CONTAINS SPOILERS AEW COLLISION & BATTLE OF THE BELTS X was broadcast live from the Truist Arena in Highland Heights, KY! It’s Saturday night and you know what that means! Saturday night’s alright for fighting!<a href="https://biggoldbelt.com/reviews/bmf-black-mafia-family-season-3-episode-7-recap-review-get-em-home/">…</a><p><a class="more-link" href="https://biggoldbelt.com/reviews/bmf-black-mafia-family-season-3-episode-7-recap-review-get-em-home/">Continue reading →</a></p>…
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Fallout Season 1review & recap by Big Gold Belt Media with host @DamianGshow & @steviie__-Synopsis:Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a…
All Elite Wrestling presents a thrilling lineup with COLLISION and BATTLE OF THE BELTS X this Saturday on TNT. Featured matches include Toni Storm vs. AZM in an Eliminator Match, Blackpool Combat Club vs. Don Callis Family in tag action, and Roderick Strong vs. Rocky Romero. Champions Athena and HOOK defend their titles against Red Velvet and Shane Taylor, respectively. With DYNASTY 2024 approaching, the stakes are high for all competitors. Fans can catch up on the latest AEW action online before Wednesday’s DYNAMITE in Indianapolis.
DYNAMITE comes to you from the Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, WV, AEW's first time back since August 17th of 2022, and with it comes a loaded night of action! AEW World Champion Samoa Joe faces Dustin Rhodes in an Eliminator contest, the TNT Championship will be at stake when Adam Copeland faces Penta El Zero Miedo, and AEW Women's World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm is apparently planning a Charleston Champagne Toast for Thunder Rosa. In addition, LionHOOK will team with Katsuyori Shibata to do battle with Shane Taylor Promotions while Anna Jay has a rematch with Mariah May, and The Young Bucks have promised to present backstage footage from ALL IN: LONDON! Then for those in attendance who get to experience RAMPAGE before the rest of the world, TBS Champion Julia Hart defends in an Open House match against “Legit” Leyla Hirsch!
All that comes your way this Wednesday night, live on TBS starting at 8pm ET/7pm CT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, but don't forget to drop 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, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER!
Then join us Saturday night at the Truist Arena in Northern Kentucky for COLLISION and BATTLE OF THE BELTS X featuring Rocky Romero facing Roderick Strong in an AEW International Championship Eliminator Match!
ELIMINATOR MATCH…
AEW World Champion Samoa Joe vs. “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes
Aside from both occupying space in a Battle Royal on January 3, 2008, Dustin Rhodes and Samoa Joe have never shared the ring in any traditional match. Not a singles, not a tag or trios, nothing of the sort, but that will change this Wednesday night when the two competitors square off for the very first time! It began with a challenge laid out on the table by “The Natural”, the desire to fight Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship, but that challenge was rebuked by a champion who does not see Rhodes as deserving of a title match. Depending on how one views it, that's not an inaccurate response, after all Rhodes is 15-13 in singles matches across his AEW career, 2-1 in 2024, and not grouped in the rankings, but only taking that into account is very much a “what have you done for me lately” approach.
At 54 years of age, “The Natural” has been fighting inside the squared circle for thirty-five years of his life, and has won numerous championships throughout the course of that hall of fame career. He's battled everyone from Toshiaki Kawada to Scott Hall, from Giant Baba to Jeff Jarrett, and from Sammy Guevara to Bryan Danielson; he's been an inspiration and a teacher, a friend and a foe, but one thing he's never been is the World Champion, representing a company, holding the title as the man with a target on his back.
This Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, with an AEW World Championship Eliminator opportunity in the palm of his hand, “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes can take the first step towards finally achieving that dream by defeating Samoa Joe. With that victory, as Samoa Joe said in his interview, Dustin Rhodes would become the top contender to the World Championship, jumping the line ahead of Swerve Strickland, who earned his title opportunity at DYNASTY 2024 on April 21st, as well as Bryan Danielson, Will Ospreay, Orange Cassidy, and Eddie Kingston. It's a huge opportunity for Dustin, the closest he has ever been to challenging for the AEW World Championship, but can he take that next step forward and become the top contender? Joe hasn't been beaten in a singles match since GRAND SLAM 2023 when he fell to MJF in their first AEW World Championship match; that's nine consecutive wins, one in a Three Way Match, and eight of those were championship bouts. Rhodes has a tremendous mountain to climb in Charleston; will fans see him step up into the role of challenger after ascending to the summit?
Coming off a tremendous Cope Open TNT Championship defense against Matt Cardona, Adam Copeland was issued a challenge by former AEW World Tag Champion Penta El Zero Miedo for a TNT Title fight! Cope is certainly not going to walk away from any challenge, definitely not turning one down, one can't help but wonder if he knows what he's getting himself into with this fight?
Though most of Penta's All Elite Wrestling tenure has been in the tag team or trios divisions, he's had his fair share of championship challenges in the singles ranks. He last fought for the TNT Title March 25th of last year, falling to Powerhouse Hobbs on that edition of RAMPAGE, but he's also challenged Orange Cassidy for the International Championship, Jon Moxley for the AEW World Title, as well as been involved in multiple contender's matches over the last five years, and that's just in AEW!
Step outside of the realm of All Elite Wrestling, and one will see that Penta El Zero Miedo has had thirteen singles champion reigns across the wrestling landscape! Be it in the United States or Mexico, Penta has proven himself as singles competitor many time over, and depending on what homework Adam Copeland has done, that may come as a surprise to the defending TNT Champion. Now these Cope Opens have forced Adam to stretch himself as a professional wrestler, with fighting a wide range of styles from Minoru Suzuki to Cardona to Dante Martin one doesn't have much choice, and Penta El Zero Miedo represents another way Copeland will have to adapt his game.
Can the former AEW World Tag Champion win his first singles title since 2018, and his first-ever All Elite Wrestling one? Or will this fight demonstrate that Adam Copeland may be the most resilient, adaptable competitor on the AEW roster?
CHARLESTON CHAMPIONSHIP CHAMPAGNE TOAST…
We know that former AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa will face current AEW Women's World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm at DYNASTY 2024 on April 21st in St. Louis, but what we don't know is just what Storm has planned with this Charleston Championship Champagne Toast. It's clear that this is a heated issue, the words exchanged between Storm and Rosa have been less than complimentary to say the least, so there's zero chance this toast will be a celebration of “La Mera Mera”, more likely the champion giving herself a toast ahead of her next title fight. But how will that play out on Wednesday night at the Charleston Coliseum? Is it going to break down to fisticuffs between Thunder Rosa and Toni Storm?
TRIOS MATCH…
LionHOOK (Chris Jerisho, FTW Champion HOOK, & Katsuyori Shibata) vs.
Shane Taylor Promotions (Anthony Ogogo, Lee Moriarty, & Shane Taylor)
Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty may have lost the fight to LionHOOK last week, but it certainly did look like it in the aftermath of the match, not when “The Guv'nor” Anthony Ogogo was throwing fists alongside the members of Shane Taylor Promotions. Having been absent from the AEW landscape for eleven months, Ogogo made a return to AEW screens during the ZERO HOUR prior to ALL IN: LONDON, but disappeared for another seven months until the tremendous impact Ogogo made upon Chris Jericho's face with this return following the LionHOOK victory over STP on last week's COLLISION. It was quite a shock to see “The Guv'nor” back in All Elite Wrestling after he'd been utterly silent for so long, but he wasn't just sitting at home doing nothing during his time away.
In fact Ogogo was doing the best thing possible for his career and putting in ring work outside of All Elite Wrestling. He's put in the work with RevPro and PROGRESS in England, competed for Southern Honor Wrestling in Atlanta, as well as several other United States independents, all to keep himself in prime fighting condition and garner more experience until the time came to return to AEW action. Well that call came from Shane Taylor ahead of this past COLLISION, and we will see if it pays off this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE when Ogogo, Shane Taylor, and Lee Moriarty take on LionHOOK and their surprising third man, Katsuyori Shibata!
Now this will mark Ogogo's first match on DYNAMITE in nearly three years, as well as his first time uniting with STP in a match, but so too is it Shibata's first outing with Jericho and HOOK as his partners, though not his first time standing side-by-side with the FTW Champion. That took place last November when he, HOOK, and Orange Cassidy were victorious over Jericho's former JAS allies of Daddy Magic, Cool Hand Ang, and Jake Hager.
As much of a statement as STP made last COLLISION, Shane Taylor Promotions is definitely in need of a statement victory and one over LionHOOK and Shibata certainly fits that bill! Can they accomplish that this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE?
Coming off a tremendous victory over Stardom's Momo Kohgo at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2024 this past Friday, but still quite frustrated from her loss to Thunder Rosa last week, Mariah May comes to DYNAMITE looking for another fight, and it looks like she's got one waiting from Anna Jay!
It was only two months ago on the February 23rd edition of RAMPAGE that Mariah May defeated Anna Jay in their first meeting, so the memory is still quite fresh in the mind of both competitors. The question is which one will rise to the occasion Wednesday to take home the victory? Will it be Mariah May redeeming herself for the loss to Thunder Rosa, or will it be Anna Jay bouncing back from three straight AEW losses?
ALL IN: LONDON REVISITED…
This Wednesday night, All Elite Wrestling returns to the Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, WV for the first time since August 17th of 2022, and with it comes a huge night of action and drama! AEW World Champion Samoa Joe fights Dustin Rhodes in an Eliminator Match, The Young Bucks are promising to show never-before-seen footage from ALL IN: LONDON, AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm is promising a Championship Champagne Celebration for Thunder Rosa, and her understudy Mariah May will face Anna Jay in a rematch of their April encounter! All that and more comes to you this Wednesday night live on TNT starting at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, but don't forget to drop 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, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER!
Then Saturday night, from the Truist Arena in Northern Kentucky, AEW presents a huge night of action with COLLISION and BATTLE OF THE BELTS X including AEW International Champion Roderick Strong fighting an Eliminator Bout against a man he called ally many years ago: Rocky “Azucar” Romero!
See Miyu Yamashita Make Her TNA Return on April 21 in Las Vegas News / April 9, 2024 / by TNA Wrestling Staff Get tickets Miyu Yamashita is set to make her long-awaited return to…
DYNASTY 2024 is getting closer, and after this past Wednesday night the AEW World Championship was made official with Swerve's blood, one-half of the finals of the AEW World Tag Tournament were set when The Young Bucks beat Best Friends, Thunder Rosa earned her way into an AEW Women's World Championship match with “Timeless” Toni Storm, and that was just DYNAMITE! RAMPAGE brought The House of Black's Malakai Black topping Christopher Daniels, AEW International Champion Roderick Strong victorious in an Eliminator Bout, Serena Deeb taking home another win, and Daniel Garcia scoring a huge victory in that Final Four Elimination battle!
That brings us to this Saturday night for a loaded edition of COLLISION that gets underway at a special start time of 11:30pm ET on TNT! It features The House of Black in Trios action, the return of Yuka Sakazaki, Penta El Zero Miedo taking on Komander, and perhaps most importantly, the other Semi-Final match in the AEW World Tag Title Tournament between FTR and Top Flight! Fans around the world can get prepared for all the action with a visit to the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW's various social media platforms, to catch highlights from this week's DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER! Then come join us next Wednesday in Charleston, WV at the Charleston Coliseum featuring a TNT Championship bout between Adam Copeland and former AEW World Tag Champion Penta El Zero Miedo!
AEW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINAL…
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin)
It's been more than sixteen monthssince the last time FTR and Top Flight locked horns in tag team competition, and in that match Dax and Cash were in the midst of their ROH World Tag Team Championship reign. In fact, that victory over Dante and Darius Martin was the final defense of FTR's title run before they were defeated by Jay and Mark Briscoe at FINAL BATTLE 2022's unforgettable Double Dog Collar Match. It was one of the many championship accomplishments that FTR has achieved over their careers, accomplishments that included the AEW World Tag Titles two times over, but now their mission is to make it a historic third time around, but they've got to get past Top Flight this Saturday night!
Now the career of Top Flight has been wrought with difficulties, Darius fell to an injury in February 2021 that kept him on the shelf for thirteen months, and then a month after his return, Darius fell to another injury that kept him out of action for seven months of 2022. Then, just as Top Flight seemed to be getting back into their groove, just four months after Darius' return, Dante suffered a near career ending injury at ROH's SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 event that ultimately put him out of action eight months! Yet they keep bouncing back, stronger than they were before, hungrier than ever, and now the Martin brothers are ready to take that next step towards becoming AEW World Tag Champions for the first time.
TAG TEAM BOUT…
Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty) vs.
LionHOOK (Chris Jericho & FTW Champion HOOK)
Chris Jericho may have once again adopted his “Lionheart” moniker, but FTW Champion HOOK is still wary of the original AEW World Champion because of his track record within All Elite Wrestling. Jericho may be doing his best to try and get HOOK to sit under his learning tree, to believe in Jericho as much as Jericho believes in HOOK. The 2-Time FTW Champ is on guard, but he is still willing to see what “Lionheart” has to teach, and set-up a match for their LionHOOK team this Saturday on COLLISION!
