This Saturday night, at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT, All Elite Wrestling presents the biggest edition of COLLISION thus far as AEW World Champion MJF puts his title on the line against former champion Kenny Omega in their very first meeting inside the squared circle! But it’s more than just the championship at stake, with 343 days as champion to his reign, MJF is just four days away from breaking Omega’s 346 day record as longest reigning champion of all-time. This is history in the making, but it’s not all that’s going down on Saturday night! Abadon will challenge Hikaru Shida for the AEW Women’s World Championship, Jay White will take on AR Fox, and The House of Black are back in action after all the damage they caused a week ago!
COLLISION is coming to you this Saturday night on TNT, beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT, so before the night begins swing over to the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from this week’s episodes of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, the latest editions of CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!
343 days; for 343 days Maxwell Jacob Friedman has reigned over All Elite Wrestling as the World Champion, just three weeks shy of completing a full year as the top guy in the company, and three days away from breaking the current record of 346 days held by Kenny Omega. That record, and MJF’s egotistical need to be viewed as the greatest champion of all-time, is why these men are heading for a collision on COLLISION this Saturday night!
It wasn’t Kenny Omega who came seeking Maxwell Jacob Friedman, it wasn’t Kenny who first broached the subject when they two men hadn’t so much as shared the same room over the past four years much less the same ring, it was MJF who sought out Kenny. It was MJF who whispered “13 days” into Kenny’s ear, as if to rub it in Omega’s face that he was going to break the record, and perhaps even thinking Kenny would do nothing about it.
If that was MJF’s thought, well he was dead wrong, because Omega stepped onto the stage following MJF’s fight with Juice Robinson this past Wednesday, and laid the challenge on the table. Would MJF be the kind of champion who would risk it all, knowing he’s got a title fight with Jay White already lined up at FULL GEAR 2023, and give Omega an opportunity to defend his streak? MJF may be a scumbag, but he’s also got an ego that would not allow the moment to pass him by, that wouldn’t let the opportunity to cement himself as the greatest AEW World Champion just slip away. If Max hadn’t accepted the challenge, when Wednesday morning came and he woke up as the longest reigning AEW World Champion in history, he would know there’s an asterisk because he didn’t fight Kenny Omega.
Once MJF made the choice to whisper into Kenny Omega’s ear, he made the choice to take on a fight with Kenny Omega, and risk seeing his title reign end before the 346-day streak was broken. In confronting Kenny, MJF added yet another target on his back, joining those already placed there by Jay White, The Gunns, Juice Robinson, Samoa Joe, and Wardlow. The World Champion is always the most wanted man in any sport, but MJF may have more on this plate than he can possibly eat, and that was before “The Cleaner” was heaped on there as well.
This is the biggest match in COLLISION’s short history, one of the biggest in All Elite Wrestling history, and it is happening on TNT this Saturday night! For the very first time, Kenny Omega and MJF, the AEW World Championship on the line, Omega’s 346-day record at stake, and it’s going down at the Mohegan Sun! History will be made if MJF survives this title fight, with but one World Championship record let to chase, that being the nine successful title defenses Jon Moxley accomplished during his first reign. An Omega victory would make eight for MJF, but regardless of who walks out of Connecticut as AEW World Champion, “Switchblade” Jay White will be waiting at the KIA Forum come FULL GEAR 2023!
This past Friday night on RAMPAGE Abadon made her return to AEW competition for the first time since June 14th, and did so against some pretty stiff competition with seriously high stakes. Abadon, Willow Nightingale, Skye Blue, and Anna Jay went to battle with a shot at Hikaru Shida on the line, and when the final bell rang, it was Abadon who scored the victory! Luckily for both women, they don’t have to wait long for the championship fight because it is going down this Saturday night live on COLLISION!
This won’t be the first dance for Abadon and Shida, as a matter of fact their very first battle on the March 10, 2020 edition of AEW DARK was also Abadon’s first match in All Elite Wrestling. Unfortunately for her, Abadon’s first match also took place just days before the world shut down, and it would be several months before “The Living Dead Girl” returned to the AEW stage. When she did, Abadon would win six straight matches, positioning herself for a championship opportunity, and thus a rematch with Hikaru Shida with much greater stakes than their first encounter.
Abadon was unsuccessful in this second attempt at conquering Shida, and at claiming her first AEW championship, but it clearly served as a motivational tool because the woman would rack up 18 consecutive victories en route to facing Dr. Britt Baker in a bloody Trick or Treat match. Though Baker was the champion at the time, the title was not on the line, but given how hard the two women fought, one would never have known.
That fight with Baker was the last time Abadon competed on AEW TV before this past Friday, her fights largely taking place on DARK or DARK: ELEVATION, but now she is back in the mix, healed up and hungry, with the opportunity to be champion once more at her feet. It just feels appropriate that it is once again Hikaru Shida who will stand across the ring from Abadon this Saturday given their connection, and the fact that she is the only woman in AEW to hold two victories over Abadon.
Will this night be different than their previous encounters? Can Abadon take everything she’s learned since their last encounter in January of 2021 and put it together to end the 3rd championship reign of Hikaru Shida The pressure is on Abadon in this Fright Night Fight, will she unleash the monster on Shida
ONE-ON-ONE…
AR Fox vs. “Switchblade” Jay White
After the night the Bang Bang Gang had on Wednesday, with Juice being beaten but The Gunns getting their ROH World Tag Team Championship match at FULL GEAR 2023, it’s time for Jay White to step into the ring and fight on Saturday night! His opponent on this explosive edition of COLLISION will be a man in need of finding himself once again, someone who has been out of action since early September, the high-flying AR Fox!
Fox was last seen on the receiving end of a Jon Moxley beating on the September 6th edition of DYNAMITE, his first match after being excommunicated from The Mogul Embassy, and an opportunity to right his ship by winning the International Championship. Unfortunately Fox did not claim the title, leaving him without a championship, and with a great deal of doubt hanging over his head. Darby Allin seemed willing to forgive Fox’s transgressions, Nick Wayne less so, and perhaps that feeds into why Nick chose TNT Champion Christian Cage over his relationship with Darby.
Now that he’s back in action, it’s time for AR Fox to prove he deserves that forgiveness from Darby, and that he’s willing to do the work rather than take another Mogul Embassy type shortcut. Taking on the next challenger to the AEW World Champion is a tremendous way to begin that quest, and a victory over “King Switch” would be a huge boon to Fox’s career moving forward.
Jay White will obviously have one eye on the Omega/MJF match as it shapes White’s FULL GEAR 2023 future; will that distraction give Fox the opening he needs to score the upset victory?
A week ago The House of Black returned to AEW in full force, laying waste to Bryan Danielson after his fight with Andrade El Idolo, taking out FTR before they could even finish their tag team fight, and coming after the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club following their championship loss to Big Bill and Ricky Starks. The chaos that resulted brought Jon Moxley back to the fight for the first time since his AEW International Championship loss to Rey Fenix, and left Ricky Starks laid out by the combined efforts of FTR and BCC.
This Saturday on COLLISION, The House of Black will be back in trios action, but no doubt the men they assaulted a week ago will have a close eye on the situation, and have to have some form of retribution in mind!
This Saturday night AEW returns to the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT for the biggest episode of COLLISION to date with Kenny Omega challenging MJF for the AEW World Championship, Shida defending her AEW Women’s World Championship against Abadon, Jay White in action against AR Fox, The House of Black, and more! Prior to the night getting started, be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from this week’s episodes of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, the latest editions of CONTROL CENTER, and much, much more!
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This Saturday night, AEW returns to Cleveland, OH for a night of COLLISION at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse! With two Grand Slam World Championship Eliminator Tournament Semi-Finals on tap, as well as a TBS Open Challenge, an International Champion defense pitting Jon Moxley against Action Andretti, BC GOLD, and more, this is quite the loaded edition of Saturday night’s premier wrestling program!
Tonight’s episode of AEW DYNAMITE was broadcast live from Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, IN!
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!
“Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy came out to kick off the show!
“One of the greatest champions of all time in All Elite Wrestling, but after All Out, a former champion,” said Excalibur.
The fans chanted “Thank you Orange! Thank you Orange!”
Orange Cassidy: “Hey. Thank you. So, they told me to stay home. But I was like, nah, I’m not gonna do that. Championship or no championship, I will be here, every single week. Because I am ‘Freshly Squeezed’ Orange Cassidy, and I do not have a catchphrase.”
As Orange Cassidy was leaving the ring, out came the new AEW International Champion…Jon Moxley, and ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli! Orange stood on the ramp and watched as Moxley entered the ring.
AEW International Championship Open Challenge Match!
Jon Moxley (c.) vs. AR Fox (with Darby Allin)!
Fox dodged a lariat from Moxley, but Mox was there to chop away at Fox in the corner. Fox connected with a springboard dropkick. Fox flew over the top rope and wiped out Moxley on the floor!
Fox DDT’ed Moxley for a near fall. Moxley whipped AR Fox into the steel barricade. Fox rallied back with a thrust kick to the champ. Fox blasted Moxley with a cutter for a near fall.
Darby Allin and Nick Wayne were backstage watching the match on a monitor.
AR Fox vaulted off the ring post with a moonsault onto Moxley. Fox hit Mox with a 450 splash for a two-count. Moxley captured Fox and nailed him with hammer and anvil elbows. Moxley followed up with the King Kong Lariat and then the Death Rider to score the pin on AR Fox.
Darby Allin checked on AR Fox after the match. Nick Wayne was watching from the back when he was approached by Christian Cage and TNT Champion Luchasaurus.
Christian Cage told Nick Wayne that if he wanted a true mentor, Nick should be looking at him. “And say hi to your mom for me,” said Christian Cage.
TBS Championship Open Challenge Match!
Kris Statlander (c.) vs. Emi Sakura!
Sakura tried to surprise the champion with a quick roll-up. She followed up with a Tiger Driver on Statlander. Emi drove Statlander to the arena floor with a running crossbody press. Outside the ring, Emi nailed Kris with a crossbody press against the steel ring steps!
Back in the ring Emi stunned the champ with a lariat. Both women collided in the center of the ring with dueling lariats.
“Both women same idea and both women go down,” said Excalibur.
Statlander was brought back down with a swinging neck breaker and then a nasty vertical back breaker from Emi Sakura. Statlander connected with a discus lariat. Statlander smashed Emi with Wednesday Night Fever and pinned Emi!
Roderick Strong was backstage with The Kingdom—Matt Taven and Mike Bennett.
Strong: “Wrestling gave me an opportunity to be something I was not. No one was judging me for what my parents were not doing. Professional wrestling is not just a business to me. It is my everything. But Adam Cole already knew that. I grew up alone and I’m going to win this Grand Slam Tournament alone!”
Le Sex Gods—Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara
vs.
Aussie Open—Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis!
Don Callis joined the broadcast booth for this match.
Davis and Jericho started things with a collar and elbow tie up. Jericho chopped at Davis, but Davis returned fire. Sammy tagged in and Jericho and Sammy took Davis down with a double shoulder tackle.
Mark Davis did a cartwheel and then hit a double clothesline on Jericho and Sammy. Kyle Fletcher tagged in, and body slammed Sammy. Sammy hit Kyle with a corkscrew dropkick. Jericho tagged in and he and Sammy nailed Kyle with a delayed vertical suplex.
Davis and Fletcher smashed Jericho with stereo forearm smashes. Sammy came in with a cutter on Davis. Jericho fired back with a Code Breaker on Fletcher. Jericho connected with a dropkick off the turnbuckles. Sammy rocketed over the top with a tornillo onto Aussie Open on the arena floor!
Jericho went over the top rope but inadvertently landed on Sammy. Aussie Open made the dash around the ring with Jericho and Sammy and bashed them with the Collider. Aussie Open nailed Jericho with the Aussie Arrow with Davis grabbing a near fall on Jericho.
Jericho swept out the legs of Fletcher and tried for the Walls, but Fletcher escaped. Fletcher spiked Jericho with a brainbuster for a near fall.
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Jericho charged at Fletcher, but Fletcher ducked, and Jericho inadvertently hit Sammy. Jericho cracked Fletcher with the Judas Effect and pinned him!
After the match, Sammy shoved Jericho. Jericho shoved back. AEW security had to separate the two men. Sammy walked out on Jericho.
“Sammy wants nothing to do with Jericho at this point in time,” said Excalibur.
“I’m sure they can patch it up,” replied Taz.
“The cracks in their relationship widening,” added Excalibur.
Renee Paquette interviewed Don Callis and Takeshita backstage!
Don Callis: “We made history and beat Kenny Omega twice in seven days. We’re going to have a celebration next week as well as the unveiling of our next target!”
Out Next: One-half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions and AEW World Champion MJF!
MJF: “I got a question, who’s your daddy? As you know, this past Sunday, Adam Cole and I successfully defended our ROH World Tag Team Championships. And that mark Tony Khan says I have to wrestle again on September 20th. That’s Grand Slam. That’s the Devil’s Den. MJF is coming back to New York, New York. And whoever wins that Grand Slam Tournament is going to find out the hard way that no one is on the level of the devil.
“But there is one person that needs to be taught a lesson, and that…”
ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe came down to the ring!
Samoa Joe: “Now pardon the interruption champ, but I was in the back, and I heard a little piss and vinegar in your voice, and I wanted to get a front row for what was about to be said. What seems to be the problem, kid?”
MJF: “Kid? Joe, this must be really embarrassing for you. You must have confused my entrance for an ice cream truck.”
Samoa Joe: “That’s good. But to be quite honest, the last time I had anything to do with an ice cream truck, I was busy being the biggest star of the company’s other network. No, Max, I am here out of genuine concern. So, what’s the problem, kid?”
MJF: “That’s kid twice. You called me kid twice. You know what’s funny about me, Joseph? I’m pretty creative myself. Hey everybody look, it’s Pillsbury Joeboy. No, wait, that’s Samoa Dough.”
Samoa Joe: “Oh, jokes and venom. Now Max it seems that you’re having a hard time comprehending what is going on. So, I’m going to ask you again, Max, what is your problem, kid?”
MJF: “You call me kid one more time I’m going to knock your teeth down your throat! Time out, time out. That’s how you want me to react. Yeah, because you want to skip the line. I’m sorry, there’s a whole tournament if you want to wrestle the champion.
“To coin a phrase from my bro, who’s ready for story time with MJF? Back when I was 19 years old, I had a tryout with the WWE. I knocked it out of the park because I’m that damned good. I was pulled aside by William Regal, and we know the story. He said he would have signed me, but I was too young. He blew me off.
“And we all know how that story ended. I knocked his British ass packing and I sent him back to NXT where he belongs. And funny enough Joe, if you play your cards right, you’re next. Later on, that evening I was informed I would get to be security to walk a wrestling legend down the aisle. I was going to meet the great Samoa Joe.
“But what did you do, Joe? You decided to take a 19-year old kid who was just trying to do his job and you shoved me into a brick wall and you laughed. And let’s be honest Joe. I know why you did that. I know how scumbags think because I’m their scumbag.”
The fans chanted “He’s our scumbag! He’s our scumbag!”
MJF: “You did it because I was a kid, and you could get away with it. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m full grown and I am the AEW World Champion. I am the best wrestler on God’s green earth, and I headlined the most historic pay-per-view of all time, and I am MJF! So, Joey, if I were you, I’d stay out of my way or else I am going to kill you. And do you want to know why Joe? Because my name is MJF, and I am better than you and you know it!”
Samoa Joe: “That was a point beautifully made except there is one problem with it. I didn’t think of you as a kid when I pushed you. You know what I thought about you? I didn’t think you were a kid, Max, I thought you were a little bitch.”
MJF slapped Samoa Joe!
Samoa Joe: “Now this is you trying to provoke me. I’m not going to take your bait. I’m going to go through that tournament and beat everyone in it and then I’m going to come for you. Until then, champ, have a nice day.”
As MJF was walking through the ropes, Samoa Joe kicked the ropes and then stomped on MJF. Samoa Joe held up the AEW World Title until MJF kicked Samoa Joe between the legs! MJF charged at Samoa Joe, but Samoa Joe spiked him! Samoa Joe was looking to hit the Muscle Buster, but Adam Cole sprinted to the ring to even up the odds! Samoa Joe left the ring laughing.
Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Quarter-Final Match!
Trent Beretta (with Chuck Taylor) vs. Roderick Strong (with The Kingdom)!
Strong grappled Trent to the ground. Strong applied a front face lock. Strong hit a shoulder tackle but Beretta came back with a knee strike. Roderick Strong cracked Trent with a back breaker.
Trent launched off the top roe with a DDT on Strong, targeting the neck. Strong shoved Trent into the ring post. Strong planted Trent on the edge of the ring!
Roderick rocked Trent with the Sick Kick right on target! Trent used a hurracanrana off the top rope for a near fall on Roddy. Trent followed up with a half and half suplex. Trent spiked Strong with a piledriver, but Roddy got his boot on the rope to stop the ref’s count.
Strong cracked Trent with a knee strike and then finished him off with the End of Heartache, scoring the pin on Trent!
Renee Paquette was backstage to interview Toni Storm, and she asked Toni about the can of spray paint!
Toni: “It was such a blur. We must look forward. Renee, you are so nosey. You just poke. Next week I’ll be doing a sneak peek into my life.”
Tony Schiavone interviewed “Hangman” Adam Page in the ring!
Page: “I got a call Saturday night that there’d be a battle royal with the winner getting to donate $50,000 to the charity of their choice. So, I booked a flight, and I won the match and I got to donate money to teachers.
“I wanted to look forward. We’ve got a few months left in 2023 and I wanted to talk about what I wanted to do with the rest of—”
Prince Nana and Swerve Strickland interrupted, walking down to the ring!
Prince Nana: “Tony, you’ve done enough so far. Goodnight, my friend. Ladies and gentlemen, show some respect for Swerve Strickland.”
Swerve: “Being in a coffin for almost two weeks you get some clarity. You get some clarity. The first person that I thought of as soon as I got out was you, Hangman. Charity? Really? What are you some kind of mascot for AEW? You’re doing charity for Chicago Elementary System for children that are just going to flunk out anyway. And you weren’t on the main card at All Out competing for any championships.
“When All Elite started up, you were the cornerstone of this company. You were handpicked to be the franchise player and look what you’ve done. Former AEW World Tag Team Champion to former AEW World Champion. And now I’m looking at you on preshows. Or you lost your spot. Or you don’t even want it anymore.
“You got a whole new contract extension, so you’ve been eating good. Yeah, it’s been showing. You don’t have singles matches or promos on Dynamite anymore. You don’t even have title matches anymore. You took a backseat to the Elite.
“You’ve been handed a silver platter. If I would have gotten the opportunities that you got a year ago, I’d be the first AEW World Champion by now. So, I’ll leave you with this. Option A., ride off into the sunset. Move out of the way and let me take that slot that you don’t want. Or option B., you man up, you cowboy up to get that confidence, show these people what cowboy s—t is all about!
“Or we could this and you could fight me for that spot but forewarning, I have no regard for anybody. You choose to do this with me, I will walk you like a dog. Either way, I’m coming for that spot that you act like you don’t even want.”
Page: “If you want a match with me you go to the back and you get it. But I’m done with this s—t right now.”
Swerve: “It’s a shame that your wife and kid got to see their husband and father walk away from more responsibilities.”
Page returned to the ring and got in Swerve’s face! “The Machine” Brian Cage ambushed Page and nailed him with the Drill Claw!
“Like it or not, a phenomenal set up,” said Taz.
Main Event Time!
Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament Quarter-Final Match!
Darby Allin vs. Nick Wayne!
Darby and Nick shook hands before the match began.
Darby and Nick traded pin fall attempts. Darby grabbed a side headlock. Darby went for a tope suicida, but Nick dodged it, sending Darby crashing into the steel guardrail!
Nick Wayne superplexed Darby and followed up with a fisherman’s buster for a near fall. Nick tried for a frog splash, but Darby raised his knees! Darby blasted Nick with a shotgun dropkick. Darby locked on a figure four leg lock. Nick Wayne reversed it, but Darby grabbed the ropes.
Nick and Darby collided with double crossbodies, knocking one another to the mat.
“Sternum to sternum, that’s tough full speed,” said Taz.
Darby and Nick traded strikes in the center of the ring. Darby asked for a microphone.
Darby: “You hit like an 18 year old. Hit me like you really want to win this!”
Darby put his hands behind his back and invited Nick to hit him. Nick nailed Darby with a thrust kick!
Christian Cage and TNT Champion Luchasaurus walked onto the ramp and joined the broadcast booth.
Nick flipped over the top rope and landed on Darby. Nick whipped Darby into the steel guardrail. Nick hit a frog splash off the ring post and down onto Darby on the arena floor! Nick followed up with the Wayne’s World for a near fall.
Nick Wayne attempted a Wayne’s World off the top rope, but Darby held on, knocking Nick to the mat. Darby was contemplating the Coffin Drop but had second thoughts. Nick applied the Last Supper for a near fall on Darby.
Darby stunned Nick with the Code Red for a two-count. Darby grabbed Nick’s arms and stomped the back of Nick’s head, knocking out Nick! Darby advances in the tournament!
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, OH!
This Friday tune in to AEW RAMPAGE at 10pm ET on TNT!
Don’t miss AEW Collision on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c!
ALL OUT 2023 is in the books, and GRAND SLAM 2023 is right around the corner, and in-between All Elite Wrestling has some exciting stops along the way! This Wednesday night, we return to Indianapolis, IN and the Farmer’s Coliseum!
