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Tonight’s episode of AEW RAMPAGE was broadcast from the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN!
Yourbroadcast team was Excalibur and Tony Schiavone!
It’s Friday night and you know what that means!
8-Man Tag Match!
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, FTW Champion HOOK,
Danhausen, & Trent Beretta
vs.
Angelo Parker & Matt Menard (with Jake Hager),
and The Dark Order—Alex Reynolds & Evil Uno!
Danhausen cleaned house on the Dark Order. Hook tagged in and suddenly things broke down into a donnybrook with both teams brawling. Menard nailed Hook with a backbreaker. Menard power bombed Trent. Cassidy came in, pushed the pace and DDT’ed Menard. Evil Uno ate a German Suplex from Danhausen. Hook sent Parker for a ride with a T-bone suplex. Hook followed up with a suplex to Evil Uno!
ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta walked onto the ramp and had a stare down with Hook. Menard blindsided Hook as Hook was looking at Yuta.
Wheeler Yuta joined the broadcast booth.
“Hook should really learn not to take his eye off the ball,” said Wheeler Yuta.
The Dark Order double teamed Hook with running lariats. Hook fought back and made a tag to Trent. Trent walloped Alex Reynolds with German Suplexes. Trent hurled Evil Uno overhead with a half and half.
Orange Cassidy tagged in and dropkicked both Dark Order members. Orange staggered Evil Uno with a Stun Dog Millionaire. Reynolds ran in and booted Orange in the face. Trent went to the aid of Orange and tossed Evil Uno with a release German Suplex from the turnbuckles!
Danhausen squared off with Matt Menard, cursing Menard. Danhausen pulled out Jake Hager’s purple hat from his trunks and began to wear it and taunt Hager! Jake Hager was livid, jumping into the ring and immediately spilling out on the opposite side as he charged (and missed) Danhausen. Hook applied Red Rum on Parker while Danhausen cradled Menard and scored the pin!
Renee Paquette was interviewing Anna Jay, Ruby Soho and Saraya backstage!
Angelo Parker ran back from his match and told Anna Jay he was ready to go, and it’d be a team effort. Anna Jay said she didn’t want him out there tonight for the match.
“This is why I love her! Isn’t she great?” said Saraya.
Tony Schiavone was in the ring to interview Sting and “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair!
Sting: “Lots of great memories here. Thank you for the memories, thank you Tony Khan, thank you Tony Schiavone, and the Nature Boy, Ric Flair!”
Ric Flair: “Wow! From 1972 to today and believe it or not, I’m still alive. And that’s saying a lot. Because I’ve covered a lot of ground and had a lot of fun. But there’s three or four people that are always going to be special in my life. Dusty Rhodes, Ricky the Dragon, and the guy I think I’ve wrestled at least 1500 times, Sting.
“To be back in my hometown and to be part of this ride. Think about the history of our business. I’ve been with him since ’88 and I’ll be with him until the end. And man, that doesn’t happen in real life, guys. And we’ve stayed as honest and as respectful with each other as the day we met, and that’s really unusual. We’re gonna dance all night and dance a little longer. Wooooo!”
The Don Callis Family—Powerhouse Hobbs, Konosuke Takeshita, & Kyle Fletcher (with Don Callis)
vs.
Three Local Wrestlers!
Hobbs, Takeshita, and Fletcher put on a total display of domination, planting their opponents hard onto the mat. Hobbs scored the pin with ease!
Don Callis: “Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega, the Golden Jets! You put two of the greatest of all time in a tag team and what do you got? You’ve got a team that could be the most dominant of all time. I know that wins and losses matter here in AEW, but in the Don Callis Family, the only thing that matters is winning! The Don Callis Family will continue dominating until there is nowhere for the Golden Jets to hide in All Elite Wrestling!”
Footage played from earlier in the night of Prince Nana with “The Machine” Brian Cage and the Workhorsemen!
Prince Nana: “Hey Brian, it’s an unbelievable time for the Mogul Embassy! We have the Gates of Agony out in Japan, killing it! But tonight, I need to go ahead and hire some people to help us out. Tonight, I’m going to need the Workhorsemen’s services.
“This can be a huge opportunity for both of you guys to prove a point to Swerve Strickland and to the Mogul Embassy. I paid you guys, do the job tonight, and we’ll see if you can be a part of the team. I believe in you guys!”
Trios Bout!
Hikaru Shida, Kris Statlander, & Skye Blue
vs.
Anna Jay and The Outcasts—Ruby Soho & Saraya!
Kris powered Anna to the mat and tagged in Shida. Kris and Shida dropped a double elbow on Anna. Skye Blue tagged in and hit a spinning kick on Anna Jay. Shida and Saraya tagged in for their respective teams. Shida hoisted up Saraya in a torture rack.
Kris planted Saraya with a Blue Thunder Bomb, but Anna Jay ran in to break up the pin. Anna tried to apply the Queen Slayer on Statlander, but Statlander escaped. Shida cracked Saraya with a jumping knee strike. Anna walloped Kris with the Flatliner. Ruby Soho inadvertently kicked Anna Jay in the face. Statlander picked up Ruby Soho and planted her. Skye Blue pinned Soho with the Code Blue!
“At the end of the night it was Skye Blue and Kris Statlander working together,” said Excalibur.
Saraya grabbed Ruby by the hair and dragged her away.
Main Event Time! Trios Bout!
ROH World Six-Man Champion Brian Cage & The Workhorsemen—Anthony Henry & JD Drake (with Prince Nana)
vs.
El Hijo del Vikingo, Komander, & Penta El Zero Miedo (with Alex Abrahantes)!
Brian Cage suplexed Komander. Penta tagged in and hit a cross body on Cage from the top rope. Anthony Henry grabbed a tag and ate a missile dropkick from El Hijo del Vikingo.
El Hijo del Vikingo wiped out Henry with an implosion dragon rana. JD Drake grabbed a tag and invited Vikingo to chop him. Vikingo chopped Drake and left a handprint on Drake’s chest. Drake fired back and leveled Vikingo!
Penta and Komander dropped Henry and Cage with stereo thrust kicks. Komander dropkicked Cage out of the ring with a boost from Penta. Cage was taken down with a series of sling blades from Penta. He followed up with a DDT to the Workhorsemen!
Komander used a springboard lung blower on Cage, held him, and allowed Vikingo to drop down with a double foot stomp. Penta followed up with a foot stomp of his own onto Cage for a near fall!
“That’s an amazing escape by Cage because he was hit by all three men,” said Schiavone.
Komander jumped in but got shoulder blocked by Cage in mid-air. Cage monkey flipped Komander into the waiting arms of Drake, who power bombed Komander. Drake catapulted Komander into a thrust kick from Henry! Drake held onto Komander so Henry could drop a double foot stomp from the top rope on Komander. Henry covered Komander for the pin, but Vikingo broke it up!
Henry spiked Vikingo with a piledriver. Penta was there and grabbed Henry and drilled him with the Made in Japan! Drake ran in and wiped out Penta. Cage held onto Komander, and Henry tried to boot Komander in the head, but Komander ducked. Henry inadvertently hit Cage instead!
“A miscommunication there,” said Excalibur.
Cage was furious and rocked Henry with a discus lariat! Prince Nana and Brian Cage walked away from the ring, abandoning the Workhorsemen!
Penta smashed Henry with the Fear Factor! Komander flipped onto Henry with a splash. Vikingo finished off Henry with a 630 senton and pinned Anthony Henry!
“The short fuse of Brian Cage would ultimately lead to the win,” said Excalibur.
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC!
Don’t miss AEW Collision on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c from the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, PA!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
Tonight’s episode of AEW DYNAMITE was broadcast live from the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN!
Excalibur and “The Human Suplex Machine” Taz were the broadcast team for tonight’s event. They were joined by “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson as a guest commentator.
It’s Wednesday night and you know what that means!
Continental Classic Gold League Match!
Blackpool Combat Club’s Jon Moxley vs. Jay Lethal!
Lethal and Moxley exchanged side headlock takeovers. Lethal slugged Moxley with a right fist. Lethal applied a figure four but Moxley rolled under the ropes and both men tumbled to the arena floor.
Jay Lethal rocketed outside with a tope suicida to Moxley. Jon Moxley fired back with a tope suicida of his own. Moxley was wrestling with a sense of urgency, while Lethal was showboating early on. Lethal retaliated with a knee breaker and a dragon screw leg whip, sensing Moxley tweaked his knee on the tope suicida landing.
Moxley scouted the Lethal Injection, but Lethal countered Moxley’s attempt at a jawbreaker with a knee breaker. Jay Lethal dropped an elbow off the top for a near fall.
“This is the Jay Lethal I want to see,” said Danielson.
Moxley nailed Lethal with a cutter. Moxley tried for a piledriver but Lethal pushed Mox into the turnbuckles. Lethal wrenched Moxley’s knee with a dragon screw off the ropes!
“This is a different Jay Lethal than we saw last week,” added Danielson.
Lethal and Moxley traded forearms. Moxley nearly decapitated Lethal with a King Kong lariat! Lethal blocked the Death Rider with the Lethal Combination. Lethal went to apply the figure four but Mox countered with a small package for a near fall.
Lethal locked on the figure four again. Moxley grabbed the ropes to force the ref to break the hold. Lethal swiped at Moxley’s knee with a kick. Moxley baited Lethal in and spiked him with a Paradigm Shift! Moxley hit the King Kong lariat and then a stuffed piledriver, but Lethal kicked out. Moxley transitioned into a rear naked choke and Jay Lethal tapped out! Moxley is the first man with six points in the tournament.
Tony Schiavone was backstage and announced Sting’s final match will be Sunday, March 3rd at the Greensboro Coliseum!
“Nature Boy” Ric Flair and Sting walked onto the set!
Sting: “March 1988, my very first World title match against Ric Flair, and I never would have guessed all these years later, I’d be standing here with Ric. The memories, that night, 45 minutes, draw, commercial free on TV. The big deal to me was I was in the ring with the Nature Boy Ric Flair. Thank you, Ric. He put me on the map. What a fitting place for me to end my career all these years later.”
Ric Flair: “Tony, just like before, the words cannot be spoken to the volume and the emphasis of what’s about to take place in Greensboro. Make no mistake. Sting made himself. I’m 74 years old, I’m lucky. I’m working for Tony Khan. I’m standing next to Sting. I’m honored to be there at your side. This will be one for the ages. Sting and the Nature Boy, and AEW, are coming to Greensboro. Wooooo!”
Sting: “It’s showtime!”
Continental Classic Gold League Match!
Mark Briscoe vs. LFI’s Rush!
Both men charged at one another and began to fight. Rush landed a big strike. Mark followed up with a running dropkick. Mark unleashed rapid fire chops. Rush returned the favor to his opponent.
Rush kicked Mark in the spine. Mark jumped through the ropes with a dropkick, as Rush was playing to the crowd. Rush whipped Rush into the steel barricade. Mark back dropped Rush onto the top of the barricade. Mark dropped the Cactus elbow off the edge of the ring.
Back in the ring, Rush sent Mark flying with a release German Suplex. Mark threw his whole body into a vicious lariat. Briscoe baited Rush in and caught him with an exploder suplex. Rush rallied back with a belly to belly suplex.
Mark speared Rush for a two-count! Mark followed up with a neck breaker. Rush slipped free from the Jay Driller. Mark dropped Rush with a kick to the back of the head. Rush suplexed Mark off the apron and onto the arena floor!
Mark Briscoe smashed Rush with the Froggy Bow for a near fall. Rush fought out of the Jay Driller, backdropping Mark. Rush baited in Mark and suplexed Mark into the turnbuckles. Rush followed up with the Bull’s Horns, right on target, and pinned Mark!
“Rush is on the board!” said Excalibur.
AEW Women’s World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm was backstage!
Storm: “I’m feeling very fatigued after the championship celebration. I’ll be fine for my match next week!”
AEW World Champion and one half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions MJF came to the ring next!
MJF: “December 30th, World’s End, it’ll be Samoa Joe against yours truly for the AEW World Championship. When it comes to Samoa Joe as a person, I don’t like him. But professionally, I respect him. I respect what he’s done for this industry, and because he didn’t come here to line his pockets, but because he believes in AEW.
“Now back in the early 2000s, I remember getting a poster in my mailbox for TNA Wrestling. I tuned in and I couldn’t be happier. I saw the ‘Samoan Submission Machine.’ He looked unconventional, and he didn’t seem to care, and neither did we. Now unfortunately, later on in his career, his talents weren’t fully recognized, and he was not afforded the opportunity to be a world champion in WWE. But what Joe did, for this sport, was bigger than that.
“Samoa Joe proved you don’t have to be a massive, male model body builder to be a top guy in this sport. Samoa Joe broke the mold. He proved alternatives matter. And because of the roads he paved, it has allowed a man like me to stand in the ring in front of you today. Without a guy like Joe, there might not be an AEW. As much as it pains me to admit, thank you.
“I’m not too shabby myself, now am I? I managed to pave a road of my own. I’ve helped build a new alternative and I’ve helped build this place brick by brick. And I did that by defeating some of the biggest names in this industry. Guys like Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, but of all the names I have had to face in this squared circle, the one name I look back on and say, not only was I lucky to be victorious, but I was also lucky to survive, that’d be you, Joe. Samoa Joe you are a wrestling legend. But December 30th is not about your wrestling legacy. December 30th is about my mine!
“December 30th is about can Max outlast the final boss of this sport one more time. So now, I’m going to make a promise. I’m going to make a promise to everyone watching at home and everyone in this arena. Joe, on December 30th, I don’t care if you beat me within an inch of my life, because I promise I am going to show the world it is not about the size of the dog in the fight, it is about the size of the fight in the dog! At World’s End, you are going to have to put me down!”
The arena went dark! Lights in the ring began to flicker. Men dressed all in black, their faces in black masks, with the devil logo on their backs, grabbed MJF and held him down. One of the men had a baseball bat and was about to use it on MJF!
Samoa Joe’s music hit! Samoa Joe sprinted to the ring and the men retreated!
A message on the screen read:
“In the shadows, our game begins. Next week, MJF & Samoa Joe…will you face the unknown in a tag match? Are you a hero, Max?”
MJF grabbed a microphone: “I’m so sick of your Scooby Doo BS! Let me explain something to you! I am not dealing with your crap when I’ve got Samoa Joe breathing down my back at World’s End. I am going to take out all of your men one by one. I am going to unmask you, you coward. And next week, you want a tag match? You’re one!”
Samoa Joe tried to calm down MJF and was upset when MJF accepted the challenge for next week.
Up next: Wardlow vs. AR Fox!
Fox jumped over the top rope and landed on Wardlow, but Wardlow seemed to shrug him off. Wardlow caught Fox and slammed him on the ring apron. Wardlow suplexed AR Fox back into the ring. Fox was sent flying from pillar to post!
Wardlow stalked his prey outside the ring. Wardlow threw AR Fox back into the ring. Wardlow tried to press slam Fox, but Fox escaped. Fox hit a 450 splash, but Wardlow kicked out right away! Fox booted Wardlow in the face. Wardlow absorbed it and then walloped Fox with a lariat.
Wardlow powerbombed AR Fox! Wardlow powerbombed Fox a second time! Wardlow climbed to the top and hit a huge senton on Fox! Wardlow powerbombed Fox again, and the ref stopped the match! Wardlow won via ref stoppage!
Trios Match!
Top Flight—Dante & Darius Martin, and Action Andretti
vs.
The Hardys—Matt & Jeff, and Brother Zay!
Jeff and Matt used tandem offense on Action. Darius and Brother Zay tagged in. Zay crashed into Dante with a shoulder tackle. Darius dropkicked Zay. Dante tagged in and Dante splashed Zay with a stalling senton!
Matt Hardy drilled Action with a Side Effect for a near fall. Action countered a Twist of Fate and clipped Matt with a combo of moves, including a kick to the back of Matt’s head. Dante tagged in and springboarded onto Zay for a near fall. Top Flight had a flurry of offense on the Hardys.
The Hardys hoisted up Dante on their shoulders and Zay dropkicked Dante for a two-count. Dante pinned Zay after a German Suplex! Dante is back and better than ever!
After a commercial break, Renee Paquette interviewed Dante Martin, Darius Martin, and Action Andretti!
Penta El Zero Miedo, Komander, and El Hijo del Vikingo interrupted! It appeared Penta challenged Top Flight and Action Andretti to a trios match!
TBS Championship House Rules Match!
House of Black’s Julia Hart (c.) vs. Emi Sakura!
Emi Sakura picked the stipulation: the match cannot be won by submission.
Julia bashed Emi’s head into the turnbuckles, battering her in the corner. Julia charged into the corner with a lariat to Emi Sakura. Emi chopped at Julia.
Julia rocked Emi with a spinning kick to the head. Outside the ring, Emi reversed an Irish whip and sent Julia crashing hard into the ring steps. Emi followed up with a splash, sandwiching Julia against the ring steps!
Emi stunned Julia with a stalling back breaker! Emi applied the surfboard to Julia and then dropped her hard. Julia dodged a moonsault. Julia locked in the Heartless, but there is no victory via submission tonight. Julia clubbed Emi in the back of the head with a lariat. Julia moonsaulted Emi and pinned her!
RJ City interviewed Mariah May backstage!
Mariah May: “I know I’m the new girl, but I just came here from Stardom in Japan. I’m dying to show AEW what I can do.”
Mariah knocked on Tony Khan’s door and walked into his office.
TNT Champion “The Patriarch” Christian Cage responded to Adam Copeland’s challenge for next week’s Dynamite!
Christian Cage was flanked by AEW security in the ring.
Christian Cage: “What I’d like to do right now is go ahead and invite the Rated R Superstar Adam Copeland to this ring right now. Adam, I know you’re back there. I just want to speak to you about a few things about what you said last week. If you don’t mind making your presence felt, it’d be very much appreciated.
“Adam, I would like to speak to you in the ring, if you wouldn’t mind. If the truck can hit his music, something. Maybe I should come back there and speak to him then.”
Adam Copeland’s music hit, and Copeland stormed to the ring!
Christian: “Management wanted me to have this security. It wasn’t my idea. We don’t need security here tonight. So, I’m going to ask you gentlemen to vacate the ring.
“Last week you challenged me to a match to the TNT Championship December 6th on Dynamite. I’m here to tell you that we’re not going to make it to Montreal next week. We’re not going to make it because I’m sorry. Now look, I know what you’re thinking, that I’m only sorry because I’m on an island by myself. Last week you took out the Kill Switch. You took out the “Prodigy” Nick Wayne.
“I was so mad when you hit Kill Switch with two con-chair-tos, I ran out of my house and drove with the windows down. I just needed to think. It turned into a road trip of soul searching, digging down deep, trying to figure out how I became this guy who does and says such unsavory things. And then on that drive, it started to remind me of those times we borrowed my mom’s car.
“We didn’t care where we went. We were broke. We were having the times of our lives on the road, and we were going to make it. And did we ever make it! We went on to become multiple times tag team champions. The greatest tag team that ever lived. We both became multi time World champions. Take the wrestling part of our relationship away and it runs even deeper.
