AEW Dynamite Preview for January 17, 2024

AEW Dynamite Preview for January 17, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/embed/yKH8L1bj48Y?si=xqj0R1AMH3Xh1n2F

After a loaded week of AEW action featuring FOUR massive events, the week begins anew with AEW’s flagship program returning to South Carolia! This Wednesday night DYNAMITE will emanate from North Charleston for the very first time, featuring three championship matches, including Samoa Joe’s first AEW World Title defense, Christian Cage’s first TNT Championship defense of his second reign, and a huge ROH World Six-Man Championship fight! Plus Deonna Purrazzo makes her return to DYNAMITE when she faces Anna Jay one-on-one, and so much more on tap!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/NrS8zt6d33k?si=vglfnsY7x96A_-iy

AEW DYNAMITE begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, just make a point to drop by the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s assorted social media platforms, for highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and BATTLE OF THE BELTS IX, as well as the newest CONTROL CENTER, and more!  Then we head to St. Louis and the Chaifetz Center for an all-new COLLISION on the road to REVOLUTION 2024!

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Samoa Joe(c) vs. FTW Champion HOOK

https://www.youtube.com/embed/IfeHKLkP9bY?si=y_FPm3nMcJVkTJ5z

When Samoa Joe fought his first professional match, HOOK was less than one year old, and when the current AEW World Champion first began his historic 645-day reign as ROH World Championship on March 22, 2003, HOOK was almost four years old. When “The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil” had his first professional match, Joe had just began his twenty-second year in the sport, and yet despite those differences, in spite of his massive experience disadvantage, HOOK put himself out there as Samoa Joe’s first World Title challenger! 

HOOK may be a young man, just twenty-four years old, but he’s not a stupid one. He’s a man well aware of the advantages Joe has over him, very cognizant of the fact he’s coming into this bout as a massive underdog, but he’s also a man very confident in his own abilities. It isn’t luck that led HOOK to a twenty-five match singles win streak or his thirty-four consecutive wins overall, or brought him the FTW Championship two times over. It was hard work that brought him there, that put him behind only Orange Cassidy on that list of singles win streaks, and tied with Jon Moxley. It was that hard work that earned him the respect of the fans, and causes them to rise to their feet with the opening beats of “The Chairman’s Intent”. HOOK knows that he’s worked his tail off to get to this point, but it’s Samoa Joe he’s got standing across the ring from him on Wednesday night, and it’s going to take something extra to overcome that mountain. Perhaps that extra comes from the knowledge his father Taz holds from being rather close to Joe years earlier in their careers…

That knowledge isn’t experience though, that isn’t coming from someone who was in the ring with Samoa Joe and felt what it’s like to have him staring at you as you walk to the ring, or to have those roles reversed and be the one watching him heading your way. At no point was Taz an opponent of Joe’s, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t learn a few things about how the man ticks during his time with the AEW World Champion, knowledge he may have passed on to his son heading towards this showdown.

But once that bell rings, that knowledge has to be applied, application requires room to breathe, and Samoa Joe isn’t likely to let HOOK do that for very long. He will either look to end this quickly, or be the animal that plays with his food before devouring it, hoping men like Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page are watching to see the fate the AEW World Champion has in store for all who step to his title. Those are the moments HOOK needs to look for, the openings Joe might accidentally give, the spaces between that provide a moment to turn the tide; that is where HOOK will thrive, that is where he will find his successes. Create space, be relentless, and perhaps look for a roll-up victory given that Joe has proven susceptible to those throughout his career. HOOK may be an underdog, he may be the only one who believes he can pull this off, but self-belief goes a long way towards actualization, and given his track record of success in AEW to date, there is certainly a possibility we could be hearing the words “AND NEW AEW WORLD CHAMPION…” at the end of this contest!

TNT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

“The Patriarch” Christian Cage(c) vs. “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes

TNT Champion Christian Cage sure knows how to make enemies, in fact all it takes to be labeled his enemy is to have any association with Adam Copeland, and “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes joined that field simply by teaming up with Copeland during DYNAMITE: HOMECOMING 2024. Now Rhodes wasn’t the only one at Adam’s side, Orange Cassidy and Preston Vance were there too, but Dustin is the only one singled out by Christian, and perhaps that’s because he’s the one without allies by his side. Dustin doesn’t have Best Friends, Danhausen, and HOOK like “Freshly Squeezed” nor La Faccion Ingobernable like “Perro Pelligroso”, he stands alone that majority of the time, and that can’t be a coincidence for why Christian Cage chose to single him out.

But this numbers game the TNT Champion plays, the intimidation factor of Killswitch at his side, it obviously doesn’t faze “The Natural”, after all with 35 years spent lacing up his boots, there’s very little Dustin hasn’t experienced. He’s been the victim of that numbers game countless times, he’s been up and he’s been down, experienced life as both champion and challenger, and still comes back to the fight every day. Still, there are some things he hasn’t accomplished during his illustrious career and one of those is the acquisition of the TNT Championship. Dustin was part of the inaugural tournament back in 2020, defeating Kip Sabian in the opening round before falling to Lance Archer in the next, and he unsuccessfully challenged Mr. Brodie Lee on the September 9, 2020 edition of DYNAMITE. Dustin also tried to fill the role of Interim TNT Champion when he fought Sammy Guevara on the very first BATTLE OF THE BELTS, but the title eluded him that evening as well. 

So now the possibility of finally acquiring AEW gold is upon Dustin once more as he faces Christian Cage this Wednesday night in South Carolina! One of the biggest wins in Rhodes’ career took place in this very venue twenty-seven years ago, can he add another one to his North Charleston record with this TNT Championship fight on DYNAMITE?

ROH WORLD SIX-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

The Mogul Embassy (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage, & Toa Liona)(c) vs.

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/aeZcsA8nvdk?si=mbLvtDNOoyYaB0Hp&start=286

On the heels of defeating The Righteous and “The Murderhawk Monster” Lance Archer to retain the ROH World Six-Man Titles, Prince Nana actually stepped up to the plate and made the challenge himself for BULLET CLUB GOLD to fight The Mogul Embassy this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE! It wasn’t The Bang Bang Gang chasing after them, although they’ve definitely voiced those intentions, but the champions taking the first shot rather than potential challengers. 

“Switchblade” Jay White and The Gunns had no problem accepting the challenge, nor any qualms about mocking their opponents this week in South Carolina. While that may not be the smartest move, mockery is something in which The Bang Bang Gang is well versed, and frequently uses to play with their opponents before the big fight. These three members of BC GOLD have had a few weeks to rest up, something sorely needed by Jay White after his tour of duty in the Continental Classic, and are ready to bring some gold to their little clique, but to do that, they’ll have to survive three of the biggest, baddest monsters in All Elite Wrestling or Ring of Honor, as well as one of the craftiest managers pro wrestling has seen in the last twenty years!

THE BOYS ARE BACK HOME!

At the close of the night last Wednesday in Jacksonville, Tony Schiavone posited the question to Sting of just who he would face at REVOLUTION 2024 in his final professional wrestling match. Before “The Icon” could even take a breath, the all-too familiar music of The Young Bucks kicked in, and out walked the former 2-Time AEW World Tag Team Champions. Matt and Nick Jackson had been absent from AEW programming since losing their guaranteed World Tag Team Championship opportunity to Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho at FULL GEAR 2023. Brandon Cutler, often disparagingly referred to as their stooge, even tweeted to respect their privacy as they took time away. Then again, perhaps disparagingly isn’t appropriate because Cutler also tweeted that high-fives and hugs erupted upon their return to AEW last week…

Anyway, given the timing of their return, it is quite evident that The Young Bucks are propping themselves up as the REVOLUTION 2024 opponents for Sting and Darby Allin, aiming to be the ones who put “The Icon” out to pasture with a devastating loss rather than triumphant victory. Well this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE we will hear directly from the brothers Jackson about their intentions with that interruption. It’s the first time Matt and Nick have been on AEW programming in two months, so they’ve likely got plenty to say!

ONE-ON-ONE…

“The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo vs. Anna Jay

***AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPION TONI STORM ON COMMENTARY***

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wri-xgnm5wc?si=qkDoggXuiBWZi5Nq

Last Saturday night two of AEW’s women had huge nights, but only one was successful! Deonna Purrazzo made her debut on COLLISION, defeating a very game Red Velvet, and sending a clear message to AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm about why “The Virtuosa” came to All Elite Wrestling; the title is what’s on her mind, and Purrazzo doesn’t intend to let anyone stop her from acquiring that championship!

Anna Jay, however, was less successful with her Saturday night fight as she came up short in a TBS Championship challenge opposite The House of Black’s Julia Hart. It was a very close call, alas not one that went Anna’s way, but that doesn’t mean she’s done striving for her first championship success! That’s why this Wednesday night, Anna Jay is getting right back into the fight and welcoming “The Virtuosa” back to DYNAMITE competition, her first since fighting Mercedes Martinez in May 2022, while the eyes of “Timeless” Toni Storm watch from commentary! 

As the AEW Women’s World Champion gives her unique perspective on this contest, will she also watch as her next challenger ascends to the top?

AEW World Champion Samoa Joe began his reign over AEW at WORLDS END, and will make his first defense of the title this Wednesday night when AEW debuts in North Charleston, South Carolina against FTW Champion HOOK! Plus, The Mogul Embassy will put their ROH World Six-Man Titles on the line against The Bang Bang Gang, Deonna Purrazzo and Anna Jay collide for the first time, and Christian Cage’s TNT Championship will be at stake when he faces Dustin Rhodes one-on-one for the first time since November 2009!It all begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so be sure to drop in on the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s numerous social media platforms, for highlights from last week’s episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and BATTLE OF THE BELTS IX, as well as the newest CONTROL CENTER, and more!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/4ud-ufxYyw4?si=c2Dn2B4UXjs2glmz

AEW Dynamite Results for January 10, 2024

AEW Dynamite Results for January 10, 2024

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Tonight’s episode of AEW DYNAMITE: Homecoming was broadcast live from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL!

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!

Blackpool Combat Club’s Claudio Castagnoli vs. “Hangman” Adam Page!

Page charged at Claudio and booted him in the face as Claudio was entering the ring. Page and Claudio brawled outside the ring. Claudio sent Hangman hard into the barricade. He followed up with a running European Uppercut to Hangman. 

Back in the ring, Claudio thumbed Page in the eyes. Claudio hit a double stomp on Hangman’s chest for a near fall. Claudio nailed Page with a headbutt in the corner. Hangman absorbed forearms from Claudio. Claudio pulled Page down by the hair and then hurled Hangman in the Giant Swing! Claudio applied a sharpshooter and then transitioned into a cross face. Hangman escaped and blasted Claudio with a Death Valley Driver!

Page countered a European Uppercut with a backslide for a near fall. Hangman clobbered Claudio with a plancha over the top and to the arena floor! Claudio press slammed Page out of the ring and onto the ramp!

Hangman ate a boot from Claudio. They fought on the ramp. Page created some distance, charged down the ramp and sent Claudio back into the ring with a lariat. Claudio countered the buckshot lariat with a popup European Uppercut for a two-count. 

Claudio and Page paint brushed one another in the ring. Both men went hard over the top rope, as Page hit a lariat and the momentum toppled them. Hangman went for a moonsault, but Claudio caught him. Hangman spiked Claudio with a DDT on the arena floor. Hangman moonsaulted off a concrete wall!

The fans chanted “A-E-W! A-E-W!”

Hangman reversed a tombstone piledriver with one of his own, drilling Claudio’s head into the mat! Claudio reversed a Dead Eye attempt and sent Hangman flying face first into the turnbuckles. Claudio battered Hangman with stiff shots in the corner. Hangman escaped the hammer and anvil strikes with a Deadeye for a two-count on Claudio.

Claudio clocked Page with an uppercut. Claudio climbed to the top turnbuckle, but Hangman stunned him with a kick. They jockeyed for position up top. Hangman countered an avalanche Ricola bomb with a hurracanrana. Hangman followed up with two consecutive buckshot lariats and scored the pin on Claudio!

“Great match by both athletes. Outstanding! Could have gone either way,” said Taz. 

“Two of the best in AEW right there,” replied Tony Schiavone.

A highlight package aired paying tribute to Mr. Brodie Lee!

Eight-Man Tag Match in Honor of “The Exalted One” Mr. Brodie Lee!

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

vs.

“The MurderHawk Monster” Lance Archer & the ROH World Six-Man Champions The Mogul Embassy—Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, & Toa Liona!

Dustin Rhodes scoop slammed Toa. Toa cracked Dustin with a headbutt. Preston Vance tagged in, but so did Brian Cage. Preston dodged a splash and then landed a solid shot. Copeland tagged in and used a drop toe hold. Cassidy jumped in and was looking for a chokeslam on Cage. Cage shrugged off Orange, but Orange crushed Cage with a Stun Dog Millionaire!

Lance Archer splashed Cassidy and then rocked Orange with a rising knee strike. Jake Roberts struck Jose the Assistant outside the ring! Orange countered the Black Out from Archer with a DDT! Preston Vance and Bishop Kaun tagged in for their respective teams. Preston hit shoulder tackles on Kaun and Liona! Vance brought Kaun down with a cutter, but Toa broke up the pin attempt.

Brian Cage hoisted up Dustin Rhodes and planted him. Copeland came in and nailed cracked Cage with the Impaler. Orange clobbered Kaun with the Orange Punch and then choke slammed Kaun. Archer attacked Orange with a Bossman Slam! Toa held Vance while Archer moved in. Vance escaped and Archer inadvertently connected with Toa. Copeland speared Cage! Preston Vance smashed Kaun with the discus lariat and pinned him!

“Great win, and a great win for Preston Vance,” said Tony Schiavone. 

Renee Paquette was backstage with the Bullet Club Gold!

Jay White said the Undisputed Kingdom are going after all the gold, but whatever they can do, Bullet Club Gold can do better. The AEW World Trios Champions The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass interrupted. The Acclaimed made an offer to combine forces again. 

“Bang Bang Scissor Gang! Super faction. Think about it,” said Anthony Bowens.

Jay White: “First off, we’re not a faction, we’re a gang. But we’re going to need a little bit more time to ponder that. You guys sit by your phones, alright?”

The AEW World Champion Samoa Joe came to the ring!

Samoa Joe: “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Samoa Joe and I stand here before you tonight as your AEW World Champion. I was destined for this. And in light of that, tonight we make some changes to the championship challenge protocol. When you’re champion, you become a marked man. I heard even a devil who makes a bad deal is looking for Samoa Joe.

“Here are the changes we’re making to the championship protocol. No more will you have to come out and whine on this mic about your poor misfortune. You bring your record and your reputation, and you submit it to the championship committee, and if you’re deemed worthy, you walk out and have me stomp your ass in front of anyone who’s ever cheered for you. For the new championship era is here. And for all of you who want a piece of me, your champion will be waiting.”

Swerve Strickland onto the ramp with the Mogul Embassy and Prince Nana!

Swerve: “A couple months ago, I told Hangman Page it wasn’t personal. I was just after his spot. And look what happened. I took it. So, I’m going to reiterate the same thing to you, Joe. It’s not a personal thing. I just want that AEW World Championship and I’m going to take it. However, after I take that title and you choose to make this a person thing, I mean, I’d be more than happy to.”

“Hangman” Adam Page approached the ring and stood in there with Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland!

Page: “Well boys, if we’re making New Year’s Resolutions, I’ll go ahead and make mine. I beat Jon Moxley. I reunited with the Elite. And as much as you found me, Swerve, I found you. But the one thing I lost sight of last year was the AEW World Championship. And in 2024 I will make it mine! I see you smirking, Joe, but I haven’t forgotten what you did to me. And I’m going to take that title for it!”

Samoa Joe was alone in the ring when FTW World Champion HOOK’s music hit!

Hook entered the ring and he and Samoa Joe stared at each other. Hook pointed at Joe’s title and said, “One week.”

“Whoa! One week!” said Tony Schiavone.

“Well Samoa Joe is a marked man,” replied Excalibur.

Renee Paquette was backstage with AEW Women’s Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm, Mariah May, and Luther the Butler!

Mariah asked if Toni watched her match. Toni said she was sent a screener, but she didn’t see a single frame. Renee asked Toni about Deonna Purrazzo showing up on Dynamite last week.

Toni: “That name does sound familiar. All these women coming after my title, I feel like the prettiest girl at the dance. Luther, set me up meeting with this Deonna. I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

AEW World Tag Champion “Absolute” Ricky Starks vs. Sammy Guevara!

Sammy and Ricky locked up. Sammy grabbed a headlock, but Starks escaped. Ricky hit a shoulder block on Sammy. Starks chopped Sammy in the corner. Sammy tripped up Starks. Sammy moonsaulted off the ring post and wiped out Starks on the arena floor. 

Starks and Sammy traded shots on the ring apron. Starks rocked Sammy with a roshambo on the ring apron! Sammy managed to fire back with a thrust kick. Sammy ascended to the top turnbuckle. Starks grabbed Sammy’s right ankle. Starks ate a big back elbow from Sammy. Sammy went for a moonsault, but Ricky countered with boots to the face. Starks power bombed Sammy for a near fall!

Sammy dodged a spear! Sammy landed a kick under Starks’ chin. Sammy followed up with a second thrust kick! Sammy rolled up Starks with an inside cradle and scored the pin!

“Sammy is building important momentum ahead of Battle of the Belts this Saturday,” said Excalibur.

Sammy offered his hand to Ricky after the match, showing a sign of good sportsmanship. Ricky accepted. Big Bill blindsided Sammy as Starks had Sammy distracted with the handshake! Starks stomped on Sammy. Chris Jericho ran to the ring and rocked Big Bill with a Code Breaker! Ricky and Sammy continued to brawl!

“There will be no rules this Saturday night. A huge street fight at Battle Of The Belts,” said Excalibur.

Eight-Woman Tag Match in Honor of “The Exalted One” Mr. Brodie Lee!

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

vs.

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

Stokely Hathaway was in the front row holding a sign to support Kris Statlander. 

Anna Jay and Ruby Soho began for their respective teams. Anna Jay connected with a solid shot. Statlander tagged in and slammed Soho. Statlander tagged to Anna who hit a flipping neck breaker. Willow walloped Soho. Thunder Rosa tagged in and blasted Ruby Soho.

Julia Hart tagged in and she and Skye Blue double teamed Thunder Rosa. Ruby was taken off her feet with a drop toe hold from Thunder Rosa. Willow grabbed a tag and charged at Ruby and splashed her in the corner. Willow climbed to the top rope, but Harley Cameron swiped Willow off the top rope.

Willow dropped Skye and Julia with a double clothesline. Kris tagged in and cleaned house on the opposition! Kris planted Saraya for a near fall! Skye Blue was looking for Code Blue, but Kris shrugged her off. Willow pounced Skye. Thunder Rosa ate a thrust kick from Saraya. Statlander nailed Saraya with a rolling German Suplex. 

