Tag: Blackpool Combat Club

AEW Worlds End 2023 predictions: Who ends the year with a win?

Vaughn Johnson picks winners for all the matches on Long Island at AEW Worlds End.

Alas, we have reached the end of a roller coaster year for AEW with the promotion’s final pay-per-view offering, World’s End.

Will AEW end close out 2023 with a bang, or will it stumble to the year’s finish line?

Let’s run through the show match-by-match and offer some predictions.

AEW All In London results: MJF, Adam Cole prove friendship the real winner at Wembley

Follow along with one of the biggest shows in pro wrestling history with live AEW All In results from London’s Wembley Stadium.

The wait is over, Wembley Stadium. London is playing host to one of the biggest wrestling shows of all time as AEW stages its first ever U.K. event in the most grandiose possible fashion. More than 80,000 fans are expected to experience AEW All In London in person, which is quite the accomplishment for a company that is only a few years old.

It certainly helps that AEW has one of the hottest storylines in all of wrestling going right now to fuel the show’s main event. Adam Cole nearly defeated MJF several months ago for a shot at the AEW World Championship. Then the two men got thrown together unwillingly as a tag team.

Instead of being a disaster, it turned into an unlikely bonding experience where MJF embraced his face side, and Better Than You, Bay Bay was born. The two friends have experienced moments of tension at times but always ended up hugging it out.

That ends tonight, when they’ll meet for the world title at Wembley (though not before teaming to try for tag team gold first). Will one of them finally turn on the other with the stakes this high? It should be very entertaining to find out.

The All In card is also loaded to the hilt with other championship matches (four more besides the main event), a Tag Team Coffin match, and the spectacle that is Stadium Stampede. Plus the man who might be the best wrestler on the planet right now, Will Ospreay, will take on an icon in Chris Jericho.

We’re certainly envious of everyone in attendance in London. Here we go.

AEW All In London results:

(click on any match with a link for full details)

AEW Rampage results 08/04/23: Tearing up the parking lot

Best Friends took on Blackpool Combat Club in a Parking Lot Fight. See how it turned out in our AEW Rampage results.

(When I’m with you … apologies to *NCYNC.)

Settling things in the ring? Anyone can do that. Settling beefs in the parking lot? Now you’re talking Best Friends’ language.

The problem is, even though they know their way around a Parking Lot Fight, they’ve never had one against the Blackpool Combat Club, a group that lives and breathes violence.

That could prove to be a big difference in the Parking Lot Fight tonight in the main event of Rampage. Or they might rally to the moment, but there’s only one way to find out: We need to dive into this episode.

Let’s do it.

AEW Rampage results:

  • Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy and Keith Lee vs. The Butcher, The Blade and Kip Sabian
  • The Kingdom explains its history with Adam Cole and says his recent behavior is typical, forgetting who his real friends are
  • The Young Bucks say it’s important for them to get back to the tag team division, and to that end, talk to the Hardys about a battle for brother tag team supremacy this coming week on Dynamite
  • Anna Jay def. Skye Blue by submission
  • Kris Statlander does an interview while squatting Renee Paquette
  • Despite losing Pac to injury again, the Lucha Bros. have challenged the winners of tonight’s main event to a match on Dynamite
  • AR Fox and Swerve Strickland def. Local Talent by pinfall
  • QTV brainstorms ideas on who to feud with next
  • Big Bill and Brian Cage tell FTR to kiss their titles goodbye on Collision on Saturday night
  • Blackpool Combat Club def. Best Friends by pinfall in a Parking Lot Fight that features Wheeler Yuta and Orange Cassidy getting involved and the sad demise of Trent’s mom’s van

AEW Dynamite preview 07/12/23: Blood and Guts mystery members revealed

Tournament action will also be a big part of the AEW Dynamite show from Saskatoon.

Blood and Guts is a big deal. That’s why it’s somewhat surprising that both sides in its upcoming 2023 edition, Blackpool Combat Club and The Elite, are one man short. It was unavoidable, alas, due to injury, but AEW has turned the situation to its advantage as one of the big talking points for tonight’s episode of Dynamite in Saskatoon.

With Bryan Danielson out, the BCC side needs another pretty big name. The world will be watching to see if that turns out to be Chris Jericho after his recent discussions with Don Callis — and even more, Jericho not just telling Callis to go pound sand right away.