“Everyone knows you grew up with a single mom, Adam. Everyone knows you didn’t have a father figure. Yes, I’m the patriarch of AEW, but I am your brother. You might not have had a father, but in turn, my father became your father. To this day, he’s still your biggest fan. I’m just going to say, we weren’t just two random guys that were thrown together. I love you, man. We are family.
“And listen to me, when your mom passed away a few years ago, that was the hardest time of your life. But sometime before she passed, she said, ‘What I wouldn’t give to see you guys in that ring tagging one last time.’ And on my drive, I thought, let’s do it for her, let’s go on this journey again. For your mom! Let’s do it for her, man.”
Adam Copeland turned around to contemplate what he just heard from Christian Cage. Christian charged at Copeland, trying to strike with a cheap shot. But Copeland saw it coming and kicked Christian with a low blow!
Adam Copeland: “Nice try, dumb ass. Sit up when I’m talking to you. Shine this belt up real nice, because next week, she’s coming home with me! Oh, by the way, I almost forgot, go f—k yourself!”
Main Event Time!
Continental Classic Gold League Match!
Swerve Strickland vs. Bullet Club Gold’s “Switchblade” Jay White!
Jay White went right after Swerve. White whipped Swerve into the steel barricade. Back in the ring, Jay White went after Swerve’s taped out shoulder. Swerve chopped Jay White. Swerve suplexed Jay right onto the top of the barricade.
Swerve jumped off the apron and stomped on Jay White’s spine. As Swerve was entering the ring, Jay White grabbed him and planted him with a DDT. Swerve got dropped on his head after a suplex from Jay White.
Swerve intercepted a chop and countered with a suplex to Switchblade. Swerve blasted Jay with a flatliner and followed up with a vertical suplex for a near fall. Jay White retaliated with a German Suplex. Swerve rallied back with a discus lariat!
“These two men! How incredible are these two men?!” said Danielson.
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Jay White chop blocked Swerve’s knee. Jay White nailed Swerve with a uranage. Jay White applied an arm bar. Swerve escaped and blasted Jay with a kill shot to White’s arm. Jay White almost inadvertently collided with the ref. As the ref had his back turned, Jay White went for a low blow, but Swerve had it scouted! Swerve rocked White with a back breaker. Swerve hit the House Call on Jay White. Swerve connected with the Swerve Stomp, but Jay White kicked out at the two-count!
“You have to be impressed with Jay White’s resiliency here,” said Danielson.
Jay White shocked Swerve with the Blade Runner. Swerve was knocked out of the ring, perhaps a saving grace. Back in the ring, Jay chopped at Swerve, and Swerve fired back with his own shots. Jay White planted Swerve with a sleeper suplex! Swerve countered the Blade Runner, rolling up Jay White and pinned him!
“Impressive roll counter right there,” said Taz.
“Cerebral wrestling from Swerve,” replied Excalibur.
“That got him another three points to put him at six,” added Danielson.
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC!
This Friday tune in to AEW RAMPAGE at 10pm ET on TNT!
Don’t miss AEW Collision on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c from the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, PA!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
Power Book III Raising Kanan Season 3 Episode 1 Recap & Review “Home Sweet Home”Power Book III Raising Kanan Season 3 Episode 1 Recap & Review S3E0` *SPOILERS*Power Book 3 Raising Kanan Season 3 Episode 1Power…
Tonight’s AEW RAMPAGE & AEW COLLISION shows were broadcast live from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA!
Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, and Nigel McGuinness were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
It’s Saturday night and you know what that means! Saturday night’s alright for fighting!
FTW Champion HOOK vs. Rocky Romero!
Rocky escaped a suplex and both men ran across the ring, delivering lariats, knocking one another down. Hook was first back to his feet. Hook hurled Rocky with a bigtime German Suplex. Rocky struck Hook with a rising knee strike and then a vertical suplex on the apron! Rocky followed up with the forever clotheslines back in the ring.
Hook rallied back with a vicious exploder suplex on Rocky. It was a high impact match in a very short time. Hook hit Rocky with body blows in the corner. Hook headbutted Rocky and got a near fall after a Northern Lights Suplex.
Rocky stunned Hook with Sliced Bread #2. Hook employed a leg sweep on Rocky. Hook countered a second attempt at the Sliced Bread with RedRum, and Hook won via ref stoppage!
Kris Statlander vs. Diamante!
Diamante tried to outpower Statlander, but once she realized she couldn’t, Diamante slapped Statlander. Kris knocked down Diamante with a shoulder block. Statlander powerslammed Diamante for a near fall. Mercedes Martinez walked out onto the ramp to scout Statlander.
Statlander was rolled up by Diamante for a two count. Diamante charged at Statlander, but Statlander was waiting for her with a powerslam. Diamante covered Kris after a cutter, but Kris kicked out. Diamante charted at Statlander, but Statlander countered with a discus lariat and scored the pin on Diamante!
Mercedes jumped in the ring and she and Diamante began to double team Kris. Willow Nightingale sprinted to the ring to even up the odds, coming to the rescue of the former TBS Champ Statlander!
The Kingdom—Mike Bennett and Matt Taven came out, asking the audience if they wanted to celebrate #NeckStrengthNovember!
Bennett said that Roderick Strong wasn’t here tonight because he was recovering from the match last week against Action Andretti, but luckily, Roddy is #neckstrong. Taven said MJF was the devil. Taven told MJF they are coming back for what’s theirs.
Duke Davis and Danny Jones got blindsided by the Kingdom, and the match began! Taven hit the Climax on Jones. Bennett spiked Davis on the ramp with a piledriver! Taven then connected with the aurora borealis for the pin!
Rampage Main Event Time!
ROH Pure Championship Match!
Katsuyori Shibata (c.) vs. Blackpool Combat Club’s Wheeler Yuta!
Jerry Lynn, Jimmy Jacobs, and Christopher Daniels were the judges.
The fans chanted “Shi-ba-ta! Shi-ba-ta!”
Shibata applied the bow and arrow submission to Yuta. Wheeler escaped and Shibata followed up with strong knee strikes. Shibata applied a leg submission and Wheeler grabbed the ropes, utilizing his first rope break of the match. Yuta was immediately issued a warning after a closed fist to Shibata’s face.
Shibata dropkicked Yuta’s head against the turnbuckle. Shibata applied the STF and Wheeler managed to reach the ropes, utilizing his second rope break of the match. Shibata put a sleeper on Yuta, but Yuta shucked him off. Wheeler fired himself out of the ring with a tope suicida to Shibata!
Yuta whipped Shibata into the guardrail. Shibata returned the favor, whipping Yuta into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Yuta ducked a PK from Shibata. Yuta knocked Shibata into the ref, hit a low blow while the ref had his back turned, and DDT’ed Shibata right on his head to score the pin!
And new ROH Pure Champion…Wheeler Yuta!
Shibata tried to shake Yuta’s hand after the match, but Yuta nailed Shibata with another low blow and then DDT’ed him.
FTW Champion Hook came down to the ring to check on Shibata. Yuta left, scowling at Hook and holding up the ROH Pure Championship.
The RAMPAGE portion of the evening kicked off!
Continental Classic Match—The Blue League!
Daniel Garcia vs. Blackpool Combat Club’s Claudio Castagnoli!
Claudio Castagnoli quickly hit Garcia with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Claudio followed up with a body slam. Garcia lunged at Claudio with a guillotine, but Claudio muscled his way out of it. Garcia chopped at Claudio, but Claudio fired back with a European Uppercut.
Garcia charged at Claudio, knocking Claudio out of the ring with a running knee. Daniel hammered Claudio with stiff shots to the head. Garcia ran at Claudio, but Claudio caught him and swung him into the steel guardrail.
Claudio applied a sharpshooter in the ring. Garcia managed to trap Claudio and cradle him for a near fall. Claudio blasted Garcia with a European Uppercut. Claudio rocked Garcia with the Ricola Bomb and pinned him, earning three points!
Representing the Patriarchy…Killswitch vs. The Boys—Brent & Brandon Tate!
Brent was thrown overhead by Killswitch with a wheelbarrow suplex. Killswitch choke slammed Brandon over the top rope and down onto the edge of the ring! Killswitch clobbered Brent with a lariat to the back of the head and pinned him!
Killswitch grabbed two chairs and placed them into the ring. Killswitch choke slammed Brent onto the chair! Killswitch grabbed Brandon but then the “Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland jumped into the ring and cracked a chair over the back of Killswitch! Copeland smashed Killswitch with the con-chair-to!
Killswitch tried to get to his knees but Copeland curb stomped Killswitch onto the chair! Copeland nailed Killswitch with another con-chair-to!
After a commercial break, Lexy Nair interviewed Adam Copeland backstage.
Copeland: “Lexy, I like you, but go. You know what I have to say? I’m coming straight down the barrel to you, Jay. Or should I call you Christian Cage? Or better yet should I call you the Patriarch now? All of this, what just happened to Nick Wayne on Wednesday, what just happened to Killswitch, it’s all because of your insecurity!
“You couldn’t get past your own ego, could you, man? The night I got here, you were about to con-chair-to Sting. Last Wednesday, you were about to have Killswitch con-chair-to Nick Wayne. You know I’ve got a short fuse. You said you were going to break my neck while my children looked at me. You’re not just threatening me and my future, you’re threatening theirs. Now I’m hunting you. I’ve already got two heads on my wall. I’m going to change your soul. I’m going to kick your face in. I am going to take your TNT Title because it’s the most important thing in your world.
“I am challenging you. Dynamite, December 6th, Montreal, Adam Copeland versus Christian Cage for the TNT Championship. And I am going to go places you can’t go, and you haven’t been to because you don’t have that dog in you. I am going to take your TNT Title!”
The House of Black’s Malakai Black & Buddy Matthews
vs.
Komander & Gravity (with Alex Abrahantes)!
Buddy punted Gravity in the face and tagged out to Black. Malakai had a flurry of strikes for Gravity. Komander had a blind tag and caught Black off guard with a hurracanrana. Black planted Komander with a German Suplex for a near fall.
Komander connected with a shotgun dropkick off the top to both House of Black members. Komander nailed Black with a gut buster for a near fall. Gravity took flight with a tope con hiro but Black and Matthews caught him and blocked it. Komander walked the ropes from one turnbuckle from another and then springboarded off the top, taking out Black and Matthews on the arena floor!
Komander and Gravity each jumped off turnbuckles, but Black and Matthews countered by raising their knees. Black cracked Gravity with a knee lift, and Matthews smashed Komander with a knee lift!
Black ravaged Komander with a spinning back elbow and then sat on the mat, waiting for Komander to crawl to him. It was a trap. Buddy curb stomped Komander and then pinned him!
TBS Championship Match! House Rules Match!
Julia Hart (c.) vs. Lady Frost!
Lady Frost chose no count-outs for this match.
Julia Hart whipped Lady Frost into the steel guardrail. The rules were favoring Julia Hart here. Julia picked up a steel chair and placed it on the ground after being admonished by the ref. Lady Frost tried for a moonsault off the ring steps, but Julia dodged it. Lady Frost landed on her feet, but Julia was one step ahead with a thrust kick to the challenger.
Julia propped Lady Frost on the steel chair. Julia ran down the ramp and clotheslined a prone Lady Frost. Back in the ring, Julia applied the Heartless Submission and forced Lady Frost to tap out!
“Julia Hart’s first title defense is a successful one,” said Tony Schiavone.
Lexy Nair was backstage with Don Callis and Powerhouse Hobbs!
Don Callis: “I can’t figure out the calculation that got the Golden Jets—Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega—a tag team title shot. I can’t figure out how you make that calculation when the last time Hobbs had his hands on Jericho and Omega, he broke them, sent them to the hospital. And as Will would say, anyone can get got. And Kenny and Chris, we don’t need two guys to beat the Golden Jets. Hobbs is a one man wrecking crew.”
Powerhouse Hobbs: “It’s simple. I’m big, I’m black, and I’m jacked, and anybody can get it.”
FTR—Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler
vs.
The Righteous—Vincent & Dutch!
Dax used a lariat to knocked Dutch over the top rope. Dax backdropped Vincent out of the ring, and Vincent landed on Dutch. Back in the ring, Dutch splashed Dax for a two-count. Dutch was looking for a senton off the turnbuckles, but Dax dodged it. Vincent grabbed a tag, but Dax used a baseball slide through Vincent’s legs to tag out to Cash!
Cash cleaned house on the Righteous. Dutch grabbed a blind tag and planted Cash with a bossman slam! Dax tagged in and FTR hit the Shatter Machine on Vincent, allowing Dax to score the pin.
Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews walked toward the ring.
Black: “If we would come to the ring right now there would be no one coming to save you. No Claudio, no Yuta. See the misconception is that this place is not the brotherhood that you two think it is.”
The arena went dark. When the lights came back on, FTR were alone in the ring, but the House of Black had vanished.
Action Andretti and Darius Martin were backstage!
Action Andretti: “Eight months, that’s how long it’s been since Darius, and I have been teaming together. Darius, these past eight months, I feel like we’ve grown such a bond together. We’ve had so many great opportunities and I’ve heard that this Wednesday Dynamite is returning to your hometown in Minneapolis.”
Darius Martin: “Yeah, man, we have been building a lot of chemistry. But it seems like there’s something just a little bit off and I think I know what that might be.”
Dante Martin walked onto the scene!
Darius turned to Dante and said, “You ready to step up? It’s time to take flight.”
Dante Martin: “I’m back!”
Tony Schiavone interviewed AEW World Tag Team Champions “Absolute” Ricky Starks and Big Bill!
Ricky Starks: “We thought there was going to be more of a fight from Jericho.”
Big Bill: “These two guys call themselves the Golden Jets. To us you look more like the Golden Girls.”
Starks: “Nice. I like that. They traveled up and down the roads together. Me and Bill don’t even know each other that well. Bill, when’s my birthday?”
Big Bill: “No idea.”
Starks: “Exactly. But what I do know is that you two aren’t built like him.”
Big Bill: “Four years ago when I was in and out of the emergency room having seizures from alcohol withdrawal, I always knew I’d make it back to the top. When I couldn’t get out of bed and I was at the lowest point of my entire life, I always knew I’d make it back to the top! And when nobody believed in me and they counted me out, they said he’s washed, he’s done, I always knew I’d make it back to the top!
“And standing in this ring with this guy, with these titles, I’d say I was right. I made it back to the top. Now Chris and Kenny, we know all about you. We’re very aware of all of the accolades. And you two are two of the best to ever do this. But I don’t think you two realize what you’re dealing with. We are angry, we are motivated, and we’re not only going to beat the living hell out of you, we’re going to embarrass you. When I look at you two, I don’t see Jordan, I don’t see Pippen. When I look at you two, all I see are the dudes that hand Michael Jordan his Bazooka Joe bubble gum before starting lineups are introduced.”
Starks: “I don’t even watch basketball and I know all those people are really good. And I also know two things: one guy tells everybody he’s the best, and the other actually is. After you are done with me and Big Bill, I’m going to let you know one thing. Ricky Starks likes his gum minty fresh and Big Bill likes his Big Red, baby.”
“Limitless” Keith Lee vs. Lee Moriarty!
Lee Moriarty kicked Keith Lee on the thigh. Keith fired back with a kick of his own, but Moriarty ducked it. Keith Lee came back with a pounce on Moriarty!
Lee Moriarty grabbed an arm bar, but Keith Lee pulled him up with a bicep curl. Keith Lee walloped Moriarty with a lariat. Moriarty stunned Keith with a bulldog from the top rope. Moriarty springboarded but Keith countered with a headbutt and then finished him off with a powerslam for the pin!
After commercial break, Lexy Nair interviewed Keith Lee!
Keith Lee: “Initially I planned to come in here and tell you about how good and talented Lee Moriarty is. He is that damned good. But he’s no Keith Lee. And I’m tired of the misrepresentation and the lack of opportunity given to me. And now I’m here to take it. And when I say take it, that means him. You are who I want. And you know who you are.”
Nigel: “Smart money has got to be on Shane Taylor.”
Tony: “That’s the question for us to ponder.”
Main Event Time!
Continental Classic Match—The Blue League!
ROH World Champion & NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston
vs.
House of Black’s Brody King!
Brody and Eddie traded shoulder blocks. Then they exchanged chops in the center of the ring. Brody battered Kingston in the corner with a running cannonball. Outside the ring, Brody pummeled Kingston with more chops and then whipped Kingston into the steel ring steps. Brody charged at Kingston, but Kingston countered with a drop toehold, sending Brody colliding into the steps.
Brody rallied back, splashing Kingston against the barricade. Back in the ring Brody body slammed Kingston and then connected with a senton splash. Brody tried to whip Kingston into the turnbuckles, but Kingston’s legs gave out and he crumbled to the mat.
Kingston collected himself and out of nowhere, in a desperate move, Kingston clubbed Brody with a lariat. Eddie went for an exploder suplex, but Brody countered with a German Suplex. Kingston shocked Brody with a spinning backfist for a near fall!
They traded chops again! Brody switched to forearms. Eddie spiked Brody with a DDT for a near fall! Eddie charged at Brody King, but Brody planted Kingston. Brody was looking for a lariat, but Eddie countered with an exploder and then a half-and-half suplex. Kingston followed up with a third suplex for a two-count on Brody!
Brody nailed Kingston with a piledriver for a two-count. Eddie ducked a lariat and cracked Brody with a spinning backfist! Brody decimated Kingston with Dante’s Inferno and then pinned him! Brody has earned three points!
“Holy smokes! What have we just seen? This is what the Continental Classic is all about,” said Tony Schiavone.
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
What a week it has been in All Elite Wrestling! Starting with FULL GEAR 2023 this past Saturday, and continuing into DYNAMITE on Wednesday night, the landscape of AEW continues to be the most exciting in all of professional wrestling! We know that Samoa Joe and MJF are scheduled to collide at WORLDS END, providing MJF doesn’t end up in a situation where the belt is at risk, but in addition the culmination of the Continental Classic will go down that night in Long Island as well!
This week in Chicago, as part of AEW’s Thanksgiving Eve tradition, fans witnessed Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland, and Jay White each score three points in the Gold League, leaving Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal, and Rush with zero points to their names, with the first bouts in the Blue League going down in Pittsburgh this Saturday night!
This Saturday night, with three hours of action between RAMPAGE and COLLISION, the Petersen Center on the campus of Pitt will be rocking! The first bouts in the Blue League of the Continental Classic are set to go down with ROH World/NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston fighting Brodie King and Claudio Castagnoli taking on Daniel Garcia during COLLISOIN. But before that, on a special Satu night edition of RAMPGE, the ROH Pure Championship will be at stake with a SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 rematch between 2-Time champ Wheeler Yuta and the man who dethroned him, Katsuyori Shibata into the mix, and it all begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans. Be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s assorted social media platforms, to get caught up on the action with highlights from FULL GEAR 2023, as well as recent episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and this week’s CONTROL CENTER!