Anna Jay and Julia Hart clubbed each other. Skye Blue tagged in, but Anna applied the Queen Slayer and made Skye Blue tap out!

“That’s an impressive victory because Skye Blue has had a plethora of momentum as of late,” said Taz.

ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta had words for Eddie Kingston!

Yuta: “Eddie, you did not beat me in the Continental Classic because I was busy on Rampage. Eddie, the Continental Crown is something I want. So, bring it, on Rampage!”

Roderick Strong (with the Undisputed Kingdom) vs. “Bounty Hunter” Bryan Keith!

Strong and Keith chain wrestled. Roderick got the upper hand. Roddy hit a shoulder tackle but then Keith came in with a big boot. Keith chopped at Strong. Both men traded shots on the apron. Roderick picked up Keith and planted him hard on the apron!

Back in the ring, Strong continued the assault on Bryan Keith. The Bounty Hunter applied pressure with boxing elbows. Roderick countered with a suplex for a near fall. Keith headbutted Strong and then came over the top with Diamond Dust. Keith was trying for a Tiger Driver, but Roderick powered out. Roddy cracked Keith with the End of Heartache and scored the win!

“A dominant victory here tonight for Roderick Strong,” said Excalibur.

Adam Cole pulled up a chair while the Undisputed Kingdom flanked him.

Cole: “When I said this place was going to change, I meant that. So many people are so concerned with earning your respect. We are not worried about you at all. We don’t want to earn anything from you because we deserve it. Roderick Strong is a 20-year veteran. As far as I’m concerned, the AEW International Championship has Roddy’s name on it!

“And then Taven and Bennett, not only the greatest ROH World Tag Teams of all time, but your current ROH Tag champions. They have never gotten the credit they deserve! And of course, the monster, the dominator, one of the most physical, vicious mean in AEW, I’m talking about Wardlow. Now that Wardlow is surrounded by people who respect him, when the time is right, we are going to win the AEW World Championship. Boys and girls, say hello to your new home. Or should I say, your new kingdom. And get comfortable because we are going to be here for a very long time.”

Renee Paquette was backstage with “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo!

Deonna: “I am still on cloud nine, but I set my sights on the AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm, and if she wants to pretend she doesn’t know who I am, that’s fine. She’ll be reminded when I make my Collision debut this Saturday.”

Red Velvet walked onto the set to interrupt!

Red Velvet: “I will be making my AEW Collision as well! I say you get in the ring with me, and we can stir it up!”

Main Event Time! Tornado Tag Match!

Darby Allin & Sting 

vs. 

The Don Callis Family—Konosuke Takeshita & Powerhouse Hobbs (with Don Callis)!

Jim Ross joined commentary for the main event!

“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair walked out first to accompany Sting and Darby Allin!

“They’re all standing for Sting!” said Tony Schiavone. 

Darby Allin jumped on Takeshita’s back! Sting went right after Powerhouse Hobbs on the outside! Sting whacked Hobbs with a steel chair. Hobbs headbutted Sting. Darby whipped a chair at Takeshita.

Takeshita pointed at Flair and then chopped Darby Allin. Darby dropkicked Takeshita and followed up with a Coffin Drop. Takeshita blocked the Coffin Drop and countered with a German Suplex on the floor!

Takeshita and Hobbs double teamed Sting in the ring. They went after Darby next and swung him around like a sack of flour. Sting fired up and splashed Hobbs. Takeshita rocked Sting with a jumping knee strike. Ric Flair got into the ring and chopped Hobbs and then poked Hobbs in the eyes. Darby rocketed out of the ring at Takeshita. Sting planted Hobbs with a spinebuster!

Darby dodged a running knee from Takeshita. Darby climbed the set to the top of the bleachers and Coffin Dropped onto Takeshita! Hobbs picked up Sting, but Sting escaped and nailed Hobbs with a Scorpion Death Drop off the stage and down through the tables at ringside! Sting covered Hobbs and pinned Hobbs for the victory!

Tony Schiavone interviewed Sting, Darby Allin, and Ric Flair after the match!

The fans chanted “Thank you Sting! Thank you Sting!”

Tony Schiavone: “Sting, I have one question, for your final match, who will your opponent be?”

The Young Bucks’ music hit, and they walked onto the ramp!

“Are they calling out ‘The Icon’ Sting for his final match?” asked Excalibur.

Darby dared the Bucks to get in the ring!

“Sting is taking all this in. The plot continues to thicken,” replied Jim Ross.

“The Young Bucks essentially calling out Sting and Darby Allin for Revolution!” said Excalibur. 

Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, SC!

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

Special Programming Note: Don’t miss AEW Collision and Battle Of The Belts IX on Saturday on TNT beginning at 8/7c from Chartway Arena in Norfolk, VA!

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

AEW Dynamite Preview for January 10, 2024

AEW Dynamite Preview for January 10, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/embed/a3qJ6fopmEY?si=n4qpiXDHxnLbvF1y

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

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

THE CHAMPION ARRIVES!

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

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

ONE-ON-ONE…

AEW World Tag Champion Ricky Starks vs. Sammy Guevara

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

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

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

A CHALLENGE…

Claudio Castagnoli vs. “Hangman” Adam Page

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

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

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

TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH…

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gXCPY5kldYM?si=_3y4IJqNgYxTCk95

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

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

EIGHT-MAN TAG…

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

vs.

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

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

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

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

EIGHT-WOMAN TAG…

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

vs.

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

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

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/aV_vLfXZWwQ?si=g5IbsQS2Bh1gDBT-

AEW Collision Preview for January 6, 2024

AEW Collision Preview for January 6, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/embed/v9x8utAq7iU

Coming out of ,,WORLDS END and kicking off 2024, All Elite Wrestling began a new chapter with Samoa Joe taking the helm as AEW World Champion and the revelation that Adam Cole had been The Devil in MJF’s life the whole time. Those two elements changed the landscape of AEW moving into the new year, and then there was the arrival of Deonna Purrazzo on the heels of Mariah May’s in-ring debut, but at least some things remain the same, like Orange Cassidy still AEW International Champion after his fight with Dante Martin Wednesday night, and Wheeler Yuta still ROH Pure Champion after Friday’s fight with Komander.

The new era for AEW continues this Saturday with 2024’s first COLLISION, but it comes with a mix of something old and something new! The rivalry between The House of Black and FTR has been simmering for months, and will explode in tag team warfare this Saturday night while Eddie Kingston defends his Continental Crown for the very first time against Trent Beretta! It comes with AEW’s return to the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC this Saturday night for COLLISION, live on TNT, begin at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT! Get prepared for the night’s festivities by visiting the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s other social media platforms, for highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as moments from WORLDS END 2023, plus the latest CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH…

FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. The House of Black (Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black)

On the October 7th edition of COLLISION, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood were decimated by Big Bill and Ricky Starks resulting in the loss of the AEW World Tag Team Championship. It was a heartbreaking, physical dissection of the defending champs, one that left FTR still feeling the bruises on October 21st when they returned to in-ring competition. Just a minute into that tag team match the lights in the arena went out, and when they returned Malakai Black stood opposite Cash and Dax. Before either could react, the lights were doused once again, and this time when they flared back to life, it wasn’t just Malakai standing there, he’d been joined by Buddy Matthews and Brody King, leading to a 3-on-2 assault on FTR.

It seemed a similar scenario would play out a week later when, after Starks defeated Dax in singles competition, the lights went out once more and The House of Black, who’d been watching the bout from a distance, appeared inside the ring. It was only the arrival of LFI that balanced the scales, leading  to the most unlikely of temporary alliances between FTR and LFI, but one that was destined to be short-lived as FULL GEAR 2023 put FTR, LFI of RUSH and Dralistico, as well as Brody King and Malakai Black, in a Ladder Match against Big Bill and Ricky Starks with the AEW World Tag Titles hanging in the balance.

Starks and Bill would retain, the end coming when Starks smashed one of the hanging belts into the skull of Cash Wheeler, but that did nothing to quell the fires burning between FTR and The House. Malakai and company were on the spot to make verbal allusions after FTR beat The Righteous, and when FTR came to fight The House after they defeated Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels, Cash and Dax were instead subjected to, first, an offer to join The House, and then a brutal assault they left both unconscious in the ring.

Then it got personal; three weeks ago, the December 16th edition of COLLISION, Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black put Dax’s wife and child into the conversation, burning a picture of the three of them, and telling FTR that The House was their family now. The challenge for this tag team fight was finally made when Cash and Dax came to the aid of Daniel Garcia and Matt Menard following Garcia’s victory over Brody King. 

So it all comes down to this Saturday night as former 2-Time AEW World Tag Champions FTR meet The House of Black as honored by Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews; the tension, the animosity, the vitriol between these two units has reached a fever pitch, and it will explode live on COLLISION come Saturday night! With as personal as their issue has gotten, the AEW official tasked with maintaining order is going to have their hands full… 

AEW CONTINENTAL CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Eddie Kingston(c) vs. Trent Beretta

https://www.youtube.com/embed/MjBqv_m4wKQ

This is a match full of firsts; not only is it the first defense of the Continental Crown since its creation at WORLDS END last Saturday night, it is also the first time Eddie Kingston and Trent Beretta will step into the ring for a fight! They stood on the same side of the ring at ALL IN: LONDON in Stadium Stampede, and both were part of the ALL OUT 2020 Casino Battle Royale, but this will be the first time they’ve ever been foes in a traditional match.

But this isn’t just a match is it? This is Eddie Kingston fighting for his life’s work, something he already put at risk when he laid the ROH World Championship and NJPW STRONG Openweight Title on the line to create, along with the AEW Continental Title, this Continental Crown. Every fight Kingston had during the Continental Classic Tournament put his status as a double champion at risk, but “The Mad King” persevered through adversity and loss to win the Blue League, capping it off with a victory over Jon Moxley in the Finals at WORLDS END.

There is no way Kingston will let this crown slip off his head easily, Trent Beretta is going to have to utterly incapacitate Eddie in order to win this match, but there’s just something about Beretta as of late that makes it seem like he’d be willing to go to such lengths. Fans have seen the man get down and dirty in Parking Lot Brawls before, so they know Trent Beretta is capable of the violence it may take to put Eddie Kingston down.

The thing with Eddie though is that he knew the second he beat Jon Moxley, he’d become a target for any individual striving for championship success. It’s not a matter of shattering a dream, Kingston isn’t a dreamer, he’s a fighter and one who knows that as long as he laces up the boots, the fight will never end. Every day someone will be gunning for him, after all he’s a man hoarding three different championships from three different companies, making him a target for people from every single one. Trent Beretta just happens to be the first, and even if Kingston makes it past him, there will be another and another and another waiting to take their shot at the Continental Crown upon The Mad King’s head!

STING’S FINAL CHARLOTTE APPEARANCE!

Darby Allin & Sting vs. The Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake)

Ahead of their fight with The Don Callis Family on ,,DYNAMITE: HOMECOMING 2024 in Jacksonville, Darby Allin and “The Icon” Sting will be in tag team action this Saturday night! It’s a huge opportunity for The Workhorsemen of Anthony Henry and JD Drake, facing Darby and Sting, given the amount of respect and admiration the pair have for “The Icon”, but it’s also so much more than that. See this night at Bojangles Coliseum will be Sting’s last fight in Charlotte, a wrestling city synonymous with his career, where he’s fought Eddie Gilbert, battled inside War Games, as well as fought the likes of Sid Vicious, Cactus Jack, and yes, Ric Flair, for championship gold!

In fact, the last match Sting had in Charlotte took place at the Bojangles almost five years ago to the day, and featured him defending a World Championship! So now he returns to Charlotte, with both Darby Allin and Ric Flair at this side, to bid farewell to the fans of the Queen City, and give The Workhorsemen the kind of wrestling lesson that can only be given by someone with his experience! Join AEW this Saturday night in Charlotte as we continue on the Road to ,,REVOLUTION 2024 and Sting’s final professional wrestling match.

ADAM COPELAND RESPONDS…

At WORLDS END 2023 Adam Copeland managed to experience ultimate triumph and catastrophic tragedy within minutes of one another. In a vicious No DQ Match with Christian Cage, Copeland defeated “The Patriarch” to become the new TNT Champion but taking advantage of the situation, Killswitch brutally assaulted Copeland in hopes of using the TNT Championship match contract he’d earned during ZERO HOUR. Unfortunately for the former Luchasaurus, he was convinced by Christian to hand over the contract, and the ex-champion took back the TNT Championship he’d lost only moments earlier.

Well the world heard what Christian Cage had to say about the situation this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE, basically denying he ever lost the title and this is one continuous run, so this Saturday night we will hear from the other half of that equation! Adam Copeland has to have a lot on his mind about this situation, and we will get a piece of it on COLLISION!

All Elite Wrestling is back in Charlotte, NC at the ,,Bojangles Coliseum this Saturday night with the first COLLISION of 2024! In one of the most anticipated tag matches in recent memory, FTR will finally fight The House of Black as honored by Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black, and Eddie Kingston will defend his Continental Crown for the very first time against Trent Beretta after that Best Friend won DYNAMITE’s Four Way bout! Those two stellar contests, and more, are set to come your way when COLLISION kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TNT. All you need to do is get prepared by dropping in on the official AEW YouTube channel to watch highlights from this week’s editions of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as events from WORLDS END 2023, and the latest CONTROL CENTER!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/88BC1eIW23k

AEW Rampage Preview for January 5, 2024

AEW Rampage Preview for January 5, 2024

https://www.youtube.com/embed/D9jFYk_gszA?si=t1IwCzJRuBc06Ftk

The Devil has been revealed and his name is Adam Cole, surround by the Undisputed Kingdom of Wardlow, Roderick Strong, and ROH World Tag Champs Mike Bennett & Matt Taven, they have promised to reign down hell upon the rest of AEW with eyes set on all the titles! DYNAMITE brought us that proclamation, as well as Orange Cassidy defending his International Championship against Dante Martin, Mariah May making her in-ring debut only to have it spoiled by the arrival of Deonna Purrazzo, and plenty more as AEW launched full-force into 2024!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/GwSqjZk3RjA?si=AIsWgAfauKMhqp5E

That brings us to this Friday on RAMPAGE, emanating from the Prudential Center in New Jersey, and getting underway at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans! 3-Time ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta will take on the high-flying Komander, Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander will be in tag team action, The Hardys and The Briscoes collide with Kip Sabian, Butcher, and Blade in Trios competition, and Anna Jay aims to finally score a victory on 3-Time Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida! Before the show begins, drop in on the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s various social media platforms, to catch up on highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and the latest CONTROL CENTER!

TRIOS MATCH…

The Hardys (Jeff & Matt) and Mark Briscoe vs. Kip Sabian, The Butcher, & The Blade

This ought to be a hard-fought Trios affair as there’s plenty of history wrapped up in the competitors involved! For months, The Butcher and The Blade worked for Matt Hardy as part of his Hardy Family Office, and while they seemed content with just making money as Hardy’s henchmen, Matt has shown tremendous regret for his behavior during those months of his AEW career. It’s let to multiple confrontations between them in the time since, including a wild Tag Team Tables Match in April 2022, and The Hardys most recently winning an non-televised Three Way Tag in Ontario, CA over Butch and Blade. Back in August, with Keith Lee at their side, Matt and Jeff also scored a victory over this trio, but this time around, the brothers Hardy have allied with one of their most fearsome foes from years past: Mark Briscoe!

Mark and Matt had their lone singles match in June 2013 for Ring of Honor, and battled over the ROH World Tag Titles in March 2017, with Matt and Jeff beating Mark and Jay in that Las Vegas battle, and they’ve even fought in AEW once before just prior to REVOLUTION 2023 with Mark and The Lucha Brothers defeating The Firm of Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy, and Lee Moriarty. So with this first time uniting, can Mark and The Hardys look past their history as opponents and work together as allies?

PURE RULES MATCH…

ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta vs. Komander

This is going to be quite the fascinating clash of styles, of that there is no doubt, after all Komander is know for his high-flying, death-defying style of Lucha Libre not for grappling, technical wrestling, and submissions. That being said, Pure Wrestling is not necessarily defined by the style that current champion Wheeler Yuta employs, but rather the intent of emphasizing competition in its purest form. It’s all in the hands of the competitors involved on how to proceed under the rules a Pure Championship match engages, or in the case of someone like the man Yuta has become, how to circumvent the rules when possible.

Now in his third reign atop the Pure Division, Yuta comes into this first-ever fight with Komander having bested Katsuyori Shibata to claim the belt, and successfully defended it on two instances over the last 40 days, one against Matt Sydal and the other opposite “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. Will Komander be the one to bring an end to the reign of Yuta, or will The BCC’s youngest member continue to find ways to win while the rest of us watch his ego grow ever larger with each one?

ONE-ON-ONE…

Anna Jay vs. Hikaru Shida

Hikaru Shida has been the bane of many competitors existence since her AEW debut at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019; Abadon, Emi Sakura, and Penelope Ford are just a few of the women who have battled the former 3-Time AEW Women’s World Champion on multiple occasions yet have never been able to defeat “The Shining Samurai”. Another such competitor is Anna Jay, a woman who made her AEW debut on the April 1, 2020 DYNAMITE opposite Shida, and has yet to find victory over the course of three singles match, two being title fights.

The most recent of those took place on August 9th of 2023 with an end result the same as every previous encounter, but Anna Jay remains undaunted in her self-belief, and what better way to start 2024 then by breaking this Shida curse! Away from the 2023 drama of Angelo Parker and Ruby Soho, or that of Matt Menard and Daniel Garcia, can the new year start with a clean slate for Anna Jay?

-ALSO FEATURING KRIS STATLANDER & WILLOW NIGHTINGALE IN TAG TEAM ACTION!!!

Coming to you from Newark, NJ, RAMPAGE begins at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, and features Wheeler Yuta putting his ROH Pure Championship on the line against Komander, Anna Jay trying to break the Shida curse, The Hardys uniting with Mark Briscoe for Trios competition, and the Statlander/Nightingale duo in action! Before the show begins, drop in on the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s various social media platforms, to catch up on highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE, COLLISION, and the latest CONTROL CENTER!

AEW Worlds End Preview

AEW Worlds End Preview

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ALKhUPQnlKY?si=TsrJJirQ1ljHTBah

The end of 2023 is upon us and this Saturday night marks the final event of the year for All Elite Wrestling! Appropriately entitled WORLDS END, this pay-per-view offering features multiple championship matches, as well as the finals of the historic Continental Classic, which itself is also a title fight as the winner will be crowned the first Continental Champion, as well as ROH World Champion and NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion, creating an all-new North American Triple Crown!

Preceded by ZERO HOUR on the official AEW YouTube channel, WORLDS END begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT and hails from the historic Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island! Be sure to watch all the COUNTDOWN content to get up to speed for the latest happenings leading to AEW’s year-end extravaganza, and do not miss out as the stage is set for 2024!

