutely use their numbers to further break MJF down before FULL GEAR 2023.

Will “Rock Hard” be the first person not named MJF to lay claim to the Dynamite Diamond Ring? Max won the Battle Royale, and the subsequent singles match, three years running while last year defended the AEW World Title, as well as possession of the ring, in a match versus Ricky Starks. So while history is on MJF’s side, the other side has four men on it who will conspire together to insure the current holder of the Dynamite Diamond Ring doesn’t spend another night with it on his finger…

A DREAM TEAM…

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy & Kazuchika Okada

vs.

Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli)

Four months ago to the day, at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, Bryan Danielson defeated “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada with a broken arm. It was the culmination of a hard-hitting twenty-eight minute fight, one fans had dreamed about seeing for years finally coming to fruition, that far exceeded expectations, and left people clamoring for more. Okada, for one, was certainly game for a rematch, quoted as saying “If there is a time to have a rematch, I’d like to win even if I have to break both of Danielson’s arms next time.”!

Well, as Orange Cassidy announced to the world after winning his BATTLE OF THE BELTS VIII International Championship defense against John Silver, “The Rainmaker” will have that chance this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE when he returns to AEW for this tag team dream match! The multi-time IWGP Champion will team with the 2-Time AEW International Champion to take on The Blackpool Combat Club of Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli!

This match marks the first time Okada has been in Philadelphia since ROH WRESTLING Episode #209, available on Honor Club now, was taped in August 2015! It’s been over eight years since “The Rainmaker” graced the City of Brotherly Love, and now he’s back for this huge tag team collision that’s as much about OC and Jon Moxley as it is Danielson/Okada. Moxley may not be cleared for combat quite yet, but clearly he and “Freshly Squeezed” are on a collision course revolving around that AEW International Championship. What Orange did when he purposefully shoulder bumped Moxley was way outside the norm for the 2-Time International Champion, as was the manner in which he lofted the belt overhead as Mox was pulled away by his BCC brethren, as if Orange was challenging the man who beat him for the belt back at GRAND SLAM 2023.

So while OC and Mox may not get their hands on one another quite yet, Cassidy is more than happy to fight the other members of The Blackpool Combat Club this week, and no matter who the victor is when the final bell rings, the AEW faithful are all winners! This is Danielson and Okada in the ring once more, this is Danielson and OC fighting for the first time, Claudio and Okada for the first time, and it goes down this Wednesday night on TBS! Dreams do come true…

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Ruby Soho

It is clear as day that Ruby Soho is beyond frustrated with her championship situation, or rather lack thereof, in All Elite Wrestling: frustrated at GRAND SLAM 2021 by Dr. Britt Baker in their AEW Women’s World Championship fight, and beaten by Jade Cargill in the finals of the TBS Championship Tournament on January 5, 2022. Then it was the loss at REVOLUTION 2023 in a Three Way World Championship fight with Jamie Hayter and Saraya, the defeat at Kris Statlander’s hands in their TBS Championship bout at ALL OUT 2023, and the loss to Hikaru Shida in their #1 Contender’s match on the 9/29/23 edition of RAMPAGE, a victory that Shida parlayed into her third reign as champion at Saraya’s expense.

So with all that piled on her head, not to mention everything that’s gone down with “Timeless” Toni Storm, Ruby is hellbent on finally becoming a champion in All Elite Wrestling, to the point where she made this challenge to Hikaru Shida despite having ate that loss a month ago. Ruby wants what she feels she deserves, and given her temperament when she delivered those words on COLLISION, she may be willing to do anything to make it happen.

For Shida, this is a possibly a chance to move past The Outcasts, to add a championship win over Ruby Soho to that of her recent one over Saraya and her DYNAMITE #200 one over Toni Storm. It’s also the opportunity to celebrate this third championship reign the way Shida couldn’t with the second when Saraya stole it from her at ALL IN: LONDON, by pinning Storm, after just twenty-five days. Can Ruby bring Shida’s third championship reign to an even shorter conclusion than her second and finally achieve what she’s craved since her first day in AEW?

ROH WORLD SIX-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

The Elite (Hangman Adam Page, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson)

vs.

Brother Zay & The Hardys (Jeff & Matt)

The Elite of Adam Page and The Young Bucks captured the ROH World Six-Man Championship titles from The Mogul Embassy at RAMPAGE: GRAND SLAM 2023, beginning their second reign as champions some five and a half years after the conclusion of their first. While all three men have been distracted with other business in the months since that victory, none have forgotten about their responsibility as champions and how that entails actually defending the titles.

It is with that in mind that Hangman and the brothers Jackson laid out an Open Challenge for this Wednesday night in Philadelphia, leaving the door open for any three individuals to walk through and try to claim the titles for themselves. Well it looks like two men men named Hardy heard the call, and found their third in another named Brother Zay who’s grown quite close to Matt and Jeff over the last couple years. Now The Hardys and Zay have only gone the trios route on two instances, once to challenge Daddy Ass and The Acclaimed for the AEW World Trios Titles and another to face Garcia, Parker, and Menard, and have lost on both occasions, but that isn’t going to stop them from taking the gamble when there’s a championship at stake.

The Hardys do know a thing or two about beating The Young Bucks, while Matt, Hangman, and Brother Zay have some history of their own here in AEW; which trio will walk away dominant and which will be despondent?

TAG TEAM CHALLENGE…

The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs. FTW Champion HOOK & Rob Van Dam

The Dark Order are quite unhappy with the outcome of John Silver’s AEW International Championship fight with Orange Cassidy that took place at BATTLE OF THE BELTS VIII. Though Silver fought the good fight, “Freshly Squeezed” left with the championship still in his backpack, but for John and Alex Reynolds the deal isn’t over yet.

As they said, since they can’t get their hands on OC this Wednesday seeing as how he’s got that tag match already on his plate, they’ve elected to target a pair of his friends in Rob Van Dam and the FTW Champion HOOK. This being Philadelphia, the home of the promotion where RVD really made his name in professional wrestling, it’s akin to a homecoming for the multi-time World Champion, a return to a city he hasn’t competed in since December 2022, and only six times in the last decade at that. Together, though it’s only been that one match thus far, RVD and HOOK have gelled quite well as a tag team, but they will be put to the test by Alex Reynolds and John Silver on Wednesday night.

Those two Dark Order members are one of the most experienced pairs in All Elite Wrestling, having worked as a team since 2011, and captured multiple championships together before their entry into AEW. Though they’ve been frustrated as team, only challenging one time for the AEW World Tag Titles and once for the ROH tag belts, that doesn’t change the fact they are a dangerous duo with a chip on their shoulder and a reborn malice in their hearts.

Orange Cassidy may be the target of their animosity, but it’s Cassidy’s friends potentially taking stray bullets this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE. Obviously The Dark Order doesn’t care who feels their wrath, as long as it hurts Orange Cassidy in the process…

A GIFT FOR STING…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/BeVv8BbZIEk?si=c2n2DBRp2siILr9C

A week ago we heard “The Icon” Sting tell the world that REVOLUTION 2024, wherever that may take place and on whatever date it may take place, will be his last day competing as a professional wrestler. Though he has often used the line “The only for certain about Sting is that nothing is for certain”, “The Icon” made a point to say that this was for certain. Exactly what shape that final night will take remains to be seen, and luckily we all still have several months to show the man our appreciation for everything he’s meant to professional wrestling, and to so many lives around the world.

One man who intends to show his appreciation for Sting this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE is AEW’s CEO Tony Khan, and he apparently has a gift for “The Icon” he intends to present right here in Philadelphia. It’s a city Sting’s quite familiar with, a place where’s he’s won and lost championships, and a city whose wrestling history he’s been a part of since 1987; what will this next trip to Philly mean to “The Icon” as he heads towards the end of the road next year?

CHRIS JERICHO & RENEE PAQUETTE…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/tiONqBXsIq0?si=egBFwcBeOQRqlZpf&start=59

Powerhouse Hobbs decimated Chris Jericho like no man has done since the inception of All Elite Wrestling, and possibly like no man has ever done to Chris in the whole of his career. It was an explosion of so much pent-up within the former TNT Champion, years and years of emotion and rage, and though it was Don Callis who harnessed those emotions to unleash upon Chris Jericho, it was Powerhouse who did the damage.

Now, after the AEW faithful being subjected to Don Callis and his ilk last week, it is time for Chris Jericho to share his thoughts with the world, something he will do when he sits down with Renee Paquette this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE. How is Jericho feeling? What is running through his head after Callis’ latest affront and after hearing Powerhouse Hobbs’ words? The AEW faithful will find out Wednesday night on TBS!

SWERVE’S GOT WORDS…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/OoV7KNa-A7c?si=PZgIyda3-BvDh-Vr

This Wednesday night in Philly Swerve Strickland has some thoughts to share regarding “Hangman” Adam Page and his involvement in Strickland’s match with Bryan Danielson. In the mind of Swerve, if Page hadn’t inserted himself into the fracas it would’ve been Strickland challenging Christian Cage for the TNT Championship instead of “The American Dragon”, and Swerve would’ve won the title whereas Danielson lost.

The reality is that Hangman, despite having an upcoming match with Jay White on his plate, chose to put himself into that fight to stop Swerve Strickland from cheating the same way he did at WRESTLEDREAM to defeat Page. Hangman was only there to make sure it was fair, and that is what played a part in costing Swerve his TNT Championship opportunity.

So on DYNAMITE, in the City of Brotherly Love, Swerve Strickland aims to address the former AEW World Champion about this situation, and we shall see what that leads to, especially considering Hangman has a ROH World Six-Man Championship title defense already on his plate for the evening.

This Wednesday night, DYNAMITE comes back to Philadelphia’s Liacouras Center with a jam-packed night of action beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans! Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale winner Juice Robinson takes on AEW World Champion MJF with his prized Dynamite Diamond Ring at stake, Kazuchika Okada returns to AEW to team with Orange Cassidy for a tag team bout with The BCC, Hikaru Shida defends the AEW Women’s World Championship against Ruby Soho, and so much more set to go down! Be sure to drop by the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, BATTLE OF THE BELTS, and COLLISION, as well as the newest edition of THE CONTROL CENTER to get prepared!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5VenDXf6FLM?si=GQP5Ohl30M3mM1CP

This Sunday night, live on pay-per-view (https://www.allelitewrestling.com/watchwrestledream), All Elite Wrestling presents WRESTLEDREAM (https://www.allelitewrestling.com/aew-event/aew-wrestledream) from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA! Headlined by the Danielson/ZSJ “Submissions in Seattle” dream match over a year in the waiting, this event is as loaded as it gets, and with AEW PPV’s that is saying quite a lot!

Six championships will be on the line, including a match with both the ROH World and NJPW STRONG Openweight at stake, plus we will see the next contender to the AEW World Tag Team Titles crowned in an all-star Four Way Tag! In addition, Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi will be joined by the unlikeliest of allies in Chris Jericho to take on The Don Callis Family, Hangman Page faces Swerve Strickland, and more!

The action begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT, with the ZERO HOUR getting underway at 7pm ET/6pm CT on the official AEW YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@AEW/videos). Before the ZERO HOUR gets underway, be sure to check out the highlights from all the week’s action to get ready for the first-ever WRESTLEDREAM event!

TNT CHAMPIONSHIP/2 OUT OF 3 FALLS MATCH: Christian Cage(c) vs. Darby Allin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mLn5lhSr5qk?si=NlPfWEfexYq2wKYm&start=124

This is as personal as a rivalry in the AEW career of Darby Allin has gotten, and it should come as little surprise that it’s due to Christian Cage picking, poking, and prodding at any vulnerability he sees. He’s not the first man to pick at the scab of Darby’s late-uncle, but he might be the one whose gotten the most reaction from Darby out of it. He’s likely not the first man in the life of Nick Wayne to prod at the memory of his late father Buddy Wayne, but Cage has managed dig in deeper than anyone else. And he’s certainly not the first individual to manipulate others to find a way to his goals, but Christian Cage has done it so masterfully with Luchasaurus that the former TNT Champion is still standing at the side of the man who took the title from him.

It’s clear that Christian Cage is a horrible human, at his core possibly the worst man to ever set foot in an AEW ring, and that’s saying something when Don Callis is also part of the scene. This is a man who has used the deaths of loved ones as a tool against his foes, who has dismissively addressed his own children on live television, and treated everyone around him like pawns on that proverbial chessboard. He’s scum, and this Sunday night in Seattle, in front of the people who have witnessed Darby’s rise to the top from the very beginning of his career, in front of those who watched his TNT Championship triumph over Samoa Joe back in January, Christian Cage is going to get his comeuppance two times over.

In a two out of three falls match, Christian Cage will defend the TNT Championship against Darby Allin and he may well have to do so all by himself depending the outcome of the Luchasaurus/Nick Wayne match during ZERO HOUR. His Right Hand of Destruction may not be available for the assist if Nick Wayne gets his way during their fight, because even though Darby challenged Cage to leave Luchasaurus behind, it’s highly unlikely Christian will stick to his word that he doesn’t need Luchasaurus to beat Darby. Also it won’t be enough for Cage to beat Darby once, if he beats him at all, he’s got to do it twice in a single match, and given Allin’s ability to take the pain and use it as fuel, that may be an impossible task for even the lowliest of men.

Will this be the night that Christian Cage finally beats Darby Allin after losing to him twice in recent months, or will it be a triumphant night for the 2-Time TNT Champion, one where he hoists the title up for the third time, and shuts up Christian Cage for the moment?

SUBMISSIONS IN SEATTLE…

“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. NJPW TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr.

Over a year ago at the inaugural FORBIDDEN DOOR pay-per-view, this fight was on the table, but an injury Bryan Danielson sustained during Anarchy in the Arena at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2022 forced a change to the line-up, and introduced Claudio Castagnoli into the AEW landscape.

Fast forward to September 9th’s episode of COLLISION, just a few days removed from defeating Ricky Starks in a No DQ Strap match at ALL OUT 2023, and Bryan Danielson issued the challenge to Zack Sabre Jr. to finally make their dream match a reality. It is not their first meeting, that took place in March 2008 in the United Kingdom where Bryan beat ZSJ in a 2 Out of 3 Falls match, nor is it their second as that took place in March 2009 in Germany and was won by Zack Sabre Jr., but both of those matches too place in the early years of the NJPW TV Champion’s career, before he evolved into the fight he is today.

As talented a wrestler as ZSJ was at that point, just 4 and 5 years into his career, the reality of being a wrestler is that he was still just only beginning to understand the intricacies of the game. Even Bryan’s experience, nearly double that of Zack when they first faced, was still just only beginning to elevate and even in 2009 many considered “The American Dragon” the best wrestler in the world. In the fourteen years since their clash each has grown exponentially as a competitor and as a man, and though Danielson has dealt with injuries that many considered the death knell of his in-ring career, he has rebounded back better than he ever was before, and considering the G.O.A.T moniker that was already being applied in 2015, that’s speaks volumes to just how vast a pro wrestler’s knowledge can get.

Much like Bryan, Zack Sabre Jr. has only gotten better with age, his already superb submission skills honed to a lethal edge, and with that so too has his ego grown. There is little doubt foisted about any who claim ZSJ to be the greatest technical wrestler alive, he’s shown the skills it time and again all around the world, be it as part of SUZUKI-GUN, or since he become the first, and thus far only, NJPW World TV Champion earlier this year at WRESTLE KINGDOM 17.

But there are those who also put that crown on Bryan Danielson’s head, and with “The American Dragon” telling the world that he’s in his last full-time year of competition, every wrestler worth their salt is going to want to test the man on his way out, and try to snatch the crown. What’s interesting here is that this is not a case of Zack wanting Bryan as that time draws near, but rather Bryan wanting the fight after being unable to bring the rubber match to fruition last year.