RAMAPAGE
ROH PURE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…
Katsuyori Shibata(c) vs. Blackpool Combat Club’s Wheeler Yuta
Perhaps it’s his experience as a member of the Blackpool Combat Club that has beaten any fear from the former 2-Time ROH Pure Champion, perhaps it is cockiness due to that affiliation, but whatever the reason, it is clear that Wheeler Yuta fears little. Why else would he, all by himself, step the AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, FTW Champion HOOK, and ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata ahead of their Trios match on DYNAMITE and talk trash on all three of them? There is plenty of history between Yuta and all three of these individuals; Orange served as a mentor to Yuta for much of his career before The BCC came calling while HOOK’s association with OC led to Yuta holding a pinfall victory over the FTW Champion on the November 15th DYNAMITE, and finally, it was Katsuyori Shibata who ended Yuta’s second reign as ROH Pure Champion earlier this year at SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023, a loss that Yuta has certainly not forgotten.
It seems the sting of that memory, and standing just feet away from Shibata hold the title belt, encouraged Yuta to dip his toes back into the Pure Division this past Thursday during ROH ON HONOR CLUB (www.watchroh.com), and score a victory over Shane Taylor Promotions member Lee Moriarty.
Earlier in the night, in a tremendous Pure Championship bout, Shibata retained the title over Trent Beretta, a man quite familiar to Yuta albeit the one member of the Best Friends unit who didn’t care for Wheeler’s presence, and as a result of these respective victories, this Saturday night on RAMPAGE, Wheeler Yuta will get the rematch he’s been waiting for since March 31st! With almost 240 days under his belt as champion, Shibata heads into this ninth title defense as strong as he’s ever been, and as imposing a presence as ever, and the history between these two men does not tilt in Yuta’s favor.
In addition to their SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 fight, there was that ALL OUT 2023 tag team bout that may have been won by The Blackpool Combat Club, but Shibata’s offensive barrage actually put Yuta on concussion protocol for several weeks. So while this is primarily about the Pure Championship, and Yuta’s desire to be the only 3-time Pure Champion (he’s already the only two-timer), there’s also a whole lot of other reasons for Yuta to want this fight on Saturday evening!
The Blackpool Combat Club is woefully lacking any championships at this moment, but with Moxley’s victory in his first Continental Classic match serving as a moral booster to the unit, and Castagnoli’s fight with Garcia following shortly after Yuta’s, this could be a week that shines in the history of The BCC. The question may then be whether Yuta or Shibata will bring the violence needed to emerge from this fight as reigning Pure Champion!
ONE-ON-ONE…
Kris Statlander vs. Diamante
Coming off losing the TBS Championship to Julia Hart at FULL GEAR 2023, Kris Statlander is back in action against one of her long-time rivals, a woman she’s got history with dating back to 2018, but who she’s surprisingly never gone one-on-one with in a televised bout! Diamante and Stat had a pair of singles matches on DARK, in addition to two trios bouts, and they even clashed in a tag on COLLISION back in September, but this Saturday night will be their first televised singles match ever!
Statlander certainly holds upper hand in their rivalry, having been on the winning side for four of their five AEW bouts, but will she be there for it after watching the TBS Championship slip out of her grasp last week in Los Angeles? This may be the prime moment for Diamante to strike and score a huge victory over her rival!
COLLISION
CONTINENTAL CLASSIC TOURNAMENT…
BLUE LEAGUE
Blackpool Combat Club’s Claudio Castagnoli vs. Daniel Garcia
They were trapped inside the Blood & Guts Cage together 17 months ago, and they fought in tags and trios over the ensuing months once Chris Jericho defeated Claudio Castagnoli to become ROH World Champion, but this Saturday night in Pittsburgh will be the first time that Claudio and Daniel Garcia fight in singles competition, and what stakes there are at hand!
This bout marks each man’s first in the Blue League of the Continental Classic, and Garcia is undoubtedly the underdog, not just in this match, but in the big picture of the entire twelve-man tournament! Though he is a former ROH Pure Champion, and the current PWG Champion, Garcia is absolutely the dark horse of the Blue League. After all this is a bracket consisting of the men involved in this match as well as Bryan Danielson, Andrade El Idolo, Eddie Kingston, and Brody King. That being said, regardless of how they came to be, Garcia’s record book shows victories over Brody and Bryan, though they are balanced by losses to Andrade and Kingston.
So the question is whether or not Garcia can find an amalgamation of his pro wrestler side and his sports entertainer side, because if he can find a balance of the two, he could evolve into the most dangerous wrestler in the whole of All Elite Wrestling. There is not doubt he is one of the most gifted wrestlers in the game today, he is also one of the most entertaining, but he’s yet to find a balance of the two that leads to consistent success.
With so much at stake in each Continental Classic match it becomes imperative that Daniel Garcia find his identity, and decide who he wants to be. Nothing dictates he has to be one or the other, but he has to figure out a balance between his best attributes if he hopes to defeat the complete package that is Claudio Castagnoli. One would be hard-pressed to find a professional wrestler more adept at every style in the game than Castagnoli, or one more powerful than the former ROH World Champion. Though there are several more matches to be fought before WORLDS END comes, that first victory is imperative to setting the town for the Continental Classic; will it be Claudio’s victory in the record books or will it belong to Daniel Garcia
ROH World/NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston vs. The House of Black’s Brody King
The enhanced stakes of this tournament, the situation where the winner will walk out not only as AEW Continental Champion, but also as ROH World Champion and NJPW STRONG Champion, are a direct result of the fighting spirit that burns in the soul of Eddie Kingston. Call him “The Mad King”, call him “The Last of a Dying Breed”, whatever you call him, you have to call Eddie Kingston a fighter with a respect for professional wrestling above and beyond the call of duty. There is no reason for Eddie to put both his hard-earned championship titles at stake save for his belief that a champion should be defending their title any time they are in a prize fight.
That leads to this situation where Eddie has laid both his championship titles on the line for the ultimate winner of this Round Robin-Style Tournament, thereby creating a modern American Triple Crown Championship, and adhering the Continental Classic winner to three separate promotions. But that’s what comes at WORLDS END for the winner of the entire field, this Saturday night during COLLISOIN, Eddie Kingston will first have to deal with a man he first met in La Boom back in 2018, and first fought in Wilmington, CA one month later: The House of Black’s Brody King!
These two men had issues in All Elite Wrestling earlier this year, problems that created the fissure in the relationship between Ortiz and Kingston that ultimately put those two on opposite sides of the Stadium Stampede at ALL IN: LONDON, but seem quelled based on recent Ring of Honor activity, but the Kingston/HoB issues never put Eddie in the ring with Brody here in AEW.
That all changes this Saturday night on COLLISION when, as part of the Blue League, Eddie and Brody lock horns in singles competition for the first time in AEW, and for the first time time since an AAW title fight in December 2018. These are two men who were inspired to this trade because of their love for Puroesu, because of their love for the concept of Fighting Spirit, and though they’ve traveled very different paths to get to this point, now are engaged in a tournament that owes a great deal of inspiration to those that elevated the men Brody and Eddie love into inspirational figures.
This is going to be a hard-hitting affair, one in which bombs will be thrown from the outset, and neither man will emerge in perfect health. No matter who wins, both Brody and Eddie will know they’ve been through a battle to score their first 3 points, and they will feel the repercussions of the bout throughout the rest of the Continental Classic.
THE CHAMPIONS SPEAK…
After assaulting Chris Jericho following the FULL GEAR 2023 Media Scrum, reigning AEW World Tag Champions Ricky Starks and Big Bill will be on-hand this Saturday during COLLISION for an interview with Tony Schiavone.
With that Ladder Match victory under their belt, the duo were already riding high, but putting the boots to Jericho the way they did, and doing more damage to the arm already injured by The Young Bucks has left them even higher on the hog than they were. There’s no doubt Starks and Big Bill will have a lot of gloating to do on Saturday, but eventually they will have to answer for their attack, and given that The Golden Jets are owed a championship match, the champions’ actions may cost them the titles!
This past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, fans watched in horror as Christian Cage prepared to deliver a One-Man Conchairto to Shayna Wayne. If it wasn’t for the timely intervention of Adam Copeland, one can imagine the kind of damage that would’ve been done to Nick Wayne’s seemingly-estranged mother. Unfortunately for Nick, it was young Mr. Wayne who ended up with his head sandwiched between chairs and felt the cold sting of the steel across his skull, but also unfortunate was the fact this happened right in front of Shayna.
Whether or not “The Rated R Superstar” even realized there was a distraught mother crumbled in the corner crying for a stay of execution is something only Adam can answer, and perhaps that’s what he will address this Saturday night on COLLISION!
TAG TEAM BOUT…
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. The Righteous (Dutch & Vincent)
FTR were within moments of claiming the AEW World Tag Team Titles at FULL GEAR 2023 but Ricky Starks played spoiler to their moment of redemption, and instead pulled down the titles to keep them around the waists of himself and Big Bill. Frustrating as that may be, it’s not the first time Cash and Dax have been on the losing end of a fight and it certainly won’t be the last, and that loss is not going to stop them from getting right back into the hunt for a third reign as champions!
The road that hopefully ends in another title opportunity begins tonight on COLLISION when FTR faces The Righteous for the very first time! Dutch and Vincent recently took up with Jake Roberts, a match certainly made in the most devilish of fires, pooling a wealth of knowledge with a bent towards wickedness that could certainly lead The Righteous towards championship success.
Will Dutch and Vincent be able to blaze that trail at the expense of FTR, or will Dax and Cash rebound from their PPV heartbreak and set their sights right back on the AEW World Tag Titles?
SINGLES BOUT…
“Limitless” Keith Lee vs. Shane Taylor Promotions’ Lee Moriarty
The issues between Shane Taylor and Keith Lee date back over a decade to the earliest days of the wrestling careers, into their time in Ring of Honor as The Pretty Boy Killers, even spilled over into the New Era of Honor with their fight at FINAL BATTLE 2022 last December, and into AEW with their Mixed Tag Team bout during the ZERO HOUR for WRESTLEDREAM 2023. Now, with Shane Taylor having recruited Lee Moriarty into his fold, it looks like Pittsburgh’s own is taking up the fight on his mentor’s behalf!
It was just a little over two years ago that Moriarty wrestled his first match for AEW, losing to Dante Martin on the August 17, 2021 edition of DARK, and his drive to become one of the best in the game led him to championship bouts with Orange Cassidy, HOOK, Wardlow, and Katsuyori Shibata, to mention a few, and caught the attention of Shane Taylor.
Stepping up this Saturday to fight Shane’s former tag partner, will Lee Moriarty come to regret his choice of partnering with STP, or will that association be the thing that bolsters the master of #TaigaStyle to the level he has been striving for since coming into AEW?
TAG TEAM BOUT…
The House of Black (Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black) vs. Gravity & Komander
FULL GEAR 2023 was not an ideal night for the men of The House of Black, though Julia Hart did bring the TBS Championship into their fold, all three of the men honoring The House were unsuccessful in their respective fights. Buddy Matthews fell to Claudio Castagnoli during the ZERO HOUR, while The Kings of the Black Throne came up short in the AEW World Tag Team Championship Ladder Match.
Thankfully for all three of them, today is a new day for a fresh fight, and while Brody King is embroiled in the Continental Classic Tournament and his opening fight with Eddie Kingston, Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews will team for the first time to take on the high-flying duo of Gravity and Komander! The Luchador duo have been sporadically tagging up for several years, though this will be there first time working as a team in All Elite Wrestling, and what a challenge they face in this House pairing!
Tonight’s episode of AEW DYNAMITE was broadcast live from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL!
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!
Continental Classic Match—The Gold League!
Swerve Strickland vs. Jay Lethal!
Lethal clocked Swerve with a big right hand. They traded strikes on the ring apron. Lethal yanked on Swerve’s right arm. Lethal drove Swerve into the barricade after a tope suicida. Lethal followed up with a short arm lariat.
Swerve targeted the knee of Lethal with a basement dropkick. Swerve tied up Lethal’s legs and wrenched on them, putting all of his body weight on them. Swerve kicked Lethal’s leg and then chopped it!
Swerve sent Lethal flying with a German Suplex. Lethal rallied back with a shoulder breaker. They jockeyed for position on the top turnbuckle, and Swerve brought Lethal down hard with a superplex. Swerve followed up with a flatliner and then a brainbuster for a near fall on Lethal.
Jay Lethal stunned Swerve with an elbow drop from the top rope worthy of a king. Swerve avoided a dropkick and applied a stretch muffler, but Lethal grabbed the bottom rope. Lethal cracked Swerve with a pump kick. Lethal went for the Lethal Injection but Swerve countered with a dropkick. Swerve hit the House Call and then the Swerve Stomp to score the pin on Lethal. Three points for Swerve!
Renee Paquette was backstage withAEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, FTW Champion HOOK, & ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata!
Wheeler Yuta interrupted Orange Cassidy and mocked him, Hook, and Shibata. Yuta told Shibata that he’d be taking his championship back!
Up next: AEW World Champion & ROH Tag Champion MJF came out with his ROH Tag Champion partner Adam Cole!
MJF: “Cut the music. Now ladies and gentlemen, it appears the devil has arrived in Chicago. After I just freshly beat an undefeated Jay White. I learned in those 30 minutes that you are truly one of the best professional wrestlers in the world. Fact. However, nobody is on the level of the devil. Chicago, I’m just gonna say what we’re all thinking: you’re looking at the greatest AEW World Champion of all time. Now none of that is possible without my brochacho for life, Mr. Cole.”
Adam Cole: “Who’s ready for story time with Adam Cole, baybay? It’s great that me and Max are still your ROH World Tag Team Champions with a little help from Samoa Joe, as well. My ankle is in really bad shape. I’ve got a long road ahead of me. But I’m going to work my ass off every single day to make sure I can get back her in AEW to do what I love to do.
“Max, I’m really worried about you. I wish for nothing more than to be here by your side, but I can’t. It feels like you’ve got the entire world gunning for you.”
MJF: “You don’t gotta worry about me, Adam. To the man behind my devil mask, I’m going to find you and the hell I send you to is going to feel like heaven.”
Someone appeared on the screen wearing the devil mask, laughing, and then the feed disappeared!
Samoa Joe’s music played and out walked Samoa Joe to the ring!
Samoa Joe: “This is a time for celebration, Max. Two massive victories over a weekend. You stand here today AEW World Champion. But you know what else happened? Earlier in the night, MJF, you went out there with Samoa Joe and defended your ROH World Tag Championship for the simple price of giving me my rematch. So, I’ve come to Chicago to ensure that honorable men honor their deals.”
MJF: “Maybe you should take a couple of steps back because you have bad breath. And secondly, I thought long and hard about our deal. And I feel I’ve come up with a reasonable mature response. My response is no!”
Samoa Joe grabbed MJF by the throat, but Adam Cole begged Samoa Joe to stop and listen to him!
Adam Cole: “Thank you! Max, you can’t do this, man. The new MJF, he’s a man of his word. I get it, Joe is a killer. Max, that’s why you are who you are. They don’t just love you because you’re a great wrestler. They love you because when MJF says something is going to happen, damnit it happens. Max, be a man of your word.”
MJF: “You know what Joe, you want to face me for this belt? You wouldn’t be the first Ring of Honor legend I’ve beaten in Chicago twice! So how about Samoa Joe versus MJF right here, right now in Chicago!”
Samoa Joe: “Absolutely not. Let’s discuss what’s really gonna happen. You’re going to get on the Internet tomorrow and complain that you weren’t 100% and it wasn’t fair. Boo Hoo. No, Max, I want the best version of you, I want the fully healed Max. So, I say by World’s End, you should be nice and chipper to get in that ring and defend that title.”
MJF: “Let me get this straight. You want to wrestle MJF at Nassau Colliseum on December 30th at World’s End? You want MJF in the main event for the World Title? Is that correct?”
Samoa Joe: “That is correct, Max.”
MJF: “You’ve got yourself a deal, Joe. But let me explain something to you. Wrestling MJF in Long Island, that’s about as bright as copping head from an alligator. But based on the way you’re looking these days, I bet you don’t have many options.”
Samoa Joe: “I understand what this is and I’m really great at picking fights too, Max. But Max all this worrying you’re doing about the devil goes away today. Because you see from now on, you’re considered my property. And people don’t touch my property unless I say so. I’m going to deliver the very best MJF to Nassau Colliseum and then I’m going to take your World Championship in front of your family and friends and everyone you know and love!”
Trios Match!
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, FTW Champion HOOK,
Before the match, Orange Cassidy said he had a Thanksgiving surprise. Very nice, very evil Danhausen made his return!
Hook hurled Menard overhead with judo throws. Hook sent Angelo Parker to the mat too! Hager hit Hook with a blindsided shot.
Parker clocked Hook with a running knee to the head. Hager nailed Hook with a Hager Bomb for a near fall. Hook fired back with a lariat to Angelo Parker, exploding out of the corner. Hook planted Parker with a T-bone suplex and then tagged out to Orange Cassidy.
Hager intercepted the Orange Punch from Cassidy and then planted him on the mat. Shibata tagged in and he and Hager traded forearms. Shibata pump kicked Hager. Shibata chopped down Hager in the corner. Shibata followed up with a running dropkick to Hager! Menard and Parker doubled up on Shibata. Hager went to powerbomb Shibata, but Danhausen jumped on the apron, distracting Hager with Hager’s purple hat.
Danhausen cursed Hager and Cassidy stunned Hager with a tope suicida. Shibata put the sleeper on Menard while Hook made Parker tap out with the Red Rum!
Renee Paquette was backstage with Adam Cole!
Roderick Strong and the Kingdom interrupted!
Strong: “I saw you were there on Saturday. I’m sorry I missed you. Friday, where were you? I was dropped right on my head.”
Cole: “Shut up! When are you going to get it through your thick skull that I am not your best friend anymore? Do me a favor. Back off and leave me the hell alone!”
Up next: TNT Champion Christian Cage rechristened Luchasaurus & Nick Wayne!
Christian Cage: “Now everybody knows a true champion is gracious in victory and humble in defeat. And as you all know this past Saturday at Full Gear, it didn’t exactly go as we planned. I can tell you that I did not lose that match. Nick Wayne did not lose that match. Luchasaurus lost that match! And that’s unacceptable to me.
“And I went home, and I thought, how do I get rid of this stench of losing. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. Since you’re both my children, it’s time that I recreate you both in my image. Luchasaurus, take a knee. I said take a knee. I’m not sure what you’re not understanding about this you moron. Take a knee right now!
“The name Luchasaurus to me will forever be associated with me with being a loser. I thought long and hard about your name and I came up with a name of strength. A name of toughness. A name that means certain victory. A name that has served me well throughout my career. You are my finisher. This Saturday on Collision you will have the chance to prove that you are worthy of this moniker because from here on out you will be known as Kill Switch!
“Nick Wayne, get on your feet. You don’t ever get on your knees for another person, do you understand me? You’re different, Nick. You’re special. You are my golden boy. I see things in you that I’ve never seen in another person. You are me. I love you, Nick. Nick, you are a golden boy, and you will be known as ‘the Prodigy, Nick Wayne.’”
Nick Wayne’s mother walked to the ring.