As for The Elite, Kenny Omega and company would have needed an extra hand regardless. Might it be someone from Kenny’s past who will answer the call?

Dynamite will also offer a glimpse into the future too. Nick Wayne has been getting rave reviews for his work at a young age, so young that he had to wait until he got a little older before he could start in AEW. His time has finally arrived, and he’s going to get a true baptism by fire when he faces Swerve Strickland.

On top of that, there’s tournament action aplenty. We’re talking two matches in the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament, including the latest comedy stylings of MJF and Adam Cole, and a showdown between Ruby Soho and Skye Blue in the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament.

So that sounds like a full slate for Saskatoon, no question. Tune in tonight at 8 p.m. ET on TBS to see who emerges victorious, as we’ll be watching as well.

AEW Dynamite results 06/28/23: MJF, Adam Cole play odd couple, Sting takes flight

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite from Hamilton will also see Chris Jericho and Sting in the ring together again, plus The Elite in action.

The “can they coexist?” bit has become so well-worn in storylines by the biggest U.S. wrestling promotion that it’s almost self-parodying at this point. Not so much for AEW, but it’s leaning into that vibe hard for what should be one of the more notable parts of tonight’s episode of Dynamite from Hamilton, Ontario.

MJF successfully made it out of Forbidden Door with the AEW World Championship still around his waist. Adam Cole would like to change that status quo, and is seeking a title rematch after taking MJF to a time limit draw a few weeks ago.

The problem is that AEW is also having a tag team tournament where the pairings are decided by a blind draw (wink, wink), and wouldn’t you know it, the first two names picked were MJF and Cole. The two men can’t stand each other and would love nothing less than to rearrange the other’s facial features, but for the time being, they need to work together.

OK, need is a strong word. They can certainly throw down if they want, but the guess is that if they do, it will prevent them from getting what they truly desire. We should find out more on that score tonight.

Elsewhere, there’s going to be a strong Forbidden Door fallout vibe in Hamilton. Tomohiro Ishii is still in Canada, and will tangle with Jon Moxley. The Young Bucks and Hangman Adam Page, or the Hung Bucks if you like that kind of humor, will be in action. Plus Chris Jericho and Sting will be in the ring on opposite sides of a match for the second time in less than a week after somehow not doing that for decades.

Time to dive into Dynamite.

AEW Dynamite results from Hamilton:

Jon Moxley def. Tomohiro Ishii by pinfall

No fooling around for these two gents, who just go right at each other, smash-mouth style. The Blackpool Combat Club is ringside to support Mox, but Eddie Kingston shows up before the picture-in-picture segment wielding  chair to deter any hijinks.

Ishii takes a nasty shot later that still probably isn’t quite as ridiculous as the one he took from Konosuke Takeshita at Forbidden Door. Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli aren’t taking their eyes off each other on opposite sides of the floor.

They eventually end up head butting each other bloody, because of course. Moxley finally wins with a Death Rider, but it took a huge effort.

Renee Paquette catches Adam Cole on his way into the arena, but he’s soon joined by an enthusiastic MJF, who says he thinks they got off on the wrong foot. To that end, he asks Cole if he wants to hang out this weekend, and even presents some “tag merch.” Heh.

Paquette asks Moxley what is going on and tries to play peacemaker when Kingston comes looking for him. It’s a serious yelling match, and Renee gets in the last word, telling Kingston he better fix this.

Orange Cassidy, El Hijo del Vikingo and Keith Lee def. Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard and Angelo Parker by pinfall when Lee pins Menard

There’s a peek at how this particular face trio came together, but honestly, does it matter? It’s just a fun trio. Also, Garcia teases his dance but doesn’t do it, but since fans dislike his dance, wouldn’t the heel play be to do it? Please ponder that.

Vikingo’s craziest dive to the floor hits only Lee, who picks him up and uses him as a weapon, then hurls him to the turnbuckles. He misses whatever he was going to try as he slips, but still launches into a moonsault.

Poor Daddy Magic ends up alone with Lee a little later, and welp.

The Elite wants to do a trios open challenge, and Hangman Adam Page is caught off guard when the Dark Order is upset that he ghosted them and wants to be their opponents tonight.

Chris Jericho says he and Sting in the ring together should be on TBS and should be commentated by Tony Schiavone. He also says it’s time to get into the “primordial ooze” of Jericho and summon the Painmaker. Sammy Guevara looks less enthused about the whole thing.