And that brings us to this “Submissions in Seattle” fight between two of best grapplers in the history of professional wrestling, not just best of today, but best of all-time, and that is an undisputed fact. After confronting each other in the aftermath of COLLISION’s All-Star 8-Man tag, what is this fight going to look like? Will ZSJ live up to his promise to end Bryan’s career in 2023? It may be a homecoming for Bryan, but is he coming home just to say goodbye?

AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood)(c) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)

One year ago, New Japan’s ROYAL QUEST II event at the Crystal Palace in London, FTR and Aussie Open went to battle with the IWGP Tag Titles hanging in the balance. For thirty-two minutes Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis battled their hearts out, leaving every bit of themselves in that ring, but when the final bell rang it was FTR, the defending champions, who walked away with the titles still in their possession. Three months later at WRESTLE KINGDOM 17 Kyle and Mark would have to watch Bishamon, the team that beat them in the 2022 World Tag League Finals, dethrone FTR, and though Aussie Open would in turn take the IWGP Tag Titles from Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI in April, as well as win the NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Titles, they would end up having to vacate bout due to Mark Davis’ injury.

Still, while Mark healed and Kyle flew solo for a bit, that loss to FTR clearly ate them up, and hearing Dax and Cash continue to proclaim themselves the greatest tag team in professional wrestling, even after losing all three of their titles between December 2022 and January 2023, didn’t help matters. The fact that FTR claimed the AEW World Tag Titles for a second time only exacerbated those feelings, and winning the ROH World Tag Titles at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2023 upon Mark’s return to action didn’t prove a salve for Aussie Open either. Listening to FTR, watching them with the AEW World Tag Titles, and losing the ROH World Tag Titles to Adam Cole and MJF, well it all just threw gasoline on the fire. The match that finally blew it all up for Kyle and Mark was watching FTR engage in Open Challenges and facing teams that Aussie Open didn’t deem worthy of the opportunity they felt they’d earned many times over.

So it was set, just prior to The Workhorsemen of JD Drake and Anthony Henry getting their shot, that Aussie Open would face FTR at WRESTLEDREAM, and should Dax and Cash retain the titles in their fight with The Workhorsemen, they would be on the line in Seattle! Well here we are, the bell set to ring in just a short time, and after Saturday night’s clash on COLLISION, all four men are anxious to throw down without anyone else involved. No Blackpool Combat Club, no Starks and Big Bill, just two teams that each believe they are the greatest competing in professional wrestling today, and possibly even of all-time.

FTR wants a fight with the toughest version of Aussie Open, not the ones who may have taken an MJF and Adam Cole team lightly, but the ones who carried two sets of tag belts simultaneously last year, the ones who gave FTR the fight of their lives at ROYAL QUEST II. Conversely, Aussie Open want the belts and they want to desecrate the legacy of Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood. Kyle and Mark want to desecrate the work that earned FTR those seven stars, and expose them as subpar to Aussie Open. With The Young Bucks, with The Briscoes, as heated as the fights got, for FTR there was at least some level of respect shared between the four men, but here with Aussie Open, there is no respect for the champions, only disdain.

Can Aussie Open tarnish the names of FTR and take the AEW World Tag Team Championship from their hands, or will it be Dax and Cash who continue to show why they are the best tag team in wrestling today while simultaneously building their legacy towards being known as the best team to ever do it?

ROH WORLD/NJPW STRONG OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Eddie Kingston(c) vs. ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata

Twice now Eddie Kingston and Katsuyori Shibata have shared the ring as partners, one victory and one defeat, but that defeat at ALL OUT 2023, where Eddie took his eye off the prize for a moment and fell victim to Claudio Castagnoli proved to be the final thing Kingston needed to have happen to push him over the hump. Seventeen days later, in front of his hometown fans and his family at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2023, Eddie did the one thing that has evaded him since September 2009, he beat Claudio Castagnoli, and not only did he beat the man, Eddie dethroned him as ROH World Champion.

Shockingly Claudio also shook Kingston’s hand after the match, a sign of respect for the fight they had, and hearkening back to a Respect Match they had in November of 2009, but little more than that. These are not to men who will ever be friends again, but at least they can respect the fight and acknowledge one another for their skills.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/_Z_FPQEghtA?si=XIJNb2GRf_aMBG81&start=124

That acknowledgment of skill, the recognition of a fighter, that is the reason why Eddie Kingston made the challenge to Katsuyori Shibata, the Ring of Honor Pure Champion, to meet him at WRESTLEDREAM for a championship bout. While the Pure Title will not be at stake, after Eddie retained the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship on RAMPAGE, both that and the ROH World Championship will be on the line in Seattle! This will mark the first time Shibata has challenged for either of Kingston’s championships, as well as their first-ever meeting as foes, and Kingston could would’ve been hard-pressed to find a tougher first challenger to his ROH reign than “The Wrestler”.

A lethal striker, a submission specialist, and man who loves to dish out pain, Shibata is the kind of man to absorb every one of Kingston’s blows and channel them into himself like some kind of fuel. He will not go down easily, this is a man who survived near-death and fought to return to professional wrestling after all, and Eddie will have to throw every bomb he has at the man to put him down. Should Eddie Kingston emerge from this fight with his belts intact, he will have earned it the hard way, just as he has done throughout his entire life, and the same will be said for Shibata as Kingston will rain punishment down upon him as well.

This is going to be a hard-hitting war, of that there is no doubt, and when it ends, no matter who comes out on top, there will be a show of respect and sportsmanship because that is what Ring of Honor is about at its core, and that is what both Shibata and Kingston want from pro wrestling at theirs.

AEW WORLD TAG TITLE #1 CONTENDER MATCH…

The Gunns (Austin & Colten) vs. ROH World Six-Man Champions The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) vs. FTW Champion HOOK & Orange Cassidy

https://www.youtube.com/embed/WlPnITnegr4?si=v8bK0JmYz7C5W4uX&start=124

Between the FTR/Aussie Open clash, and this Four Way fray right here, the immediate future of the AEW’s tag team division will be shaped. The former will determine which duo moves forward as champion while this bout will set another pair up as future challengers to the throne at any time of their choosing. Three of the teams, The Young Bucks, Lucha Brothers, and Gunns, are former champions, two times over in the case of the brothers Jackson, while the fourth team in this bout will mark this fight as their first outing together. HOOK and Orange Cassidy did the Mixed Trios thing at RAMPAGE: GRAND SLAM 2023, but this high stakes situation is their first actual tag team bout, putting the FTW Champion and the former International Champion in a serious underdog situation.

One thing working in their favor though is that just this past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, Orange Cassidy knocked Matt Jackson out with the Orange Punch and secured the victory in a Four Way singles match that also included Penta El Zero Miedo and Austin Gunn. That victory may be a sign of things to come, or it could simply the most experienced singles competitors of that quartet getting one over the man with the least. Either way, the world will soon found out just who the next contenders for either Aussie Open or FTR will be!

SINGLES MATCH…

ROH World Six-Man Champion “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/6cOQ4haG0Rs?si=K7kpkp7I57LdXoxg&start=124

“What’s a buckshot to a killshot?”

That was the question posited by Swerve Strickland when he and Hangman Page sat down to sign the contract for their fight this Sunday night, and by the end of their face-to-face Swerve had a piece of the answer in the form Hangman manically stabbing a pencil into his hand.

After an exchange of harsh words, after Swerve questioning Hangman in the weeks before the signing, after having the audacity to laugh in the face of the former AEW World Champion, Strickland awoke the ugliness inside Page. That ugliness in Hangman is what helped pushed him into the position he is in now, the position that Swerve Strickland covets, but before he woke up that ugliness perhaps Strickland should’ve looked at what else it did for Hangman. That ugliness pushed him to victory in Texas Death Matches with Adam Cole, Lance Archer, and Jon Moxley, the latter of which he actually made quit, something no man in All Elite Wrestling can say. It helped him survive in Blood & Guts, Anarchy in the Arena, and Stadium Stampede, and it helped him survive through some of the toughest times when Hangman Page was riding alone through the wilds of AEW.

Swerve, for as talented a performer as he is, has not ridden alone in All Elite Wrestling, not when he has had his greatest successes. His reign as champion came in the form of tag team gold, and with that came a partner in Keith Lee, a tremendous partner who helped Swerve reach new heights in AEW, but a partner that Swerve casually discarded when he found others with which surround himself. First born as The Mogul Affiliates, a merger with Prince Nana’s Embassy gave birth to The Mogul Embassy, and with that Swerve Strickland surrounded himself with, to be frank, a trio of killers in Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona.

They have insulted Swerve in many ways, a great example of that being how in their absence at Wembley it was Strickland shoved into that casket by Darby and Sting rather than Christian Cage, and done his dirty work too many times to count. Just look at the moment Swerve elected to engage in this fight with Hangman Page, it was Brian Cage who committed the physicality rather than Swerve, just as it was Cage who had to step into the ring with Hangman first. That gave “The Machine” his second loss to Hangman, and then it was Cage and The Gates of Agony who had to step up to The Elite with their ROH World Six-Man Championship on the line, and they who paid the price for this fight Swerve started when the lost said titles to The Young Bucks and Hangman.

But now Swerve has to fight for himself, and though it may be in his hometown thus creating a situation likely to make him the crowd’s chosen one that night, the crowd isn’t inside the ring throwing down with a former AEW World Tag Champion, a former AEW World Champion, and current ROH World Six-Man Champion. It is Swerve, ideally Swerve alone, who has to fight this fight, a fight he picked mind you, and who now has to elevate his game against one of the elite competitors in professional wrestling.

The world knows Swerve Strickland has the talent in the ring, and the world knows he can talk the game, but now he has to prove that the spot Hangman has earned through blood, sweat, tears, and beers, that spot is now Swerve’s House.

TRIOS GRUDGE MATCH…

Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, & Kota Ibushi vs. The Don Callis Family (“The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara, & IWGP UK Champion Will Ospreay

https://www.youtube.com/embed/qdzMHOM-4p0?si=yjuSpmRKPfE5G_t4&start=124

Don Callis has done his best to decimate the lives of men he once considered family, all in the name of some imagined sleight created in his own mind, one in which Kenny Omega was an ungrateful wretch rather than an unbelievably loyal nephew and in which Don falsely believed Chris Jericho would refuse his help, thus painting that portrait that triggered their splintering, creating his own self-fulfilling prophecy.

Callis sees both men’s successes, and by proxy the success of AEW, as belonging to him rather than those two men or all the forces that have helped create All Elite Wrestling over the last four years. Don believes that without him Jericho never goes to New Japan, Kenny never goes to Japan, their WRESTLE KINGDOM 12 match in 2018 never happens, and thus AEW is never born. With all his heart and soul, Callis believes those to be facts, and on an even grander scale, he essentially wants credit for everything Kenny Omega has accomplished in his storied career.

So he has stabbed Omega in the head with a screwdriver, turned Takeshita to his side opposite The Elite, aligned himself with The BCC heading into Blood & Guts (bailing when it was no longer convenient of course), aligned with BULLET CLUB GOLD when it was beneficial, facilitated Will Ospreay coming to AEW for fights with Jericho and Omega, poisoned the well of the Jericho Appreciation Society which led to their fracturing, and finally turned Sammy Guevara against his best friend and mentor, though given their tense history it may not have taken much persuasion to pull Guevara away.

But for all his manipulation and plotting and scheming, it is highly unlikely that Don Callis ever saw Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega coming together over their mutual disdain for Don and all he’s done to their lives over the last several months. For years now Jericho and Omega have stayed as far away from each other as possible, and yet it was the only Triple Crown champion in AEW history who rushed to Jericho’s aid when “The Ocho” was at his lowest, totally alone.

To say it was shocking to both Callis and the AEW faithful would be a massive understatement, but it was likely just as shocking to Jericho to see the form his salvation took, and likely shocking to Kenny as well that he would even take up arms alongside Jericho. Only Don Callis could bring together two men with such a heated history and make them allies, but perhaps it was only Don Callis who could whisper the right words in the ears of Takeshita, Guevara, and Ospreay to get them on his side of this fight. It’s clear Don will stoop to any low in his mission to destroy Jericho and Omega, in a situation eerily similar to how he got BC GOLD to attack Kenny Omega in Jacksonville, Callis and Takeshita traveled to Tokyo in order to get at Ibushi while he was without any support.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/k5gO4Qt1BwE?si=DCgjpjTvJyQyZAqp

After Saturday night’s tag team bout it is clear that they can figure out a way to work together, as long as Nana isn’t around to distract, so this Sunday night the unlikely trio of Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Chris Jericho will have to do the same to try and end Don Callis’ family. Callis has done nothing but wreak havoc on the lives of Jericho, Omega, and now Ibushi, and used men like Takeshita, Guevara, and Ospreay as his chess pieces to do so. Whether or not this can ever end while Callis occupies the same space as those he once called family is a reasonable question, one that may be answered comes Sunday in Seattle live on pay-per-view.

TBS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Kris Statlander(c) vs. The House of Black’s Julia Hart

https://www.youtube.com/embed/vNpp3SBiePs?si=brABVlg6KGqiyqox

28)Vertvixen

27)Willow Nightingale

26)Kiera Hogan

25)Skye Blue

24)Bambi Hall

23)No Holds Barred: Anna Jay AS

22)Kiera Hogan

21)Anna Jay AS

20)Kelsey Heather

19)Zoey Lynn

18)Devlyn Macabre

17)Leva Bates

16)Promise Braxton

15)Sahara Seven

14)Tiara James

13)Missa Kate

12)Alice Crowley

11)Arie Alexander

10)Vickie Dreamboat

9)Hayley Shadows

8)Free-Range Kara

7)LMK

6)Renee Michelle

5)Amber Nova

4)JC

3)Valentina Rossi

2)Jacey Love

1)Abby Jane

Starting with last night’s COLLISION and working backwards to DARK: ELEVATION #61 on 5/2/22, those are the women that have fallen before Julia Hart on this road to WRESTLEDREAM on Sunday night, but to truly see where this all began, one need only look a week prior to that first win, April 25th’s edition of ELEVATION, the night that Julia Hart lost to Kris Statlander in just over six minutes. A month after that loss to Statlander, Hart would align herself with The House of Black, and ever since then fans have witnessed a slow, systematic descent by Julia into a sadistic bent for punishment. Hart has come to relish the pain she inflicts on individuals, both the women in her division and the men with whom her House compatriots fight, and it has been particularly noticeable in the last several weeks as Hart’s desire to avenge her last loss became apparent.

Meanwhile, just a few months after that victory over Julia, Kris Statlander would find herself on the outside looking in, recovering from a devastating knee injury that kept her out of action for nearly a year from August 9, 2022 until her shocking reemergence at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 on May 28th of this year. That night in Vegas, not only did Stat return to AEW, but she returned to in-ring competition to dethrone Jade Cargill as TBS Champion, thereby bringing an end to Cargill’s dominating run as champion, and her record-setting unbeaten streak.

Since then Kris Statlander has been a true fighting champion, turning away 13 challenges to her reign, including a rematch with Jade and a bout with Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D, and has done nothing but prove herself as worthy of the crown. No challengers would ever be turned away by Statlander, and certainly not one being made by a woman with an undefeated streak as lengthy as that of Julia Hart’s. Julie has earned this opportunity, of that there is no doubt, but she elevated the stakes over the last several weeks with her attacks on the women Statlander calls friends, namely Willow, Skye, and Kiera.

