Author: John Bass

AEW Collision Preview 6/24/2023

AEW Collision, tonight at 8/7c from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

  • The road to AEW & NJPW: The Forbidden Door 2 winds down tonight.
  • CM Punk, FTR & Ricky Starks vs. Jay White, Juice Robinson & The Gunns
  • Swerve Strickland vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • Powerhouse Hobbs will be in action
  • We’ll hear from Miro
  • Andrade El Idolo vs. Brody King
  • Willow Nightingale vs. Nyla Rose Owen Hart Memorial Quarterfinal Match
  • Christian Cage will address the AEW TNT Championship
  • Sting and Darby Allin reveal their partner for Forbidden Door 2

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 6/25/2023 (Card)

  • Date: June 25, 2023
  • Location: ScotiaBank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

CARD

IWGP UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Sanada (c) vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
MJF (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

MEN’S OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH:
CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR-WAY MATCH:
Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia

AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Toni Storm (c) vs. Willow Nightingale

Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli), Konosuke Takeshita, and Shota Umino vs. The Elite (“Hangman” Adam Page, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson), Eddie Kingston, and Tomohiro Ishii

Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) and Minoru Suzuki vs. Sting, Darby Allin, and TBA

Adam Cole vs. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor

ZERO HOUR

WOMEN’S OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH:
Athena vs. Billie Starkz

Liv Morgan Returned On SmackDown

Liv Morgan has returned to WWE.

During Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown, Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler defeated Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre to become the new Undisputed WWE Women’s Tag Champions. Following the match, Rousey asked why Raquel Rodriguez was at ringside when she didn’t have a partner.

As Rousey and Baszler mocked Rodriguez, the latter revealed that she did in fact have a partner. This brought out Liv Morgan, who made her return after suffering a shoulder injury back in May.

Rodriguez and Morgan have demanded a rematch against Baszler and Rousey.

Johnny TV (John Hennigan) Returns To AEW On Rampage

John Hennigan has returned to All Elite Wrestling, now going by the name of Johnny TV.

John Hennigan returned to AEW on this week’s Rampage as Johnny TV, joining forces with QT Marshall and his group. Hennigan made his return to AEW at Friday’s show, coming down to the ring to attack Billy Gunn during a segment where QTV was confronting Gunn and The Acclaimed. The group beat the babyfaces down and Hennigan — referred to as Johnny TV by the commentators — celebrated with the group.

Hennigan’s last appearance in AEW was in June of last year, when he faced Miro in a losing effort. Hennigan has reportedly signed a deal with AEW and will be there going forward.

AEW Rampage Preview 6/23/2023

Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT at 10/9c.

  • MJF appears for the first time on Rampage
  • Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament quarterfinal: Anna Jay A.S. vs. Skye Blue
  • CHAOS (Rocky Romero, Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta & Yoh) vs. United Empire (Will Ospreay, Kyle Fletcher & Jeff Cobb) and Swerve Strickland
  • “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry vs. Douki
  • The Acclaimed in action

WWE SmackDown Preview 6/23/2023

WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the Cajundome in Lafayette, LA .

  • WWE and NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre
  • Bayley vs. Shotzi. If Bayley loses, she must give up her spot in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match to Shotzi.
  • Cameron Grimes vs Baron Corbin
  • The Bloodline saga continues – Jey sided with Jimmy last week and laid out Roman with superkicks

Bryan Danielson Reportedly ‘Banged Up’ Ahead Of AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door

At this juncture of his career, every Bryan Danielson match is like “an occasion” for ardent pro wrestling fans. In 2023, “The American Dragon” has wrestled all of seven matches, with his last two bouts coming on pay-per-view — Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing and the Iron Man Match against MJF at Revolution. Prior to that, Danielson wrestled a rare bout on television against Rush on February 8 as part of his gauntlet of matches to get to MJF. 

According to Fightful Select, there is a good reason for Danielson’s limited in-ring schedule, and it’s to do with the veteran wrestler being “banged up” of late. The report noted that Danielson’s compromised health is the reason why he performed limited spots in the Anarchy in the Arena match, and did not wrestle at all following his 60-minute Iron Man Match for the AEW World Championship. 