AEW World Championship Match…

MJF(c) vs. Samoa Joe

https://www.youtube.com/embed/y3mVgI4K3Xg?si=Ct4giTEtXpTRiiij&start=45

Betrayal; is there any other way to encapsulate the last month of MJF’s life since he beat Jay White at FULL GEAR 2023? Samoa Joe stepped up, after vacating the ROH World Television Championship and declaring the AEW World Championship as his sole focus, and told Maxwell Jacob Friedman that no matter what he would chauffeur the AEW World Champion to WORLDS END intact. Joe took it upon himself to be MJF’s bodyguard, to protect the hot-headed AEW World Champion from himself, and insure Max made it to December 30th at peak physical condition so there would be no excuses if he lost the AEW World Championship to Joe live on pay-per-view.

But this past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, after Samoa Joe seemed to be taken out by The Devil and his lackeys ahead of a scheduled ROH World Tag Team Championship defense against said masked men, the entire situation went a drastic overhaul. MJF, as he’d done with The Righteous at WRESTLEDREAM 2023, elected to go solo in a tag title defense, only to be laid out by the superior numbers of The Devil’s henchmen, and watch the championship he’d earned with Adam Cole slip away just like that.

For MJF it was more than just losing a title, it was also breaking a promise to his best friend Adam Cole, the only man who’d given Max an opportunity to prove himself a better man than the scumbag he’d shown the world the last four years. After Adam Cole got hurt at GRAND SLAM 2023 while trying to come to MJF’s aid in his last fight with Samoa Joe, Friedman promised Cole he’d keep the ROH Tag Titles around his waist until Cole could return, but the machinations of this Devil made it a difficult situation, and the willingness of Samoa Joe to do business with the masked man turned it into an impossibility. As much heart as MJF as where it comes to Adam Cole, even he can’t overcome the multitudes willing to serve The Devil, much less Samoa Joe’s apparent willingness to do anything for an edge heading into WORLDS END this Saturday.

So with that broken promise to Adam Cole hanging over his head, with the various injuries MJF has sustained during his record-setting AEW World Championship reign, what chance does he have fighting the monster that is Samoa Joe? 

After all, Joe is the man who held both the ROH World Championship and the ROH World TV Championship longer than any man who came before him. He is the man who, unarguably, changed the landscape of professional wrestling for all those who came after him, and the man who broke the mold of what being Samoan meant as a professional wrestler. Samoa Joe traversed the independent landscape, battled across Japan, took Kenta Kobashi to his limit in game changing Ring of Honor fight, and tested a generational competitor like Brock Lesnar like no man before or since. Once upon a time Samoa Joe would look into a camera and unblinkingly tell the world “I am Pro Wrestling” in the same tone with which he now tells the world he is “The King of Television” and there is no doubt that he believes it with every fiber of his being. Ask anyone who has stood in that ring waiting for Samoa Joe’s arrival and they will tell you there are few individuals of this generation, maybe Jay Briscoe, who struck fear into the hearts of their foes before they ever stepped between the ropes. As soon as Joe steps before the people, the man standing in the ring knows he is in for the fight of his life, and that is what Maxwell Jacob Friedman has awaiting him on Long Island this Saturday night.

It’s not the first big-time fight of MJF’s AEW career, this is a man who has beaten Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, and even Samoa Joe over the last four years, just to name a few, as well as the other Four Pillars of Jack Perry, Darby Allin, and Sammy Guevara. He’s been big-time for almost as long as he’s been in All Elite Wrestling, and although he has beaten Samoa Joe in the recent past, he’s never come at “The Samoan Smashing Machine” under these circumstances. Max is hurt, he’s fighting from behind, he’s got the specter of The Devil over his shoulder, but he’s fighting on his home turf and with everything to lose. His body may want to give up the ghost, but his spirit, that indomitable Fighting Spirit, isn’t ready to call it quits on this historic AEW World Championship reign just yet…

Continental Classic Championship Finals…

Gold League Winner Jon Moxley vs. Blue League Winner Eddie Kingston

https://www.youtube.com/embed/lTXNt4T0XQA?si=QnEoSdoKxmPTtByx&start=408

The AEW website took a deep dive into the history between Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston on Thursday night with “You Always Hurt The One You Love”, reflecting on the violence that has gone down between these two friends, these brothers-by-choice, ever since Kingston first came to AEW.

A dissection of their relationship can be read there, this is a look at the immediate history and what brought these two men to WORLDS END and the Continental Classic Finals! For Jon Moxley the road to Gold League success began on the November 22nd edition of DYNAMITE, one night before American Thanksgiving, with a match against Mark Briscoe. It was a first-time collision between the two men, and was every bit as hard-hitting as one would anticipate given their history as fighters. The end came with Mark Briscoe surviving one Death Rider, but eventually succumbing to a second, only after Moxley had to stomp Mark’s skull into the canvas: three points for the 3-Time AEW World  Champion.

Moxley’s second foray into the Gold League came against Jay Lethal, and that too went in his favor, but again only after stringing together a succession of moves that, under some circumstances would’ve put a lesser man away. Lethal survived a Paradigm Shift, a King Kong Lariat, and a piledriver, kicking out of the last maneuver at a 2.5 count, only to end up tapping out to Moxley’s Rear Naked Choke: two matches down, six points to his name, and three more to go.

For his halfway point Moxley welcomed a fight with RUSH, a man capable of matching Jon’s capacity for violence, but who ultimately fell to The Blackpool Combat Club member. In this case the leader of La Faccion Ingobernable survived a massive King Kong Lariat and Death Rider, kicking out just before the three, but could not escape the same choke that tapped out Jay Lethal a week prior. Unlike Lethal, RUSH never tapped out or said he quit, it was a matter of referee stoppage to protect the safety of the unconscious RUSH. It was a decision that did not sit well with RUSH, but it was final, and sent Moxley into his fourth bout with nine points to his name.

Enter Swerve Strickland, another man with nine points to his name, and one of the other favorite’s to win the entire Continental Classic. The winner of this bout would be etched into the Gold League Finals with twelve points, and though it was hard-fought by the head of The Mogul Embassy, it was Mox who squeaked out with a victory, but not with a lariat or Death Rider or choke, but rather via roll-up with a little pulling of Swerve’s tights. By hook or crook, Jon Moxley became the only man with 12 points to his name, and guaranteed himself a spot in the League Finals.

Then came the last night of the points competition, Moxley versus “Switchblade” Jay White, and perhaps it was the rigors of what had come the previous four weeks, but with this fifth tournament bout, Jon Moxley finally tasted defeat after being dropped with a Blade Runner. That victory by Jay, combined with Swerve’s over RUSH, meant the Gold League Finals would be contested in a Three Way match, and as we all saw this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE, it ended with Moxley’s hand raised after evening the score with Jay White as Swerve watched on from the outside. 

For Eddie Kingston, the tournament first began with him upping the ante from just the Continental Championship awaiting the winner to it being a Triple Crown situation involving both Eddie’s ROH World Championship and his NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship. It was a huge risk no doubt, and one that very nearly backfired in Kingston’s face as he dropped his first match with Brody King as well as his second with Bryan Danielson, sending “The Mad King” to the halfway mark with zero points to his name. He had to rebound with his third fight, a bout with long-time rival Claudio Castagnoli, and that’s exactly what happened after a series of counters ended with Kingston scoring the pinfall victory. 

There was a definite change in Kingston through this tournament, rather than a man beaten down by his losses, he was a man who fought through them, through the self-loathing that they could bring, and instead lived off the phrase “Humble in victory, humble in defeat”. It seemed his role as a dual champion had made an honest change to Kingston’s usual mentality, and it paid off as he racked up a victory over Daniel Garcia in his fourth Continental Classic match, and another in his fifth against Andrade El Idolo. Neither came easy, both took a toll on the champion, but he persevered through both and found himself, through hard work and determination, in the finals of the Blue League opposite “The American Dragon”. 

Despite the fact that he’d never beaten Bryan Danielson in their prior encounters, be it in AEW or elsewhere, Eddie Kingston latched onto the Fighting Spirit that had motivated him from the first time he saw an AJPW tape, powered through Danielson’s relentless punishment, and dropped the man many consider the greatest of this generation with that Kawada-style Folding Powerbomb that beat Claudio at GRAND SLAM 2023. 

With that victory it became locked in stone that Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston would fight at WORLDS END in the finals of the Continental Classic with ownership of the ROH World Championship, the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship, and the brand-new Continental Championship all at stake. It’s a modern-day North American Triple Crown, one that will belong to either Jon Moxley or Eddie Kingston in this battle of brothers by choice rather than blood, but can their relationship survive yet another blow after everything it has endured since Kingston first challenged Moxley for the AEW World Championship more than three years ago?

AEW Women’s World Championship Match…

“Timeless” Toni Storm(c) vs. Riho

https://www.youtube.com/embed/O67wxotbvCQ?si=KMqs2pF3soazKzzj&start=45

Over the course of the last several months the AEW faithful have watched Toni Storm spiral out; it began when Hikaru Shida ended her second championship reign back in August, and kicked into full gear (no pun intended) as Storm neared her rematch with Shida at FULL GEAR 2023 on November 18th. Now RJ City and Renee Paquette have had to endure the “Timeless” experience more than any others, while Luther has thrown himself fully into the experience as her…butler, but the entire Women’s Division has had to take a step back and question what has happened to Storm.

She seems trapped in a delusion of Old Hollywood stardom, of key parties, of celluloid dreams, and only vaguely aware of anything going on outside of her own head. Toni’s barely cognizant of Mariah May’s fawning presence, despite the former STARDOM champion actively helping her fight Riho, and only remotely aware of an entire division of competitors gunning for the title around her waist. That division includes women that Toni, as part of The Outcasts, made a point to verbally denigrate and physically assault, women like original AEW Woman’s World Champion Riho!

That “Timeless” moniker matters not to Riho, no matter what she’s called Toni Storm is still part of the Outcast trio that took Riho out of AEW action many months ago, and she returned with a vengeance to right those wrongs. It started with a victory over Ruby Soho, continued with a #1 Contender’s victory over Saraya, leaving just Toni Storm and her AEW Women’s World Championship to be conquered this Saturday night at WORLDS END!

Can Riho etch her name into the AEW history book as a 2-Time Women’s World Champion, or will “Timeless” Toni Storm continue to live out her fantastical delusions with the title belt securely strapped around her waist?

TNT Championship No Disqualification Match…

Christian Cage(c) vs. Adam Copeland

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-4WAjPlrWS0?si=1V7FZJZ55llJnbnD&start=294

What can possibly be said about this championship match that adequately encompasses what it means to the two men involved in the battle. Christian Cage and Adam Copeland have been part of each other’s lives for more nearly four decades, they have fought side-by-side and been champions many times over, they’ve even battled one another on multiple occasions, and each man has seen the other have to give up their professional wrestling dreams when their body decided enough was enough. 

Each man has also seen the other fight back against the body that betrayed their dream, has watched the pain and sacrifice the other has experienced to get back inside the squared circle, and celebrated the moment each returned to the ring to continue living the dream they’d each had for as long as they could remember. And that’s the thing about dreams like the professional wrestling one; no matter the championship successes, the time spent on television and pay-per-view, or the opportunity to step into the ring with the legends one admired as they came up themselves, it’s a dream that is never fully realized. There is always something more to dream about, though for Adam Copeland the culmination of that dream was ending his career standing alongside Christian Cage, the best friend Jay Reso he’d grown up with before either actually laced up a pair of boots, the man with whom he’d changed the landscape of tag team wrestling.

Christian had other ideas…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/XzQCnL4IzzY?si=g12hkWW_J5vWselF

So after saying he would never fight his brother, Copeland had to come to a hard realization that Cage did not feel the same way and, in fact, was willing to break Adam’s neck if that’s what it took to insure their relationship was quits. Christian invoked the names of Copeland’s wife and children to express just how much animosity he had towards the very idea of every reuniting the band, and it took “The Icon” Sting, a man quite familiar with betrayal by those he called his friends, to convince Copeland that the man he considered his best friend was anything but. That resulted in the two colliding in Montreal during a recent edition of DYNAMITE, and showed just how far Christian Cage would stoop in order to see that he remained the top man in the Cage/Copeland dynamic…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_Z4gJPwYjg?si=YtN4RE_7Nq-v5bre&start=172

Whether it was something Cage expected or not, the choice Shayna Wayne made to align herself with her son’s surrogate father figure changed the landscape of the game, putting even more forces against Adam Copeland, and that one largely because of choices Adam made in the heat of the battle. After all, what mother could watch their son’s head get caved in with a chair and not choose to oppose the individual who inflicted the pain? 

So now we enter WORLDS END and Adam Copeland’s challenge to face “The Patriarch” Christian Cage in one more TNT Championship match, only this time under No Disqualification rules. It was made clear by how Copeland responded to the idea of a sit-down interview with his former best friend just how this fight is likely to go down. There’s no quarter asked, and none likely to be given, between these two men who’ve gone up-and-down the wrestling roads together. 

After this there will likely be no more family dinners, no more “Uncle Jey”, nor the possibility of ending their hall of fame careers standing side-by-side as AEW World Tag Team Champions. This TNT Championship match on Saturday night may indeed be the end of the Copeland/Reso world and regardless of if it’s Adam Copeland or Christian Cage who walks away from the battle as TNT Champion, both will have to ask themselves whether it was worth sacrificing something built over a lifetime…

TBS Championship Match…

Julia Hart(c) vs. Abadon

https://www.youtube.com/embed/7G-QxEwAdTk?si=qjYGnvPRgLAFy9eU&start=45

A darkness has fallen over the TBS Title, the shadow of The House of Black dimming the light once brought to this championship by Kris Statlander’s reign, replaced by something wicked, something intensely scary with the reign of Julia Hart.

Thus perhaps it is apropos that this Saturday night at WORLDS END the Princess of The House defends her championship against “The Living Dead Girl” known as Abadon! With just four loses on their singles record, they are one of the most successful competitors in the Women’s Division, with two of the longest singles win streaks in AEW’s history to their name, seventeen matches between 1/26/21 and 10/22/21 and fifteen from 12/21/21 to 10/27/23. Abadon has drawn blood from foes with their own teeth, struck fear in the hearts of even the strongest competitors, and even in those few losses, come so close to the AEW Women’s World Championship on two occasions. Hikaru Shida has been the bane of Abadon’s existence, responsible for three of those losses, while the other has Dr. Britt Baker’s name attached to it in a Trick of Treat Match two years ago. Other than that, Abadon has been largely untouchable and unfazed by any opponent who’s stood across the ring.

Their desire for the TBS Championship that’s built up over these past few weeks has even led to some very strange bedfellows as Skye Blue, after weeks of successfully fighting against the darkness Julia Hart spat into her soul, finally succumbed to the House and aligned with the TBS Champion against Abadon. In turn, that alignment brought Thunder Rosa away from the commentary table and back into active competition as the former AEW Women’s World Champion chose to stand alongside “The Living Dead Girl”. Their tag team victory over Skye and Julia during last week’s COLLISION certainly gave an edge to Abadon heading towards this PPV battle, even if it was Thunder pinning Skye to bring the win for their team. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/7G-QxEwAdTk?si=-w2xc8MNSHEEWyC8&start=172

This past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, Julia Hart played a decisive role in helping Skye Blue defeat Kris Statlander, as well as assisting in the post-victory assault on the former TBS Champion that only ended with the arrival of Willow Nightingale. As the two women fled the scene of their crime, Abadon appeared on the stage, essentially trapping Skye and Julia between the proverbial rock and hard place, forcing them to flee to the side of the stage to escape from any repercussions. 

But Saturday night there will not be any running from the situation, there will not be an opportunity to flee from this TBS Championship fight, no hiding from Abadon when the bell rings at WORLDS END! “The Living Dead Girl” has been a dominating force from the moment they debuted in AEW, only Hikaru Shida has really had their number, but a title has eluded Abadon thus far. Perhaps that will all change on Long Island, perhaps The House of Black will lose its hold on the only championship under its roof, and watch it fall into a different kind of darkness.

This will be a fight unlike any other Julia Hart has experienced during her time in All Elite Wrestling, but if she can survive Abadon, she will have proven herself truly worthy of the mantle she ripped away from Kris Statlander. This is the abyss staring back at The Princess of the Black Throne, will she blink?

EIGHT-MAN TAG…

Chris Jericho, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, & Sting vs. AEW World Tag Champions Big Bill & Ricky Starks and The Don Callis Family (ROH World Television Champion Kyle Fletcher & Powerhouse Hobbs)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/lHfYiBHaMHE?si=iiw3Jwh4Tf10rRyp

Just a few weeks ago Chris Jericho was set to fight Big Bill and Ricky Starks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship with Kenny Omega as his partner, with the match scheduled for WORLDS END this Saturday night. Unfortunately Kenny Omega was struck down before the match, a diagnosis of diverticulitis forcing him away from the ring for an indefinite amount of time, and leaving Chris Jericho without his #1 Contender partner. Of course this made Don Callis extraordinarily happy, seeing his two former friends in pain and misery, even though the situation at that moment had nothing to do with him.

Unsurprisingly Callis chose to celebrate himself and, to a degree his “Family”, this past Wednesday night on DYNAMITE. He considered it a Boxing Day celebration, recognition of the holiday celebrated around the world, and chose to give each member of his Family a painting of himself, with them of course, but in each one Callis looked every bit a conquering hero. Still, he seemed quite surprised when one member of his family returned to the fold that night, one who’d been injured fighting for Don, and who’d also celebrated the birth of his baby during that time spent healing up; none other than “The Spanish God” Sammy Guevara!

It wasn’t all that long ago that Guevara chose Don Callis over Chris Jericho, turning his back on a history dating back to the very first DYNAMITE, but it only took a fraction of that amount of time for Don Callis to forget all about Sammy. That’s why Guevara said what he had to say upon his arrival, about how Callis leeches off the men he surrounds himself with, and uses them to keep himself in the spotlight rather than doing anything to bolster their careers. Perhaps the truth hurt because it only took moments for Callis to unleash his hounds upon Sammy Guevara, but “The Spanish God” was as shocked as everyone else to find Chris Jericho the man coming to the rescue, and it was not just because of his issues with Callis.

Guevara actually stood up and embraced Jericho, only for Ricky Starks and Big Bill to jump on the two men for a vicious assault, and then to the shock of the former Le Sex Gods, another save was made, only this time by Darby Allin and Sting! Considering that just six months ago Darby and Sting were beating up Jericho and Guevara in a Tornado Tag on DYNAMITE, it was absolutely a surprise to see them stepping to the assistance of these two. It wasn’t as if there was some pressing matter against Big Bill and Ricky Starks either, the bad blood between Sting, Darby, and Starks had been put to bed at REVOLUTION 2021 in that unforgettable Street Fight. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/owgfbdGtSu0?si=ZBZd9Sqc8ges_nCS&start=196

Perhaps this is just Darby Allin and Sting doing the right thing, helping out two men who were being assaulted by an uneven numbers game, and offering their services as “The Icon” heads down the road to his final match at REVOLUTION 2023. It’s quite the intriguing scenario as this brings Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs back on the same side of the fence after their relationship soured some time ago, puts Darby and Sammy Guevara on the same side after years of back-and-forth, and gives Le Sex Gods an opportunity to heal their wounds in real time combat. 