The Elite def. Dark Order by pinfall when Hangman Adam Page pins John Silver

Page looks conflicted, saying “we don’t have to do this.” No one does that emotion in pro wrestling like he does. When he finally becomes the legal man, he has a discussion with John Silver but finally gets hit in the face, and instead of punching back, he tags Matt Jackson in.

But Evil Uno finally pushes Hangman too far, and he comes in firing. The announcers note that Dark Order has no issues taking it to their friend as they’re trying to get the win. Page hesitates again when he has a chance to hit the Buckshot on Silver and nearly gets pinned. But he pulls it together to hit the Deadeye, and after a BTE Trigger by the Bucks, he finishes Silver with a Buckshot … and looks like he’s apologizing afterward, but …

… the Blackpool Combat Club invades the ring with chairs after the bell, and the Dark Order doesn’t stick around to help. Eddie Kingston tries, but he’s soon in as much trouble as The Elite. Page is bloodied as Konsuke Takeshita arrives to assist.

Moxley gets on the mic and says it’s time to end this: July 19, Boston, Blood and Guts.

A video package shows the contestants in the Men’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament talking about their first round opponents.

Cole tells a concerned Roderick Strong that he’s just playing along with MJF, who comes to scoop him up for “party time.”

“JungleHook was special because of me.” Jack Perry is now definitely a heel since he’s running down the fans and bragging about his bedroom exploits. Perry asks if he turned on Hook or everyone turned on him, and I think we know where he’s headed with this.

He calls Hook an entitled, second-generation prick and mocks the FTW Championship. Hook finally has enough and heads down the ramp, so Perry flees for the back.

With Hook in super hot pursuit, Perry leaps headfirst into the back of a waiting SUV, barely escaping what is almost certainly going to be an ass whooping.

Ruby Soho def. Alexia Nicole by submission

This was supposed to be Soho’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament match against Britt Baker who is out with illness. This … is not that, and Soho gets a quick tapout by using Baker’s own Lockjaw.

The Outcasts spray paint the ‘L’ on poor Nicole, and Soho blames Canada like South Park once did for Baker getting sick. Ruby mocks Baker and Adam Cole a bit more and vows to leave Britt nothing after defeating her.

QTV touts the arrival of Johnny TV, and Hayley Cameron does a poor impression of Brother Zay.

Darby Allin and Sting def. “The Painmaker” Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara by submission in a Tornado tag match as Sting makes Jericho tap out to the Scorpion Deathlock

Guevara enters separately and to his own music, something he teased last week. Jericho has a special entrance and what looks like glow in the dark makeup as the Painmaker, and before anything too crazy starts going down, he and Sting have a duel with their respective baseball bats.

Sting and Allin slowly gain the advantage, setting up two tables on the floor as both of the faces scale a ladder in the ring. It’s not Darby but Sting who makes the jump, and he barely makes it to send Guevara through the first table but looks like he lands hard in the process.

Despite Allin using his skateboard, Jericho is able to send Darby to the floor with a Judas Effect. Sting tries sneaking up on the Painmaker form behind, but Jericho puts him in the Walls of Jericho. There are no rope breaks, but Sting crawls and gets his bat, using it to break the hold.

A bloody Painmaker takes a Stinger Splash but answers a second with a Codebreaker. But the Judas Effect is countered with a Scorpion Death Drop that somehow only gets two.

Jericho tries another Codebreaker, but Sting sees it coming and applies the Scorpion Deathlock, and since the show is now in an overrun, the Painmaker taps and Dynamite quickly says peace.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 results: All the winners from Toronto

AEW and NJPW come together once again for Forbidden Door. See who had their hands raised in Toronto.

It’s time to see which side of the Forbidden Door reigns supreme.

For the second straight year, AEW and NJPW are coming together to do something that only a few years ago would have been unthinkable, putting some of the top pro wrestling stars from North America and Japan (and all around the world, frankly) together on one massive card.

Following the success of the first Forbidden Door last year in Chicago, the sequel is coming to us from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. If anything, the card for 2023 looks even better than the original, with most of both companies’ big stars participating.

The night will start and end with big matches. The AEW World Championship is on the line right off the bat, with MJF (reluctantly, as is his wont) defending his title against the Ace of New Japan, Hiroshi Tanahashi. The main event is a dream meeting between two of the very best wrestlers on the planet over the last 10-15 years, Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada.

