AEW Dynamite Preview 7/5/2023

AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS and emanate from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

  • Blind Eliminator Tag Tournament Quarterfinals: Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland vs. Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin
  • Blind Eliminator Tag Tournament Quarterfinals: MJF & Adam Cole vs. TBA
  • Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament Quarterfinals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho
  • Kenny Omega vs. Wheeler Yuta
  • We will hear from Chris Jericho
  • Pre-taped segment with Jon Moxley

AEW Collision Preview 7/1/2023

AEW taped tonight’s (7/1) episode of Collision on Thursday night (6/29) at the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

The reason AEW taped this week’s Collision is because July 1 is Canada Day.

AEW will resume live episodes of Collision on Saturday, July 8 at the Brandt Centre in Regina, SK.

Announced lineup for tonight’s new Collision: 

  • Owen Hart Foundation men’s quarterfinal: Samoa Joe vs. Roderick Strong with CM Punk on commentary
  • Owen Hart Foundation men’s quarterfinal: Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Dustin Rhodes
  • Owen Hart Foundation men’s quarterfinal: Ricky Starks vs. Juice Robinson
  • TBS Championship: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Lady Frost
  • MJF makes his Collision in-ring debut
  • Miro in action

AEW Rampage Preview 6/30/2023

AEW has announced the lineup for tonight’s Rampage that was taped this past Wednesday from the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

  • ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Komander
  • Hikaru Shida vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • Shawn Spears vs. The Blade (w/The Butcher)
  • Matt Hardy & Brother Zay vs. QT Marshall & Johnny TV

AEW Dynamite Preview 6/28/2023

AEW Dynamite airs live tonight on TBS from the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

  • Fallout from Forbidden Door
  • Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament first round match: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho
  • Full bracket for the AEW blind eliminator tournament will be revealed
  • Sting & Darby Allin vs. Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara
  • “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry to explain why he turned on HOOK
  • Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii
  • We’ll hear from Adam Cole and MJF

Adam Cole Was Pulled From Forbidden Door Due To Illness

Adam Cole has hit yet another unfortunate bump in the road yesterday as, due to illness, he was not able to compete at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door event. Tony Khan announced the news on Twitter that the match between Cole and NJPW Strong star Tom Lawlor is officially canceled.

Cole’s match against Tom Lawlor was made on Friday’s episode of “AEW Rampage,” when Lawlor and Royce Issacs attacked Cole during the Owen Hart Tournament winner’s segment with AEW World Champion MJF. The soon-to-be partners in AEW’s upcoming Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament remained at odds, and when Team Filthy went after Cole in the ring, MJF took his time to “aid” his unlikely partner in the ring.

This is not the first mishap for Cole when it comes to the annual AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door event, with last year’s show seeing the former ROH World Champion suffer a concussion during his fatal-four-way match against Kazuchika Okada, “Hangman” Adam Page, and Jay White for White’s IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Cole’s absence also means that Tom Lawlor is unfortunately unlikely to be featured on the show in any capacity. The former UFC fighter has been a focal point of the American branch of New Japan Pro-Wrestling since NJPW Strong began in 2020. After his reign as the inaugural NJPW Strong Openweight Champion ended at the hands of Fred Rosser in May 2022, Lawlor went on to compete in the G1 Climax 32, ending with a 3-3 record to claim six points in block competition. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Bryan Danielson Injured At AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door II, Out 6-8 Weeks

Bryan Danielson suffered what is believed to be a fractured right arm at Sunday night’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door II pay-per-view event.

During the post-AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door II media scrum, Danielson revealed that he believes he suffered an arm fracture with about 10 minutes left in the match. The injury will likely require 6-8 weeks of recovery time.

Additionally, Danielson commented on using “The Final Countdown” theme for his entrance. For those unaware, the band Europe charges an arm and a leg to license the theme song so this is likely a one-off deal.

You can check out some highlights from the media scrum below:

On whether “The Final Countdown” will be back as a regular theme: “I think that’s a question for Tony, because they want a zillion dollars per play, so uh, [laughs]. I didn’t even ask for it, to be honest. Tony came up with the idea, I thought it was really cool. And I was legitimately — I was a little bit angry right before I went out there. And then I heard ‘Final Countdown’ play, and it literally just put a smile on my face. I said it out there at the end of the show, but I legitimately don’t think I’ve heard that song since I last came out to it in Ring of Honor.”

On if he’s going to stay more part-time: “I was planning on wrestling on Wednesday this week. I don’t think that’s gonna happen, because in this match specifically, we think I fractured my right forearm with about 10 minutes left to go. So yeah — but talking to our doctors, and I love the AEW medical staff and trainers, they think it’s gonna be six to eight weeks for this specific injury.

“The stuff after Revolution, after the Iron Man match with Max [I] had a torn labrum and some compressed vertebrae and all that stuff. It’s just normal wrestler stuff. I’m fine, but we just thought from a precautionary measure [to hold off]. That’s what I love, I mean I love our medical staff’… we have an incredible training staff and I try to follow their direction.”

Source: eWn

AEW’s Paul Wight: ‘Going To Have Fun With Captain Insano Before I Hang Up The Boots’

After a fan asked current AEW star Paul Wight on Twitter if he was ever going to write a book about being in the pro wrestling business for “nearly 30 years,’ Wight answered that he would, but until he retired. The former WWE superstar, as seen below, also added, that he wants to still have more fun with his character from the 1998 comedy, “The Waterboy” — Captain Insano.

It’s worth remembering that Bobby Boucher’s (main character in “The Waterboy” played by Adam Sandler) favorite wrestler made his first “cameo” on All Elite Wrestling last year. He was part of The Acclaimed’s music video “A Hand for a Hand,” and the music video premiered on the November 16 edition of “AEW Dynamite.”

Wight has not been in the ring since the April 4, 2022 edition of “AEW Dark: Elevation,” when he defeated Austin Green in a little over two minutes. He also did commentary for “Dark: Elevation.” Wight signed with AEW in February 2021. One of his first matches with the company was a win over QT Marshall at AEW All Out on September 5, 2021.

Since joining the promotion, Wight has dealt with a few setbacks — earlier this year, he had knee surgery and had to spend 11 weeks in a wheelchair, as revealed during an interview with the “Metro UK.” Also in that interview, he did confirm that it was a “brand new titanium joint,”  and it’s good for 35 years. Before that, he had been dealing with hip issues.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

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

ZERO HOUR

Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun) (with Prince Nana) def. Chaos (Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta) and El Desperado 

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

El Phantasmo def. Stu Grayson

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Bushi, and Hiromu Takahashi) def. United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, and TJP)

FORBIDDEN DOOR

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

MJF hit a knockout shot on Tanahashi with his ring, enabling him to get the win.

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

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

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

After the match, Jungle Boy makes a surprising heel turn by laying out Hook with a lariat. The crowd in Toronto was livid. Jungle Boy taunts them before holding up the FTW title, dropping it beside HOOK before heading to the back.

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

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

IWGP UNITED STATES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Will Ospreay def. Kenny Omega (c) to become the new IWGP US Heavyweight Champion

Sting, Darby Allin, and Tetsuya Naito def. Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara) and Minoru Suzuki

Jericho stops the celebration early as he attacks Naito with a bat, until Darby and Sting cut him off and send him retreating to the ramp!

Bryan Danielson def. Kazuchika Okada by submission

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