It's not going to be an easy night for Jericho and HOOK though because they've got a fight on their hands when it comes to Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty! STP is always primed for a fight, and though they are quite the imposing force once the bell rings, they've yet to get on the kind of roll a team needs to truly make an impact on the division. Knocking Chris Jericho down a peg while also topping the FTW Champion are certainly moves to build that kind of momentum, and that's what STP aims to do this Saturday night on COLLISION!
SINGLES MATCH…
Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Komander
As we heard this past Wednesday night, former AEW World Tag Champion Penta El Zero Miedo is on the hunt for his first singles championship in All Elite Wrestling, and as such he's set his sights on answering the Cope Open Challenge! That's right, next week on DYNAMITE, live from Charleston, WV, Penta meets Adam Copeland in a TNT Championship match, but before he gets to the Charleston Coliseum, Penta has to step into the ring with a man he's called partner many times over the last year, the high-flying Komander!
Well they've fought in a couple of Four Way contests (both for championship opportunities coincidentally), as well as a Three Way contest, this will mark the first time the two Luchadors have met in a singles bout. They've teamed in All Elite Wrestling, they've teamed in Ring of Honor, they even teamed up on the Jericho Cruise, but somehow they've never gone one-on-one prior to this late night Saturday COLLISION. With Penta stepping up to challenge for the TNT Championship for the first time since the March 25, 2023 edition of RAMPAGE, this fight with Komander has an added importance as a win here serves to build momentum while a loss puts the man fighting out of a hole at the worst possible time.
While not thought of as a singles competitor in the auspices of All Elite Wrestling, Penta is highly decorated in that role in his non-AEW endeavors, and just wants to add some more singles gold to that resume!
SINGLES BATTLE…
The Butcher vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Two tags, a Three Way Tag, and a Trios bout; that's how many times The Butcher and Claudio Castagnoli have stood opposite the ring from one another in non-Battle Royal matches, and in all but the Three Way Tag, it was The Blackpool Combat Club that came out victorious (that honor went to Top Flight). Yet in the nearly two years since “The Swiss Superman” made his All Elite Wrestling debut, the two combatants have never locked horns in a singles match, that is until this Saturday night on COLLISION!
When two of the biggest, most powerful men in the AEW locker room butt heads, you know it's going to be, as Jim Ross would say, a slobberknocker of a match! Who will win out in this battle of the big, bald, and bad?!?
AEW fans have not seen Yuka Sakazaki in action since the 2/13/23 edition of DARK: ELEVATION, but “The Magical Girl” returns to All Elite Wrestling this Saturday night on COLLISION! From the moment she made her debut at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019, Yuka has left quite the impression on the All Elite Wrestling fans, and the women she's fought inside the squared circle. She holds victories over Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D, Penelope Ford, Mei Suruga, Emi Sakura, and Billie Starkz, to name a few, boasts a 10-4 record in singles matches, and is 14-7 overall, but she's never had a championship opportunity in AEW, and isn't that the fight is ultimately all about?
Well with this return to AEW action, after taking a few months off from competition to heal from nagging injuries, perhaps Yuka can work her way towards a title opportunity, but first she must contend with the hard-hitting challenge of The Infantry's Trish Adora! Adora comes into this fight having just gone through it with Serena Deeb on RAMPAGE, but is ready to bounce back from that loss to spoil Yuka's return to All Elite Wrestling!
ALSO FEATURING…
-The House of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews, & Malakai Black) vs. Christopher Daniels, Matt Sydal, & “Bounty Hunter” Bryan Ketih
The Semi-Finals of the AEW World Tag Title Tournament come to a close this week on COLLISION when FTR meets Top Flight, Penta El Zero Miedo battles Komander as he heads towards a TNT Championship contest with Adam Copeland, and the BCC's Claudio Castagnoli meets The Butcher in singles competition. As if that wasn't enough, Yuka Sakazaki returns to AEW competition to meet Trish Adora, LionHOOK battles Shane Taylor Promotions, and The House of Black will be in Trios competition!
The night gets underway a little later than usual, kicking off at 11:30pm ET on TNT, and fans around the world can get ready for it all at the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW's assorted social media outlets! There fans can watch highlights from Wednesday's edition of DYNAMITE and Friday's RAMPAGE episode, as well as the CONTROL CENTER with Tony Schiavone! Then join All Elite Wrestling in Charleston, WV at the Charleston Coliseum for a TNT Championship bout pitting Adam Copeland against former AEW World Tag Champion Penta El Zero Miedo!
Smiling Friends co-creators and stars Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel Interview by Big Gold Belt Media-SMILING FRIENDS,” the hit animated comedy co-created and starring Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel that follows the employees of a small…
This Saturday COLLISION is back to its regular schedule, and with it comes a loaded night of action from the greatest professional wrestlers on the planet! It’s going down in London, ON, Canada at the Budweiser Gardens, and features two East Bracket bouts in the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament, each involving a former AEW World Tag Championship duo! Plus Adam Copeland reignites the Cope Open, only now it will be with his newly-won TNT Championship on the line, and fresh off their excursion to CMLL on Friday night, The Blackpool Combat Club will be in Trios action against The Righteous and “The Murderhawk Monster” Lance Archer! All that, and plenty more, is coming your way this Saturday night as All Elite Wrestling heads down the road to DYNASTY 2024 in St. Louis!
The night begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, and fans around the world can get prepared by visiting the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s various social media platforms, to watch highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER! Then come join us next Wednesday in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center stacked DYNAMITE featuring The Young Bucks versus Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta in the Semi-Finals of the World Tag Title Tournament!
EAST BRACKET: WORLD TAG TITLE TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL…
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. The Infantry (Capt. Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo)
***FACES WINNER OF TOP FLIGHT VS. STARKS/BIG BILL***
Though they owe a debt of gratitude to Mark Briscoe for helping to facilitate their victory over The House of Black in the Wild Card Round, The Infantry of Carlie Bravo and Capt. Shawn Dean find themselves in the Quarter-Finals of the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament, and faced with one of the greatest teams in professional wrestling history. It’s the biggest moment in their entire tag team career, and it plays out before the entire world this Saturday on COLLISION.
FTR, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, had a Hall of Fame resume before they debuted for All Elite Wrestling, and since coming into AEW in the fall of 2020, have only bolstered that resume with two AEW World Tag Team Championship reigns, a ROH World Tag Team Championship reign, a AAA World Tag Title reign, and an IWGP World Tag Title reign. They are perpetually in the conversation of which team in AEW is the best, and have been on the hunt for a third AEW World Tag reign since Big Bill and Ricky Starks defeated them last October.
For both FTR and The Infantry, this Saturday night is a pivotal moment in their careers, and though it’s obvious why that is the case for Carlie Bravo and Capt. Shawn Dean, perhaps it’s less so for the case of FTR. The fact that they’ve already won so many championships in their tag team career doesn’t mean Dax and Cash aren’t always gunning for another run atop the division, it doesn’t make any victory mean less because they’ve been there before, in fact it’s quite the opposite. FTR know how much it means to be hold the AEW World Tag Titles, they know what that experience is like, and they crave having it once again by coming out on the top of this tournament.
So will we see FTR add more accolades to their championship resume, or will The Infantry find another way to upset the apple cart and move on to the Semi-Final round of the East Bracket? The winner of this contest will meet either Top Flight or Big Bill and Ricky Starks in that round, and it’s a safe bet who FTR would want to fight should they advance to the Semi’s!
EAST BRACKET: WORLD TAG TITLE TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL…
Big Bill & Ricky Starks vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin)
***FACES WINNER OF FTR/INFANTRY***
Big Bill and Ricky Starks have not been seen inside an AEW ring since the February 7th edition of DYNAMITE when Darby Allin and Sting defeated them for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Starks, generally a prolific poster on his social media, hasn’t shared anything since February 25th, while Big Bill has only shared posts about upcoming AEW events. Overall they’ve been quite quiet, leading to a whole lot of speculation about their status in All Elite Wrestling, and their status as a team. They were never a duo made up of best friends, they aren’t brothers or related in any fashion, they were simply allies of convenience who ended up making a tremendous team, and tasted rapid success by claiming the AEW World Tag Titles from FTR in their second fight as a tag team.
Overall Bill and Ricky went 6-0 as a team prior to losing the titles to Darby and Sting, defeating two different BCC teams, The Dark Order of Reynolds and Silver, Jericho and Guevera, FTR of course, and won the FULL GEAR 2023 Ladder Match over three other tag teams, but one team they never faced during that time was Top Flight.
So given the silence from Big Bill and Ricky Starks, it came as a bit of a surprise when they were announced as participants in this tournament to crown new champions after Darby vacated the titles in the aftermath of Sting’s REVOLUTION 2024 retirement. But here the former champions are, ready to get back into the hunt this Saturday night on COLLISION, and they kick off this campaign to regain the titles with a first-time bout against Top Flight.
It’s been over a year since the lone AEW World Tag Title opportunity that Dante and Darius ever had, a loss to The Gunns on the 3/22/23 edition of DYNAMITE, and they would love to run the table on this tournament and finally rise to the top of AEW’s stacked tag team division! Will it be the former champions who advance on Saturday, or the two young men who’ve never held a championship in AEW or ROH? The winner of this one faces the winner of the aforementioned FTR/Infantry battle also taking place on COLLISION…
COPE OPEN TNT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…
Adam Copeland(c) vs. ????
He was battered and bruised, broken and bloody, but it certainly felt like Adam Copeland had rarely been happier than he was in the aftermath of his TNT Championship victory over Christian Cage. Making his former best friend, a man his children called Uncle, say the words “I Quit” brought a sense of relief and satisfaction to Cope, but also the realization that the work had only just begun. Everything it took to get the TNT Championship, the wear and tear it put on his body, the heartbreak it put on his family, it was all just part one of the journey.
Part two begins this Saturday night on COLLISION when Adam begins The Cope Open anew only now with the TNT Championship at stake! It’s a return to how the TNT Championship was first introduced, and how it was carried by nearly every champion not named Christian Cage. Men like Cody Rhodes, Darby Allin, and Sammy Guevara carried on an Open Challenge tradition for that belt, and that is reborn now that the title is around the waist of a stand-up competitor like Adam Copeland!
That question is who will step up to the challenge and try to wrestle the TNT Championship away from Adam in his first defense? Previous Cope Open competitors included Dante Martin and Minoru Suzuki, each pushing Adam in different fashions, so who will it be this time? Will it be another young talent trying to break through to the next level? Will it be a well-established warrior looking for a title they’ve never held? Or maybe someone from outside the auspices of All Elite Wrestling hoping to earn their way in as Ricky Starks and Eddie Kingston did in the early days of the TNT Championship?
It’s an exciting thing to speculate on just who may step up to the plate and take a swing at Adam Copeland’s TNT Championship, but will it be a gamble that blows up in the defending champion’s face?
TROIS BOUT…
“The Murderhawk Monster” Lance Archer & The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent) vs.
Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli) and Katsuyori Shibata
Two weeks ago on COLLISION, Claudio Castagnoli and Lance Archer met in a battle of AEW behemoths, but unfortunately the bout came to an unsatisfying conclusion for all as The Righteous assaulted Castagnoli just as he began to Giant Swing “The Murderhawk Monster”! Bryan Danielson tried to stem the assault, but he got dropped by The Righteous as well. It was only the arrival of Katsuyori Shibata, and the chair he had in hand, that sent Dutch, Vincent, and Archer heading for the hills.
That assist was a tremendous show of respect from “The Wrestler”, stemming from the fight he and Bryan had earlier in the night, and now that sign of respect has blossomed into a full-blown alliance, at least for one night, as he teams with Bryan and Claudio to take on Archer and The Righteous in Trios competition!
The two BCC members are fresh off a fight at Arena Mexico for CMLL’s HOMENAJE A DOS LEYENDAS event, having hopped on a flight to Canada early Saturday morning to get to London for this fight, but there are no excuses when it comes to The Blackpool Combat Club, and they will be ready to throw down on COLLISION! Archer and The Righteous have a slight experience advantage as a Trio, but is it enough to overcome the onslaught that Shibata and The BCC will bring to bear?
FIGHTING LIKE A CHAMPION…
Thunder Rosa vs. Lady Frost
Last time she set foot in the ring, Thunder Rosa accomplished something no one else had done since GRAND SLAM 2023 when she pinned Toni Storm’s shoulders to the mat for a tag team victory. It may not have sat well with Deonna Purrazzo, that forced tag that got Thunder into the match in the first place, but it was a win for their team nonetheless, though Rosa’s “when I win you can have the first shot” comment could be taken as rather condescending.