After seeing the Jericho Appreciation Society crumble around him, and dropping the match at ALL IN: LONDON to Will Ospreay, Chris Jericho has chosen to reunite with Sammy Guevara and bring Le Sex Gods into the tag team championship hunt! Plus, Hangman Page has some thoughts to share after winning the Over Budget Charity Battle Royale on the ALL OUT 2023: ZERO HOUR, AEW World Champion/ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF has something to say to ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe after their interaction on Sunday night, and the Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament begins!
DYNAMITE kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel and catch up on highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as ALL IN: LONDON, ALL OUT 2023, plus the newest edition of THE CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!
GRAND SLAM WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL…
Over the next several weeks, eight men will compete in the Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament to determine MJF’s challenger for DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2023 on September 20th; we learned last week that Roderick Strong, despite his still healing neck, would be cleared to participate in this tournament, and he has promised to do what Adam Cole could not, that being defeat MJF to claim the championship. Before that can happen though, Strong has to actually win the tournament, and that means three opponents all trying to stop Roddy from achieving his goals as they strive to achieve their own.
The first of those opponents, and possibly the last of them, is one with whom Roderick Strong is quite familiar, though it’s been eight years since their last collision, and his name is Trent Beretta! First meeting in singles competition back in 2013 in the hallowed halls of Reseda, Strong and Beretta have fought in one-on-one bouts on three occasions and Roderick holds the advantage 2-1. Now those three bouts are not their only meetings over the last ten years, in fact when looked at on the whole, in their five bouts as opponent, it’s Beretta who holds the advantage 3-2.
Now they actually did team up one time in February 2014 and, sheer coincidence, one of the two men they faced happened to be the future “Hangman” Adam Page. Sadly the Roddy/Trent team was not a successful one, lasting just that one match, and they would resume a life as foes, albeit a brief one. Well this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, Roderick and Trent will reignite that old rivalry, if only for a night, as each pursues their goal of facing Maxwell Jacob Friedman at Arthur Ashe Stadium on September 20th! For Trent this is just about proving to himself, and the world, he is a premiere fighter both as a singles and a tag with Chuck Taylor, but for Roddy this is far more personal. The end of this road means fighting a man who Roderick believes destroyed his friendship with Adam Cole, who Roddy sees as usurping his position as Adam’s best friend, and the opportunity to get him in the ring is too good to pass up. There may be a long road to travel to get there, but the benefits are worth the work in the mind of Strong who would likely do anything to lay his chops into the flesh of Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
So can Roderick, fighting with this injured neck, rise to the occasion and continue on the path to GRAND SLAM 2023? Or will Trent Beretta stifle Strong at the starting line, leaving “Mr. ROH” further frustrated, and further away from his aspiration of showing up Adam Cole? And, the question should be asked, where does The Kingdom of Mike Bennett and Matt Taven fit into this scenario?
GRAND SLAM WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL…
It’s been a rough couple weeks for Darby Allin; he was battered in London during the tag team Coffin Match, he and Sting walking out the victors, but the former 2-Time TNT Champion saying as a result he is in more pain than he’s ever experienced in his life. Given everything we’ve seen Allin put himself through since joining AEW, that is saying a considerable amount, and that’s just from what happened at ALL IN: LONDON. Factor in this past Sunday, the fact that Darby is still a 2-Time TNT Champion rather than the reigning 3-Time, and all the hurt put on him by Luchasaurus, and then maybe one can garner an idea about where Darby Allin is at coming into this match.
And that’s just the physical side of things; mentally, he’s likely a bit out of sorts as well, especially given the tension between Nick Wayne and himself stemming from Darby’s willingness to forgive AR Fox’s transgressions. It’s hard to blame young Mister Wayne, after all Fox did participate in The Mogul Embassy’s assault on his late father’s training facility and on Nick himself. Fox did leave Nick laying in his own blood, and who knows if Fox would’ve ever been apologetic for his actions if Swerve Strickland and The Mogul Embassy hadn’t evicted him from their unit.
Suffice it to say when Darby accepted Fox’s apology, it did not sit well with Nick Wayne, but despite that fact, Nick was still there when Darby needed him both in England and in Chicago this past Sunday night, though it almost cost Wayne dearly at Christian Cage’s hands. So with both men, particularly Darby, still recovering from all this trauma, they will engage in the first one-on-one bout of their career! The winner of this will advance one step closer towards challenging MJF for the AEW World Championship at GRAND SLAM 2023 on September 20th, so there is a great deal at stake in this battle of mentor and protege.
Will the wounds of the last several weeks catch up with Darby and leave him vulnerable to young Mr. Wayne, or will Darby’s experience with fighting battered allow him to survive this bout and fight another day?
TAG TEAM BOUT…
Le Sex Gods (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
From the beginning of DYNAMITE, Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho have been part of each other’s lives, initially as The Inner Circle and later with The Jericho Appreciation Society, they have been bonded through thick and thin. Through Stadium Stampedes and Blood & Guts cages, they’ve been there for one another at nearly every turn since Jericho first brought “The Spanish God” under his tutelage.
Yes there has been separation, Guevara was the first man to walk away from The Inner Circle ahead of The J.A.S. being formed and they had their issues over the ROH World Championship, but when it’s come down to brass tacks, Sammy has always stuck by Jericho. As the entire J.A.S. walked away from “The Ocho” in the midst of his indecision regarding Don Callis, it was only Guevara who continued to show support for Jericho, and it continues to be Sammy by his side when all others have abandoned the original AEW World Champion.
So with this reunited duo setting their sights on the tag team division, it is very clear former ROH World Tag Team Champions Aussie Open have their issues with Le Sex Gods. Part of that may be due to Jericho’s issues with their United Empire cohort Will Ospreay, part of that may just be a warning of what’s in store for Jericho and Guevara if they choose to seriously compete in the tag team ranks. With a 6-5 record in those ranks since AEW’s inception, Le Sex Gods are just 1-1 in 2023 with their last tag bout being a loss to Darby Allin & Sting on June 28th. In other words, they’ve got a long way to go to be in contention for FTR’s AEW World Tag Team Championship titles, but if that’s the goal, may as well start with one of the baddest teams in All Elite Wrestling!
MJF IS NOT HAPPY…
Sunday night in Chicago was a great night if you entered the United Center as a champion; in four of the five championship bouts, it was the defending champion who retained, and that trend started with the ROH World Tag Team Champions Adam Cole & MJF, collectively dubbed Better Than You Bay Bay. Their fight against The Dark Order took its toll on both men, particularly MJF when Alex Reynolds dug up some of the old Dark Order nastiness and drove a steel chair into Max’s neck. Now that neck had been banged up in London during the course of his World Title defense against his own partner, and Alex took advantage of the referee’s distraction to deliver the weapon-assisted blow.
The situation forced Adam Cole to fly solo for quite some time, but eventually the AEW World Champion dragged himself back into the fray, and the defending ROH World Tag Champs found a way to defeat The Dark Order. MJF’s choice to return to the fight only served to exacerbate his injured neck, leading to AEW’s medical staff attending to the man for quite some time after the match, long enough that the next match had to send its competitors to the ring. Unfortunately for MJF, the first man to the ring was ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe, and in a moment hearkening back to Brooklyn circa 2016, Joe shoved Maxwell out of his way, and continued to the ring with a satisfied smile on his face.
Max wasn’t having it, but given his debilitated condition, there was little his body was going to let him do, and thus he ended up with Joe’s arms around his throat. Not the greatest moment for the AEW World Champion, but he wasn’t about to take Samoa Joe’s disrespect lightly regardless of the condition he was in after retaining the ROH World Tag Titles.
So this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, the AEW World Champion will be in the arena live and apparently with the intent to address what happened with Samoa Joe. As Joe’s inches towards Jay Lethal’s record as the longest-reigning ROH World TV Champ of all-time, does it seem the best idea for an injured MJF to confront the man?
HANGMAN FOR CHARITY…
During the ZERO HOUR on Sunday night, former AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page managed to survive a fight with nineteen other men to win the Over Budget Charity Battle Royal. For the victor of that fray would go a donation in their name of $50,000 to a charity of their choice. Hangman chose the Chicago Public Education Fund to receive the money, rather unsurprising given his own history as a teacher, but now that that victory is in the rear view, it’s time for Page to talk about his future.
With that in mind, the AEW faithful will hear from Hangman this Wednesday night; what he will have to say, where his head is at, we will all find out together live on TBS when DYNAMITE kicks off at 8pm ET!
This Wednesday night All Elite Wrestling returns to Indianapolis and the Farmer’s Coliseum for an all-new DYNAMITE, and the beginning of the road to GRAND SLAM 2023! The Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament kicks off with two Quarter-Final matches, AEW World Champion MJF will be on-hand live to address ALL OUT 2023’s engagement with Samoa Joe, Hangman Page will be in the house, and Le Sex Gods will be in action against Aussie Open!
DYNAMITE begins kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so be sure to check in on the official AEW YouTube channel and see highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as ALL IN: LONDON and ALL OUT 2023, and so much more!
Just seven days after the biggest night in All Elite Wrestling history, we are right back at it with our second pay-per-view offering in a week! ALL OUT has been at the heart of AEW since 2019 when Chris Jericho defeated Hangman Page to become the first AEW World Champion, and it has provided a lion’s share of memorable matches and moments every year since! The Chicagoland area has been home to this event every year save one, and 2023 will be no different, but for the very first time, ALL OUT will emanate from the United Center!
If you can’t be there in-person, click here for details on all the ways you can watch the pay-per-view event live no matter where you are in the world! Also be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from this week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as the latest edition of CONTROL CENTER, highlights from ALL IN: LONDON, and more to get you up to speed for ALL OUT 2023!
AEW International Championship Match…
Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Jon Moxley
This past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, after Orange Cassidy bested Penta El Zero Miedo in his 31st International Championship defense, he was confronted by the next man scheduled to challenge for the title regardless of who won Wednesday night’s fight, former 3-Time AEW World Champion Jon Moxley.
Three years ago this would’ve seemed a largely lopsided fight, but in the time since Orange Cassidy fought his first AEW singles match at REVOLUTION 2020, coincidentally at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago as well as the same night Moxley won his first AEW World Championship, he has proven to be in a class all his own. There was never any question that Jon Moxley was at the top of the heap in All Elite Wrestling, he pretty much heralded that himself with how he arrived on the scene at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019, but Orange Cassidy has been questioned, doubted, bullied, and tested at every step of his AEW career.
It didn’t matter how he performed in that first fight with PAC, that he beat Chris Jericho in two straight matches, that he beat Adam Cole in a Lights Out Match, or that he took Will Ospreay to his limits at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022, he was still doubted. But since the October 12, 2022 edition of DYNAMITE where he defeated “The Bastard” to claim the AEW International Championship, Orange Cassidy has done nothing but proven himself as one of the elite competitors in pro wrestling. His first two title defenses took place in Three Way bouts, he took on “The Wrestler” Katsuyori Shibata in his next, and from that point on, it has been a matter of fighting everyone who stepped up to the plate. Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, Big Bill, Jeff Jarrett, and Jay Lethal; they all fell before “Freshly Squeezed” and at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 he really showed the world where he stood as champion when he took on 20 challengers simultaneously in the Blackjack Battle Royale. As a result of that many simultaneous challengers in Vegas, as Cassidy heads into this fight with Moxley, he has defended the AEW International Championship 31 times against 41 different men, and been champion for 326 days. He’s defended his title more times than any champion in AEW’s entire history across all divisions, and sits behind Jade Cargill’s 508-day TBS Title reign, Hikaru Shida 372-day AEW Woman’s World Championship reign, and Kenny Omega’s 346-day AEW World Championship run in terms of duration as champ.
And if that’s wasn’t enough to make the entire wrestling world stand-up and recognize the greatness of “Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy, perhaps it should be noted that at 121 overall victories, he’s got more wins than any man in All Elite Wrestling, topping Jon Moxley’s 118 overall wins, though Mox does surpass OC as a singles competitor, holding 75 victories to Cassidy’s 68.
As if that wasn’t enough, Cassidy also has the longest active singles win streak in AEW with thirty-one consecutive victories, eclipsing Moxley’s run of 25 from 11/13/19-12/2/20 and HOOK’s from 12/10/21-7/19/23. All that put together, it could be argued that Orange Cassidy is the absolute best in All Elite Wrestling, that he is the measuring stick for the company, and that he is the one everyone else should be looking to as their litmus test.
Jon Moxley clearly is not a man who sees that to be the case, and after their engagement the last several weeks, including Stadium Stampede at ALL IN: LONDON, he aims to put OC to the test this Sunday at ALL OUT 2023! Mox aims to put Cassidy through the wringer in the process of proving that it is he and The Blackpool Combat Club who run AEW, and given the AEW career path that has brought both men here, this may be one of the most important pay-per-view matches in AEW’s history. It is also a night Jon Moxley could make history as the first AEW World Champion to capture another AEW singles championship!
OC has already made history during his International Championship reign, it started with being the man to level the belt up from the All-Atlantic to the International Championship, and has continued with each title defense he survives. But eventually the rigorous schedule Orange has kept will catch up to him, but will that point come this Sunday at the United Center? If there is anyone likely to push OC past that point, it is Jon Moxley, and if the defending champion can’t find an even deeper level to his reservoir of strength, he’s in for a rough night and most likely the end of his historic championship reign.
As much as Christian Cage may claim otherwise, as much as he would rather have the fans believe an alternative truth, the reality is that Luchasaurus is the TNT Champion, not Christian Cage. Cage may carry the belt around, may consistently refer to the belt as “his” TNT Title, but it was Luchasaurus who won the belt from Wardlow, it’s been the former AEW World Tag Champion who’s defended it since that victory over “The War Dog”, and it will be Luchasaurus who faces former 2-Time TNT Champion Darby Allin this Sunday night at ALL OUT 2023!
But what condition is the challenger in? Like so many others at ALL IN: LONDON, Darby went through tremendous physical punishment, but the x-factor of the coffin elevated his to a whole other level. He was slammed on the metal lid, went for a Coffin Drop on Swerve while Strickland was draped across the top only for Allin to find no one home when he crashed down, he was battered and bruised, but ultimately victorious, though it also came at the expense of young Nick Wayne. Wayne, seeking to balance the scales of the bout, ended up being taken away by The Right Hand of Destruction, but that wasn’t the end of the story.
This week on COLLISION we heard Nick Wayne speak on Darby Allin’s actions pertaining to AR Fox, leading Darby out to the ring to publicly discuss the issue, but even that was interrupted by Christian Cage, who proceeded to say horrid things about Wayne’s mother, and of course promised destruction would rain down upon Allin’s head in his TNT Championship fight with Luchasaurus. Of course it wouldn’t have been Cage if he didn’t, yet again, imply he was the actual TNT Champion, but of course it won’t be he who steps into the ring to face Darby Allin, it will be the former AEW World Tag Team Champion.
Can Darby overcome the size of Luchasaurus, the numbers game that will be played by Christian Cage, and the injuries he sustained at ALL IN: LONDON’s Casket Match? If so, he will become the second man after Sammy Guevara to achieve 3-Time TNT Champion status, but if he cannot, and Cage has his way, will there be anything left of Darby to dust off and try again?
Forty-two days, in the span of 42 days between 3/8/23 and 4/19/23 Powerhouse Hobbs managed to defeat Wardlow to claim the TNT Championship, defend it five times, and then lose it right back to Wardlow. It was not the way Hobbs anticipating his championship reign going when he won the belt, and after it ended, he spent some time on the House Rules loop getting back on track, leading to a five match win streak, including a smashing victory over Powerhouse Hobbs in the 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Quarter-Finals.
Unfortunately he ran into a familiar foe named Ricky Starks in the Semi-Finals, and “Absolute” would best his former Team Taz partner en route to winning the entire tournament shortly thereafter. Again, not the way Hobbs wanted his COLLISION career to go, but he rebounded and has since won six consecutive bouts, including an eight-second victory last night in Chicago.
As impressive as that streak may be, as rapidly as Hobbs has dispatched those foes, perhaps the most impressive thing Hobbs has done is have the gumption to call out “The Redeemer” Miro for a fight! A former TNT Champion himself, Miro is one of the most intimidating men in all of professional wrestling, and to call him out for a fight is to court pain and punishment. Thus he is also the supreme test for a men looking to redeem himself for the key losses he’s experienced in 2023.
Will Hobbs live to regret his choice to goad Miro into battle? Will he be humbled before “The Redeemer”, or will Hobbs instead find that redemption he’s looking for?
The challenge was made by Ruby Soho, a woman that Kris Statlander has yet to defeat, and it appears a challenge born out of this Outcasts frustration at having never won a championship during the last 13 years. Just in All Elite Wrestling, after making her debut at ALL OUT 2021 by winning the Women’s Casino Battle Royale, she was frustrated in her first World Championship match at GRAND SLAM 2021 against Dr. Britt Baker, and sadly that would not be the last time Ruby’s dreams were dashed. A month later, in the inaugural TBS Championship Tournament, Soho would make it past Penelope Ford, Kris Statlander, and Nyla Rose but end up stifled in the finals by Jade Cargill, having to watch her claim status as the first TBS Champion. Even the AAA Mixed Tag Title alluded her and Ortiz at ALL OUT 2022 when they faced Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo on the ZERO HOUR, and finally at REVOLUTION 2023, in a Three Way where she and Saraya challenged AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter, Ruby was again turned away. The frustration is understandable, she is unquestionably one of the best wrestlers competing today, but has repeatedly failed to achieve the trophies that cement that fact in the history books.
That being said, it’s not as if Kris Statlander has had the easiest road to the status she now holds. Injuries have slowed her professional growth on multiple occasions since she first came to All Elite Wrestling, even her first AEW championship bout at REVOLUTION 2020 was tainted as Stat fought Nyla Rose with a debilitating flu that had kept her on bed rest for several days leading up to that night in Chicago. Even in the COUNTDOWN TO ALL OUT Statlander shared about her feelings as champion, a rather open look at the thoughts spinning around in her head despite defending her title eight times in the last 100 days on DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and on the HOUSE RULES tour. She has been a fighting champion from the moment she beat Jade Cargill at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023, and yet doubt still creeps.
It’s not an easy road for champion or challenger, both are driven to be the best, both have had their frustrations and setbacks, but only one has taken those challenges and used them to make herself a better version of who she was. Statlander has gotten tougher, she’s gotten stronger, and it’s led her to the status as TBS Champion whereas Ruby Soho has thrown her lot in with The Outcasts which in turn led her to watching both Saraya and Toni Storm become champions, although Toni’s current situation makes one question whether or not becoming a champion was worth the ramifications of losing it.
This Sunday, when Kris Statlander and Ruby Soho meet in their third singles match, it’s clear there is a bit more than the TBS Championship on the line for each woman. Pride, ego, legacy; they are all wrapped up in this fight between two of today’s best, but only one can walk away as champion while they other will have to find a way to handle with the disappointment and frustration…
Kenny Omega has been betrayed by Don Callis on so many levels since that Cage Match against Jon Moxley back in May, and yet this Sunday night at ALL OUT 2023 he will still come to fight in the face of that sting. Whether it was Callis throwing his support behind Will Ospreay at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, ripping Takeshita away from his growing alliance with The Elite, or signing up with BULLET CLUB GOLD, the man who was once akin to Omega’s uncle has done anything he can to wreck the former AEW World Champion’s life.
This all stems from some sense of ownership Callis has over Kenny’s career, some belief he is entitled to the credit though it is Omega who did the heavy-lifting of actually getting in the ring for the fight. Uncle Don may have shown a young Kenny the ropes, but it was Omega who did the work and earned monikers like “Best Bout Machine” and “The God of Pro Wrestling”. It was Kenny in the ring with Okada for their four matches that, over the course of three-plus hours, firmly established both men as the best in the world. It was Kenny in the ring with Chris Jericho at WRESTLE KINGDOM 12 and DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019 not Don Callis, and point of fact, the only actual accomplishment in Kenny’s career that Callis could take some credit for would be Omega defeating Jon Moxley to become the AEW World Champion. It’s undeniable that “The Invisible Hand” played a part in assisting Kenny’s championship challenge, but it’s certainly possible that it was Don whispering in Kenny’s ear that he needed his Uncle’s help to achieve that success.
That loyalty is simultaneously both Kenny’s biggest positive and negative, especially since his return to action in August 2022 after taking 10 months to recover from a litany of injuries collected over his wrestling career. Despite Callis’ entire oeuvre being a stark contrast to where The Elite stood as people in the fall of 2022, Omega kept Don by his side and Callis clearly bristled at the fact Kenny was not on the same page as he when it came to how to conduct business. Omega’s loyalty was that strong, his love for everything Uncle Don had been to him and his family was that strong, and yet Callis clearly grew unhappy with the fact he was no longer the primary voice in Kenny’s ear as he’d been during Omega’s championship reign.
All that anger and disappointment led Callis to betraying Kenny inside that Steel Cage, allowing Jon Moxley to get some revenge for Omega’s equally shady victories several years prior, and has taken us all down this path to ALL OUT 2023. It led Callis to put Takeshita inside the Blood & Guts Cage, and to pull him away from the fight when things weren’t looking promising for The Blackpool Combat Club, it led to the BC GOLD attack on Kenny when he sat down to talk to Jim Ross in Jacksonville, and now has Takeshita fighting Omega on Sunday night.