This has all the elements to be quite explosive if tempers flare the wrong way, very combustible elements all crammed together in an unpredictable 8-Man tag! 

ONE-ON-ONE…

“Limitless” Keith Lee vs. Swerve Strickland

On July 13, 2022, during DYNAMITE: FYTER FEST N. 1, Swerve In Our Glory won a Three Way battle over Team Taz and The Young Bucks to become the 8th AEW World Tag Team Champions. Together Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee would reign over the division for seventy days, successfully defending on three occasions before The Acclaimed took the crown at DYNAMITE: GRAND SLAM 2022. There partnership was tense, to say the least, as Swerve Strickland leaned towards a darker bent while Keith Lee wanted to travel the more righteous path. Those differences in philosophy made the partnership difficult, but yet successful, at least until the point it reached the point where it just wasn’t anymore.

That led to DYNAMITE: HOLIDAY BASH 2022 where Swerve and his new assembled Mogul Affiliates destroyed Keith Lee, leaving him easy prey for Strickland to Swerve Stomp a cinder block on the chest of “Limitless”. It officially marked the end of Swerve In Our Glory, but it never felt like Keith Lee got his chance to right the wrong done to him. Sure he partnered up with Dustin Rhodes to swing at The Mogul Affiliates, and later was able to team with Darby Allin, Sting, and Orange Cassidy for a shot at The Mogul Embassy, a conglomerate of Swerve’s Affiliates and Prince Nana’s Embassy, but satisfaction was never achieved. 

Even when the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament forced the two men back together for one night, it didn’t lead to a resolution for Swerve’s betrayal, or Keith’s need to avenge it. They both continued their mutual business, Swerve building The Mogul Embassy up, competing in the Continental Classic while Keith Lee stepped to Samoa Joe, dealt with his past with Shane Taylor, and let it be known after his FINAL BATTLE 2023 victory that it was time for “him”. Initially the assumption was that the “him” to which Keith Lee kept referring was Shane Taylor, but he quickly put that notion to bed following the Taylor victory.

A confrontation with The Mogul Embassy, sans Swerve Strickland, made it quite clear who “Limitless” was talking about, and a victory over Brian Cage got the man one step closer to that goal of finally fighting Swerve one-on-one. Of course there was the matter of the Continental Classic, but Swerve’s loss in the Three Way Gold League Finals this past Wednesday on DYNAMITE left him free and clear for competition at WORLDS END, and he wasn’t going to wait any longer to settle this score.

So while Keith Lee left the contract, Swerve still had to put pen-to-paper, putting the ball fully in his court as to whether or not this bout would happen. It should come as no shock that after being frustrated in the Continental Classic Gold League Finals, after seeing the match slip away when Jon Moxley pinned Jay White, Strickland was looking for a fight. Thankfully Keith Lee is ready to give him that fight and finally put this issue to bed like he did the decade-old one with Shane Taylor.

As 2023 comes to its close, so too will the saga of Swerve In Our Glory, but only one of these two men can walk away with the victory…

A FIGHT…

“The Redeemer” Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo

At ALL OUT 2023, after Miro defeated Powerhouse Hobbs, his wife CJ Perry emerged as Hobbs began a post-match assault. Perry delivered a relatively ineffective chairshot of her own to Hobbs, ineffective but providing Miro enough time to recover and smack Hobbs with a chair of his own. To say “The Redeemer” was surprised to see his “hot and flexible wife” would be an understatement, he half-thought she was a delusion come to taunt him for forsaking his God.

But CJ Perry was all too real, and if her husband was going to reject her as his manager, then she was going to find herself new clientele within the AEW locker room. Unfortunately Miro made sure that any competitor who even thought about taking on his wife as a manager paid a price for her consideration. Action Andretti, Ryan Nemeth, and Daniel Garcia all paid the price for showing interest in CJ Perry’s offers, but her most recent consideration was not one who’d easily suffer the same fate as those individuals.

Andrade El Idolo, heading into the Continental Classic, agreed to take CJ Perry on as his manager and even though she wasn’t allowed at ringside during those bouts, he excelled in the tournament with her working in that role. Three straight wins, nine points, and likely a fourth if Claudio hadn’t resorted to a low blow to get his victory; it announced to the world that Andrade El Idolo and CJ Perry were a combination to be reckoned with, but there is one man who wants that reckoning.

For “The Redeemer”, knowing his wife is overseeing the career of another individual has not sat well, and he clearly sees her presence as poisoning this well of professional wrestling. For Miro, that means expunging the poison from his life, i.e. removing Andrade El Idolo from the equation. No Andrade means no one for CJ Perry to manage meaning no reason for her to remain with All Elite Wrestling. That’s Miro’s logic going into this fight on Saturday night, with his mission to end the world as he knows it and begin something new where CJ Perry is not in the picture. 

ALL-STAR EXTRAVAGANZA…

Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, & Mark Briscoe

vs.

Brody King, Jay Lethal, Jay White, & RUSH 

What is there to say about this one? Eight of the best men in professional wrestling, all who fell short in the Continental Classic, battling it out on the final pay-per-view event of 2023! Some came within a blink of being in the finals, some left the field without a point to their name, but all are elite-level athletes who will unite this Saturday night in an all-star tag team battle! Will they all get along? Probably not, but victory is more important than the individual squabbles that may exist because of the Continental Classic, or perhaps existed before the tournament even started; either way, this is an all-star extravaganza of talent, and it can only be witnessed as part of WORLDS END!

ZERO HOUR

FTW CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH/FTW RULES…

HOOK(c) vs. ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta

https://www.youtube.com/embed/sL4V7e96a3Y?si=3mpl3EY4vevdQ07D&start=196

TNT CHAMPIONSHIP #1 CONTENDER’S BATTLE ROYALE…

ONE-ON-ONE…

Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale

WORLDS END emanates from the historic Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island this Saturday night, and live on pay-per-view around the world! Samoa Joe will challenge MJF for the AEW World Championship, former champion Riho will take on “Timeless” Toni Storm with the AEW Women’s World Title at stake, and TBS Champion Julia Hart defends against “The Living Dead Girl” Abadon! Plus, Christian Cage puts his TNT Title on the line against former best friend Adam Copeland in a No DQ Match, the FTW Title is up for grabs in a FTW Rules match between champion HOOK and challenger Wheeler Yuta, and the landmark Continental Classic comes to an end with ???? taking on ???? with the winner crowned the first Continental Champion, as well as ROH World Champion and NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion, to form the new North American Triple Crown!

With ZERO HOUR beginning at 7pm ET on the official AEW YouTube channel, WORLDS END starts at 8pm ET/7pm CT, so make a point to visit that YouTube channel to catch up on the latest happenings leading to WORLDS END, including the COUNTDOWN special, as well as highlights from this week’s edition of DYNAMITE, the CONTROL CENTER, and more! This pay-per-view event not only marks the end of AEW’s 2023, but will set the tone as we move forward into 2024 and the first event of the new year in Newark, NJ! 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/EV-DRnjamZA?si=RD8yXylXeNWAlyCG

AEW Rampage Results for December 29, 2023

AEW Rampage Results for December 29, 2023

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Tonight’s episode of AEW RAMPAGE: New Year’s Smash was broadcast from the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, FL!

Your broadcast team was Excalibur and Tony Schiavone!

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

Rampage kicked off with Chris Jericho coming down to the ring!

Jericho: “We had a huge night on Dynamite last Wednesday when Sammy Guevara quit the Don Callis Family, and of course they had to gang up and attack him. So, I came down to help out Sammy, and then Sting and Darby came out to help us. Which leads to the huge eight-man tag at Worlds End tomorrow, and I’ll be tagging with Sting for the first time ever.

“Sting told me he would have my back. And he was a man of his word. And I’ve got a lot of respect for Sting too. Now before we can go to Worlds End, I need to figure out a few things with Sammy Guevara. So, Sammy, come on out and let’s discuss a few things in this ring now.”

Sammy Guevara’s music hit, and he joined Jericho in the ring.

Excalibur wondered if time healed all wounds.

Jericho: “They love you here tonight in Orlando. And I’ve always been a fan of yours. A few months ago, we had a great match on Dynamite, and instead of celebrating that match together, you turned on me and joined the Don Callis Family. I want to ask you man to man, why?”

Sammy: “Chris, it’s hard being in your shadow man. Name any accolade, you’ve done it all. And maybe somewhere along the line I started blaming you for why I wasn’t where I needed to be. I felt like you were holding back but really, I was just holding myself back. It’s time I stop blaming others and I become the man that I know I am.

“I was at home reflecting, and I know I’m that man. I should have been the good friend that you were to me. So really, all I can offer you is, I’m sorry.”

Jericho: “Well Sammy, I accept your apology and I want to say the same to you. I’m sorry, too, and I want to tell you why. Maybe sometimes I’m a little controlling, but I’ve always been one of your biggest fans. I brought you here to AEW. I had you in the Inner Circle, the JAS, and here right now. I’ve always believed in you, and I always will, okay? So let me ask you this: we have the eight-man tag at Worlds End, but after that, I still have a tag team opportunity for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. And I need a partner. So, I want to ask you, will you reunite with Chris Jericho and reunite Le Sex Gods?”

Sammy looked at Jericho and hugged him!

Jericho: “Le Sex Gods are back, baby!”

Renee Paquette was backstage with Daniel Garcia and Matt Menard!

Matt Menard: “How about the biggest win of Garcia’s career last Saturday night, taken away by the House of Black!”

Garcia: “House of Black, I’m absolutely sick of people like you thinking you can walk in here and walk all over people like us. We’re not having it anymore. We’re gonna fight back. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but we’re gonna get you back. I promise you that. Pay up.”

Ruby Soho (with Saraya & Harley Cameron) vs. “The Problem” Marina Shafir (with Nyla Rose)!

Ruby dodged a kick from Marina and then grabbed Marina by the hair, pulling her down to the mat. Marina fired back with vicious kicks. Harley grabbed at Marina’s leg and Ruby tripped Marina, taking advantage of the distraction.

Marina smashed Ruby with a running lariat. She followed up with a backbreaker to Ruby. Marina dropkicked Ruby. Saraya jumped onto the ring apron, but Nyla yanked her down. Harley flung herself onto Nyla’s back, but Nyla powered her to the arena floor. Saraya jumped over the guardrail and ran away. Nyla chased after her through the fans. Ruby blasted Marina with the No Future kick for a near fall.

Marina grabbed Ruby but once again, Harley tried to get involved and popped up onto the ring apron. Marina swung at Harley, but Harley avoided it. Ruby rolled up Marina from behind, hung onto Marina’s tights, and pinned her!

Backstage, the Don Callis Family, along with AEW World Tag Team Champions Big Bill and Absolute Ricky Starks had some choice words for Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Sting, and Darby Allin ahead of their match at Worlds End tomorrow!

Callis: “Your world ends tomorrow!”

Powerhouse Hobbs: “Look at this team. Tomorrow night the four of you find out why I’m big, black, and jacked.”

Kyle Fletcher: “Hell yeah, tomorrow night on pay-per-view, you’ll find out why the Don Callis Family is the top of the food chain. Along with our new friends Big Bill and Ricky Starks.”

Big Bill: “Tomorrow night, in my backyard, in front of my friends and family, us four are going to whoop all four of your asses.”

Ricky Starks: “Congratulations Chris Jericho. You found four other idiots. This is my retirement gift to you, Sting. You will not make it to Revolution after tomorrow night.”

Renee Paquette was backstage with Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale!

Renee said Willow asked for this time to address some of the rumors going around at the hands of Stokely Hathaway.

Willow: “Honestly, I just want to make sure you and I are cool, Kris. He’s trying to say I’m taking all the credit for the Street Fight. You yourself are an amazing wrestler. I was kinda thinking, I’m from Long Island, you’re from Long Island, and we’ve got Worlds End coming up in Long Island. I’d really love to share the ring again.”

Stokely Hathaway interrupted!

Stokely: “Share the ring together? I think that’s a great idea. But I have a question for you. What took you so long to save your so-called bestie on Dynamite? How about you two share the ring against each other one on one at Worlds End?”

Statlander: “I’d really like that, actually. I really respect you as a wrestler and as a friend, and so, Worlds End?”

Willow agreed to the match for tomorrow!

ROH Pure Championship Match!

Blackpool Combat Club’s Wheeler Yuta (c.) vs. Matt Sydal!

Your judges were Jimmy Jacobs, “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels, and Sarah Stock.

They began the match with some incredible chain wrestling. Sydal escaped a crucifix pin attempt, and then nearly caught Yuta himself. Yuta chopped Sydal but Sydal answered with a chop of his own. 

Sydal nailed Yuta with a roundhouse kick. Yuta retaliated with a suplex, hit a snap mare, and then dropped a knee on Sydal. Yuta dropkicked Sydal and covered him for a near fall. Sydal connected with the air raid crash for a two-count on Yuta!

Yuta slipped behind Sydal and rocked him with a bridging German suplex for a near fall. Yuta tied up Sydal in a submission, but Sydal managed to reach the ropes with his boot, utilizing his first rope break. 

Yuta smashed Sydal with hammer and anvil elbow strikes. Yuta transitioned to putting Sydal into the seatbelt and pinned Matt Sydal!

Danhausen walked onto the ramp after the match!

Danhausen: “Yuta, it is Danhausen, the ROH legend myself, and I have decided to appoint myself the fourth judge. I noticed you’re wrestling my good friend and sometimes tag team partner Hook at Worlds End. I’ve been keeping a close eyeball on you. You cheated and therefore I have to disqualify you. You lost!”

Wheeler Yuta decked Danhausen! Yuta spiked Danhausen with a DDT. Yuta hammered Danhausen with elbows until FTW Champion Hook headed straight to the ring to even up the odds. Yuta bailed right away!

Main Event Time! Trios Match!

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero, & Trent Beretta

vs.

Action Andretti & Top Flight—Dante & Darius Martin!

Cassidy rolled up Andretti with a crucifix for a near fall. Orange put his hands in his pockets and dropkicked Action. Trent tagged in and hit an elbow on Action Andretti. Darius grabbed a tag and put Trent in a side headlock. Trent and Darius traded chops to the chest.

Dante tagged in and splashed Trent with a stalling senton over the top. Top Flight and Action Andretti connected with a triple tope suicida on their opponents! Back in the ring, Rocky and Andretti slugged it out. Action took Rocky off his feet, jumping off the top rope with a cross body press. 

Dante and Trent tagged in for their respective teams. Dante connected with a big crossbody press for a near fall. Top Flight used their tandem offense and Darius nailed Trent with a flatliner but Orange broke up the pin attempt. Orange crushed Darius with a Stun dog Millionaire. Action hit a 450 springboard on Trent but Rocky and Orange broke up the pin attempt. 

The fans chanted “This is awesome! This is awesome!”

Trent drove Darius down with a suplex. Andretti wiped out Trent with a moonsault to the floor. Rocky climbed to the top, but Action kicked Rocky in the head, stunning him. Trent came up from behind and hurled Action with a release German suplex off the top turnbuckle!

Orange went for the Orange Punch, but Dante countered! Rocky tagged in but Dante planted him and scored the pin!

“This was the win that Top Flight and Action Andretti were looking for,” said Excalibur.

Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ!

Don’t miss AEW Worlds End live on pay-per-view on Saturday beginning with Zero Hour at 6:30PM ET/3:30PM PT from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, NY!

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

You Always Hurt The One You Love

You Always Hurt The One You Love

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/7xFaEkZaWkA?si=Cr44zLuC9_9RQRQ-&start=137

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/hc9zLtDRvzk?si=4EFNOcqJfOM1UWLL&start=137

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/skgfWPFhKgo?si=V5WjRGrRbVLLVSM-https://www.youtube.com/embed/UZ6swFRwGLo?si=ZzaG2JFxl_pow7wU

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yww6gAVlr_A?si=HkcxhsdT2C3fQyOz

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5pyed4-IM3Q?si=qL-jsMZ4qm5adiNf&start=59

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/GSQmwGSbo_0?si=FrjAOTWOhjPpM-vk&start=406

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

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

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

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/aai5io9JX28?si=lKd3qj2S0ZL-jxr3&start=406

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/pKLg8JfgRAQ?si=QQq_7Jk097Qtas89&start=137

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

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/lTXNt4T0XQA?si=xEEp_G5ADWJUhmAI&start=137

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

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

AEW Collision Preview for December 16, 2023

AEW Collision Preview for December 16, 2023

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

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

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

CONTINENTAL CLASSIC: BLUE LEAGUE…

Standings

Andrade El Idolo (9)

Brody King (6)

“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson (6)

Claudio Castagnoli (3)

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

Daniel Garcia (0)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AEW Dynamite Preview for December 6, 2023

AEW Dynamite Preview for December 6, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Si4lxrwy2NI?si=-Y3Jm9Fq2y8jxZck

Last week on DYNAMITE the AEW faithful bore witness to the next round of Gold League bouts in the Continental Classic, including Jon Moxley and Swerve Strickland raising their point total to six as “El Toro Blanco” Rush scored his first three, leaving Jay White with three, while Jay Lethal, as well as Mark Briscoe, have zero to their name. In addition, AEW World Champion MJF was challenged by the devil-masked individual to unite with Samoa Joe for a tag team bout, and Toni Storm was informed she’d be putting AEW Women’s World Championship on the line in Montreal!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/pap7Jhl7xZ8?si=_GilxT19zHKIygmT

This Wednesday night, as AEW brings DYNAMITE to the Bell Centre in Montreal for the very first time, we will see the next three bouts in the Gold League, as well as two huge championship matches! Swerve battles Mark Briscoe, Jon Moxley takes on Rush, and Jay Lethal goes head-to-head with Jay White as some jockey for the top spot while others attempt to stave off mathematical elimination! “Timeless” Toni Storm will put her championship on the line for the first time in this third reign as she faces one of her most persistent foes in Skye Blue, and, in the face of 40-plus years of friendship, TNT Champion Christian Cage will face “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland!

DYNAMITE kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW’s assorted social media platforms, to get catch up on highlights from recent episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as this week’s CONTROL CENTER!

AEW TNT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

“The Patriach” Christian Cage(c) vs. “Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland

It has been more than thirteen years since the last time Christian Cage and Adam Copeland stood across the ring from one another waiting for the first bell to ring that signifies the start of their one-on-one clash. The site of that fight was the Air Canada Center in Toronto, and it came to a conclusion with an Adam Copeland victory, just as it had sixteen other times over their twenty-six singles bouts on record. Though the two men would find their way back to a partnership for a handful of matches in 2011, the neck injuries that should’ve ended Adam’s career, and actually kept him out of the ring for nine years, ended their tag team bond.

