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? 

Impact Wrestling Preview 6/22/2023

Tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV.

  • Bully Ray & Steve Maclin vs. Eddie Edwards & Frankie Kazarian
  • OVE vs. Brian Myers & The Good Hands
  • Taylor Wilde vs. Killer Kelly
  • The Design vs. Jonathan Gresham & Mike Bailey

ROH TV Preview 6/22/2023

ROH will air a new episode of its weekly television show tonight at 7 pm ET on HonorClub. 

You can sign up for the streaming service here. Below is the lineup for the show: 

  • Gringo Loco vs. Willie Mack
  • Trish Adora vs. Alyssin Kay
  • Kyle Fletcher vs. Silas Young
  • Pure Rules: Daniel Garcia vs. Rocky Romero
  • The Embassy (Brian Cage, Kaun, & Toa Liona w/ Prince Nana) vs. AJZ & Luke Kurtis & Trenton Storm
  • Dalton Castle vs. Josh Woods
  • The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett w/ Maria Kanellis)
  • Big Bill & Lee Moriarty vs. Blake Christian & Matt Sydal
  • The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver w/ Evil Uno) vs. August Matthew & Davey Vega
  • Leila Grey (w/ Smart Mark Sterling) vs. Diamante
  • Darius Martin & AR Fox & Action Andretti vs. Shane Taylor & The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake)
  • El Hijo Del Vikingo, Komander & Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix w/ Alex Abrahantes) vs. Serpentico, Kip Sabian, The Butcher & The Blade (w/ Penelope Ford)
  • ROH Women’s World Title Chicago Street Fight: Athena (c) vs. Kiera Hogan

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/21/2023

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite, live on TBS, is the final show before this Sunday’s Forbidden Door II pay-per-view.

  • TBS Championship Open Challenge: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • Concession Stand Brawl: Jeff Jarrett vs. Mark Briscoe
  • Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki vs. Action Andretti, Darius Martin and AR Fox
  • Blind Eliminator Tournament for an AEW Tag Team Title Opportunity. Several sources have indicated this match is believed to be the Lethal Lottery concept that was first introduced by WCW at Starrcade 1991.
  • The Hardys vs. The Gunns
  • Orange Cassidy and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and Daniel Garcia
  • We will hear from both Adam Cole and Eddie Kingston
  • Bryan Danielson to call out Kazuchika Okada

As of this writing F4WOnline is reporting that The Elite are only expected to appear in a pre-taped segment. There is still no confirmation CM Punk will appear live. However, tonight’s show is taking place live from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

Pwinsider reports that there are a number of New Japan talents in the United States. It’s very likely that some NJPW stars will appear on Dynamite. 

Backstage Update On Gable Steveson’s Development In WWE, NXT Appearance

Gable Steveson was drafted to “Raw” during last year’s WWE Draft but has remained almost completely absent from WWE programming. According to “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Steveson is still very busy with amateur wrestling.

Gable Steveson appeared last night in a segment on WWE NXT. Steveson offered to help train Eddy Thorpe for his Raw Underground match against Damon Kemp — Steveson’s real-life brother.

While WWE has yet to confirm Steveson’s involvement in the match, the Raw Underground bout between Kemp and Thorpe is set for the July 4 episode of “NXT.”

Earlier this week, a report from “FloWrestling” suggested that Steveson was interested in a return to NCAA Wrestling, following his return to freestyle wrestling at the US Open and Final X this spring. Although Steveson had previously retired from NCAA and Olympic wrestling, he still has one year of NCAA eligibility left, meaning his return to the mat in 2024 is a real possibility. 

Furthermore, Steveson has expressed his desire to capture another gold medal for his country at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, telling “MMA Fighting” earlier this year that he intends to “become one of the best American amateur wrestlers ever” and still has “a lot more left in the tank” with regards to amateur wrestling. According to “The Wrestling Observer,” Steveson’s return to the Olympic stage would be incumbent upon WWE clearing him and allowing him to take time off pro wrestling.

Before his return on Tuesday, Steveson was last seen on WWE programming on the December 9 episode of “WWE SmackDown” where he celebrated Kurt Angle’s birthday by hosing down Alpha Academy with a milk truck.

“He’s got stuff he wants to do and now it’s a question of WWE clearing him,” Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer said.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Update On Ticket Sales Following Saturday’s AEW Collision Premiere

It was reported last week that All Elite Wrestling had been struggling to shift tickets for upcoming live episodes of “AEW Collision” in Canada and the United States. The premiere broadcast of “Collision” took place this past Saturday night, and now an update has been provided regarding ticket sales across the board. 