The defending champion knows she’s not dealing with the same animal she did last time around, that The House of Black has turned Julie Hart into something, someone, far darker than ever before, and unleashed a ferocity in the woman that seems barely contained. Going into this fight Statlander has to remember to meet the woman Julia Hart is now, not the girl she was in 2022, but be aware that where Julia walks she never walks alone. Does The House always wins? Not if Kris Statlander can help it…

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP HANDICAP MATCH…

AEW World Champion MJF(c) vs. The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent)

After winning their #1 Contender’s Match at RAMPAGE: GRAND SLAM 2023, The Righteous of Vincent and Dutch were all set to challenge MJF and Adam Cole for the ROH World Tag Team Championship titles, but fate had other plans in store. As we all found out this past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, Adam Cole is injured and won’t be cleared to compete for some time, a situation that would generally dictate the champions vacate their titles, leaving the ROH Board of Directors to decide their future. AEW World Champion MJF had other ideas though and made a promise to Adam Cole that Max would make sure the belts were waiting for him when Adam returned to action, and that he would take on The Righteous in a Handicap Match this Sunday at WRESTLEDREAM! Call it crazy brave or just down right stupid, it goes to show just how much this partnership with Cole means to MJF, and just how much these titles may actually mean to Maxwell as well. He’s not just holding them for Adam Cole’s sake, perhaps he’s taking some pride in being a tag team champion and proving he can work with someone else to great success. Unfortunately he’s now headed down a path where he’s fighting alone, but fighting for two, and doing that against Vincent and Dutch may not be the smartest idea.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/FxYW0EOkSFs?si=X8cRymYiUJXmEi43

It’s clear that The Righteous are ready for this fight, ready to dig into the mess that is the situation between MJF, Cole, Roderick, and The Kingdom, and ready to use that situation to engage in psychological warfare against the champion. In addition to their man advantage, that mental game just may be what The Righteous need to leave Seattle as the new ROH World Tag Team Champions, but should MJF find a way to escape this situation with titles in tow, is this his plan from now until the day Adam Cole is cleared? Taking on that role, along with his duties as AEW World Championship, that is a sure way to find himself with no titles to his name…

SINGLES MATCH…

Wheeler Yuta vs. “Absolute” Ricky Starks

Wheeler Yuta still has a problem with “Absolute” Ricky Starks, and this Sunday night at WRESTLEDREAM he aims to pick up right where “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson left off and kick Starks’s head right in. Whether or not picking a fight with Ricky after the hell he went through with Bryan is the smartest idea, well that remains to be seen after the final bell rings and we see whose hand is raised. Starks is not about to let this affront from Yuta go unpunished, and Yuta isn’t about to let Ricky skate with what he thought was disrespect to Bryan after their Texas Death Match. This fight between two young and hungry dogs is going to be something to see, and it will be interesting to see if that violence Bryan showed Starks in their two encounters brought that side of Ricky closer to the surface.

ZERO HOUR

-AEW World Trios Championship Match: The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass(c) vs. TMDK (Bad Dude Tito, Mikey Nichols, & Shane Haste)

-Luchasaurus vs. Nick Wayne

-Claudio Castagnoli vs. Josh Barnett

-Diamante, Lee Moriarty, Mercedes Martinez, & Shane Taylor vs. ROH Women’s World Champion Athena, Billie Starkz, Keith Lee, & Satoshi Kojima

With the ZERO HOUR getting underway at 7pm ET/6pm CT, and WRESTLEDREAM proper going live at 8pm ET/7pm CT, Sunday night is loaded with the greatest professional wrestling available anywhere on the planet! Do not miss out as All Elite Wrestling returns to pay-per-view, something no one does as consistently amazing as AEW, and especially this time around when it has been called the end of one era and the beginning of another!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/h1GEcDiWEB0?si=SLrcL2jiLwgOnT0g

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**

Tonight’s episode of AEW DYNAMITE was broadcast live from 1stBank Center in Broomfield, CO!

Excalibur and “The Human Suplex Machine” Taz were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.

It’s Wednesday night and you know what that means!

AEW International Championship Open Challenge Match!

Rey Fenix (c.) (with Alex Abrahantes) vs. Jeff Jarrett (with Karen Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Singh, and Jay Lethal)!

Rey Fenix hit a high crossbody press to the outside onto Jarrett as Jarrett was making his entrance. Fenix followed up with a moonsault for a near fall. Jarrett DDT’ed Rey Fenix after Satnam tried distracting Fenix.

Jarrett tripped up Fenix and Fenix rolled to the outside. Jarrett ordered his posse to swarm Fenix, but ref Aubrey Edwards stopped them. Rey Fenix fired back with a double foot stomp to Jeff Jarrett for a two-count. Fenix followed up with a thrust kick, trying to fight through the pain. Fenix ran the top rope and punted Lethal. Sonjay distracted the ref while Jarrett hit Fenix with a low blow!

Jarrett spiked Rey Fenix with the Stroke but Fenix broke the count when his boot touched the bottom rope. Jarrett tried to apply the figure four, but Fenix countered with a cradle and pinned Jeff Jarrett!

Footage was shown from Long Island with AEW World Champion MJF taking Adam Cole out on a boat trip to try to cheer up Cole after his recent leg injury.

MJF: “You were on the phone with Roddy a pretty long time.”

Cole: “Yeah, I was worried about him.”

MJF: “So long that you couldn’t come up to the ring with me last week?”

Cole: “Max, you didn’t bring me out here to hit me with the Dynamite diamond ring and then throw me overboard, did you?”

MJF: “No, no,” said Max, as he was hiding the ring behind his back.

Cole: “Having more than one friend is normal.”

MJF: “Plus last time I almost got caught when I was trying to throw someone overboard.”

Footage was shown from earlier in the week of Don Callis and Takeshita hunting for Ibushi in Tokyo!

Renee Paquette was in the ring to interview Don Callis and “The Alpha” Takeshita after their actions last week!

Don Callis: “I have something to say. I am so happy that Sammy Guevara is free of the toxic influence of Chris Jericho that I wanted to bring him out here myself. Ladies and gentlemen, the newest member of the Don Callis Family…Sammy Guevara!”

Sammy Guevara walked down to the ring.

Sammy embraced Don Callis in the ring.

Don Callis: “You want to know about Tokyo now? I said that Ibushi wasn’t safe so the Alpha and I went to Tokyo. I brought my personal camera crew, and we captured it all.”

Footage was shown of Callis and Takeshita invading Ibushi’s dojo. Takeshita attacked one of Ibushi’s students. Ibushi ran in and grounded and pounded Takeshita. Callis hit Ibushi with an umbrella. Takeshita blasted Ibushi in the head with a kettle bell! Callis screamed at Ibushi saying Ibushi wasn’t safe in Tokyo or in Seattle!

Don Callis: “The Don Callis Family has never been stronger with Takeshita, Will Ospreay, and Sammy Guevara going to WrestleDream!”

Sammy: “I’m the hero. Chris Jericho is the villain! For four years he was holding me back. I was champion without him. I did pay-per-views without him. Every time I would start to fly high, he would clip my wings. He was never going to pass me the torch. Chris Jericho is selfish. It is time for me to become the champion and the star I was meant to be.”

Don Callis: “At WrestleDream we are going to take everything from Omega, Jericho, and Ibushi until there is nothing left but the tears!”

Footage was shown from after Collision last Saturday of “Absolute” Ricky Starks!

Starks said he survived against Danielson. Wheeler Yuta approached Ricky and said Ricky was all style and no substance. Yuta challenged Starks to a match on October 1st in Seattle!

It was announced that Tony Khan signed a grudge match for WrestleDream between Ricky Starks and Wheeler Yuta!

3-Way Blind Eliminator Match for an International Title Shot Next Week!

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion Nick Jackson

vs.

“The Machine” Brian Cage (with Prince Nana)

vs.

Claudio Castagnoli!

Brian Cage tossed Nick Jackson over the top rope and out of the ring! Claudio and Cage locked up for a test of strength. Claudio suplexed Cage! Brian Cage retaliated with a vertical suplex of his own.

Nick Jackson jumped back into the ring and wiped out Claudio and Cage at the same time! Nick then flew over the top rope and knocked both of them down on the arena floor! Nick displayed creative, fluid offense to clean house on both opponents!

Brian Cage planted Claudio with a German Suplex. Nick Jackson blasted Brian Cage with a bulldog. Jackson moonsaulted off the apron but Claudio caught him, and then Nick nailed him with a DDT! Nick Jackson splashed Brian Cage with a 450 for a near fall in the ring!

Claudio whipped Nick Jackson into the steel ring steps. Claudio put Brian Cage in the Giant Swing!

“It’s like he’s swinging a Volvo,” said Taz.

Brian Cage suplexed Claudio from outside the ring to the inside, while Cage was on the second rope! Nick drilled Claudio and Cage with superkicks. Claudio rammed Cage with a European Uppercut. Claudio clocked Cage with a lariat. Claudio transitioned to hammer and anvil strikes, punishing the jaw of Brian Cage. Claudio hit the Ricola Bomb on Cage. Nick springboarded with a hurracanrana onto Claudio and then landed on Cage, with Nick Jackson grabbing the pin fall victory!

Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions Adam Cole & AEW World Champion MJF came to the ring!

Adam Cole was on crutches and his left leg was completely bandaged up.

MJF: “Cut the music! Ladies and gentlemen, the devil has arrived in Colorado. Adam Cole, talk to ‘em.”

Cole: “Who’s ready for story time with Adam Cole baybay? Unfortunately, this is a sad chapter in the story. Last week I got hurt. My ankle broke in three different places, and I tore ligaments last week. I have to go get surgery. There is nothing more soul crushing than hearing this, but I will do everything in my power to get back as soon as possible.

“But me and my good friend Max are the ROH World Tag Team Champions. And because we can’t defend these titles, we will have to relinquish—”

MJF: “Whoa, whoa, whoa! I didn’t wrestle twice in one night to win these and then have to relinquish our titles to the Righteous! Let’s keep it real. You wouldn’t be hurt if I didn’t need your help at Grand Slam. I know how much those ROH World Tag Team Titles mean to you. And I want to make sure that when you come back here, and you will, these will be waiting for you. Righteous, October 1st, I’m going to defend these titles against you in a handicap match and we are going to win!”

The Kingdom rolled Roderick Strong onto the ramp in a wheelchair!

Strong: “Adam! I need you now more than ever! It’s an emergency!”

MJF: “As much as I think Roderick Strong is a simp, I learned on the boat that he is your boy. I may not like him, but I know he’s your boy. Go do what you need to do, Adam, and I’ll be waiting for you when you come back.”

Cole hugged MJF. Adam Cole got on his crutches and walked up the ramp to Roderick Strong and the Kingdom.

MJF: “Everybody give it up one more time for Adam Cole. Now we all know I’m not a big fan of—”

“Switchblade” Jay White and the Bullet Club Gold walked onto the ramp, interrupting the AEW World Champion MJF!

“Switchblade” Jay White sent the Bang Bang Gang to the back and then walked to the ring himself.

Jay White: “Shut up, Max! We’ve all heard you talk enough. Everybody would like to hear this sweet, exotic accent for a change. Don’t worry, I sent everybody to the back. You can have your one on one time with the Switchblade and revel in your moment.”

MJF: “Boy, you must be smoking some strong Colorado grass. That mid mic work ain’t gonna work with MJF. You come at the king you’d better not miss. That first shot was a little hairy. Now Jay hear me out. In my career I’ve been compared to a lot of people. They say, ‘MJF is good but he’s no blank.’ And as my star rose the names got bigger and bigger and the goal posts moved. It never bothered me until I read, ‘MJF is good but he’s no Jay White.’

“It’s become very apparent why it offends me now that I’m standing in the ring with you. I’m like filet mignon. Much like when I’m inside this ring, the show is all about MJF because no one is on the level of the devil. Because I’m a generational talent, babe.

“And then there’s you. You are very talented, however, you’ve managed to convince the fans that you are also filet mignon when in reality you are tofu. Funny thing about tofu. It takes on the flavor of whatever you want it to. But you need to add something to it in order to trick yourself into believing it has taste. And you have been given everything. You were handed the keys to one of the greatest wrestling factions of all time. However, if I pluck it all away, I am left with nothing but boring, bland, tasteless tofu.

“And now here you are, Jay, trying to hop on my plate and trying to steal some of the champ’s flavor. I see through you, Jay. You are all hype. Allow me to give you some advice from a real top guy. If I were you, I would leave this ring and I wouldn’t keep talking smack to my poors. Because if you don’t, for the rest of your career, whenever our names are mentioned in the same sentence, it’ll read as follows: ‘Sure, Jay is good, but he’s no MJF,’ because I’m better than you and you know it!”

Jay White: “That’s what I came out here for, my very own personalized authentic MJF experience. But I have to be honest with you. I’m a little bit let down. Something’s a little bit off about you these days. I don’t know if it’s the injuries, but personally I think you’re distracted by Adam Cole.

“I just don’t think they love you like they love Adam Cole. And you know this whole situation with Adam Cole, it’s kinda my fault. Let me explain. If I didn’t temporarily end Adam Cole’s career after Forbidden Door 1, you wouldn’t have developed a soft spot for him, but I guess you got him back because he broke his ankle and that was your fault. And I’m sure your neck isn’t feeling good after Samoa Joe last week. So, I think I’ve been ruining your life for a little bit now. But I’m here to ruin your life in the flesh.

“You call yourself the devil. You need to find another level to stop me from taking that title away from you. You don’t seem so elite when compared to me. I’m the catalyst of professional wrestling. And I will be a truly elite champion when I pull that title away from your carcass!

“Don’t worry, Max, you will have your fans, they will have you, and I will have the Triple B, and you can all breathe with the Switchblade, because it’s still my era. This is the Switchblade Era because you’ve gone soft, and you know it!”

MJF: “You don’t have a clue what I’m capable of so why don’t I show you!”

Jay White tried to lure MJF in with mind games and then Jay White rolled out of the ring after getting under MJF’s skin!

Ahead of their 2/3 Falls Match for the TNT Title at WrestleDream, Jim Ross had a sit down interview with Darby Allin and new TNT Champion Christian Cage!

Christian Cage: “I’ve been the TNT Champion for months now and I proved I’m far superior to Darby Allin this past Saturday when I wrestled on Collision. I will walk out of Seattle as the TNT Champion because I know in my heart, Darby, that you’re nowhere near the man I am. You’re nowhere near the wrestler I am. I asked for this 2 out of 3 match because I want to see what you can do when you actually have to wrestle.

“Is your uncle going to be in attendance? What happened to him?”

Darby: “He’s dead. You think I’m afraid of dying? You think I’m afraid of losing? You cannot beat me. I’m going to win this Sunday.”

Christian Cage: “Why don’t you bring all the family. Bring Nick, bring Nick’s mother—”

Darby: “You want me to bring Nick so you can take advantage of him. I’ll tell him not to show up. If you had the balls, you’d tell Luchasaurus not to show up.”

Christian Cage: “He needs a man! I will always be the face of TNT! Get used to it!”

Four-Way WrestleDream Preview Match!

Austin Gunn

vs.

Matt Jackson

vs.

Orange Cassidy

vs.

Penta El Zero Miedo!

Partners were banned from ringside.

Austin sent Orange hard into the barricade. Matt Jackson DDT’ed Penta El Zero Miedo. Austin rolled up Orange from behind for a near fall. Penta connected with a thrust kick to Matt Jackson. Penta blasted Orange with a thrust kick. Austin ambushed Penta! Austin dropped Orange with a big right hand shot!