Christian Cage: “What the hell are you doing here anyway? You are a terrible mother! Maybe you love Nick unconditionally but that isn’t good enough. This kid is a prodigy. It’s a good thing that your husband is dead because Nick would have disowned his father because he knows his father was never as good of a wrestler that I am. So do me a favor and get the hell out of my ring!”
Luchasaurus stepped between Nick Wayne’s mom and Christian Cage and stared at Christian!
Christian Cage: “Get back on your knees! I didn’t stutter. Get on your knees Kill Switch!”
Christian Cage slapped Luchasaurus in the face!
Christian Cage: “Get on your knees or I’ll make you take off that mask!”
Christian shoved Luchasaurus, who inadvertently fell back against Nick Wayne’s mother, knocking her to the mat!
Nick Wayne left the ring and looked under it. Nick Wayne pulled out a steel chair and slid it into the ring. He pulled out a second chair and slid it into the ring. Shanna Wayne’s head was placed onto one of the steel chairs. Christian held up the second steel chair and handed it to Luchasaurus. “Be the Kill Switch! Be the finisher!”
Luchasaurus held up the chair and contemplated what he had just been ordered to do. Adam Copeland sprinted to the ring and speared Nick Wayne! Copeland booted Luchasaurus in the face! Copeland had the chair and looked at Christian Cage, but Luchasaurus pulled Christian out of the ring to safety. Copeland speared Nick Wayne a second time and then nailed him with the Impaler! Copeland propped Nick Wayne’s head on one of the chairs. Copeland cracked Nick Wayne with the steel chair, right in front of Nick’s mom!
Renee Paquette was backstage with Anna Jay, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Jake Hager!
Matt Menard: “Renee, I don’t know what’s going on around here. Garcia with his dancing, Parker with his little girlfriend, someone tell me what’s going on!”
Hager: “And Danhausen with the hat!”
Anna Jay: “Stop, this is about me! I just want to wrestle. I am so tired of the losing, the infighting, and I don’t know if you guys are here to help me or hurt me.”
Parker’s phone rang and it was Ruby Soho calling.
Anna Jay: “Really? You’re in my corner tonight, right?”
Parker: “Anna, of course. It’s family first. You got this!”
Continental Classic Match—The Gold League!
LFI’s Rush vs. Bullet Club Gold’s “Switchblade” Jay White!
Rush and Jay White locked horns, with Rush backing Jay into the corner. Rush dropkicked Jay White and then stomped on him. Rush splashed Switchblade in the corner and followed up with a beautiful dropkick.
Rush rammed Jay White into the barricades. Rush pulled a cable out from beneath the ring. Ref Paul Turner threatened to disqualify Rush, so Rush dropped the cable. Rush wrecked Jay White with more chops to the chest.
Jay White suplexed Rush right into the turnbuckles. Rush took Jay White off his feet with a flying forearm. Rush cracked White with a massive elbow strike and followed up with a brainbuster for a near fall.
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Jay White dodged a senton from Rush. Jay White nailed Rush with a brainbuster for a near fall! Jay White gouged the eye of Rush, but Rush answered with a rising knee strike. White fired back with a uranage for a two-count.
Rush escaped the Blade Runner attempt. Rush staggered White with a German Suplex. Jay White took down Rush with a dragon screw leg whip. Rush hurled Jay White with a belly-to-belly suplex into the turnbuckles. Rush went for the Bull’s Horns but White countered and tried for the Blade Runner. Rush escaped, shoving White, who inadvertently connected with the ref. As the ref had his back turned, Jay White hit Rush with a low blow and then pinned Rush after the Blade Runner! Jay White gained three points!
Footage was shown from after this past Saturday’s media scrum, with AEW World Tag Team Champs “Absolute” Ricky Starks and Big Bill attacking Chris Jericho, targeting his injured arm!
RJ City and Renee Paquette were on the ramp to present AEW Women’s World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm with her championship!
Mariah May presented Toni with the title.
Toni Storm: “I didn’t have anything prepared. I would first like to thank Mr. Anthony Khan and the wonderful people at Warner Discovery. I would like to thank whoever trained me, and the little Toni Storms out there who want to be me. This is my spot. You will not take it. You will not make it. So, stay in school. Thank you!”
The celebration was interrupted as Skye Blue made her entrance for the next match.
Three-Way Match!
Ruby Soho (with Saraya)
vs.
Skye Blue
vs. Anna Jay (with Matt Menard & Angelo Parker)!
Parker and Ruby smiled at each other. Anna Jay rolled up Skye for a near fall. Skye took down Anna with a shoulder tackle. Ruby Soho suplexed Skye Blue, planting her on the back of her head.
Skye Blue took down both members of the opposition at once with creative offense. Anna Jay cracked Ruby with a thrust kick, after Ruby was flirting with Angelo Parker. Skye Blue connected with a diving cross body press onto Anna and Ruby.
Skye Blue rocked Ruby with two knee strikes. Skye Blue pump kicked Ruby off the ring apron, sending Ruby right into the arms of Angelo Parker! Anna Jay stunned Skye with a pump kick of her own! Before Ruby and Angelo kissed, Saraya pulled Ruby away from Angelo.
Blue escaped the Queen Slayer and followed up with a thrust kick. Skye Blue scored the pin after the cutter on Anna Jay! Saraya and Ruby argued with one another after the match.
Renee Paquette was backstage with Wardlow!
Wardlow: “The world doesn’t revolve around MJF. The downfall of the devil is going to happen on my time.”
AR Fox interrupted. “Hey man, I see what you’re doing here. Putting the blame on everybody else. I get it. I was doing the same to Darby.”
Wardlow: “Listen, I don’t need advice from anyone.”
Wardlow headbutted AR Fox and laughed.
Main Event Time!
Continental Classic Match—The Gold League!
Blackpool Combat Club’s Jon Moxley vs. Mark Briscoe!
Mox and Mark slugged it out in the center of the ring. Briscoe used his redneck kung fu, chopping Moxley in the throat. Moxley chomped down on Briscoe’s head. Briscoe nailed Moxley with a neck breaker off the apron and onto the arena floor!
Moxley smashed Mark in the mouth with a big boot! Mark was busted wide open. Moxley spiked Briscoe with a piledriver for a near fall. Briscoe tossed Mox with a suplex. Moxley applied an arm bar on Mark, but Mark got his boot on the bottom rope to force the break.
Moxley nailed Mark with the Paradigm Shift, but Mark got right up and dropkicked Moxley! Briscoe used a Death Valley Driver to set up the Froggy Bow, but Moxley kicked out at two! Moxley escaped a J Driller attempted and planted Mark with the Death Rider for a near fall!
Moxley hit Mark with a half and half suplex. Moxley curb stomped Briscoe and pinned him after a second Death Rider! Moxley earned three points!
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN!
Special Programming note: this Saturday tune in to AEW RAMPAGE at 7/6c and then COLLISION at 8/7c on TNT from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA!
FULL GEAR 2023 saw two new champions crowned with Julia Hart claiming the TBS Championship from Kris Statlander, albeit by pinning Skye Blue, and Toni Storm kicking off her third reign as AEW Women’s World Champion at Hikaru Shida’s expense, as well as MJF, against all odds, officially completing one full year as AEW World Champion! Now with WORLDS END just over a month away on Long Island, all eyes turn towards AEW’s Thanksgiving Eve tradition and our return to Chicago for DYNAMITE!
This year the focus falls on the kick-off of the Continental Classic, AEW’s first-ever Round Robin Tournament, with some seriously high stakes thanks to Eddie Kingston putting both the ROH World Championship and NJPW STRONG Openweight Title into the mix, and it all begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans. Be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s assorted social media platforms, to get caught up on the action with highlights from FULL GEAR 2023, as well as recent episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and this week’s CONTROL CENTER!
Earlier today, in the above embedded video, AEW/ROH President Tony Khan, along with Tony Schiavone and ROH World Champion/NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion, announced the field of 12 for the Continental Classic Tournament! There are two groups, Blue and Gold, with six competitors each, competing in a Round Robin Style Tournament that begins Wednesday night in Chicago, and will continue until the finals at WORLDS END on December 30th!
Already quite the intriguing situation with Bryan Danielson, Mark Briscoe, and Andrade El Idolo putting their names into the hat prior to the Selection Special, with a competitive fire burning strong in his heart, Eddie Kingston further amplified the prestige of the tournament by putting both the ROH World Champion and NJPW STRONG Championship at stake thus, along with the AEW Continental Championship, creating a new Triple Crown Championship awaiting the winner of this tournament.
Now as for the rules of this tournament, matches will be contested with a 20 minute time limit, there will be no seconds allowed at ringside, and outside interference will not be tolerated, which may throw a monkey wrench in how many of the competitors generally handle their business. In addition, the scoring system for the Continental Classic will be very straight forward and simple, with points being awarded as follows: 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. Here is how the two groups break down:
Blue Group
Andrade El Idolo
“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson
Brody King
Claudio Castagnoli
Daniel Garcia
ROH World Champion/NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston
Gold Group
Jay Lethal
Jay White
Jon Moxley
Mark Briscoe
Rus
Swerve Strickland
The first matches of the tournament will go down at Wintrust Arena as part of AEW’s Thanksgiving Eve tradition, and continue Saturday night in Pittsburgh!
THE GOLD GROUP…
Swerve Strickland vs. Jay Lethal
One of the most intriguing aspects of the Continental Classic Tournament is going to be the opportunity to see several first-time matches, and three of them are going down this Wednesday night with the opening bouts of AEW’s first-ever Round -style Robin Tournament!
Coming off a brutal, bloody Texas Death Match victory over Hangman Page at FULL GEAR 2023, Swerve Strickland will be in action for his first bout of the Continental Classic this Wednesday night in Chicago. Though there is not way he’s feeling anywhere near 100%, Swerve will have to find a way to be at the top of his game because his opponent in this first night of action will be “The Franchise of ROH”, a former 2-Time ROH World Champion and the second-longest reigning ROH World TV Champion in history thanks to Samoa Joe’s recent run, Jay Lethal! Lethal is no doubt coming into this bout far healthier than Swerve, and that may make the crucial difference in this contest, but another game changer for both these individuals, given how each generally approaches their matches, is that ban on seconds and outside interference. How many times have fans seen Jeff Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Singh, and Karen Jarrett play a deciding factor in Jay Lethal’s matches? On how many instances have The Gates of Agony, Brian Cage, or Prince Nana been involved in swaying Swerve Strickland’s matches? With this tournament, none of that will fly, leaving these two stellar athletes to rely solely on their skill inside the squared circle? Which of these men will notch their first points in the Continental Classic?
LFI’s Rush vs. BULLET CLUB GOLD’s Jay White
Just like Swerve, both “El Toro Blanco” Rush and “Switchblade” Jay White went through their own bit of hell at FULL GEAR 2023. In the case of Rush, it was the Four Team Ladder match for the AEW World Tag Titles and the punishment that sort of bout entails while for Jay White it was his bid for the AEW World Championship against MJF, although he and BC GOLD did their best to make sure it wasn’t MJF defending The Triple B.
While neither man was victorious in their efforts to become a champion in All Elite Wrestling, a new road to that goal begins this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE with the opening bouts in the Continental Classic. Another first-time bout, this head-to-head fight between the leaders of LFI and BC GOLD may be the show stealer given the skills of each involved, but as with the Lethal/Swerve bout, this is another contest between two men who often rely on their respective units to help determine the outcomes of a bout.
But unlike most outings with these two, there will be no Jose the Assistant, Preston Vance, or Dralistico at Rush’s side to interfere, nor a Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn, or Colten Gunn in Jay White’s corner to stick their nose in the business at hand. This continental classic is about putting the focus on the wrestling, and the fight between the two individuals vying for points, not the assorted seconds, managers, and stablemates polluting the competition with shenanigans.
With those elements removed, this is a bout between two elite level competitors and it will be quite intriguing to see who nets the three points in their first Continental Classic clash!
The BCC’s Jon Moxley vs. Mark Briscoe
Now this is going to be a fight between two men who love to throwdown inside the squared circle, and unlike the other two first-time bouts, this first-timer does not involve a competitor reliant on interference, managers, or seconds. Both Jon Moxley and Mark Briscoe are men who want the victory on their own merit, they want the win on their own skills, and not because someone else lent a hand.
For Mark Briscoe, a 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with his late brother Jay, this tournament is an opportunity to not only firmly stake his status in the singles division but also to claim the first singles championship (or rather championships) of his entire career! He’s challenged for the ROH World Title and the ROH World Television Championship several times during his twenty-plus years in ROH, but never captured those, nor any other singles title, and if he comes out of this tournament on top, he could claim three in one shot! He just may have the most difficult first match of the tournament by fighting Jon Moxley!
A 3-Time AEW World Champion, a former International Champion, and former 2-Time IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion, just to name a few of his accolades, Moxley is certainly a favorite to win this tournament and add three more championship to his name with the Triple Crown of the ROH World, NJPW STRONG Openweight, and AEW Continental Championships. With three members in the field, The Blackpool Combat Club are absolutely odds-on favorites to bring a tournament victory to their camp, and Jon Moxley is the first of the three to shoot for the three points.
These are two of the most unpredictable men in all of professional wrestling, and it is going to be a wild night when the two of them meet inside the squared circle for the very first time!
TONI STORM’S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH…
Last Saturday night at FULL GEAR 2023, fans witnessed as Toni Storm dethroned Hikaru Shida to reclaim the AEW Women’s World Championship for the third time. It was a fitting end to Storm’s Hollywood Homecoming, at least for her, and she did share some words with the AEW cameras following the bout:
Unfortunately, for those who had hoped she’d join the FULL GEAR Media Scrum following the conclusion of the pay-per-view, that would not be the case as Toni had other commitments to attend, but she very kindly gave Tony Khan a letter explaining her absence, one which RJ City was kind enough to provide for everyone to read:
Storm’s lack of appearing during the Media Scrum simply meant her adoring public just had to wait until this Wednesday night in Chicago, during AEW’s DYNAMITE Thanksgiving Eve tradition, to hear her Championship Acceptance Speech! Who will she thank? Who will she be wearing? Will the band have to play her off stage if she goes on too long? Tune into TBS this Wednesday night to hear what will surely be the most unforgettable acceptance speech in championship history from “Timeless” Toni Storm!
RECHRISTENING?
After falling to Darby Allin, Sting, and Adam Copeland at FULL GEAR 2023, TNT Champion Christian Cage has stated that this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, he is going to rechristen Nick Wayne and Luchasaurus.
So rechristen simply means “to rename” or “to change the name of”, which means Christian Cage has the intention of changing the names of his Patriarchy followers. What could he possibly hope to gain from this? And what names could he possibly choose for Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne?
On the heels of FULL GEAR 2023 AEW’s first-ever Round Robin Tournament, the Continental Classic, gets underway and will run from Wednesday night in Chicago through WORLDS END on December 30th. Tonight will see Mark Briscoe versus Jon Moxley, Swerve versus Lethal, and Rush/Switchblade kick off the tournament, with more to come this weekend in Pittsburgh, and it kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS! International fans can catch the action at AEWPlus.com, and everyone needs to visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s other social media platforms, to get caught up on the action with highlights from FULL GEAR 2023, as well as recent episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and this week’s CONTROL CENTER!
AEW presented Full Gearlive from the KIA Forum in Los Angeles, CA!
It’s Saturday and you know what that means!
The Zero Hour portion of the show kicked off!
Your announce team for Zero Hour was Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Nigel McGuinness.
ROH World Championship Match!
Eddie Kingston (c.) vs. Jay Lethal (with Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, & Satnam Singh)!
Stokely Hathaway joined the broadcast booth for this match.
Kingston clotheslined Lethal over the top rope, sending Lethal crashing onto the arena floor. Back in the ring they traded stiff chops. Lethal pulled Kingston out of the ring and sent the champ headfirst into the steel ring post. Lethal took Kingston down with a snap suplex. Lethal followed up with a beautiful overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Lethal executed the Lethal Combination. Kingston countered the Lethal Injection with a suplex.
Karen Jarrett distracted the ref while Lethal crawled towards Jeff Jarrett’s guitar. Ortiz appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the guitar and smashed it over Dutt’s head. Kingston countered the Lethal Injection again and then pinned Lethal after a spinning backfist!
Blackpool Combat Club’s Claudio Castagnoli
vs.
House of Black’s Buddy Matthews!
Buddy Matthews went right after Claudio right out of the gate. Claudio blasted Buddy with a European Uppercut outside the ring. Buddy rocked Claudio with a rising knee and Claudio answered with a lariat. Buddy tried for a meteora, but Claudio caught him and countered with the Big Swing!
Buddy employed the hammer and anvil elbow strikes. Claudio deadlifted Buddy into a cutter. Claudio accelerated into an uppercut. Claudio planted Buddy with the Ricola Bomb and then placed Buddy in the sharpshooter, forcing Buddy to tap out!
ROH World Tag Team Championship Match!
MJF (c.) & Samoa Joe vs. The Gunns—Austin & Colten!
MJF stomped Colten in the corner. MJF hit the Gunns with a double clothesline. Samoa Joe tagged himself in. Samoa Joe wiped out the Gunns with a tope suicida. Joe connected with a senton on Colten. Joe jabbed away at Colten.
Colten swiped MJF with a clothesline as the ref was distracted. Austin Gunn grabbed a tag and kicked MJF in the back. The Gunns employed quick tags and worked over MJF with tandem offense.
Samoa Joe tagged in and cleaned house on the Gunns. Samoa Joe powerslammed Austin for a near fall. Samoa Joe was setting up Austin for a muscle buster, but MJF tagged in. MJF went for a muscle buster of his own on Austin but Colten dropkicked MJF. The champ fired back with a double DDT on the Gunns. MJF was looking for the kangaroo kick, but Samoa Joe tagged himself in. The Gunns escaped muscle busters from MJF and Samoa Joe. The Gunns nailed Samoa Joe with the 3:10 to Yuma. MJF broke up the pin attempt.
Adam Cole came out and walked down the ramp on crutches. As the Gunns were distracted, Samoa Joe finished off Colten with a submission. MJF and Adam Cole hugged outside the ring.
After the match Samoa Joe got in MJF’s face. Samoa Joe and MJF shook hands, with MJF being a man of his word. Samoa Joe is now in line for a shot at the World title, as he helped MJF defend the ROH Tag titles tonight. Samoa Joe left and then the Gunns blindsided MJF in front of Adam Cole. Colten held down MJF while Austin cracked MJF in the leg with a steel chair! Adam Cole was forced to watch helplessly on crutches. Ref Paul Turner called for Doc Sampson to check on MJF who was writhing in pain.
MJF was stretchered out of the ring by the AEW medical team. MJF was loaded into an ambulance, and he yelled at Adam Cole, “Promise me you won’t let them take my championship!”
“How can Adam Cole live up to that promise, a man with one leg,” wondered Nigel.
The main portion of Full Gear began.
Trios Match!
“Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland, Darby Allin & Sting (with “Nature Boy” Ric Flair)
vs.
TNT Champion Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, & Nick Wayne!