Despite Copeland grinding through a grueling recovery, struggling and fighting to get back into the ring in January 2020, the two life-long friends only stood in the ring during a match one more time prior to WRESTLEDREAM in Seattle, and somewhat ironically that was a one night only affair as Christian Cage was forced to step away from in-ring activity in 2014 due to his own medical concerns, and not resuming his in-ring career until that first match for AEW on March 31, 2021.

So in addition to the friendship that begun some 40 years ago, in addition to all the wars they’d fought together as friends, as partners, and even as foes, Adam and Christian were also bonded by the pain of nearly losing their dream as a result of their bodies betraying them. But so too were they bonded by overcoming all odds and fighting their way back to making that dream a reality when there was no rationale reason for either man to still be competing, much less doing so at the highest of levels they are still doing at this point in their careers.

And yet here they are, despite all that connective tissue, standing as far apart as they have ever been with an seemingly insurmountable gap between their desires for AEW. Copeland came here with the dream of standing side-by-side with his best friend and finishing out their careers showing the world why they’ve long been considered one of the best tag teams of their generation, why they were such a game-changing force in tag team wrestling, and just being able to enjoy everything they’d worked so hard to accomplish.

Christian, on the other hand, came to AEW to get as much distance as possible between he and Adam and to establish himself as far away from any notion of the team they used to be once upon a time. He came to be his own individual, and Copeland coming to AEW only served, in Cage’s mind, to cast that shadow over his accomplishments since REVOLUTION 2021, not that great deal of Christian’s accomplishments deserves accolades. He betrayed Jack Perry and Luchasaurus, then turned Luchasaurus on Perry and made the former World Tag Champion into his lapdog, and even though he helped lead Luchasaurus to the TNT Championship, he didn’t even the man to hold his own championship while simultaneously claiming himself as the true TNT Champion. Then, when the opportunity came, Cage robbed Luchasaurus of the TNT Championship to officially make it his own.

He turned Nick Wayne against Darby Allin, as well as his own mother, humiliated Luchasaurus, robbed him of his name, rechristened the man Killswitch as an homage to himself, and threatened to break the neck of his supposed best friend after Adam Copeland came to AEW with a hopeful reunion in his mind. Christian disrespected Copeland’s family, a family that Adam considered him a part of, and has sacrificed both Killswitch and “The Prodigy” Nick Wayne in order to save his own skin. The fact that Christian Cage is proud of those accomplishments goes to show just what kind of man he’s devolved into since his arrival in AEW, it just took Sting shaking some sense into him for Adam Copeland to realize just who his supposed best friend truly was at heart.

So now this Wednesday night in Montreal, they will fight, and Christian’s prized TNT Championship will be on the line! Interestingly enough, though Copeland leads Cage in victories in their one-on-one collisions, it is Cage who has a razor thin edge when titles at stake. Nineteen times on record they’ve fought one-on-one over a championship, ten of those have been won by Christian Cage, but the last four by Copeland, although it has been a dozen years since the last of those championship contests.

While these men may be more familiar with each other than anyone else in AEW could hope to be, neither is dealing with the same man with whom they captured seven tag team titles together. Each has been changed by their experiences, experiences that should’ve brought them closer together than ever, but instead have seen them driven further apart than ever before. If there was ever any hope for this friendship to find a place of healing, it will likely be dashed Wednesday night on DYNAMITE. Some bridges can’t be rebuilt after the fire, some sins are not forgivable…

AEW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

“Timeless” Toni Storm(c) vs. Skye Blue

While “Timeless” Toni Storm may still be basking in the glow of becoming a 3-Time AEW Women’s World Champion, apparently recovering from Hollywood parties and hobnobbing with stars, the rest of the division has had their eye on being the first challenger to her throne, and it looks like Storm will have to deal with a familiar foe for her first defense!

Skye Blue has been a consistent thorn in the side of Toni Storm since the beginning of 2023, and there’s not a woman in AEW the defending champion has faced more in one-on-one matches. Five times they have gone head-to-head inside the squared circle, two of those in championship matches, and all five have gone in favor of Toni Storm. Even the Four Way Title match at HOUSE RULES: HUNTSVILLE over the summer, a bout that also involved Anna Jay and Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D, came to an end with Storm pinning Sky. In fact, in the nine total fights these woman have been involved in, Toni holds a 7-2 lead on her challenger, with both of Skye’s victories coming in tag team bouts, though neither conclusion saw Skye pin Toni to get the victory.

The last fight between the two woman went down two months ago on DYNAMITE, and once again it was Skye who fell in defeat, but her transformation over the last several months may be the key to Skye finally claiming, not just a victory over Toni Storm, but also her first AEW Women’s World Championship! Will fans see another Storm/Blue sequel laid out by “The Timeless One”, or will Skye Blue rewrite the script for a whole new take on their franchise? Tune in Wednesday night to see who claims the crown as best lead in the AEW Women’s Division! And just announced as a special guest:

CONTINENTAL CLASSIC: GOLD LEAGUE…

STANDINGS:

Jon Moxley (6)

Swerve Strickland (6)

Jay White (3)

Rush (3)

Mark Briscoe (0)

Jay Lethal (0)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/DezZSrkPAGE?si=7Vv15MYnamJfe5Fg

Mark Briscoe (0) vs. Swerve Strickland (6)

One is a man riding high with two consecutive victories and six points to his Continental Classic tally while the other is a man who has twice tasted defeated, meaning zero points on his record for this tournament. The former is Swerve Strickland, the latter Mark Briscoe, and this Wednesday night in Montreal, they will meet in their first-ever singles match and for just the second time in their careers!

That one previous clash between these two men took place a lifetime ago, and a continent away, when Shane Strickland teamed up with the late Ryan Smile at RevPro’s SUMMER SIZZLER 2017 event in a losing effort against Jay & Mark Briscoe. So much has changed for both these men in the six years since, especially for Mark as he forges forward into the world of singles wrestling after the tragic loss of brother Jay back on January 17th of this year.

Singles wrestling isn’t a foreign concept for Mark, after all he has been in the game for 23 years, years that including some hellacious singles matches against his own brother for one, but doing singles work exclusively, now that is uncharted territory for “The Sussex County Chicken” and perhaps why he is taking the losses as good as he can. Mark knows competing in this tournament isn’t the easiest path, that he’s faced with five of the best in the world in this Gold League, but that doesn’t mean he’ll back down or fold up shop. It’s motivation to get better, to keep pushing, and to continue fighting on for the Briscoe name.

Between Mox and Rush, Mark has already thrown down with two of the heaviest hitters in the Gold League, and now he’s got the red-hot Swerve on his plate who proved unquestionably with that Texas Death Match that he’s got the same grit as Mark’s previous two opponents. Getting those first three points out of this one is going to be a grind for Chicken, but that’s what he does and Swerve best not underestimate as he pursues nine points. After all, Mark is a cornered animal now, a loss here mathematically eliminates him from the competition, and you know what they say about cornered animals…

Jon Moxley (6) vs. Rush (3)

This one is going to hurt, and going to hurt both men involved even more than they are already hurting. We all heard it straight from Moxley himself in the interview embedded above, he is aching and sore and sick and tired, but sick and tired of being sick and tired but fighting is what he does, what he knows, and it’s Moxley’s way through the pain wracking his body.

Similarly, the AEW faithful witnessed Rush gut out a victory over Mark Briscoe last week despite clearly going through some intense leg pain throughout the contest. For a minute it seemed as if the doctor might stop the match, but “El Toro Blanco” fought to his feet, threw down with Mark, and found the way to his first three points in the Continental Classic.

Now these two hard-hitting forces will collide in a rematch of their AEW Interim World Title Match that took place at FIGHT FOR THE FALLEN 2022 on July 27th, as well as the Texas Tornado Tag from the 2/15/23 DYNAMITE that saw The BCC of Mox and Claudio defeat Rush and Preston Vance. Everyone knows the kind of fight these to men bring to the table, and how each seems to feed off getting hit by their foes, but as this tournament gets deeper, as their bodies break down further, and WORLDS END gets closer, will their strategies change? A win for Rush will tie him up with Mox at three points, one for the former 3-Time AEW World Champion could potentially put him at the top of the heap with nine depending on how Swerve’s fight plays out. Every win is crucial, but this week marks the halfway point, and no one can afford to take an “L”…

Jay Lethal (0) vs. Jay White (3)

This is one part Continental Collision contest and one part rubber match as, over the course of their careers, Jay Lethal and Jay White each hold a singles victory over the other. For Lethal, his victory over the future “Switchblade” came at ROH’s GLOBAL WARS 2017, NIGHT 2 event during Jay’s stateside excursion from the New Japan Dojo. There were other bouts involving the two, eight-mans and Three Way’s and Four Corner Survivals, even a trios bout in Korakuen Hall, but that October 13th fight in Pittsburgh was their lone singles until “King Switch” came calling five years later.

From December 2021 through April 2022, Jay White held what he called “The U.S. of Jay Open Challenge Series” during NJPW STRONG broadcasts, a five match series where he first battled Swerve, as well as Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, and “Speedball” Mike Bailey. In the second match of the series Jay Lethal answered the call, and on 2/19/22, fell before “Switchblade”.

That bring us to this Wednesday night, the halfway point of the Continental Classic with two matches in the rear view mirror and two waiting down the road, but only one of these two men is on the scoreboard. With a shady victory over Rush, but a loss to Swerve, “Switchblade” Jay White sits with three points while Lethal, following losses to Moxley and Swerve, has a zero beside his name.

So not only are these men fighting for the next three points, they are also fighting for dominance in their series of matches, and in the case of Jay Lethal, desperation to get on the board at all. Should Lethal lose again here, and if Moxley and/or Swerve win, well “The Franchise of ROH” will mathematically be eliminated from winning the bracket.

WHAT IS MJF THINKING…

AEW World & ROH World Tag Champion MJF and Samoa Joe

vs.

The Devil’s Masked Men

https://www.youtube.com/embed/6xW-341p1Y4?si=hirMWkgfh3WPV12j&start=50

Given his physical condition, the face that he’s got to fight Samoa Joe at WORLDS END in twenty-four days, and that he’s still carrying the ROH World Tag Team Titles on behalf of himself and Adam Cole, is it wise for MJF to enter into a fight this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, especially when he has no idea who whose foes actually are?

And what good is Samoa Joe’s promise to keep MJF intact for their fight on December 30th if the AEW World Champion isn’t taking care of himself? Perhaps that’s why Maxwell feels emboldened to take up this tag team fight against an unknown entity, perhaps he’s just lost the ability to use his common sense, whatever the case, this is certainly not the same MJF who spent most of his AEW career avoiding the fight as much as possible. After all, this is the guy who skated by with just six matches in 2019, two of those being Battle Royales, and may see more ring time this year than in the last two combined! Now MJF is running towards the fight, his physical health be damned, and it may fall on Samoa Joe to protect the man from himself if the former AEW World TV Champion hopes to actually see their scheduled World Title Fight in a few weeks.

If not underneath the guise of The Devil, will we all see who’s under the black masks this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE? Or will that be a mystery that continues to haunt Maxwell Jacob Friedman as struggles to keep the AEW World Champion in his grasp?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/E_UuH_f5_Cw?si=U9iMEtBCDrI9AkEt

DYNAMITE comes to Montreal’s Bell Centre for the very first time, and with it comes two massive championship fights, as well as the next three fights in the Gold League! We will see Swerve Strickland take on Mark Briscoe, Jon Moxley throw down with Rush, and Jay Lethal fight Jay White, plus “Timeless” Toni Storm defends her AEW Women’s World Championship against Skye Blue! And in one of the most anticipated fights in All Elite Wrestling, TNT Champion Christian Cage will fig “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland with his coveted title on the line!

The night begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so drop in on the official AEW YouTube channel for all the highlights from recent episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as this week’s CONTROL CENTER!

AEW Full Gear 2023 Results

AEW Full Gear 2023 Results

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**

AEW presented Full Gear live 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!

AEW Full Gear 2023 Preview

AEW Full Gear 2023 Preview

https://www.youtube.com/embed/3P-p5lEqdhs?si=Of6MmM_xF1yKwKik&start=153

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!

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

MJF(c) vs. “Switchblade” Jay White

https://www.youtube.com/embed/K9_OyE5_z-E?si=IqJsvOfoNbN6znCY&start=61

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.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZONwtE0-V0A?si=N9e5Wy2pB2R6UoEU&start=201

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!

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Toni Storm

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bm5ZuEKY_S8?si=c-rfPF4V4B66t-JG&start=79

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?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/tVMDFAAaJkI?si=d_KMbv2CNEzXCz_5&start=201

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…

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Jon Moxley

https://www.youtube.com/embed/OtJlr9pU-cw?si=IXvunlHsxf70l7ki&start=135

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?

TEXAS DEATH…

“Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland

https://www.youtube.com/embed/jh3N9P-YOMQ?si=vzX6o3gxVyyvefob

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

https://www.youtube.com/embed/juHc9XJTbo4?si=L6rDvnovRBbJpaKn&start=153

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.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/hGfLifmY6z0?si=HFu6-Iscu1i8Vz4F&start=201

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***

https://www.youtube.com/embed/d3hoOkxd5YQ?si=b-NQTJ04s3kP99tB&start=61

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.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/nC_dQ89iNi0?si=AnpJRE7S0EgkGe8u&start=381

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.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/MJWEFWa96Xo?si=Y6I9IAqzW7_FxyFT

Can the defending champions survive six other opponents, as well as the Ladder itself, or will they be hoisted on their own petard?

FULL GEAR: ZERO HOUR

ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Eddie Kingston(c) vs. Jay Lethal

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

MJF(c) & Samoa Joe vs The Gunns (Austin & Colten)

ONE-ON-ONE…

Blackpool Combat Club’s Claudio Castagnoli vs. House of Black’s Buddy Matthews

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mIUYRmccbWw?si=9neyQvr0H6nC-USo&start=326

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 HOUR prior to the start of the PPV where the ROH World Title and the ROH World Tag Team Titles will be defended!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/dtmF8EmydgE?si=mKnW65FrncexeWag&start=201

AEW Dynamite Results for November 8, 2023

AEW Dynamite Results for November 8, 2023

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**

Tonight’s special episode of AEW DYNAMITE was broadcast live from the Moda Center in Portland, OR!

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!

Tony Schiavone was backstage with AEW World Champion MJF to kick off the show!

MJF: “Congratulations Jay White, because you are not going to pin me again like you did last week!”

MJF’s phone began to vibrate, and it was Adam Cole calling.

MJF: “Adam, what’s going on?”

Adam Cole: “Hey man, I’m really worried about you man. It kills me that I can’t be there with you, but I have to tell you this as your best friend. Full Gear is coming up. This match against the Gunns and I know you really don’t want to hear this but if you want to win this match, I think you’ve gotta take Samoa Joe up on his offer.”

MJF: “Again with this? You’ve been telling me all week. It’s not happening, and I don’t need him. I can defend our titles and that’s a promise. I’m going to handle Bullet Club Gold after I handle Daniel Garcia.”

Daniel Garcia interrupted MJF by walking onto the set with Matt Menard and Angelo Parker!

Garcia: “You’re going to handle me, huh?”

MJF: “You want to have a chat? Why do you think I agreed to this World title shot tonight? Do you think it’s because of your perfect win-loss record? Nah, I don’t think so. It’s because I believe in you. It’s because I see a little bit of myself in you back when I would listen to quote-unquote veterans, trying to tell me how to run my business. I’ve proven it’s talent over tenure. So, tonight am I getting Danny Garcia the sports entertainer or am I getting the professional wrestler?”

Garcia: “Tonight, you get a professional wrestler.”

Roderick Strong and the Kingdom rolled onto the set.

Roderick Strong: “Yo, Max, I know you already know this, but I am a wrestling legend, and I could easily give you some tips, dude.”

MJF: “You know what’s funny? You were a wrestling legend. You have turned into a complete joke. Adam, I’ve gotta go wrestle. I love you.”

Roderick: “Adam, don’t you see that. That’s exactly what the devil would do, dude. He would walk away.”

Adam Cole hung up.

Roderick: “It’s time to remind everyone exactly who the hell I am!”

AEW World Championship Match!

MJF (c.) vs. Daniel Garcia (with Matt Menard & Angelo Parker)!

MJF locked up with Garcia and then taunted Garcia by doing Garcia’s dance. Garcia grappled MJF to the mat. MJF offered his hand to Garcia as a sign of sportsmanship. Garcia slapped it away and MJF thumbed Garcia in the eyes.

MJF began to work over Garcia’s arm, concentrating his offense there. Garcia fired back with a flurry of forearms and strikes. Garcia followed up with a high release German Suplex. Garcia nailed MJF with a brainbuster for a near fall.

MJF double stomped on Garcia’s elbow. MJF rocked Garcia with a shoulder breaker. MJF stunned Garcia with a DDT for a near fall.

“Garcia deserves a lot of credit kicking out of that hammer lock DDT because that was nasty,” said Taz.

Garcia dodged a Panama Sunrise from MJF and then chopped the champ down with kicks to the legs. Garcia spiked MJF with a piledriver for a near fall. Garcia locked in the Dragon Tamer! MJF countered and transitioned with the Salt of the Earth arm bar, forcing Garcia to tap out!

MJF offered his hand to Garcia as a sign of respect. Garcia reached for it, but Angelo Parker and Matt Menard pulled Garcia away.

Darby Allin & Sting vs. The Outrunners—Turbo Floyd & Truth Magnum!

The Outrunners double teamed Darby in their corner of the ring. Sting tagged in and he and Darby chopped Turbo Floyd. Sting knocked Turbo over the top with a lariat. Truth pulled Darby out of the ring and whipped him into the barricade. Sting clubbed the Outrunners with lariats. Sting applied the Scorpion Death Lock and won via tap out!

Earlier in the day there was a sit-down interview between AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida & “Timeless” Toni Storm, conducted by Tony Schiavone!

Shida: “What happened to you Toni Storm? You want this title? I don’t think so. You want attention paid to your silly acting!”

Toni Storm: “You happened to me, darling. I was meant to walk into Wembley with that title, and then you happened. You don’t happen anymore. I happen. I couldn’t make history, so I became history. You may have that title, but you will never have the spotlight.”

Shida: “You know what? What will happen is what always happens. I will beat you at Full Gear.”

Toni: “Very well. There’s a saying in showbusiness. Chin up, t!ts out, and watch for the shoe!”

Shida knocked the shoe away and Shida and Toni glared at one another.

Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo (with Alex Abrahantes)!

“Hangman” Adam Page was banned from ringside for this match.

Swerve nailed Penta with a diving European uppercut. Swerve wrenched down on Penta’s fingers. Penta El Zero Miedo and Swerve traded chops. Swerve stomped on Penta’s fingers.

Penta planted Swerve with a backstabber. Swerve rolled out of the ring, Penta ran for the tope suicida, but Swerve countered with a European Uppercut. Swerve dropped Penta on the steel ring steps. Penta jumped over the top rope with a tope con hiro on Swerve!