The relationship between Omega and Takeshita dates back to the earliest years of the latter’s career, so far back that Kenny was the opponent for the fifth match on record in Takeshita’s career, the first of their thirteen encounters in DDT Pro Wrestling between 9/30/12 and 10/26/14, all which posted them as opponents. It wasn’t until Takeshita first came to AEW in April 2021 that the two men fought as partners, and when he became a regular part of the roster one year later, it looked as if Takeshita would ride alongside The Elite as he pursued the growth of his own career.
Then Don Callis got in his ear, promising the sky, and turned Konosuke against those who’d supported him, leading to Takeshita’s impact on Omega’s face during Anarchy in the Arena at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023, and now here we are, four months later, with the two men colliding in their first AEW singles match, and their first head-to-head in a decade. It should be noted, though they were over a decade ago during Takeshita’s early days as a wrestler, Omega is 2-0 in their singles matches, but obviously Takeshita has grown exponentially since that time.
So should Takeshita fail in this singles match, will this be the end of Don Callis’ pursuit of Omega’s end? If Kenny walks away with the victory, will Uncle Don give up this mission to end his nephew, or is Kenny stuck in this infinite loop of Don Callis throwing everything at Omega just hoping he breaks until the weight of it all? And what is the future if Takeshita pins Omega as he did at ALL IN: LONDON? That is the kind of victory that potentially bolsters Takeshita up into championship contention, but what would it mean for Kenny Omega’s immediate future? The ramifications for this one will be felt for some time by all parties involved, but just looking at it as a fight, this one could possibly steal the show at ALL OUT 2023!
After defeating Aussie Open at ALL IN: LONDON to become the new Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions, Adam Cole and AEW World Champion MJF were informed they’d have to defend their championship against the winner of a Tag Team Battle Royale at ALL OUT 2023. So, in typical MJF fashion, he took the week off to recover from his UK journey while Adam Cole came to work only to be confronted by Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett, including Roddy throwing his name in the hat for the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions and telling Cole he would do what Adam couldn’t: beat MJF.
While that is indeed a concern for Cole, the more immediate matter is the match this Sunday with the winners of the aforementioned Battle Royale: The Dark Order of Alex Reynolds and John Silver! Though they have been part of AEW since the earliest days of DYNAMITE, the pair have only challenged one time for the AEW World Tag Team titles, during the reign of Jurassic Express, and they were unsuccessful in that endeavor. Since coming into the ROH fold back in April, the duo has been embroiled in their own violent affair with The Righteous, one that culminated with victory in the first-ever Trios Fight Without Honor at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2023. But none of that matters to MJF who, having some experience with both Alex Reynolds and John Silver early in his career, doesn’t have a bit of respect for either man.
Well Dark Order is quite the motivated, driven duo, one whose bond runs far deep than just the last couple months of this year, and they aim to break this championship drought on Sunday night!
Adam Cole and Maxwell Jacob Friedman have proven themselves to be a strong tag team duo, with a genuine bond that defies all logic and reason, but they are facing a team who’ve been together for over a decade, and who have a whole lot to prove to themselves and the world. Adam Cole and MJF are in for a fight, and they will have to pull out every Double Clothesline, Kangaroo Kick, and any other offense to keep these ROH World Tag Team Titles around their waists.
ROH World Television Championship Match…
Samoa Joe(c) vs. Shane Taylor
The history of Samoa Joe in Ring of Honor has been well-documented; for 645 days he reigned as ROH World Champion, elevating the title from a regional one to World Championship status, and engaging in legendary fights that proved influential to the modern wrestling scene. Even after that reign ended at FINAL BATTLE 2004, Joe remained integral to the workings of ROH, claiming the ROH Pure Championship from Jay Lethal at MANHATTAN MAYHEM, and keeping that for 112 days until he was dethroned by Nigel McGuinness. Even then, his influence on both ROH and pro wrestling at large was felt as he engaged in one of the hardest-hitting, most memorable bouts in modern wrestling history when he fought the legendary Kenta Kobashi at JOE VS. KOBASHI, and even after Joe first parted ways with ROH in March 2007, his presence loomed large over every individual who held the ROH World Championship in his wake. All World Champions were compared to Joe and his legacy, and every big man who ever entered into ROH competition was sized up against Samoa Joe’s shadow as well.
That was the world into which Shane Taylor entered when he first joined Ring of Honor in November 2014 at GLORY BY HONOR XIII, and though he reigned as a dominating ROH World TV Champion for 218 days, and a ROH World Six Man Champion for 295 days, the comparisons to Samoa Joe never ceased, but Taylor never had a chance to tackle those comparisons head-on until now.
When Samoa Joe re-entered the ROH landscape at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2022, the fanbase was excited at the prospects of all that could be, speculating on if Joe would pursue the ROH World Championship he lost, or who he may want to lock horns with inside the squared circle. It turned out his first mission was to claim a championship that he had no opportunity to hold during his original ROH tenure simply because it did not exist until 2010, the ROH World Television Championship.
Shortly after his arrival, Joe dethroned Minoru Suzuki to claim the title, and 508 days later, he is still standing tall as the champion with 13 successful defenses to his reign! This makes Joe the second longest reigning TV champion of all time, behind Jay Lethal, and put him just above Shane Taylor on the list of successful defenses, a list Jay Lethal is also at the top of, having retained the belt on 36 occasions during his 567 days.
So it shall be this Sunday night in Chicago that two of Ring of Honor’s most dominant forces, two of the most imposing competitors in professional wrestling today, will engage in combat for the very first time, a right Taylor earned with victories over Serpentico, Christopher Daniels, and Gravity in an Eliminator Tournament. This is a fight about the championship, about legacy, and about who will be the dominant force moving forward, and for Shane Taylor, with a visit to his hometown of Cleveland looming next Saturday, it’s absolutely about being able to go home a champion!
NO DISQUALIFICATION STRAP MATCH…
“Absolute” Ricky Starks vs. “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson
Well Ricky Starks certainly did not anticipate getting the match he’s got to face on Sunday night at ALL OUT 2023, he was looking to fight a 70 year old “Dragon” in a Strap Match, but instead he got a date with a different Dragon, an “American Dragon”. This came as a shock to the AEW faithful in Chicago, as well as those watching at home, as no one was aware Danielson was cleared for competition following his injury in the Kazuchika Okada match at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023.
To his credit, Starks recognized the mistake he had made, and essentially told the world “if this is the bed I made, than I’m going to make myself comfortable”. After all, it’s a huge opportunity for the 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament winner, the chance to spoil Danielson’s return to action almost two years to the date since his AEW debut at ALL OUT 2021, and continue to rise up towards the championship status he craves.
Will Sunday night be Ricky Starks night, or will it be the night “The American Dragon” roars?
Tag Team Battle…
NJPW STRONG Open Weight Champion Eddie Kingston & ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata
vs.
Blackpool Combat Club (ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta)
The bad blood between Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli has kept these two men bonded across many, many years, and even years wrestling in drastically different spheres did nothing to lessen the feelings of disdain. It’s spread from AEW to Ring of Honor and back again, putting Kingston inside Blood & Guts alongside The Golden Elite, putting him on the same side of Stadium Stampede as The Best Friends and Penta El Zero Miedo, and even putting him at odds with a man who was like a brother: Jon Moxley.
It’s been story of Eddie and his strange bedfellows, doing whatever he needs to do in order to get to Claudio, uniting with whoever has motivates that align with his, and hoping it leads to ending Castagnoli. This Sunday night in Chicago that means uniting with ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata to face the ROH World Champion and the man Shibata dethroned to claim that Ring of Honor title, the only 2-Time Pure Champion in ROH history, Wheeler Yuta!
The sad reality is that the animosity between Claudio and Kingston will probably never be satiated as long as both men are breathing. It’s shattered promotional boundaries, it’s bled across years and years, and sustained itself even when both men were on opposite sides of the wrestling world. Given that these men were once friends, roommates even, it’s a shame it’s gotten to this point, but that familiarity has bred contempt like none other. Is this a case of mutually assured destruction? Can either survive their own hate?
Eight-Man Fight…
AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) and The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
vs.
BULLET CLUB GOLD (Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Jay White, & Juice Robinson)
It may come as a shock in 2023, but in 2020 The Young Bucks and FTR actually united on two occasions ahead of their first clash at FULL GEAR 2020. Neither ended up as positive moments for the four men, they lost both the eight and ten man tags in which they participated, and as history as shown, they’ve since fought it out in three landmark bouts. The first won by The Young Bucks at FULL GEAR 2020, the second by FTR on the April 6, 2022 edition of DYNAMITE, and the third also by FTR at ALL IN: LONDON just a week ago. Though the brothers Jackson walked away from the match without shaking the hands of Dax and Cash, a common foe had brought them together once again this Sunday night at ALL O UT 2023.
BULLET CLUB GOLD has been a thorn in the side of FTR since the inception of COLLISION, and have also inserted themselves in Elite business time and again, including Kenny uniting with Ibushi and Hangman Page in a losing effort to Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Takeshita at ALL IN: LONDON. Now all the worlds collide as FTR and The Young Bucks try to put aside their differences to fight BC GOLD live on pay-per-view! Is it possible? Or will BC GOLD celebrate in the Windy City tonight!
ALL OUT 2023: ZERO HOUR…
-AEW World Trios Championship Match: The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens, Daddy Ass, & Max Caster)(c) vs. Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, & Satnam Singh
-ROH Women’s World Champion Athena, Diamante, & Mercedes Martinez vs. Hikaru Shida, Skye Blue, and Willow Nightingale
-Over Budget Charity Battle Royale: Winner gives $50K to the charity of their choice
ALL OUT 2023 emanates from the United Center in Chicago, IL this Sunday night, and live on pay-per-view beginning at 8pm ET/7pm CT! Make a point to check out the official AEW YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFN4JkGP_bVhAdBsoV9xftA/videos) to get up to date with highlights from the lastest episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as the CONTROL CENTER, highlights from ALL IN: LONDON, and more to get you ready for ALL OUT 2023!
Tonight’s AEW COLLISION was broadcast live from the United Center in Chicago, IL
Nigel McGuinness and Kevin Kelly were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
It’s Saturday night and you know what that means! Saturday night’s alright for fighting!
Tony Schiavone kicked off the show in the ring, introducing “Absolute” Ricky Starks, who had Big Bill with him!
Ricky Starks: “Well, here we are again, huh? I find myself back at square one. It seems that every time I climb up the hill I get dragged back down. But I get better. I am so tired of having to start over. But I do it because I show up and I show out and I deliver every single time.
“No matter how many people try to suck the life out of me, it doesn’t work. You cannot put a lid on a boiling pot because I will overflow. I am tired and sick of having to start over. Bill, I want you to know something. You are a hell of a dude, for real. I’m telling you from my heart, I believe in you. And I believe in myself.
“I’m so angry and I want to cry but I’m a man about it. And I will do what I need to do. You know it’s funny. I sat at home and watched All In, one of the biggest wrestling pay-per-view shows of all time on my couch. There wasn’t time for me? Because I got suspended for whipping Ricky Steamboat. And that is why I’m challenging Ricky Steamboat to a strap match at All Out.
“I am not letting a moment pass me by tomorrow night. That is why I’m calling my shot. So, I want an answer from the Dragon right now.”
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat walked to the ring with a vengeful look!
Steamboat: “Let me say something. What happened to you and me, Ricky, you took a couple of cheap shots on me, and I went down. I hear on social media that Ricky Starks wants to have a strap match with the Dragon. No disqualification. You talk a good game. You can perform in the ring when you want to. But I have a contract. I got a hold of AEW legal, let’s do it old school with a dragon. Let’s make sure the pen talks and not the mouth.”
Steamboat handed a contract to Tony Schiavone and told him to show Starks.
Steamboat: “Sign it!”
Starks put his signature on the contract.
Steamboat said they know him as the Dragon. But, he said, “They also know this guy.”
“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson came out to the ring!
“My God, Ricky Starks what have you signed?” asked Kevin Kelly.
Bryan Danielson signed the contract!
Starks: “It’s supposed to be Steamboat.”
Danielson: “It says ‘The Dragon’ on the contract.”
“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a No DQ Strap Match for All Out,” said Tony Schiavone.
Starks: “Well, if this is the bed that I lay in, I’m going to make sure I’m real comfortable.”
Steamboat: “We just wanted to make sure you got what you wanted. You got your strap match!”
Danielson smiled at Starks across the ring.
Jon Moxley was backstage with words for Orange Cassidy!
Moxley: “Be the rock upon which the waves crash and eventually even the raging seas fall still around you. Or in other words, be Orange Cassidy, International Champion, the player that no one can checkmate. These idiots who call him a cosplayer wrestler, okay, in that case, who did they beat?
“When you’ve been doing this as long as I have been at this level, there’s always another bigger show, you wrestle the greats, the Chris Jerichos, the Bryan Danielsons, sometimes you win, sometimes they win. But there’s always another opportunity.
“This is a chance that only comes once in a lifetime because Orange Cassidy is on the run of a lifetime. I can smell BS from a mile away and I know the real thing when I see it. And Orange Cassidy looks like the real thing to me. And tomorrow we’ll find out.
“I am a technician of the highest order. My specialty, I’m going to target your soul, your heart, your guts, your endurance, your will to survive. A lot of these guys think they want to be wrestlers, but they don’t really want to be great wrestlers. Orange Cassidy, when it gets hard, and it’s really gonna get hard, will you look for a way out? I hope not. A lot of people believe in you Orange Cassidy. This Sunday at All Out, don’t disappoint us.”
AEW World Trios Championship Match!
The Acclaimed (c.) vs. Daddy Magic, Cool Hand Ang, & Daniel Garcia (with Jake Hager)!
Angelo Parker ate some right hands from Anthony Bowens. Garcia tagged in, as did Daddy Ass. Garcia cracked Billy Gunn with a chop across the chest. Billy Gunn and Bowens dropped double elbows on Garcia. Garcia put the Dragon Tamer on Bowens after some help from Parker and Menard. Billy Gunn broke up the hold.
Max Caster tagged in and cleaned house on the opposition. Caster connected with a cross body press on Garcia for a near fall. Garcia fired back with a uranage. Menard grabbed a tag and collided with Caster. Billy Gunn tagged in and smacked Menard with the Fame Asser. Caster soared down with the Mic Drop and pinned Menard!
Lexy Nair was backstage interviewing the Dark Order ahead of their ROH World Tag Team Title match against champs Adam Cole and MJF tomorrow at All Out!
John Silver: “Adam Cole used to be our best friend, but you threw it away to team with MJF?!”
Alex Reynolds: “And speaking of MJF, not a lot of people know this, but I actually trained MJF to become a pro wrestler. And I told him that if he wanted to succeed, he’d have to do whatever it took. And he did and I’m proud of him. But only one of us took that advice. But the Dark Order needs those titles more than you. Tomorrow night we do whatever it takes to beat you, because we have to!”
Tony Schiavone interviewed Ricky Starks backstage!
Starks: “Here’s the deal. Once again, every obstacle they throw in my way I knock it out of the park. Bryan Danielson, tomorrow night I’m going to show you why I am exactly what I say I am, and that is ‘Absolute’ Ricky Starks!”
Aussie Open—Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis
vs.
Nick Wayne & Komander (with Alex Abrahantes)!
Davis charged at Nick Wayne. Davis whipped Wayne into the turnbuckles. Fletcher tagged in but Wayne knocked Kyle down with a European Uppercut. Komander and Nick Wayne hit Kyle with a double dropkick.
Mark Davis tagged in, but Komander stretched him in the Octopus submission. Davis escaped and tagged Fletcher. Aussie Open used their tandem offense on Komander to take control of the match.
Nick Wayne frog splashed Fletcher for a near fall. Fletcher nailed Wayne with a half and half suplex. Davis spiked Komander with a piledriver. Aussie Open crushed Wayne with the Coriolis and pinned him!
“Color me impressed,” said Nigel.
Tony Schiavone interviewed Nick Wayne in the ring after the match.
Nick Wayne: “I’m frustrated. I lost the match. But what I’m more frustrated about is why Darby Allin forgave AR Fox for what he did to me.”
Darby Allin walked onto the ramp.
Darby: “Nick, stop, just stop. Please stop. I’m going to explain why I forgave AR Fox. I’ve known Nick since he’s been eight years old. His father trained me. I’m going to explain why I forgave AR Fox. You know what happened between your father and me. You were there. There was a time I didn’t talk to your father, your mother, or you for three years.
“I got into a big fight with him, and I burnt that bridge. And before I could make things right, he passed away. And I have to live with that every single day, Nick. I wish I could have made things right. AR Fox is one of my trainers as well. And I refuse to live with the hate. I had to let it go. And that’s why I forgave him so fast. So please find it in your heart to forgive him.
“This Sunday at All Out I am fighting for the TNT Championship. It’d be an honor if you were in my corner for that match.”
Christian Cage and TNT Champion Luchasaurus walked onto the ramp!
Christian Cage: “Nick Wayne. It was rude of me last week to speak so much about your father when I forgot to ask what your mom’s name is. Now I couldn’t help but notice her sitting at ringside. I know she’s not here tonight, so it was a missed opportunity on my part. So perhaps I should just slide into her DM’s and see if maybe we can change that.
“Now speaking of your parents, Nick, did I hear you right Darby? You didn’t speak to his parents for three years? So, let me get this straight, Darby, Nick Wayne is your personal pity project? You’re using him to justify that you’re actually a decent human being? Maybe you should take after me because I don’t pretend to be something that I’m not.
“Now in case where we’re at, Darby. We’re in Chicago. And these people can smell a loser a mile away. And you, my friend, are a loser in life and that will never change. Nick, if I can give you any advice it’s this. Carry a towel with you tomorrow to ringside because you’re going to need to throw that into the ring to stop this match. It’s going to be a massacre at the hands of not just my monster, but the most complete big man in the business today. And when it’s all said and done, I, we will be standing at the top of the mountain as the face of TNT, now and forever.”
Wheeler Yuta and ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli were backstage!
Claudio: “Congratulations Eddie. You beat Wheeler Yuta. You came back from Japan, and you beat the youngest member of the Blackpool Combat Club.”
Claudio smashed Yuta with a European Uppercut.
Claudio: “But I have a newsflash for you. We beat Wheeler every day of the week. You know what the difference is? Wheeler gets back up. He doesn’t stay down and moan like you do Eddie. Eddie, I thought Japan would change you. I was wrong. Eddie, I thought I couldn’t lose any more respect for you. But you proved me wrong.”
Lexy Nair interviewed AEW Women’s World Champion Saraya and Ruby Soho backstage!
Saraya: “I’m awesome. I won in front of 81,000 at Wembley but now I’m stuck in Chicago.”
Ruby: “Kris Statlander has never beaten me in the entire time I’ve been in AEW. And don’t worry about the Outcasts. We’re going to bring not one, but two titles back to the Outcasts. And Toni will be fine. Tonight, we’re going to drop the homegrowns like we’ve done the past few months.”
Tony Schiavone brought NBA Hall of Famer “The Worm” Dennis Rodman out to the ring!
Schiavone asked Rodzilla what he was doing here in AEW. Before Rodman could answer, Jeff Jarrett’s music began to play!
Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Singh, and Jay Lethal came to the ring!
Jeff Jarrett: “The reality is we all have something in common. Satnam Singh is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Jay Lethal, you’ve been a champion since day one. Dennis, you have too! Sonjay Dutt, wherever he goes, he strives for world peace. And Dennis, so do you. And I can’t forget Karen. She looks great in a dress and so do you!
“But all kidding aside, Dennis when it gets right down to it, I was a leader, and you were an integral part of one of the greatest factions of all time. And it was too sweet. And we used to say it was for life. You want to run with the bulls Why don’t you join this family?”
Rodman: “Chicago, it’s a great day to be in Chicago. It’s my first time here in 13 years. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here but I’m loving the fact you guys are loving AEW!”
Jeff Jarrett: “Don’t make me put Satnam on your ass. I want an answer and I want it now.”
Rodman: “When I was playing basketball, Shaq was as big at Satnam, and I whipped his ass.”
Sonjay told the rest of his crew to get out of the ring so he could talk to Rodman alone.
Sonjay: “Let’s talk, Dennis. Now that these guys are out of here, there’s no funny business involved. So, what do you say?”
Rodman threw Sonjay to the mat! The Acclaimed came out with Billy Gunn!
Bowens: “Hey, double jackass, if you want a fight, how about you three get your asses in the ring right now and fight the Acclaimed?”
Billy Gunn: “There is no way Daddy Ass is wrestling twice in one night. But I’ll tell you this. We have nothing to do tomorrow. So, All Out tomorrow, we’ll put the Trios Titles on the line tomorrow with Dennis Rodman in our corner.”
Trios Match!
The Outcasts vs. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., Hikaru Shida, & TBS Champ Kris Statlander!
Statlander shoved Toni Storm to the mat. Kris caught Toni and slammed her. Britt Baker tagged in and walloped Toni with a sling blade.
Shida tagged in, as did Ruby. Saraya and Ruby double teamed Shida. Statlander tagged in and cleaned house on the Outcasts. Statlander nailed Saraya with a running knee strike. Statlander powerslammed Saraya. Britt and Ruby exchanged strikes in the center of the ring. Britt blasted Ruby with a neck breaker. As the ref was distracted, Saraya sprayed Baker in the eyes with paint and Ruby pinned Baker.
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. GPA!
Hobbs nailed GPA with a spinebuster and then pinned him!
“The Redeemer” Miro came out to the ring!
Hobbs and Miro brawled in the ring, and then on the arena floor! They’ll face each other tomorrow at All Out!