Nick Wayne cracked Darby Allin with a cheap shot. Darby grappled Nick Wayne to the mat. Darby followed up with two deep arm drags. Sting tagged in and threw Nick Wayne through the ropes and to the floor. Sting whipped Nick Wayne into the steel barricade.
Copeland tagged in and Christian Cage immediately tagged out to Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus charged at Cope with a clothesline. Cope escaped a chokeslam attempt. Darby tagged in but ate a right hand from Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus choke slammed Darby over the top rope and onto the ring apron.
Christian Cage stomped on Darby and then tagged out to Nick Wayne. Nick punted Darby in the shoulder. Luchasaurus entered the ring and slammed Darby, and then Nick Wayne followed up with a senton for a near fall. Darby nailed Nick with a Code Red from the top turnbuckle. Christian Cage crawled under the ring, popped up on the other side, pulled Copeland down and rammed him into the ring post! Christian taunted Darby, telling him to make the tag. Christian poured on the punishment.
Adam Copeland entered the match and unleashed hell on Luchasaurus. Copeland rocked Luchasaurus with an Impaler. Copeland threw Wayne over the top rope at Luchasaurus. Darby rocketed out of the ring with a tope at Nick Wayne and Luchasaurus!
Sting and Copeland hammered Luchasaurus. They hit Luchasaurus with a tandem Scorpion Death Drop. Luchasaurus battered Copeland with a lariat to the back of the neck. Christian Cage taunted Ric Flair and Flair chopped Christian. Christian connected with a low blow. Christian Cage tried to hit Copeland with the championship belt, but Copeland ducked, and Cage inadvertently hit Luchasaurus. Christian Cage abandoned his team. Sting splashed Luchasaurus and then Copeland hit the spear! Darby nailed Luchasaurus with the Coffin Drop and then Copeland pinned Luchasaurus!
Tony Schiavone was on the ramp with ref Bryce Remsburg and called out representatives of Bullet Club Gold—The Gunns. Instead “Switchblade” Jay White came out. “Tell them old man,” said Jay White.
Tony Schiavone: “I hate to say this, but unfortunately MJF is injured and will not be able to defend the title tonight. The match tonight between MJF and Jay White has been cancelled. And now by default, your new AEW World Champion is Jay White—”
Adam Cole’s music hit!
Adam Cole: “Jay, there is not a shot in hell you’re leaving the KIA Forum with Max’s championship. I made a promise to my friend, and I had a talk with Tony Khan and if MJF can’t defend his title tonight, I will do it for him, one leg or not. Tonight’s main event will be Jay White versus Adam Cole baybay!”
Jay White: “Let me refresh your damaged memory. I took you out once before. If you want to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, I’ll take you out once and for all!”
AEW International Championship Match!
“Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy (with HOOK)
vs. Blackpool Combat Club’s Jon Moxley (with Wheeler Yuta)!
Taz joined the broadcast booth for this match.
Moxley sent Cassidy onto the announcers’ table. Mox hoisted up Cassidy and dropped him across the barricade. Moxley chopped at Orange and taunted him. Moxley drove Orange to the mat with a Bossman slam.
Orange rocked Mox with a diving DDT. Moxley was busted wide open. Orange flew out of the ring with an elbow suicida to Moxley. Orange hit Mox with another one! Orange cracked Mox with a third elbow suicida, right on the jaw!
Orange countered a Death Rider with a Stun Dog Millionaire! Mox grounded and pounded Orange Cassidy and then transitioned into a bulldog choke on Orange! Orange jumped on Mox’s back and applied the Red Rum! Moxley was able to get to the ropes, forcing the ref break. Moxley stunned Orange with a cutter and then a Gotch style piledriver for a two-count!
Orange dropkicked Moxley and Moxley collided headfirst into an exposed turnbuckle corner. Orange pulped Mox with three Orange Punches! And then a fourth! And then a fifth Orange Punch! And a sixth Orange Punch! Orange followed up with the Beach Break and pinned Jon Moxley!
It was announced that Tony Khan made the match official for tonight’s main event: “Switchblade” Jay White vs. Adam Cole for the AEW World Championship!
Additionally, Mark Briscoe was announced as the next participant in the Continental Classic, which begins this Wednesday on Dynamite!
AEW Women’s World Championship Match!
Hikaru Shida (c.) vs. “Timeless” Toni Storm (with Luther the Butler)!
Storm and Shida exchanged forearms. Shida stormed Toni with a running knee strike. Mariah May was watching on a monitor backstage. Shida chopped Storm in the chest. Toni backed Shida into the corner with rapid fire chops. Storm pounced on Shida with a running bulldog.
Luther handed Toni two shoes. The ref saw one of the shoes and pulled it away, but Storm had a second shoe hidden in her trunks. Storm cracked Shida in the head with the shoe while the ref had her back turned. Shida fired back with a Strong Zero. Shida hit the question mark kick and then a Falcon Arrow for a near fall on “Timeless” Toni Storm!
Storm avoided a meteora and Shida’s ankle buckled on the landing. Storm applied an ankle lock. Shida reached the ropes, forcing the ref to break the hold. Storm pulled off one of Shida’s boots. Shida grabbed a kendo stick, but Luther tried to pull it away. Shida wrecked Luther with the kendo stick.
Storm walloped Shida with a German Suplex. Storm had a metal tray in her trunks. Storm bashed Shida with her hip attack and pinned Shida!
And new AEW Women’s World Champion… “Timeless” Toni Storm!
Mariah May walked out and handed Toni Storm a bouquet of flowers.
Renee Paquette was backstage with ROH World Champion Eddie Kingston!
Eddie Kingston said he had his eyes on the Continental Classic. He said he wanted to up the game a little bit. “I want to put the New Japan Strong Openweight Championship and the ROH World Championship on the line in each of my matches in the tournament. Let’s make this the biggest and best tournament in pro wrestling.”
AEW World Tag Team Championship Ladder Match!
Big Bill & “Absolute” Ricky Starks (c.)
vs.
FTR—Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood
vs.
LFI—Dralistico & Rush
vs.
Kings of the Black Throne—Brody King & Malakai Black!
Dax starched Malakai with a right hand. Malakai knocked a ladder into Dax’s mouth. Rush and Cash whacked one another with nasty shots, forearms and elbows. Cash threw his body through the ropes at Brody, Rush, and Big Bill! Dralistico jumped over the top with a tope con hiro and took out the pile!
Ricky Starks climbed to the top, but Malakai knocked him off his perch. Malakai moonsaulted out of the ring and onto the pile! Dax superplexed Starks out of the ring and onto the men outside!
“There are bodies everywhere on the outside. You knew it was going to be physical,” said Taz.
Big Bill and Brody King collided with one another in the center of the ring, exchanging wild, clubbing shots. Rush and Dax rammed them with ladders. Dax threw his ladder at Rush. Dralistico dropkicked Dax, who had his head in between rungs of the ladder. Dralistico staggered Cash with a corkscrew kick. Dralistico climbed the ladder, but Cash shoved the ladder down!
Cash powerslammed Rush, catching Rush midflight. Cash started climbing the ladder, but Malakai pulled Cash down. Black slingshotted a ladder into the face of Wheeler.
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Cash Wheeler spiked Black with a piledriver on a ladder! Brody attempted a tope suicida, but Big Bill pulled up a ladder and Brody crashed into it. Starks speared Dralistico and then speared Rush. Starks drilled Dax with a swinging DDT. Starks sent Black overhead with a suplex into a ladder.
Brody King cannonballed Dax, who was against a ladder that was propped against the turnbuckles. Brody began to climb the ladder toward the titles, but Big Bill yanked the ladder out from beneath Brody. Dralistico lunged off the ropes with a lung blower to Big Bill. Rush rammed Big Bill with a ladder, sandwiching Big Bill in the corner. Rush rocked Big Bill with the Bull’s Horns, kicking a ladder into Bill’s face!
Starks and Rush climbed opposite sides of the ladder. Dax grabbed a taller ladder and began the climb towards the titles. Cash grabbed another ladder, but Brody backdropped him. Dralistico planted Brody with a poison rana. Brody decimated Dralistico with a Gonzo Bomb on a ladder that was propped up between the ring and the guardrail!
Cash Wheeler climbed to the top rope and splashed Brody on the ladder, sacrificing his own body. Dax climbed up a ladder toward the titles, but Ricky Starks met him up top. Black pulled Dax down and connected with the End. Starks grabbed the titles and the champions retained!
TBS Championship Match!
Kris Statlander (c.) vs. Julia Hart vs. Skye Blue!
As Skye Blue was making her entrance, she removed her baseball cap, stomped on it, and put a crown on.
Kris body slammed Julia and then body slammed Skye. Skye Blue rolled up Kris from behind for a near fall. Julia jumped on Statlander’s back, but Statlander shucked her off. Skye Blue clocked Kris with a knee strike. Statlander double suplexed Skye and Julia on the arena floor, reversing their attempt on Statlander.
Skye Blue offered her hand to Julia and Julia accepted it…and then began to bounce Skye Blue’s head off the mat repeatedly. Blue mounted Julia and began to pound her with shots. She followed up with the PK to Julia. Kris charged at Skye and Julia with knee strikes.
Skye nailed Kris with a neck breaker. Julia rallied back with an elbow to Skye Blue. Julia took Statlander off her feet with a lariat. Skye Blue rocked Hart with a thrust kick. Julia moonsaulted Skye Blue but Statlander pulled Julia off Blue to break up the pin attempt. Statlander powerslammed Julia on the arena floor. Skye Blue blasted Kris with a Code Blue for a near fall!
Julia applied the Heartless Lock to Skye Blue, but Kris grabbed Julia and sent her overhead with a German Suplex! Then Kris sent Skye flying high with a German Suplex. Kris crushed Skye with the Saturday Night Fever and went for the pin, but instead Julia knocked Kris away, covered Skye, and won the match!
And new TBS Champion…Julia Hart!
“Man, she stole that win and it was perfectly done,” said Taz.
Tony Schiavone was in the ring for the blockbuster contract signing!
“Ladies and gentlemen let’s bring in the newest member of All Elite Wrestling,” said Schiavone.
Will Ospreay walked down to the ring!
Will Ospreay signed the contract and made it official!
Ospreay: “It feels great! Listen up. I’m happy to be a part of the team, but I am not going to come in just yet. When I was 22 years old, I was part of New Japan Pro Wrestling. I’m 30 years old now, so I’m begging all of you, let me finish up, and then I’ll be on the road to Revolution. And then I’ll be all yours, but more importantly, I am All Elite, bruv! Mr. Tony Khan, do us a favor. Line up the best that you got, especially for Wembley Stadium, because I’m going to show ‘em all what elite really looks like, bruv!”
Texas Death Match!
“Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana)!
Page cleaned Swerve’s clock with a Buckshot Lariat right at the bell. Hangman taped Swerve’s wrists together. Hangman had a staple gun and began stapling Swerve’s body! Page plastered Swerve in the side of the head with a steel chair!
“Hangman Adam Page is completely unhinged,” said Excalibur.
Page grabbed a steel chair wrapped in barb wire. Page swung it at Swerve, but Swerve saved himself by kicking Page between the legs. Prince Nana had scissors and cut Swerve free of the tape.
Swerve pulled the staple gun and stapled Page right between the eyes. Swerve sent Hangman headfirst into the barbed wire wrapped steel chair.
“I feel like I’m back in Philly. This is wild!” said Taz.
Swerve pulled a cinder block out from beneath the ring. Hangman and Swerve brawled on the ring apron. Swerve spiked Hangman with a Death Valley Driver on the cinder block!
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Swerve delivered a piledriver on top of the guardrail! Back in the ring, Page planted Swerve with a fallaway slam. Page sent Swerve flying with another fallaway slam. Page wrapped barbed wire around Swerve’s head. Page trapped Swerve’s arm against his body by wrapping the barbed wire around him. Page hit another fallaway slam. Page moonsaulted off the post and landed on Swerve with the barbed wire wrapped steel chair!
“This is hard to watch,” said Nigel.
Swerve intercepted the Buckshot Lariat attempt. Swerve booted the chair into Page’s head. Page reversed a tombstone and dropped Swerve onto the barbed wire wrapped steel chair with a tombstone piledriver of his own!
“This goes beyond pro wrestling. This is evolutionary,” said Nigel.
Swerve power bombed Page onto the barbed wire wrapped chair and followed up with the Swerve Stomp! Swerve grabbed a black bag from beneath the ring. Swerve spilled the bag onto Page’s back. It was full of broken glass. Swerve connected with a 450 splash onto Page, who had glass all over his bag. Swerve followed up with the JML Driver!
Swerve placed a board covered with barb wire and bridged it between two chairs in the ring. Page chomped down on Swerve’s forehead. Page planted Swerve with a fallaway slam off the top and followed up with a Dead Eye on the barbed wire!
Page wrapped the barbed wire around Swerve’s head and face. Page blasted Swerve with a Buckshot barbed wire lariat! Prince Nana pulled Swerve out of the ring to break the ref’s count. Brian Cage ambushed Page from behind and power bombed him! Brian Cage pulled out a table and set it up on the arena floor. Page cracked Cage with a barbed wire wrapped rolling elbow. Adam Page almost broke Nana in half with a Dead Eye through the table! Swerve shattered the cinder block on Hangman Page!
Swerve wrapped a chain around Page’s throat, and then Swerve yanked on the chain after it was draped across ring post. Page couldn’t answer the ten count and Swerve was declared the winner!
“By the grace of God, this one is over,” said Nigel.
Tag Team Title Opportunity vs. Tag Team Break-up!
The Golden Jets—Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega
vs.
The Young Bucks—Matt & Nick Jackson!
Don Callis joined the commentary team for this match.
Chris Jericho and Matt Jackson chain wrestled. Jericho chopped at Matt and then Omega tagged himself in, allowing Matt some time to step away from Jericho and his swarm of chops. Matt mauled Omega with a flurry of shots to the back of the head. Omega answered with a hurracanrana. Omega launched himself with the Terminator Dive and landed on Matt Jackson!
Chris Jericho slid into Nick Jackson with a baseball dropkick. The Bucks went to work on Jericho’s arm, trying to take out the arm Jericho uses for the Judas Effect. Jericho dropkicked Nick Jackson from the middle rope and then tagged out to Omega.
Omega took Matt down with a snapdragon suplex. Omega wiped out both Bucks with his offense. Omega moonsaulted out of the ring and onto Matt Jackson. Omega followed up with a crossbody press to Nick, but Nick countered by rolling through for a near fall. Omega smashed Nick with a knee strike.
Jericho lionsaulted onto both Young Bucks! Jericho was looking for the Walls, but Matt Jackson kicked Jericho in the injured arm. Nick Jackson connected with a rolling roundhouse to Jericho. Matt was looking for a rana, but Jericho put the brakes on and sat down with the Walls of Jericho. Matt used the heel of his boot to kick Jericho in the arm and escape the hold.
Matt Jackson sent the Golden Jets flying with double Northern Lights Suplexes. Jericho lawn darted Matt Jackson’s face into the mat. Matt held Jericho while Nick connected with a senton. Nick Jackson kicked Jericho between the legs. The ref admonished Nick and while she had her back turned, Matt kicked Omega between the legs!
Nick Jackson rocked Jericho with the Judas Effect! The Bucks bashed Jericho with the BTE Trigger. Somehow Jericho kicked out of Matt’s pin attempt. Nick Jackson superkicked Jericho on the injured arm. Omega tagged in and stunned Nick with a V Trigger. Omega lifted off Nick for a One Winged Angel, but Nick reversed it with a rana. Matt planted Omega with a One Winged Angel and Nick covered Omega, but the Cleaner kicked out!
The fan chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Omega drilled Matt Jackson with a German Suplex. Nick Jackson starched Omega with a superkick. Jericho ate a superkick from Matt Jackson. Omega clocked Matt with a V Trigger and then finished him off with the One Winged Angel to score the pin!
“And now Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho can challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Titles anytime they choose,” said Excalibur.
Nick Jackson was furious at the loss and began tearing apart the announcers’ desk. Omega extended his hand to the Bucks, but the Bucks stormed off.
Main Event Time!
AEW World Championship Match!
Originally scheduled as: MJF (c.) vs. Bullet Club Gold’s “Switchblade” Jay White!
Adam Cole came to the ring on crutches.
Jay White was introduced and walked to the ring with the Gunns by his side.
Justin Roberts announced Adam Cole as representing MJF.
“This is going to be a massacre,” said Taz.
Before the bell rang, an ambulance driven by MJF pulled into the back of the arena. MJF hobbled to the ring!
MJF slapped Switchblade in the face, but Switchblade went right to work on MJF’s injured left leg. Jay White diverted the attention of the ref while the Gunns stomped on MJF outside the ring. The ref eventually saw the Gunns interfering and ejected them from ringside.
MJF turned the tables on Jay White and chomped down on White’s forehead. MJF fired up and hit the kangaroo kick on Switchblade. Jay White dropkicked MJF in the bad leg. Jay White spiked MJF with a DDT. Jay White planted MJF with a uranage for a near fall.
“I hate to say it, but I think the presence of Adam Cole at ringside is distracting MJF,” said Excalibur.
MJF gouged at Jay’s eyes and then DDT’ed him on the floor. MJF slammed Jay White onto the announcers’ desk. MJF dropped an elbow from the top turnbuckle right onto Jay White on the arena floor!
The fans chanted “He’s our scumbag! He’s our scumbag!”
Back in the ring, Jay White employed a dragon screw leg whip on MJF. Jay White tied up MJF in the Tree of Woe. Jay White climbed to the top, but MJF yanked White down to the mat. Jay White climbed back up and nailed MJF with an avalanche uranage for a two-count!
MJF countered the Blade Runner with a spinning elbow. Jay White answered with a release German Suplex. MJF spiked White with a tombstone piledriver. MJF jumped over the top rope and caught Jay White with a cutter, planting him on the arena floor!
“We are witnessing MJF take risks like he never has in his entire career,” said Excalibur.
Back in the ring Jay White went back to work on MJF’s injured leg. Jay White spat at Adam Cole and then applied the figure four to MJF. Adam Cole had a towel and was contemplating throwing it into the ring to end the match. MJF reversed the figure four. Jay White made a desperate dive and grabbed the bottom rope to force the break. Adam Cole had his ROH Tag Title and was thinking about using it against Jay White, but Jay White grabbed it away and smacked MJF in the head with it! Jay White covered MJF but MJF kicked out at two!
Jay White was yanking on MJF’s leg, but MJF shoved him away, with White colliding with the ref and knocking him down. Adam Cole slipped the Dynamite Diamond Ring into the ring, but before MJF could retrieve it, Jay White grabbed it. MJF hit White with a low blow before White could use the Dynamite Diamond Ring. MJF slipped the Dynamite Diamond Ring on his hand. The Gunns ran down and MJF clocked them! Jay White was looking for the Blade Runner, but MJF cracked Jay with the Dynamite Diamond Ring and pinned Switchblade!
And still AEW World Champion…MJF!