Swerve blocked the Made in Japan. Swerve was looking for the JML Driver, but it was blocked. They knocked each other down with lariats, each man having the same idea! Penta hit two sling blades on Swerve. Penta hit a driver on Swerve for a two-count.

Penta El Zero Miedo blasted Swerve with a destroyer on the apron! Penta connected with diving foot stomps for a two-count on Swerve.

“What a match! Holy smokes,” said Tony Schiavone.

Swerve stomped Penta over the top rope, landing on Penta’s ribs! Swerve climbed to the top turnbuckle and attempted a 450 splash, but Penta dodged it. Penta snapped back on Swerve’s arm! Penta crushed Swerve with the Made in Japan but Swerve kicked out at two!

Penta punted Swerve on the arm. Penta tried for the Fear Factor, but Swerve escaped. Swerve drove Swerve down hard and then stomped on Penta’s arm. Swerve stomped, crashing down on Penta and pinning him for the victory.

After the match, Swerve began to pull at the mask of Penta El Zero Miedo, but “Hangman” Adam Page ran into the ring with a steel chair. Page chased Swerve out of the ring and waffled Swerve in the back with a steel chair!

“Hangman is like a man possessed! He’s crazy,” said Tony Schiavone.

Hangman jumped off the stage with Swerve, spiking him through a table with the Dead Eye!

Alex Marvez was backstage with Bullet Club Gold’s “Switchblade” Jay White, Juice Robinson, and the Gunns!

Jay White: “I am here with the Bang Bang Belt. We took a vacation, but I still turned in to Collision and what did I see? After I pinned MJF last week on Dynamite, he said, ‘Hey Jay, what don’t you go compare our names on some graph chart on the internet. Max, you want me to play along? I’ll indulge you. Maybe the graphs are like that because you spend all your time searching your name hoping one day, you’ll see those graphs in a way that will appease all those insecurities of yours.

“Jay White will always be better than you and everybody knows it. I am truly elite, and I will show that tonight against Mark Briscoe. MJF you just sit back, watch, and breathe.”

Renee Paquette interviewed the Golden Jets—Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega, ahead of their Dynamite match against The Don Callis Family that’ll be taking place next Wednesday.

Jericho: “I think when Don proposed this match, he didn’t think that Kota Ibushi and Paul Wight would have our backs and be our partners. You see, we’ve got some good friends.”

The Young Bucks—Matt and Nick Jackson, walked onto the set and interrupted.

Matt Jackson: “You know, we actually set up camp with the extras in the broom closet. Because there’s no space in our locker room. Chris’ bag is so big. Hey, but I like what you’re doing here. This whole tag team thing? Sweet promo. I even heard you had a really cool, new name. The Golden Jets! I bet you came up with that, huh, Chris?

“You know another cool name? I remember one. The Elite. The guys who started this whole damn place. That’s a cool name too.”

Jericho: “That’s so funny, you didn’t have Kenny’s back when Will Hobbs was beating the hell out of him a few weeks ago with a steel chair. I remember essentially it was the four of us starting AEW, who helped get this company off the ground.”

Matt Jackson: “You would say that. You would put yourself up on the pedestal with us. Because the way I remember it, we created the revolution and you just waltzed in and cashed another big check, didn’t you Chris?”

Jericho: “I want you to remember who you’re talking to here. You’re talking to Kenny F’n Omega and Chris Jericho. We’re two of the greatest to ever do this in the history of pro wrestling. So even though you might be the greatest tag team in the world, I’ll give you all the credit for that. I still think that Jericho and Omega can beat you.”

Nick Jackson: “Can beat us? There’s a big show coming up.”

Matt Jackson: “The light bulb just went off. I don’t think you guys are booked either. It’s called Full Gear. How about Kenny Omega, our best friend, and Chris Jericho, against Nick and Matt Jackson, the Young Bucks, the best damn tag team of all time. You said it yourself.”

Chris Jericho: “Well, uh, I kinda like that idea. But let’s put a little more steam on it. How about when Jericho and Omega beat the Young Bucks at Full Gear, and we will beat you, that guaranteed title shot that you’re sitting on, goes to us.”

Matt Jackson: “I like the way you’re thinking here Chris. How about when we beat you, and we will, right in the middle, clean as a whistle, how about this whole Golden Jets thing is no more. And we can start doing the Elite again, how about that Kenny?”

Kenny Omega: “Look, if this is about who is the greatest tag team of all time, it’s you. I don’t want to wrestle you guys. But if you’re asking me, do I think I can beat you? We’ve been down that road. I’ve done it before. You want to talk about Ibushi? You want to talk about Hangman? Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho can rise to the challenge. We can do it. So, if you guys really want to face us, we’ll do it. And then maybe you’ll clean up your act and then maybe you’ll start acting like real adults instead of sissy, bitchy children. I think you had to hear it from someone like me. So, see you in L.A. at Full Gear.”

Jericho: “Bucks, I’ll be happy to take you to the woodshed and beat your little spoiled brat asses. And by the way, I have my own dressing room.”

ROH World TV Championship Match!

Samoa Joe (c.) vs. “Limitless” Keith Lee!

Samoa Joe and Keith Lee locked horns like two massive bulls. Samoa Joe took a side headlock on Keith Lee. Joe gouged Keith’s eyes and then dropped him with a running shoulder block.

Keith Lee fired back with a shoulder tackle of his own. Keith Lee pounded Joe in the corner with big hooks. Samoa Joe chopped at Lee and then began to work over Lee’s body with jabs, pounding him down in the corner.

Keith Lee came back with a cross body to Samoa Joe. The champ hoisted up Keith Lee and dropped Lee with a knee breaker. Samoa Joe began to stomp Keith Lee.

Keith Lee got back up to his feet, but Samoa Joe took him down with a dragon screw leg whip. Joe followed up with a Manhattan drop. Keith Lee countered the senton with a German Suplex to Samoa Joe!

Keith Lee blocked a lariat from Samoa Joe. Keith Lee smashed Samoa Joe with a pop up powerbomb for a near fall. Samoa Joe slipped behind Keith Lee, locked in the hooks for the rear naked choke, and the ref stopped the match. Samoa Joe was awarded the match as Keith Lee faded.

Samoa Joe: “What stands before you is the greatest Ring of Honor Television Champion of all time. But I did not come here to merely be your television champion. I said hunger is what defines the greats. Well consider me officially hungry.

“As of tonight, I vacate the ROH Television Championship. Because the next gold that is going to be on my shoulder will be the AEW World Championship whether you like it or not, Max!”

AEW International Champion “Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy and FTW Champion HOOK were backstage!

Orange Cassidy: “Jon Moxley, you must have lost your mind, saying that I overlooked you, that I don’t respect you. You are the only person that I have been thinking about since you left me in a pool of my own blood in Chicago after taking my International Championship. And I’m sorry that when the opportunity knocked, I didn’t pick up the piece of Rey Fenix, I picked up the pieces of the International Championship that you dropped. And now holding it, it doesn’t feel the same. Because I need to beat you. I have to beat you in order to be the International Champion that I know I am. And at Full Gear, I will beat you.”

The Gunns—Austin & Colten (with Juice Robinson)

vs.

The Bollywood Boyz!

The Gunns quickly hit the 3:10 to Yuma and won the match, right out of the gates!

Colten: “Hey Max, you are a liar. You have been lying to these people for years. You are not a generational talent. You’ve been telling sob story after sob story. That’s not what a generational talent does. Me and Austin, we were made for TV. We’ve been doing this for three years. We are former AEW Tag champs. We are about to be ROH Tag Champs because we are generational talents.”

Austin: “Max, you’re an embarrassment as a champion. For the past three months, you’ve defended the ROH Tag titles one time! Now the only friends you have left are on the other side of this guardrail. And I pray to God you pick one of them as your partner for Full Gear so we can send them on a ride on the 3:10 to Yuma. Max, Full Gear, November 18th, the ROH Titles go back in the hands of a real tag team!”

AEW World Champion and ROH Tag Team Champion MJF was watching on a monitor backstage when Samoa Joe approached him. MJF walked away.

Jon Moxley was backstage with Wheeler Yuta!

Moxley: “We heard what Orange Cassidy had to say and I knew it! I’ve been getting calls all week to let Orange off the hook. I knew that Orange knew exactly what he was doing. It’s about the laws of nature. This business is a jungle. And the BCC are a dominant pack of predators. What kind of example would I be setting for young Wheeler if I didn’t beat the piss out of you, Orange? What kind of example would you be setting for Hook? Teaching him he can just do and say what he wants, and it’ll be fine? You don’t even deserve to get to Full Gear. So, the minute we land at LAX, it’s on. Gang warfare. You and whoever you want to bring.”

Wheeler: “Hook, you might think you’re some tough guy, but I guarantee you, you crossed the wrong crew. See you in Cali, pretty boy.”

The House of Black’s Julia Hart vs. Red Velvet!

Julia shoved Red Velvet into the turnbuckles. Red Velvet rolled up Julia Hart for a pin attempt. Red Velvet used an arm drag to take down Julia Hart.

Red Velvet hammered Julia in the corner with body strikes. Red Velvet splashed Julia Hart with double knees and then a standing moonsault press for a two-count. Red Velvet pulled Julia off the top turnbuckle with an iconoclasm.

Julia stomped on the ribs of Red Velvet. Julia smashed Red Velvet with a moonsault and pinned Red Velvet! Julia locked in Heartless after the bell.

Skye Blue came down to the ring and had a stare down with Julia Hart. TBS Champion Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale walked to the ring. Willow checked on Red Velvet. Julia glanced over at Kris Statlander and then left.

RJ City was backstage to introduce the newest AEW signing…Mariah May!

Mariah May: “I’m so excited to be in AEW. I’ve wrestled all over the world. I just came from Stardom in Japan and I’m so excited to be a part of the AEW Women’s division. And I’m a big fan of your work. Toni Storm is the reason I’m here. I went to Japan because Toni went to Japan. Toni’s in AEW so I’m in AEW.”

RJ: “Maybe next week I could introduce you.”

Mariah May: “You’re going to introduce me to Toni Storm?!”

Main Event Time!

“Switchblade” Jay White (with Bullet Club Gold) vs. Mark Briscoe!

The Full Gear 2023 title shot is on the line here.

Mark Briscoe spiked Jay White with a side suplex. He followed up with a vertical suplex for a two-count on Jay White. Mark knocked Jay White out of the ring with his redneck kung fu. Mark jumped off the apron with a running elbow to Jay White on the arena floor!

Juice Robinson diverted the attention of the ref while the Gunns grabbed Mark Briscoe’s boot. Jay White dodged Mark Briscoe and planted Mark with a DDT!

Jay White pretended his knee was injured. The ref turned to check on Jay White while Bullet Club Gold stomped on Mark Briscoe outside the ring.

Mark Briscoe tried to build some momentum with a dropkick off the top rope. Mark and Jay White traded shots in the center of the ring. Mark hammered away with chops and elbow strikes. Mark Briscoe nailed Jay White with a neck breaker for a near fall.

Mark Briscoe hit a fishermen’s buster on Jay White for a two-count, Jay White just barely escaping. Jay White gouged at Mark’s eyes. Jay White connected with a dragon screw on Mark’s leg. Mark fired back with a Death Valley Driver. Mark climbed to the top for the froggy bow, smashed Jay, and covered him for a near fall!

Jay White rocked Mark Briscoe with a uranage. Jay White planted Mark with the Kiwi Crusher for a two-count! Jay White chop blocked Mark Briscoe. Mark escaped the Blade Runner with an exploder suplex. Mark walloped Jay with a lariat. Mark called for the Jay Driller, but Jay White backdropped his way out of it. Jay White targeted the neck of Mark with a sleeper suplex. Jay spiked Mark with a brainbuster.

Mark countered the Blade Runner with redneck kung fu. Jay served up with sleeper suplex and then spiked Mark! Jay White finished off Mark with the Blade Runner and pinned Mark Briscoe!

After the match, MJF snuck into the ring and cleaned house on Bullet Club Gold with the Dynamite Diamond Ring. Only Jay White was left in the ring with MJF! “Switchblade” Jay White retreated out of the ring!

MJF: “Look at me Jay White. I hope you’ve had fun playing dress up as top guy. Because pretty soon play time is almost over. Because you’ll have to get in the ring with the real World champion. With a generational talent. With MJF! When I won that title, I made a promise to myself that I was going to go down as the greatest AEW World Champion of all time or die trying. And that’s what you’ll be dealing with Jay.

“You’ll have to kill me to beat me. I’m not fighting just for me anymore. For the first time in my life, I’m fighting for everyone who has been on this journey with me since day one. I am fighting for Adam Cole. I am fighting for you watching at home. I am fighting for everyone in this arena! ‘Cause I’m not just a scumbag. I’m their scumbag! So, I got one question Jay. Full Gear, will the leader of the Bang Bang Gang, will you be able to be the first man to pull the trigger?!”

The arena lights went out! Footage played from backstage of masked men attacking the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn!

“It seems like whoever helps MJF is in harm’s way,” said Excalibur.

The footage scrambled and then a person wearing a devil mask appeared on the screen for a split second!

The lights turned back on in the arena and MJF was standing in the ring alone. MJF sprinted to the back to check on the Acclaimed!

Samoa Joe approached MJF backstage. “Looks like you’re running out of friends, champ,” said Samoa Joe, as he laughed and walked away.

Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA!

Special Programming note: This Friday tune in to AEW RAMPAGE live at 10/9c on TNT!

Don’t miss AEW Collision on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c from the Oakland Arena in Oakland, CA!

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

Wrestling Legend Ric Flair Signs Multi-Year Deal with AEW

Wrestling Legend Ric Flair Signs Multi-Year Deal with AEW

The Nature Boy’s New “Wooooo! Energy” Announced as Exclusive Energy Drink of AEW

November 2, 2023 – AEW CEO Tony Khan today announced a multi-year deal with Hall of Famer “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, who surprised fans in attendance and viewers at home during last Wednesday’s AEW: Dynamite show in Philadelphia, marking his historic return to TBS by appearing as Khan’s “special gift” for “The Icon” Sting.

Flair’s AEW debut comes on the heels of his longtime friend Sting’s impending retirement announcement, which will culminate with “The Icon’s” final match at AEW Revolution in 2024. Over the course of their 30-year history, Flair and Sting have shared incredible rivalries, momentous matches and a respected friendship.

Khan also announced that Flair’s Wooooo! Energy will become the exclusive energy drink of AEW. During AEW show dates, select host venues will carry the clean energy drink at concession stands for fans to enjoy. In addition, the beverage will be stocked in the wrestlers’ locker rooms, and will also be seen on the announcers’ desk during live broadcasts. Fans watching at home can experience Wooooo! Energy by ordering via woooooenergy.com.

“Last Wednesday, the ‘Nature Boy’ made his epic return to TBS, more than 35 years since the Flair vs. Sting rivalry first began on the Superstation,” said Khan. “It’s truly an honor to welcome the legend himself – and Wooooo! Energy – to AEW.”

“Ric cemented his legacy as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time long ago, and now his world-renowned persona and his amazing wrestling mind will be major assets to AEW’s programming and our position globally. Most importantly, it’s fitting that the final chapter of Sting’s iconic career will unfold on TBS with Ric Flair by his side.”

“I’ve been in the wrestling business for over 50 years,” said Flair. “Together with AEW and Wooooo! Energy, I’ve never been more excited, and I’ve never had more energy! When the Nature Boy promises a show, you know how it’s gonna go! Wooooo!”

“We’ve all been a part of a ‘Wooooo!’ moment. Time stops, crowds erupt, and people unite to celebrate the extraordinary. It’s electric. You hear it, feel it, and never forget it,” said Chad Bronstein, President and Chairman of Carma HoldCo, parent company of Wooooo! Energy. “This is so much more than a partnership. Together, Ric Flair, AEW and everyone at Wooooo! Energy will create more unforgettable moments for generations of wrestling fans.”

About AEW

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

About Wooooo! Energy

Experience clean energy without the jitters. Inspired by Ric Flair’s iconic catchphrase and brought to you by Carma HoldCo, indulge in delicious Wooooo! Energy in Dragon Fruit, Lemon, and Strawberry Banana flavors. Order now at www.woooooenergy.com and follow the Wooooo! on Instagram and X.

AEW Dynamite Results for October 25, 2023

AEW Dynamite Results for October 25, 2023

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**

Tonight’s special episode of AEW DYNAMITE was broadcast live from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA!

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!

Renee Paquette kicked off the show interviewing AEW World & ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF!

MJF dialed Adam Cole on his iPhone. Cole answered, but before MJF could get a word in, The Kingdom—Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, and Roderick Strong (in a wheelchair and neck brace) interrupted.

“Adam!” screamed Roddy.

“Is that you Roddy?” asked Cole on speakerphone.

“Yeah, it’s me,” replied Roddy.

“Max, I gotta get going, but I’ll call you later,” said Cole.

“Roddy, what the hell do you want?” asked MJF.

Roddy: “Listen, I’ve been thinking. You’re obviously the man behind the devil mask. But say we live in a world where we pretend you’re not. And for the sake of our mutual best friend Adam, I’ll take pity on you, and I’ll help you with Bullet Club Gold.”

Max replied, mockingly, “You’re going to help me? Dude, thank you so much.” Max pushed the wheelchair that Roddy was in backwards.

MJF: “Jay White, tonight I send you a message in blood! Tonight, I got a bullet with your name on it, Juice Robinson!”

The screen went black and then a man in a devil mask appeared!

Dynamite Diamond Ring Match!

AEW World & ROH World Tag Team Champion MJF

vs.

Bullet Club Gold’s “Rock Hard” Juice Robinson (with Austin & Colten Gunn)!

A very motivated MJF took down Juice Robinson and then stomped him in the corner! MJF whipped Juice into the steel guardrails. MJF flipped Juice over the timekeeper’s table. MJF charged at Juice and nailed him with a knee strike!

MJF smacked Juice’s head into the steel ring steps. Juice was busted wide open! The Gunns distracted MJF and Juice pulled MJF headfirst into the ring steps. Colten distracted the ref, so Juice was able to choke MJF with MJF’s scarf.

“Switchblade” Jay White walked onto the ramp, holding the AEW World Championship, to scout the match! Jay White joined the broadcast booth for the match.

MJF hit a lariat on Juice and followed up with a body slam. MJF chomped down on Juice’s head. MJF rocked Juice Robinson with the kangaroo kick! The Gunns swept out the legs of MJF and Juice cracked MJF with a leg lariat to the jaw.

MJF poked Robinson in the eyes. Juice spat at MJF and then cracked MJF with the Left Hand of God! Juice powerbombed MJF for a near fall!

“Juice’s frustration evident after that powerbomb,” said Excalibur.

MJF tried for the Heat Seeker, but Juice blocked it. Juice charged after MJF, but MJF tied up Juice in the ring apron. As MJF was getting back into the ring, Juice kicked the ropes and then nailed MJF with the Juice Is Loose for a near fall!