That’s an issue for another time though, right now is time for Thunder Rosa to prepare for another fight on her road back to the top of AEW’s Women’s Division, not to celebrate her seventh consecutive victory since returning from a near career ending injury. This Saturday she steps into the ring with Lady Frost, a woman she’s never faced in AEW and only encountered once in their careers back in May 2021, and someone who has been on the cusp of breaking out with her incredible combination of heart, skill, and athleticism. She’s gave Kris Statlander two tremendous fights in TBS Championship bouts, and one to Julia Hart as well, not to mention the battles with Mariah May and Serena Deeb this year, but Frost hasn’t quite been able to put it together for a victory quite yet.
Will Saturday night be the night Lady Frost finds the key to her first AEW win, or will she be another brick in Thunder Rosa’s road a championship fight with “Timeless” Toni Storm?
With two AEW World Tag Title Tournament Quarter-Final bouts, a TNT Championship contest, and The BCC in Trios action against The Righteous and Lance Archer, COLLISION is bringing a wild one to London, ON, Canada and the Budweiser Gardens! The night gets underway 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, and fans everywhere can get ready for it all by swinging by the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s assorted social media outlets, to catch highlights from Wednesday’s DYNAMITE and Friday’s RAMPAGE, as well as the CONTROL CENTER with Tony Schiavone! Then meet All Elite Wrestling next Wednesday at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA for a loaded episode of DYNAMITE featuring another Don Callis Family clash, this time between Will Ospreay and Powerhouse Hobbs!
Tonight’s episode of AEW RAMPAGE was broadcast from the Centre Videotron in Quebec City, QC!
Yourbroadcast team was Excalibur and Tony Schiavone.
It’s Friday night and you know what that means!
This…is…Rampage!
Grudge Match!
“The Natural” Dustin Rhodes vs. The Butcher!
Butcher escaped a back slide from Dustin. Butcher charged at Dustin, but Dustin used a low bridge to send Butcher out of the ring. Dustin followed up with a running lariat on the arena floor. Dustin wiped out Butcher with a dragon screw leg whip.
Butcher lured in Dustin and yanked Dustin’s arm over the top rope. Butcher kicked Dustin in the midsection. Butcher rammed Dustin shoulder-first into the turnbuckles. Butcher blasted Dustin with a shoulder tackle. Butcher smashed Dustin’s hand on the steel ring steps. Butcher whipped Dustin into the steel ring post.
Butcher planted Dustin with a back breaker. Dustin rallied back with a Code Red for a near fall! Butcher rammed Dustin with headbutts to the shoulder. Dustin retaliated with a running lariat. Dustin dropped to his knees and connected with an uppercut.
Dustin stunned Butcher with a powerslam! Butcher came back with a cross face submission, but Dustin used his long legs to get his foot on the bottom rope to force the break. Butcher booted Dustin in the left shoulder. Dustin drilled Butcher with the Cross Rhodes! Dustin smashed Butcher with the Final Reckoning and scored the pin!
“The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo vs. Rose!
Deonna backed Rose into the corner. Deonna took Rose to the mat with a side headlock takeover. Deonna wrenched on Rose’s leg and faceplanted Rose into the mat. Deonna picked apart Rose, working on Rose’s arm.
Rose had Deonna reeling with some strikes, but Deonna rallied back with a Russian leg sweep. Deonna punished Rose with chops. Rose tried for a roundhouse kick, but Deonna ducked it and clobbered Rose with a pump kick! Deonna wrenched back on Rose’s arm and forced Rose to tap out!
“Deonna did not even have to grab the other arm,” said Tony Schiavone.
“Rose had no choice but to tap out,” replied Excalibur.
Mariah May vs. Nikita!
AEW Women’s World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm walked out with Mariah, along with Luther.
Toni Storm: “Good evening. My name is ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm and I am your AEW Women’s World Champion. But unfortunately, I have some devastating news. I am not able to compete tonight. I have injured my hamstring, and I won’t dare tell you how. Nevertheless, my place is my protégé, Mariah May. On with the show!”
Mariah May hit a shoulder tackle on Nikita. Mariah yanked Nikita to the mat with a handful of hair. Mariah blasted Nikita with a shotgun dropkick.
Mariah May punished Nikita with another dropkick to the back. Nikita swung at Mariah with elbow strikes. Nikita chopped Mariah in the corner and followed up with a running bulldog. Mariah May headbutted Nikita for a near fall.
Mariah May squashed Nikita with a running hip attack in the corner! Mariah planted Nikita with May Day and pinned Nikita!
“Toni Storm is very appreciative of the efforts of her understudy Mariah May,” said Excalibur.
“She should be because at 6-0 Mariah May is a juggernaut in the women’s division,” replied Tony Schiavone.
Main Event Time!
AEW International Championship Eliminator Match!
The Undisputed Kingdom’s Roderick Strong (c.) (with ROH World Tag Team Champions Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
vs.
“Daddy Magic” Matt Menard!
Strong took down Menard with an arm drag. Menard shoved Roddy and then rocked Roddy with an elbow strike. Menard followed Roderick outside the ring and swarmed Roderick with strikes. Taven and Bennett tried to distract Menard and as he was fending them off, Roderick snuck in a cheap shot.
Roderick smashed Menard with a back breaker right on the edge of the ring! Roddy whipped Menard into the barricade. Back in the ring, Roddy stomped on Menard. Roderick continued to target the taped ribs of Matt Menard.
Daddy Magic rallied back with multiple lariats to Strong, bouncing the champ around the ring! Roddy countered a piledriver with a back drop. Menard slipped behind Strong and cradled him for a near fall. Roderick Strong fired back with a rib breaker on Menard, but Menard kicked out at the two-count!
Menard put Strong in a Boston Crab, taking a page out of Rick Martel’s playbook! Taven jumped on the ring apron to try to distract Menard. Roderick charged at Menard, Menard moved, and Roddy stopped just in time, narrowly avoiding Taven. Menard rocked Roddy with a cutter and covered him, but Roddy got his boot on the bottom rope!
Taven and Bennett jumped on the apron again, and Menard wiped them out! When Menard turned around, Strong was there to take advantage of the distraction and caught Menard on the chin with a jumping knee strike! Roddy covered Menard and pinned him!
“The numbers were too great for Menard,” said Excalibur.
Taven and Bennett continued to assault Menard after the bell! Roderick brought in a steel chair. The Undisputed Kingdom were about to use the chair on Menard when Orange Cassidy and Trent ran down to even up the odds! Trent speared Bennett! Cassidy nailed Taven with the Orange Punch!
Trent and Orange hugged, giving the people what they wanted! And then EVPs Nicholas and Matthew Jackson—the Young Bucks, ambushed Trent and Orange with low blows! The Bucks bashed Trent and Orange with a double EVP Trigger, sandwiching the Best Friends with brutality!
“Matthew and Nicholas Jackson have gone absolutely made with power,” said Excalibur.
Don’t miss AEW Collision live on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c from the Budweiser Gardens in London, ON featuring:
–AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Big Bill & “Absolute” Ricky Starks vs. Top Flight!
-Kyle O’Reilly in action!
-AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: FTR vs. The Infantry!
-Trios Match: The Righteous & Lance Archer vs. Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, & Katsuyori Shibata!
-The return of the “Cope Open!” TNT Champion “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland will put his championship on the line!
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from DCU Center in Worcester, MA!
This past Wednesday night AEW came to Quebec City for the first time, and what a tremendous night of action came with that debut! Katsuyori Shibata and Will Ospreay kicked off the night with a tremendous fight that truly tested the mettle of “The Aerial Assassin” en route to his victory, and the evening closed with another top shelf contest between Konosuke Takeshita and Swerve Strickland that earned Swerve the #1 Contender position to Samoa Joe’s AEW World Championship!
In addition, fans watched both The Young Bucks and the Orange Cassidy/Trent Beretta tandem advance in the West Bracket of the AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament, and Willow Nightingale earn a TBS Championship fight at DYNASTY 2024 on April 21st!
Back on TNT at 10pm ET/9pm CT, RAMPAGE goes down this Friday night in Quebec City, and features the Undisputed Kingdom in action as AEW International Champion Roderick Strong takes on Quebec’s own “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard in an Eliminator bout, and Dustin Rhodes battles The Butcher, while both Mariah May and “The Virtuosa” will be in singles action! Before the fights begin, be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s various social media sites, to catch highlights from Wednesday night’s DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and the latest CONTROL CENTER! Then be sure to join AEW this Saturday night in London, ON for COLLISION’s return featuring the The BCC & Shibata versus Lance Archer & The Righteous!
ELIMINATOR MATCH…
AEW International Champion Roderick Strong vs. “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard
At REVOLUTION 2024 Roderick Strong ended the second AEW International Championship reign of Orange Cassidy, but in the weeks since has not been in a championship situation. He, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett took down Action Andretti and Top Flight a few weeks ago, but Roddy has not been a situation where his title has been in the balance. That changes this Friday night on RAMPAGE when, in an Eliminator bout, Roderick Strong takes on Quebec’s own “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard!
An Eliminator bout means that if Menard can defeat Strong he will earn a future International Championship match, a first for his AEW career as Menard has never challenged for an AEW singles championship. That’s not to say he hasn’t been in this position before, he last fought in an Eliminator Match against Jon Moxley on the 10/28/22 edition of RAMPAGE, but he’s never managed to secure a title match in the singles field.
But with a strong home field advantage over Roderick, with Quebec City rallying behind him, this Friday night could be the night that “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard gets closer to achieving his own championship dreams!
ONE-ON-ONE…
“The Natural” Dustin Rhodes vs. The Butcher
Dating back to the earliest days of All Elite Wrestling, there have been issues aplenty between The Butcher and “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes. They first stepped into the ring opposite one another 1/15/20 edition of DYNAMITE, a Trios match uniting Butcher and Blade with MJF as they defeated Dustin, QT Marshal, and Diamond Dallas Page, but that wasn’t their last encounter. Butcher and Blade would fall to The Natural Nightmares in a Bunkhouse Match on the 11/11/20 DYNAMITE, and they would cross paths many times over the next three-plus years in Battle Royals, and even a wild eight-man tag from the 12/16/22 edition of RAMPAGE.
Yet in all that the two men never met in singles competition, but that changes this Friday night on RAMPAGE when the challenge made on DYNAMITE culminates in a head-to-head clash between “The Natural” and Butch! Rhodes, in many ways, is as good as he’s ever been, the vast experience and knowledge he’s gained over thirty-five years balancing out the things that age inevitably takes away, making Dustin just as dangerous a foe as he was twenty-five years ago!
As for Butcher, his experience level pales in comparison to “The Natural”, but he’s spent his entire tenure in AEW learning, growing, and honing his body into a crumb-crippling machine. Whether it’s in tag team competition with The Blade, or in his occasional singles bouts, The Butcher continues to grow by leaps-and-bounds with every fight, and his power may just be the key ingredient to pulling out a victory over “The Natural” in RAMPAGE’s opening contest!
ALSO FEATURING:
MARIAH MAY (W/ TONI STORM & LUTHER) IN ACTION!
“THE VIRTUOSA” DEONNA PURRAZZO IN SINGLES COMPETITION!!
AND MORE!!!
This Friday night RAMPAGE is back at its regularly scheduled time and network, 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, and what an hour of action AEW has in store for its faithful fans. AEW International Champion Roderick Strong steps into the ring to face “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard in an Eliminator Match, meaning if Menard wins than he will get a future title match with Roddy! Plus, as we saw in their confrontation on Wednesday night, Dustin Rhodes and The Butcher renew their old rivalry in a one-on-one fight, and both Mariah May and Deonna Purrazzo will be in singles competition!
Before the bell rings, drop on by the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s assorted social media platforms, to catch highlights from DYNAMITE, plus previous episodes of RAMPAGE and COLLISION, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER! Then join All Elite Wrestling this Saturday night in London, ON for an all-new COLLISION featuring the East Bracket Quarter-Finals in the AEW World Tag Title Tournament!
Steph De Lander Returns, Will Challenge Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace at Rebellion News / March 28, 2024 / by TNA Wrestling Staff Order Rebellion on TNA+ Get tickets After Ash By Elegance was unable…
Tonight’s episode of AEW DYNAMITE was broadcast live from the Centre Videotron in Quebec City, QC!
Excalibur, Tony Schiavone and “The Human Suplex Machine” Taz were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
It’s Wednesday night and you know what that means!
“The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay vs. Katsuyori Shibata!
Will shot in for a single leg but Shibata defended and mounted Will. Shibata grounded Will on the mat and went for a cross arm breaker, but Will got to the ropes, forcing the ref to break the hold. Ospreay and Shibata chain wrestled, British style. Shibata went for the PK, but Will dodged it!
Shibata cracked Will with forearms, but Will charged at Shibata with a dropkick, taking Shibata off his feet. Will battered Shibata with forearms and then dropkicked Shibata in the corner, taking pages out of Shibata’s playbook. Ospreay jumped over the top rope and connected with a crossbody press to Shibata on the floor.
As Ospreay was getting back into the ring, Shibata caught Ospreay flush in the face with a running front kick! Shibata suplexed Will on the arena floor and then blasted Will with a brutal round kick to Will’s back!