Orange peppered Austin with elbow strikes. Austin countered a hip toss with a neck breaker to Orange Cassidy. Penta nailed Orange with a destroyer. Matt Jackson hit a destroyer on Penta. Orange rocked Matt with a destroyer! Orange smashed Austin with a destroyer!

“All four men are on roller skates and all four men go down!” said Excalibur.

Matt Jackson wiped out Orange with the locomotion Northern Lights suplexes. Matt followed up with a double Northern Lights to Penta and Austin!

The fans chanted “A-E-W! A-E-W!”

Penta blocked the BTE Trigger from Matt. Penta took down Austin with a sling blade. Austin smashed Orange with the fame-asser from a near fall, almost stealing a victory. All three men superkicked Austin. Penta and Matt traded kicks. Orange pulped Matt Jackson with the Orange Punch and pinned him!

“Timing is everything and Orange’s timing was perfect,” said Taz.

The House of Black’s Julia Hart (with Brody King) vs. Willow Nightingale!

Willow’s left eye was bandaged up, a result of the mist attack last week from Julia.

Willow poured on the punishment, charging at Julia Hart and hitting her with a flurry of offense. Julia jumped on Willow’s back and grabbed at the bandage over Willow’s eye.

“Willow is fighting for purpose, not just for revenge,” said Excalibur.

Willow grounded and pounded Julia Hart. Willow body slammed Julia. Julia retreated out of the ring and crawled under the ring. Julia snuck up behind Willow and chop blocked her.

Julia locked in Heartless, but Willow reached the ropes, forcing the break. Willow pounced Julia out of the corner! Willow hoisted up Julia and placed her upside down in the corner. Julia dodged the cannonball splash. Julia hit the moonsault press and pinned Willow!

Julia placed Willow in the Heartless submission after the match! TBS Champion Kris Statlander sprinted to the ring to save her friend. Julia hid behind Brody King and laughed.

It was time for the contract signing between “Hangman” Adam Page & Swerve Strickland ahead of their match at WrestleDream!

The Elite and the Mogul Embassy were banned from ringside.

Renee Paquette was in the ring to help officiate the contract signing.

Swerve and Page sat across from each other at a table in the ring.

Swerve: “Before you sign that paper, I gotta admit I’ve been impressed with the fire you’ve been showing the past few weeks. But it’s a little too late for that. We are four days out from our match. Do you understand what you’re walking into? The lion’s den. This is unlike anything you’ve ever dealt with. We are two competitors who couldn’t be more opposite from one another. You are not the wrestler I am, and I am never going to be the wrestler you are. What’s a buckshot to a kill shot?”

Hangman: “It sounds like you’re fired up for this, and good, you should be. You said a few things to me a few weeks ago that stung. And I’ve had time to think about it. For a year and a half, every day that I came to work I felt there was a little dark cloud hanging over my head that I could not get rid of. And sure, the sun would shine. I beat Jon Moxley in a Texas Death Match. I reunited with my friends in the Elite. It felt like I should have been the happiest man in the world but every time I started to smile, that little cloud came back, and it started to rain.

“And I couldn’t do anything about it. I had a little umbrella next to me and as long as God let it rain on me, I didn’t open it. But that’s over with. I weathered the storm. And I am still here! And through that downpour it washed something out of me. I don’t know if it was hope, or passion, but it washed out of me. But I recognized it, and these people deserve more of me. They deserve the best of me. And I deserve it for myself. So, Swerve that’s what you’ll get in Seattle at WrestleDream. You’ll get the best of Hangman!”

Swerve: “That was quite beautiful, but it was the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen. This isn’t a personal thing. It could have been anyone in the position that I want. Truth be told, I might have mental health problems because I make an enemy every single day. I am going to take this position from you at WrestleDream. And by the way, it rains an awful lot in Seattle.”

Hangman: “You tell me you want this spot. You’re telling me you want a main event spot? Swerve, I don’t know, we could sit here and go back and forth about whether these opportunities were handed to me, but for every opportunity I’ve had, I knocked it out of the park!

“So, Swerve, you tell me you want this spot? You’re damn right, you should want this spot. But you don’t have what it takes to fill my boots!”

Swerve slapped Hangman and then went to sign the contract! Hangman stabbed Swerve in the hand with the pen! Security had to keep the two men separated!

Backstage, camera crews filmed a gang of men dressed in black from head to toe, wearing masks, swarming “Switchblade” Jay White and attacking him! One of the attackers looked into the camera and cocked his head to the side. He was wearing a devil mask!

This Friday tune in to AEW RAMPAGE at 10pm ET on TNT!

Catch the four year anniversary of AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Stockton Arena in Stockton, CA!

Don’t miss AEW Collision on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA!

And this Sunday, witness history live on pay-per-view and order AEW WrestleDream!

And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5fMp3nkDkW4?si=fdCUfoBcPzRU34TW

After a huge pair of GRAND SLAM 2023 events at Arthur Ashe Stadium, All Elite Wrestling comes to Grand Rapids and the Van Andel Arena for a huge edition of COLLISION! The AEW World Tag Team Championship will be on the line as The Workhorsemen of Anthony Henry and JD Drake answer FTR’s Open Challenge and the TNT Championship will be at stake in a Three Way between champion Luchasaurus, his “mentor” Christian Cage, and 2-Time former champ Darby Allin!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Krcoz00WgVI?si=_ELsftS9TtAwOwwS

The night is upon us; for the third consecutive year, All Elite Wrestling descends upon the historic Arthur Ashe Stadium for GRAND SLAM, and with it comes two hours of the greatest professional wrestling in the world live on DYNAMITE this Wednesday! After winning the Grand Slam Eliminator Tournament, ROH World TV Champ Samoa Joe will challenge MJF for the AEW World Championship while Toni Storm takes on her former Outcasts’ ally Saraya with the AEW Women’s World Championship on the line!

Plus, the long-standing grudge between Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston comes to the forefront when both men put their respective championships on the line in a title versus title fight, and two long-time friends collide for the first-time when Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara lock horns! And in his fourth championship fight in seventeen days, Jon Moxley will meet Rey Fenix in an International Championship fight!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/WrX8VoFCEkg?si=gByaLBlLVmx4LymP

DYNAMITE gets underway at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so be sure to check in on the official AEW YouTube channel and watch the highlights from last week’s action during DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, plus the CONTROL CENTER, and more!

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

MJF(c) vs. ROH World TV Champion Samoa Joe

https://www.youtube.com/embed/b06LD-IYgSQ?si=w8psb5FxoBfqPvKS&start=237

In the span of five days from 9/8 to 9/13, the ROH World Television Champion conquered three of the toughest competitors in All Elite Wrestling on path through the Grand Slam World Championship Eliminator Tournament. It began with Jeff Hardy on the 9/8 edition of RAMPAGE, continued with Penta El Zero Miedo the following night on COLLISION, and culminated in a 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament rematch with Roderick Strong. Nearly thirty-five minutes of battle was what it took to get Samoa Joe to the precipice of the AEW World Championship, now he just has to complete the mission by taking Maxwell Jacob Friedman down this Wednesday night at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2023.

For Joe, this is an issue that became more than just the desire to be AEW World Champion after MJF chose to attack Joe at ALL OUT 2023 following the ROH World TV Champion giving him a little shove as they crossed paths between matches. Given that MJF was coming out of a ROH World Tag Team Championship defense with a hurt neck, perhaps attacking the guy whose primary moves consist of either choking a man out or dropping them on their head with a Muscle Buster may not have been the brightest idea, but for Max it was about the insult of that moment, as well as an insult buried in their history.

As MJF tells it, and as video shows it, one day many years ago, long before Maxwell Jacob Freidman was a name on anyone’s lips, Samoa Joe showed him the kind of disregard that can often befall a rookie when engaging with their seniors. For Joe it was a moment he likely forgot about until MJF began to make his name thus leading the internet to incessantly share the clip, especially once Joe and Max came to share the same space here in AEW. But for MJF, much like his interactions with William Regal many years ago, it was not something that ever left his head space, and in truth something that helped to motivate Max to the heights he’s reached today. It’s pretty clear by now that MJF has had a career fueled by a mix of anger, self-loathing, a need for retribution, and false bravado.

In fact, it would be reasonable to say that it’s only through this friendship with Adam Cole that MJF has found a semblance of motivation based on more than just those things, based on discovering actual self-worth, and an appreciation for those who have supported him despite his massive shortcomings as a decent human being. So the fact that Joe chose to attack Adam Cole as his last statement to MJF prior to this fight, well that is something sure to push Maxwell back into his darkest places, deep into the devil inside, and to add those actions to the ones Samoa Joe committed in 2016 to further motivate his desire to smash the Samoan monster.

There’s just one problem: MJF’s neck, and that it represents a huge target for a man as merciless as the ROH World Television Champion. He will look to suplex Max on that weakened neck until MJF looks like a bobblehead, Joe will look to wrap his arms around that stem and squeeze it until no breath remains in the lungs of Maxwell Jacob Friedman, and he will aim to hoist Max from the top rope, his neck flush against Joe’s shoulder, and to drop the AEW World Champion down with a Muscle Buster to end the misery. Be it the Choke, the Muscle Buster, his signature Island Driver, a massive lariat, or even his underrated Brainbuster, Samoa Joe has a million ways to grind that injured neck of MJF’s to dust.

MJF is going to have to dip into every dirty trick he has in his book to survive this fight with the AEW World Championship still in his possession. Max’s devil will have to come out in all its wretched glory, and even then, it may not be enough to stop Samoa Joe from claiming his first AEW championship title. Just as was the case when he claimed the Ring of Honor Title on March 2003, it would be appropriate if Joe’s first AEW championship was the AEW World Championship, and at this point, in his condition, there may not be anything Max can do to stop Joe’s ascension.

TITLE VS. TITLE…

ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli vs.

NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston

https://www.youtube.com/embed/jzamizcxVu8?si=Q0f1r7in6hNcn3Da

This is a journey that has encompassed the last two decades in the lives of Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston, a journey that started during the dawning days of their wrestling careers, and with their first time sharing the ring somewhere in Indiana back in October 2004. They trained together, lived together, fought together, and most importantly, fought each other both inside the ring and out. From their first singles match back in January 2006, through eleven bouts across five different wrestling promotions, up to March 13, 2011, the scales tipped heavily in favor of Claudio with nine wins to Kingston’s two.

One of those bouts was a Respect Match where, upon losing, Eddie was supposed to tell Claudio he respected him, but instead Kingston told the man he did not respect him, and then leveled him with a spinning backfist. As Claudio lay there unconscious, Kingston’s last words to him as he left the ring were “I know you”, and later that night Double C proved Eddie right when he betrayed the entire promotion they were working for at the time, but this is why several weeks ago, Claudio claimed Kingston still owed him a handshake.

There certainly wasn’t going to be respect shown after what ended up being their last one-on-one bout for twelve years, not after the match ended with Claudio beating Eddie thanks to a chain-assisted European Uppercut, and then proceeding to whip him with a belt. Sadly for Kingston, there was a chance to rectify the situation as Claudio departed for “the land of make-believe” as Eddie called it, and did so in a fashion that only served to further infuriate “The Mad King”.

Thus when Claudio came to All Elite Wrestling to join The Blackpool Combat Club, making him an immediate ally of Kingston’s in the second Blood & Guts Cage Match, it infuriated Eddie and it was only due to his relationship with Jon Moxley that Eddie played nice throughout the bout. Still, the hate burned strong, the kind of hate that not time nor distance can quell, the kind of hate that follows both men wherever they go, even to ROH’s SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 event where Kingston failed once more to defeat Claudio when the ROH World Championship was at stake.

It was a fight Kingston took injured, an injury that kept him on the shelf for three months, but the hate brought him back for FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023 and even united him with The Elite, men he despises but strange bedfellows and all that, to defeat The Blackpool Combat Club. Just like that, the war with Claudio picked up right where it left off, just as it had after a dozen years apart, and now it has brought them to this point, on Eddie Kingston’s home turf, in front of his family and loved ones, where he will put his NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship on the line against the ROH World Championship of Claudio Castagnoli. Two titles are on the line, but after two decades, this is a fight that means so much more than words can encapsulate, they can only hope to convey a fragment of what it all means.

Will this be the end? Can there ever be an end with hate that runs this deep, with disrespect this ingrained in their dynamic, and bonds shattered so completely? Are Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli destined for mutually assured destruction, or will Arthur Ashe Stadium finally be the place where their demons are exorcised?

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Saraya(c) vs. Toni Storm

https://www.youtube.com/embed/0uZ6toXepEE?si=Yhm1xBttW-UtMkRW

Speaking of demons, just what has possessed Toni Storm in the weeks since she lost the AEW Women’s World Championship to Hikaru Shida, and had her psyche further fractured by the actions of her fellow Outcasts? Since their formation, it’s always been a lingering question of what may happen should multiple members of The Outcasts find themselves in contention for the AEW Women’s World Champions, and while Saraya, Ruby Soho, and Toni Storm all insisted that things would be fine between them, the reality reared its ugly head as ALL IN: LONDON drew closer.

Then that night, when both Saraya and Toni Storm were in the title match aiming to end Shida’s second reign as champion, it became clear as crystal just what mattered most, and that was getting the championship title around the waist of Saraya. It didn’t matter that Toni striking Saraya’s mother was completely accidental, a fight still broke out between the two Outcasts, and it didn’t matter that Ruby had done nothing in that moment but try to quell the situation, she still got laid out by Toni for her efforts, and it all ultimately led to Saraya pinning Toni to claim the AEW Women’s World Championship.

And then the wheels fell off, though The Outcasts seemed to keep it together for a few days prior to ALL OUT 2023, but that was clearly not the case as Toni Storm cost Ruby Soho the TBS Championship, or rather it be said, prevented Soho from cheating to defeat Kris Statlander, and instead made sure the playing field was a bit more level. That choice made it clear that Toni Storm was an Outcast no more, and her winning the Four Way Eliminator Match to earn this championship fight absolutely solidifies Toni’s excommunication from the group.

But what has Toni become in the last several weeks? She’s clearly not in the same head space she was prior DYNAMITE #200 when she lost the belt to Shida, but just what is this space Toni occupies now? Is this all a mind game? Is it something Saraya and Ruby Soho can even prepare for heading into GRAND SLAM 2023 for the champ’s first title defense? One has to figure that no one knows Saraya like Ruby and Toni, but do Ruby and Saraya know this Toni Storm? After working so hard to come back from a career-ending injury, and having the fans embrace her a year ago at GRAND SLAM 2022 only to turn their backs on what she brought to the table, walking out of Arthur Ashe still champion is essential to Saraya. Can Toni Storm crush that dream and become the first 3-Time AEW Women’s World Champion? Or will Saraya find a way to not only top her old friend, but also rub it in the face of all those who turned away from her since last year?

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Jon Moxley(c) vs. Rey Fenix

This Wednesday night, in a first-ever match-up, Jon Moxley will defend his AEW International Champion against one-half of the Lucha Brothers, a former AEW & ROH World Tag Team Champion, the incomparable Rey Fenix! As much as this is about the title, it’s also about revenge for Rey Fenix for what went down on the 8/9/23 edition of DYNAMITE between The Blackpool Combat Club and The Lucha Brothers, what was done to his brother in that match, and the injury that kept Fenix from competing in Stadium Stampede at ALL IN: LONDON.

Fenix has never held a singles championship in AEW, though he’s challenged Kenny Omega for the World Title, Hobbs for the TNT Title, Orange Cassidy for the All-Atlantic prior to its leveling up, even taking part in the Blackjack Battle Royale for the International Title at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023, but has yet to achieve that singles success to rival his tag team accolades.