Yet neither may be the best bout of the night. That honor could very well go to a rematch of a pairing that many consider a top candidate for match of the year, Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay. The two men absolutely thrilled during their first meeting at Wrestle Kingdom in January, where Omega prevailed. Ospreay will pull out all the stops to get his win back, and there’s no reason to think the result won’t once again be spectacular.

We’ll be updating this post in real time as the action plays out.

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 results from Toronto:

(click any match with a link for full details)

Forbidden Door 2023 predictions: Who will win each match in Toronto?

Who will come out on top when AEW and NJPW come together once again in Toronto for Forbidden Door 2023?

While All Elite Wrestling treats a drama-free work environment like its own forbidden door, the actual Forbidden Door event looks to be the best pro wrestling show of the year on paper.

The card has a little bit of everything. It’s got a dream match between Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada. It also features a grudge match between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay. We’ve even got arguably Japan’s biggest star going against AEW’s young sensation.

And yes, it even has CM Punk, who missed last year’s event due to injury. The show has got it all, and the backstage drama could make an unwanted cameo, too.

With that said, here are my predictions for the event, which emanates from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto:

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay

The first encounter between these two (Wrestle Kingdom 17) was arguably the best match of 2023 to this point, and it took place all the way back on Jan. 4. I have no reservations in believing that they will do everything in their power to top that at Forbidden Door.

As far as a winner, I’m going to go with Ospreay to regain the title he lost back in January. Ever since Omega left New Japan Pro Wrestling and joined AEW, Ospreay has been one of the people in line to replace him as the promotion’s top foreigner. Whether he has succeeded in filling Omega’s shoes is up for debate.

However, Forbidden Door presents an opportunity for Ospreay to not only win back the title he lost at Wrestle Kingdom, but also put the world on notice that he is indeed capable of fulfilling the role Omega once held and thrived in.

By the way, I have a not-so-sneaky suspicion that Don Callis will have some involvement in the outcome.

Winner: Will Ospreay

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

If there is one match I have to watch on this show, it’s this one. Before this match was announced, it had never occurred to me that Danielson and Okada never had a match together — and that I also wanted to see it so very badly.

The story tells itself: Danielson is widely regarded as the best technical wrestler in the world. Okada, while not quite as technical as Danielson, can lay claim to being simply the best all-around wrestler on the planet given his classics with Omega and others. These two worlds collide (no pun intended) on Sunday, and it should make for an absolute classic.

So who will win this match? For me, this is one of those proverbial toss-ups. You really can’t go wrong either way, but my gut is telling me that Danielson will pull off the victory.

Winner: Bryan Danielson

AEW World Championship: MJF (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

MJF has had some pretty big matches during his short career, but I believe Hiroshi Tanahashi represents his biggest contest to date.

MJF, as he has reminded everyone on many occasions, has proven that he can hang with the best in the world time and time again. But I’m not sure he has faced someone with both the star power and the longevity like Tanahashi. Yes, MJF has gone up against the likes of Danielson, CM Punk and Chris Jericho, but none of them were the face of a major promotion for as long as Tanahashi was with New Japan.

MJF has many feathers in his cap, but I believe beating Tanahashi will be the biggest.

Winner: MJF

AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Willow Nightingale

Since Toni Storm recently won the title, I’m going with her to retain. However, I think Willow Nightingale will put on a star-making performance in defeat.

Winner: Toni Storm

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Sanada (c) vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry

No matter who Sanada faced in this match, I was probably going to pick him to retain. Seeing that his opponent was going to be Jack Perry only confirmed my thoughts. Nothing against Perry, who I am a big fan of, but I could not imagine New Japan putting its top title on him at the moment.

Winner: Sanada

Men’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament (Quarterfinal): CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima

According to reports, Punk was originally scheduled to face KENTA in what would have been another dream match over the who is the master of the GTS.

However, that never came to fruition and in steps Satoshi Kojima, who is a tremendous replacement.

Regardless of whether it was KENTA or Kojima, I’m still picking CM Punk to win and advance in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.

Winner: CM Punk

10-man tag: The Elite, Eddie Kingston and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Blackpool Combat Club, Konosuke Takeshita and Shoto Umino

This match feels like it will be pure chaos. When the dust settles, however, I think the bad guys come away with the win mainly because I think AEW wants to maintain the momentum the Blackpool Combat Club has built up in recent months.