Furthermore, fans must have noticed that Danielson has largely avoided physical contact in several brawls of late, be it the brawls pitting his Blackpool Combat Club against The Elite, or his recent run-in with NJPW star Kazuchika Okada. As such, to make up for his limited participation in brawls, Danielson has routinely worked commentary during BCC’s matches, per Fightful. The report added that Danielson has been “heavily involved in creative in the first several weeks of AEW Collision,” a function he also undertook during his final year in WWE. In fact, Dave Meltzer reported in June that Danielson already wields a lot of influence in AEW’s booking decisions, suggesting that Danielson was serious about expanding his backstage role with AEW.  

Fightful did not go into specific details about Danielson’s nagging injuries, and whether they would affect his performance in the main event of Sunday’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view against

Source: Wrestling Inc.

“Top Name” Left AEW Dynamite In Bad Mood – Punk/Elite Situation Is A “Ticking Time Bomb” (Report)

One of the top stars in AEW was in a foul mood following this week’s episode of Dynamite which saw CM Punk appear on the broadcast.

Punk made his first appearance on Dynamite in months this week and earned an electric response from the crowd in his native Chicago.

When a deal was reached to bring Punk back to TV, it was believed that Punk would keep to AEW Collision while the Elite would remain fixtures of Dynamite.

In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports that one “top name” of AEW was in a bad mood following this week’s Dynamite.

That top name, who was not named in the report, described the atmosphere within AEW due to the Punk-Elite situation as a potential “ticking time bomb.”

Source: eWn

The 2023 Owen Hart Cup Tournament Brackets Revealed

Following this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, we now have the official brackets for the men’s and women’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament. Two of the matches will be taking place at Sunday night’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II pay-per-view event.

We’ll see CM Punk facing off against Satoshi Kojima at Forbidden Door II in the men’s tournament, while Billie Starkz will face Athena in the women’s tournament at the same show.

You can check out the complete brackets below:

  • Men’s Tournament:
  • CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima (Forbidden Door)
  • Roderick Strong vs. Samoa Joe (June 29th AEW Collision)
  • Dustin Rhodes vs. Powerhouse Hobbs (June 29th AEW Collision)
  • Juice Robinson vs. Ricky Starks (June 29th AEW Collision)
  • Women’s Tournament:
  • Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho (June 28th AEW Dynamite)
  • Anna Jay.A.S. vs. Sky Blue (June 23rd AEW Rampage)
  • Nyla Rose vs. Willow Nightingale (June 24th AEW Collision)
  • Athena vs. Billie Starkz (Forbidden Door)

MLW Fusion Preview 6/22/2023

MLW FUSION tonight at 8pm ET headlined by the returning Jacob Fatu against John Hennigan for the National Openweight Championship, streaming on MLW’s YouTube channel and FITE+, Friday on beIN XTRA and Saturday on Cable TV’s beIN SPORTS (find a provider). 

•John Hennigan vs. Jacob Fatu – National Openweight Championship

•Microman vs. Beastman

•Samoan SWAT Team vs. The Mane Event vs. The FBI – World Tag Team Championship Triple Threat

Big fights from the Big Apple, including a big main event featuring John Hennigan vs. Jacob Fatu for the National Openweight Championship.

After being put on the injured list for the first time ever Jacob Fatu is back and ready to get his promised crack at the National title. 

Is Fatu at 100%? Will the “Shaman of Sports Entertainment” John Hennigan exploit Fatu’s injuries? And what about the Calling? A massive National Openweight title fight headlines Fusion.

Alex Kane drops the mic on Hammerstone and MLW while the Bomaye Fight Club’s shadowy backer makes moves behind thee scenes leading into July 8th’s Never Say Never on FITE+.

The night kicks off with a World Tag Team Championship triple threat! The Samoan SWAT Team’s Juicy Finau & Lance Anoa’i look to set the tone for the evening. Can Mane Event or the FBI shake-up a big night for the family? 

The year plus reign of terror is over as Taya Valkyrie was defeated by Delmi Exo. Now find out who will challenge the “God Queen’s” for her title at Never Say Never! 

Dethroned and devastated, MLW.com cameras get the scoop on Taya Valkyrie. What’s next for the former World Featherweight Champion?

Who is entering this year’s Opera Cup? Find out as the first competitor in the 2023 Opera Cup tournament is revealed.

3 feet of fighting fury rumbles with the ferocious super heavyweight Beastman! Can Microman topple a near 400 pound monster or will he be dinner for Kimchee’s newest find?

John Hennigan and Sam Adonis are facing serious sanctions by MLW for hanging Mance Warner last week. How hard will the league come down? Meanwhile, how is Ol Mancer doing 7 days later?