So right here, this fight with Jon Moxley, it’s a chance to kill those two proverbial birds, Fenix can get his revenge for that Mox and The BCC did to him and his brother and claim his first AEW singles championship at the same time! Though Fenix prefers his competition honorable, he’s shown in the past a willingness to get down and dirty, even spilling blood in a fight with his own brother several years ago, so Moxley best be prepared for a man as willing to go there as he.

It is clear the defending International Champion intends to keep the same pace as the man he dethroned, likely aiming to surpass the lofty standard set by Orange Cassidy during his reign, but just like it did with “Freshly Squeezed”, eventually it will catch up to Moxley, the question is whether it will be sooner or later, and just who the man will be to lay him low? Will it be Rey Fenix this Wednesday night at GRAND SLAM 2023? Tune into TNT starting at 8pm ET/7pm CT to find out!

ONE-ON-ONE…

Chris Jericho vs. Sammy Guevara

https://www.youtube.com/embed/lvPQY-8xU7s?si=3WLD6dZfifFB7uu-

With a history dating back to the very first episode of DYNAMITE, looping from The Inner Circle to The Jericho Appreciation Society, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara have been through a great deal together, most of it standing side-by-side. They went through the introduction of concepts like Stadium Stampede and Blood & Guts together, competed for the AEW World Trios Championship and were early challengers to the AEW World Tag Team Championship together, and even fought each other over the ROH World Championship at FULL GEAR 2022.

Though Sammy walked away from Jericho and The Inner Circle when it was needed for his own well-being, he came back to the fold when The Jericho Appreciation Society was born, and even spoke of his allegiance to “The DemoGod” when all the others in The J.A.S. abandoned the man for how they felt he took them for granted.

But even with the closest of friends, between the dearest of partners, there comes a time when not all is right, and when even brothers come to blows. That is what is about to happen this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE when, for the first time, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara collide in singles competition! Though they’ve expressed their desire to unite and pursue tag team success, their egos, and pershaps even some ill will for recent events, has made it difficult for the two men to stay on the same page, even in victory. Perhaps Jericho feels that Sammy is more underling than equal, perhaps Guevara feels the student has surpassed the teacher, whatever the case may be, these two brothers came to the conclusion that the only way past their issues is to confront them with violence done unto each other.

So like a pair of Cain’s without an Abel in sight, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara will lock horns inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, and we shall see if either survives to pursue their supposed tag team aspirations!

DYNAMITE begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel and catch up on highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well the newest edition of THE CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/fscszAOFJTA?si=h50d3iZLmLEx0ezC

This Wednesday night All Elite Wrestling returns to Cincinnati’s Heritage Bank Center for a brand new DYNAMITE that will continue to give form to GRAND SLAM 2023 on September 20th! The Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Finals are going down between Roderick Strong and Samoa Joe, Hangman Page will go one-on-one with “The Machine” Brian Cage for a third time in their careers, Le Sex Gods will be in the building to discuss their collision at Arthur Ashe, and Jon Moxley returns home to defend his AEW International Championship against Big Bill!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ik14rPT8UyU?si=uclp0ecp8Mj9bXb9&start=213

DYNAMITE get underway at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so be sure to check in on the official AEW YouTube channel and watch the highlights from last week’s action during DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, plus the CONTROL CENTER, and more!

GRAND SLAM WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR TOURNAMENT FINALS…

ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe vs. Roderick Strong

https://www.youtube.com/embed/c7y4I2kFBgQ?si=a76WawKXYgI-8tND

This is where Samoa Joe and Roderick Strong have spent the last week fighting to get to: the precipice of an AEW World Championship match, a first for either man, taking place at GRAND SLAM 2023 on September 20th. There is just one last step to take on this road, a matter of either Roderick Strong defeating a man he’s only beaten once in their eight singles matches, or Samoa Joe once more beating a man he only lost to once back in January 2005.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZkXTWZXA0ng?si=Sn_Ehlvyt2IB-kar

Both Joe and Roderick have plenty of motivation pushing them towards victory, Roderick’s well-documented issues with Adam Cole’s friendship with MJF and Joe’s issues with the disrespect thrown his way by the AEW World Champion, but for both men that’s putting the cart before the horse. There’s a fight taking place this Wednesday night in Cincinnati that takes precedent, and while 87.5% of their fights have gone Joe’s way, Strong may have deeper reasons to fight than he ever has before, even when it was the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament that was at stake.

This is about the AEW World Title, ultimately that is the most primary reason to fight, but it’s also about broken trust and shattered friendships, it’s about respect and disrespect, and it’s about Roddy shaking the monkey off his back to finally defeat Samoa Joe, but if that neck is actually as hurt as Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett have claimed, than “Mr. ROH” is just one Choke or Muscle Buster away from ending up back on the shelf.

WOMEN’S WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR FOUR WAY…

Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose vs. Toni Storm

https://www.youtube.com/embed/GmPFhAjzuC0?si=UJQqAG0hIx_YVU_F&start=213

Take four former AEW Women’s World Champions, all with plenty of history binding them to one another, and throw them in the ring together to see what happens. Add in the additional factor of a World Championship match being at stake, and this is an explosive formula worthy of DYNAMITE. Baker beat Shida for her first championship, Shida beat Nyla Rose for her first and Toni Storm for her second, Toni Storm won a Four Way that included Britt and Shida to claim her first shot, and then there is the whole issue of The Outcasts and what they’ve been aiming for with the AEW originals since they first united. Now Nyla Rose may have been left alone in that Outcasts mission, most likely out of fear, but reclaiming the Women’s World Championship is something that’s always been part of Nyla’s own personal mission.

Speaking of The Outcasts though, it is abundantly clear that Toni Storm is on the outs with Ruby Soho and AEW Women’s World Champion Saraya, especially since she insured Ruby couldn’t cheat to beat Kris Statlander at ALL OUT 2023. So add in that drama, on top of that mixed in with these four women, and this is quite the intriguing bout set for this Wednesday night.

Which of these four champions will get their chance to reclaim the gold they once lost, or in the case of Toni and Shida twice-lost? Will Britt get to face down Saraya in the same venue where the AEW Women’s World Champion made her AEW debut, the woman who beat her at FULL GEAR 2022? Will Toni Storm end up in a fight with the woman who pinned her at ALL IN: LONDON to claim the title? Or will we see first-time fights in Hikaru Shida or Nyla Rose?

AEW INTERNAIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Jon Moxley(c) vs. Big Bill (w/ Ricky Starks)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/u7zjdmFNEt4?si=nx9JuJeHF_iVy7Z-&start=213

As he heads home to Cincinnati for his 3rd AEW International Championship defense in a week, Jon Moxley has to be feeling the effects of not only the two previous bouts, as well as the match at ALL OUT 2023 where he beat Orange Cassidy, but also the attack perpetrated by Big Bill on COLLISION while Ricky Starks choked the life out of Bryan Danielson with a BCC shirt just a few feet away.

This is the third year in a row that Cincinnati has welcomed AEW, the second at the Heritage Bank Center, and each year has presented Jon Moxley with a huge undertaking, but one in which he has proven victorious. The first year he fought Minoru Suzuki and walked away the winner after eight of the hardest-hitting minutes AEW has seen, while the second hosted an AEW World Championship defense as Hangman Page challenged Mox, with the challenger ultimately ending up on a stretcher after a vicious King Kong Lariat knocked Hangman out.

This year, with a new championship around his waist, Moxley comes home to face the indomitable threat of Big Bill, a man who laid out the International Champion with a single big boot last Saturday night. Now this isn’t their first engagement in singles competition, that took place in June 2019, but it is their first one-on-one encounter in All Elite Wrestling, having only met in a tag match during the HOUSE RULES: TROY event, some 75 miles north on I-75, back in March.

Moxley is hellbent on surpassing Orange Cassidy’s legacy as the best International Champion of all-time, which means defending the title more times than any champions in AEW history across all divisions, as well as holding it for more than 327 days (20 days shy of all three of Mox’s World Championship reigns combined). So that’s why Mox is on his third defense in a week, coming into it having won nine straight singles matches, and with an 11-3 record on the year in those ranks that includes a Steel Cage Match win over Kenny Omega.

As for Big Bill, most of his AEW competition has been in tag team and multi-man competition, but as a singles he’s run a 4-3 record on the year, including an International Championship loss to Orange Cassidy, and three wins in his last five bouts. Though he’s one of the most imposing figures on the AEW roster, Bill hasn’t tasted championship success yet in AEW, though he also united with Brian Cage to challenge FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championship just over a month ago. Given his dominating presence, his strength and stature, it seems an inevitability that Big Bill will hold a title in All Elite Wrestling before too long.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Laa5OcVVpU0?si=0UA7w1o4SHVmSRkM

Will that success come to Big Bill this Wednesday night in Cincinnati, or will Jon Moxley go three in a row in his hometown, as well as three in a row with International Championship defenses? Will Ricky Starks be the kind of presence in Big Bill’s matches the way Bill is in his? And if so, will there be any BCC at ringside to balance the scales? Tune into DYNAMITE this Wednesday night to see if we have a new AEW International Champion by night’s end!

HANGMAN/CAGE III…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y7oidTdrSBE?si=ZY7WHjd7nUdAGpZo&start=213

As mentioned above, the last time All Elite Wrestling was in Cincinnati Hangman Page did not leave the arena on his own two feet, instead finding himself carted out on a stretcher and hoisted into an ambulance after a Jon Moxley lariat knocked him unconscious. Though Hangman would recover shortly thereafter, the fact that his last time in town ended the way it did had to be scratching at his brain as this event drew closer.

Well now the former AEW World Champion has an opportunity to redeem himself before the Cincy crowd when he enters into battle with ROH World Six-Man Champion Brian Cage for their third singles fight! Back in the spring of 2021, before AEW returned to a touring schedule, “The Machine” shocked everyone, including Hangman, when he beat Page on the April 28th edition of DYNAMITE. The loss came at a time when many fans felt Hangman was on the path to dethroning AEW World Champion Kenny Omega months before he actually did so at FULL GEAR 2021.

Hangman would rebound from that loss a month later at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2021, beating Brian Cage in a twelve minute slobber knocker, and evening the score. Though the two would meet one last time in a tag match on the subsequent DYNAMITE, a match won by Hangman and Dark Order’s Ten it should be noted, they never had that rubber match to truly decide who was the better man.

Not until now at least; though Hangman was out there to address his victory in the Over Budget Charity Battle Royal, his presence in the ring last week turned into a confrontation with Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana, and ultimately an assault perpetrated by “The Machine”. So with that in mind, as well as the history between Page and his assailant, the rubber match between Page and Cage has been set for this Wednesday night in Cincinnati! Will this be a repeat of Hangman’s last trip to town, or can the former World Champion shake that monkey off his back and score a second victory over “The Machine”? The presence of The Mogul Embassy is all but certain, the only question is just how much of an impact they will have on this contest!

CALLIS’ REVELATION…

So what’s next for Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita, the man that Callis has proclaimed as the “New God of Professional Wrestling”? Don has already stated, despite steering Takeshita towards two pinfall victories over Omega, and assisting in Will Ospreay’s victory over him at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, that he’s not done utterly dissecting the life of Omega and anyone who supports him.

So what does that mean, and how does it pertain to this revelation Callis has promised for this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE? Who is their next target in this mission to bleed Kenny Omega dry?

One of The Elite seems the obvious choice, the most accessible targets possible, and it wouldn’t be improbable for Don Callis to throw his lot in with someone like Prince Nana to have his Mogul Embassy do the dirty work on Hangman. After all, he did it with BULLET CLUB GOLD and Kenny, but that’s just a bit of speculation about where Callis will attack next. Thankfully the guessing game doesn’t need last long and Don Callis will tell us himself in Cincinnati…

LE SEX GODS…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/FJZaOaVEdRs?si=7LPRDwi__4EkMiLv

It is official that Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, men who’ve been bonded since the very first episode of DYNAMITE back in 2019, who’ve fought together as members of The Inner Circle and The Jericho Appreciation Society, and who’ve been in Stadium Stampedes and Blood & Guts together, that they will go one-on-one at GRAND SLAM 2023 for the very first time.

Now they fought one another in a Four Way for the ROH World Championship at FULL GEAR 2022, and they’ve been on opposite sides of a few tag matches over the years, but they’ve never just straight up fought each other in a singles match. September 20th will change all that, but before we get to Arthur Ashe, these two men will both be on-hand in Cincinnati to address what is about to happen. Though this was presented as a way for the two men to get past their problems, and move onto being tag team championship challengers, there’s more than a little bit of ego at play, so it should be quite interesting to see what thoughts Jericho and Guevara have to share!

Come Wednesday night All Elite Wrestling brings to you the absolute best professional wrestling on the planet, this time emanating from the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, OH and it will shape the face of both the GRAND SLAM 2023 World Title match as well as the Women’s World Championship bout! Plus, Hangman Page and “The Machine” collide for a third time, Le Sex Gods will be in the house with words before their singles bout, plus hometown hero Jon Moxley returns to defend his AEW International Championship against Big Bill!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/roS8VfK6l6c?si=Jv9NLJqhKga8lFpo&start=213

DYNAMITE begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel and catch up on highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well the newest edition of THE CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

This Saturday night, AEW returns to Cleveland, OH for a night of COLLISION at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse! With two Grand Slam World Championship Eliminator Tournament Semi-Finals on tap, as well as a TBS Open Challenge, an International Champion defense pitting Jon Moxley against Action Andretti, BC GOLD, and more, this is quite the loaded edition of Saturday night’s premier wrestling program!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/dM7cb4L6CCs?si=6LkKFF2RVB5Cx7Jh

Just seven days after the biggest night in All Elite Wrestling history, we are right back at it with our second pay-per-view offering in a week! ALL OUT has been at the heart of AEW since 2019 when Chris Jericho defeated Hangman Page to become the first AEW World Champion, and it has provided a lion’s share of memorable matches and moments every year since! The Chicagoland area has been home to this event every year save one, and 2023 will be no different, but for the very first time, ALL OUT will emanate from the United Center!

If you can’t be there in-person, click here for details on all the ways you can watch the pay-per-view event live no matter where you are in the world! Also be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from this week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as the latest edition of CONTROL CENTER, highlights from ALL IN: LONDON, and more to get you up to speed for ALL OUT 2023!

AEW International Championship Match…

Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Jon Moxley

This past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, after Orange Cassidy bested Penta El Zero Miedo in his 31st International Championship defense, he was confronted by the next man scheduled to challenge for the title regardless of who won Wednesday night’s fight, former 3-Time AEW World Champion Jon Moxley.

Three years ago this would’ve seemed a largely lopsided fight, but in the time since Orange Cassidy fought his first AEW singles match at REVOLUTION 2020, coincidentally at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago as well as the same night Moxley won his first AEW World Championship, he has proven to be in a class all his own. There was never any question that Jon Moxley was at the top of the heap in All Elite Wrestling, he pretty much heralded that himself with how he arrived on the scene at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019, but Orange Cassidy has been questioned, doubted, bullied, and tested at every step of his AEW career.