Main Event Time!
AEW World Tag Team Champion Dax Harwood (with Cash Wheeler)
vs.
“Switchblade” Jay White (with Bullet Club Gold)!
Jim Ross joined the broadcast booth for the main event.
Jay White had Dax in a headlock. Dax escaped and chopped away at Switchblade. White retreated to the floor when Dax was looking for a submission.
Switchblade suplexed Dax into the turnbuckles. Jay White stomped a mudhole into Dax. Switchblade DDT’ed Dax for a near fall.
Harwood knocked down Jay White with a short arm clothesline. Dax superplexed Jay White!
“Jay White is in agony,” said Kevin Kelly.
Dax went for the diving headbutt, but Jay White dodged it. Dax followed up with a German Suplex and then a brainbuster for a two-count. Jay used a dragon screw leg whip on Dax. He followed up with a suplex to Dax. Jay rocked Dax with a Death Valley Driver for a near fall.
Dax stuffed Jay with a piledriver for a near fall! Jay planted Dax with a uranage. Jay followed up with a sleeper suplex. Jay went for the Blade Runner, but Dax countered with a slingshot powerbomb for a near fall. Dax put Jay White in the Sharpshooter, but Jay White grabbed the ropes. Bullet Club Gold pulled Jay out of the ring, realizing he was in trouble. Dax got out of the ring and Jay White shocked him with a Sling Blade on the arena floor! Back in the ring, Jay White clocked Dax with a Blade Runner and pinned him.
After the match, Bullet Club Gold surrounded Cash Wheeler! The Young Bucks sprinted to the ring and chased off Bullet Club Gold! The Young Bucks offered their hands to FTR, but FTR walked away.
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, IN!
This Sunday order AEW All Out 2023 from the United Center in Chicago, IL, live on pay-per-view at 8PM ET/5PM PT!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
This Sunday, All Elite Wrestling comes to London for the most important event in AEW history since the first DOUBLE OR NOTHING in 2019, and the largest event in All Elite history! In front over 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium, and before a worldwide pay-per-view audience, AEW presents ALL IN: LONDON on Bleacher Report, traditional cable & satellite providers in the United States and Canada, FITE INTERNATIONAL, PPV.COM, and more!
With seven championship matches between the PPV proper and the ZERO HOUR, as well as the return of Stadium Stampede, AEW’s first Tag Team Coffin Match, a Generational Dream Bout, and so much more! The pay-per-view action begins at 6pm BST/1pm EST, with the ZERO HOUR kicking off at 12pm ET/9am PT, featuring an ROH World Tag Team Championship match pitting Aussie Open against Adam Cole & MJF, as well as a FTW Championship Match between Jack Perry and HOOK!
It all began on June 7th in Colorado Springs when Adam Cole and MJF were face-to-face on DYNAMITE, and by the end of the conversation Cole embarrassed the AEW World Champion into a match. It may not have been a championship bout, but on June 14th in Washington, DC, when AEW returned to where DYNAMITE first began in 2019, Cole and MJF met in an Eliminator fight, meaning if Cole beat the champion, he would earn a future title match.
Unfortunately for Cole, despite giving Max a taste of his own medicine by using the AEW World Championship belt as a weapon, and MJF him with both The Boom and The Panama Sunrise, the time limit expired and Cole was left empty handed. He hadn’t earned a future title match, and there was certainly no way MJF was going to gift him one just because they had a good fight. That was certainly not something in Max’s nature, not at that point two months ago, but then something happened, something called the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament. With a future AEW World Tag Team Championship opportunity awaiting the victors, random names were drawn to create tag teams who would then populate the brackets for an eight-team tournament.
Cole and MJF would be the first team put together for the tournament, and while it seemed inevitable they would implode under the weight of their recent history, the exact opposite actually happened. Not only did they did defeat Matt Menard & The Butcher and Big Bill & Brian Cage en route to the finals, they actually managed to win the whole tournament by beating Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara! On top of that, much to the chagrin of Cole’s long-time friend Roderick Strong, Adam and Maxwell actually developed the most unlikely friendship. The two men could not be more different from each other, and yet through their tournament time, their loss to FTR in the AEW World Tag Team Championship bout, and their unique bonding activities away from the ring, these two competitors have actually found mutual respect and even a brotherly love. The most shocking thing to come out of all of this isn’t MJF and Cole becoming friends, it’s that Maxwell Jacob Friedman has actually come to embrace the fans cheering his name and proudly calling themselves his devil worshipers, he’s even been seen slapping hands and hugging children. Given the road MJF has traveled his entire AEW career, if not his entire professional wrestling life, this is the most shocking part of the path to ALL IN: LONDON. Oh, and the fact that MJF actually stuck to the promise he laid out to Cole prior to that FTR bout, that MJF would give Adam Cole an AEW World Championship fight regardless of the championship bout outcome.
Clearly they did not walk away from the bout as new AEW World Tag Team Champions, but in a move that was a true shock, as well as an indicator that perhaps MJF was genuine in his friendship with Cole, the title fight was set for ALL IN: LONDON! What has been most intriguing since that bout was set was seeing if the friendship would implode under the shadow of the AEW World Championship fight, but instead it has seemed to grow stronger, although both Cole and MJF have had their moments when they’ve nearly snuck one on the other man, but has had the side effect of apparently decimating the friendship between Roderick Strong and Adam Cole in the process, driving Strong towards The Kingdom, who experienced their own issues with Cole many years ago in Ring of Honor.
It’s wild to think that mere hours after Adam Cole and the AEW World Champion unite on the ZERO HOUR in an attempt to dethrone Aussie Open as ROH World Tag Team Champions that they will then face one another for the most coveted prize in professional wrestling today.
It will be quite fascinating to see how the outcome of that ZERO HOUR bout factors into the main event of ALL IN: LONDON. Will Adam Cole and MJF enter as the new ROH World Tag Team Champions, or will they enter into the biggest match of their careers as beaten men? Will it be a tag team bout that breaks the bond they’ve built over the last couple months, or one that strengthens the ties enough to survive however the World Championship fight plays out? And just who will walk into Chicago, mere days after this, as the reigning champion looking towards whatever ALL OUT 2023 may have in store for him?
AEW World Tag Team Championship Match
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
The date was November 7th and the event FULL GEAR 2020; it was huge night for several reasons, one being that it was the most people watching AEW in-person since the Pandemic changed our world, but also that it was the night one of pro wrestling’s dream matches finally became reality. After years of debate over who was the better team, The Young Bucks and FTR finally clashed, and with the AEW World Tag Team Championship titles at stake. That night it would be The Young Bucks who walked away victorious, capturing the AEW Tag Titles for the very first time, and at least on that night, staking their claim as the top team in professional wrestling today.
It would be quite some time before we saw Cash, Dax, Matt, and Nick collide in a tag team bout, seventeen months to be precise, and on that night in Boston, with both the ROH World Tag Titles and the AAA Tag Titles at stake, it would be FTR who left Agganis Arena with the win, and both sets of championship titles.
So when FTR finally reclaimed the AEW World Tag Team Championship, defeating The Gunns in April of this year, the speculation began about when fans might get to see a rubber match between these two duos. That speculation came to an end on August 5th when, after defeating Big Bill & Brian Cage in a championship bout, FTR challenged The Young Bucks to a fight at Wembley Stadium! The biggest tag team championship bout for the biggest event in All Elite Wrestling history; it made perfect sense, and The Young Bucks would agree just a few nights later!
So on this grand stage, in front of more than 80,000 of the AEW faithful, and with countless more watching around the world, will we see the heart and soul of All Elite Wrestling become 3-Time AEW World Tag Team Champions or will it Billion Star FTR who lays claim to the best tag team moniker while also retaining their championship titles?
AEW Women’s World Championship Four Way Match
Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Saraya vs. Toni Storm vs. Dr. Britt Baker DMD
What a tangled web this AEW Women’s World Championship bout has become after last Friday night’s tag team bout on RAMPAGE. Defending Champion Shida and Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D teamed up to take on The Outcasts Saraya and Toni Storm in a preview of the Four Way taking place on Sunday at Wembley Stadium.
While there was certainly hope with all four women that this would be an opportunity to get a last minute advantage, and though that is what happened for The Outcasts, it also created a whole mess of tension between all four competitors. The history between Shida and Baker, the one where the latter ended the former’s historic first title reign, seemed to have been set aside as they united against the threat of The Outcasts, but when a blinded Shida decked her own partner, inadvertently setting Britt up to be beaten by Saraya, it was not the best way to put the former foes on the same page against The Outcasts during Sunday’s event. Prior to that moment, it seemed possible that Shida and the Good Doctor could at least unite to insure neither Outcast left Wembley with the Women’s World Championship, but after that blow on Friday, compiled with their history over AEW’s existence, it seems highly unlikely they will find common ground.
That being said, it seemed like a given that The Outcasts would have common ground in the mission to dethrone Shida, and while that may be the case, the way Saraya and Toni Storm left things on Friday night, it seems there could be something rotten in the locker room of The Outcasts. Toni aims to be the first 3-Time champion, while Saraya hopes to not only win her first championship in AEW, but also her first championship in nine years, and those two goals are clearly in conflict. So the question on Sunday will be, if it comes down to either Saraya or Toni Storm getting the victory and the title, will the other allow that to happen? And if there is some dissension in the ranks of The Outcasts, will that provide the opening either Hikaru Shida or Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D need to have their hand raised in victory before 80,000 strong?
Stadium Stampede Match
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta), Eddie Kingston, AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy & Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Blackpool Combat Club (ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta), Santana & Ortiz
It’s been a couple years since Stadium Stampede has reared its head in All Elite Wrestling, since DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2021 to be precise, but this Sunday at Wembley Stadium, before the largest crowd in AEW history, one of the most unpredictable matches in company history makes its return! But it’s not just the match making its return, it’s also several of the competitors returning to action after time away, and some of the strangest bedfellows imaginable!
First off, who would’ve ever thought Eddie Kingston would be standing side-by-side with Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta, and AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy? On top of that, who would’ve thought that, given how toxic their AEW relationship was in past, that the Lucha Brothers would once again stand beside Eddie Kingston, or that Penta and Fenix would unite with The Best Friends given their own violent history as foes?
And could anyone possibly have predicated that two of Eddie Kingston’s oldest friends, two men who spent a great deal of time trying to end Jon Moxley’s career early in AEW’s history, would side up with The Blackpool Combat Club against Eddie in this Stadium Stampede? But then again, the last time we saw Ortiz in All Elite Wrestling, he and Kingston had a massive falling out as a result of House of Black machinations, and they were throwing down with one another. That may have been six months ago, but it was a wound never healed, much less addressed, and it appears this is just one chicken that’s come home to roost for Kingston. The other comes in the form of Santana, a man who has been on the shelf since June 2022’s Blood & Guts match in Detroit recovering from injury, a match he was in at the request of Kingston, and a man who it seems Kingston forgot about in the aftermath of that war.
It’s clear that Kingston’s hatred for Claudio Castagnoli is what’s driving this for him, but for the rest of his group, it’s about what The Blackpool Combat Club has done to them over the last several weeks. The Best Friends and Orange Cassidy have been repeatedly assaulted, look at the Parking Lot Fight from RAMPAGE for a microcosm of what this dynamic has looked like The BCC lost Blood & Guts to The Golden Elite six weeks ago. It feels as if that loss, and how it came to pass, has spiraled Mox, Claudio, and Yuta into a flurry of violence, and The Luchas and Best Friends have been the targets for assorted reasons. The connection to “The Bastard” PAC put a crosshairs on Penta and Fenix, leading to Rey being eliminated from even competing in this match this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE, while Yuta’s connection to The Best Friends, as well as events from ROH’s DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2023 PPV event, led them into this fracas.
And now it will all explode in utterly unpredictable fashion this Sunday at ALL IN: LONDON! How much frustration must Santana have pent-up after over a year away from the fight? How much does Ortiz want to punch Kingston in the mouth for how they left things? For that matter, how much violence do all these men want to inflict upon one another for everything that’s happened over the last several weeks, as well as for everything that’s tied these men together in various fashion both here in All Elite Wrestling, and in their lives before entering into AEW? This will be officially sanctioned chaos, and it is coming to Wembley Stadium this Sunday!
AEW World Trios Championship Match
The House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black) (w/Julia Hart) (c) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) & Billy Gunn
The House of Black couldn’t leave well-enough alone; the AEW World Trios Champions had twice-defeated The Acclaimed in championship fights, and even driven Billy Gunn into retirement, thinking he didn’t have it as a competitor any more, and was better off hanging up his boots in front of the entire world as he sat in the middle of the ring.
But that wasn’t enough for Malakai Black, Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart; perhaps it was the insistence from Max and Anthony that they still believed, with Billy, they were the best trio in All Elite Wrestling. Perhaps they needed to send a message to The Acclaimed of what would happen if they ever came near The House again, and perhaps the disposal of Billy’s boots into the trash bin was part of the message of what would happen should they come knocking on The House’s door once again.
Instead, what The House got was a very angry Max Caster and Anthony Bowens who didn’t care about the numbers, and still wanted a fight with the World Trios Champions knowing they would be, no pun intended, outgunned. So when The Acclaimed’s music hit, as Brody King was preparing to level Anthony Bowens with the same chain used to bloody Max Caster, it was a shock to the former AEW World Tag Team Champions that their friend and mentor was on the spot to not just disperse The House of Black, but to also make a challenge for this match set to take place at Wembley Stadium!
So with The Acclaimed reunited at full strength, this past Saturday on COLLISION the trio decided to share one last verse with their foes before heading into battle at ALL IN: LONDON:
Will The House of Black make a clean sweep of The Acclaimed in this, their third championship fight, and once again prove that it is they who are the most dominant trio in All Elite Wrestling? Or will The Acclaimed take the lessons learned from their previous outings, add that to the renewed confidence demonstrated by Billy Gunn, and turn it into championship success?
“Real” AEW World Championship Match
CM Punk (c) vs. Samoa Joe
ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe was a happy man on Saturday night, if only for a brief moment, because he knew that come Sunday at ALL IN: LONDON he would be getting the fight he’d been wanting ever since CM Punk defeated him during the 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. At first Joe was indignant that Punk didn’t even bother responding to the challenge, which led to Joe removing Punk from the equation when he and FTR challenge The House of Black for the AEW World Trios Championship.
Punk’s response came in the form of a little deception, entering the ring to fight Joe under the guise of Golden Vampire, and laying the ROH World TV Champion low with a GTS before accepting the challenge for this fight at Wembley Stadium. Samoa Joe and CM Punk fighting in England feels appropriate for a number of reasons, one being that their last singles match prior to AEW took place 100 miles away in Conventry back in March 2005, and another being that over 80,000 fans will experience the next chapter in this landmark feud for modern wrestling history. The Trilogy, as it is known to Ring of Honor fans, defined independent wrestling for the 2000’s and beyond, shaped an entire generation of wrestlers who came along afterwards, and helped to save Ring of Honor during one of its most tumultuous times.
As if the heated rivalry between these two warriors wasn’t enough, add in the factor of Punk’s Championship belt, and this is escalated to a whole new level. Whereas the match during The Owen still carried some of the respect built between the two over the years prior, what has led Punk and Joe to this next chapter in their story has been utterly devoid of it. And that calm, peaceful Samoa Joe that sat down on Saturday to do commentary during the main event, that all went out the window when CM Punk chose to apply Joe’s signature choke to Brian Cage in order to win the match. Suffice to say that was the trigger moment that led to the utter chaos that capped off COLLISION, but will it be what ends the night on Sunday for Punk? Will he fall victim to Joe’s choke as he did so many years ago at ROH’s ALL STAR EXTRAGANZA II event, or it will the ROH World TV Champion be put to sleep like he was just a week ago?
Dream Match…
Chris Jericho vs. IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay
This heated up rather quickly; something that began as Don Callis playing his games with people’s lives rapidly turned into a situation in which his games are an afterthought to the hostilities between Chris Jericho and Will Ospreay that exploded during their contract signing this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE.
As Ospreay laid out everything he was fighting for this Sunday at Wembley Stadium, Chris Jericho took credit for the mere fact that the IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion was in that position in the first place. “The Ocho” brought up a five year old phone call as being the reason Ospreay transformed into the wrestler he is today rather than ending up in a wheelchair, and though “The Aerial Assassin” may not have known that was a possibility, Jericho also said he and Will would’ve collided two years ago if not for the pandemic disrupting the plan.
So although Don Callis may have orchestrated the moment in which Ospreay leveled Jericho from behind, this has become about something bigger than Callis stabbing Jericho in the back despite the original AEW World Champion being willing to join the family. This is a generational dream match, two of the greatest competing today, coming from drastically different places in their careers, but both wanting to be known as the absolute best wrestler walking the planet today, and there is no bigger stage to to fight it out than in front of 80,000+ fans inside the biggest venue England has to offer! Ospreay is heading into this after a tremendous showing during NJPW’s G1 Climax Tournament, and after defeating Shingo Takagi at RevPro just 24 hours before ALL IN: LONDON is set to begin. Conversely Jericho heads into this having watched his Appreciation Society, save Sammy Guevara, dissolved right in front of him all because he couldn’t make the choice between Don Callis and The J.A.S. It was only after he’d lost everything that Jericho gave Callis a “yes”, and the fact that Callis anticipated a “no” is what set this ball rolling.
Jericho has made it clear this is the most important match of his life, perhaps more so because of all he’s lost in the last several weeks, and this is the most important event on which he’s ever fought. For Ospreay the same is true, he wants to add Jericho’s name to the list that includes Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, David Finlay, and Shingo Takagi as some of the men he’s beaten in the last two months. For Will it’s about supporting a family, it’s about doing it in his home country on the biggest stage AEW has ever had, and doing it at the expense of a certified legend who still competes at the highest levels.
Of course Don Callis lurks at the shadows around this match, of course he wants to make sure Jericho doesn’t not walk out of Wembley with a win, the words “your head on a platter” were what he spoke regarding what he offered Ospreay to come fight Jericho, and while he did his best to screw Kenny Omega at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, will Callis be there to try to do it to Jericho this Sunday in London?
Trios Match…
BULLET CLUB GOLD (Jay White & Juice Robinson) & Konosuke Takeshita (w/Don Callis) vs. The Golden Elite (Adam Page, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi)
It seems Don Callis will sign up with anyone he can to make Kenny Omega’s life a living hell. First he threw in his lot with The Blackpool Combat Club ahead of Blood & Guts, only to pull Konosuke Takeshita from the fray when things started to get hairy for The BCC after “The Bastard” PAC bailed on them. Callis, and Takeshita for that matter, are lucky The BCC have been occupied with other matters and vengeance hasn’t swung their way for that abandonment.
Now it seems Callis has thrown his favor the way of BULLET CLUB GOLD as they assaulted Kenny Omega while he was in the midst of an interview with Jim Ross. It’s clear this is where they all felt safe accosting Omega, during a situation where there was not a soul available to help him, and yet they still did so with a distinct numbers advantage that “The Cleaner” could not possible have overcome.
And perhaps BC GOLD thought they’d face little repercussion as The Young Bucks would be wrapped up in their own dealings with FTR, Cash and Dax being other people with some BC GOLD bad blood, but thankfully the former AEW World Champion has friends beyond the brothers Jackson.
So it will be this Sunday night that, for the very first time, The Golden Lovers and Hangman Page compete in Trios action to take on another nascent trio in Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Konosuke Takeshita! It’s clear Don Callis is on a revenge trip when it comes to Kenny, will aim any gun he can at the man he once considered family, and will fire any bullets he finds at the former AEW World Champion. This week it’s BULLET CLUB GOLD, but should Kenny, Hangman, and Kota Ibushi turn away this attack, what will Callis throw at Omega next? What will Kenny have to do in order to shut Don Callis down for good?
BULLET CLUB GOLD is supremely confident riding into London, just listen to how they address the situation in the video embedded above, and are utterly convinced their Bang Bang Gang are the dominant force in All Elite Wrestling, but if they can shut down Omega, Ibushi, and Hangman at Wembley, they may be right!
Tag Team Coffin Match…
Christian Cage & Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin & Sting
Originally the challenge to this Tag Team Coffin Match was made to AR Fox and Swerve Strickland, but as was seen this past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, following their tag team loss to Darby Allin and Nick Wayne, Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana fired Fox from The Mogul Embassy, leaving Brian Cage to deliver the killing blow.
This brought out Darby, Nick, and Sting back to run off The Mogul Embassy, despite Fox’s betrayal of the men, which in turn brought Christian Cage and TNT Champion Luchasaurus out as well. The arrival of Cage and the actual TNT Champion led to the announcement that it would be Christian Cage, rather than AR Fox, who would travel to Wembley Stadium for the Tag Team Coffin Match!
It looks like all of Darby Allin’s enemies are lining up against him for this fight as his issues with Christian and Luchasaurus, set to take center stage at ALL OUT 2023 where Darby will fight Luchasaurus for the TNT Championship, merge with those involving Swerve Strickland, and explode in AEW’s first ever Tag Team Coffin Match! Given that it’s Luchasaurus who will actually do the heavy lifting in Chicago, and not Christian Cage, there’s a great deal of concern about what condition Darby will be in for September 3rd at The United Center, but ultimately he and Sting have to focus on one fight at a time, and it’s a fight that’s been part of Darby’s AEW career for quite some time now. For a detailed look at how we got here, check out this history package, but suffice to say that Darby and Swerve have history that predates All Elite Wrestling, and it’s only gotten uglier in the time that both men have been part of the company.