The Gunns were distracting the ref while Juice put on his fake ring. In the meantime, MJF put his Dynamite Diamond Ring on. Juice swung but MJF ducked it and countered with a loaded shot of his own, knocking Juice to the mat! MJF smashed Juice with the Heat Seeker and pinned him.

The Gunns swarmed MJF after the match!

The Kingdom rolled Roderick Strong down the ramp to the ring in a wheelchair!

Roddy ordered the Kingdom to get into the ring, and they did! Taven and Bennett jumped in and slugged it out with the Gunns!

“I can’t believe what we’re seeing!” said Excalibur.

Jay White ran into the ring. The Gunns held up MJF and Jay White was about to hit him with the AEW World Championship but then The Acclaimed’s music hit!

The AEW World Trios Champions The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass jumped into the ring and forced Bullet Club Gold to retreat!

Jay White: “Hey! Max, listen, focus, follow the sound of my sweet, exotic accent. Forget about Kenny, forget about Samoa Joe, forget about Wardlow, forget about the devil mask, and your gimp squad, and focus on the only thing that matters and that’s the man standing right here with the Bang Bang Belt! Max, I’m telling you that you will never get your grubby little hands on it again because at Full Gear I will pummel your face into the ground, and you will breathe with the Switchblade!”

Colten Gunn: “And you have something me and Austin want, and that’s the ROH World Tag Team Titles! So Max, what do you say, November 18th, Full Gear, MJF versus the Gunns.”

Austin Gunn: “Whether it’s MJF that shows up that night or the devil himself, it doesn’t matter because we’ve got two guns, one for each of ‘em.”

MJF: “Shut the hell up! You want a shot at the ROH Tag Titles at Full Gear, you got ‘em. And Jay White, I will see you at Full Gear. But I’m not waiting that long to get my hands on you. Next week in the main event of Dynamite, I take you up on your offer. You four versus me and three tag partners of my choosing, and when I win, you will give me back the Triple B because nobody is on the level of the devil!”

Roderick Strong: “Max! Max! Listen to me. You’re obviously going to pick us, right?”

MJF: “You three do me a favor. Get those two big boys on your lap and use that wheelchair to roll off a cliff!”

Max Caster: “Hey so that means you’re going to pick us, right?”

MJF: “Listen very carefully Caster. I’ve known you since I was 18 years old. I never liked you. And if you think I’m going to tag with you, you’ve got another thing coming. I would never tag with you. You understand me?”

Caster: “So you’re saying there’s a chance?”

Bowens: “Don’t you know that everyone loves the Acclaimed!?”

Caster: “Ok, but at least do me one favor. Scissor me!”

MJF walked away and said, “Not a shot.”

As MJF was walking up the ramp, Kenny Omega’s music began to play and out walked Omega!

Omega and MJF had a stare down.

Omega: “Hey Max, you seem to have a lot going on here. You have something that I want. But I’ve got something that you want. Even though I have no right to ask, and if you’re the type of scumbag that I think you are, you’ll laugh in my face. But if you are the champion that I think the fans want you to be, you’re gonna hear me out. I want that belt, Max, and I deserve the right to defend my streak. And if you are truly better than me and you know it, then Max, don’t be afraid to show it, pal.”

MJF: “Ok, how about the Cleaner versus the Devil, this Saturday night, for the AEW World Championship! May the best man win. And Kenny, he will, because my name is MJF and I’m better than you and you know it!”

Omega: “And I supposed on that note, we must bid these people adieu. Good night, and goodbye. And Max, three days, bitch.”

Footage aired of Wardlow!

He said he had to watch MJF while Wardlow was at home. The devil’s claws are in him, and now he’s going to take away everything MJF has!

The Dark Order—Alex Reynolds & John Silver

vs.

FTW Champion HOOK & Rob Van Dam!

Hook grappled Reynolds to the mat and then applied a side headlock. RVD tagged in and used a nice deep arm drag on Reynolds. Dark Order ambushed RVD with cheap shots.

RVD monkey flipped John Silver. Hook flipped Reynolds with a fireman’s carry. Hook tossed Silver with a Northern Lights. RVD blasted Silver with a leaping leg drop. RVD crushed Silver with the Rolling Thunder for a near fall.

Hook was looking for Red Rum on Silver, but Reynolds ran in to break it up. RVD leveled Reynolds with a kick. RVD smashed Reynolds with the five star frog splash Hook grabbed Silver in the Red Rum and forced him to tap out!

Tony Schiavone was in the ring to introduce Darby Allin and Sting!

Sting: “I’m glad to be here right now because I want to thank some people that I forgot last week. I want to thank Philadelphia. It’s been a great run, and a lot of that run was right here in front of you. I also want to thank my tag team partner Darby Allin. I could not have come this far without Darby by my side.

“Darby is the man. Secondly, I want to thank somebody who made this happen. Tony Khan. Tony, I want to thank you for making that phone call to allow me to wrestle a little longer. And Tony is asking for the microphone so here you go.”

Tony Schiavone: “Speaking on behalf of Tony Khan, it is Tony Khan who should thank you for what you’ve met to AEW. You arrived on the scene early in 2021. Your first match was at Revolution 2021, and now your final match will be at Revolution 2024. And we are proud to be a part of Sting’s great career.

“Fans, it was 35 years ago that on this network, TBS, Sting put it on the map. He put professional wrestling on the map on TBS. It elevated him to the icon that he is now. And you heard about it earlier this week that Tony Khan had a special gift for Sting. And I’m proud to bring out that special gift right now.”

“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair walked out to the ring!

“Royalty is in the house,” said Taz.

Sting and Ric Flair hugged in the ring.

Ric Flair: “You know that in life there are moments that are magical. There are few and they are far between. And that’s the magic of the chemistry of whatever you do that makes you the best. 35 years ago, Sting and I made history on TBS. Brother, I’ve told him this, to go 55 minutes in a match 35 years ago or tonight is hard. He never took a deep breath. He is not only one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of this business, but damnit, he’s probably the nicest guys I’ve ever known.

“So, when I got an invitation from Mr. Khan to be a part of this, time flies, but I want to ride this out with you man. Woooo!”

TNT Champion Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne walked onto the ramp!

Christian Cage: “So Tony Khan is a billionaire, and this is the gift that he gets Sting for his retirement? So, he basically gave you a suit, some gold chains, and a black liver. Relax, people, I know Ric Flair is not dead. The real reason I’m out here is because last week Sting and Darby Allin decided to stick their nose in my business yet again.

“Darby, how is your arm feeling? You still have some sour grapes that I beat you in your hometown at WrestleDream, huh? I’ll give you one more chance. So go ahead and take a look at something you’ll never be: a champion. Now it’s obvious that this situation isn’t going to go away until I make it go away. So, this is my proposition to you two: I know, Sting, you have this beautiful dream in your head that you want to make it to Revolution because you started with AEW at Revolution in 2021. You’ve got this beautiful picture painted for yourself.

“But I don’t want to wait until Revolution for you to be gone. I want you to be gone right now! So, I’m saying there’s three of us, and when I look in the ring, I see the two of you and I see Ric Flair. I mean, hey, you can take Ric Flair as a partner if you want, but he’s one superkick away from his pacemaker kicking out. At Full Gear, get yourselves a partner, and your retirement is going to come early. And it’s not going to be a celebration. It’s going to be more like a funeral.”

Sting: “Hold on! First of all, Darby and I, we’re going to find a partner, and second, we accept your challenge. See you there!”

Earlier in the day, Renee Paquette had a sitdown interview with Chris Jericho!

Jericho: “As a pro wrestler for 33 years, I can’t ever remember having a beat down like I did at the hands of Powerhouse Hobbs. The thing that is hurting the most for me is my ego. As an athlete, you’re always self-reflecting. One thing I’ve always had is immense self confidence in myself. Last week I didn’t see it coming. Hobbs came at me right out of the gate. I couldn’t get out of the hole that he continued to dig with my body.

“I have to wonder if I still have what it takes to beat Will Hobbs. Is it time to step back or should I get even stronger and know that I’m Chris Jericho. Is it time to get some sort of revenge? Don Callis has a whole family. He’s got a lot of friends in that family. Chris Jericho has a lot of friends too. And some of those friends are even bigger than Will Hobbs. Maybe it’s time to give them a call.”

ROH World Six-Man Championship Match!

The Elite (c.)— “Hangman” Adam Page, & The Young Bucks—Matt and Nick Jackson

vs.

The Hardys—Jeff & Matt, & Brother Zay!

Nick knocked down Zay with a shoulder tackle. Nick nailed Zay with a neck breaker. Hatman hit a forearm off the top rope to Brother Zay.

Matt Jackson tagged in and slapped Adam Page in the face. Matt Jackson and Matt Hardy shoved one another. Matt Hardy hit the Side Effect after a blind side knee from Jeff Hardy to Matt Jackson. Brother Zay wiped out Page and Nick Jackson with a tornillo.

Matt Jackson threw Matt Hardy and Brother Zay overhead with a Northern Lights Suplex. Hangman tagged in and cleaned house. Hangman hit the Death Valley Driver on Zay for a near fall. Brother Zay spiked Page with a DDT after an assisted Silly String from Jeff Hardy!

Matt Hardy rocked Matt Jackson with the Twist of Fate. Jeff splashed Matt Jackson with the Swanton Bomb, but Nick was there to break up the pin attempt! Hangman stunned Zay with the Buckshot Lariat. The Elite finished off Zay with the BTE Trigger and Matt Jackson pinned Brother Zay!

Live footage played on the giant screen above the entrance ramp. It was Prince Nana and Swerve Strickland “visiting” Hangman Page’s house!

They walked around Page’s house. They went to a baby crib. “You owe me a debt, Hangman, and since you’re not here, is it Hangman Jr. who will owe me something. You will. Just not today.”

Swerve Strickland tossed a Mogul Embassy shirt into the crib of Hangman Jr. and said he’d never forget that this was his father’s fault!

Renee Paquette was backstage with the “Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland!

Copeland said he still wasn’t going to face Christian Cage. Copeland said his friendship was more important than anything that’s ever happened within this business.

Darby Allin and Sting interrupted.

Darby: “Adam, I know you came to AEW to ride off into the sunset with your best friend, but that’s not the type of world we’re living in. Do you think last week I wanted to break Nick Wayne’s face? No. But it’s kill or be killed here.”

Copeland: “Darby, you know how much I respect you.”

Sting: “I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation right now. I know what it’s like to have the blinders on. I was up and down the road with Lex Luger, and I had the blinders on. You know the legend out there? I learned from him. I see right through guys like Christian. I can see right through him. You need to open your eyes up before it’s too late. Are you hearing me? Listen to what I’m saying before it’s too late! We go way back. Don’t mess it up now! Get with it!”

AEW Women’s World Championship Match!

Hikaru Shida (c.) vs. Ruby Soho!

Ruby chopped at Shida. The champ hit a crossbody and then slammed Ruby.

Soho connected with a back heel kick. Shida blasted Soho with a missile dropkick. Soho caught Shida with the No Future outside the ring!

Shida landed an elbow strike. She hoisted up Soho in a torture rack. Shida followed up with a sliding elbow for a near fall on Ruby Soho. Ruby pulled the middle turnbuckle pad off. The ref pulled it away from her, but Ruby grabbed the can of spray paint and tossed it to Shida, setting her up for when the ref turned back around. Ruby acted like she’d been sprayed in the eyes.

“All the ref has to do is look at Ruby’s face. There’s no spray paint on it,” said Excalibur.

Ruby jumped back into the ring with the title belt, but Shida went to defend herself by spraying the paint, but instead she sprayed the title belt! The ref took the belt away and as she had her back turned, Ruby unwrapped her wrist tape, choked Shida, and then stunned her with Destination Unknown! Shida was able to kick out at two!

“That was super close,” said Taz.

Shida fired back with the katana kick. Ruby kicked out! Shida nailed Ruby with a knee strike and then the Falcon Arrow! Shida went to cover Ruby, but Ruby reversed it for a pin attempt. Shida shoved her away, sending Ruby right into the exposed turnbuckle! Shida finished off Ruby with the katana and pinned her!

After the match “Timeless” Toni Storm walked onto the ramp! We learned earlier tonight that Timeless Toni Storm will have her Hollywood Homecoming: The Quest for Gold at Full Gear, live on pay-per-view on Saturday, November 18th!

Renee Paquette interviewed MJF backstage ahead of his match this Saturday on Collision against Kenny Omega!

Samoa Joe interrupted!

Samoa Joe: “Congratulations! You’re a man who suffers from a severe lack of friendship. You need people watching out for you. So, I come here with a simple offer. I will be that person and I will be your friend.”

MJF: “Sounds good to me!”

Samoa Joe: “On one condition. You give me my rematch for the AEW World Championship. You don’t have to answer me now, but with the way things are going, I’m sure I’ll have my answer soon enough.”

Main Event Time!

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy & Kazuchika Okada

vs.

Blackpool Combat Club’s Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli!

Danielson had wrist control on Orange Cassidy. Claudio tagged in and body slammed Orange.

Okada tagged in and locked up with Claudio. Okada and Claudio exchanged forearms and uppercuts in the center of the ring. Orange tagged in and splashed Claudio from the top rope.

Danielson tagged in and dropped a knee on Orange for a near fall. Claudio’s gut wrench was countered by Orange with a DDT. Okada and Danielson tagged in for their respective teams.

Danielson and Claudio traded chops. Danielson connected with round kicks. Okada came back with a running back elbow and then he spiked Danielson with a DDT for a near fall. Danielson applied the Le Bell Lock to Okada, but Okada escaped. Danielson countered the rainmaker with chops.

Orange tagged in and went for a DDT on Claudio, but Claudio countered, but then Orange countered with a Stundog Millionaire and then a DDT. Claudio put Orange in the Giant Swing! Claudio sat back in the Scorpion Death Lock. Okada jumped in to break it up. Okada slammed Claudio and then smashed Claudio with an elbow drop from the top rope. Okada and Orange hugged but Danielson jumped from the top with a dropkick to them both!

Okada cracked Danielson with a dropkick. Cassidy hit the Orange Punch and Okada followed up with the Rainmaker to Danielson! Claudio entered the fray with a diving European Uppercut to Okada. Claudio dished out an uppercut to Orange Cassidy and pinned him!

After the match, Danielson was clutching the side of his face. Moxley, Yuta, and Claudio checked on him. Best Friends, Rocky Romero, and Hook came to the ring to check on Orange too.

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

Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY!

Don’t miss AEW Collision on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT!

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

AEW Dynamite Preview for October 25, 2023

AEW Dynamite Preview for October 25, 2023

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

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

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

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

DYNAMITE DIAMOND RING MATCH…

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

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

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

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

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

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

A DREAM TEAM…

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy & Kazuchika Okada

vs.

Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli)

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

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

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

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

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Ruby Soho

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

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

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

ROH WORLD SIX-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

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

vs.

Brother Zay & The Hardys (Jeff & Matt)

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

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

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

TAG TEAM CHALLENGE…

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

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

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

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

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

A GIFT FOR STING…

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

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

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

CHRIS JERICHO & RENEE PAQUETTE…

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

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

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

SWERVE’S GOT WORDS…

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

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

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

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

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

AEW Rampage Preview for October 20, 2023

AEW Rampage Preview for October 20, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/embed/BeVv8BbZIEk?si=PNgb6ljs-keym8sB

DYNAMITE was another great night in the history of our sport as “The Icon” Sting told the world that REVOLUTION 2024 would be his last night in professional wrestling, and though that landmark announcement may be the biggest wrestling news item coming out of Texas this week, we also say Juice Robinson win the Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale. That means he and MJF will go one-on-one in Philadelphia with the Dynamite Diamond Ring at stake. We witnessed chaos unfold between Sting, Darby Allin, Christian Cage, Nick Wayne, and Luchasaurus and heard from Adam Copeland regarding his future with Christian Cage. Oh, and we had to suffer through Don Callis…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/tiONqBXsIq0?si=6Yi3AcC0EMhKIw-B

This Friday night RAMPAGE will feature a Three Way contest pitting Brother Zay, John Silver, and Kip Sabian against each other with a BATTLE OF THE BELTS VIII International Championship opportunity at stake, plus The BCC is in action, Skye Blue clashes with The Outcasts’ Ruby Soho, and it all kicks off with the historic clash between CMLL’s Historic Middleweight Champion Mistico and Historic Welterweight Champion Rocky Romero!

The night gets underway at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so visit the official AEW YouTube channel before RAMPAGE begins to see highlights from this week’s DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE and COLLISION, plus THE CONTROL CENTER, and a great deal more!

MEXICO’S POUND-FOR-POUND-CROWN…

CMLL World Historic Welterweight Champion Rocky “Azucar” Romero

vs.

CMLL World Historic Middleweight Champion Mistico

From the very beginning, All Elite Wrestling has prided itself on being a place that welcomes competitors from all around the wrestling landscape, and championships from all promotions. It began with the AAA World Tag Titles being the first championships ever defended in AEW at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019, and has continued over the years with the AAA Mega Title, the NWA World Women’s Title, the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship, the IMPACT Tag Titles, the IMPACT World Title, the IWGP Tag Team Titles, the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, the AAA World Mixed Tag Titles, the Regina Di WAVE Title, the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship, the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship, the AAA Latin American Title, and the NJPW World TV Title. So many companies, and so many wrestlers, have been represented in All Elite Wrestling, and this Friday night on RAMPAGE, we are extremely proud to add a new entrant into that list: Consejo Mundial De Lucha Libre, or more generally referred to as CMLL.

As the video above so encapsulates, this bout pitting CMLL World Historic Welterweight Champion Rocky “Azucar” Romero against CMLL World Historic Middleweight Champion Mistico is quite the historic clash. While Mistico has held his championship since August 21, 2018, an astounding 1,887 days come Friday night, Romero has reigned since January 20th of this year, and is coming off a hard-fought defense last Saturday at The Arena in Philadelphia in which he added an additional championship to his trophy case.

Now these two men will collide in All Elite Wrestling for their very first singles match! Though they’ve been on opposite sides of numerous matches over the last year, never has it been in a one-on-one situation, and not with stakes as high as this Pound-For-Pound Crown! AEW is so fortunate to be able to host this contest, showcasing two of the best in the world, and present the amazing CMLL experience to the world!

AEW International Championship Contender Match…

Brother Zay vs. John Silver vs. Kip Sabian

***WINNER CHALLENGES AT BATTLE OF THE BELTS VIII***

With BATTLE OF THE BELTS just twenty-four hours away, three men will collide in a first-fall match to see which one will meet the now 2-Time AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy in a title bout! For all of these men championship success has been difficult to come by, and even getting a title fight has been difficult for some: the last time Isiah Kassidy challenged for a singles championship was on February 4, 2022 when he fought Sammy Guevara for the TNT Championship while for John Silver it was March 24, 2021 when he challenged Darby Allin for that TNT Championship. At least in the case of Kip Sabian he’s had a title fight this year, challenging Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Championship at BATTLE OF THE BELTS V back in January.