Shibata applied a figure four leg lock on Ospreay, but Ospreay was able to counter it and escaped. They got to their feet and Will chopped Shibata. Shibata answered with a suplex.
“This is a rematch seven years in the making,” said Excalibur.
Shibata whipped Will into the barricade. Will springboarded off the barricade and connected with a forearm shot to Shibata. Will followed up with another springboard forearm into the ring. Shibata nailed Will with a forearm and Will crumbled into a heap on the mat. Shibata jabbed and chopped Will, breaking him down in the corner. Shibata rocked Will with his trademark running dropkick in the corner.
Ospreay connected with a thrust kick. Shibata anticipated Will’s next move and countered with an STF. Will reached to the ropes, forcing the ref to break the submission. Ospreay intercepted Shibata’s PK. They traded forearm strikes in the center of the ring. Ospreay had a surge of adrenaline and smashed Shibata in the back of the head with a jumping high round kick!
Shibata locked Will in a sleeper and then suplexed Will. Shibata put the sleeper back on, but Ospreay fought out of it and stomped Shibata on the back of the head! Will smashed Shibata with the Os-Cutter but Shibata kicked out at the one-count!
Will hit a back drop suplex and then wiped out Shibata with a back elbow uppercut. Will walloped Shibata with a Tiger Driver and then finished Shibata off with the Hidden Blade, pinning Shibata!
“What a war we witnessed here tonight,” said Excalibur.
Renee Paquette was backstage with The Young Bucks—Matthew and Nicholas Jackson!
Matthew said they had some goals when they returned to AEW. The first was to retire Sting, and the second was to restructure the Elite, and they did that by bringing in Okada. Matthew said his biggest goal is to get their AEW World Tag Team Championships back. And they’re going to beat Private Party tonight to get one step closer to getting their titles back.
The Continental Champion “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada pulled up in an exotic sports car for the next match!
AEW World Tag Title Tournament Quarter-Final Match!
The Young Bucks—Matthew & Nicholas Jackson
vs.
Private Party—Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen!
Private Party wiped out the Bucks with stereo tope suicidas. Matthew whipped Zay over the barricade. Private Party fired back with the Silly String off the barricade onto Matthew. Nicholas planted Quen with a Falcon Arrow off the barricade! The Bucks were trying to win by count out.
Zay helped Mark Quen back into the ring, breaking the ref’s count. Nicholas suplexed Quen onto Matthew’s knees. Brother Zay got the hot tag, scored with a thrust kick to Matthew and then did a moonsault onto Nicholas who was on the arena floor!
Nicholas nailed Quen with a German Suplex. Nicholas planted Quen with a suplex on the edge of the ring. Private Party rallied back with the Gin & Juice on Nicholas!
“Perfection by Private Party,” said Taz.
Private Party hit the More Bang for Your Buck on Matthew, but Nicholas jumped in to break up the pin attempt! Nicholas grabbed the ring bell and brought it into the ring, but the ref pulled it out of Nicholas’ hands. As the ref was distracted, Nicholas kicked Zay with a low blow! Quen took one of the title belts off the podium and cracked Matthew in the head with it. Zay went to pin Matthew, but Nicholas grabbed Matthew’s leg and put Matthew’s foot on the rope to break the pin.
Quen attempted a 630 splash on Matthew, but Matthew dodged it. Nicholas tagged in and they blasted Quen with the EVP Trigger and pinned him!
“The Bucks move on, boys,” said Taz.
A video aired of Darby Allin with Tony Hawk, talking about how much skateboarding meant to them growing up, and the impact it had on their lives. Visit skatepark.org for more information on how you can help out.
Renee Paquette was backstage with FTW Champion HOOK and Chris Jericho!
Jericho said he’s never been in the ring with anyone quite like Hook. Jericho, with 33 years of experience in the ring, said he’d be happy to help Hook sharpen his skills and become the World Champion that he knows Hook can be.
“If you want my advice, I’m here for you,” said Jericho.
Hook: “I appreciate your praise, Chris. And of course I’ll take advice from you, you’re Chris Jericho. But you are Chris Jericho. I know who you are.”
Jericho: “Okay, and I know who you are. But more importantly, I know who you can be.”
Hook: “Let’s get it.”
Jericho: “Let’s get it.”
TBS Championship #1 Contender Match!
Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale vs. Skye Blue vs. Anna Jay
“The CEO” Mercedes Moné was on commentary for this match.
Skye Blue caught Kris out of the gate with a thrust kick. Anna caught Willow with a kick to the chin. Willow splashed Anna in the corner and followed up with a lariat. Skye Blue planted Willow with a DDT.
Statlander body slammed Blue and rocked her with a sliding lariat. Statlander went for a body slam on Anna, but Anna escaped. Statlander knocked Anna down with a shoulder tackle. Skye Blue tripped up Kris from outside the ring, but Willow was there to pounce Skye!
“A blindside pounce!” said Excalibur.
Willow was right in front of Mercedes when she pounced Skye. Mercedes and Willow locked eyes. Mercedes smirked at Willow, neither backing down.
Back in the ring, Kris fought off Skye Blue and Anna Jay. Anna Jay superplexed Kris and covered her but Willow hit Anna with a senton to break up the pin. Skye blasted Willow with the Code Blue, but Statlander broke it up. Kris cracked Blue with a back breaker. Willow walloped Anna Jay with a shotgun dropkick.
Skye shoved Kris into Willow. Willow countered a dragon suplex attempt by Skye on the apron by drilling Skye with a Death Valley Driver on the apron! Willow power bombed Anna Jay and pinned Anna Jay!
TBS Champion Julia Hart jumped into the ring, blindsiding Willow by smacking Willow with Julia’s championship belt! Julia held her belt high, and she and Mercedes had a stare down!
Renee Paquette was backstage to interview the legendary Dustin Rhodes!
Dustin said he’s started 2024 off with a bang. Dustin said at 55 years old, he’s just as passionate about wrestling as he’s ever been.
The Butcher interrupted Dustin! Butcher challenged Dustin to a match for Friday’s Rampage! Dustin accepted, saying Butcher will find out why Dustin is a “Natural born legend!”
AEW Women’s World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm paid a visit to the studios of Turner Classic Movies and Ben Mankiewicz, the host of Turner Classic Movies!
Toni told Mankiewicz to watch out for the shoe and then tossed it over her head as she walked off the set.
AEW World Tag Title Tournament Quarter-Final Match!
The Undisputed Kingdom—ROH World Tag Team Champs Matt Taven & Mike Bennett (with International Champion Roderick Strong)
Orange decked Taven! Bennett took Trent off his feet with a lariat. Trent flew out of the ring with a tope and took out Taven. Bennet jumped out of the ring and wiped out Trent. Orange took to the skies and jumped off the top turnbuckle, his hands in his pockets, and crashed onto Taven and Bennett!
Trent drove Bennett down with a double knee strike. Taven rocked Trent with a thrust kick. Bennett spiked Trent with a piledriver on the apron!
Orange Cassidy grabbed a tag and hit Bennett with a cross body press. Orange served one up for Taven! Orange blasted Bennett with the Stun Dog Millionaire! Taven came in and pulped Orange with a running knee strike! Taven and Bennett hit the Proton Pack, with Bennett covering Orange for a near fall!
Trent spiked Taven with a DDT! And Orange followed up with a DDT on Taven! Trent nailed Taven with a running knee strike! Strong jumped on the ring apron but Chuck Taylor pulled him back down! Roddy wiped out Taylor with his right hand! Roddy jumped into the ring to get away from Orange, dropped his title in the process, and jumped out. Orange chased after Roddy and connected with an elbow suicida!
The ref was removing the International Title from the ring when Taven and Bennett had Trent set up for their finisher. As the ref was distracted, Chuck knocked Taven off the turnbuckles. Trent rolled up Bennett with a jackknife pin and scored the victory!
“What a win!” said Schiavone.
“Interesting turn of events but congrats to Cassidy and Trent,” said Taz.
Orange, Trent, and Chuck were about to give the people what they want—the big hug, when The Bucks’ music hit! Nicholas and Matthew Jackson walked onto the ramp and stared at Orange and Trent!
Next week on Dynamite it’ll be the Young Bucks against the Best Friends in the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Semifinals!
Renee Paquette was backstage with Kyle O’Reilly!
Kyle said it felt good to rip the band-aid off with his return match and victory against “Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith. Kyle said AEW has a deep roster and there’s no such thing as an easy match. He said he loves the Undisputed Kingdom but he’s going to prove he can do it without them again this week on Collision.
Main Event Time!
“The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita (with Don Callis) vs. Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana)!
Swerve rolled up Takeshita for a near fall. Swerve was looking for the short arm scissors, but Takeshita got to the ropes. Takeshita connected with the Takeshita-line!
AEW World Champion Samoa Joe was watching the match on a monitor backstage, obviously having a keen interesting in this number one contender’s match.
Swerve blasted Takeshita with a diving European uppercut to the back of Takeshita’s neck. Swerve rocked Takeshita with a neck breaker over the middle rope. Swerve followed up with a backbreaker, but Takeshita fired back with a brain buster on Swerve!
Swerve nailed Takeshita with a German Suplex, but Takeshita got right to his feet and knocked Swerve’s block off with a devastating forearm! Swerve launched into a hurracanrana over the top rope and onto Takeshita on the floor!
Swerve followed up with a big diving cross body, but Takeshita kicked out at the one-count. Takeshita smoked Swerve with a knockout shot! Takeshita nailed Swerve with a running knee strike. Takeshita flipped over the top rope and landed hard on Swerve!
Takeshita hoisted up Swerve for a brain buster on the top turnbuckle, but Swerve fought out of it. Takeshita headbutted Swerve in the ribs. Swerve chopped out the legs out Takeshita with swift kicks. Swerve drilled Takeshita with a DDT off the turnbuckles! Swerve splashed Takeshita with a sky twister for a near fall!
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Takeshita fired back with a reverse hurracanrana and followed up with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall on Swerve!
“Takeshita can’t believe Swerve kicked out of that,” said Taz.
Swerve clobbered Takeshita with a straight right hand! Takeshita stunned Swerve with a jumping knee strike! Swerve planted Takeshita on the crown of his head! Swerve squashed Takeshita with the Swerve Stomp on the apron! Swerve returned to the top, jumped at Takeshita, but Takeshita countered with a powerbomb! Swerve escaped a brain buster attempt, but Takeshita was prepared with a wheelbarrow suplex to Swerve. Takeshita flattened Swerve with a Power Drive Knee, but Swerve kicked out at the two-count!
Takeshita was looking for an avalanche blue thunder, but Swerve knocked Takeshita down to the mat. Takeshita avoided the Swerve Stomp. Swerve countered a blue thunder bomb attempt, sending Takeshita into the corner turnbuckles. Swerve rocked Takeshita with the House Call kick! Swerve hit the Swerve Stomp, but Takeshita kicked out! Takeshita blasted Swerve with a jumping knee strike. Swerve countered a pop-up power bomb attempt with the Swerve Stomp! Swerve planted Takeshita with the Big Pressure and pinned Takeshita!
“Well, if that isn’t a 5-star match, I don’t know what is,” said Tony Schiavone.
Renee Paquette interviewed AEW World Champion Samoa Joe after the match, asking for his thoughts about facing Swerve Strickland.
Samoa Joe: “You should ask him how he’s feeling right now. Next week, Swerve, when you walk down to that ring and sign onto that dotted line, I am going to make sure that you understand what you are asking for. You think you’re ready. No, no, you’re not that man.”
“Swerve Strickland will face Samoa Joe at Dynasty for the AEW World Championship on Sunday, April 21st, live on pay-per-view!” said Excalibur.
This Friday tune in to AEW RAMPAGE at 10pm ET!
Don’t miss AEW Collision live on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c from the Budweiser Gardens in London, ON featuring:
–AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Big Bill & “Absolute” Ricky Starks vs. Top Flight!
-Kyle O’Reilly in action!
-AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: FTR vs. The Infantry!
-Trios Match: The Righteous & Lance Archer vs. Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, & Katsuyori Shibata!
-The return of the “Cope Open!” TNT Champion “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland will put his championship on the line!
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from DCU Center in Worcester, MA!
Last Wednesday night was jam-packed with three hours of AEW programming, starting with our traditional two hours of DYNAMITE, then immediately followed by RAMPAGE as it aired on a special night! During those three hours, the AEW faithful witnessed Adam Copeland earn back the TNT Championship by going through a hellacious “I Quit” match with Christian Cage, and saw Kazuchika Okada defeat Eddie Kingston to claim the AEW Continental Championship! In addition, Skye Blue and TBS Champion Julia Hart beat Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale in a Street Fight, Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta won their Wild Card bout in the Tag Title Tournament, and FTW Champion HOOK defeated Chris Jericho!
This Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, live from Quebec City, QC and the Centre Videotron, we will witness a rematch seven years in the making, one that many thought would never come to pass, when Katsuyori Shibata takes on Will Ospreay! Plus, Konosuke Takeshita will go head-to-head with Swerve Strickland, and the Quarter-Finals of the AEW World Tag Title Tournament begin when The Young Bucks meet Private Party!
Then join All Elite Wrestling in London, ON for Saturday’s COLLISION, live from the Budweiser Gardens, for The Infantry versus FTR in the Quarter-Finals of the AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament, and so much more!
SEVEN YEARS IN THE WAITING…
“The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Eleven matches; that is how many times Katsuyori Shibata and Will Ospreay stepped into the ring between January 5th and February 11th of 2017. Seven of those times it was Shibata who came out on top, but only one of those victories came in the form of a singles match, the very last one at NJPW’s THE NEW BEGINNING IN OSAKA 2017 event. The other ten matches were all fought in trios and multi-man bouts, all save that RevPro British Heavyweight Championship fight on February 11th won by Shibata, but unfortunately a rematch never came to pass as Shibata’s career came to an end just two months later after an IWGP Heavyweight Title fight with Kazuchika Okada at SAKURA GENESIS 2017.
Then the unimaginable happened; four years and six months later, during the G1 CLIMAX 2021 tour, Shibata shocked the world when he stepped into the ring with Zack Sabre Jr. for a five minute Grappling Rules contest! Two and a half months later, at WRESTLE KINGDOM 16, Shibata would get back into the ring with Ren Narita for a full-blow professional wrestling match, then ten months later, on the 11/4/22 edition of RAMPAGE, Shibata would make his in-ring debut for AEW in an International Championship loss to Orange Cassidy. Given the time between those two matches, it was reasonable to question whether or not Shibata was returning to full-time competition or if those were just a couple matches to test his own limits. The answer came on March 31, 2023 when, at ROH’s SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 event, Shibata won the ROH Pure Championship from Wheeler Yuta, and spent the next eight months tearing it up on both AEW and ROH events, as well as traveling to RevPro for their 11TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW.
After losing the Pure Championship back to Yuta last November, Shibata returned to Japan, but made a monumental return to AEW action on the March 16th COLLISION when he battled Bryan Danielson in a certified Dream Match. Here were two men that both thought their in-ring careers finished at some point in the years prior, two men who defied the odds and the expectations of medical professionals, two men who were now fighting better than they had at any previous point in their careers, and they were going to war for the AEW faithful. Danielson ultimately won the fight, and there was another man watching on who took what happened as a test he needed to take upon himself.
That man was Will Ospreay, and with his own bout against Bryan Danielson set for AEW DYNASTY on April 21st, he felt the need to test himself against Katsuyori Shibata, to see if he could succeed in 2024 where he did not in 2017, and thus made a challenge to “The Wrestler” for the fight going down this Wednesday night! Can Ospreay follow in Danielson’s footsteps and score a victory over Katsuyori Shibata in Quebec City? Or will Shibata repeat history in this monumental rematch seven years in the making?
ONE-ON-ONE…
“The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita vs. Swerve Strickland
Thus far in 2024, Konosuke Takeshita holds a record of 5-1 in singles matches, and 10-2 over the last twelve months in that field. That’s a run that includes victories over Chris Jericho, Darby Allin, Kenny Omega, Kyle Fletcher, as well as Rocky Romero this past Wednesday night, and has shown the world that “The Alpha” is one of the most fearsome competitors in All Elite Wrestling today.
Over the course of his last eleven one-on-one match-ups Swerve Strickland lost exactly one time, his Continental Classic Gold League fight with Jon Moxley on 12/13/23, and was taken to a 30-Minute time limit draw by Hangman Page on 2/7/24. It’s been an incredible run for Strickland as well, and even if you factor in his two Three Way losses in the Gold League Finals and at REVOLUTION 2024, it doesn’t change that run because wasn’t the man who took the fall in either of those matches. There are few men who’ve been on a hotter streak that Swerve Strickland, and that run has put Samoa Joe’s AEW World Championship in Swerve’s crosshairs.
For the very first time these two men, each at the top of their game, will lock horns this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, and there is certainly the possibility that the future of the AEW World Championship hinges on the result of this match! Both Takeshita and Swerve have reasonable claims to being the next challenger for Samoa Joe, based on their respective records and, in the case of Swerve, the fact he wasn’t defeated in the Three Way at REVOLUTION ’24.
As announced Tuesday night by AEW GM Tony Khan, this match will determine the next challenger for Samoa Joe’s AEW World Championship! With that added factor, there is no doubt Samoa Joe will have his eyes on this contest as his next contender is determined!
AEW WORLD TAG TITLE TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL MATCH…
The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen
On October 9, 2019, in the very first match of the original AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament, Private Party shocked the world when they defeated The Young Bucks to advance out of the Quarter-Finals. Though Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen would fall to The Lucha Brothers in the Semi-Finals, the impact was made, and the world had been forced to stand up and recognize Private Party.
A year later The Young Bucks would even up the score, pinning Isiah Kassidy to win a Four Way #1 Contenders match on 10/21/20, and would follow that up with a traditional tag team victory over Private Party on November 4th a few weeks later. Since that bout over three years ago, the two teams only met in one Trios match, though Isiah has a little more experience fighting the brothers Jackson with other partners during Marq Quen’s injury recovery, but not one other tag team match between Private Party and The Young Bucks since 2020.
That all changes this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE when, in the Quarter-Finals of the AEW World Tag Title Tournament, The Young Bucks and Private Party meet again! Since Marq Quen’s return to action in 2024, Private Party is 2-2 in tag team action, though one of those losses came in a Three Way tag with Top Flight and Bryan Keith/Komander where neither Quen nor Kassidy were the ones pinned to lose the match. As for The EVPs, in 2024 they are 3-1 in tag team action, but to be honest about their record, two of those victories came over local competitors who frankly had no chance at actually beating the former 2-Time AEW World Tag Champions.
The Young Bucks have a mission of becoming the first 3-Time AEW Tag Champions while Private Party have one to capture those belts for the very first time, and only one team can get closer to their objective. Will it be The Young Bucks or Private Party who advances to the Semi-Finals? And will it be The Undisputed Kingdom or the Orange Cassidy/Trent Beretta tandem who meets them there?
AEW WORLD TAG TITLE TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL MATCH…
The Undisputed Kingdom (ROH World Tag Team Champions Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs.
The AEW World Tag Title Tournament kicks off in full-force this Wednesday night with the aforementioned Young Bucks/Private Party match, and this Quarter-Final match pitting ROH World Tag Team Champions Matt Taven and Mike Bennett against Orange Cassidy and Trent Beretta!
Though OC and Trent have never faced this Undisputed Kingdom tandem in a tag match, Cassidy’s fight with Roderick Strong have made them all quite familiar with one another, in fact the former 2-Time International Champion beat both Taven and Bennett in singles matches on the road to REVOLUTION 2024. But on that same road, as part of their mission to remove Cassidy’s support system, The Undisputed Kingdom put a hurting on Trent Beretta, so that makes this tag team encounter as much a method of revenge as it is an opportunity to move forward in the tournament to face the winner of the Private Party/Young Bucks bout!
TBS CHAMPIONSHIP #1 CONTENDER MATCH…
Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale vs. Skye Blue vs. Anna Jay
The TBS Championship is a prize greatly coveted by the women of All Elite Wrestling, and this Wednesday night four competitors will clash to see who moves on to DYNASTY 2024 to face Julia Hart! All four of these women have plenty of story with Julia Hart, especially Statlander, Nightingale, and Skye Blue given their months of battle since FULL GEAR 2023, but Anna Jay has her own reasons for wanting another fight with Julia Hart.
Hart has been the bane of Anna Jay’s AEW existence, in three bouts it has been Julia who’s won each one, including a TBS Championship fight at BATTLE OF THE BELTS IX back in January. Statlander is the woman that Julia Hart took the TBS Championship from, though technically she did not defeat Kris to win in, but Statlander has yet to be granted a rematch. Coincidentally, Julia earned that title fight at FULL GEAR 2023 by defeating Willow Nightingale in an Eliminator Bout, and of course there’s the relationship between Hart and Skye Blue that’s blossomed since Hart misted Skye many months ago. At first they were at odds, but over time the two women became thick as thieves, and have come to operate as quite the fearsome tag team, actually beating Stat and Willow in a Street Fight last Wednesday night on RAMPAGE!
This is quite the intriguing Four Way, and it will be interesting to see how TBS Champion Julia Hart responds to the outcome of the fight, especially if it is Skye Blue who earns herself the DYNASTY 2024 title match!
Join us Wednesday night for DYNAMITE, hailing from the Centre Videotron in Quebec City, QC, and featuring the first Quarter-Final match in the AEW World Tag Title Tournament between The Young Bucks and Private Party, Takeshita versus Swerve, and a rematch years in the making between Katsuyori Shibata and Will Ospreay!!!
The meets us this Saturday in London, ON at the Budweiser Gardens for the return of COLLISION featuring former 2-Time AEW World Tag Champions FTR taking on The Infantry in a Quarter-Final match-up of the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament!
BMF (Black Mafia Family) | Season 3 Episode 4 Recap & Review | “The Return of the Prodigal Son”-Episode Synopsis:EPISODE 304 – “The Return of the Prodigal Son”Meech returns to Detroit upon Columbian connect Loco’s request…
We are on the road to DYNASTY live on PPV April 21st, hailing from the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, MO, and we already know Bryan Danielson will go to battle with Will Ospreay in a dream match for the ages! We also know that the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament will culminate that night, and on COLLISION fans witnessed The Infantry score a huge upset over House of Black to move past the Wild Card round. This Wednesday night in Toronto, All Elite Wrestling returns to the Coca-Cola Coliseum and with that comes another red-hot edition of DYNAMITE! We’ve got Adam Copeland and Christian Cage in an “I Quit” match for the TNT Champion, the Continental Championship on the line with Kazuchika Okada challenging Eddie Kingston, HOOK and Chris Jericho going one-on-one, and AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm teaming with Mariah May to battle Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo!
But wait, there’s more! Not only will the AEW faithful in Toronto get to experience AEW’s flagship, the whole world will also get to see RAMPAGE live, as it happens, immediately following DYNAMITE on TBS! That’s right, AEW is bringing three huge hours of action to TBS this Wednesday, and RAMPAGE will feature another Wild Card match in the Tag Title Tournament, as well as a Street Fight pitting Statlander and Willow against the TBS Champion and Skye Blue!
The show starts at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so drop in on 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, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER! Then join us next Wednesday night for DYNAMITE’s debut in Quebec, City and the Centre Videotron!
Three minutes and thirty-two seconds; that is how long Adam Copeland could claim to be TNT Champion after beating Christian Cage at WORLDS END. Then Killswitch, having earned a guaranteed TNT Championship during the ZERO HOUR, struck down the new champion to try and capitalize on the situation. Sadly it was Christian who got to take advantage of it all, convincing Killswitch to bequeath his title shot to “The Patriarch”, and ending Copeland’s TNT Title reign just 212 seconds after it began.
Copeland had every reason to demand a rematch, despite Cage’s insistence that he go to the back of the line, but instead Adam began his “Cope Open” to earn another shot, and took on every person who stepped up to the plate. Griff Garrison, Lee Moriarty, Dante Martin, and the legendary Minoru Suzuki all put Copeland to the test in their own fashion, but Adam beat each one, leading to a confrontation with another man in pursuit of Cage’s title, Daniel Garcia. Like true sportsmen, Copeland and Garcia agree to meet in singles combat with the next TNT Championship match going to the winner, but like a true scumbag, Christian Cage and his Patriachy stuck their nose into the fight, causing a No Contest result, and allowing Cage to put Copeland on the shelf with a Con-chair-to.
But they left Garcia intact, and though he didn’t claim the TNT Championship at REVOLUTION 2024, it’s really only because Nick Wayne and the Patriarchy were there to make sure Christian Cage survived Greensboro as champion. Take them out of the equation, and the AEW faithful would’ve been calling Daniel Garcia the new TNT Champion. It would’ve been quite fascinating to see how Copeland would’ve responded to someone else being the one to knock Christian off the TNT mountaintop, but that’s not how the hand played out, instead Cage has to actually deal with the repercussions of his assault on Adam Copeland with the future of the TNT Championship hanging in the balance!
Furthermore, the future of the championship won’t be decided in a regular match, not after everything that’s taken place between these two men since Copeland first arrived in AEW, the TNT Championship will be contested in an “I Quit” match this Wednesday night in Toronto! This is just the second such bout in the history of All Elite Wrestling, the first taking place at FULL GEAR 2020 between Eddie Kingston and then-AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, and coincidentally that too was a fight between friends-turned-enemies. That is about where the similarities end, neither Moxley nor Kingston threatened violence with a nail-embedded 2×4 for one, and though their bond had history, it isn’t thirty-plus years deep.