With 80,000-plus cheering them on, Darby Allin and Sting come to Wembley this Saturday not to praise Christian and Swerve, but to lock them inside a coffin and take the first step towards clearing the table. Part one happens in Wembley when the coffin lid is closed on Christian and Swerve, part two takes place in Chicago when Darby Allin becomes a 3-Time TNT Champion; at least that’s their hope.
ZERO HOUR…
ROH World Tag Team Championship Match…
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) (c) vs. Adam Cole & MJF
Suffice to say that the main event of ALL IN: LONDON is going to be greatly affected by the events of the ZERO HOUR beginning at 12pm ET/9am PT on AEW’s official YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@AEW/featured). Adam Cole, having never won the ROH World Tag Team Championship, and MJF, having never competed in anything involving Ring of Honor, will challenge the defending ROH World Tag Team Champs Aussie Open ahead of their fight over the AEW World Championship later in the night!
Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, after capturing the titles at ROH’s DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2023 pay-per-view event, have successfully defended the championship on four occasions, including this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE against The Hardys. They are on quite the roll since their July title victory, but face incredibly tough competition in MJF and Cole who, although relatively new to tag team competition, were victorious in the Blind Eliminator Tag Tournament, and gave FTR a tremendous fight in the AEW World Tag Team Championship loss a few weeks back. Amazingly enough, even with their AEW World Title fight on the horizon, Cole and Friedman have managed to keep their new-found friendship intact. Both men seem intent on maintaining the friendship, despite the protestations of Cole’s long-time friend Roderick Strong, the seeming impossibility that MJF can be trusted at all, and the championship fight coming just a few hours after this tag team title bout.
Can Aussie Open use the circumstances of the evening to their advantage and retain the ROH World Tag Team Titles? Or will the bromance of Cole and MJF lead to success as a team just before the biggest fight of both men’s careers? And if the match plays out in the favor of Aussie Open, how will that affect the AEW World Championship Match, as well as the relationship between championship and challenger? In the history of the ZERO HOUR/BUY-IN, this is the most important match that’s ever taken place, but will it be Aussie Open or MJF/Cole who history remembers as the victor?
Jack Perry may have entered into the Gas South Arena on Saturday night with the intention of smashing the FTW Championship to bits, but “The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil” HOOK had other plans for his former friend, and they didn’t include seeing the championship his father created left in the history books with Perry’s face plastered as its final champion.
The chaos that was the final COLLISION before ALL IN: LONDON would culminate in a crazy brawl involving fighters all slated to compete at Wembley Stadium, but it was Jack Perry who snuck in the back door, having nothing to do with the 10-Man Tag main event, and attacked his challenger. It started when Jack betrayed HOOK at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023, was followed by Perry running from the then-FTW Champion for weeks, before finally having to answer for his betrayal inside the squared circle. Surprisingly Jack handed HOOK his first loss that night in Boston, and even bested Rob Van Dam several weeks ago in Columbus, but HOOK wasn’t going to standby for long given Perry’s threats of what he would do after beating RVD.
Jack Perry can’t run from this one, not even when he’s in London some 5,500 miles away from his Los Angeles home, even there HOOK will be waiting, and retribution will be waiting with him!
This Sunday the biggest event in AEW history goes down at Wembley Stadium when All Elite Wrestling presents ALL IN: LONDON in front of more than 80,000 fans in London, and before a worldwide audience on Bleacher Report, traditional cable & satellite providers in the United States and Canada, FITE INTERNATIONAL, PPV.COM, and more!
From Adam Cole challenging MJF for the AEW World Championship to the return of Stadium Stampede, from AEW’s first Tag Team Coffin Match to a loaded AEW Woman’s World Championship Four Way, and from a Dream Bout pitting Chris Jericho against Will Osprey to FTR/Young Bucks Round Three, and so much more, this is a loaded event from top-to-bottom! The pay-per-view action starts at 6pm BST/1pm EST, with the ZERO HOUR getting underway at 12pm ET/9am PT, and includes the ROH World Tag Team Championship match between Aussie Open and Adam Cole/MJF, plus a FTW Championship Grudge Match between Jack Perry and HOOK!
Whether you’re there in-person or watching on PPV, you are all a part of history that would not have been possible without the support of the AEW faithful around the world!
Tonight’s AEW COLLISION: Fyter Fest was broadcast live from Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA!
Caprice Coleman and Kevin Kelly were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
It’s Saturday night and you know what that means! Saturday night’s alright for fighting!
The FTW Championship Retirement Ceremony with FTW Champ Jack Perry opened the show!
Jack Perry: “These things are never easy. As the greatest FTW Champion who ever lived, I felt a personal responsibility to come out here and say a few nice things about this title. It was a good title. It had its ups and downs.
“This thing has grown near and dear to my heart. Because in a 100 years when they look up FTW in the history books, there’ll be a picture of my face. What a beautiful legacy that will be left behind for this title thanks to me. And you know what, I think that it’s finally time that we send this title to a better place.”
Jack Perry pulled out a sledgehammer. Jack Perry was about to smash the title when Hook appeared on the screen. “I’ll be back for what’s mine,” said Hook on a voiceover.
When the video of Hook was over, Hook appeared in the ring, behind an unsuspecting Jack Perry! Jack swung the sledgehammer at Hook, but Hook dodged it and T-bone suplexed Jack Perry! Hook followed up with a T-bone suplex to Perry through the table!
“Whoa, that’s FTW style!” said Kevin Kelly.
Hook: “Wembley, Sunday!”
Trios Match!
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, Penta El Zero Miedo, & NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston
vs.
The Butcher, The Blade, & Kip Sabian!
Sabian shoved Penta El Zero Miedo. Butcher and Kingston rammed each other with shoulder blocks. Blade and Butcher double teamed Kingston. Penta tagged in and hit Blade with a thrust kick. Penta threw Blade on top of Butcher in the corner.
Kip pulled Penta’s legs from outside the ring, crotching Penta on the ring post. Orange Cassidy took offense to this and connected with a tope suicida to Kip Sabian. Cassidy cracked Kip with a thrust kick. Kip distracted the ref long enough for Butcher and the Blade to double team Orange.
Blade nailed Orange with a swinging neck breaker. Blade held Cassidy while Kip jumped off the top rope with a double stomp to Cassidy. Penta tagged in and cleaned house on Butcher, Blade, and Sabian.
Butcher and Kingston clobbered one another with lariats. Sabian tagged in but Kingston fired off machine gun style chops. Kingston blasted Butcher with a spinning back fist. Sabian jumped from the top turnbuckle, but Kingston caught him with an Exploder suplex. After Cassidy hit the Orange Punch for good measure, Kingston used the sliding lariat to pin Kip Sabian!
After the match, the Best Friends got in the ring. Trent said at Stadium Stampede, they were seeking revenge for Sue’s van.
The Blackpool Combat Club, along with Santana and Ortiz, appeared on the stage screen from backstage.
Moxley: “Eddie Kingston, I want you to calm down and remember that you made the challenge for All In and for Stadium Stampede and that we could pick the partners we wanted. So why are you surprised?”
Santana: “Wembley Stadium, are ya’ll ready to walk through the fire?”
Kingston left the ring to chase down the BCC!
Kingston: “You want a message? I’m not surprised Santana and Ortiz. I’m not surprised you turned. I get it. But it doesn’t mean I’m not gonna gut you up at Stadium Stampede. Jon, get out of my way. Yuta, I’m gonna bury you. But Claudio, I’m gonna leave you for last. I’m gonna burn you. I’m gonna make sure you’re scarred forever.”
Dark Order’s John Silver & Alex Reynolds
vs.
Action Andretti & Darius Martin!
Action reversed a wrist lock from Silver, but Silver shoved Action into the Dark Order’s corner. Reynolds tagged in and worked over Action Andretti.
Darius tagged in and he and Action used their tandem tactics on Reynolds. After a blind tag, Silver power bombed Action onto Reynold’s knees.
Darius was able to tag in and he regained momentum for his team. Darius nailed Reynolds with a brain buster, and Action, the legal man, followed up with a 450 splash for a near fall. Dark Order had enough though, and used their flurry of tandem offense, including a German suplex and then Reynolds scoring the victory with the jackknife pin!
Footage aired from an interview that Darby Allin and Nick Wayne had with Lexy Nair from last Wednesday after Dynamite.
AR Fox interrupted the interview!
Fox: “Nick, I’m sorry. 16 years, man. It took me 16 years to get here, and I never thought I’d make it. When I lost that match to Orange Cassidy, I just thought everybody lost faith in me. I just panicked, man.”
AR Fox offered his hand, but Nick Wayne walked off.
Darby Allin: “I know you’re sorry.”
Darby accepted AR Fox’s hand.
Big Bill (with “Absolute” Ricky Starks) vs. Vary Morales!
Big Bill picked up Vary and threw him halfway across the ring!
“A seek and destroy mission,” said Kevin Kelly.
Big Bill charged and splashed Morales in the corner. Big Bill rocked Vary with a massive boot to the face. Big Bill planted Vary Morales with a chokeslam and pinned him!
After the match, Ricky Starks grabbed a microphone and said Vary reminded him of a young Ricky Steamboat. He proceeded to whip Vary with the same belt he whipped Steamboat with.
Lexy Nair was backstage with The Outcasts’ Ruby Soho!
Ruby Soho: “Kris Statlander, I challenge you for your TBS Championship in Chicago at All Out. And I’m going to beat you once again. You may be more than a woman, but you’ll always be less than an Outcast.”
Willow Nightingale vs. Robyn Renegade (with Charlotte Renegade)!
Willow escaped a headlock, but Robyn connected with a solid right hand shot. Willow fired back with a splash for a near fall. Willow took down Robyn with two snap suplexes. Robyn tripped up Willow and planted her on the ring apron.
Willow clobbered Robyn with a clothesline. She rocked Robyn with a spinebuster for a near fall. Mercedes Martinez and Diamante were watching the match on a monitor backstage.
Robyn dodged a cannonball from Willow and followed up with a missile dropkick. Willow was almost double teamed outside the ring, but she was able to double suplex the Renegade sisters on the arena floor. Willow power bombed Robyn in the ring and pinned her!
Statlander: “I am the TBS Champion, so if you want to call me out, I will see you Ruby, at All Out!”
“Limitless” Keith Lee vs. Zicky Dice!
Keith Lee ran over Dice with a lariat. Keith Lee pounced Dice! Keith Lee hit the powerbomb and pinned Zicky Dice!
“That is a decisive victory,” said Caprice.
Main Event Time!
All In All-Star 8-Man Tag!
Jay White, Swerve Strickland, Luchasaurus, & Brian Cage
vs.
AEW “Real World Champion” CM Punk, Darby Allin, Sting, & Hook!
Ring of Honor World TV Champion Samoa Joe was on commentary for this match.
Jim Ross joined the broadcast team to provide his main event analysis.
Swerve mocked CM Punk after taking him down. Jay White tagged in and said he wanted Sting! Punk turned around to tag in Sting but Jay White blindsided Punk. CM Punk answered back with knife edge chops. Punk suplexed “Switchblade” and then tagged out to Hook. After some grappling, Hook tagged in Darby. Darby held the wrist lock on Jay White and tagged Punk back into the match.
Punk was going to tag Sting in, but Jay White retreated and tagged Luchasaurus. Darby slapped Luchasaurus in the face. Darby blind tagged Sting. Darby and Sting splashed Luchasaurus in the corner.
Hook battered Swerve in the corner. He hurled Swerve overhead with a suplex. Jay White distracted Hook and Swerve hit Hook from behind. Brian Cage came in and stomped Hook in the corner. Hook suplexed “The Machine” Brian Cage!
Punk and Jay tagged in for their respective teams. Punk cleaned house on the opposition. Punk used a running bulldog. He body slammed Jay White. Punk hit the Macho Man elbow drop on “Switchblade.”
Hook came in but Luchasaurus choke slammed him. Brian Cage ate a roundhouse kick from Punk. CM Punk lifted up Cage and nailed him with the GTS, the whole time staring down Samoa Joe who was sitting at the commentary booth. Punk locked on Samoa Joe’s finisher and forced Brian Cage to tap out!
Samoa Joe ran into the ring! He and Punk began to brawl! Samoa Joe headbutted CM Punk. Jack Perry sprinted to the ring and blindsided Hook! CM Punk whipped Samoa Joe into the guardrail. Sting hit Swerve with a kendo stick! Samoa Joe smashed CM Punk with the Real World Title!
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from NOW Arena in Chicago, IL!
Be a part of history! This Sunday order All In: London from Wembley Stadium, live on pay-per-view at 6pm BST / 1pm ET! Zero Hour begins at 5pm BST / Noon ET / 9am PT!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
Tonight’s episode of AEW DYNAMITE: Fyter Fest was broadcast live from Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA!
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 show opened with a graphic paying tribute to Terry Funk: 1944-2023.
Trios Match!
The Elite—Kenny Omega, & The Young Bucks—Matt & Nick Jackson
vs.
Juice Robinson & The Gunns—Austin & Colten!
The Elite charged up the ramp and attacked Bullet Club Gold, wasting no time! Juice Robinson decked ref Rick Knox. The Bucks superkicked Juice Robinson. Jay White, who wasn’t even in the match, began to stomp Matt Jackson.
The Gunns blasted Nick Jackson with the 3:10 to Yuma! Matt superkicked the Gunns. Jay White planted Matt and then Kenny Omega ran in. Omega nailed Colten with a snapdragon. Austin was looking for a fameasser, but Kenny blocked it. Kenny blasted Jay White with a V-Trigger! Kenny went for another V-Trigger, but Takeshita ran in and rocked Kenny with a lariat.
“This match has been thrown out,” said Excalibur.
AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR—Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler—ran out to even up the odds for the Elite. Back in the ring, Takeshita battered Kenny with elbow strikes. Kenny fired back with a knee strike. Kenny lifted Takeshita for the one-winged angel, but Takeshita escaped Kenny’s grasp and ran out of the ring.
Renee Paquette spoke with AEW World Champion MJF backstage!
MJF: “If there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I can’t get enough of people chanting my name. When it’s time for the main event at All In: London, I want you to cheer me on. Let’s make this this loudest chant in the history of professional sports.
“The old me would have BS’ed you and said there was no pressure, but main eventing this Sunday, I feel an immense amount of pressure. This is the biggest event in the history of professional wrestling, bar none. None of this happens without my own talent, without all the fans, and not without all the people who have paved the road for professional wrestling prior.
“I’m about to be the biggest headliner in the history of professional wrestling and that’s insane. Think about all the people that came before me: Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, Dusty Rhodes, John Cena, the Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H, Undertaker, the list goes on and on. I am standing on the shoulders of giants. And on Sunday, August 27th, if I win, I might become a giant myself. So yeah, there’s a lot of pressure but frankly it’s a pressure I’m ready for.
“Look, this is all really new for me. I’ve never had a genuine friend before in my entire life. That’s not me trying to work you guys. That’s real. Adam Cole has made me a better person in a really short amount of time. He taught me I can trust, and I can let my guard down. Frankly, Adam’s not just my friend, he’s my brother. Yeah, brothers fight, but at the end of the day, brothers hug it out. And we always hug it out.
“And I understand why you guys would have reservations about trusting me. I’m far from perfect. Think about the worst thing you’ve done in your life…I’ve probably done that twice. However, I’ve been vulnerable for the first time in my life. And I’m asking you people to go on this journey with me. Be vulnerable with me and I promise you, you will be rewarded. And that’s the first promise in my life that I intend to keep. Because I’m not just a scumbag, I’m your scumbag.”
Jon Moxley vs. Rey Fenix (with Alex Abrahantes)!
Mox and Fenix traded chops. Mox ducked a kick. Rey Fenix connected with a dropkick on target. Rey Fenix followed up with a tope suicida, and then a second tope to Moxley.
Moxley tore at Rey Fenix’s mask. Moxley curb stomped Rey Fenix on the arena floor. Moxley drove the flat of his boot against the face of Rey Fenix.
Rey Fenix stunned Moxley with a kick to the back of the head. Moxley charged and scored with a lariat to Fenix. Moxley captured Rey Fenix’s arms and then began to stomp Fenix.
Rey Fenix scored with a kick to Moxley. Fenix was looking for a cutter, but Mox caught him. Fenix escaped and stomped Moxley, and then followed up with the cutter for a near fall.
Rey Fenix walloped Moxley with a frog splash for a near fall! Moxley countered a fireman’s carry with elbows to Fenix. Moxley tried for the Death Rider, but Fenix countered with a cradle for a near fall. Fenix jumped off the ropes, but Moxley countered with a big antiair uppercut.
Rey Fenix connected with a thrust kick. Moxley dug his fingers into Rey Fenix’s back. Moxley bit the face of Rey Fenix. Moxley nailed Fenix with an avalanche Death Rider for a near fall! Moxley applied the sleeper, trapping Rey Fenix, and forcing Fenix to sleep.
Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli jumped into the ring with crowbars! Penta El Zero Miedo and Eddie Kingston tried to come out to make the save, but Ortiz, holding the madball, got in between them and the ring!
Santana made his return! He charged right at Penta El Zero Miedo. Rey Fenix got whacked by a crowbar in the side of the head by the BCC!
“Mike Santana making his return! Ortiz making his return!” said Excalibur.
Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, and Trent came down the ramp!
“The Best Friends now coming down,” said Tony Schiavone.
Doc Sampson had to get in the ring to check on Rey Fenix.
“I think Fenix is in bad shape here. He got cracked in the side of the head with the crowbar,” said Taz.
Rey Fenix was carried out on a stretcher and then loaded into an ambulance.
Backstage, Renee Paquette attempted to interview Eddie Kingston.
Kingston: “You saw what your husband did?! You want me to fix it? Yeah, I’m gonna fix it at Wembley, watch!”
Earlier in the day, Renee Paquette interviewed Sammy Guevara!
Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Daniel Garcia interrupted Sammy before Sammy could get a word out.
Menard: “Sammy, what are you doing? You realize Jericho accepted the offer? He said yes. And the only reason things went south was because of that stupid painting. Don Callis is exactly who we thought he was!”
Sammy: “Yeah, but Chris isn’t who you think he is. I’ve known him since day one of Dynamite. We’ve had our ups, we’ve had our downs, and yeah, I don’t agree with everything he does, but he’s blinded by friendship. He’s known Callis for 30 years. When your friends are in the wrong, that’s when you need to be there for them even more. I told Chris I’m always going to have his back, and I meant that.”
Angelo Parker: “Sammy, understand this, as your friends, we’re trying to make sure you don’t make that same mistake of being blinded by friendship. You see the trend here? It’s always Sammy who’s there for his friend. But when it comes down to it Sammy, is your friend going to be there for you? It’s just something to think about.”
Garcia stared at Sammy and then walked away without saying anything.
Up next: The Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay All In: London Contract Signing!
Tony Schiavone was in the ring with security.
Will Ospreay walked to the ring with Don Callis.
Chris Jericho came to the ring with Sammy Guevara.
Don Callis: “Everybody wants to know why I did what I did last week, Chris. It’s real simple. The reason I did what I did can be summed up in four words. Will By God Ospreay! Because I realize the only thing better for me than having Chris Jericho in the Don Callis family was if I could play a part in ending the career of the greatest of all time.
“And I had to make an offer to this kid that no one else could. You know what I offered him? Your head on a platter at Wembley. So yeah, I threw away 34 years of friendship, I chose money and power over our friendship. I chose writing history rather than watching it and I chose Will Ospreay over you.
“So, Chris, on a serious note, a couple years ago you nearly died in England. Well Chris, this Sunday at Wembley, I’m going to be in Will Ospreay’s corner to make sure that that job gets done to you once and for all.”
Will Ospreay: “Chris, are you actually taking this match seriously or is this some type of vanity project to get your band to play at Wembley Stadium? Do you understand what Wembley Stadium is? It is the biggest venue in the entire U.K. This match is going to change by life, bruv. The day before I wrestle Chris Jericho, I’m doing an indie. I’m trying to put as much money together to put my kid through school. This match changes my life, bruv.
“After this, after I beat you in wrestling’s biggest event, I’m going to be the only man to say I’ve beaten Kenny Omega, Okada, and Chris Jericho in two months. And that goes very well in six months’ time, because my contract comes up from New Japan Pro-Wrestling. And who is going to pay millions of dollars for Will Ospreay? Because I know I’m the best wrestler. I’m better than the Elite. I’m better than Danielson. I’m better than Punk. I’m better than you!
“All your championships, your legacy, I respect it all mate, but all it is is rocket fuel for me and my future.”
Will Ospreay signed the contract.
Chris Jericho: “Let’s talk about your future, Will. No, let’s talk about your present. And congratulations to all the things you’ve accomplished in the last six months. But I don’t think you’d have accomplished those things if it wasn’t for me. Because five years ago when the entire wrestling world was all predicting you were going to be in a wheelchair before you were 30 years old, like your hero the Dynamite Kid, because you were so reckless, I called you.
“I got your number, and I told you to tone it down because if you didn’t, you’d never have the longevity of Chris Jericho and you would never be what I’d knew you’d be before anybody else, which is one of the top stars in this business.
“And hey, you listened to me, Will, and now here we are, Wembley Stadium, Jericho versus Ospreay. And you didn’t have to attack me from behind last week to get this match, Will, because this match has been in the works for years. This match was supposed to happen in 2021 at the Tokyo Dome before the lockdown, but there’s no lockdown now. This is Wembley. This is the biggest show in pro wrestling history, which means it’s the biggest show of my career. Almost 33 years, don’t tell me this is a vanity project for me. This is bigger than any WrestleMania, this is bigger than any Tokyo Dome, this is bigger than anything!