Missed what the entire wrestling world is buzzing about? Order the replay of the historic AEW Full Gear 2023! It’s available on all traditional cable and satellite providers in the United States and Canada, Bleacher Report, Fite International, PPV.COM, and more! See AEW Full Gear 2023 for yourself!
Catch the fallout from Full Gear on AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
All Elite Wrestling returns to pay-per-view this Saturday night, November 18th, for FULL GEAR 2023 live from the fabulous KIA Forum in Los Angeles, CA! AEW’s return to the West Coast has already been an exciting endeavor, and now it comes to a head with multiple championship bouts, epic grudge matches, strained friendships, and the top shelf professional wrestling the world has come to expect from the athletes of All Elite Wrestling! Click here for all the details on how the AEW faithful around the world can watch our November tradition, then sit back, strap in, and get ready for a rocket ship of a ride in Cali!
On November 1st, just four days after beating Kenny Omega on COLLISION, Maxwell Jacob Friedman became the longest reigning AEW World Champion in AEW’s history, surpassing the 346-day marker set by “The Cleaner” between WINTER IS COMING 2020 when he beat Jon Moxley and FULL GEAR 2021 when he lost to Hangman Page. One week later, on the November 8th DYNAMITE in Portland, MJF defeated Daniel Garcia in a World Championship defense, thereby tying the mark of 9 successful defenses set by Moxley during his reign from REVOLUTION 2020 where be bested Chris Jericho to the aforementioned WINTER IS COMING 2020 loss.
These are two huge milestones in the history of All Elite Wrestling, as well as in the professional career of Maxwell Jacob Friedman, not to neglect his fifth consecutive victory where the Dynamite Diamond Ring is concerned, but unfortunately MJF has had to celebrate both this championship milestones without his precious Triple B, the AEW World Championship title. For weeks now “Switchblade” Jay White has been parading around with the physical title belt and using his possession of it to proclaim himself the real AEW World Champion. While White is certainly championship material, his status as a former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion is testament to that, he is not the AEW World Champion regardless of his physically holding the title belt.
While he’s not champion, what “King Switch” has been is a thorn in MJF’s side that he’s been unable to remove, a foe Max has been unable to get a leg up on, and man surrounded by three other men willing to get their hands dirty in order to lend “Switchblade” an assist when it is need. Jay White is also one of just two people who’ve pinned MJF’s shoulders to the mat since he returned to the fold at ALL OUT 2022, the other being Dax Harwood the night Better Than You BayBay challenged FTR for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. To say Jay White has the psychological edge heading into this fight would be an understatement, and though initially it seemed the Devil-masked individual, and their gang of black clad thugs, that have encircled this bout was MJF’s balance to everything White had done, it became clear after White’s victory over Mark Briscoe that they (a) The Devil was not MJF and (b) they were not on the side of the World Champion either. Even though their initial arrival on the scene was at the expense of Jay White, this time around they left The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass laying, even chucking Anthony Bowens through a window.
So after everything that has gone done between MJF, his allies, Jay White, and BULLET CLUB GOLD, the two men will finally go one-on-one for the AEW World Championship! It’s MJF’s chance to become the most successful champion in AEW history by breaking Mox’s record, it’s Jay White’s opportunity to ascend to the throne in All Elite Wrestling just as he did in New Japan, and it plays out this Saturday night live on pay-per-view from the legendary KIA Forum!
Though it’s been a little more than ten years since the very first time Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida stepped into the ring with one another, that fight from the REINA promotion is their lone fight away from All Elite Wrestling and a tag team one won by Storm and her partner.
It would be nine years before Storm and Shida saw each other inside the squared circle again, only now they were working as partners on DARK: ELEVATION #74, teaming with Willow Nightingale as their third to top Emi Sakura, Marina Shafir, and former AEW Women’s World Champion Nyla Rose. The two women would actually team up several more times in 2022, actually proving quite successful both as a team and a trio, but the AEW Women’s World Championship would enter the picture.
At ALL OUT 2022, with the title having been vacated as a result of Thunder Rosa’s injury, Toni Storm bested Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D, Jamie Hayter, and Shida to win her first title, acquired by pinning Hayter, and since she was not the woman pinned, lining up Shida for a title fight of her own. That first singles bout between the women would go down on TITLE TUESDAY 2022, and end with Toni Storm still the reigning champion.
The two women would go their separate ways, reconnecting in May 2023, but unlike Shida who had stayed true to the side of angels, Toni Storm had aligned herself with Ruby Soho and Saraya to form The Outcasts. The alliance-turned-rivalry would blossom into a Women’s World Championship match at the 200th episode of DYNAMITE and that fight would end with “The Shining Samurai” becoming a 2-Time World Champion. Sadly it was a short-lived title reign as Saraya would bring it to an end just 25 days later at ALL IN: LONDON, though not by pinning Shida, but rather by putting down Toni Storm to claim the victory. That pinfall on Toni would prove a breaking point for Storm’s role in The Outcasts as she began to spiral out into the woman we see now, and the Women’s World Champion defeating Toni at GRAND SLAM 2023 completely broke the camel’s back.
The Women’s World Championship would end up back in Shida’s possession after TITLE TUESDAY 2023, making her the first 3-Time champ in the division, but as for Toni Storm, a week prior to Shida’s win at DYNAMITE: 2023 ANNIVERSARY, we all witnessed Toni spiral out on RJ City before making her “Timeless” declaration.
Now lost in this “Timeless” Hollywood starlet delusion, Toni has declared this year’s FULL GEAR event as her “Hollywood Homecoming” and “Quest for the Gold”, heaping a great deal of the blame for her woes on Shida’s lap despite it being The Outcasts, Toni’s former friends, who caused much of that misfortune. As for Shida, while Toni has been experiencing this break from reality, she has posted three successful title defenses against Ruby Soho, Willow Nightingale, and that unforgettable Fright Night Fight with Abadon on COLLISION. Meanwhile Storm has not been inside the ring since an October 7th victory over Kiera Hogan, which means she may be well-rested and healed up from any nagging issues, but heading into FULL GEAR 2023 is she ready for a fight, especially the type of fight Hikaru Shida will undoubtedly bring?
The defending Women’s World Champion does not want this third reign to end as abruptly as the second, and thus she will throw every bit of her arsenal at “Timeless” Toni Storm to insure this go-round isn’t a repeat of the second. While she may hold the spot as longest-reigning Women’s World Champion of all-time at 372 days, so too does Shida hold the position for shortest with that 25 days reign, and if Toni beats her on Saturday night, she’ll also have the second shortest time with the title as well. That’s not the history Shida intends to make…
After 326 days and 31 championship defenses, Orange Cassidy had the AEW International Championship ripped from his waist by former 3-Time AEW World Champion Jon Moxley at ALL OUT 2023. It was a violent bout, one in which Cassidy was brutalized like never before in his career, but it was a beating that earned him the respect of Mox, not an easy thing to acquire by any means.
Unfortunately for Moxley, his time as International Champion did not come close to touching the records set by Cassidy during his reign because on his fourth defense of the title, just 17 days in, Rey Fenix dropped Moxley hard, and wrested the championship from The BCC member’s grasp. It was a shock to be certain, a win many considered an upset despite Fenix’s championship pedigree, and one that actually put Mox on the injury list for several weeks as far as AEW was concerned, though that didn’t stop the man from fighting for OTT in England and Ireland, for NJPW in Osaka, and at NJPW STRONG’s event at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, the home of FINAL BATTLE 2023.
Meanwhile, during the month that Moxley was kept on the sidelines before his OTT trip, Orange Cassidy had the opportunity to challenge Fenix for the International Championship, a one-on-one rematch of their 11/2/22 Three Way title fight early in Orange’s reign, and just like that fight, it ended with “Freshly Squeezed” getting his hand raised in victory. So not only was OC the longest-reigning International Champion in that title’s short life, not only is he the most successful champion in all of AEW history with those 31 defenses, but now he is also the only 2-Time Champion in the history of the International Title.
Seeming somewhat lost after losing the title to Mox, Cassidy seems rejuvenated by his reclamation of the championship, as if it helped salve the lingering injuries he’d sustained over those 326 days, and reinvigorated him for this second run atop the division. He’s already bested John Silver and Mox’s BCC brother Claudio Castagnoli in championship defenses, but this Saturday night at The KIA Forum, he’s got to get back into the fight with the man who battered him not that long ago.
It’s obvious that Cassidy wants this fight, why else would he have shoulder-bumped Mox after the show of respect Moxley gave him after their fight, provoking the man, almost rubbing it into his face that OC had taken the belt back from the man who beat Moxley. The situation began to blow up this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE as The BCC of Moxley and Yuta met Cassidy and HOOK in a tag team battle, and not only did The BCC defeat championship pair when Yuta pinned HOOK, but Moxley ate a straight shot from an Orange Punch and did not even go down to a knee! It very clearly shook OC to see his primary weapon have no effect on the man he’s got to fight on Saturday night; will we see the same reaction if Cassidy scores with an Orange Punch in the championship match, or can it actually put the 3-Time AEW World Champion and former International Champion down?
Moxley says FULL GEAR 2023 will be a course correction, a moment where he shows the world that Cassidy is actually who Jon Moxley says he is, and he puts the 2-Time International Champion back in his place. Will this be the case when the final bell rings, or will Cassidy do what he has done repeatedly since coming to All Elite Wrestling and show Jon Moxley he is as real as The BCC?
Swerve Strickland came into this entire ordeal with former AEW World Champion Hangman Page with the intent of proving he was worthy of a top spot in the AEW pantheon. A former AEW World Tag Champion, just like Hangman, Swerve has relentlessly pursued that top tier status ever since violently parting ways with Keith Lee and nothing has deterred those aspirations, not even being locked in a coffin by Darby Allin and Sting.
So when Page and Swerve went into battle at WRESTLEDREAM, Strickland viewed it as his opportunity to snatch the spot while Hangman saw it as his moment to get back on track with his own career after spending a great deal of 2023 wrapped up in Elite business with Blackpool Combat Club and then, surprisingly, winning the ROH World Six-Man Titles from Swerve’s allies in The Mogul Embassy. But instead of Swerve proving his merits on his own, he resorted to an assist from Prince Nana and his crown to defeat Hangman, and shortly thereafter, when the opportunity arose to fight Bryan Danielson for a shot at TNT Championship, Swerve tried the same tactic. Thankfully Hangman was on the spot to stop that crime from being committed, but that only served to escalate the issues, and next thing Hangman knew, Swerve and Prince Nana were breaking into Page’s house.
That disturbing scenario is best left untouched, suffice to say that Swerve committed the heinous sin of dragging family into this issue that started as a professional jockeying for position, making it as personal as any issues experienced in All Elite Wrestling. We heard Hangman speak his mind about this, tearing Swerve down to the core with every bit of personal drama Strickland has experienced, and capping it all off by assaulting Nana since the two Texas Death combatants were forbidden from any physical content on DYNAMITE.
But that rule doesn’t extend beyond the borders of AEW…
At Pro Wrestling Revolver’s UNREAL event, as Swerve and Nana stood in the ring talking about the FULL GEAR 2023 fight, Hangman attacked out of nowhere, and promised that he would beat Swerve’s ass this Saturday night. Swerve chose to make this personal, messing with a man’s family, so much so that it led others like Penta El Zero Miedo to fight the him, but once Hangman chose to oblige Swerve and join him in the muck and mire, it was bound to get ugly. Fans have seen the former AEW World Champion in Texas Death before, he’s undefeated in that stipulation here in AEW, and that’s because he’s willing to get uglier and dirtier than anyone else when the fight comes.
Swerve led this into ugliness by his actions outside the ring, will he be able to get that ugly when the bell rings on Saturday night?
TRIOS MATCH…
Adam Copeland, Darby Allin, & Sting vs. TNT Champion Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, & Nick Wayne
It was a huge moment at WRESTLEDREAM when “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland arrived on the scene in All Elite Wrestling and stood side-by-side with Sting and Darby Allin in opposition to TNT Champion Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and sadly also Nick Wayne. In the weeks since then, we have heard Sting announce to the world that he would bring his legendary career to its end at REVOLUTION 2024, we heard Copeland repeatedly say he would not fight his best friend, we saw Ric Flair come into the equation to ride this home stretch out with “The Icon”, and we’ve watched Christian Cage continue to be a horrible human being.
But after hearing Cage after being attacked by Cage’s “sons”, after hearing Christian threaten to break his neck, Adam Copeland has agreed to ride into battle alongside Sting and Darby Allin this Saturday night at FULL GEAR 2023! We witnessed these three men get their first reps in as a trio against The Righteous and Lance Archer, and though they looked very solid in action, they are still new to the idea of working with one another. In truth, it’s not all that different from the situation with Christian’s Patriarchy, much like Darby and Sting, Christian and Luchasaurus have spent a great deal of time together and formed their own dynamic, and much like Adam Copeland, Nick Wayne is a new ingredient to that formula. Unlike the Darby/Sting/Copeland trio though, The Patriarchy all fall under the direction of Christian Cage, they do not think for themselves, they follow the direction of their erstwhile father figure, and only his direction.
Their opponents are individuals, allies, friends; it’s not a case of Darby falling into a subordinate role just because of Sting and Copeland’s seniority or being led by their direction. This will be a trio operating on the same page but making use of their varied levels of experience, pooling their assorted resources and knowledge, and applying each other’s best attributes to the fights. There is obviously a concern about the history between Christian Cage and Adam Copeland, how all that friendship, those roads traveled together, those championships held as a team, the time spent with each other’s families, how will all that play into this Trios fight at FULL GEAR 2023? All of it has to be nagging at the back of Copeland’s skull, but will it effect his ability to fight? We will all see this Saturday night…
TAG TEAM BATTLE…
The Golden Jets (Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
***TAG TEAM TITLE OPPORTUNITY VS. TAG TEAM BREAK-UP***
It was at WRESTLEDREAM that The Young Bucks earned a future shot at the AEW World Tag Team Titles at a moment of their choosing; they did so by defeating The Lucha Brothers, The Gunns, as well as the team of HOOK and Orange Cassidy. Since that PPV event, we’ve seen Nick Jackson lose to AEW International Champion Nick Jackson, The Young Bucks & Hangman Page lose the ROH World Six-Man Championship back to The Mogul Embassy after just one successful defense, and watched The Young Bucks completely lose their cool after that championship defeat.
Over the last few months we’ve also seen Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho form one of the most unlikely pairings in AEW’s history, brought together by their mutual issues with Don Callis and his Family, putting aside their own sordid history in order to fight against Callis’ relentless onslaught. Clearly this is not a situation that sits well with the brothers Jackson; call it jealousy over the relationship with Jericho or call it caution given that the history between Jericho and The Elite created Stadium Stampede, either way it is driving a rift between Omega and The Young Bucks.
Now we now from history that The Young Bucks do not deal well with their friends having other friends, we witnessed it many moons ago with Adam Cole and reDRagon, but when it’s a man such as Jericho with whom there was so much bad blood from the first year of AEW, it’s got to be infinitely worse. That is why this match is going down, after all when there’s an issue between professional wrestlers the best place to settle it is inside the squared circle, and why not amp up the stakes when both teams have something to lose?
And what are those stakes? If The Young Bucks win, then the existence of The Golden Jets comes to an end. There will be no more team of Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho, no more fighting the good fight together against a common foe, they will just be quits as soon as that bell rings. But if The Golden Jets win, then Matt and Nick will have to say goodbye to the World Tag Team Championship match they earned at WRESTLEDREAM! That opportunity will belong to The Golden Jets, no Young Bucks championship match on the horizon, just Jericho and Omega maintaining their dynamic to challenge whoever wins Saturday night’s Ladder Match. And what of the relationship between Omega and The Young Bucks? Well it has survived a great deal, and it has endured, but they haven’t been at this point before where so much hostility has put them at odds.
Previously that was Hangman with Omega trying to keep the peace as best he could for as long as he could; only now there is no cooler head trying to prevail, just four men looking to fight, and we shall see if the friendship between The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega can survive the ordeal.
TBS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…
Kris Statlander(c) vs. Julia Hart vs. Skye Blue
Kris Statlander is a breakneck pace as the TBS Champion; in the span of 174 days, Stat has successfully defended the title on 16 occasions against fourteen different women. For perspective, by that point in her historic TBS Championship reign, the longest title reign in AEW history across all divisions, Jade Cargill had only defended the title eight times while Orange Cassidy, the most successful champion across all divisions in AEW, was also heading towards his 17th defense against Dralistico.
This Saturday at FULL GEAR 2023, Statlander heads into her 17th defense against two foes she’s already beaten in one-on-one contests, but who she now must contend with in a Three Way situation. To make matters more intriguing, there is an entire other dynamic between Julia Hart and Skye Blue that has little to do with Statlander. Ever since Hart misted Skye, the latter has taken a turn towards the dark, so much so that there was absolutely a concern she’d walk through the doors of The House of Black and be lost to her friends forever. Though Skye would repeatedly rebuke the handshake of help of the TBS Champion, when the moment came between choosing between Willow Nightingale and Julia Hart, Skye turned and sprayed her own blue mist into the face of The House of Black’s Hart.
So with each woman’s position set, the light of Statlander, the dark of Julia, and the chaotic middle of Blue, they will now collide on Saturday night with the TBS Championship on the line! This will mark the first defense for Stat that’s involved multiple challengers, will that be the ticket to ending this potentially historic reign? Or will the strife between Julia Hart and Skye Blue be the key to the champion retaining her championship?
AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER MATCH…
Big Bill & Ricky Starks(c) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. LFI (Dralistico & Rush) vs. The House of Black (Brody King & Malakai Black)
A Ladder Match, only one other time in the history of AEW have the World Tag Team Titles been at stake in a Ladder match, and that was the night The Young Bucks beat Jurassic Express to start their defenseless 28-day second reign, as well as the night Christian Cage first stabbed Jack Perry in the back.
But four teams fighting to climb the rungs to championship status? That is a whole new ballgame, and one likely to end up in plenty of pain, suffering, and punishment! Just yesterday the AEW faithful witnessed the chaos that erupted between these eight men, especially Dax and Rush as they battled to a No Contest, now put that into a situation with no rules, the freedom to use weapons, and with a title at stake. This will be an intensely physical situation, and even though Ricky Starks is the one who laid the stipulation on the table, not necessarily the best one for the champions to retain their titles. They may not have to worry about a pinfall or submission happening to someone else to lose their status, but Big Bill and Ricky Starks constantly have to be concerned about stopping someone else climbing the ladder. There are six bodies besides theirs all with the same goal, but only one has to ascend to the top of the ladder and pull down the belts.
All Elite Wrestling is back on pay-per-view this Saturday night with FULL GEAR 2023 coming to you live from the KIA Forum in Los Angeles! This PPV experience is loaded with multiple championship bouts, including a Four Way Ladder Match for the AEW World Tag Titles, as well as huge grudge matches, and all the elite class professional wrestling fans expect from an All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view! All the details on how to watch FULL GEAR 2023 can be found here, so if you can’t be there in-person, you have to join us through your preferred method for the greatest PPV experience professional wrestling has to offer! And don’t forget to join us for the FULL GEAR: ZERO HOURprior to the start of the PPV where the ROH World Title and the ROH World Tag Team Titles will be defended!