Suffice it to say all three of these men are hungry for gold, hungry to prove themselves deserving of championship opportunities, and this Friday night on RAMPAGE, one of them will earn just that with a victory in this Three Way contest!

TAG TEAM WARM-UP…

Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) in action!

The Blackpool Combat Club of Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta will be in tag team action this Friday night on RAMPAGE, looking to get a warm-up in before their AEW World Tag Team Championship clash with Big Bill and Ricky Starks on COLLISION! This particular BCC pairing has won ten of their twelve bouts as a team, four consecutive heading into this Friday, and are looking to add a fifth straight victory as they prepare to bring gold back to The BCC at the expense of their enemies. Pray for whoever steps into the ring with these two killers come Friday night…

ONE-ON-ONE…

Skye Blue vs. Ruby Soho

Skye Blue is coming off a TBS Championship loss to Kris Statlander last Saturday night on COLLISION, and with that loss came a rather poor showing of sportsmanship from Skye. Rather than shake the hand of the champion following the bout, a gesture initiated by Statlander out of respect for the fight they’d just had, Skye bailed out with Willow Nightingale there basically asking Statlander to back down.

So while Willow Nightingale may now have a TBS Championship fight coming to her at BATTLE OF THE BELTS VIII on Saturday, on Friday night Skye Blue has to step into the ring with an old friend and current foe in one Ruby Soho. Now The Outcasts aren’t exactly in the best state of mind after Saraya lost the AEW Women’s World Championship to Hikaru Shida last week at TITLE TUESDAY, so combine that with the history between Skye and Soho, as well as Skye’s current state of mind, and this is quite an intriguing match-up.

We know what tactics Soho and Saraya will stoop to in order to get their victories, but what will Skye Blue do in order to get hers? Her aggression has been cranked up to 11 since Julia Hart sprayed her with that black mist, will that be the key to Skye Blue finally getting her first victory over Ruby Soho after so many failed attempts?

RAMPAGE begins at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so swing by the official AEW YouTube channel before to the show for highlights from Wednesday’s DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE and COLLISION, plus THE CONTROL CENTER, and much, much more!

Big Gold Belt Podcast LIVE talking Sting’s retirement & final opponent, the PWI Women’s 250 & MORE!

Your Big Gold Belt Podcast is LIVE talking the latest in pro wrestling!

-Sting’s Retirement: With Revolution 2024 set as his final bow how should things wrap up and who should be Sting’s final opponent?

– A look…

AEW Dynamite Results for October 18, 2023

AEW Dynamite Results for October 18, 2023

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**

Tonight’s special episode of AEW DYNAMITE was broadcast live from the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, TX!

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!

Penta El Zero Miedo (with Alex Abrahantes)

vs.

“Switchblade” Jay White (with Bullet Club Gold)!

“Massive reaction for Penta here tonight,” said Taz.

Jay White walked out wearing the championship he stole from rightful AEW World champion MJF.

Penta wiped out Bullet Club Gold, jumping over the top rope and crashing onto them as they made their entrance. Penta followed up with a sling blade to Jay White! Penta El Zero Miedo crushed White with a diving double foot stomp for a near fall.

Jay White spiked Penta El Zero Miedo with a DDT. Jay White hit a snap suplex on Penta El Zero Miedo. Penta connected with a thrust kick. Penta was looking for a monkey flip in the corner, but Jay White dodged it and then chopped Penta, sending Penta crashing to the arena floor.

Penta El Zero Miedo retaliated with two consecutive sling blades to Switchblade! Penta jumped over the top rope, landing on Jay White on the arena floor! Back in the ring, Penta and White exchanged chops. Penta planted Jay White with a spinning Death Valley Driver! Penta was looking for the package piledriver, but Jay White countered with a uranage.

Jay White drilled Penta El Zero Miedo with a brain buster for a two-count. Jay White nailed Penta with a sleeper suplex. Penta countered the Blade Runner with Made in Japan for a two-count! The Gunns distracted the ref while Juice clocked Penta with the left hand! Jay White smashed Penta with the Blade Runner and pinned him!

Jay White: “Cut my music! You know who sucks? It’s MJF. Because where is MJF? He’s not here. But you know who’s here? J-A-Y. Because I’m a real world champion. I’m a truly elite world champion. And Max, I’m still waiting on your answer to my very generous offer. I’m assuming you can’t find anyone who wants to team up with you to try to take back the Bang Bang Belt. Until then, I’ll lead by example.”

Juice Robinson: “Spoiler alert! Tonight, in your main event, the ‘stray bullet’ Juice Robinson is going to win the battle royal. After I win the right to face MJF for this Dynamite Diamond Ring, we’re taking his ring and we’re going to pawn it and I’m getting another gold tooth!”

Renee Paquette was backstage with the AEW World Champion MJF!

MJF: “I could have run out there like every single dumb good guy in the history of pro wrestling. But I’m not a good guy. I’m a scum bag. Jay White, I will get back my Triple B before Full Gear. Juice Robinson, I pray to God that you win tonight because next week it’ll be your left hand of God against the right hand of the devil!

“As far as an update on Adam Cole—”

AEW Trios Champs The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass interrupted the interview.

Max Caster: “If you want your world title back from Jay White, they said an 8-man tag, us three and you, we’ll get all the belts and we’ll scissor after we win.”

MJF: “How about no.”

Max Caster: “Then how about I get in the Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale, win that, and then next week I’ll win your ring and you’re gonna have to put a ring on it!”

Daddy Ass: “That guy is such a scumbag.”

Max Caster: “Yeah, but he’s my scumbag.”

World Title Eliminator Match! “Student vs. Teacher”!

AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida

vs.

Emi Sakura!

Sakura ambushed Shida as Shida was entering the ring. Sakura collided into Shida with a shoulder tackle. They traded chops in the center of the ring. Sakura went for a running cross body, but Shida countered with a knee strike.

Sakura dropkicked Shida in the face while Shida was on her knees. Sakura splashed Shida in the corner with a running cross body press. Sakura sent Shida crashing to the floor after a running cross body as Shida was standing on the ring apron. Shida took down Sakura with a hurracanrana. Shida followed up with a missile dropkick for a near fall.

Emi planted Shida with a Tiger Driver for a two-count! Shida dodged a moonsault and blasted Emi with the katana! Sakura nailed Shida with a back breaker. Shida fired back with a Falcon Arrow for a near fall. Shida rocked Emi with a knee strike and pinned her!

Earlier in the day, the “Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland was backstage with Renee Paquette and gave his Rated- R Rebuttal to TNT Champion Christian Cage!

Adam Copeland: “Things have not been going smoothly. I don’t understand what’s happened. The whole idea in coming here was to end my career with Christian Cage and team with him. And he sounded on board with that until it got real.

“I sat down this week and began replaying my relationship with him over the years. We’ve known each other since the 6th grade. We were best friends in high school and in college. We both entered an essay contest to get into wrestling school. I wrote in and he didn’t. Fast forward and I got the dream gig and I always said, to whoever would listen, you’ve gotta see my friend.

“For whatever reason, over the years, it’s always been Adam and Jay. And it’s stuck with him, and I feel it’s frustrated him. He said I had a rocket strapped to my back, but I worked hard. I’m surprised that this keeps repeating at this stage in our lives. He’s riding high right now. He came here first, and I didn’t intend to take away his spotlight. I don’t want his TNT Title. I’m not going to fight him. What that means for me, I don’t know. One thing I do know is eventually Nick Wayne and Luchasaurus are going to leave him high and dry. And I’ll be there to pick him up.”

Wardlow vs. Ryan Nemeth!

Nick charged at Wardlow but Wardlow powerbombed him. The ref stopped the match after a single powerbomb!

Tony Schiavone entered the ring to interview Wardlow.

Schiavone: “Everyone knows your back, but what are you back for?”

Wardlow held up his fist and showed off his wrist tape, which had the letters “MJF” written on it.

Schiavone: “Whoa. That says MJF.”

Wardlow left the ring, bumping into Tony and knocking him to the mat.

Renee Paquette was backstage to interview Kenny Omega ahead of his match tonight against Kyle Fletcher.

Kenny said maybe soon we’d soon the Kenny of old and he’d go after the World Championship.

AEW World Champion MJF walked onto the set.

MJF: “Kenny Omega, the measuring stick. World Champion, MJF. I’ve always been a massive fan of Kenny Omega.”

Omega: “I appreciate it.”

MJF: “So I just wanted to say I’d love to shake your hand.”

MJF leaned in as he shook Omega’s hand and whispered, “13 days, bitch.”

Omega: “13 days, huh? We’ll see about that.”

Footage was shown from earlier in the day from Roderick Strong’s humble abode!

Mike Bennett was playing the bongos. Matt Taven was listening with his plush giraffe, and Roderick Strong was resting on the other couch. Adam Cole brought Roderick Strong coffee.

Strong took a sip and spit it out, saying Adam knew that he hates hot coffee! Strong apologized and asked Cole to make them PB&J sandwiches. Strong then complained that Adam Cole left the crust on the sandwich.

Cole: “I have done everything I can to possibly help you! I haven’t talked to Max in weeks practically. And I need to get surgery. I’m done with this!”

Adam Cole left. Roderick Strong turned to the Kingdom and said he knew what he was going to have to do to get his best friend back. “I guess I’m going to have to be nice to that scumbag MJF.”

Tony Schiavone was in the ring to interview Don Callis!

Callis walked to the ring with Powerhouse Hobbs and Takeshita!

Don Callis: “I’ve got something to say. Last week the Don Callis Family made history. Because in over 30 years in one of the greatest careers of all time, Chris Jericho has never been manhandled like he was last week. Because last week Will Hobbs broke Chris Jericho in half.”

Powerhouse Hobbs: “February 22nd, 1998, was supposed to be the greatest day of my life. I had the chance to meet my hero, Chris Jericho. My grandmother got me front row tickets to meet you. And you walked past that old lady, told her to shut up, and looked at me and told me to sit down. 25 years, Chris, I held on to frustration. I swore the day I got to whoop you, I was going to hurt you over and over and over.

“As I looked at you, Chris, you were lifeless. So, what did I do. I picked you up and gave you spinebuster after spinebuster after spinebuster. I loved it!”

Don Callis: “All Will Hobbs’ life, he’s been told by people who supposedly love him to bottle up the hate and violence. Well now Will has a new family, and we don’t tell you to bottle it up. We tell you to be what you are. And he’s a killing machine! And we are not done with Jericho. We are going to unleash Will Hobbs on AEW! We are on a roll! We are undefeated in four months except for one match, where Sammy Guevara was hurt by Chris Jericho.

“And I had to get a replacement. I had to get a scab worker to come in, a young man named Kyle Fletcher. He let us down. He screwed the Don Callis Family.”

Kyle Fletcher came down to the ring!

Fletcher got into Callis’ face, but Hobbs squared up with Fletcher.

Callis: “No, no, I want to hear this. Say what you gotta say, kid.”

Fletcher: “As far as I can recall, I did that match for you as a favor after Will Ospreay called and said, ‘Don Callis is on his knees begging me to do this match.’ And maybe I was the weakest link that night, but tonight I have another chance against Kenny Omega one on one. And I’m going to prove to everyone, especially you, that I don’t need anybody’s help to beat Kenny Omega.”

Callis: “You know what? I like the confidence. I’ll tell you what, Kyle. You beat Kenny Omega tonight, and you and I may have an opportunity to discuss next week.”

Kenny Omega’s music began to play, and Omega made his entrance!

Aussie Open’s Kyle Fletcher vs. Kenny Omega!

Fletcher got the jump on Omega as Omega entered the ring. Kenny jabbed Fletcher with stiff shots. Omega chopped at Kyle Fletcher.

Fletcher grounded and pounded on Omega. Kenny fired back with a vertical suplex. Omega jumped over the top rope with a cross body press down onto Kyle Fletcher.

Fletcher rocked Omega with a kick, knocking Omega off the apron and onto the arena floor. Fletcher whipped Omega into the steel guardrail, sending him over the barricade. Omega nailed Fletcher with a hurracanrana. Omega was looking for the Terminator Dive, but Fletcher grabbed Omega’s ankle.

Both men traded chops outside the ring. Kenny charged at Kyle, but Kyle tripped him, and Omega crashed into the barricade. Omega wiped out Fletcher with a middle rope moonsault. Kenny clocked Kyle with a dropkick from the top rope to the lower back.

Kyle spiked Omega with a half and half suplex. Fletcher followed up with a brainbuster for a near fall. Fletcher lawn darted Omega into the turnbuckle pad. Fletcher kicked Omega in the back of the head. Omega spiked Fletcher with a reverse hurracanrana and followed up with a powerbomb and a V-Trigger for a two-count!

Kenny went for the One-Winged Angel. Fletcher countered with a dragon sleeper. Omega escaped and planted Kyle with a snap dragon suplex. Omega rammed into Fletcher with a knee strike and then pinned Kyle with the One Winged Angel!

Don Callis: “This kid is such a miserable disappointment!”

“The MurderHawk Monster” Lance Archer vs. Barrett Brown!

Archer choke slammed his opponent on the ring apron! Archer suplexed Brown. Archer smashed into his opponent three consecutive times in the corner. Archer planted Brown and pinned him!

Prince Nana and Swerve Strickland were on the streets!

Nana: “Some of the top rappers have been here. And now you get to release the remix of the Big Pressure video this Friday on YouTube. What an exciting time!”

Swerve: “Why am I not excited? Because I should be celebrating my music video along with being the TNT Champion. There’s only one reason I’m not. It’s because of you Hangman Page. It wasn’t a personal thing. It was Swerve versus the opportunity. But now it’s personal and you couldn’t leave well enough alone after I beat you at WrestleDream. Nobody cares less about life than me. Just remember this. It’s not always you that pays for your actions.”

Tony Schiavone was in the ring to interview Sting!

Sting: “Shall I say the word? Before I say the word, I want to reflect a little bit with all of you. That word makes me think about all the years traveling down the road with guys like Lex Luger, Rick and Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell. I traveled up and down the road with these guys and we’d look at the generation ahead of us, guys like Dusty Rhodes. Dusty Rhodes being the most charismatic human being I’ve ever seen in my whole life.

“Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan transcended wrestling and I did learn something from the guy. But one of the guys I really want to give a lot to is the ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair. Thank you for all of the moments. I remember the Clash of the Champions 1988, the very first title match that I had with you, and you put me on the map. What a moment that was.

“We used to wonder though, what makes these guys want to come year after year, decade after decade, what more do they have to prove. Here I am all these years later. And I understand why they hung on. It is the roar of the fans. That’s what makes us keep coming back for more.

“So, getting back to that word. That word. It makes me, before I quite get there. I know what some of you are thinking. ‘He retired once already.’ I gotta tell you, that retirement in 2015 just didn’t sit right with me. Which brings me now to the word ‘retirement’ again.

“I want to address it live and in color on Dynamite. I started my very first match with AEW was Revolution 2021. And my very last match will be Revolution 2024. One more key thing that you all need to know. The only thing for sure about Sting is my retirement, Revolution 2024 is for sure.”

Jim Ross had a sitdown interview with Nick Wayne and Nick Wayne’s mom!

Jim Ross: “Nick, I can’t get over what you did to Darby Allin. He’s like a brother to you.”

Nick Wayne’s mom: “It was shocking to me J.R. I can’t make sense of it. Darby has been like a brother to you, Nick. This is just so out of character for you. And Christian? The things that he has said about your father, and to me! Nick, I don’t recognize you right now.”

Nick Wayne: “That’s enough! It was always about Darby Allin. I was always in his shadows. It was always him. They congratulated him for getting me here. It’s time for me to prove why I’m here. And I’m under a new father figure now. Christian Cage. A better father figure than dad ever was.”

TNT Champion Christian Cage walked onto the set and put his hand on Nick’s shoulder.

Christian Cage: “Are you ready to come home, son?”

Nick Wayne’s mom: “Nick, no!”

Nick Wayne: “Don’t touch me! You were a terrible mother!”

Nick Wayne got slapped by his mother!

She apologized and Nick said, “You’re dead to me.”

Nick and Christian left the room and Darby was there, laying them both out!

Darby hammered away at Nick, stumbling onto the stage! Luchasaurus snuck up behind Darby and cracked him with his forearm! Sting came out to even up the odds, sweeping out the leg of Christian Cage! Sting rammed Luchasaurus into the guardrail! Sting went to apply the Scorpion Deathlock on Christian in the ring, but Luchasaurus pulled Christian out of the ring to safety.

Main Event Time!

Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale!

The winner earns their shot to face AEW World Champion MJF for the Dynamite Diamond Ring.

“The Natural” Dustin Rhodes was the first participant out to the ring. AEW World Champion MJF joined the broadcast booth for the main event.

Matt Hardy slugged it out with Jake Hager. Jeff Hardy tried to hoist Juice Robinson over the top. Johnny TV and Daniel Garcia were about to have a dance off, but Menard stopped Garcia. Jeff splashed Menard in the corner.

Hager hurled Matt Hardy over the top rope and eliminated him. MJF walked to ringside. MJF offered cash to Dustin and whispered in his ear, wanting him to eliminate Juice Robinson. Dustin kicked Juice between the legs!

Komander hit a springboard dropkick to Hager. Menard and Garcia caught Komander and eliminated him. Trent suplexed Garcia. Dustin smashed Garcia with a Canadian Destroyer. Trent rammed into Hager and knocked him to the arena floor.

Menard eliminated Trent. Jeff Hardy was thrown over the top by Garcia. Daniel Garcia inadvertently collided with Menard. Garcia eliminated Dustin Rhodes. Caster tossed Garcia out of the match. Max was trying to push Juice out of the ring. Caster kicked Juice. Caster charged at Juice, but Juice speared him between the ropes.

Juice and Caster jockeyed for position on the ring apron. Juice gouged Max Caster’s eyes. Caster pushed Juice off the top rope. Caster hit the Mic Drop! Jay White ambushed MJF at the broadcast booth. They began to brawl on the ramp!

MJF grounded and pounded Jay White and got his AEW World Championship back! Jay White connected with a low blow to the champ. Juice Robinson dug into his pocket and pulled out his ring. Juice slugged Caster with the Left Hand of God with the ring on it! Juice eliminated Caster and Jay White took the championship belt back from MJF!

“Juice did it!” said Taz.

“And it is official. One week from tonight at Dynamite it’ll be Juice Robinson against MJF for the Dynamite Diamond Ring!” added Excalibur.

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

For Mexico’s Pound-For-Pound Crown!

CMLL’s World Historic Middleweight Champion, the Luchador Legend Mistico

vs.

CMLL World Historic Welterweight Champion Rocky Romero!

Catch AEW DYNAMITE on TBS next Wednesday live at 8/7ct from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA!

Don’t miss AEW Collision & Battle of the Belts VIII on Saturday on TNT at 8/7c from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN!

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