“This match means more to me than it does to anybody else. Because you’re coming at this from the bottom. I’m coming at it from the top of the effin’ mountain with everyone trying to knock me off.
“Every hater on social media is trying to predict my demise. So that means I have to be the best Chris Jericho that I’ve ever been to beat you Will Ospreay. But in return, you have to be the best Will Ospreay you’ve ever been to beat me.”
Chris Jericho signed the contract.
Jericho: “So prove it to me Ospreay. Prove it to your family at Wembley sitting in the front row. Your mother, your father, you missus, your four year old stepson that you’ve got to put through school. Prove it to them in front of 80,000 of your countrymen that you can beat Chris Jericho. And don’t make me regret the fact that I picked up the phone and called you five years ago. And don’t make me forget that I kept you from being in a wheelchair—”
Will Ospreay slapped the microphone out of Jericho’s hand! Jericho slapped Will Ospreay in the face! Security had to keep Jericho and Ospreay separated.
Renee Paquette spoke with Adam Cole backstage!
Adam Cole: “It’s so bizarre, never in a million years would you think a guy like Adam Cole and MJF would not only get along but become best friends. I think the world of him professionally. He’s an absolutely amazing professional wrestler. We’ve had a ton of fun together.
“But the thing I appreciate the most about MJF is he helped me find myself again. When I came back from my injury, my confidence was at an all time low. This relationship that I’ve formed with Max, he’s reminded me who the real Adam Cole is. And I’ll love him forever for that.
“When I got into pro wrestling, I never got into it with the intention of being a wrestler. I got in with the intention of being the best pro wrestler. I’ve won world championships all over the globe, but the AEW World Championship solidifies you as the best pro wrestler on the planet. This match is everything. I don’t want to win the match. I need to win the match. And I will.
“I don’t understand how people find it so hard to process that two people can be friends. Is it that hard? Is it that hard? I’m gonna say this one time and one time only. There are no issues with me and Max. None! Thank you, Renee!”
Tornado Tag Team Match!
Mogul Embassy’s Swerve Strickland & AR Fox (with Prince Nana)
vs.
Darby Allin & Nick Wayne!
Swerve threw Darby hard into the barricade. AR Fox nailed Nick Wayne with a German suplex off the top rope. AR Fox hit an implosion senton to the outside on Nick Wayne and Darby Allin!
Nick Wayne’s mother was in the front row.
Swerve spiked Nick on the apron. Nick Wayne jumped off the turnbuckle and blasted Swerve and Fox with a double cutter on the arena floor!
“Double Wayne’s World on the outside!” said Excalibur.
Darby nailed Swerve and Fox with a Coffin Drop from the turnbuckle to the arena floor!
Nick Wayne tried for Wayne’s World again, but Fox and Swerve countered with a brutal neck breaker! Darby came over the top with a stunner to Fox and then rocketed to the outside like a missile to Swerve!
Swerve crushed Darby on the arena floor with a Swerve Stomp from off the apron! Swerve booted Nick in the face. Fox hit a corkscrew brainbuster on Nick Wayne, but Nick kicked out at two! Fox did it again, but Nick Wayne kicked out again! Swerve kicked Nick in the back of the head…Nick kicked out of the pin attempt again!
“He has great resilience,” said Taz.
Swerve and Fox hit double pump kicks in the corner on Nick Wayne. Fox went for the 450 splash but Nick Wayne rolled out of the way! Nick Wayne cradled Fox and pinned him while Darby held back Swerve!
Swerve: “This is so disappointing. And by disappointing, I mean you Fox. How come every time you get the opportunity of a lifetime, you blow it! I tried. Why are you such a loser Fox? Little did you know this was a test for you. This was all a test. You can’t be an 18-year-old child Nick Wayne, who I wiped the floor with. I can’t trust you Fox. I can’t trust you in this match. I damn sure can’t trust you in front of 80,000 people at Wembley.”
Prince Nana: “On behalf of the Mogul Embassy, AR Fox you are fired!”
“The Machine” Brian Cage jumped into the ring from out of nowhere and rocked Fox with a spinning lariat. Cage planted Fox with the Drill Claw.
Darby Allin and Nick Wayne came back down to the ring, but this time they brought Sting with them! The Mogul Embassy retreated, leaving behind AR Fox.
Darby: “AR Fox, I wouldn’t be here today without you. You changed my life. You took me in when I was homeless. And no matter what you did to me, I’m always going to credit you for helping me make it here. Take my hand. I love you, man.”
Darby Allin and AR Fox hugged.
Darby: “Swerve, you’re stupider than I thought. 80,000 people in London, this Sunday, what are you going to do? Who do you got?”
Swerve and Prince Nana were standing beside Brian Cage and laughing. Christian Cage and the TNT Champion Luchasaurus walked out.
Christian Cage: “You guys shouldn’t be so surprised. The true greats are always two steps ahead, ain’t that right, Stinger? Darby, Sting, are you going to introduce me to your little friend? I think I know who this guy is. I heard a lot about you, Nick Wayne. It’s nice to meet you in person finally. I heard about your story. And I understand you have a father, and your father is dead.
“I also understand that your father was a professional wrestler. Well, I’ve never heard of your father, Buddy Wayne before, so he must not have been very good. The good news for you, Nick, is because your father was such a talentless hack, you don’t have a lot to live up to. And if I were you, I’d still clear of Wembley Stadium this Sunday, because I’d hate for you to have déjà vu and watch that coffin door close on someone you love for the second time in your life.
“But hey Nick, if you play your cards right, kid, I’ll be there to mentor you when it’s all over. Because we all know that every fatherless child needs a true mentor and there’s no better mentor than the TNT Champion!”
“Reminder that the TNT Champion is Luchasaurus and not Christian Cage,” said Excalibur.
AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR—Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler had a face-to-face interview with the Young Bucks—Matt & Nick Jackson!
Cash: “We need to know once and for all, and same for you guys I’m sure, who is better—FTR or the Young Bucks. No excuses.”
Renee: “Each team has one apiece. We’re now going into the rubber match for the championship in front of 80,000+ fans in a packed Wembley Stadium. Does this feel like the biggest match in your career?”
Matt Jackson: “Yeah, when we first did All In all those years ago, it seemed impossible to do 10,000 in an arena. And now here we are 8 times over. Biggest match of our career…understatement of the century.”
Nick Jackson: “I feel like Matt and I are made men. We don’t need to win this match. These guys need to beat us for their legacy to be cemented on the top. I feel strongly about that too.”
Dax: “This goes far beyond business. This is personal to us. It’s about the AEW World Tag Team Championships. But I think it goes far beyond the AEW World Tag Team Championships. And I’ve said it to the point where it annoys me. The legacy. FTR’s legacy. And the only tag team that stands in our legacy is the Young Bucks. And on Monday morning I don’t want to wake up to explain to my family that I lost.”
Matt Jackson: “I’d love to remind you, how do you feed your daughter? Do you remember we brought you here? We were the reason you have jobs here. You want to talk about legacy? I hate to do this, and I know this just got awkward, but this is the truth. One day when this is all said and done, and we decide to hang up our sneakers and say that’s it, you know what people are going to say about the Young Bucks? ‘The Young Bucks…let’s finally give them their damn flowers. That’s the best damn tag team that has ever competed in pro wrestling.’
“And do you know what they’re going to say about you? They’re not going to say it. They’re going to whisper it. They’re going to say, ‘And those guys, those are the guys the Young Bucks named on their YouTube show.’ And that’s the truth.” Dax: “You guys had to jump on our name, and on our popularity and insult us, because you wanted to be on our level. There ain’t no way. But here’s the thing. 80,000 people, we will make you guys. Every time you get a chance you say you’re the foundation. Well, we’re the foundation here now.”
Matt Jackson: “We’ll see you at Wembley.”
Skye Blue vs. The Outcasts’ Ruby Soho!
Ruby dumped Skye to the outside. Skye swept out Ruby’s leg on the apron. Skye connected with a thrust kick and then whipped Ruby into the guardrail.
Ruby chopped at Skye in the corner. Ruby gouged Skye’s eyes. Sky rocked Ruby with a jumping knee strike. Skye jumped off the apron and hit Ruby with a diving crossbody press.
Skye jumped off the top rope with another diving crossbody for a near fall on Ruby. Skye planted Ruby with a spinning neck breaker. Skye Blue nailed Ruby with Skye Fall for a two-count!
Ruby countered the Code Blue attempt. Ruby cracked Skye with the No Future kick! Ruby spiked Skye with the Destination Unknown and then pinned her!
Renee Paquette was backstage with Roderick Strong and The Kingdom!
Strong: “At the end of the night at All In, we’re going to find out who the real MJF is and we’re going to find out who the real Adam Cole is.”
The Acclaimed—Max Caster and Anthony Bowens came to the ring!
Bowens: “No more games! We’re still standing! House of Black, get your asses to this ring right now! Let’s fight!”
The arena went black as the lights switched off!
The AEW World Trios Champs—The House of Black—walked down the ramp with Julia Hart!
The House of Black surrounded the Acclaimed, who were standing in the ring outnumbered. Both teams began to brawl, 3 on 2! The Acclaimed were outnumbered and were being pummeled by the House of Black.
Daddy Ass stormed to the ring and the House of Black retreated!
Daddy Ass: “Hold on just one second! You wanted my attention, well, now you’ve got it. So let me try to explain to you kind of what you’ve done. A couple of weeks ago after you beat me for the second time, I sat right there, unlaced my boots, and I did the two hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my entire life. Walk out on Max and Anthony and leave behind a really good career. And I was okay with that but then last week you jumped Max and Anthony.
“You busted Max open. You hurt one of my kids. But that wasn’t good enough. Then you took my boots, and you destroyed them. You tried to tear down a legacy that has taken me 32 years to build. I’ve done stuff in this business that will go down in wrestling history. I am a hall of famer and you just pissed all over it.
“So, for that, for that, one more time, it’s all or nothing, All In, Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people. Look in my eyes. I take everything from you. Because at All In it’s the House of Black against the Acclaimed and well, unfortunately that fun loving Daddy Ass can’t make the trip. But there is a guy I thought we’d never see again. And I guarantee you never wish you saw him either because there’s a bad ass coming to London and his name is Billy Gunn!”
Main Event Time!
ROH World Tag Team Championship Match!
Aussie Open—Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis (c.)
vs.
The Hardys—Matt & Jeff Hardy!
Aussie Open came in hot, charging right at the Hardys. Matt and Jeff began to fire back.
The fans chanted “Let’s go Hardys! Let’s go Hardys!”
Jeff launched off Matt’s back and splashed Mark Davis in the corner. Jeff did it again, this time to Kyle Fletcher!
The Hardys hit clotheslines on Aussie Open, sending the champs over the top rope and spilling to the arena floor.
Jeff Hardy jumped off the top turnbuckle and wiped out Aussie Open. Matt back body dropped Kyle Fletcher. Matt DDT’ed Davis and then hit the Side Effect on Fletcher for a near fall. Matt dropped an elbow across the base of Fletcher’s neck.
Matt superplexed Fletcher and then Jeff splashed Fletcher for a near fall. Davis was there to break up the pin attempt. Fletcher powerbombed Matt Hardy. Davis muscled up Jeff Hardy and then planted him right into a kick by Fletcher! Aussie Open double teamed Jeff with the Aussie Arrow and pinned Jeff!
“Hey man, you get a win over the Hardys, that’s impressive,” said Taz.
Kyle Fletcher: “Wembley Stadium, there will be no double clothesline. There will be no kangaroo kick. And Aussie Open will still be your Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions, baybay!”
The fans erupted as AEW World Champion MJF and Adam Cole headed to the ring shoulder to shoulder. They faced off with Aussie Open and had a stare down. Things broke down and MJF and Cole brawled with Aussie Open. Aussie Open beat down Cole and MJF. Aussie Open were going for the double clothesline on Adam Cole until MJF jumped on Davis’ back. Adam Cole wiped out Fletcher with a pump kick, and then he served up a pump kick to Davis!
MJF and Cole called for the double clothesline! Davis bailed out of the ring, though. MJF was about to go for the kangaroo kick on Fletcher when Davis hit MJF from behind! Cole wiped out Davis with a superkick! Fletcher charged at Cole, but MJF saved him by clocking Fletcher with a back elbow. MJF held Fletcher back for Adam Cole to superkick Fletcher. Fletcher escaped and Adam Cole almost inadvertently superkicked MJF, but MJF caught the kick with his hands and blocked it.
MJF held up his AEW World Championship Title. Adam Cole offered his hand, but MJF pushed past him. MJF pulled out his Dynamite diamond ring and put it on his finger. He turned around, but then removed it and put it back in his pocket. MJF called for Cole and then they hugged!
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from NOW Arena in Chicago, IL!
This Friday tune in to AEW RAMPAGE at 10pm ET on TNT!
Don’t miss AEW Collision on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c!
Be a part of history! This Sunday order All In: London from Wembley Stadium, live on pay-per-view at 6pm BST / 1pm ET! Zero Hour begins at 5pm BST / Noon ET / 9am PT!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
Tonight’s AEW COLLISION: Fight for The Fallen was broadcast live from the Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY!
Nigel McGuinness and Kevin Kelly were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
It’s Saturday night and you know what that means! Saturday night’s alright for fighting!
Tonight’s opening contest: ROH World TV Champion Samoa Joe vs. The Golden Vampire!
The Golden Vampire went right after Joe and rocked him with a rising knee strike. He hit the GTS on Samoa Joe and unmasked—it was CM Punk!
CM Punk: “I accept, bitch!”
“That took about a minute,” said Kevin Kelly.
“Samoa Joe challenged Punk to a match. Joe asked a second time and choked out Punk. Now Samoa Joe has his answer. CM Punk may have just awoken a sleeping giant,” said Nigel.
“And Tony Khan has just made it official. Next Sunday at All In: London, for the “Real World Championship”, CM Punk against Samoa Joe,” added Kevin Kelly.
“Switchblade” Jay White (with Bullet Club Gold) vs. Dalton Castle (with The Boys)!
Dalton grappled Jay White to the mat, showing off his high level amateur wrestling background. Jay White chopped Dalton Castle to the mat and then tossed him out of the ring. The Boys helped Dalton back into the ring and he took down White.
“The party peacock getting back on offense,” said Nigel.
Dalton charged Jay with a running knee, but Jay White moved out of the way and Dalton flopped out of the ring. Jay White planted Dalton on the edge of the ring!
“Switchblade” Jay White and Dalton Castle traded chops in the center of the ring until Jay White hit a low dropkick to Castle’s leg. Dalton fired right back with one of his trademark suplexes. Dalton attempted a running bulldog, but Jay White pushed him away. Dalton hurled Jay White overhead with two suplexes. Dalton followed up with a deadlift German Suplex for a near fall on White.
Dalton charged at Jay White but White pulled the ropes down and Dalton’s momentum carried him out and to the arena floor. Dalton connected with a rana on Jay White.
“This peacock can fly,” said Nigel.
Bullet Club Gold surrounded Dalton Castle, but the Boys left the nest, flying over the top rope and wiping out Bullet Club Gold. Jay White nailed Castle with a sleeper suplex. Jay White smashed Dalton with the Blade Runner and pinned him!
“Switchblade Jay White continues on the march, beating a former Ring of Honor World Champion,” noted Kevin Kelly.
Tony Schiavone was in the ring to interview Bullet Club Gold, asking them about their match at All In: London against Kenny Omega, “Hangman” Adam Page, and Ibushi!
Jay White: “Tony, we talk about what we want to talk about. First up, guns up for my Lexington Gold members! What I want to talk about, I got a message for my old friend Kenny Omega in his hospital bed. So, Kenny, I hope you’re paying attention. Because if the so-called god of professional wrestling doesn’t want to be exposed at the biggest professional wrestling event of all time in Wembley Stadium, then I think Mr. Omega, you’d better stay in that bed.
“We’ve known you for almost a decade now, Kenny, myself and Juice here. We sat back for too long while you and your friends deceive the entire professional wrestling world. No, they have deceived all of you into believing the Elite is the peak of Bullet Club. But Tony, we’re here to set the record straight. So, at London: All In, Bullet Club Gold, the Bang Bang Gang, show they’re a cut above the Elite, and it doesn’t matter who Kenny brings with him. Ibushi, ‘Hangman’ Page, it doesn’t matter. We’ve beat them before, we’ll beat them again.”
Juice Robinson: “Hangman, I heard what you said. You think it’s funny that we drove from Orlando to Jacksonville to beat the crap out of Kenny Omega You think it was a little two minute beatdown? Well, it took us two minutes to put the great Kenny Omega into the hospital. What do you think we’re going to do to you at the biggest pro wrestling show ever, you idiot!”
Colten Gunn: “Hey Young Bucks, you had to cheat to beat us on Wednesday because you know me, and Austin are the best brother tag team in AEW. And instead of giving us a rematch, you grabbed your friend Kenny.”
Austin Gunn: “Guess what Kenny? We have friends too, and ours are juicier, way more rock hard, and way more eliter than you!”
Colten: “You guys may have started this company but now we run it. The Bang Bang Gang! The Collision Cowboys! Tony Khan send out three before Fyter Fest. We want to get warmed up right now!”
The Iron Savages came out and answered the open challenge!
Juice Robinson and The Gunns vs. The Iron Savages—Bronson, Boulder, and Jacked Jameson!
The Iron Savages used quick tags and triple offense on Austin, until Austin was finally able to tag out to Colten. Juice tagged in then and stomped a mudhole into Bronson.
Boulder tagged in and cleaned house on Bullet Club Gold! Juice jumped off the top rope, but Boulder caught him midflight and slammed him onto the Gunns. Boulder splashed them for a near fall.
Colten rocked Boulder with the Fame Asser! They hit Bronson with the 3:10 to Yuma. Juice nailed Jameson with a leg lariat and then pinned him after planting him with the facebuster!
This Wednesday on Dynamite: Fyter Fest, it’ll be The Elite vs. Juice Robinson & The Gunns!
The House of Black sent in a video message!
Malakai Black: “Billy Gunn, you were living a shadow of what you once were. Rest in pain, Billy Gunn!”
Black had placed Billy Gunn’s wrestling boots into a trash compactor, and they were crushed with garbage.
Tony Schiavone was in the locker room with “Absolute” Ricky Starks!
Starks: “You told people I was suspended for 30 days.”
Schiavone: “I was wrong. It’s actually 4 weeks—28 days.”
Starks: “And I’ve already served half of that. I feel like this is all a big joke. My rage comes from all of this type of stuff. I said I was going to bring a war to AEW, and I meant every single word of it. For everybody watching, I am going to bring chaos, and I’m going to do it live tonight.”
Big Bill was standing next to Starks. “Absolute” Ricky Starks smiled at Big Bill and the two walked off.
Big Bill (with “Absolute” Ricky Starks) vs. Derek Neal!
Big Bill splashed Neal in the corner! Big Bill clocked Neal with a massive boot! Big Bill chokeslammed Derek Neal, stood on top of him and pinned him.
“Derek Neal was absolutely swallowed by Big Bill,” said Kevin Kelly.
“Who is next for ‘Absolute’ Ricky Starks?” asked Nigel.
Ricky whipped Derek Neal with a leather belt after the match.
“Ricky Starks has procured the services of Big Bill,” said Kevin.
Diamante vs. Willow Nightingale!
Willow hit a beautiful vertical suplex on Diamante. Willow charged at Diamante, but Diamante dodged her. Diamante hammered Willow with shots to the back. She clubbed Willow with forearms. Willow caught Diamante and planted her hard on the mat.
Willow clotheslined Diamante on the apron. Mercedes Martinez walked out and down to the ring. Willow bodyslammed Diamante but Diamante clipped Willow. She followed up with a buzzsaw kick to Willow.
Willow hit a spinebuster on Diamante for a two-count. Diamante rallied back with double knees on Willow. She followed up with Sliced Bread. Willow blasted Diamante with a thrust kick. Willow rammed Diamante into the turnbuckles.
Willow took down Diamante with a missile dropkick. Kris Statlander rushed to the ring and suplexed Martinez on the ramp! Willow pounced Diamante right into the barricade! Willow finished off Diamante with the doctor bomb and pinned her!
Lexy Nair was backstage with Toni Storm!
Toni: “I don’t know who you are but the last girl who interviewed me was very rude. There will be a preview next week of the upcoming four way match at Wembley. After that, Shida and Baker won’t even make it to Wembley Stadium. Don’t ever question the friendship of the Outcasts. They’ve had my back since day one. And at Wembley, I will be elevated when I became the first ever three-time AEW Women’s World Champion.”
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Kevin Ku!
Powerhouse powered Ku to the mat. Ku attempted to crossbody Hobbs, but Hobbs stuffed him! Hobbs splashed Kevin Ku in the turnbuckles. Hobbs suplexed Ku off the turnbuckles. Hobbs nearly decapitated Ku with a vicious clothesline. Hobbs smashed Ku with a spinebuster and pinned him!
After the match, Hobbs locked Ku in Miro’s own clutch finisher.
“The Redeemer” Miro appeared on the big screen!
Miro: “Hobbs we have a lot in common. We used to rely on a book for guidance. I too used to surround myself with distractions but now the Redeemer walks alone, no matter how much my heart breaks for her. Even when my puny God is trying to push me down, but Hobbs, I am not here to feud with my God. I am here to replace him. Redemption is coming for you and it’s going to piss on your cold, dead body. I am godless but I know you are not. Because you pray to me now.”