This is it, the last stop before FULL GEAR 2023, and it’s going to be a loaded FOUR hours of action on TNT! All Elite Wrestling is coming to you live with the first of two nights from the Fabulous KIA Forum for back-to-back-to-back COLLISION, RAMPAGE, and COUNTDOWN TO FULL GEAR! This past Wednesday’s edition of DYNAMITE was wild, topped off with the LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN Street Fight and MJF being decimated by BULLET CLUB GOLD, and Friday night promises to be more of that vibe!
Friday night begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT with a COLLISION featuring Miro battling Daniel Garcia, the Women’s World and TBS Champions teaming up against The Outcasts, and Dax Harwood battling Rush on the eve of their PPV World Tag Team Title challenge! Then we roll straight into RAMPAGE where “Timeless” Toni Storm goes head-to-head with Emi Sakura, and after the events of DYNAMITE, we will hear from both AEW World Champion MJF and his FULL GEAR challenger Jay White! 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!
COLLISION
REDEMPTION;WHETHER IT’S WANTED OR NOT…
“The Redeemer” Miro vs. Daniel Garcia
Daniel Garcia is at a bit of a crossroads after losing to AEW World Champion MJF on DYNAMITE; for the first time in a long time Garcia referred to himself as a professional wrestler, a huge step towards becoming the man fans wanted him to be when “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson extended a hand, but he is still associated with Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, Jake Hager, and Anna Jay. Daniel’s bond with his former J.A.S. allies appears to be holding Garcia back from being the man he strives to be, an amalgam of the professional wrestling and the sports entertainer, but he’s got to set that all aside and focus on being just one thing this Friday night: a survivor. That’s because on COLLISION Daniel Garcia will step into the ring with “The Redeemer” Miro for a one-on-one bout, a situation that may make Garcia regret every doing this towards CJ Perry:
Action Andretti learned the hard way about approaching CJ, so did Ryan Nemeth, and it seems inevitable that Andrade El Idolo and Miro will clash now that CJ Perry has taken Andrade on as her first client. Will Daniel Garcia suffer the same fate as Nemeth and Action, or will he somehow find a way to survive Miro’s redemption?
As FTR and LFI prepare for their shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship this Saturday during FULL GEAR 2023, both are being haunted by the members of the fourth team challenging Big Bill and Ricky Starks for the gold, that being The House of Black. Malakai Black and Brody King, oft referred to as The Kings of The Black Throne, will join Dax, Cash, Rush, and Dralistico in a Four Way title fight this Saturday, a situation that does not play in favor of the defending champions, but before that comes to fruition, Rush and Dax The Axe will go to war against one another for their first-ever singles match!
These are two of the hardest hitting fighters on the AEW roster, two very proud men who are at the top of their game right now, and want to head into Saturday with the edge a victory here will bring. As always, fighting so close to a title bout is an inherent risk, but one both Dax and Rush are willing to take in order to have that psychological advantage over one of the other men in the bout. Dax will have to have eyes in the back of his head, and Cash at his side, not only to balance out the LFI numbers advantage but also to keep eyes open for The House and the defending champions.
Regardless of which competitor wins this bout, both of them are going to feel it afterwards, but at least the fans watching at the KIA Forum, live on TNT, and around the world will be winners knowing they witnessed a good fight.
The night before the AEW Women’s World Champion and the TBS Champion defend their respective belts at FULL GEAR 2023, they will be in tag team action against a pair of women looking to find their footing in AEW once again. After losing the Women’s World Championship back to Hikaru Shida, and Ruby failing to claim either title after receiving shots at each in the past few months, The Outcasts are a bit out of the loop, and could certainly use a victory here to get back into a championship picture. Surely scoring a pinfall on either Kris Statlander or Hikaru Shida would go a long way towards putting the victor into contention, just as being put down by one of the champions could harm the losers future championship hopes.
The Outcasts are certainly a dangerous entity when focused on the task at hand, but the question that encircles Ruby Soho is whether or not her head will be elsewhere during the fight. Can she set aside the distraction of Angelo Parker, and of gifts like the flowers that certainly cost her a match? This is a huge opportunity for Soho and Saraya, potentially a detrimental one for the champions who have to fight twenty-four hours later, so will The Outcasts rise to the occasion? Or will the championship duo use this bout as their tune-up for what Saturday night will bring?
RAMPAGE
A TUNE-UP YOU SAY…
“Timeless” Toni Storm vs. Emi Sakura
After meeting former Goddess of Stardom Champion Mariah May for the very first time, and being rather dismissive of the woman who’s clearly a big fan and inspired by her own career journey, Toni Storm directed Luther to contact Tony Khan and get her a “tune-up match” for Friday night; a little something to get Toni ready for her AEW Women’s World Championship fight at FULL GEAR 2023.
It’s doubtful that Toni anticipated this tune-up would be against a woman who gave her some of the hardest hitting minutes she’s had in All Elite Wrestling to date! Though both bouts have been losses for Emi Sakura, the two fights between her and Toni Storm have been some of the most physical the Women’s Division has seen, particularly their Women’s World Title Eliminator bout on the 10/11/22 edition of DARK.
Toni Storm should be thankful that her shot at the Women’s World Title is not at stake in this so-called “tune-up” because she is certainly in for another tough night stepping back into the ring with Emi Sakura! Is this the wisest move for The Timeless One, or was she anticipating a far easier opponent standing across the ring this Friday night?
On Wednesday night, AEW World Champion MJF stood alone in the middle of the ring, knowing anyone in the locker room who honestly supported him was not there, knowing the offer of help from Samoa Joe was contingent on giving him a championship match, and he let BULLET CLUB GOLD know that though he was afraid of a great many things, he wasn’t going to back down from any fight.
That refusal to just lay down and die unfortunately led to Maxwell Jacob Friedman being left for dead by Jay White and his ilk, not exactly the way the champion wanted to head into FULL GEAR 2023 this Saturday night, but at least there was some moral victory to be had for this man who’d been so amoral for most of his adult life.
This Friday night during RAMPAGE, twenty-four hours before they are scheduled to clash with the AEW World Championship at stake, both MJF and “Switchblade” Jay White will sit-down with Renee Paquette to discuss their mutual looming fate. This is not a joint interview, that’s certainly not something that could be done safely after what happened on DYNAMITE, but rather both men talking with Renee on their own.
What will champion and challenger have to say on the eve of their greatest night together? After all that has gone down between MJF, Jay White, BULLET CLUB GOLD, The Devil-Masked individual, the gang of black-clad thugs doing their dirty work, and the Triple B thievery, what will each man have to share about this pay-per-view clash?
Friday night is loaded with three hours of AEW action getting underway at 8pm ET/7pm CT beginning with COLLISION! This edition pits Miro against Daniel Garcia, Shida and Statlander against Saraya and Soho, and FTR’s Dax Harwood fighting LFI’s Rush just 24 hours before they take part in an AEW World Tag Team Championship fray! Then it’s time for a RAMPAGE where Emi Sakura will answer “Timeless” Toni Storm’s call for a “tune-up match, though fighting Sakura is hardly that, plus after what happened on Wednesday night, both the AEW World Champion MJF and “Switchblade” Jay White will sitdown with Renee Paquette! Before the night gets started, drop by the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from this week’s episode of DYNAMITE, as well as all the moments leading up to FULL GEAR 2023, as well as the latest editions of CONTROL CENTER, then stick around after RAMPAGE for the COUNTDOWN TO FULL GEAR 2023 special that follows!
Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story review by Big Gold Belt Media-Synopsis:Writer, actor, filmmaker, studio head and media titan, Tyler Perry, is America’s consummate multihyphenate. But underneath this entertainment behemoth is a man working humbly to…
With FULL GEAR 2023 coming to the world this Saturday night live on pay-per-view, All Elite Wrestling is heading into the home stretch! It begins this Wednesday night in Ontario, CA at the Toyota Arena with a jam-packed edition of AEW’s flagship program! From the LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN Street Fight pitting Omega/Jericho/Ibushi/Wight against Brian Cage and The Don Callis Family to the TBS Championship Eliminator Match to the AEW World Champion speaking his mind, the AEW faithful are in store for a wild ride.
The night begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so make a point to visit the official AEW YouTube channel to get caught up on the action with highlights from recent episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as this week’s CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!
LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN STREET FIGHT…
Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, & Paul Wight vs.
Brian Cage & The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, & Powerhouse Hobbs)
The next four days are set to be some of the most crucial in the life of both Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho, and that begins with this LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN Street Fight on DYNAMITE! As Don Callis has continued to amass a family around him, so too has he persisted on making life hellish for both Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho, two men who’ve been a part of his life for many years, but who he decided somewhere along the way were albatrosses around his neck. He’s stabbed them in the back, quite literally in the case of Omega though that was in the head, turned their allies into enemies, and emboldened their enemies to do unnecessary levels of harm.
But what Don didn’t count on was that the torment heaped upon Jericho and Omega would actually bring the former enemies together; after all these were two men who absolutely destroyed each other at WRESTLE KINGDOM 12 inside the Tokyo Dome, who blistered one another at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019, and who were on opposite sides of AEW’s first definitive rivalry between The Inner Circle and The Elite.
Their union, dubbed The Golden Jets by Jericho, has experienced victory over The Gates of Agony, over Kyle Fletcher and Takeshita, and over Jericho’s former allies Angelo Parker and Matt Menard. They did suffer a trios loss at WRESTLE DREAM to Takeshita, Will Ospreay, and Sammy Guevara, with Kota Ibushi working as their third, but nothing has brought an end to this situation. Not Callis bringing Powerhouse Hobbs into the fold to utterly decimate Chris Jericho, not the addition of Paul Wight to the situation, nor Prince Nana selling the services of Brian Cage to Don Callis to bolster his Family’s side for this Street Fight.
Nothing has satisfied Don Callis’ need to inflict pain and violence on his former friends and all those who support them, and perhaps nothing will, but that’s not going to stop The Golden Jets, Paul Wight, and Kota Ibushi from trying to end it. Can this Street Fight be that ending? Can it be the night that Chris and Kenny finally find a way to purge their lives of the Don Callis poison? And if they do, even if they don’t, what will they be coming into this Saturday’s fight against The Young Bucks at FULL GEAR 2023?
TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH…
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy & FTW Champion HOOK vs.
Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta)
Ahead of their FULL GEAR 2023 International Championship rematch, Orange Cassidy and Jon Moxley are set to clash in a tag team battle. While Moxley has turned to his Blackpool Combat Club brother Wheeler Yuta for his partner this Wednesday night, the 2-Time International Champion has looked to one of his more newly acquired allies in FTW Champion HOOK!
As a team HOOK and OC only have one previous outing, that Four Way tag at WRESTLEDREAM, and although they were not the winning team, neither were they the team that got pinned by The Young Bucks. Conversely Mox and Yuta are 1-0 in their only outing as a team, but they are a pair that train together, that bleed together, that share the same mindset and mentality when it comes to competition. The BCC are, in many ways, of one mind in their approach to professional wrestling, and that makes them a very dangerous entity.
Then there are all the other factors that play into this match; Jon Moxley’s ALL OUT 2023 victory over Orange Cassidy that ended his International Championship reign, Cassidy’s victory over Rey Fenix that brought him his second reign after Mox fell to Rey shortly after ALL OUT, and that shoulder bump delivered from “Freshly Squeezed” to Mox that turned their story into something a bit uglier.
So the question is coming out of this tag match, regardless of who wins, what will be left of Moxley and Cassidy come FULL GEAR 2023 on Saturday night? Will they tear each other to pieces on DYNAMITE in an attempt to gain the last minute advantage? How will Yuta and HOOK factor into this outcome, and will that evolve into a rivalry all its own? Tune into TBS this Wednesday night to watch the explosion!
TBS TITLE ELIMINATOR BOUT…
Red Velvet vs. Skye Blue
***WINNER MOVES ONTO TBS TITLE MATCH AT FULL GEAR***
The hunt for the TBS Championship is heating up with Kris Statlander set to defend at FULL GEAR 2023 in a Three Way bout! After her victory over Willow Nightingale on COLLISION, Julia Hart has earned her spot in the title fight with the third participant in the championship match to be determined this Wednesday night in Ontario!
With Red Velvet having topped Ruby Soho on last Friday night’s edition of RAMPAGE, and Skye Blue beating Marina Shafir the week prior, these two will now lock-up to determine the second woman challenging Kris Statlander on Saturday! In all six of their fights, five of which took place in All Elite Wrestling, Red Velvet has been victorious with the count being twice in singles matches, three times in trios, and once in a tag, but the last of those was ten months ago, and Skye Blue has changed quite a bit since that encounter.
The darkness of Julia Hart has seeped into Skye Blue, and although it didn’t bring her fully into the embrace of The House of Black, it has brought out a darker side to Skye, one that stands in direct contrast to the women she’s called friends, namely Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander. As for Red Velvet, she is freshly back from the injured list after nine months recovering, and just two bouts into this comeback. The first of her fights ended in a loss to, of all people, Julia Hart, while the second was that aforementioned victory over Ruby Soho, and that victory has helped land Red in this position. Before her injury, acquiring the TBS Championship was a goal of Red Velvet’s and now she’s on the precipice of having another opportunity to do just that.
Will the history dominated by Red Velvet continue to play out in that fashion, or will this tilt towards the darkness lead Skye Blue to her first victory over Red Velvet?
A RIVALRY REVISTED WITH A TWIST…
The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs.
Penta El Zero Miedo & Komander (w/ Alex Abrahantes)
The last time AEW was in Ontario, CA at the Toyota Arena, The Young Bucks took on The Lucha Brothers in another chapter of their legendary rivalry, and that night it was the brothers Jackson who took home the winner’s share of the purse. That fight was also the last time the two teams clashed in a traditional tag, although they were each part of the Four Way #1 Contender’s bout at WRESTLEDREAM, a bout that ended with Penta pinned after eating a BTE Trigger.
This Wednesday night All Elite Wrestling is back in Ontario, essentially Matt and Nick’s home court, and while a rematch between the two brother duos was potentially on the table, with Rey Fenix still not cleared for competition it is the high-flying luchador Komander who will step up in Fenix’s stead! This contest will mark the first time Komander and The Young Bucks have shared the ring together, tilting an advantage towards he and Penta because at least that half of The Lucha Bros can inform Komander of what to expect. Penta has done it all against the Bucks: been inside a Steel Cage, fought them in Escalera de la Muerte twice, had traditional tag bouts, Trios contests, and even battled Matt in a Four Way fight just over a month ago on DYNAMITE.
Aside from perhaps Hangman and Kenny Omega, there is no one in the AEW locker room who knows The Young Bucks like The Lucha Brothers do, thus it falls on Penta El Zero Miedo to convey this knowledge to Komander, so the two can parlay it into victory just before The Young Buck’s FULL GEAR 2023 date with The Golden Jets. The only other time Komander and Penta have been teammates took place on a September 29th event in Laredo, TX as Komander stepped up in Fenix’s stead there as well, and though they were not victorious, they showed great promise as a duo. That promise is going to have to become something more though if they hope to topple The Young Bucks, especially with everything Matt and Nick have on the line come Saturday night in Los Angeles!
A week ago, after watching Jay White defeat Mark Briscoe in a fight with that FULL GEAR 2023 championship title opportunity hanging in the balance, AEW World Champion MJF snuck into the ring from behind BULLET CLUB GOLD with every intention of getting his Triple B belt back. One-by-one Max knocked them on their butts, leaving only himself and Jay White standing, but when MJF slid the Dynamite Diamond Ring on his finger, “Switchblade” bailed on the fight.
As The Bang Bang Gang listened from the stage, MJF get a lot off his chest about their upcoming match at the fabulous Forum, but as Max finished the lights went out, the big screen clicked on, and the AEW faithful witnessed The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass laid out by a foursome of of black-clad assailants. The assault got particularly nasty when Anthony Bowens was tossed through a window and into an office nearby; not one of the four attackers sported that Devil mask commonly associated with MJF, but that masked visage did pop on the screen before the fade to black, sending Max racing to the back to check on his recently acquired allies.
As MJF stood in the carnage, Samoa Joe walked onto the scene to reinforce his previous message to Max that the AEW World Champ needed back-up he could count on, before walking off with a chuckle. Not that long ago, when Jay White was the one assaulted, it was reasonably assumed that MJF was the one in the mask and lying that the property had been stolen from his locker room. Given that this most recent incident took place at the expense of MJF allies, with the man himself standing in the ring as it happened, it is obviously not Maxwell Jacob Friedman sporting the mask again, but perhaps we will learn something new this Wednesday night when MJF speaks to the incident on DYNAMITE!
AEW returns to the Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA for the final DYNAMITE before FULL GEAR 2023! We’ve got The Young Bucks versus Penta & Komander on tap, as well as a potentially violent explosion between the teams of Mox/Yuta and Cassidy/HOOK, and Skye Blue fighting Red Velvet with a TBS Championship opportunity at stake! We will also hear from AEW World Champion MJF as he responds to the attack on the AEW World Trios Champions, and who can forget the LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN Street Fight! The action gets underway at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, and at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so be sure to drop in on the official AEW YouTube channel to catch-up on highlights from recent episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as this week’s CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!
Tonight’s AEW COLLISION was broadcast live from the Oakland Arena in Oakland, CA!
Nigel McGuinness and Tony Schiavone were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
It’s Saturday night and you know what that means! Saturday night’s alright for fighting!
Andrade El Idolo vs. Daniel Garcia (with Matt Menard & Angelo Parker)!
Before the match began, CJ Perry walked down the ramp and stood next to Andrade. They nodded and smiled at one another.
“It looks like Andrade and CJ Perry have made an agreement,” said Tony Schiavone.
Miro was watching on a monitor backstage.
Garcia and Andrade locked up with a stiff collar and elbow tie up. Andrade grabbed a full arm twist, but Garcia escaped. Andrade applied a side headlock.
Garcia was about to perform his dance, but Andrade rocked him with a shoulder tackle. Garcia fired off forearm shots to Andrade El Idolo. Garcia dropkicked Andrade. Garcia missed a knee drop. Andrade jumped off the top turnbuckle with a big crossbody to Garcia.
Daniel Garcia caught Andrade with a dragon screw leg whip through the ropes. Garcia charged at Andrade El Idolo with a running knee strike. Garcia danced in front of CJ Perry.
Daniel Garcia nailed Andrade with a German Suplex. Garcia attempted a superplex but Andrade El Idolo headbutted Garcia, knocking him to the mat. Garcia grabbed an ankle lock on Andrade. Garcia wrenched on the leg. Andrade tried to fight the pain instead of going to the ropes. Garcia chop blocked Andrade, but Andrade retaliated with two dragon screw leg whips. Andrade hit Garcia with a running forearm shot!
Andrade got a full head of steam and rammed Garcia with a double knee strike in the turnbuckles! Garcia managed to pick up Andrade with a vertical suplex. Andrade returned the favor with vertical suplexes of his own. Garcia answered with a brainbuster for a near fall!