It didn’t matter how he performed in that first fight with PAC, that he beat Chris Jericho in two straight matches, that he beat Adam Cole in a Lights Out Match, or that he took Will Ospreay to his limits at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022, he was still doubted. But since the October 12, 2022 edition of DYNAMITE where he defeated “The Bastard” to claim the AEW International Championship, Orange Cassidy has done nothing but proven himself as one of the elite competitors in pro wrestling. His first two title defenses took place in Three Way bouts, he took on “The Wrestler” Katsuyori Shibata in his next, and from that point on, it has been a matter of fighting everyone who stepped up to the plate. Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, Big Bill, Jeff Jarrett, and Jay Lethal; they all fell before “Freshly Squeezed” and at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 he really showed the world where he stood as champion when he took on 20 challengers simultaneously in the Blackjack Battle Royale. As a result of that many simultaneous challengers in Vegas, as Cassidy heads into this fight with Moxley, he has defended the AEW International Championship 31 times against 41 different men, and been champion for 326 days. He’s defended his title more times than any champion in AEW’s entire history across all divisions, and sits behind Jade Cargill’s 508-day TBS Title reign, Hikaru Shida 372-day AEW Woman’s World Championship reign, and Kenny Omega’s 346-day AEW World Championship run in terms of duration as champ.

And if that’s wasn’t enough to make the entire wrestling world stand-up and recognize the greatness of “Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy, perhaps it should be noted that at 121 overall victories, he’s got more wins than any man in All Elite Wrestling, topping Jon Moxley’s 118 overall wins, though Mox does surpass OC as a singles competitor, holding 75 victories to Cassidy’s 68.

As if that wasn’t enough, Cassidy also has the longest active singles win streak in AEW with thirty-one consecutive victories, eclipsing Moxley’s run of 25 from 11/13/19-12/2/20 and HOOK’s from 12/10/21-7/19/23. All that put together, it could be argued that Orange Cassidy is the absolute best in All Elite Wrestling, that he is the measuring stick for the company, and that he is the one everyone else should be looking to as their litmus test.

Jon Moxley clearly is not a man who sees that to be the case, and after their engagement the last several weeks, including Stadium Stampede at ALL IN: LONDON, he aims to put OC to the test this Sunday at ALL OUT 2023! Mox aims to put Cassidy through the wringer in the process of proving that it is he and The Blackpool Combat Club who run AEW, and given the AEW career path that has brought both men here, this may be one of the most important pay-per-view matches in AEW’s history. It is also a night Jon Moxley could make history as the first AEW World Champion to capture another AEW singles championship!

OC has already made history during his International Championship reign, it started with being the man to level the belt up from the All-Atlantic to the International Championship, and has continued with each title defense he survives. But eventually the rigorous schedule Orange has kept will catch up to him, but will that point come this Sunday at the United Center? If there is anyone likely to push OC past that point, it is Jon Moxley, and if the defending champion can’t find an even deeper level to his reservoir of strength, he’s in for a rough night and most likely the end of his historic championship reign.

TNT Championship Match…

Luchasaurus(c) vs. Darby Allin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/nvFMQMMVsCs?si=gHpA5xJTY6YrFudb

As much as Christian Cage may claim otherwise, as much as he would rather have the fans believe an alternative truth, the reality is that Luchasaurus is the TNT Champion, not Christian Cage. Cage may carry the belt around, may consistently refer to the belt as “his” TNT Title, but it was Luchasaurus who won the belt from Wardlow, it’s been the former AEW World Tag Champion who’s defended it since that victory over “The War Dog”, and it will be Luchasaurus who faces former 2-Time TNT Champion Darby Allin this Sunday night at ALL OUT 2023!

But what condition is the challenger in? Like so many others at ALL IN: LONDON, Darby went through tremendous physical punishment, but the x-factor of the coffin elevated his to a whole other level. He was slammed on the metal lid, went for a Coffin Drop on Swerve while Strickland was draped across the top only for Allin to find no one home when he crashed down, he was battered and bruised, but ultimately victorious, though it also came at the expense of young Nick Wayne. Wayne, seeking to balance the scales of the bout, ended up being taken away by The Right Hand of Destruction, but that wasn’t the end of the story.

This week on COLLISION we heard Nick Wayne speak on Darby Allin’s actions pertaining to AR Fox, leading Darby out to the ring to publicly discuss the issue, but even that was interrupted by Christian Cage, who proceeded to say horrid things about Wayne’s mother, and of course promised destruction would rain down upon Allin’s head in his TNT Championship fight with Luchasaurus. Of course it wouldn’t have been Cage if he didn’t, yet again, imply he was the actual TNT Champion, but of course it won’t be he who steps into the ring to face Darby Allin, it will be the former AEW World Tag Team Champion.

Can Darby overcome the size of Luchasaurus, the numbers game that will be played by Christian Cage, and the injuries he sustained at ALL IN: LONDON’s Casket Match? If so, he will become the second man after Sammy Guevara to achieve 3-Time TNT Champion status, but if he cannot, and Cage has his way, will there be anything left of Darby to dust off and try again?

Singles Match…

“The Redeemer” Miro vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

https://www.youtube.com/embed/U-V_gYV6_7o?si=crR3wyOrsc4bjNUE

Forty-two days, in the span of 42 days between 3/8/23 and 4/19/23 Powerhouse Hobbs managed to defeat Wardlow to claim the TNT Championship, defend it five times, and then lose it right back to Wardlow. It was not the way Hobbs anticipating his championship reign going when he won the belt, and after it ended, he spent some time on the House Rules loop getting back on track, leading to a five match win streak, including a smashing victory over Powerhouse Hobbs in the 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Quarter-Finals.

Unfortunately he ran into a familiar foe named Ricky Starks in the Semi-Finals, and “Absolute” would best his former Team Taz partner en route to winning the entire tournament shortly thereafter. Again, not the way Hobbs wanted his COLLISION career to go, but he rebounded and has since won six consecutive bouts, including an eight-second victory last night in Chicago.

As impressive as that streak may be, as rapidly as Hobbs has dispatched those foes, perhaps the most impressive thing Hobbs has done is have the gumption to call out “The Redeemer” Miro for a fight! A former TNT Champion himself, Miro is one of the most intimidating men in all of professional wrestling, and to call him out for a fight is to court pain and punishment. Thus he is also the supreme test for a men looking to redeem himself for the key losses he’s experienced in 2023.

Will Hobbs live to regret his choice to goad Miro into battle? Will he be humbled before “The Redeemer”, or will Hobbs instead find that redemption he’s looking for?

TBS Championship Match…

Kris Statlander(c) vs. Ruby Soho

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZQG1phgDsU4?si=4NUVHthSKNL6fd7L&start=180

The challenge was made by Ruby Soho, a woman that Kris Statlander has yet to defeat, and it appears a challenge born out of this Outcasts frustration at having never won a championship during the last 13 years. Just in All Elite Wrestling, after making her debut at ALL OUT 2021 by winning the Women’s Casino Battle Royale, she was frustrated in her first World Championship match at GRAND SLAM 2021 against Dr. Britt Baker, and sadly that would not be the last time Ruby’s dreams were dashed. A month later, in the inaugural TBS Championship Tournament, Soho would make it past Penelope Ford, Kris Statlander, and Nyla Rose but end up stifled in the finals by Jade Cargill, having to watch her claim status as the first TBS Champion. Even the AAA Mixed Tag Title alluded her and Ortiz at ALL OUT 2022 when they faced Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo on the ZERO HOUR, and finally at REVOLUTION 2023, in a Three Way where she and Saraya challenged AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter, Ruby was again turned away. The frustration is understandable, she is unquestionably one of the best wrestlers competing today, but has repeatedly failed to achieve the trophies that cement that fact in the history books.

That being said, it’s not as if Kris Statlander has had the easiest road to the status she now holds. Injuries have slowed her professional growth on multiple occasions since she first came to All Elite Wrestling, even her first AEW championship bout at REVOLUTION 2020 was tainted as Stat fought Nyla Rose with a debilitating flu that had kept her on bed rest for several days leading up to that night in Chicago. Even in the COUNTDOWN TO ALL OUT Statlander shared about her feelings as champion, a rather open look at the thoughts spinning around in her head despite defending her title eight times in the last 100 days on DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and on the HOUSE RULES tour. She has been a fighting champion from the moment she beat Jade Cargill at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023, and yet doubt still creeps.

It’s not an easy road for champion or challenger, both are driven to be the best, both have had their frustrations and setbacks, but only one has taken those challenges and used them to make herself a better version of who she was. Statlander has gotten tougher, she’s gotten stronger, and it’s led her to the status as TBS Champion whereas Ruby Soho has thrown her lot in with The Outcasts which in turn led her to watching both Saraya and Toni Storm become champions, although Toni’s current situation makes one question whether or not becoming a champion was worth the ramifications of losing it.

This Sunday, when Kris Statlander and Ruby Soho meet in their third singles match, it’s clear there is a bit more than the TBS Championship on the line for each woman. Pride, ego, legacy; they are all wrapped up in this fight between two of today’s best, but only one can walk away as champion while they other will have to find a way to handle with the disappointment and frustration…

Grudge Match…

“The Cleaner” Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita

https://www.youtube.com/embed/GUeppqfOU4A?si=bAJ3mScOKwz94jgp

Kenny Omega has been betrayed by Don Callis on so many levels since that Cage Match against Jon Moxley back in May, and yet this Sunday night at ALL OUT 2023 he will still come to fight in the face of that sting. Whether it was Callis throwing his support behind Will Ospreay at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, ripping Takeshita away from his growing alliance with The Elite, or signing up with BULLET CLUB GOLD, the man who was once akin to Omega’s uncle has done anything he can to wreck the former AEW World Champion’s life.

This all stems from some sense of ownership Callis has over Kenny’s career, some belief he is entitled to the credit though it is Omega who did the heavy-lifting of actually getting in the ring for the fight. Uncle Don may have shown a young Kenny the ropes, but it was Omega who did the work and earned monikers like “Best Bout Machine” and “The God of Pro Wrestling”. It was Kenny in the ring with Okada for their four matches that, over the course of three-plus hours, firmly established both men as the best in the world. It was Kenny in the ring with Chris Jericho at WRESTLE KINGDOM 12 and DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019 not Don Callis, and point of fact, the only actual accomplishment in Kenny’s career that Callis could take some credit for would be Omega defeating Jon Moxley to become the AEW World Champion. It’s undeniable that “The Invisible Hand” played a part in assisting Kenny’s championship challenge, but it’s certainly possible that it was Don whispering in Kenny’s ear that he needed his Uncle’s help to achieve that success.

That loyalty is simultaneously both Kenny’s biggest positive and negative, especially since his return to action in August 2022 after taking 10 months to recover from a litany of injuries collected over his wrestling career. Despite Callis’ entire oeuvre being a stark contrast to where The Elite stood as people in the fall of 2022, Omega kept Don by his side and Callis clearly bristled at the fact Kenny was not on the same page as he when it came to how to conduct business. Omega’s loyalty was that strong, his love for everything Uncle Don had been to him and his family was that strong, and yet Callis clearly grew unhappy with the fact he was no longer the primary voice in Kenny’s ear as he’d been during Omega’s championship reign.

All that anger and disappointment led Callis to betraying Kenny inside that Steel Cage, allowing Jon Moxley to get some revenge for Omega’s equally shady victories several years prior, and has taken us all down this path to ALL OUT 2023. It led Callis to put Takeshita inside the Blood & Guts Cage, and to pull him away from the fight when things weren’t looking promising for The Blackpool Combat Club, it led to the BC GOLD attack on Kenny when he sat down to talk to Jim Ross in Jacksonville, and now has Takeshita fighting Omega on Sunday night.

The relationship between Omega and Takeshita dates back to the earliest years of the latter’s career, so far back that Kenny was the opponent for the fifth match on record in Takeshita’s career, the first of their thirteen encounters in DDT Pro Wrestling between 9/30/12 and 10/26/14, all which posted them as opponents. It wasn’t until Takeshita first came to AEW in April 2021 that the two men fought as partners, and when he became a regular part of the roster one year later, it looked as if Takeshita would ride alongside The Elite as he pursued the growth of his own career.

Then Don Callis got in his ear, promising the sky, and turned Konosuke against those who’d supported him, leading to Takeshita’s impact on Omega’s face during Anarchy in the Arena at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023, and now here we are, four months later, with the two men colliding in their first AEW singles match, and their first head-to-head in a decade. It should be noted, though they were over a decade ago during Takeshita’s early days as a wrestler, Omega is 2-0 in their singles matches, but obviously Takeshita has grown exponentially since that time.

So should Takeshita fail in this singles match, will this be the end of Don Callis’ pursuit of Omega’s end? If Kenny walks away with the victory, will Uncle Don give up this mission to end his nephew, or is Kenny stuck in this infinite loop of Don Callis throwing everything at Omega just hoping he breaks until the weight of it all? And what is the future if Takeshita pins Omega as he did at ALL IN: LONDON? That is the kind of victory that potentially bolsters Takeshita up into championship contention, but what would it mean for Kenny Omega’s immediate future? The ramifications for this one will be felt for some time by all parties involved, but just looking at it as a fight, this one could possibly steal the show at ALL OUT 2023!

ROH World Tag Team Championship Match…

AEW World Champion MJF & Adam Cole(c)
vs.

Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/aZg5OWcGD8g?si=rVeItcGbSfyT3iHd

After defeating Aussie Open at ALL IN: LONDON to become the new Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions, Adam Cole and AEW World Champion MJF were informed they’d have to defend their championship against the winner of a Tag Team Battle Royale at ALL OUT 2023. So, in typical MJF fashion, he took the week off to recover from his UK journey while Adam Cole came to work only to be confronted by Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett, including Roddy throwing his name in the hat for the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions and telling Cole he would do what Adam couldn’t: beat MJF.

While that is indeed a concern for Cole, the more immediate matter is the match this Sunday with the winners of the aforementioned Battle Royale: The Dark Order of Alex Reynolds and John Silver! Though they have been part of AEW since the earliest days of DYNAMITE, the pair have only challenged one time for the AEW World Tag Team titles, during the reign of Jurassic Express, and they were unsuccessful in that endeavor. Since coming into the ROH fold back in April, the duo has been embroiled in their own violent affair with The Righteous, one that culminated with victory in the first-ever Trios Fight Without Honor at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2023. But none of that matters to MJF who, having some experience with both Alex Reynolds and John Silver early in his career, doesn’t have a bit of respect for either man.

Well Dark Order is quite the motivated, driven duo, one whose bond runs far deep than just the last couple months of this year, and they aim to break this championship drought on Sunday night!

Adam Cole and Maxwell Jacob Friedman have proven themselves to be a strong tag team duo, with a genuine bond that defies all logic and reason, but they are facing a team who’ve been together for over a decade, and who have a whole lot to prove to themselves and the world. Adam Cole and MJF are in for a fight, and they will have to pull out every Double Clothesline, Kangaroo Kick, and any other offense to keep these ROH World Tag Team Titles around their waists.

ROH World Television Championship Match…

Samoa Joe(c) vs. Shane Taylor

The history of Samoa Joe in Ring of Honor has been well-documented; for 645 days he reigned as ROH World Champion, elevating the title from a regional one to World Championship status, and engaging in legendary fights that proved influential to the modern wrestling scene. Even after that reign ended at FINAL BATTLE 2004, Joe remained integral to the workings of ROH, claiming the ROH Pure Championship from Jay Lethal at MANHATTAN MAYHEM, and keeping that for 112 days until he was dethroned by Nigel McGuinness. Even then, his influence on both ROH and pro wrestling at large was felt as he engaged in one of the hardest-hitting, most memorable bouts in modern wrestling history when he fought the legendary Kenta Kobashi at JOE VS. KOBASHI, and even after Joe first parted ways with ROH in March 2007, his presence loomed large over every individual who held the ROH World Championship in his wake. All World Champions were compared to Joe and his legacy, and every big man who ever entered into ROH competition was sized up against Samoa Joe’s shadow as well.