Main Event Time!
Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage (with TNT Champion Luchasaurus)!
Jim Ross joined the broadcast team for the main event.
Christian Cage wore the TNT Championship belt to the ring.
“It means so much to him, a title he never won,” said Jim Ross.
Christian worked over Darby’s arm. Christian whipped Darby into the turnbuckles. AR Fox and Swerve Strickland were watching the match backstage on a monitor. Christian nailed Darby with a single arm DDT.
Darby cradled Christian for a near fall. Christian walloped Darby with a right hand. Darby tried a backslide on Christian for another near fall.
Chrisitan Cage continued to focus on Darby’s injured left shoulder. Christian went for the spear, but Darby countered it. Darby rocked Christian with the Code Red. Darby and Christian collided into one another, their heads butting off one another’s.
Darby splashed Christian in the corner twice and then hit a shotgun dropkick! Darby went for a Coffin Drop to Luchasaurus who was on the outside, but Luchasaurus caught Darby and shrugged him off. Christian Cage snuck around the ring and took down Darby with a lariat.
Christian Cage whipped Darby into the guardrail. Chrisitan charged at Darby, but Darby used a drop toe hold and slammed Christian’s head into a steel chair. Darby soared off the top rope with a John Woo style dropkick to Christian who was still sitting on the steel chair that had been propped up on the arena floor!
Darby tried for the Coffin Drop on Christian who was on the apron, but Luchasaurus pulled Christian away. Darby ricocheted off the apron!
“Luchasaurus proving he’s a difference maker,” said Jim Ross.
The ref ejected Luchasaurus from ringside! While the ref was distracted by Luchasaurus, Christian Cage smashed the TNT Championship belt into Darby’s skull! Christian went for the pin, but Darby got his foot on the bottom rope, stopping the count.
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Christian Cage went for the spear, but Darby dodged it. Darby nailed Christian with a shotgun dropkick. Christian rocked Darby with a sunset powerbomb and then speared Darby! Christian went for the pin, but Darby was able to kick out somehow! Darby jumped over Christian with a jackknife and pinned Christian!
Tony Schiavone interviewed Darby in the ring after the match!
Luchasaurus came back to the ring. Christian Cage decked Darby from behind! Luchasaurus chokeslammed Darby! Christian covered Darby. Luchasaurus ordered Tony Schiavone to count the pin. Christian Cage demanded Tony Schiavone announce him as the winner! Tony had no choice but to comply.
Catch AEW DYNAMITE: Fyter Fest on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
Last week on COLLISION, Ricky Starks was informed about a thirty-day suspension for his assault on Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat but he essentially didn’t care, instead promising that he and his newly acquired manager’s license would set the company on fire starting this week! The Acclaimed returned to tag team action with a victory over The Iron Savages, Willow Nightingale and TBS Champion Kris Statlander were defeated by Diamante and Mercedes Martinez, and The House of Black retained their AEW World Trios Championship over CMFTR, thanks in no small part to ROH World TV Champion Samoa Joe removing CM Punk from the equation.
Plus we heard Powerhouse Hobbs call out Miro for a fight, and actually lay “The Redeemer” out, and Luchasaurus retained the TNT Championship in an impromptu match versus Brock Anderson that led to this week’s fight between Christian Cage and Darby Allin!
This week, as ALL IN: LONDON approaches, COLLISION: FIGHT FOR THE FALLEN 2023 is heading to Lexington, KY and the Rupp Arena with more of the best professional wrestling on the planet today! We know Darby Allin and Christian Cage will lock horns in singles action, their first such fight, and after how their tag match went down last week, Willow Nightingale will take on Diamante in their third AEW match.
The show begins at 8:00pm ET/7:00pm CT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for AEW’s international fans, so make it a point to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from this week’s episodes of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest edition of CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!
GRUDGE MATCH…
Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage (w/ TNT Champion Luchasaurus)
It would be more than accurate to say that Darby Allin has his AEW plate quite full at the current moment. Not only is he heading into ALL IN: LONDON for a Tag Team Coffin Match pitting him and Sting against AR Fox and Swerve Strickland, he’s also got a TNT Championship match scheduled for ALL OUT 2023 in Chicago just one week later, and that impending title match has been occupying a great deal of his time on Saturday nights.
Last week, after Luchasaurus took on the impromptu challenge of Brock Anderson, a challenge made into a TNT Championship match by Tony Khan, Darby would come onto the scene to challenge Christian Cage to step up to the plate against him. Though Cage claims to be the actual TNT Champion, despite the fact Luchasaurus was the one who defeated Wardlow on the first COLLISION and is the one who has defended it ever since, this will not be a title fight on Saturday night in Lexington, but rather a standard singles match in an arena where Christian has won five of the seven matches he’s fought inside Rupp across his career.
For Darby, with so much going on in his AEW career at this moment, every night is a crucial one for one reason or another, and after his tag team victory over The Gates of Agony on Wednesday, he’s going to be ready for another fight on Saturday. While DYNAMITE impacted Darby’s ALL IN: LONDON future, this one is all about his ALL OUT 2023 one, as well as his championship endeavors.
Ahead of that TNT Championship fight with Luchasaurus, can Darby take down the faux-champion? There’s no question that Cage will have his Right Hand of Destruction at ringside with him, but just who that will effect the match remains to be seen. A victory here would go a long way towards a psychological advantage going into the United Center on September 3rd, but a loss could affect that bout as well as Darby’s mindset heading into the Coffin Match at Wembley.
Last week Willow Nightingale united with TBS Champion Kris Statlander in a tag team bout opposite Diamante and former ROH Women’s World Champion Mercedes Martinez. The match came about as a result of Diamante’s assault on Statlander following the champion’s victory over Martinez the week prior. Mercedes and Martinez joining forces brought together the two baddest Latinas in professional wrestling, and they made sure Stat and Willow felt their wrath as they walked away, no matter how it came to pass, with a victory over one of AEW’s champions and a former NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion.
But this Saturday night it isn’t going to be a tag team affair, Diamante is going to have to square up with Willow Nightingale one-on-one, and in their AEW history of doing so, the women have split the pair. Diamante won the first in 2021, Willow the second in March of this year, so consider this a rubber match that will likely the eyes, if not the presence, of Kris Statlander and Mercedes Martinez.
Who will score the victory in this third contest between the women? Will it have any implications in the TBS Championship situation? Tune in Saturday night to see how it all unfolds!
ONE-ON-ONE…
“Switchblade” Jay White vs. Dalton Castle
Plus:
-We will hear from Miro!
-And Powerhouse Hobbs will be in action!
AEW COLLISION comes to Lexington, KY and the Rupp Arena for a grudge match between Willow Nightingale and Diamante, as well as one between Darby Allin and Christian Cage ,and more! The night kicks off at 8:00pm ET/7:00pm CT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for AEW’s international fans, so be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from last week’s COLLISION, this week’s episodes of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest edition of CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!
Orange and Wheeler traded arm drags. Then they exchanged stiff chops and forearms. Wheeler suplexed but then Orange countered with one of his own.
“These guys are going move for move,” said Taz.
Wheeler blasted the champ with a tope suicida. Orange suplexed Yuta on the arena floor. Yuta spiked Orange on the ramp! Wheeler followed up with a thrust kick to Orange’s head.
Back in the ring Orange blasted Yuta with the Beach Break! Wheeler chomped down on Orange’s hand and then stomped on it, trying to neutralize the hand that Cassidy uses for the Orange Punch.
Orange took flight with a tope suicida. Orange climbed the turnbuckles, but Wheeler kicked him in the head. Wheeler rocked Orange with a massive superplex! Wheeler crashed down onto Orange with a diving splash for a near fall. Cassidy clocked Yuta with the PK and then DDT’ed Yuta.
Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli walked out of the stands and glared at Orange from ringside. Orange looked over at Moxley and nailed Yuta with a Paradigm Shift!
“He looked right at Moxley when he executed the Paradigm Shift,” said Tony Schiavone.
“Moxley’s not too impressed,” replied Taz.
Orange connected with the Orange Punch on Wheeler Yuta. Orange immediately grabbed his hand.
“Oh, man, Orange Cassidy is hurting,” said Tony Schiavone.
Yuta locked up Orange in the seat belt for a near fall. Orange rolled up Wheeler, held onto his jean pockets, and pinned Wheeler!
Immediately after the match, the BCC swarmed Orange Cassidy and began to pummel him!
Best Friends—Trent and Chuck Taylor, sprinted to the ring to even up the odds. But the Best Friends still were not at 100%. The Lucha Bros came down to the ring with Alex Abrahantes. The Lucha Bros dished out stereo thrust kicks to Claudio. Moxley took a powder, leaving the ring before anyone could get their hands on him.
“Moxley got out of town,” said Schiavone.
Claudio and Moxley grabbed steel chairs and were about to enter the ring again when Eddie Kingston’s music hit! Kingston ran to the ring and began to brawl with Claudio!
“This has just broken down!” said Excalibur.
Eddie Kingston: “Hey, guess what? Wembley Stadium, boys. All In, boys! Us against you and whoever you can find! In a Stadium Stampede Match!”
Jim Ross had a sit-down interview with The Elite’s Kenny Omega at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL!
Jim Ross wanted to know about Omega’s plan for All In: London, and he wanted to know how Omega could even consider doing business with Don Callis.
Omega: “Uncle Don was just a friend of my real uncle, Uncle Larry, the Golden Shiek. And whether it was Christmas or my birthday, he was always there. Now that I look back it was really an odd childhood. I didn’t have friends, Don doesn’t like friends. I wasn’t able to have afterschool parties. Don gave me my first weight set. My first tub of protein. He’d say, ‘Take your vitamins.’
“And the way he guided me made me the best athlete possible. I try everyday to remember that version of Uncle Don. You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. And I found myself trying to justify what this guy has done. I’m trying to find a reason not to make my entire existence one of revenge.
“I just want to move on. I don’t want him to get into my head. I don’t want this to all be about Don and the people he chooses to be part of his family. Takeshita and I go way back. I saw a lot of myself in him when I was in DDT in Japan. I thought this is the kind of guy you want to guide the right way.
“As the god of pro wrestling, I have the power to giveth, and I have the power to taketh away. And Don, this new cash cow of yours, that you think means the world to you, I’m going to take him away.”
Don Callis interrupted the interview!
Callis: “Whoa, J.R., I didn’t know you were a psychotherapist now. How is your mental health, Ken, I’m really concerned.”
“Switchblade” Jay White and Juice Robinson ambushed Omega! Takeshita joined in on the beatdown as Don yelled “More! More!”
“Hangman” Adam Page had followed his friend Omega to the hospital.
Adam Page: “If you’re going to drive all the way to Jacksonville to do a beatdown, it’s at least got to be good. It’s got to be longer than two minutes. If you’re going to start a beatdown, you have to finish it.
“I’m outside of the hospital, with Kenny inside of it. It may seem like he is, but Kenny’s not finished. And neither is he friendless. Because in London Kenny will have two of his greatest friends. And not to flatter myself, two of his greatest tag team partners of all time, in ‘Hangman’ and Ibushi. A dream team, if you will, in front of one of the largest crowds in the history of pro wrestling. Juice, Jay, Takeshita, this little beatdown you started, at Wembley, we finish it.”
Don Callis was in the ring!
Callis: “It looks like everyone wants a piece of the Don Callis family. Ladies and gentlemen, we know the world is waiting. Without further ado, we’re going to get the answer. It’s my pleasure to introduce the greatest of all time. And my best friend for 34 years, Chris Jericho!”
Chris Jericho came down to the ring!
Jericho: “What happened last week broke my heart, when all the members of the Jericho Appreciation Society walked out on me, it made me reevaluate myself. It made me reevaluate who I am as a person.
“Like I told you Don, Chris Jericho doesn’t join factions. Chris Jericho creates them. And after what happened last week, it’s obvious what the answer is. So, my answer, if I want to be a part of the Don Callis family, is yes!
“The answer is yes. I’ll tell you why, Don. When the Jericho Appreciation Society walked out on me, I realized I needed to get back to my roots. I need to align with a man who is just as low as I am. The answer is yes!”
Jericho and Callis hugged!
Callis: “This is great! Let’s go drink Broadway dry and beat up some rednecks, just like back in the day.”
Jericho: “Before we go, what’s with the picture there?”
Chris Jericho turned back and looked at a picture set up in the ring that had a black cloth draped over it.
Callis: “Oh, I got another picture of you, me and Bad News. Which one of your houses do you want it sent to?”
Jericho: “No, no, seriously, if you’ve got a painting for me, I want to see it. Let’s check this out.”
Callis: “Chris, Chris…”
Jericho: “If it’s a gift for me, I want to see it.”
Jericho pulled the cloth off the painting, and it was revealed to be a portrait of Don Callis holding up Jericho’s decapitated head!
“No wonder Don Callis was so surprised by Jericho’s answer,” said Excalibur.
Jericho: “What is this?”
Callis: “What do you think it is? It’s a joke. It’s a practical joke.”
Jericho: “Did you think I was going to say no? So, over a business decision you were going to have me assassinated? You were going to have me beheaded if I said no to you?”
Callis: “No, you don’t understand, this is very embarrassing for me. I paid a lot of money for you to have a painting of you, me, and Bad News, and the artist screwed it up.”
Jericho: “Stop, stop, stop! I have known you since 1989. I know when you’re telling the truth and I know when you’re lying. You’re lying to my face right now, Don. For the first time in your life, you scumbag lowlife, be honest with me and tell me the truth. Be a man and tell me the truth!”
Callis: “You want the truth? Okay, you’re right! I did not think in a million years you would say yes to me Chris. I thought you would say no because of your massive ego. I’ve known you for 34 years and it’s always been about you. So yes, I thought you’d make a stupid decision and say no. So, Chris in a business full of egomaniacs, you truly are the greatest at that. You are a narcissistic ego maniac who is too stupid to see what’s good for him and you don’t deserve to be a part of the Don Callis family!”
Jericho: “The Don Callis family? Who the hell is Don Callis? Three years ago, you weren’t even in the wrestling business, and nobody cared. And now because of me you’re in AEW at the top of your career, and compared to me, still, nobody cares! And this is why, Don, you have lost everything. You lost your family, you lost Kenny Omega, you lost your friends because you don’t have me, you have messed up every single personal relationship you’ve had in your life. And you want to know why? Because you’re a low life. You’re a worm. You’re a piece of trash. And Don Callis, you are an a—hole!”
Don Callis slapped Jericho!
Jericho shoved Don Callis against the turnbuckles. Takeshita jumped into the ring with a steel chair, but Jericho cut him off! Will Ospreay jumped into the ring and blindsided Jericho!
“Don Callis called in reinforcements!” said Excalibur.
Will Ospreay cracked Jericho in the skull with the steel chair and busted him wide open! As Takeshita and Ospreay held up Jericho, Don Callis smashed the picture frame over Jericho’s head!
Sammy Guevara ran to the ring with Jericho’s baseball bat and Callis, Takeshita, and Ospreay retreated out of the ring!
Jack Perry said next week on Dynamite he is going to retire the FTW Championship!
Darby Allin & Nick Wayne
vs.
Gates of Agony—Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona!
The Gates of Agony rushed at Darby and Nick as Darby and Nick were making their entrance!
Swerve Strickland and AR Fox walked onto the ramp with steel chairs.
Nick Wayne rocketed out of the ring with a tope suicida onto Bishop Kaun! The Gates of Agony hip tossed Nick into the barricade.
The Gates of Agony double teamed Darby Allin. Nick Wayne sent Toa flying off the apron with a hurracanrana. He followed up with a cutter to Bishop. Darby splashed Bishop with a Coffin Drop and pinned him!
Darby and Nick were ready for the fight with Fox and Swerve, as the Mogul Embassy members inched closer to the ring.
Sting appeared on the big screen! “Who’s house?” asked Sting.
Sting: “C’mon, I’ve got something I want to talk to you about. I’m directing movies, yes. Stinger is making movies now and I’ve got a great leading man. And I’m going to get into that in a minute. But first, Fox, this is for you. You better have eyes on the back of your head from this moment forward. Why? Because we have a Coffin Match in nine days at Wembley Stadium. I love it! The red blood cells are already moving. Tell ‘em, leading man.”
Sting pulled Prince Nana into frame!
Prince Nana: “Actually, 11 days away, sir.”
Sting: “Well, I guess the only thing left to say is, ‘It’s showtime!’”
Out next: AEW World Champion MJF and Adam Cole!
MJF: “Cut our music! The Devil has arrived!”
Adam Cole: “We are a week and a half away from the biggest pro wrestling event of all time, I’m talking about All In. And during Zero Hour, Adam Cole and MJF are going to become your new Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions. And we’re going to do it—”
MJF: “With a kangaroo kick, baby!”
Adam Cole: “Max I was going to say we’re going to win with a double clothesline! But that is not the only match taking place that night. Because in the main event we have Adam Cole against MJF for the AEW World Championship. And this is going to go down as the most important match in my entire life. Because nine months ago I was told by multiple doctors that I may never wrestle again. Fast forward and now I’m in the biggest pro wrestling show of all time, challenging for the most prestigious prize in our sport, the AEW World Championship. And I’m doing it with one of my best friends. I’m talking about you Max.
“This match is so important for my legacy. For 15 years I’ve been at the top of every wrestling promotion I have ever worked for. I’ve broken records with my championship runs, and this match with Max, that solidifies my legacy in AEW. But not just being in the match but winning the match. Because Max, I love you, but I need to win this match more than you could ever imagine. And I’m just telling you this out of love, but the second that bell rings, I will do anything and everything to win that AEW World Title.”
MJF: “That was a great story. Too bad mine is better. When I first got into this sport, on my first day at wrestling school, we were told to write down dream opponents. I wrote down two names. Cody Rhodes. And Adam Cole, baybay. Fast forward, the year is 2018, I for one year have had a brand new Dodge Ram truck and in that one year I put 90,000 miles on it, because I busted my ass trying to make a name for myself on the independent circuit.
“And then a little birdie tells me in 2018 there’s going to be a show in Chicago, a show that would be the biggest show in wrestling outside of the WWE in decades, and that show was called All In. So, I shot my shot. I DM’ed Cody Rhodes and I said, ‘Sir, you don’t know me all that well and you don’t owe me a damn thing, but if you give me an opportunity, I promise you I will not disappoint. Some time went by, the show was getting closer and closer, and my hopes of getting on it were getting thinner and thinner until I got a response from Cody Rhodes. He said to me, ‘Kid, you’re all in.’
“That was the biggest night of my career and I got to open a pay-per-view I had no right being on. And yes, I may have lost that night, however, I managed to turn some pretty important heads. One of them being a man by the name of Tony Khan. After that match Tony Khan offered me a contract to a company called All Elite Wrestling.
“The fact of the matter is, if there’s no All In, there’s no MJF, and that’s a fact. Fast forward the year is 2023 and I went from being an unknown and I scratched, and I clawed my way up from the undercard and I grew up in front of your very eyes. I became a generational talent. I became the devil himself. I became the AEW World Champion!
“And now once again I’m looking at the opportunity to be on a show called All In and it will be in front of the biggest crowd in the history of this sport and I’m going to be in the main event with a guy who on day one was my dream opponent, and who I can proudly say has become my best friend. This means so much to me, you have no idea. However, it doesn’t mean everything to me. There is only one thing that means everything to me and that is the Triple B. This is not simply just a title. This symbolizes all my blood, sweat, tears, countless hours training in the gym. All so I could obtain this! And if you think just because I’m your bud I’m going to lay down on August 27th, you’re out of your mind. I love you like a brother but a win in Wembley will make me legendary and I’m going to win Adam, because nobody is on the level of the devil!”
Adam Cole: “Well Max, may the best man win.”
MJF: “I have a feeling the best man is going to win because I’m MJF and I’m better than you and you know it!”
Adam Cole: “That’s interesting because I’m pretty sure your new AEW World Champion’s name is Adam Cole baybay!”
ROH World Tag Team Champions Aussie Open emerged from the crowd and attacked MJF and Adam Cole!
Adam Cole and MJF turned the tables and got the upper hand on Aussie Open! They tried for the double clothesline on Mark Davis, but he jumped out of the ring and pulled Kyle Fletcher with him.
Roderick Strong as watching on a monitor backstage with the Kingdom—Mike Bennett and Matt Taven.
Chris Jericho was backstage being stitched up!
Jericho: “Ospreay, at Wembley Stadium, your home turf, you want a piece of Chris Jericho. Jericho versus Ospreay at All In! I’m going to make you bleed and drink your blood. I’m going to get inside your head and embarrass you. You don’t know what you got into, but you’ve opened hell and the Ocho is coming for you!”
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch!
“The Last Outlaw” Jeff Jarrett vs. Jeff Hardy!
Absolutely anything goes and the only way to win is by pinfall.
Jeff Jarrett ambushed Jeff Hardy. Hardy whipped Jarrett into the wall and then bludgeoned Jarrett with a crutch.
Satnam Singh grabbed Jeff Hardy by the neck and hoisted him up against the wall. Matt Hardy, Brother Zay and Ethan Page came out to even up the odds.
“This is one of the most bizarre matches we’ve seen in All Elite Wrestling,” said Excalibur.