“AEW has picked up on ticket sales, though, in a lot of markets since Saturday,” Dave Meltzer said on the “Wrestling Observer Radio” show. “‘Collision’ and ‘Dynamite.’ You know what? It sometimes only takes a big angle, and people think there’s a big angle. The problem is there may not be a big angle. But I think people think that there is because if you watch the TV, you’d probably come to the conclusion that there is. 

“So yeah, ticket sales are up for several of the shows. Some of the Canadian shows are also having to do with lowering ticket prices. Hamilton and Toronto both lowered prices. I think they were doing four packs, where you could get four tickets for, like, 16.50 each. So that sold a decent amount of tickets. Toronto’s still down, but it’s for Saturday, but it’s over three thousand, so it’s not horrible. If they get to four, I would say, based on what they’ve been doing, I would say that’s okay. If it’s at 2,500 or 3,000, I wouldn’t call that good. Chicago might sell out Wednesday night, though.” 

The debut episode of “Collision” saw CM Punk return to the promotion for the first time since the All Out pay-per-view last September. It has been reported that Punk may appear on this week’s episode of “AEW Dynamite” at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Gold Rush: Night 1 Preview 6/20/2023

Week one of the two-week NXT Gold Rush special edition of WWE NXT goes down tonight at 8/7c on USA Network from the Capitol Wrestling Center inside the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

  • WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Bron Breakker
  • NXT North American Championship (with Mustafa Ali as special guest referee): Wes Lee (c) vs. Tyler Bate
  • Dana Brooke vs. Cora Jade
  • NXT Tag-Team Title No. 1 Contender Match: Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs vs. Tank Ledger & Hank Walker vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe
  • NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and Baron Corbin going face-to-face
  • Thea Hail Pep Rally

Gable Steveson Reportedly Intends To Use Final Year Of NCAA Eligibility

A new article from FloWrestling states that Gable Steveson has confirmed he intends to return to NCAA competition next year.

Steveson won national titles while attending the University of Minnesota in 2021 and 2022 before retiring from NCAA competition to focus on his career with WWE, with whom he signed a Next In Line deal in 2021.

After making a few appearances on WWE programming, Steveson recently returned to freestyle wrestling this past spring, competing at the US Open and Final X.

Scheduling details are reportedly still being sorted out with WWE, but with 2021 not counting toward his eligibility due to circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Steveson does have one final year remaining as noted on his UMN roster page.

Source: WrestleView

CM Punk Rumored To Be At This Week’s AEW Dynamite, Not The Elite

After making his return to the ring on Saturday night, CM Punk is now rumored to show up again this Wednesday on “AEW Dynamite,” per Fightful Select.

Punk turning up on Wednesday is not officially announced, but as of this past weekend those close to Punk had claimed he was planned to be part of the June 21 show, which also happens to be in Chicago. However, his possible appearance seems to mean that The Elite will not be present, as they’re not expected to be in Chicago later this week, which was also the case this past Saturday. 

“AEW Dynamite” takes place at the Wintrust Arena on Wednesday, but Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks have reportedly already done pre-tapes to ensure that they’re still part of the show without being in the arena physically. This will allow their angles to continue progressing with the trio currently feuding against Blackpool Combat Club while Omega has issues with Konosuke Takeshita and Will Ospreay as well. 

It has previously been reported that Punk and The Elite will be getting kept separate following their long-standing issues following the infamous ‘Brawl Out’ situation. There have been conflicting claims regarding a brand split, but it appears that Punk could end up floating between both shows, even though he is being pushed as the face of “Collision.” WBD officials have been expecting Punk to be part of “AEW Dynamite,” which could be why he is turning up. 

During his promo segment on Collision, Punk took a not-so-subtle shot at The Young Bucks by saying that Warner Bros. Discovery President David Zaslav nicknamed him “one bill Phil,” due to the fact that he was authentic and draws money, unlike some “counterfeit bucks.” Punk seemed to give a mock apology by saying he is a “money maker” who isn’t “soft.” Punk said the money he makes isn’t “counterfeit bucks.”

Punk referred to the fact he never officially lost the AEW World Championship during his return promo on “Collision,” referencing current champion MJF in the process. Therefore that could be part of his appearance, meanwhile, AEW could look to set up a match for him at the upcoming AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door event, with a dream match against KENTA being something that fans have speculated about.

Sources: Wrestling Inc. and eWn