Andrade scoop slammed Daniel Garcia. Andrade climbed to the top turnbuckle and connected with a moonsault for a two-count.
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Garcia absorbed a flurry of forearms from Garcia. Andrade connected with a pump kick and applied the figure four. Andrade transitioned into the figure eight and forced Daniel Garcia to tap out!
CJ Perry hugged Andrade after the match. Miro was watching backstage, grinning at the sight of CJ Perry and Andrade celebrating Andrade’s victory.
Nick Wayne (with TNT Champion Christian Cage & Luchasaurus)
vs.
Dalton Castle (with The Boys)!
Dalton Castle grappled Nick Wayne to the mat. Dalton Castle suplexed Nick Wayne and rammed his knee into Wayne’s back. Castle rocked Wayne with another gut wrench suplex.
Nick Wayne stunned Castle with a flying forearm shot. Nick Wayne followed up with a snap mare. Nick Wayne countered a German Suplex attempt with a forward roll. Dalton Castle threw Nick Wayne with a suplex. Nick Wayne tried for Wayne’s World, but Castle blocked it with a German Suplex.
Luchasaurus chokeslammed the Boys on the arena floor! Dalton charged at Nick, but Nick moved, sending Dalton right into the ring post. Nick Wayne planted Dalton with Wayne’s World and won the match via pin fall!
“Hangman” Adam Page was backstage with words for Swerve Strickland!
Page: “At Full Gear, I take you down into a fiery abyss for eternity. And you’ll face me in a Texas Death Match!
“Take some time and look around your house. Look at pictures of your family and imagine every single moment that you could have had with them. I want you to know that you will never be there, not while you can walk, not while you can talk, Swerve. Because at Full Gear I take you to the bottom. I take you to the abyss. And every November, I’ll walk with my son, and I’ll piss on your grave. Swerve Strickland, what could have been.”
LFI’s RUSH & Dralistico (with Jose the Assistant & Preston Vance)
vs.
The Workhorsemen—Anthony Henry & JD Drake!
Dralistico and Henry chain wrestled at the start of the match. Henry back kicked Dralistico in the stomach. JD Drake tagged in and splashed Dralistico. Dralistico chopped Drake but Drake absorbed it.
Rush tagged in and traded chops with JD Drake. Rush rocked Drake with a shotgun dropkick and then stomped Drake. Henry ran in but Rush shoved Henry over the top rope, sending Henry tumbling to the arena floor.
Rush and Dralistico connected with a double dropkick on JD Drake. The Workhorsemen double teamed Dralistico. Rush tagged in and cleaned house on the Workhorsemen. Rush clobbered Henry with a spinning forearm.
JD Drake and Anthony Henry staggered Dralistico with tandem offense. Drake connected with a cannonball on Dralistico. Drake went for a moonsault, but Dralistico dodged it. Rush charged at Drake with the Bull’s Horns and pinned JD Drake!
“A great win for the LFI,” said Tony Schiavone.
The House of Black were backstage!
Malakai Black: “Perhaps we have not been direct enough. How about we obtain the one thing that you desire the most in this company and make you chase us?”
Brody King: “Big Bill, Ricky Starks, the Kings of the Black Throne are coming for the AEW World Tag Team Championships.”
Julia Hart: “How about if I beat Willow tonight on Collision, you, Kris Statlander, have to give me a rematch for the TBS Title at Full Gear?”
Darius Martin (with Action Andretti) vs. Roderick Strong (with The Kingdom)!
The Kingdom rolled Roderick to the ring in a wheelchair.
Strong bullied Darius into the corner. Strong wrenched on Martin’s arm and wrist. Darius retaliated with a beautiful dropkick.
Darius connected with a big cross body off the top rope for a near fall on Roderick Strong. Roddy lured Darius in and then blasted him with a back breaker. Roddy chopped Darius in the corner. Roderick followed up with another back breaker.
Roderick hit Darius with a perfect dropkick. Darius stunned Roderick with a jawbreaker. Darius battered Roderick in the corner with chops. Roderick waffled Darius with the Sick Kick and finished him off with the End of Heartache, scoring the pin on Darius!
“The King of Neck Health Awareness, Roderick Strong, victorious tonight,” said Nigel.
The Kingdom assaulted Darius after the match with the wiener punch and then a spiked piledriver. Action Andretti sprinted to the ring, but the Kingdom ran away.
The House of Black’s Julia Hart (with Brody King) vs. Willow Nightingale!
Willow pointed at her eye, remembering what Julia Hart did to her. Willow hurled Julia across the ring. Willow body slammed Julia Hart.
Skye Blue was watching on a monitor backstage.
Willow planted Julia with a side slam. Outside the ring, Julia and Willow traded strikes. Willow connected with a vertical suplex on Julia on the arena floor.
Back in the ring, Julia stomped on Willow’s left arm and hand. Willow powered out with a clothesline to Julia Hart. Willow splashed Julia with a hip attack in the corner. Willow booted Julia in the chest. Willow planted Julia with a spinebuster for a near fall.
Julia charged at Willow with a hip check in the corner. Julia applied the Heartless Lock, but Willow stood up. Julia hammered away at Willow’s back. Willow pounced Julia! Outside the ring, Willow shoved Julia into the steel ring steps. Willow charged at Julia, but Julia moved, sending Willow crashing into the steps. Willow slammed Julia with a half and half full nelson for a near fall. Julia cracked Willow with a lariat to the back of the head. Julia scored the pin after a moonsault press!
“The bride of darkness wants revenge!” said Nigel.
Powerhouse Hobbs (with Don Callis and Kyle Fletcher) vs. Alexander!
Paul Wight joined the commentary team for the next match.
Hobbs clubbed his opponent and then planted him with a spinebuster. Hobbs quickly pinned his opponent and then stared at Paul Wight.
Don Callis: “I have one thing to say. The Don Callis Family is the greatest family in the history of professional wrestling. In just a few short days the family will be involved in the street fight on Dynamite. Not too long enough Will Hobbs broke Chris Jericho. So, what did Jericho do? Jericho found the last friend he had after I deserted him and he picked up the phone and he called the last friend he could call, would just happens to be the biggest man in professional wrestling, Mr. Paul Wight.
“And when Chris called, I’m sure Paul said, ‘Anything you need my friend.’ Paul, I’m thinking you got shortchanged in the brain department because only an idiot would face the Don Callis Family after what we’ve done to Omega, Jericho and Ibushi. But Paul, it’s not too late. Paul, we both know Jericho is going to try to use you like he tried to use me.
“Paul, I’m a big fan of your work. It’s not too late to pull the pin and leave Jericho hanging in the street fight. I see a scared giant. It’s okay to be scared of me because I run things up in here. I think I might just have to do a little something here. I buried two giants in my career and I’m happy to do it to a third. Will, bury this fool!”
Hobbs taunted Paul Wight and Paul Wight did not back down!
Main Event Time!
Trios Match!
Sting, Darby Allin, & “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland
vs.
“The MurderHawk Monster” Lance Archer, & The Righteous—Vincent & Dutch (with Jake “The Snake” Roberts)!
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Big Dutch knocked Copeland down to the mat. Copeland connected with a flying lariat and tagged out to Darby Allin.
Darby put Vincent in a side headlock. Vincent kicked Darby in the face and headbutted Darby’s jaw. Lance Archer tagged in, and Sting demanded Darby tag him in.
Sting ducked a lariat from Archer. Sting chopped at Archer. Sting knocked Archer over the top rope with a clothesline.
Sting punted Dutch off the top turnbuckle pad. Archer caught Sting midflight and planted him. Archer and the Righteous worked over Sting in their corner. Vincent chomped down on Sting’s forehead. The Righteous collided with Sting in the corner with running elbows, one after another. Lance Archer stomped on Sting.
Sting rocked Vincent with a shoulder tackle. Darby tagged in and blasted Vincent with a shotgun dropkick. Darby tried for a Code Red on Vincent but Dutch nailed Darby with a lariat.
Lance Archer launched Darby with a suplex. The Righteous tried tandem offense but Darby shoved Vincent into Dutch! Archer pulled Sting off the apron and rammed him into the guardrail. Copeland tagged in and flew off the top turnbuckle with a double clothesline for the Righteous. Copeland speared Lance Archer. Copeland jumped through the rope with a tope suicida onto the Righteous and Archer!
Darby Coffin Dropped Archer outside the ring. Copeland went for the spear, but Dutch countered with a Bossman slam! Sting grabbed Dutch in a Scorpion Death Drop and Copeland dropped an elbow on Dutch! Sting splashed Vincent in the corner and Copeland speared Vincent for the pinfall victory!
“Big win, to say the least,” said Tony Schiavone.
TNT Champion Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne walked onto the ramp!
Christian Cage raised his title overhead and smirked at Sting, Copeland, and Darby!
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Moda Center in Portland, OR!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
Tonight’s episode of AEW RAMPAGE was broadcast live from the Oakland Arena in Oakland, CA!
Yourbroadcast team was Nigel McGuinness and Tony Schiavone!
It’s Friday night and you know what that means!
AEW World Tag Team Champion “Absolute” Ricky Starks (with Big Bill)
vs.
LFI’s Preston Vance (with Jose the Assistant)!
Big Bill joined the broadcast booth for this match.
Vance pushed Starks into the corner turnbuckles. Preston Vance stomped on Starks. Preston Vance followed up with a big pump kick to Ricky Starks. Preston whipped Starks into the steel guardrail. Starks reversed things, ramming Preston into the steel ring post!
Starks suplexed Preston onto the entrance ramp! Back in the ring, Vance regained momentum by planting Starks with a massive spinebuster! Starks fired back with discus lariat. Preston tried for this full nelson, but Ricky countered with a cradle for a near fall.
Big Bill jumped up onto the apron and distracted Preston Vance. Starks seized the opportunity to spear Preston Vance and pin him! The AEW World Tag Champs double teamed Preston until Rush and Dralistico ran to the ring to even up the odds for their LFI partner Preston Vance. Big Bill and Ricky Starks quicky retreated out of the ring!
Renee Paquette was backstage with Chris Jericho!
Jericho: “Takeshita has been on a roll lately. He’s one of the best pro wrestlers in the world today. But you’re facing one of the best pro wrestlers in the history of the business. Takeshita, this Sunday, in Tokyo, I am going to get my revenge on you. I’m going to teach you a lesson at DDT in Tokyo. You’re facing Chris Jericho. I’ve done it all. And Takeshita, as good as you are, I am better. And I’m going to show you what it’s like to be in the ring with an angry and pissed off Chris Jericho. This Sunday in Tokyo, Japan, Takeshita, I am going to get my revenge on you!”
Lexy Nair was backstage with Don Callis and Prince Nana!
Nana: “Lexi, I’m doing my due diligence. When you dig deep into your pockets, Don, what happens?”
Callis: “Sammy is on the shelf. Jericho is going to get taken care of by Takeshita. And I have made a deal with Prince Nana to rent the services of “the Machine” Brian Cage to team up with my family this Wednesday in the Man Who Erased His Name Street Fight!
Lexy Nair was backstage with Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, Satnam Singh, and Sonjay Dutt.
Jay Lethal: “I’m going to prove to the world that I outclass ROH World Champion Eddie Kingston in every way.”
Ortiz walked onto the scene!
Ortiz: “You had a lot to say about me last week. How about you say it to my face?”
Karen Jarrett: “If I were you, I’d watch what you say.”
Jay Lethal: “You might get jumped.”
Ortiz: “See, Jay, you need all these people to fight for you.”
Ortiz swung at Jay Lethal. Satnam Singh grabbed Ortiz and planted him hard on a cargo case!
Red Velvet vs. Ruby Soho (with Saraya)!
Tony Schiavone reminded us that Ruby said she wanted to do this alone, so Saraya went to the back.
Ruby got right in the face of Red Velvet. Ruby stomped on Red Velvet’s foot and then rammed her with a shoulder block. Red Velvet retaliated with a big leg lariat, staggering Ruby into the corner. Red Velvet worked over Ruby with body shots.
Red Velvet rammed Ruby with double knees and followed up with a standing moonsault for a near fall. Ruby hoisted Red Velvet on the top rope and then rocked her with a running kick. Ruby nailed Red Velvet with two consecutive back drop drivers!
“Ruby is relentless!” said Tony Schiavone.
An AEW production assistant delivered flowers to Ruby Soho during the middle of the match.
“Apparently she’s got a secret admirer,” said Tony Schiavone.
Red Velvet ducked punches from Ruby. Red Velvet cracked Ruby with a kick and pinned her!
“Clearly the distraction from the bouquet of flowers played into this match,” said Nigel.
“Wow! What a win for Red Velvet!” replied Tony Schiavone.
The Kingdom—Matt Taven & Mike Bennett (with Roderick Strong)
vs.
Two Local Wrestlers!
The Kingdom made short order of the competition, finishing them off with the Neck Check and grabbing a decisive victory. After the match, Roderick Strong ripped off his neck brace, jumped in the ring, hit a back breaker on one of the Kingdom’s downed opponents, and then ran back to his wheelchair!
Lexy Nair was backstage with Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard and Angelo Parker!
Garcia: “I am really sick of being sad. I went through the AEW roster page. I found Andrade El Idolo. This Saturday on Collision, let’s get it on!”
Ruby Soho and Saraya walked by. Saraya was clearly upset with the bouquet of flowers that Ruby was sent. Saraya looked at Matt Menard and said, “We’ve got big problems.” Menard agreed!
After a commercial break, Lexy Nair was backstage with The Kingdom and Roderick Strong!
Action Andretti and Darius Martin interrupted. Action said last time the four of them wrestled, he and Darius beat the Kingdom. Roderick Strong said he found his first victim. “Darius!” he shouted, and pointed at Darius Martin.
Main Event Time!
AAA Cruiserweight Champion Komander (with Alex Abrahantes)
& AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo
vs.
FTR—Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood!
Komander swiped at Dax’s thigh with a stiff kick. Dax fired back with a snap mare and a shoulder block. Komander dropkicked Dax Harwood. El Hijo del Vikingo and Cash Wheeler tagged in for their respective teams.
Vikingo, unabated, flipped off the top rope into a hurracanrana on Cash. Vikingo rocketed out of the ring with a tope suicida straight at Cash. Vikingo’s momentum sent him crashing headfirst into the commentary team’s table!
FTR used tandem offense in the ring to double team Vikingo. Komander and Vikingo utilized their own tandem offense with a fiery flurry. Vikingo dropkicked Dax from the top rope. Komander took down Dax with a hurracanrana for a near fall!
The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome! This is awesome!”
Dax Harwood superplexed Vikingo, but Vikingo countered midflight and landed on top of Dax. Vikingo and Komander hit stereo 630 splashes on FTR for a near fall! Dax countered a shooting star press from Vikingo with a piledriver for a near fall!
Dax used a slingshot powerbomb on Vikingo, but Komander was there to break up the pin attempt. Komander walked the ropes, but Dax dodged it and FTR smashed Komander with the Big Rig, scoring the pin on Komander!
All four competitors embraced after the match.
“Pro wrestling at its best,” said Nigel.
After the match, the House of Black were seen watching the match backstage.
Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA!
Don’t miss AEW Collision tomorrow on TNT at 8/7c from the Oakland Arena in Oakland, CA!
And remember…the home of professional wrestling is All Elite Wrestling!
For the first time, All Elite Wrestling is coming to Oakland, CAand bringing a live edition of RAMPAGE with it! With a week to go until FULL GEAR 2023, The Oakland Arena will be rocking with all the athletes of AEW jockeying for superiority before that pay-per-view extravaganza, including a huge tag match pitting former 2-Time AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR against AAA Mega Champion El Hijo Del Vikingo and AAA World Cruiserweight/World Tag Champion Komander! Plus those in attendance on Friday night will get to see COLLISION one day early, featuring another big tag team bout with La Faccion Ingobernable’s RUSH and Dralistico, as well as Edge, Sting, and Darby Allin putting in Trios work against The Righteous and Lance Archer!
Live action begins at at 10pm ET/9pm CT live on TNT, and at AEWPlus.com for international fans, but if you’ll be in attendance in Oakland, the party begins at 6:30pm PT! Before the night begins, make sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel to watch highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE, previous episodes of RAMPAGE and COLLISION, as well as this week’s CONTROL CENTER, and much more!
TAG TEAM BATTLE…
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. AAA Mega Champion El Hijo Del Vikingo & AAA World Cruiserweight/World Tag Champion Komander
It was just over a month ago that FTR were enjoying their second reign as AEW World Tag Team Champions, a goal finally accomplished after fighting since FULL GEAR 2020 to reclaim the titles they lost to The Young Bucks. Over the span of 185 days, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood had toppled The Gunns, BULLET CLUB GOLD in an epic 2/3 Falls Match, Jarrett and Lethal, Better Than You BayBay, Big Bill and Brian Cage, The Young Bucks at ALL IN: LONDON, Aussie Open at WRESTLEDREAM, all en route to matching the record of nine successful title defenses held by both The Young Bucks in their first reign, as well as by Kenny Omega/Hangman Page during theirs.
The along came Big Bill and Ricky Starks, in just their second match as a team, to smash their way through FTR and end that run in just under five minutes. It was a beating unlike any Cash and Dax had taken since coming to AEW in 2020, one that kept them out of action for a few weeks as they recovered, only to be waylaid in their return to competition by The House of Black. FTR would however be back in the ring last week as part of a wild eight-man tag pitting Cash, Dax, Preston Vance and Rush against The Gates of Agony and the AEW World Tag Champions. Despite the rather uneasy alliance of FTR and LFI, that foursome did manage to secure the victory, only for LFI to bail and for FTR to get attacked by The House once more. The surprising arrival of Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta brought that to an abrupt end though, creating another rather unusual alliance between FTR and the BCC in the face of that common enemy.
But this week FTR will be right back in the mix as they take on two of Lucha Libre’s finest athletes, both champions in their own right with the AAA promotion, the team of Komander and El Hijo Del Vikingo! Now as a result of their rivalry with The Lucha Brothers, Dax and Cash have had some experience fighting competitors versed in the Lucha style, but as superb as Penta and Fenix are, they’re approach is quite different than Vikingo and Komander, and FTR is going to be in for a wild ride this Friday night!
Can Dax and Cash overcome? Will they need eyes in the back of their heads where The House of Black is concerned? Or will we see the two AAA champions reign supreme over the former 2-Time AEW Tag Champs?
JERICHO TALKS DRAGON GAIDEN…
Ahead of the LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN STREET FIGHT going down on Wednesday night’s DYNAMITE, we will hear from Chris Jericho on RAMPAGE on Friday night! What will “The Ocho” have to say before he goes to war with The Don Callis Family? Tune into TNT to find out!
RAMPAGE begins at at 10pm ET/9pm CT live on TNT, and at AEWPlus.com for international fans, but if you plan to be at the Oakland Arenafor the action, the night gets underway at 6:30pm PT! Prior to the fights, drop into the official AEW YouTube channel to catch highlights from Wednesday’s DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE and COLLISION, this week’s CONTROL CENTER, and much more!