That’s what makes this entire scenario so painful, yet so intriguing; the careers of Adam Copeland and Christian Cage have played out before the world for the last twenty-five years, their lives have unfolded before the eyes of wrestling fans, their triumphs and tragedies have been public consumption, and a vast majority of it took place with them supporting one another. Even at the times they were on opposing sides, it wasn’t as ugly as situations have gotten here in AEW, it never seemed past the point of no return as it does now.
With AEW’s return to Toronto, one of these two competitors will be forced to say “I Quit” in front of the entire world. One man will have to capitulate to the others onslaught and give up their TNT Championship dream, but more than that, give up on the hope of reconciling differences with one another. Either Christian Cage or Adam Copeland will leave the Coca-Cola Coliseum as TNT Champion, that is certain, but what is uncertain is what the future of the relationship between these two men could possibly look like after the hell that’s been traversed over the last several months.
Five months ago, at NJPW’s RUMBLE ON 44th STREET event, Eddie Kingston and Kazuchika Okada stood inside the ring as allies, a tag team facing down the BULLET CLUB GOLD tandem of Jay White and Juice Robinson, though their ending came with “Switchblade” pinning “The Mad King”. Skip ahead to March 6, 2024 and Kingston confronting The Young Bucks in the middle of the ring as the two found a way to gloat about their loss to Sting and Darby Allin at REVOLUTION 2024 a few days prior. The two EVPs made a choice to assault the Continental Crown Champion, teaming up on Kingston after a low blow neutralized him for a moment, but it seemed that the arrival of Kazuchika Okada would bring an end to the attack.
Turned out it was all a ruse at Eddie’s expense, and Okada chose that moment to show the world that not only was he officially All Elite, but he was also now one of The Elite alongside Matthew and Nicholas Jackson! To say that choice by Okada was disappointing would be a gross understatement, but it certainly proved a successful alliance as this new unit managed to defeat Kingston, PAC, and Penta El Zero Miedo in Trios competition, with Okada pinning Eddie to secure the victory. Sure it took another low blow from Matthew to allow Okada to hit The Rainmaker lariat, but with the win secured, it set Okada up for an immediate shot at the AEW Continental Championship.
That title fight goes down this Wednesday night in Toronto, and it actually marks the first defense of the Continental Championship separate from the rest of Continental Crown, meaning it will be fought under Continental Rules, meaning absolutely no interference will be tolerated. Coincidentally, Kingston is also set to defend the ROH World Championship at ROH’s SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2024 event on April 5th, a match separate from the rest of the Crown as well.
This bout is also Kazuchika Okada’s first singles match as an official member of the AEW roster, though not his first in All Elite Wrestling; in fact he’s 0-2 in one-on-one matches over his limited AEW experience, meaning he may see this as the match to make a statement to the rest of the AEW locker room, as well as an opportunity to claim his first AEW championship in rapid fashion. After overcoming Bryan Danielson at REVOLUTION 2024, after getting “The American Dragon” to actually shake his hand and acknowledge respect for “The Mad King”, it seemed Eddie had found a way to channel his inner fury into a positive, controlled fashion, but this situation with Okada and The Young Bucks seems to have shaken that resolve.
The Kingston who got in The EVPs faces was not restrained, the man who fought in that Trios match was not as focused as he was in Greensboro; could that be his undoing this Wednesday night when the Continental Championship is at stake? Will we see Okada add another championship to his resume? Will it be Kingston who adds another victory to this impressive run of nine consecutive singles matches, a run that includes Claudio Castagnoli, ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta, Bryan Keith, and two over Bryan Danielson?
Singles Match…
FTW Champion HOOK vs. Chris Jericho
FTW Champion HOOK and Chris Jericho recently found themselves with a common foe in The Mogul Embassy; in HOOK’s case it was Brian Cage in pursuit of the FTW Championship and for Jericho it was putting himself in the middle of that situation. When the original AEW World Champion elected to help HOOK when The Gates of Agony attacked him, Jericho became another target for Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona, and they didn’t wait long to let him know. It was only a few days between the attack on HOOK and the one on Jericho, and just as “Lionheart” helped “The Cold-Hearted, Handsome Devil”, so too did HOOK assist Chris.
That led the two men to actually team up against The Gates of Agony; not only did they team up, the unlikely pair actually won the bout over Kaun & Toa, but that was not to be the end of their association, in fact Jericho himself made the challenge for this bout taking place on Wednesday night! Now one need only look at Jericho’s history in AEW for enough reason to question the man’s motivations for wanting this bout, but his desire to test HOOK does seem legitimate, not like a cover for ulterior motives.
Interestingly it was just over 28 years ago that Jericho fought HOOK’s father Taz for the first time, actually scoring a DQ victory over “The Human Suplex Machine” that night in Philadelphia, so it is rather wild that Jericho is now fighting HOOK almost three decades later. It’s a testament not only to the longevity of Jericho’s career and how he’s operated at the highest levels, but also his willingness to mix it up with the younger generations when he could very well use his status to avoid ever having to lose face should he lose a bout like this.
It’s almost as if Jericho wants to make sure the landscape of wrestling is in good hands when the time comes for him to step away from in-ring competition, and perhaps that’s why the fights with Atlantis Jr, Titan, and now HOOK. It’s going to be interesting to see how this one plays out, will it be Jericho’s experience that lead to victory or will we see the youth of HOOK lead him to the biggest victory of his career? The FTW Champion tested Samoa Joe like few others in AEW have, can he do the same to Jericho?
Tag Team Grudge Match…
AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm & Mariah May vs. Deonna Purrazzo & Thunder Rosa
At one point during their REVOLUTION 2024 championship match, “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo had “Timeless” Toni Storm dead to rights, tapping out to her Venus de Milo submission hold, but the official was not in position to make the call thanks to Mariah May. Still, the world saw the AEW Women’s World Champ giving up even if the referee did not, and though it may not mean Purrazzo stands as the World Champion at this moment, it certainly gives her a viable claim to a rematch, and every justification to refer to herself as the “uncrowned champion” if she so chose. It’s quite clear Toni Storm wants to avoid a championship rematch with Deonna at this juncture, but unfortunately for Storm, she can’t dodge the tag team match scheduled for this Wednesday evening, a match she agreed to without even knowing who Deonna’s partner would be!
Turns out there’s another woman with some unfinished Toni Storm business, though it may be more accurate to say it’s unfinished World Title business, and that is “La Mera Mera” Thunder Rosa! Unfortunately for Rosa, due to injury she had to vacate the AEW Women’s World Championship in September 2022, a vacancy that was filled by Toni Storm at ALL OUT 2022 when she beat Dr. Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, and Hikaru Shida in a Four Way bout. It was the first of Storm’s three championship reigns, and though it lasted just 76 days before Hayter dethroned her, it fueled the fire (and possibly the personality break) that has led “Timeless” to where she is today. In the time Rosa missed, the landscape of the AEW Women’s Division shifted quite a bit and now she finds herself fighting for a shot at the title she never lost, and perhaps this tag team contest is a way to that end game. A victory over Storm could put Rosa into contention, after all she’s won six straight matches since her return to action, four of those in singles competition, and if she could pin Toni in this fight, well it would have to put her name into the running for the next title fight.
And that’s what makes this pairing of Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo quite interesting, they are two women with the goal of claiming the AEW Women’s World Championship from Toni Storm, but does that put them at cross-purposes as partners? Mariah May is obviously all in on supporting Toni and doing whatever she needs, can the same be said for “La Mera Mera” and “The Virtuosa”?
Last week on DYNAMITE: BIG BUSINESS, Mercedes Moné made a huge impact with her arrival in All Elite Wrestling! It wasn’t just the words she spoke at the top of the program, but also her actions at the end of the night when Moné lent a helping hand to Willow Nightingale as TBS Champion Julia Hart and Skye Blue assaulted her. She dropped Skye Blue, planted Julia Hart, and actually shared a moment of respect with Willow Nightingale despite the fact Willow beat her to become the first NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion last year.
Now we will hear from “The CEO of AEW” this Wednesday night live on DYNAMITE, and you know the ears and ears of Julia Hart and Skye Blue, as well as the rest of the AEW Women’s locker room, are going to be fixed on what Mercedes Moné has to say!
But that’s not all…
That’s right; immediately following the conclusion of DYNAMITE, we will roll right into RAMPAGE on TBS, for three straight hours of the greatest professional wrestling on the planet! The second Wild Card Match in the AEW World Tag Title Tournament is set to go down pitting The Don Callis Family against Orange Cassidy and Trent Beretta, and it’s Street Fight time when Willow and Kris Statlander meet the TBS Champion and Skye Blue! Those two tremendous bouts, and a whole lot more, are coming to the AEW faithful immediately after the conclusion of DYNAMITE, making for one huge night of professional wrestling in Toronto!
AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament Wild Card Match…
The Don Callis Family (ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher & Powerhouse Hobbs)
vs.
Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta
***WINNER FACES TAVEN/BENNETT IN QUARTER-FINALS***
Last Saturday night on COLLISION, fans witnessed a tremendous upset when The Infantry defeated House of Black in the first Wild Card match, albeit with a little help from a revenge-seeking Mark Briscoe, meaning Capt. Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo move on to face FTR in the Quarter-Finals.
This Wednesday night during RAMPAGE the second Wild Card contest will take place when The Don Callis Family, represented by Powerhouse Hobbs and ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher, take on former 2-Time AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy and Trent Beretta! As odd as it may be, especially with the OC/Trent pairing, neither of these teams are particularly experienced as a duo. The Callis crew have only teamed up once other time at RAMPAGE: WINTER IS COMING 2023, while the Cassidy/Beretta team only have 3 AEW matches and 1 ROH match under their belts this year, though to be fair OC and Trent have a wealth of experience working together in multi-man matches over the history of AEW.
The winner of this contest moves on to face ROH World Tag Team Champions Matt Taven and Mike Bennett in the Quarter-Final round, and it’s quite difficult to pick a winner in this tag team affair. The power and precision of The Don Callis Family team versus the top tier all-around game of the OC/Trent pair; it’s quite the pick’em for the Wild Card round!
Street Fight…
TBS Champion Julia Hart & Skye Blue vs. Kris Statlander & Willow Nightingale
As mentioned already, Willow Nightingale was the victim of an assault by TBS Champion Julia Hart and Skye Blue following her victory over Riho last Wednesday night. It was only the efforts of Mercedes Moné that saved the former NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion from serious injury, but it certainly left a question of where Kris Statlander was to help out her friend.
We would find out after the fact that the former TBS Champion was assaulted backstage, preventing her from assisting Nightingale, but on this Wednesday’s special edition of RAMPAGE it’s time for Julia Hart and Skye Blue to pay the piper in the form of a Street Fight! Willow and Statlander have already proven successful in that field, defeating Diamante and Mercedes Martinez last December under that stipulation, and now they’re prepared to bring the fight to the TBS Champion and her ally! This has been raging in one form or another since Julia Hart claimed the TBS Championship for herself at FULL GEAR 2023, will this be the night the scores are finally settled?
AEW’s three hour block of the best wrestling on the planet begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, in addition to AEWPlus.com for international fans, so visit the official AEW YouTube channel before showtime, as well as AEW’s various social media platforms, to catch highlights from previous editions of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, plus the latest CONTROL CENTER with Tony Schiavone! Then join AEW next Wednesday night for our debut in Quebec, City at the Centre Videotron for an all-new live DYNAMITE!
Tonight’s AEW COLLISION was broadcast live from the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON!
It’s Saturday night and you know what that means! Saturday night’s alright for fighting!
Nigel McGuinness and Tony Schiavone were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Katsuyori Shibata!
Danielson and Shibata chain wrestled at the start of the match. Danielson bridged his way out of wristlock. Shibata tried to keep his distance from Danielson’s kicks. They locked up and traded kicks. Danielson stomped on the back of Shibata’s knees, targeting the hamstrings. Danielson kicked Shibata in the spine.
Shibata rocked Danielson with forearms, but Danielson countered with a butterfly suplex. Danielson put Shibata in a surfboard submission, but Shibata escaped. Danielson and Shibata traded chops until Danielson went low and dropped Shibata with a single leg takedown.
Shibata suplexed Danielson out of the ring and followed up with a running PK from the apron. Danielson rallied back with a running dropkick, but Shibata chased after Danielson and clocked the American Dragon with a running boot in the corner.
Danielson tried for a discus elbow, but Shibata countered and planted Danielson hard with a trip. Shibata and Danielson clinched one another and exchanged knee strikes. Shibata drilled Danielson with a Death Valley Driver for a near fall.
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Danielson rocked Shibata with a running knee strike. Danielson applied the LeBell Lock. Shibata managed to reach the ropes with his boot, forcing the ref to break the hold. Shibata taunted Danielson, inviting Danielson to kick him. Danielson obliged, and then Shibata served up straight pump kicks to Danielson. Shibata blistered Bryan with kicks to the chest. Now Danielson taunted Shibata and invited Shibata to kick him.