Jeff Hardy dropkicked Jarrett on the ramp. Smoke began to billow out from beneath the ring. Hardy smacked Jarrett with a kendo stick. Jeff Hardy connected with a swanton, crushing Jarrett through a table! Jay Lethal jumped into the ring to break up the pin attempt.
Ethan Page blasted Lethal with a shoulder tackle. Matt Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on Lethal! Karen Jarrett hit Matt Hardy from behind with a cheap shot. Jeff Jarrett grabbed his guitar, but Jeff Hardy pulled it away and smashed it over Jarrett’s head!
Leatherface came to the ring and kicked Jay Lethal in the midsection. Leatherface chased Karen Jarrett to the back! Satnam Singh grabbed Jeff Hardy and then Jay Lethal cracked Jeff Hardy in the back with a hammer! Satnam Singh choke slammed Jeff Hardy! Lethal placed Jeff Jarrett on top of Jeff Hardy and then Jarrett scored the pin!
All In: London Women’s Championship Qualifier Match!
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. The Bunny (with Penelope Ford)!
Bunny charged at Britt, but Britt rolled up Bunny for a near fall. The Bunny stomped on Britt’s hand. She followed up with a knee lift to Baker.
Penelope Ford jumped on the ring apron and distracted Britt long enough for the Bunny to hit a lariat. Britt fired back with forearms. Britt battered Bunny with elbow strikes. Britt hit the Sling Blade.
Britt nailed Bunny with a swinging neck breaker for a near fall. Baker landed a thrust kick and then the curb stomp and she pinned the Bunny!
“She punched her ticket!” said Taz.
The Acclaimed—Max Caster & Anthony Bowens
vs.
…
Before the Acclaimed’s opponents were introduced by Justin Roberts, the arena lights went dark!
When the lights came back on, the AEW World Trios Champions the House of Black were standing behind the Acclaimed in the ring!
The House of Black ran over the Acclaimed like a freight train! Brody had a chain wrapped around his hand and he clocked Max Caster with it! Brody planted Bowens in the center of the ring!
Julia Hart had Billy Gunn’s wrestling boots. They were handed over to Malakai Black!
Main Event Time!
The Young Bucks—Matt & Nick Jackson
vs.
The Gunns—Austin & Colten Gunn!
The Bucks superkicked the Gunns as the Gunns were making their entrance! The Bucks double suplexed Colten in the ring. They hip tossed Austin.
The Bucks cleaned house with a flurry of offense. The Gunns gained some traction, working over Matt Jackson with tandem offense.
Matt Jackson rallied back and tagged Nick. Nick took down the Gunns with a huge double crossbody. Nick superkicked Austin! Nick punt kicked Colten!
Matt Jackson tagged in and he superkicked Austin. Nick smashed Austin with a knee strike. Colten saved his brother from the Bucks. Colten tagged in, but Matt rolled him up for a near fall. The Gunns hit Matt with the 3:10 to Yuma but Nick used an elbow drop to break up the pin attempt.
Matt German Suplexed Austin Gunn. Matt pinned Austin with some leverage from his brother. Juice Robinson and Jay White jumped into the ring after the match and began to ground and pound the Young Bucks! They placed Matt Jackson’s injured arm between a steel chair, and they were about to crush the arm when FTR’s music hit! FTR jumped in the ring, and they cleaned house on Bullet Club Gold! The Bucks and FTR cooperated to clear out the ring of Bullet Club Gold!
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA!
This Friday tune in to AEW RAMPAGE at 10pm ET on TNT!
Don’t miss AEW Collision on Saturday live on TNT at 8/7c from the Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY featuring!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
The biggest event in All Elite Wrestling history, ALL IN: LONDON, is so close and it is already quite the stacked event, but there’s still more road to travel before we get there, and the next stop on that road is a return to Nashville for AEW’s debut at the Bridgestone Arena!
The biggest event in All Elite Wrestling history, ALL IN: LONDON, is so close and it is already quite the stacked event, but there’s still more road to travel before we get there, and the next stop on that road is a return to Nashville for AEW’s debut at the Bridgestone Arena! This Wednesday night Chris Jericho will give his answer to Don Callis, the AEW World Champion and his ALL IN: LONDON challenger will discuss their bout, and The Young Bucks will battle The Gunns in the perpetual debate of who is the best brother tag team! Plus, Dr. Britt Baker and the returning Bunny will fight it out for the fourth spot in the AEW Women’s World Championship match going down at Wembley, Darby Allin and Nick Wayne will be in tag team action against The Gates of Agony, and Orange Cassidy will defend his AEW International Championship against Wheeler Yuta!
DYNAMITE: FIGHT FOR THE FALLEN 2023 begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so drop by the official AEW YouTube channel to get caught up on highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, plus the newest edition of THE CONTROL CENTER, and more! This year we are supporting those affected by the devastating fires in Hawaii, and encourage everyone to support the Maui Food Bank.
Six months ago Wheeler Yuta stepped into the ring with his former trainer, his former friend, Orange Cassidy and attempted to wrest the then-AEW All-Atlantic Championship from Cassidy’s grasp. It was a bout months in the making, the result of Wheeler turning his back on The Best Friends unit and aligning with The Blackpool Combat Club, and it would end in Cassidy’s favor. To this day, with 28 championship defenses to his reign, there are many who still consider this the best bout of Cassidy’s title run.
But being the opponent who took the champion to their limit doesn’t actually mean anything if you don’t win said championship, and that is where Yuta was at following their title fight. Each moved on with their life, at least for a short period of time, The BCC went to war with The Elite at Anarchy in The Arena and inside Blood & Guts, but along the way Yuta and company tangled with Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta in Trios matches. Orange continued to build his legacy, making history as the most prolific champion AEW has seen to date, defeating every single challenger that stepped up, no matter the cost to his body along the way.
But inevitably the paths intertwined once again as, in the aftermath of Claudio Castagnoli’s ROH World Championship match against PAC at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2023, The Best Friends’ issues with Death Triangle would bring Orange Cassidy into the fray, and lead to issues between The BCC, Death Triangle, and The Best Friends. Escalation, there is always escalation, and it came with The Luchas winning a three way tag bout over their foes, then Trent pinning Penta in a Three way with Moxley, and then the epic Parking Lot Fight between Best Friends and BCC in Jacksonville. In that last one, Cassidy and Yuta would have that moment where a showdown felt inevitable, but instead it was a group assault by The BCC on Cassidy that left the International Champion, as well as Trent and Chuck Taylor, battered on the concrete at Daily’s Place.
It’s also why Orange was all alone when Wheeler, Moxley, and Claudio surrounded the ring following Cassidy’s championship victory over Johnny TV last Friday on RAMPAGE, but instead of assaulting the man 3-on-1, the former 2-Time ROH Pure Champion issued a challenge to Cassidy to face him this Wednesday night in Nashville, and put the International Championship on the line!
Through his reign as International Champion, Orange Cassidy has found a way to beat opponents of all shapes, styles, and sizes, but few of his foes have come with such a personal edge as Wheeler Yuta. Cassidy may have beaten Yuta six months ago in Phoenix, but OC has had 16 defenses since then, not to mention numerous other fights, that have taken their toll on his body. Yuta has been through Anarchy, he’s been through Blood & Guts, he’s been to battle with Kenny Omega, and he’s been banged up himself. But one thing these two men have in common, maybe something born out of how their careers began, is that they seem to grow stronger through this adversity. It doesn’t matter the pain they’ve experienced, or how they are hurting, both Yuta and Orange persevere.
Who will be the one to persevere through this championship fight on Wednesday night?
TAG TEAM BOUT…
Darby Allin & Nick Wayne vs. Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona)
This dynamic between Darby Allin and Swerve Strickland has become brutally personal, something beyond the wins and loses, something now soaked in blood and betrayal. AR Fox stabbed Darby in the back, apparently because of how he viewed Darby’s support of Nick Wayne, and throwing his lot in with Swerve and the Mogul Embassy was the best way to make Darby feel the pain.
Apparently the best way to share that pain with Nick Wayne was to visit his training facility and leave him a bloodied, battered mess, but what The Mogul Embassy didn’t count on was the return of “The Icon” Sting to the AEW landscape, nor the Casket Match that would be set-up for ALL IN: LONDON. So now Prince Nana’s men are on the offensive ahead of that Wembley date and trying to hurt Darby, and his allies, in any way they can. Brian Cage stepped up last Friday night in a losing effort against the 2-Time TNT Champion, and now his ROH World Six-Man Championship partners will take their stab at Darby and the returning Nick Wayne, the latter certainly with revenge on his mind after the assault at his school.
Can Darby and Nick Wayne keep the momentum building as AEW approaches ALL IN: LONDON? Or will The Mogul Embassy throw a speed bump on the path and get an upper hand before the Casket lids are opened?
The Bunny has been out of action since February when she faced then-AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter in an Eliminator Bout, but this Wednesday night she returns to the AEW stage with one of the biggest opportunities of her career! There is one spot left in the AEW Women’s World Championship Four Way at ALL IN: LONDON, and The Bunny has an opportunity to fight in her first AEW championship bout in front of the largest crowd in All Elite Wrestling history!
All she has to do is defeat a former Women’s World Champion, another individual whose been a part of the fold since the very beginning, Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D! Now these two women have only faced off one time in singles competition, a match that took place on the 2020 Jericho Cruise, and was won by The Good Doctor.
Aside from bragging rights, that was a fight with very little stakes, but this one has some of the highest stakes possible save the title actually being on the line. Can The Bunny make her return to competition a triumphant one, or will it be spoiled by Dr. Britt Baker’s mission to become a 2-Time champion like Shida and Toni Storm?
THE BEST BROTHERS…
The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. The Gunns (Austin & Colten)
Aside from the 2022 Battle Royales that shaped the REVOLUTION 2022 AEW World Tag Team Championship bout, The Young Bucks and The Gunns have had little interaction, but Austin and Colten’s insistence that they’re the best brother tag team is about to put them on a collision course. It won’t be the first time those claims have gotten The Gunn boys into a fight, they beat Top Flight and The Hardys to bolster their bragging, and now they’ve got the Brothers Jackson to tussle with on DYNAMITE.
The Young Bucks have a huge date with destiny on their plate at ALL IN: LONDON with the FTR rubber match, and their return to tag team competition last week, after months embroiled in Trios bouts and wars with The Blackpool Combat Club, proved quite successful when the bested The Hardys.
So for Matt and Nick it’s now about keeping the momentum going as they head to Wembley for one of AEW’s most historic events, and possibly the most important match of their careers. There’s a bit of irony here that The Young Bucks attempt to build momentum could be cut short by a team with BULLET CLUB affiliation, or that, should Juice Robinson and Jay White be on hand, the Jacksons could be cut off at the knees by the same actions they themselves once employed as part of that unit.
It could be a huge night for Colten and Austin Gunn, an opportunity to actually bolster their claims to be the best brother tag team in AEW, but it’s hugely important to The Young Bucks morale that they don’t acquire an “L” in tag team action before making the trip to Wembley Stadium.
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE DEATHMATCH…
Jeff Jarrett vs. Jeff Hardy
In conjunction with the release of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre game, dropping August 18th on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox, AEW presents the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Deathmatch this Wednesday night in Nashville! Pitting Jeff Jarrett against Jeff Hardy, it has been twelve years since the last time these two clashed in a singles match, and their only AEW interaction took place when Jeff and his brother lent an assist to The Elite following their Trios Bout with Jeff, Jay Lethal, and Satnam Singh.
Now Jeff and Jay will rekindle their rivalry in this special bout, a match where anything goes, and who knows what kind of chaos will result from that! Only 20 miles from Double J’s hometown of Hendersonville, will he put that guitar to use across Jeff’s head, or will Hardy put away Double J like he has so many times before?
After last week, AEW World Champion MJF and Adam Cole are now set to pull double duty at ALL IN: LONDON, first taking on Aussie Open in a ROH World Tag Team Championship bout during the ZERO HOUR, and then colliding with each other during the pay-per-view proper with Max’s title on the line.
It was an idea laid out by Cole, an opportunity to claim a championship he never held during his seven year Ring of Honor tenure as well as add his name to the ROH Triple Crown list, and for MJF to get his first ever bout under the auspices of ROH. Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis were more than happy to accept the challenge last Friday on RAMPAGE, and that makes the situation for Wembley’s AEW World Championship match even more intriguing.
But that’s not all that’s complicating the situation, there is the entire matter of Roderick Strong and whatever is going on with The Kingdom of Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. Clearly the former multi-time ROH World Tag Champs are in the ear of Roddy, offering Strong a shoulder to lean on as he watches his best friend repeatedly make terrible choices in this dynamic with MJF. Cole may be insistent that Roderick trust him, but it’s hard to do that when the man asking for trust keeps making questionable choices.
Well this Wednesday night, the AEW World Champion and his challenger will be on hands to discuss ALL IN: LONDON and the situations they are facing. Can these two new-found “brochachos” continue to bond with so much at stake in less than two weeks?
KENNY OMEGA AND JIM ROSS…
Kenny Omega has been through a lot in the last few months; he and The Young Bucks lost the World Trios Championship at REVOLUTION 2023, he was betrayed by Don Callis and quite literally stabbed by a man he considered family, betrayed by Konosuke Takeshita, and went through hell with Anarchy In The Arena and Blood & Guts. In the midst of all that, Kenny also lost the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship to Will Ospreay at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2023; The Elite may have come out of Blood & Guts the victors, but Omega lost more personally than anyone else involved in the BCC war.
With all that in his heart and mind, Kenny Omega will sit-down with Jim Ross this Wednesday to discuss what the future may hold for the former AEW World Champion. Will he be in London? Will he look for vengeance against Don Callis? Where is Omega’s head at and what will it mean for All Elite Wrestling?
And speaking of Don Callis, another of his pet projects watched as his unit disintegrated before his very eyes this past Wednesday night. Chris Jericho, after being propositioned by Callis to join his family, never gave a definitive answer one way or the other, and that was something that sat ill with the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society. Then when Jericho teamed up with Takeshita, another of Callis’ projects, to actually fight Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia, it infuriated The J.A.S, and to make matter worse, the way Jericho conducted himself in that fight, it essentially drove the final nail in the coffin of The Jericho Appreciation Society, leading to the mandatory meeting called to order by “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard rather than Jericho himself. So when every member of The J.A.S walked away from “The Ocho”, it left him, for the first time since the premier episode of DYNAMITE birthed The Inner Circle, utterly alone…except for Callis’ offer.
So what will it be? Will Jericho actually traverse the AEW landscape by himself, or will he surround himself with Callis, Takeshita, and whoever else may comprise this family Don is trying to surround himself with? Can Chris do it by himself, or is he afraid of standing among a locker room full of men he’s spent four years infuriating without a multitude of people insulating him?
All Elite Wrestling returns to Nashville for a debut at the Bridgestone Arena and with it comes loaded up edition of DYNAMITE: FIGHT FOR THE FALLEN 2023, with donations being made to support the Maui Food Bank and those affected by the fires. On tap, The Young Bucks and The Gunns will meet in tag team action, as will The Gates of Agony battle Darby Allin and Nick Wayne. Plus, The Bunny returns to action to face Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D for the final spot in the AEW Women’s World Championship bout at ALL IN: LONDON, Wheeler Yuta challenges former friend Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Championship, and we will find out Chris Jericho’s decision regarding Don Callis’ offer!
DYNAMITE begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so drop by the official AEW YouTube channel to get caught up on highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, plus the newest edition of THE CONTROL CENTER, and more!
Wednesday night’s edition of DYNAMITE saw so much of ALL IN: LONDON fleshed out as the AEW World Tag Team Championship bout between FTR and Young Bucks became official, as a Tag Team Coffin Match pitting Darby and Sting against AR Fox and Swerve was signed, and as Hikaru Shida defeated Anna Jay to insure her position in the AEW Women’s World Championship match! We also witnessed the end of The Jericho Appreciation Society, the apparent end of a friendship between Roderick Strong and Adam Cole, BCC defeating Lucha Brothers, and Jack Perry escaping RVD with the FTW Title still in his possession!
The push towards Wembley will continue this Friday night on RAMPAGE when AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defends his title against Johnny TV, Darby Allin fights Brian Cage, ROH World Tag Champions Aussie Open are in action, and Saraya fights Skye Blue over the third spot in the AEW Women’s World Championship Four Way! The night starts at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so drop by the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, plus THE CONTROL CENTER, and much, much more!
These are two men quite familiar with one another; Darby Allin and Brian Cage have history dating back to The Machine’s arrival at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2020 where Cage won the Casino Ladder Match, and actually injured Darby in the process. That led to tag matches, Darby getting dumped from the Casino Battle Royale at ALL OUT 2020 by Cage, their TNT Championship match in January 2021, and ultimately the unforgettable Street Fight at REVOLUTINO 2021 that pit Darby and Sting against Cage and Ricky Starks.
It had been several years since the two men had butted heads, but then came the merger of Swerve Strickland’s Mogul Affiliates and Prince Nana’s Embassy, and suddenly Cage was back in the life of Darby Allin by way of his long-standing issues with Swerve. That is why this Friday night on RAMPAGE, with Darby and Sting heading for a Coffin Match at ALL IN: LONDON against Swerve and AR Fox, Brian Cage will head into battle with the former 2-Time TNT Champion on behalf of The Mogul Embassy!
Darby needs this victory ahead of Wembley, a bit of momentum for he and Sting going into such a historic evening, whereas Cage needs nothing more than to hurt Darby on behalf of his associates. For Darby it’s about victory ahead of one of the biggest nights in AEW, as well retaliation for what was done to Nick Wayne, whereas for “The Machine” it’s about suffering and pain and perhaps a little revenge for what went down between the two men in 2020 and 2021.
AEW International Championship Match…
“Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Johnny TV
He’s already made history by becoming the most successful champion in AEW history, across all divisions, with his twenty-seven title defenses, but there will always be records to chase and Orange Cassidy seems intent on topping them all! With 303 days as International Champion under his belt, he’s already the longest reigning current champion in All Elite Wrestling, but Orange is just over forty days away from eclipsing Kenny Omega’s 346-day World Championship reign to become the longest reigning male champion in AEW history as well! The Young Bucks had 302 as World Tag Champions, Darby’s 186 days still stands as the longest TNT Championship run, leaving only Kenny’s stand as the last milestone on the men’s side to surpass. After that, the chase is on to surpass Hikaru Shida’s 372 days as Women’s World Champion, and then finally Jade Cargill’s 508 days as TBS Champion. There is a lot of road to travel before either of those is possible, and a lot of potential foes, one of them being Cassidy’s challenger this Friday night on RAMPAGE: Johnny TV!
As a man who has traveled the world honing his craft for the last twenty years, and with the backing of the QTV contingent, Johnny TV is a certified threat to end Orange’s pursuit of history. Now the likelihood Orange is even aware, or cares, about his history making International Championship reign is debatable, but Johnny, Aaron Solo, QT Marshall, and Harley Cameron certainly know the importance of being the one to end it, and what it would mean for QTV as a whole to have a champion on their side.
Will Johnny TV be the one to end this epic championship run, or will “Freshly Squeezed” be the one to take the International Championship international and possibly defend it at ALL IN: LONDON? And regardless of who walks away from RAMPAGE as champion, who, if anyone, will step up to challenge at Wembley?
Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) in action!
We all heard the challenge laid out by AEW World Champion MJF and Adam Cole, a ROH World Tag Team Championship bout during the ZERO HOUR of ALL IN: LONDON, pitting Better Than You Bay Bay against champions Aussie Open. This Friday night on RAMPAGE, Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis will be in action so perhaps we will get a response to that challenge from the United Empire representatives! Cole is the only 3-Time ROH World Champion, and a former TV Champion, but having challenged for them once in 2011 and once in 2015, he never claimed the ROH World Tag Titles. MJF, on the other hand, has never seen one bit of Ring of Honor competition, and although it’s quite clear he came up watching the product, Max has never been complimentary towards its existence.
But now that the challenge has been laid out, the possibility is there for both MJF and Cole to achieve something they’ve never done before, but will Aussie Open accept?
Winner Advances to ALL IN: LONDON Championship Match…
As seen in the clip above, AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida successfully retained her title against Anna Jay this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE, thereby securing her position as defending champion at ALL IN: LONDON in a Four Way that we also know will include Toni Storm. With two other spots to fill in the match, fans will see Dr. Britt Baker take on The Bunny this coming Wednesday night when DYNAMITE returns to Nashville, but first, this Friday on RAMPAGE, Saraya will be in action against Skye Blue!
Not only is Skye looking to advance to historic Wembley Stadium as challenger, but she is also aiming to even the score for a February 22nd loss to Saraya on DYNAMITE. As one of the women who has stood up to The Outcasts since they began their reign of tyranny over the Women’s Division, for Skye this is a fight with a whole lot of layers; it’s those two aforementioned items, it’s also keeping The Outcasts’ numbers down in the championship fight, diminishing the likelihood the title falls back into their clutches. Toni Storm already has her spot secured as the former champion, so a Saraya victory would make The Outcasts two-thirds of the challengers.
Can Skye Blue even the score with Saraya and thus secure her spot on one of AEW’s most historic nights? We shall see this Friday on RAMPAGE!!
This Friday night on RAMPAGE, with ALL IN: LONDON drawing closer, the AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy will fight Johnny TV with the title on the line, Brian Cage takes on Darby Allin, and we will see ROH World Tag Champions Aussie Open in action, as Skye Blue takes on Saraya with a trip to Wembley Stadium at stake! The bouts begin at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, plus THE CONTROL CENTER, and much, much more!