That was the world into which Shane Taylor entered when he first joined Ring of Honor in November 2014 at GLORY BY HONOR XIII, and though he reigned as a dominating ROH World TV Champion for 218 days, and a ROH World Six Man Champion for 295 days, the comparisons to Samoa Joe never ceased, but Taylor never had a chance to tackle those comparisons head-on until now.

When Samoa Joe re-entered the ROH landscape at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2022, the fanbase was excited at the prospects of all that could be, speculating on if Joe would pursue the ROH World Championship he lost, or who he may want to lock horns with inside the squared circle. It turned out his first mission was to claim a championship that he had no opportunity to hold during his original ROH tenure simply because it did not exist until 2010, the ROH World Television Championship.

Shortly after his arrival, Joe dethroned Minoru Suzuki to claim the title, and 508 days later, he is still standing tall as the champion with 13 successful defenses to his reign! This makes Joe the second longest reigning TV champion of all time, behind Jay Lethal, and put him just above Shane Taylor on the list of successful defenses, a list Jay Lethal is also at the top of, having retained the belt on 36 occasions during his 567 days.

So it shall be this Sunday night in Chicago that two of Ring of Honor’s most dominant forces, two of the most imposing competitors in professional wrestling today, will engage in combat for the very first time, a right Taylor earned with victories over Serpentico, Christopher Daniels, and Gravity in an Eliminator Tournament. This is a fight about the championship, about legacy, and about who will be the dominant force moving forward, and for Shane Taylor, with a visit to his hometown of Cleveland looming next Saturday, it’s absolutely about being able to go home a champion!

NO DISQUALIFICATION STRAP MATCH…

“Absolute” Ricky Starks vs. “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson

https://www.youtube.com/embed/FTOIjz-OYYY?si=yPI4zS_v0eAnHUku

Well Ricky Starks certainly did not anticipate getting the match he’s got to face on Sunday night at ALL OUT 2023, he was looking to fight a 70 year old “Dragon” in a Strap Match, but instead he got a date with a different Dragon, an “American Dragon”. This came as a shock to the AEW faithful in Chicago, as well as those watching at home, as no one was aware Danielson was cleared for competition following his injury in the Kazuchika Okada match at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023.

To his credit, Starks recognized the mistake he had made, and essentially told the world “if this is the bed I made, than I’m going to make myself comfortable”. After all, it’s a huge opportunity for the 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament winner, the chance to spoil Danielson’s return to action almost two years to the date since his AEW debut at ALL OUT 2021, and continue to rise up towards the championship status he craves.

Will Sunday night be Ricky Starks night, or will it be the night “The American Dragon” roars?

Tag Team Battle…

NJPW STRONG Open Weight Champion Eddie Kingston & ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata

vs.

Blackpool Combat Club (ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta)

The bad blood between Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli has kept these two men bonded across many, many years, and even years wrestling in drastically different spheres did nothing to lessen the feelings of disdain. It’s spread from AEW to Ring of Honor and back again, putting Kingston inside Blood & Guts alongside The Golden Elite, putting him on the same side of Stadium Stampede as The Best Friends and Penta El Zero Miedo, and even putting him at odds with a man who was like a brother: Jon Moxley.

It’s been story of Eddie and his strange bedfellows, doing whatever he needs to do in order to get to Claudio, uniting with whoever has motivates that align with his, and hoping it leads to ending Castagnoli. This Sunday night in Chicago that means uniting with ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata to face the ROH World Champion and the man Shibata dethroned to claim that Ring of Honor title, the only 2-Time Pure Champion in ROH history, Wheeler Yuta!

The sad reality is that the animosity between Claudio and Kingston will probably never be satiated as long as both men are breathing. It’s shattered promotional boundaries, it’s bled across years and years, and sustained itself even when both men were on opposite sides of the wrestling world. Given that these men were once friends, roommates even, it’s a shame it’s gotten to this point, but that familiarity has bred contempt like none other. Is this a case of mutually assured destruction? Can either survive their own hate?

Eight-Man Fight…

AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) and The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

vs.

BULLET CLUB GOLD (Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Jay White, & Juice Robinson)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/9hub3SmDfiM?si=JR1UIjkmXMLUTJT1&start=180

It may come as a shock in 2023, but in 2020 The Young Bucks and FTR actually united on two occasions ahead of their first clash at FULL GEAR 2020. Neither ended up as positive moments for the four men, they lost both the eight and ten man tags in which they participated, and as history as shown, they’ve since fought it out in three landmark bouts. The first won by The Young Bucks at FULL GEAR 2020, the second by FTR on the April 6, 2022 edition of DYNAMITE, and the third also by FTR at ALL IN: LONDON just a week ago. Though the brothers Jackson walked away from the match without shaking the hands of Dax and Cash, a common foe had brought them together once again this Sunday night at ALL O UT 2023.

BULLET CLUB GOLD has been a thorn in the side of FTR since the inception of COLLISION, and have also inserted themselves in Elite business time and again, including Kenny uniting with Ibushi and Hangman Page in a losing effort to Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Takeshita at ALL IN: LONDON. Now all the worlds collide as FTR and The Young Bucks try to put aside their differences to fight BC GOLD live on pay-per-view! Is it possible? Or will BC GOLD celebrate in the Windy City tonight!

ALL OUT 2023: ZERO HOUR…

-AEW World Trios Championship Match: The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens, Daddy Ass, & Max Caster)(c) vs. Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, & Satnam Singh

https://www.youtube.com/embed/dGq4ROIquRk?si=Upw7ARLadTEDjKMw&start=180

-ROH Women’s World Champion Athena, Diamante, & Mercedes Martinez vs. Hikaru Shida, Skye Blue, and Willow Nightingale

-Over Budget Charity Battle Royale: Winner gives $50K to the charity of their choice

ALL OUT 2023 emanates from the United Center in Chicago, IL this Sunday night, and live on pay-per-view beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT! Make a point to check out the official AEW YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFN4JkGP_bVhAdBsoV9xftA/videos) to get up to date with highlights from the lastest episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as the CONTROL CENTER, highlights from ALL IN: LONDON, and more to get you ready for ALL OUT 2023!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/MXMI9rkCRUo?si=lBlbpBl5TbAS2h9C

This Sunday, All Elite Wrestling comes to London for the most important event in AEW history since the first DOUBLE OR NOTHING in 2019, and the largest event in All Elite history! In front over 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium, and before a worldwide pay-per-view audience, AEW presents ALL IN: LONDON on Bleacher Report, traditional cable & satellite providers in the United States and Canada, FITE INTERNATIONAL, PPV.COM, and more!

With seven championship matches between the PPV proper and the ZERO HOUR, as well as the return of Stadium Stampede, AEW’s first Tag Team Coffin Match, a Generational Dream Bout, and so much more! The pay-per-view action begins at 6pm BST/1pm EST, with the ZERO HOUR kicking off at 12pm ET/9am PT, featuring an ROH World Tag Team Championship match pitting Aussie Open against Adam Cole & MJF, as well as a FTW Championship Match between Jack Perry and HOOK!

AEW World Championship Match

MJF (c) vs. Adam Cole

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ukWjq30GTfo?si=Ise4k3lqyTQPnIEl

It all began on June 7th in Colorado Springs when Adam Cole and MJF were face-to-face on DYNAMITE, and by the end of the conversation Cole embarrassed the AEW World Champion into a match. It may not have been a championship bout, but on June 14th in Washington, DC, when AEW returned to where DYNAMITE first began in 2019, Cole and MJF met in an Eliminator fight, meaning if Cole beat the champion, he would earn a future title match.

Unfortunately for Cole, despite giving Max a taste of his own medicine by using the AEW World Championship belt as a weapon, and MJF him with both The Boom and The Panama Sunrise, the time limit expired and Cole was left empty handed. He hadn’t earned a future title match, and there was certainly no way MJF was going to gift him one just because they had a good fight. That was certainly not something in Max’s nature, not at that point two months ago, but then something happened, something called the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament. With a future AEW World Tag Team Championship opportunity awaiting the victors, random names were drawn to create tag teams who would then populate the brackets for an eight-team tournament.

Cole and MJF would be the first team put together for the tournament, and while it seemed inevitable they would implode under the weight of their recent history, the exact opposite actually happened. Not only did they did defeat Matt Menard & The Butcher and Big Bill & Brian Cage en route to the finals, they actually managed to win the whole tournament by beating Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara! On top of that, much to the chagrin of Cole’s long-time friend Roderick Strong, Adam and Maxwell actually developed the most unlikely friendship. The two men could not be more different from each other, and yet through their tournament time, their loss to FTR in the AEW World Tag Team Championship bout, and their unique bonding activities away from the ring, these two competitors have actually found mutual respect and even a brotherly love. The most shocking thing to come out of all of this isn’t MJF and Cole becoming friends, it’s that Maxwell Jacob Friedman has actually come to embrace the fans cheering his name and proudly calling themselves his devil worshipers, he’s even been seen slapping hands and hugging children. Given the road MJF has traveled his entire AEW career, if not his entire professional wrestling life, this is the most shocking part of the path to ALL IN: LONDON. Oh, and the fact that MJF actually stuck to the promise he laid out to Cole prior to that FTR bout, that MJF would give Adam Cole an AEW World Championship fight regardless of the championship bout outcome.

Clearly they did not walk away from the bout as new AEW World Tag Team Champions, but in a move that was a true shock, as well as an indicator that perhaps MJF was genuine in his friendship with Cole, the title fight was set for ALL IN: LONDON! What has been most intriguing since that bout was set was seeing if the friendship would implode under the shadow of the AEW World Championship fight, but instead it has seemed to grow stronger, although both Cole and MJF have had their moments when they’ve nearly snuck one on the other man, but has had the side effect of apparently decimating the friendship between Roderick Strong and Adam Cole in the process, driving Strong towards The Kingdom, who experienced their own issues with Cole many years ago in Ring of Honor.

It’s wild to think that mere hours after Adam Cole and the AEW World Champion unite on the ZERO HOUR in an attempt to dethrone Aussie Open as ROH World Tag Team Champions that they will then face one another for the most coveted prize in professional wrestling today.

It will be quite fascinating to see how the outcome of that ZERO HOUR bout factors into the main event of ALL IN: LONDON. Will Adam Cole and MJF enter as the new ROH World Tag Team Champions, or will they enter into the biggest match of their careers as beaten men? Will it be a tag team bout that breaks the bond they’ve built over the last couple months, or one that strengthens the ties enough to survive however the World Championship fight plays out? And just who will walk into Chicago, mere days after this, as the reigning champion looking towards whatever ALL OUT 2023 may have in store for him?

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match

FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/PwU1GB0MqC8?si=pXN3u2a5rtgRNpkO

The date was November 7th and the event FULL GEAR 2020; it was huge night for several reasons, one being that it was the most people watching AEW in-person since the Pandemic changed our world, but also that it was the night one of pro wrestling’s dream matches finally became reality. After years of debate over who was the better team, The Young Bucks and FTR finally clashed, and with the AEW World Tag Team Championship titles at stake. That night it would be The Young Bucks who walked away victorious, capturing the AEW Tag Titles for the very first time, and at least on that night, staking their claim as the top team in professional wrestling today.

It would be quite some time before we saw Cash, Dax, Matt, and Nick collide in a tag team bout, seventeen months to be precise, and on that night in Boston, with both the ROH World Tag Titles and the AAA Tag Titles at stake, it would be FTR who left Agganis Arena with the win, and both sets of championship titles.

So when FTR finally reclaimed the AEW World Tag Team Championship, defeating The Gunns in April of this year, the speculation began about when fans might get to see a rubber match between these two duos. That speculation came to an end on August 5th when, after defeating Big Bill & Brian Cage in a championship bout, FTR challenged The Young Bucks to a fight at Wembley Stadium! The biggest tag team championship bout for the biggest event in All Elite Wrestling history; it made perfect sense, and The Young Bucks would agree just a few nights later!

So on this grand stage, in front of more than 80,000 of the AEW faithful, and with countless more watching around the world, will we see the heart and soul of All Elite Wrestling become 3-Time AEW World Tag Team Champions or will it Billion Star FTR who lays claim to the best tag team moniker while also retaining their championship titles?

AEW Women’s World Championship Four Way Match

Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Saraya vs. Toni Storm vs. Dr. Britt Baker DMD

https://www.youtube.com/embed/_GHd4I6U5z8?si=K91BGPTxBarYdgNv

What a tangled web this AEW Women’s World Championship bout has become after last Friday night’s tag team bout on RAMPAGE. Defending Champion Shida and Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D teamed up to take on The Outcasts Saraya and Toni Storm in a preview of the Four Way taking place on Sunday at Wembley Stadium.

While there was certainly hope with all four women that this would be an opportunity to get a last minute advantage, and though that is what happened for The Outcasts, it also created a whole mess of tension between all four competitors. The history between Shida and Baker, the one where the latter ended the former’s historic first title reign, seemed to have been set aside as they united against the threat of The Outcasts, but when a blinded Shida decked her own partner, inadvertently setting Britt up to be beaten by Saraya, it was not the best way to put the former foes on the same page against The Outcasts during Sunday’s event. Prior to that moment, it seemed possible that Shida and the Good Doctor could at least unite to insure neither Outcast left Wembley with the Women’s World Championship, but after that blow on Friday, compiled with their history over AEW’s existence, it seems highly unlikely they will find common ground.

That being said, it seemed like a given that The Outcasts would have common ground in the mission to dethrone Shida, and while that may be the case, the way Saraya and Toni Storm left things on Friday night, it seems there could be something rotten in the locker room of The Outcasts. Toni aims to be the first 3-Time champion, while Saraya hopes to not only win her first championship in AEW, but also her first championship in nine years, and those two goals are clearly in conflict. So the question on Sunday will be, if it comes down to either Saraya or Toni Storm getting the victory and the title, will the other allow that to happen? And if there is some dissension in the ranks of The Outcasts, will that provide the opening either Hikaru Shida or Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D need to have their hand raised in victory before 80,000 strong?

Stadium Stampede Match

Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta), Eddie Kingston, AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy & Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Blackpool Combat Club (ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta), Santana & Ortiz

https://www.youtube.com/embed/UgcrZHMw350?si=_MuHEeKDZtu1qVun

It’s been a couple years since Stadium Stampede has reared its head in All Elite Wrestling, since DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2021 to be precise, but this Sunday at Wembley Stadium, before the largest crowd in AEW history, one of the most unpredictable matches in company history makes its return! But it’s not just the match making its return, it’s also several of the competitors returning to action after time away, and some of the strangest bedfellows imaginable!

First off, who would’ve ever thought Eddie Kingston would be standing side-by-side with Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta, and AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy? On top of that, who would’ve thought that, given how toxic their AEW relationship was in past, that the Lucha Brothers would once again stand beside Eddie Kingston, or that Penta and Fenix would unite with The Best Friends given their own violent history as foes?

And could anyone possibly have predicated that two of Eddie Kingston’s oldest friends, two men who spent a great deal of time trying to end Jon Moxley’s career early in AEW’s history, would side up with The Blackpool Combat Club against Eddie in this Stadium Stampede? But then again, the last time we saw Ortiz in All Elite Wrestling, he and Kingston had a massive falling out as a result of House of Black machinations, and they were throwing down with one another. That may have been six months ago, but it was a wound never healed, much less addressed, and it appears this is just one chicken that’s come home to roost for Kingston. The other comes in the form of Santana, a man who has been on the shelf since June 2022’s Blood & Guts match in Detroit recovering from injury, a match he was in at the request of Kingston, and a man who it seems Kingston forgot about in the aftermath of that war.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/f0wHdnABVpw?si=9uD7gN_wHnobLX4w&start=182

It’s clear that Kingston’s hatred for Claudio Castagnoli is what’s driving this for him, but for the rest of his group, it’s about what The Blackpool Combat Club has done to them over the last several weeks. The Best Friends and Orange Cassidy have been repeatedly assaulted, look at the Parking Lot Fight from RAMPAGE for a microcosm of what this dynamic has looked like The BCC lost Blood & Guts to The Golden Elite six weeks ago. It feels as if that loss, and how it came to pass, has spiraled Mox, Claudio, and Yuta into a flurry of violence, and The Luchas and Best Friends have been the targets for assorted reasons. The connection to “The Bastard” PAC put a crosshairs on Penta and Fenix, leading to Rey being eliminated from even competing in this match this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE, while Yuta’s connection to The Best Friends, as well as events from ROH’s DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2023 PPV event, led them into this fracas.