Winner: Blackpool Combat Club, Konosuke Takeshita and Shoto Umino

Six-man tag: Le Suzuki Gods (Chris Jericho, Minoro Suzuki and Sammy Guevara) vs. Sting, Darby Allin and ???

As of this writing, it has not been confirmed who Sting and Darby Allin’s partner. However, that will be unveiled on the second episode of Collision Saturday night.

Regardless of who the mystery partner is, I’m going with the good guys with this one.

Winner: Sting, Darby Allin and their mystery partner

AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Orange Cassidy has found miraculous ways to retain his title, and I think his run of good fortune continues at Forbidden Door. Although the outcome feels like more of the same, I believe this is a match that could steal the show.

Winner: Orange Cassidy

Adam Cole vs. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor

SPOILER WARNING IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED RAMPAGE YET …

… but Tom Lawlor shows up on the show and attacks Adam Cole, setting up a match between them at Forbidden Door.

Lawlor is great, but I have no reason to expect Cole to take a loss in this one on his way to getting another match with MJF.

Winner: Adam Cole

Women’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament (Quarterfinal): Billie Starkz vs. Athena

This may be a nitpick in some people’s eyes, but I think it would have been nice to get this onto the main card instead of the pre-show. Obviously, something has to be on the pre-show, but the main card currently features only one women’s match.

Shoving the other women’s match to the pre-show is a move fans lambasted WWE for routinely doing just a couple of years ago.

No one can make the excuse that there just isn’t enough time. AEW’s pay-per-views typically run well over three hours because everyone is trying to have their own mat classic, which can make for a lot of great wrestling, but it typically comes at the expense of the women’s roster.

I feel like AEW’s women’s division is deep enough to have two matches on every pay-per-view, and if that means having a men’s match on the pre-show then so be it. If that meant putting the International title match (for example) on the pre-show, then so be it.

As far as the winner, I’m going to roll with the Ring of Honor women’s champ.

Winner: Athena

AEW Dynamite results 06/21/23: Leave the (Forbidden) Door open

Chicago hosts the final AEW Dynamite before Forbidden Door, and we’re tracking the action live.

We’re just four days away from Forbidden Door 2023, where the worlds of AEW and NJPW will once again collide, this time in Toronto. But unlike last year, tonight’s final AEW Dynamite before the supershow isn’t even the go home show.

The arrival of Collision has seen to that, giving Tony Khan and the brain trust behind the collaboration time to add matches almost literally right up to the last minute. That said, there should definitely be more pieces of the Forbidden Door puzzle that fall into place tonight in Chicago, and there will definitely be New Japan talent in the house.

Two of the promoted matches for tonight are proof of that. One will see Orange Cassidy and Katsuyori Shibata team up to tangle with Zack Sabre Jr. and Daniel Garcia. There’s a pretty decent chance this tag team bout is going to set up Cassidy vs. ZSJ in Toronto, a matchup yours truly would love to see.

In trios action, Minoru Suzuki will once again align himself with Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara. But things have changed since last year, as Suzuki no longer has his army behind him, and Jericho and Guevara aren’t exactly best buds these days either.

We will, of course, hear from a number of people, including Bryan Danielson, who has a high profile Forbidden Door match already lined up against Kazuchika Okada, and Adam Cole, who does not. There have also been reports that a certain favorite son of Chicago is in the building and may appear, and if you need me to tell you who that is, congrats on taking your first dive into pro wrestling. Hope you enjoy it enough to stick around.

Let’s dive into it, shall we Chicago?

AEW Dynamite results from Chicago:

  • The Gunns def. The Hardys by pinfall after a distraction from Bullet Club Gold, who proceed to help beat down Jeff and Matt after the bell; Ricky Starks and FTR join the fray on the side of the fan favorites, as does … CM Punk, who helps clear the ring and says the two groups can settle things in the ring on Collision

  • A video package promotes the Concession Stand Brawl between Jeff Jarrett and Mark Briscoe, which is well timed because it leads right into …
  • Jeff Jarrett def. Mark Briscoe by pinfall in a Concession Stand Brawl that sees Sonjay Dutt, Karen Jarrett, Papa Briscoe, Christopher Daniels, Best Friends and Lucha Bros. all get involved