They both sat down and slapped one another with open palm strikes! Danielson caught Shibata in the back of the head with a kick. Shibata dodged Danielson’s charging knee strike and put Danielson in the Iron Octopus. Danielson escaped after putting his boot on the ropes. They grappled until Danielson was able to cradle Shibata and score the pin!
“Take a look at the fans standing up, loving what they see from Danielson and Shibata,” said Schiavone.
“A hell of a match,” replied Nigel.
After the match, they hugged one another as a sign of mutual respect.
TBS Championship Match!
The House of Black’s Julia Hart (c.) vs. The Infantry’s Trish Adora!
This match took place under “House Rules.” The loser will be banned from ringside during their respective team’s match later tonight.
Trish knocked down Julia with a shoulder block. Julia escaped a body slam attempt and rammed Adora headfirst into the steel ring steps. Julia whipped Trish into the ringside barricade. Trish retaliated with a shoulder breaker back in the ring.
Julia dodged a pump kick and then blasted Trish with a running lariat. Trish rocked Julia with a German Suplex from her knees for a near fall on Julia. The champ fired back with a thrust kick. Julia nailed Trish with a moonsault and pinned Trish, racking up another win.
Lexy Nair was backstage to interview Harley Cameron and Zak Knight!
Zak: “Angelo Parker wants to fight me? I’ll give you a fight, but I’m not doing it here in Canada. You want to fight? I’ll fight but it’ll be on my terms!”
Daniel Garcia vs. Shane Taylor Promotion’s Lee Moriarty (with Shane Taylor)!
“Daddy Magic” Matt Menard joined the broadcast booth for this match.
Garcia blasted Moriarty with a shotgun dropkick. Shane Taylor distracted Garcia on the arena floor, long enough for Lee to rocket out of the ring with a tope suicida to Garcia.
Lee Moriarty swung at Garica, but Garica answered with strikes and then stomped Moriarty in the corner. Moriarty cracked Garcia in the back of the head with a jumping kick. Moriarty hit a double foot stomp on Garcia. Moriarty went for the Fang, but Garcia countered and locked in a vicious heel hook, forcing Moriarty to tap out!
“The Bastard” Pac vs. Aaron Solo!
Solo came out of the gates strong, with a flurry of offense on Pac! “The Bastard” stomped on Solo.
The fans chanted “Welcome back!” at Pac.
Pac’s quick feet knocked Solo to the mat. Pac rocked Solo with a shotgun dropkick off the top rope.
“Seamless offense. No wasted motion,” said Nigel about Pac.
Pac splashed Solo with the Black Arrow! Pac, wanting to make a statement, put Solo in the Brutalizer submission and won via ref stoppage!
Pac: “Tony, Tony, Tony. I told you, the Bastard’s back and I am looking for trouble. But you see, Aaron Solo is not exactly what I had in mind. Tony Khan, I am looking for trouble, so find me some, or I will find it myself.”
Bryan Danielson was backstage meditating.
Danielson: “I’m grateful that I was about to have a match with Shibata tonight. I’m grateful that I have a match with Will Ospreay coming up at Dynasty on Sunday, April 21st. He said when he gets in the ring it’s live or die and he doesn’t plan on dying. He can’t walk in my shoes. Shibata and I were told we would never be able to wrestle again. But we banged on death’s door. Say what you want about what you’re willing to do. I know what I’m willing to do. And I don’t think you’re ready for that.”
Claudio Castagnoli vs. “The MurderHawk Monster” Lance Archer!
They rammed each other with shoulder blocks, neither man budged. Claudio scoop slammed Archer, but Archer got right up! Claudio and Archer slugged it out, two battling bulls in the ring. Claudio clocked Archer with a lariat, knocking Archer over the top rope.
Claudio attempted a running European Uppercut on the floor, but Archer blocked it. Archer followed up with a cannonball senton off the apron and onto Claudio! Archer nailed Claudio with a side slam in the ring.
Archer signaled for a DDT, but Claudio reversed it and stunned Archer with a big vertical suplex. Archer tried to walk the ropes, but Claudio pulled him down and cracked him with a European Uppercut!
Claudio climbed up the turnbuckles, but Archer blasted him with a rising knee strike. Archer choke slammed Claudio for a near fall! Claudio came back with a Death Valley Driver on Archer! Claudio hit a cutter on Archer from the top turnbuckle for a near fall.
The fans chanted “Swing! Swing! Swing!”
Claudio got Archer in the Giant Swing but The Righteous—Vincent and Dutch—sprinted down the ramp and ambushed Claudio in the ring!
The Righteous attacked Claudio until Bryan Danielson came down to even up the odds for his fellow Blackpool Combat Club teammate! The numbers were too many, and they swarmed Danielson! Shibata sprinted to the ring with a chair, and Archer and The Righteous retreated!
“This match has been thrown out, but what a match it was,” said Tony Schiavone.
“This one is far from over,” replied Nigel.
Lexy Nair was backstage with Ruby Soho and “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker!
Parker: “This is a second home to me, and I was ready for a fight tonight. Zak is a coward. He doesn’t want to have a match. He’ll have a fight tonight!”
Ruby: “If you go looking for a fight, you’ll have to do it without me.”
Parker: “You’re right. I’ll leave it alone for tonight.”
Kyle O’Reilly vs. “Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith!
Kyle cracked Keith with a forearm. Keith baited Kyle in and connected with a spinning kick. Keith put O’Reilly in an abdominal stretch. Keith transitioned with a DDT, spiking Kyle right on his head and neck!
Kyle put Bryan Keith in a triangle choke. Kyle gave up the submission attempt in search of something else. Keith battled back with a double underhook power bomb, though. Kyle fired back with a lariat, a brain buster, and then the Armageddon submission hold, forcing Bryan Keith to tap out!
The Undisputed Kingdom came out to help Kyle celebrate.
“What a return to action!” said Nigel.
Lexy Nair was backstage to interview Deonna Purrazzo and Thunder Rosa!
Lexy said Deonna and Thunder Rosa have never teamed before, but they’re scheduled to face Toni Storm and Mariah May next week on Dynamite.
Thunder Rosa: “Toni and Mariah want drama We are going to give you drama. We are going to stop all the games and all the jokes. We have a mission. It is TV time.”
AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament Wild Card Match!
The Infantry—Carlie Bravo & Captain Shawn Dean
vs.
The House of Black’s Brody King & Buddy Matthews!
The winning team faces FTR in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The House of Black wasted no time pummeling the Infantry outside the ring, seeking and destroying.
“This match may not even happen,” said Nigel.
“You’re right, this match hasn’t even started, but the House of Black have decimated their opponents on the floor,” replied Schiavone.
The ref asked the Infantry if they could compete, and the Infantry wouldn’t back down!
Shawn Dean splashed Brody and Buddy in the corner. Brody fired back with a monstrous lariat! The House of Black took turns battering Carlie. They hit Dante’s Inferno on Dean, but Carlie broke up the pin attempt. The House of Black circled the Infantry, stalking them in the ring.
Brody spiked Carlie Bravo on the announcers’ desk! Buddy curb stomped Shawn Dean! Julia Hart whispered into Buddy’s ear, and he smiled. Buddy climbed to the top turnbuckle. The ref had his back turned on Buddy, as he was admonishing Julia Hart on the apron. Mark Briscoe ran down to the ring and whacked Buddy in the head with a steel chair! Brody King followed Briscoe up the arena steps, leaving Buddy in the ring. Shawn Dean crawled over and covered Buddy, scoring the pin!
“I can’t believe it! The Infantry won!” said a shocked Schiavone.
“The Infantry didn’t win it. Mark Briscoe won it,” replied Nigel.
Malakai Black stormed down to the ring, furiously staring at Mark Briscoe!
Ahead of this Wednesday’s TNT Championship “I Quit” Match against champion Christian Cage, we heard from the “Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland!
Adam Copeland carried the case with the words “Spike” stenciled on it.
“I have no idea what is in the box, but it really scared away Christian Cage last time,” said Tony Schiavone.
Adam Copeland: “This Wednesday, it’s fitting that I fight a guy who I thought for 40 years was my best friend. So Christian Cage, I’m talking to you now. I’m not going to call you Jay. Jay’s dead. You’ve become Christian Cage. The ego is out of control.
“We used to talk about chasing our dreams and crushing our dreams. We did that! And then I fast forward to now. We had talked about me coming to AEW. You were on board. I came here to retire with you. I didn’t come here to take away your shine. At World’s End, I failed, and I’m not used to repeated failures. I picked myself up and walked forward.
“I earned that title shot. You and the Patriarchy took me out with the con-chair-to, a move we created. So maybe that’s fitting too. But when I was out, I got a call from a man who in the past has had to remind me of who I am. And he called again to remind me of who I am. So, I created Spike.”
Copeland opened the box and pulled out a 2×4 with nails sticking out of it!
Copeland: “Spike is hungry. She wants to take a bit out of you, Christian Cage. So that phone call from Mrs. Foley’s baby boy worked, because I remember who I am! I have kept it bottled up. I am the Rated R Superstar. This Wednesday you’re going to be in the hospital. Spike and I are going to take away your pride and make you say two words. And those two words are ‘I quit!’ 40 years after this started in our hometown, it ends!”
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, ON, featuring:
-AEW Women’s World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm & Mariah May vs. Deonna Purrazzo & Thunder Rosa!
– “Lionheart” Chris Jericho vs. FTW Champion HOOK!
-We’ll hear from Mercedes Moné!
-AEW Continental Championship Match: Eddie Kingston (c.) vs. Kazuchika Okada!
– Christian Cage (c.) vs. “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland for the TNT Championship in an I Quit Match!
This Saturday night All Elite Wrestling begins a tour of Canada with a visit to Ottawa, ON, Canada and the Canadian Tire Center for an all-new edition of COLLISION! It was already set to be an exciting night with the return of Kyle O’Reilly to in-ring competition for a fight with “Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith, but then the heat got cranked way up with the announcement of Katsuyori Shibata’s return to action for a match with “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson! As if that wasn’t enough, an enraged Julia Hart opened up the House of Black’s doors with a TBS Open Challenge invitation, and The Infantry’s Trish Adora has stepped up in response, plus The House of Black’s Buddy Matthews & Brody King will meet The Infantry’s Carlie Bravo and Capt. Shawn Dean in the first World Tag Team Title Tournament Wild Card match!
The night begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, and fans around the world can get prepared by visiting the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s various social media platforms, to watch highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER! Then come join us next Wednesday in Toronto at the Coca-Cola Coliseum (https://www.allelitewrestling.com/aew-event/aew-dynamite-rampage-toronto) for a loaded edition of DYNAMITE featuring Christian Cage defending his TNT Championship against Adam Copeland in an “I Quit” Match!!!
DREAMS CONTINUE TO COME TRUE…
“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Katsuyori Shibata
In so many ways the last year in the career of “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson has felt like one dream after another coming to fruition, if not for Bryan than at least for the fans of his work inside the squared circle. They’ve got to witness Danielson fight Kazuchika Okada twice, Zack Sabre Jr. twice, Timothy Thatcher, Yuji Nagata, Jun Akiyama, and Hechicero, not to mention the countless top shelf fights he’s had against opponent like Eddie Kingston, Swerve, RUSH, Ricky Starks, and his own BCC mate Claudio Castagnoli. It’s been one of the wildest years in Danielson’s career, and that’s with having to take time off due to a broken arm and a fractured orbital bone, so imagine what else could have been had he not been required to let his body heal.
And yet it’s only March 16th, meaning there are plenty of days left on the calendar of what Danielson has referred to as his last full-time year of professional wrestling, and that there are plenty of dreams left to be fulfilled both for “The American Dragon” and his fans! We already know one of those will come true at DYNASTY on April 21st when he faces Will Ospreay for the first time, but another comes to pass this Saturday night on COLLISION when Bryan Danielson goes one-on-one for Katsuyori Shibata for their first encounter!
Just about a year ago, following his ROH Pure Championship victory over Wheeler Yuta at ROH SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023, Shibata told the world that winning that championship meant he was one step closer to fighting Bryan Danielson, and though he may have taken some time to take those steps, including Shibata having to return to Japan following his loss to Yuta on 11/25/23, we are finally there!
This is a dream that seemed impossible, especially given that at various points both athletes thought their respective in-ring careers would be over, but on COLLISION it becomes reality, and fans will be able to rejoice when two of the most dangerous strikers, and most dangerous grapplers, in the history of the game step inside the squared circle as opponents. After nearly four months out of action, Shibata is certainly going to be tested with this battle against Bryan, but so too will “The American Dragon” be pushed to his limits as he prepares for Will Ospreay in five weeks time. This is a fight both men want, both men need, and fight fans around the world have been praying they would get to experience before the sun set on either competitors career!
RETURN TO ACTION!
Kyle O’Reilly vs. “Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith
Imagine having your livelihood taken away in an instant, your dream smashed, and it all happening while you were unconscious. That is what happened to Kyle O’Reilly, that is what happened in 2022 when he went under the knife for one surgery only to wake up and discover complications from that left him with a wholely different problem to handle. Unable to use his arm for the most basic of day-to-day functions, Kyle never thought he’d be able to use that arm to hold his child again, much less get back into the ring for a fight, yet here we are, 647 days removed from Kyle’s last match against Jon Moxley, and his indomitable spirit has led Kyle back to the place he never thought he’d experience again: the inside of a wrestling ring!