And now it will all explode in utterly unpredictable fashion this Sunday at ALL IN: LONDON! How much frustration must Santana have pent-up after over a year away from the fight? How much does Ortiz want to punch Kingston in the mouth for how they left things? For that matter, how much violence do all these men want to inflict upon one another for everything that’s happened over the last several weeks, as well as for everything that’s tied these men together in various fashion both here in All Elite Wrestling, and in their lives before entering into AEW? This will be officially sanctioned chaos, and it is coming to Wembley Stadium this Sunday!

AEW World Trios Championship Match

The House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black) (w/Julia Hart) (c) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) & Billy Gunn

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ju4LUUn-0nY?si=4M3b4Eb4SQTZDIu-

The House of Black couldn’t leave well-enough alone; the AEW World Trios Champions had twice-defeated The Acclaimed in championship fights, and even driven Billy Gunn into retirement, thinking he didn’t have it as a competitor any more, and was better off hanging up his boots in front of the entire world as he sat in the middle of the ring.

But that wasn’t enough for Malakai Black, Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart; perhaps it was the insistence from Max and Anthony that they still believed, with Billy, they were the best trio in All Elite Wrestling. Perhaps they needed to send a message to The Acclaimed of what would happen if they ever came near The House again, and perhaps the disposal of Billy’s boots into the trash bin was part of the message of what would happen should they come knocking on The House’s door once again.

Instead, what The House got was a very angry Max Caster and Anthony Bowens who didn’t care about the numbers, and still wanted a fight with the World Trios Champions knowing they would be, no pun intended, outgunned. So when The Acclaimed’s music hit, as Brody King was preparing to level Anthony Bowens with the same chain used to bloody Max Caster, it was a shock to the former AEW World Tag Team Champions that their friend and mentor was on the spot to not just disperse The House of Black, but to also make a challenge for this match set to take place at Wembley Stadium!

So with The Acclaimed reunited at full strength, this past Saturday on COLLISION the trio decided to share one last verse with their foes before heading into battle at ALL IN: LONDON:

Will The House of Black make a clean sweep of The Acclaimed in this, their third championship fight, and once again prove that it is they who are the most dominant trio in All Elite Wrestling? Or will The Acclaimed take the lessons learned from their previous outings, add that to the renewed confidence demonstrated by Billy Gunn, and turn it into championship success?

“Real” AEW World Championship Match

CM Punk (c) vs. Samoa Joe

ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe was a happy man on Saturday night, if only for a brief moment, because he knew that come Sunday at ALL IN: LONDON he would be getting the fight he’d been wanting ever since CM Punk defeated him during the 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. At first Joe was indignant that Punk didn’t even bother responding to the challenge, which led to Joe removing Punk from the equation when he and FTR challenge The House of Black for the AEW World Trios Championship.

Punk’s response came in the form of a little deception, entering the ring to fight Joe under the guise of Golden Vampire, and laying the ROH World TV Champion low with a GTS before accepting the challenge for this fight at Wembley Stadium. Samoa Joe and CM Punk fighting in England feels appropriate for a number of reasons, one being that their last singles match prior to AEW took place 100 miles away in Conventry back in March 2005, and another being that over 80,000 fans will experience the next chapter in this landmark feud for modern wrestling history. The Trilogy, as it is known to Ring of Honor fans, defined independent wrestling for the 2000’s and beyond, shaped an entire generation of wrestlers who came along afterwards, and helped to save Ring of Honor during one of its most tumultuous times.

As if the heated rivalry between these two warriors wasn’t enough, add in the factor of Punk’s Championship belt, and this is escalated to a whole new level. Whereas the match during The Owen still carried some of the respect built between the two over the years prior, what has led Punk and Joe to this next chapter in their story has been utterly devoid of it. And that calm, peaceful Samoa Joe that sat down on Saturday to do commentary during the main event, that all went out the window when CM Punk chose to apply Joe’s signature choke to Brian Cage in order to win the match. Suffice to say that was the trigger moment that led to the utter chaos that capped off COLLISION, but will it be what ends the night on Sunday for Punk? Will he fall victim to Joe’s choke as he did so many years ago at ROH’s ALL STAR EXTRAGANZA II event, or it will the ROH World TV Champion be put to sleep like he was just a week ago?

Dream Match…

Chris Jericho vs. IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay

https://www.youtube.com/embed/J1BvtyO3adc?si=7cSwRhw5m2Ln2QVM

This heated up rather quickly; something that began as Don Callis playing his games with people’s lives rapidly turned into a situation in which his games are an afterthought to the hostilities between Chris Jericho and Will Ospreay that exploded during their contract signing this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE.

As Ospreay laid out everything he was fighting for this Sunday at Wembley Stadium, Chris Jericho took credit for the mere fact that the IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion was in that position in the first place. “The Ocho” brought up a five year old phone call as being the reason Ospreay transformed into the wrestler he is today rather than ending up in a wheelchair, and though “The Aerial Assassin” may not have known that was a possibility, Jericho also said he and Will would’ve collided two years ago if not for the pandemic disrupting the plan.

So although Don Callis may have orchestrated the moment in which Ospreay leveled Jericho from behind, this has become about something bigger than Callis stabbing Jericho in the back despite the original AEW World Champion being willing to join the family. This is a generational dream match, two of the greatest competing today, coming from drastically different places in their careers, but both wanting to be known as the absolute best wrestler walking the planet today, and there is no bigger stage to to fight it out than in front of 80,000+ fans inside the biggest venue England has to offer! Ospreay is heading into this after a tremendous showing during NJPW’s G1 Climax Tournament, and after defeating Shingo Takagi at RevPro just 24 hours before ALL IN: LONDON is set to begin. Conversely Jericho heads into this having watched his Appreciation Society, save Sammy Guevara, dissolved right in front of him all because he couldn’t make the choice between Don Callis and The J.A.S. It was only after he’d lost everything that Jericho gave Callis a “yes”, and the fact that Callis anticipated a “no” is what set this ball rolling.

Jericho has made it clear this is the most important match of his life, perhaps more so because of all he’s lost in the last several weeks, and this is the most important event on which he’s ever fought. For Ospreay the same is true, he wants to add Jericho’s name to the list that includes Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, David Finlay, and Shingo Takagi as some of the men he’s beaten in the last two months. For Will it’s about supporting a family, it’s about doing it in his home country on the biggest stage AEW has ever had, and doing it at the expense of a certified legend who still competes at the highest levels.

Of course Don Callis lurks at the shadows around this match, of course he wants to make sure Jericho doesn’t not walk out of Wembley with a win, the words “your head on a platter” were what he spoke regarding what he offered Ospreay to come fight Jericho, and while he did his best to screw Kenny Omega at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, will Callis be there to try to do it to Jericho this Sunday in London?

Trios Match…

BULLET CLUB GOLD (Jay White & Juice Robinson) & Konosuke Takeshita (w/Don Callis) vs. The Golden Elite (Adam Page, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi)

It seems Don Callis will sign up with anyone he can to make Kenny Omega’s life a living hell. First he threw in his lot with The Blackpool Combat Club ahead of Blood & Guts, only to pull Konosuke Takeshita from the fray when things started to get hairy for The BCC after “The Bastard” PAC bailed on them. Callis, and Takeshita for that matter, are lucky The BCC have been occupied with other matters and vengeance hasn’t swung their way for that abandonment.

Now it seems Callis has thrown his favor the way of BULLET CLUB GOLD as they assaulted Kenny Omega while he was in the midst of an interview with Jim Ross. It’s clear this is where they all felt safe accosting Omega, during a situation where there was not a soul available to help him, and yet they still did so with a distinct numbers advantage that “The Cleaner” could not possible have overcome.

And perhaps BC GOLD thought they’d face little repercussion as The Young Bucks would be wrapped up in their own dealings with FTR, Cash and Dax being other people with some BC GOLD bad blood, but thankfully the former AEW World Champion has friends beyond the brothers Jackson.

So it will be this Sunday night that, for the very first time, The Golden Lovers and Hangman Page compete in Trios action to take on another nascent trio in Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Konosuke Takeshita! It’s clear Don Callis is on a revenge trip when it comes to Kenny, will aim any gun he can at the man he once considered family, and will fire any bullets he finds at the former AEW World Champion. This week it’s BULLET CLUB GOLD, but should Kenny, Hangman, and Kota Ibushi turn away this attack, what will Callis throw at Omega next? What will Kenny have to do in order to shut Don Callis down for good?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/I5YtAHLH0Ws?si=azkVR2RNhjxtsL0d&start=182

BULLET CLUB GOLD is supremely confident riding into London, just listen to how they address the situation in the video embedded above, and are utterly convinced their Bang Bang Gang are the dominant force in All Elite Wrestling, but if they can shut down Omega, Ibushi, and Hangman at Wembley, they may be right!

Tag Team Coffin Match…

Christian Cage & Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin & Sting

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xy2vJhgvw5U?si=uiEB_06Ysrb-36sx

Originally the challenge to this Tag Team Coffin Match was made to AR Fox and Swerve Strickland, but as was seen this past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, following their tag team loss to Darby Allin and Nick Wayne, Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana fired Fox from The Mogul Embassy, leaving Brian Cage to deliver the killing blow.

This brought out Darby, Nick, and Sting back to run off The Mogul Embassy, despite Fox’s betrayal of the men, which in turn brought Christian Cage and TNT Champion Luchasaurus out as well. The arrival of Cage and the actual TNT Champion led to the announcement that it would be Christian Cage, rather than AR Fox, who would travel to Wembley Stadium for the Tag Team Coffin Match!

It looks like all of Darby Allin’s enemies are lining up against him for this fight as his issues with Christian and Luchasaurus, set to take center stage at ALL OUT 2023 where Darby will fight Luchasaurus for the TNT Championship, merge with those involving Swerve Strickland, and explode in AEW’s first ever Tag Team Coffin Match! Given that it’s Luchasaurus who will actually do the heavy lifting in Chicago, and not Christian Cage, there’s a great deal of concern about what condition Darby will be in for September 3rd at The United Center, but ultimately he and Sting have to focus on one fight at a time, and it’s a fight that’s been part of Darby’s AEW career for quite some time now. For a detailed look at how we got here, check out this history package, but suffice to say that Darby and Swerve have history that predates All Elite Wrestling, and it’s only gotten uglier in the time that both men have been part of the company.

With 80,000-plus cheering them on, Darby Allin and Sting come to Wembley this Saturday not to praise Christian and Swerve, but to lock them inside a coffin and take the first step towards clearing the table. Part one happens in Wembley when the coffin lid is closed on Christian and Swerve, part two takes place in Chicago when Darby Allin becomes a 3-Time TNT Champion; at least that’s their hope.

ZERO HOUR…

ROH World Tag Team Championship Match…

Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) (c) vs. Adam Cole & MJF

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nbee1jno31E?si=mSkeBRWK-5XJpoH6

Suffice to say that the main event of ALL IN: LONDON is going to be greatly affected by the events of the ZERO HOUR beginning at 12pm ET/9am PT on AEW’s official YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@AEW/featured). Adam Cole, having never won the ROH World Tag Team Championship, and MJF, having never competed in anything involving Ring of Honor, will challenge the defending ROH World Tag Team Champs Aussie Open ahead of their fight over the AEW World Championship later in the night!

Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, after capturing the titles at ROH’s DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2023 pay-per-view event, have successfully defended the championship on four occasions, including this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE against The Hardys. They are on quite the roll since their July title victory, but face incredibly tough competition in MJF and Cole who, although relatively new to tag team competition, were victorious in the Blind Eliminator Tag Tournament, and gave FTR a tremendous fight in the AEW World Tag Team Championship loss a few weeks back. Amazingly enough, even with their AEW World Title fight on the horizon, Cole and Friedman have managed to keep their new-found friendship intact. Both men seem intent on maintaining the friendship, despite the protestations of Cole’s long-time friend Roderick Strong, the seeming impossibility that MJF can be trusted at all, and the championship fight coming just a few hours after this tag team title bout.

Can Aussie Open use the circumstances of the evening to their advantage and retain the ROH World Tag Team Titles? Or will the bromance of Cole and MJF lead to success as a team just before the biggest fight of both men’s careers? And if the match plays out in the favor of Aussie Open, how will that affect the AEW World Championship Match, as well as the relationship between championship and challenger? In the history of the ZERO HOUR/BUY-IN, this is the most important match that’s ever taken place, but will it be Aussie Open or MJF/Cole who history remembers as the victor?

FTW Title Match…

Jack Perry (c) vs. Hook

https://www.youtube.com/embed/uD_CVFcegqk?si=EliWlL7kfaAlKRad

Jack Perry may have entered into the Gas South Arena on Saturday night with the intention of smashing the FTW Championship to bits, but “The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil” HOOK had other plans for his former friend, and they didn’t include seeing the championship his father created left in the history books with Perry’s face plastered as its final champion.

The chaos that was the final COLLISION before ALL IN: LONDON would culminate in a crazy brawl involving fighters all slated to compete at Wembley Stadium, but it was Jack Perry who snuck in the back door, having nothing to do with the 10-Man Tag main event, and attacked his challenger. It started when Jack betrayed HOOK at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, was followed by Perry running from the then-FTW Champion for weeks, before finally having to answer for his betrayal inside the squared circle. Surprisingly Jack handed HOOK his first loss that night in Boston, and even bested Rob Van Dam several weeks ago in Columbus, but HOOK wasn’t going to standby for long given Perry’s threats of what he would do after beating RVD.

Jack Perry can’t run from this one, not even when he’s in London some 5,500 miles away from his Los Angeles home, even there HOOK will be waiting, and retribution will be waiting with him!

This Sunday the biggest event in AEW history goes down at Wembley Stadium when All Elite Wrestling presents ALL IN: LONDON in front of more than 80,000 fans in London, and before a worldwide audience on Bleacher Report, traditional cable & satellite providers in the United States and Canada, FITE INTERNATIONAL, PPV.COM, and more!

From Adam Cole challenging MJF for the AEW World Championship to the return of Stadium Stampede, from AEW’s first Tag Team Coffin Match to a loaded AEW Woman’s World Championship Four Way, and from a Dream Bout pitting Chris Jericho against Will Osprey to FTR/Young Bucks Round Three, and so much more, this is a loaded event from top-to-bottom! The pay-per-view action starts at 6pm BST/1pm EST, with the ZERO HOUR getting underway at 12pm ET/9am PT, and includes the ROH World Tag Team Championship match between Aussie Open and Adam Cole/MJF, plus a FTW Championship Grudge Match between Jack Perry and HOOK!

Whether you’re there in-person or watching on PPV, you are all a part of history that would not have been possible without the support of the AEW faithful around the world!

The biggest event in All Elite Wrestling history, ALL IN: LONDON, is so close and it is already quite the stacked event, but there’s still more road to travel before we get there, and the next stop on that road is a return to Nashville for AEW’s debut at the Bridgestone Arena!