  • Blackpool Combat Club and Konosuke Takeshita challenge The Elite to a 10-man tag (they’ll also have Shota Umino on their team) at Forbidden Door, while Bryan Danielson says he’s going to the ring to call out Kazuchika Okada and that the Rainmaker is a coward if he doesn’t show up

  • Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki def. Action Andretti, AR Fox and Darius Martin by submission when Jericho gets Martin to tap out to the Lion Tamer
  • Renee Paquette talks to the winners after the bell, giving Jericho a chance to call out Sting and challenge him, Darby Allin and a partner of their choice to a match at Forbidden Door; Sting and Allin come to the ring to accept and say they’ll reveal their partner at Collision

  • Tony Schiavone and RJ City kick off the draw for the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament, the brackets for which will be unveiled next week on Dynamite
  • The Elite (in a pre-taped bit, we assume) acknowledge the challenge from the BCC, but they say they have friends all over and a lot of people hate the BCC too … like Eddie Kingston, who also says he’ll pick the fifth member of their team and make the announcement

  • Adam Cole hits the ring to give the Devil his due, admitting that MJF gave him one of the toughest matches of his career last week and calling out the champ to talk rematch; but not only does MJF refuse, Tony Schiavone informs them they’re a tag team for the tournament, but that’s not all …
  • … because Hiroshi Tanahashi appears on the big screen to remind MJF of the challenge the Ace made for Forbidden Door, and Cole manages to goad the AEW World Champion into accepting

  • Daniel Garcia and Zack Sabre Jr. def. Orange Cassidy and Katsuyori Shibata by pinfall as Garcia pins Shibata following a miscommunication by Cassidy and Shibata
  • Alex Marvez catches up with Will Ospreay, who doubles down on his criticism of Canada, to which Don Callis blames Kenny Omega for Will’s troubles and pledges his private security to aid Ospreay
  • Toni Storm disses the people that like Willow Nightingale, who takes the high road and says she respects the champ’s fight; the two women will meet for Storm’s title at Forbidden Door
  • Kris Statlander def. Taya Valkyrie by pinfall to retain the TBS Championship
  • Eddie Kingston says he thinks there’s one member of BCC who might have a problem with him teaming with The Elite, and sure enough, Jon Moxley comes out to confront his old friend before Kingston confirms the fifth member of their team is Tomohiro Ishii; the Stone Pitbull comes to the ring but is waylaid by the BCC, and Danielson’s threats bring Kazuchika Okada to the ring as well, and he gives the Rainmaker to Wheeler Yuta

AEW Dynamite results: The Forbidden Door gets kicked wide open in D.C.

Get live AEW Dynamite results from D.C., featuring MJF vs. Adam Cole and more pieces of Forbidden Door falling into place.

Sometimes you can just feel when wrestling companies want to put their best foot forward, and tonight is one of those nights as AEW Dynamite airs from the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.

Not that Tony Khan isn’t trying to hit every show out of the park, mind you. But with the debut of AEW: Collision this Saturday, followed quickly by Forbidden Door next week, it behooves this particular episode to have that “can’t miss” feeling about it.

Whether it does or not is in the eye of the beholder, but the card looks compelling from here. MJF and Adam Cole will battle in a world title eliminator, and while “beat the champ to get a shot at the champ” matches are sometimes silly, this one appears very legit.

The Blackpool Combat Club and The Elite may literally fight forever at this point, which will be the case again tonight as they meet in trios action. AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends her title against Skye Blue, and Wardlow does the same with his TNT Championship against Jake Hager, and a big eight-man tag team match sees the Mogul Embassy go up against a fan favorite group made up of Darby Allin, Sting, Keith Lee and Orange Cassidy.

Plus Sammy Guevara will be on Dynamite for the first time since his unsuccessful world title bid at Double or Nothing. Add it all up and it has the makings of a very fun two hours, and that’s not even counting the fact that perhaps a NJPW talent or two will drop by.