There is so much emotion wrapped up in this return to action on Saturday night, so much trepidation about what might happen when he steps back between the ropes, and yet Kyle O’Reilly has chosen to do it with one of the hottest prospects in the game today in “Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith. Keith may seem like an overnight sensation to some, a man who skyrocketed into the AEW spotlight because of his showing at ROH’s FINAL BATTLE 2023 event, but in reality he’s an overnight sensation ten years in the making. His Survival of the Fittest performance may have been the launching pad into AEW, the fight with Eddie Kingston may have been the icing on the cake that got him a contract, but it was fights against men like Timothy Thatcher, Masato Tanaka, Rocky Romero, as well as his performance in PWG’s 2023 BOLA that woke the world up to his abilities.
Since his arrival in AEW men like Malakai Black, Kingston, Orange Cassidy, and Claudio Castagnoli have experienced the hard-hitting fight Keith brings to the table, and clearly Kyle O’Reilly has watched this from a distance as well, with “Bounty Hunter” leaving enough of an impression that he’s who Kyle wants to test himself against after nearly two years away from the fight! As Kyle said, right into the fire, but it’s the only way O’Reilly is going to know what he still has inside, what he needs to find again, and what needs to change for the future to look as bright as did when he stepped into the ring on June 8, 2022.
However this fight goes, win or lose, it is a triumph for Kyle O’Reilly to know he worked his way back into fighting condition after staring the end of his career, and frankly his life as he knew it, right in the eyes. It’s not an easy thing to come back from the brink, he could’ve slipped away and quietly thrown in the towel on his wrestling career, but instead he chose to fight for everything he loves, for everything from the ability to hold his child to the ability to throw a punch, and that is why this Saturday night is a type of victory no matter the result of the match. To be able to claim a win on top of that victory though, now that would be even sweeter…
TBS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…
The House of Black’s Julia Hart(c) vs. The Infantry’s Trish Adora
Making a decision while lost in the heat of anger is not always the best time for a potentially life-changing decision and yet here Julia Hart finds herself. Just days after being embarrassed by Mercedes Mone on DYNAMITE: BIG BUSINESS, the TBS Champion is throwing open the doors of The House once again for an Open Challenge, and this time the call is being answered by The Infantry’s Trish Adora!
Coming off a tremendous battle with Mariah May last Saturday night, Adora is looking to bolster her reputation as one of the best women competing today, and between the Mariah fight, her battle with Riho on RAMPAGE prior to that, the ROH Women’s World TV Title Tournament contest with Mercedes Martinez, and her NJPW STRONG Women’s Title bout with Giulia back in January, it’s hard to argue against Trish’s abilities. She simply needs to put it all together and she will be one of the deadliest women competing in AEW, ROH, or frankly anywhere else in the world, and there’s no better moment to pull it all together than this Saturday night when she enters The House for a TBS Championship Match!
This is first-time bout, meaning a case of neither woman having first-hand experience with the other, only knowing what they’ve seen on tape, and trying to figure out how to turn that into a formula for victory. We know Julia is going to be fighting angry, looking to hurt any woman who would’ve answered this Open Challenge, but will that be her undoing? Will her own emotions towards Mone and Willow Nightingale blind her from focusing on Trish Adora This could be the prime night for Adora to rock the foundations of The House and claim the TBS Championship for The Infantry!
AEW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE TOURNAMENT WILD CARD MATCH…
***WINNER FACES FTR IN QUARTER-FINALS***
The brackets for the AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament have been set and we know the finals will take place at DYNASTY on April 21st in St. Louis, now it’s a matter of seeing which two teams survive the road to get there, with the Wild Card duos having the longest road to the top! The first of the two Wild Card match-ups takes place this Saturday night on COLLISION when The House of Black, honored by Brody King and Buddy Matthews, lock-up with The Infantry of Carlie Bravo and Capt. Shawn Dean, with the winners moving on the Quarter-Final round to face FTR!
On paper it’s reasonable to assume The House moves through The Infantry to renew their rivalry with Cash and Dax, but after the confrontation that took place between Captain, Carlie, Cash, and Dax last week, it’s a safe bet that The Infantry is coming to Canada ready to go to war! They are unquestionably the underdogs in this entire tournament, meaning they are going to bring the fight to The House that much harder, and the fact that the teams in the Wild Card bouts have to win four matches to earn the vacant championship is not fact lost on any of them either. It’s an uphill battle for The Infantry, but one that the two veterans are more than willing to undertake in order to prove themselves the equals of the other teams slotted into the field. This could be The Infantry’s night to break out in front of the eyes of the world, or it could be the night The House of Black uses Bravo and Dean as examples to all others standing in their path to tag team glory!
FIGHTING FOR FAMILY…
“Cool Hand” Angelo Parker vs. Zak Knight
It’s clear as crystal that Zak Knight, brother of Saraya, is unhinged, running around the backstage area assaulting random people at the behest of his sister, and doing her bidding when it comes to Angelo Parker. It’s also evident that Parker isn’t just going to sit back and wait for the next attack, he’s taking the fight right to its source, and after what happened on RAMPAGE last night, that means a one-on-one fight this Saturday in Ottawa! While this may be Zak’s first fight inside an AEW ring, he put up a trio of dominating wins on HONOR CLUB earlier this year, and he’s got a career dating back to when he was just ten years old! That’s twenty-two years of experience in his life, and it includes facing his own family members, Okada & Ishii, Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, Steve Corino, Doug Williams, and plenty more top tier talent across the UK scene.
He’s a violent man who enjoys the pain he inflicts on others, and with two vindictive people in Saraya and Harley Cameron at his side, this isn’t going to be a fight without its outside involvement. Hopefully Ruby Soho can provide some balance to that situation, otherwise Cool Hand Ang is going to be in for a rough night in Ottawa!
ALSO:
-We will hear from Adam Copeland ahead of his TNT Championship “I Quit” Match on Wednesday!
COLLISION kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT, live from the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa, ON, Canada and what a jam-packed night it will be! With Shibata versus Danielson, Hart versus Adora, O’Reilly versus Keith, and so much on tap, it’s going to be one memorable night, and you can get ready for it by visiting the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s various social media platforms, to watch highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest CONTROL CENTER!
Then be sure to join us at Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum next Wednesday night for a stacked edition of DYNAMITE showcasing Christian Cage defending his TNT Championship against Adam Copeland in an “I Quit” Match and Eddie Kingston putting the AEW Continental Championship at stake against Kazuchika Okada!!!
Tony Schiavone sent out his condolences to the family of Jackie Crockett.
“God bless you, Jackie Crockett,” said Chris Jericho.
Evil Uno dropped Orange with a shoulder block. John Silver ran in from behind, but Orange hit Silver with a Manhattan drop. Orange and Trent hit Silver with a shoulder tackle. Trent took down Evil Uno with a drop toe hold. Orange climbed to the top rope, but Silver press slammed him. Trent hit Silver with a knee strike, but Evil Uno nailed Trent with a neck breaker.
Evil Uno stopped a DDT from Orange, but Orange wasted no time and followed up with the Stun Dog Millionaire! Evil Uno planted Orange with Something Evil for a near fall.
Orange kicked it into gear, kicking both members of Dark Order. Trent tagged in and dumped Evil Uno and John Silver with half and half suplexes! Trent tried for the Strong Zero, but Evil Uno booted Trent, and Silver countered the Strong Zero with a Canadian Destroyer!
Orange flew through the ropes and spiked Evil Uno with a DDT on the arena floor! Evil Uno used a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Orange in the ring. Dark Order used their combo offense on Trent. Orange pulped John Silver with the Orange Punch and then served one up to Evil Uno! Trent used the momentum from Orange’s punch on Silver to finish off Silver with the Strong Zero for the pin!
“That look on Orange Cassidy is a sign of exhaustion and that is not a good sign for Orange Cassidy and Trent heading into the AEW World Tag Team Championship Title Tournament,” said Excalibur.
AEW Women’s World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm (with Luther) & Mariah May
vs.
Kayla Sparks & Little Mean Kathleen!
“We’ve got a first. The first time that Toni Storm has agreed to tag with Mariah May,” said Tony Schiavone.
Toni and Mariah came out of the gates strong, going right after Little Mean Kathleen, looking to send a message to “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo. Kayla grabbed a tag but got dumped on her head by Toni with a German Suplex. Toni smashed Kayla with a hip attack. Mariah May followed up with a hip attack to Kayla! Toni Storm spiked LMK with the Storm Zero and then Mariah May grabbed the pin!
“What a great mentor Toni Storm is. She hit the hip attack and then let Mariah May make the pin,” noted Chris Jericho.
After the match, “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo walked onto the ramp and brought out her mystery tag partner…Thunder Rosa!
“The Virtuosa” and Thunder Rosa sprinted to the ring and Toni Storm and Mariah May made a very swift exit!
Purrazzo: “That’s what I thought, Toni. I guess we’ll see you two next week. Bye!”
“The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita (with Don Callis)
vs.
Komander (with Alex Abrahantes)!
Komander avoided a big kick from Takeshita. Komander rolled up Takeshita, nailed him with a knee drop, and followed up with a lionsault! Komander tried to chop away at Takeshita, but Takeshita blasted Komander with a big boot to the face. Takeshita sent Komander soaring with an overhead release German suplex!
Takeshita was looking for a turnbuckle brain buster, but Komander reversed it with a stunner! Komander hit a moonsault off the top rope and onto Takeshita on the arena floor! Komander wiped out Takeshita with a springboard hurracanrana for a near fall on Takeshita!
Komander charged in at Takeshita, but Takeshita threw him to the mat. Takeshita countered a tornillo into a blue thunder bomb for a near fall on Komander! Komander reversed a power bomb attempt with a Destroyer for a two-count!
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Komander attempted the rope walk shooting star press, but Takeshita raised his knees to counter it! Takeshita power bombed Komander and then clocked Komander with a knee strike! Takeshita walloped Komander with a spinning falcon arrow and then scored the pin on Komander!
“A return to form for ‘the Alpha,’” said Excalibur.
“Takeshita is the man, but I hate that he has Don Callis by his side,” replied Tony Schiavone.
A video package aired of “The Professor” Serena Deeb!
Main Event! Trios Match!
Undisputed Kingdom—ROH Tag Champs The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) & AEW International Champion Roderick Strong
vs.
Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) & Action Andretti!
“Undisputed Kingdom are draped in gold tonight. A lot of history between the Undisputed Kingdom and Top Flight and it all comes to head tonight here in our main event,” said Excalibur.
Strong charged at Action and booted him in the head. Bennett tagged in and drove his boot into the throat of Andretti. Taven grabbed a tag and nailed Action with a dropkick. Dante entered the match and rolled up Taven for a one-count. Dante was looking for a DDT, but Taven shoved him off.
Darius tagged in and Dante used Darius as a springboard, knocking Bennett out of the ring and to the floor. Darius and Bennett traded chops in the center of the ring. Taven tripped Darius from the outside. Roderick came in and dropped Darius with an elbow strike.
Action rocked Roddy with a neck breaker back breaker combo, followed by a shooting star press. Action went for the pin on Roderick, but the Kingdom ran in to break it up. Action used a double back elbow on the Kingdom to take them off their feet. Action clocked Roderick with a roundhouse kick. Top Flight and Action Andretti took to the sky and hit the Undisputed Kingdom with tope suicidas!
The Undisputed Kingdom regained momentum, isolating Darius and working him over. Darius vaulted off the corner and cracked Roderick with a kick. Dante tagged in and baited in Bennett. Dante connected with a springboard crossbody on Bennett for a near fall.
Top Flight hit tandem offense on Bennett. Action splashed Bennett with a springboard 450 but Taven ran in to break up the pin attempt. Action jumped off the ropes, but Taven countered with a kick, knocking the wind out of Action. Taven and Bennett were looking for the spiked piledriver, but Action fought out of it. Taven jumped from the top turnbuckle, but Action retaliated with a trust kick.
Darius and Action were looking for a double suplex on Bennett, but Roderick ran in and nailed both with jumping knee strikes!
“That knee is so dangerous,” said Jericho.
Undisputed Kingdom spiked Action Andretti with their piledriver! Roderick Strong finished off Action with the End of Heartache and pinned Action Andretti!
Don’t miss AEW Collision live on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c from the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON featuring:
-Kyle O’Reilly vs. “The Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith!
-& Much more!
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, ON, featuring:
– “Lionheart” Chris Jericho vs. FTW Champion HOOK!
-We’ll hear from Mercedes Moné!
-AEW Continental Championship Match: Eddie Kingston (c.) vs. Kazuchika Okada!
– Christian Cage (c.) vs. “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland for the TNT Championship in an I Quit Match!