AEW Dynamite results from Washington D.C.:

  • Adam Cole vs. MJF goes to a 30-minute time limit draw after MJF’s two attempts to cheat both backfire, and Cole has him beaten with the Panama Sunrise only to have the bell ring with the count at two; Cole asks MJF for five more minutes, but the champ takes his title belt and leaves

  • A video package promotes the return of CM Punk at AEW: Collision

  • Sammy Guevara talks to Renee Paquette about the highs and lows of his last few weeks and says he has to make some personal changes; Darby Allin arrives and suggests Guevara needs to leave the Jericho Appreciation Society to reach the next level … which in turn brings Chris Jericho to the ring, demanding an apology; that in turn brings out Sting, who has a brief, tense staredown with Jericho amid suggestions they might all be in a tag team match next week

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada issues an open challenge for his title at Forbidden Door and says he’s anxious to see who from AEW will step up and accept it

  • Darby Allin, Sting, Keith Lee and Orange Cassidy def. Mogul Embassy by pinfall when Sting pins Brian Cage
  • Paquette asks The Gunns about their relationship with Bullet Club Gold, but they play dumb and would rather talk about their challenge to The Hardys for next week … and then they diss Renee’s hair for some reason

  • Wardlow def. Jake Hager by pinfall to retain the AEW TNT Championship, with Brock Anderson helping fend off outside assistance for Hager by the JAS; afterward, Christian Cage and Luchasaurus appear on the screen to accept Wardlow’s challenge on Collision and show that they’ve beaten up Arn Anderson
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi makes a challenge to MJF for Forbidden Door, and Paquette gives the bad news to the AEW world champ backstage and he says he’s not doing it

  • Paquette is talking to Orange Cassidy about what the future holds when Zack Sabre Jr. says it should be the two of them facing off for the AEW International Championship at Forbidden Door; Daniel Garcia arrives as well, so Cassidy says he and Katsuyori Shibata will face ZSJ and Garcia next week on Dynamite

  • Toni Storm def. Skye Blue by submission to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship, with help from the other Outcasts, of course; Willow Nightingale sprints down to prevent a post-match beating
  • “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry tells the very busy Paquette he’s accepting Sanada’s title challenge for Forbidden Door and asks Hook to have his back; Hook looks like he accepts with a fist bump

  • A video package promotes the main event for the debut episode of AEW: Collision on Saturday night
  • The Elite (Hangman Adam Page and Young Bucks) def. Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta) by pinfall as Page pins Yuta, leaving Bryan Danielson on commentary going “you’ve got to be kidding me”
  • After the bell, the BCC attacks The Elite, but Eddie Kingston comes rushing down and goes right after Castagnoli, eventually clearing him from the ring; Kingston and Moxley have a brief showdown and Eddie tries to play peacemaker, but Konosuke Takeshita runs down and attacks Kingston from behind before Kenny Omega joins them and battles Takeshita … but gets assaulted in turn by Will Ospreay, who hits the Stormbreaker on Omega to end the show

AEW Dynamite preview 06/13/23: Preparing for a Collision

AEW Dynamite hits D.C. tonight with two title matches, a title eliminator and much more ahead of the AEW: Collision debut this weekend.

With the debut of AEW Dynamite just days away, you didn’t think the company was going to just phone it in for its existing two-hour show, AEW Dynamite, right? Perish the thought.

The card for tonight in Washington D.C. is, in fact, pretty loaded. It starts with MJF taking on Adam Cole; not for the AEW World Championship itself, but in a title eliminator agreed upon after the two men exchanged pointed insults last week. That means if Cole wins, he gets a shot at the BBB, which is something MJF would undoubtedly prefer to avoid.

Two other titles will be on the line in D.C. Skye Blue won her opportunity to challenge Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s World Championship, but considering how the other Outcasts are always there to back Storm, she may come to regret that unless she has backup of her own. TNT Champion Wardlow, on the other hand, made it clear he’s not done with Christian Cage and Luchasaurus, but his business on this particular evening is with Jake Hager (and his hat), who he obviously can’t afford to take lightly.

And the feud between the Blackpool Combat Club and The Elite rages on, this time in trios form. Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta will go up against Hangman Adam Page and the Young Bucks — you can also call them the Hung Bucks, collectively — in a match that’s sure to be entertaining.

AEW is also promoting that Sammy Guevara will be at Dynamite tonight for the first time since losing his chance at MJF’s world championship. No word on what he’ll be up to, but a thought: He’d be great when matched up against a high flyer from NJPW at Forbidden Door, which is also less than two weeks away.

That’s a lot to cram into two hours (there’s also an eight-man tag we didn’t even get to) but we have faith it’s all going to come together. Check it out beginning at 8 p.m. ET on TBS, or hop back here to Wrestling Junkie as we’ll have live results and commentary.