Tag: Buddy Matthews

Opening Bell: Women’s tag titles on the line on Raw, Orange Cassidy defends again on Dynamite

Get set for the week in WWE and AEW with Opening Bell: quick previews of Raw, SmackDown, Dynamite and Rampage.

Welcome to the Opening Bell, where we round up what’s been announced for WWE (Raw and SmackDown) and AEW (Dynamite and Rampage) programming for the week we’ve just begun.

WWE Raw preview – Monday, April 10, Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle

It’s interesting that Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were in the Fatal 4-way tag team match at WrestleMania, lost, and now … are getting a shot at the titles. It’s not just us, right?

That’s exactly what’s happening this week on Raw. Becky Lynch and Lita (and especially Becky) seem to have put Damage CTRL behind them, and will now get down to the business of defending their titles. We’ll see if they can walk out of Seattle still the champs.

Cody Rhodes was all set to continue his quest to dethrone Roman Reigns, even looking like he got a new ally against the Bloodline in Brock Lesnar. That turned out to be fool’s gold when Lesnar attacked him instead of teaming with him, so the American Dream will appear on Raw to reveal his next move.

And Matt Riddle will return to in-ring action for the first time in months. His opponent will be The Miz, who seems like he’s be a challenge, but considering he lost WrestleMania matches to both Pat McAfee and Snoop Dogg, it’s fair to say the A-Lister isn’t exactly on a roll right now.

AEW Dynamite preview – Wednesday, April 12, UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Milwaukee

The irony of Orange Cassidy being the King of Sloth Style and then defending his title darn near every episode of AEW programming never ceases to amaze us. He’ll do it again in Milwaukee, this time trying to stop the House of Black’s Buddy Matthews from becoming a double champ.

Chris Jericho knows more than his fair share about gold, though there’s no titles on the line for his match against Keith Lee. Just, you know, Lee is a very big man who might do some real damage to him, so there’s that.

After merging his Mogul Affiliates with The Embassy, you might think Swerve Strickland has more than enough hands available to do his dirty work. But he’s still willing to take care of matters himself when needed, which is why Swerve will step in against Darby Allin in Milwaukee.

Also on the Dynamite card this week:

WWE SmackDown preview – Friday, April 14, Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, NE

SmackDown rolls into Lincoln this week with a man in action that somehow didn’t get to perform at WrestleMania, LA Knight. Maybe he should change his name to Lincoln Knight. Actually, that’s a horrible idea, but he will be wrestling under his current name this Friday against Xavier Woods. Yeah!

Also on tap is the return of Shinsuke Nakaumura. There have been whispers of WWE planning on giving him a big push, but those have popped up before and usually not led to much. It will be good to see Shinsuke back, regardless.

AEW Rampage preview – Friday, April 14, UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Milwaukee (recorded April 12)

Hey, hey, hey, what do you say? We say AEW hasn’t announced any matches for this week’s edition of Rampage just yet, so we can’t tell you what to expect.

We can advise you keep an eye on AEW’s social media accounts and Dynamite to find out.

Now the House of Black might really be finished in AEW

With Malakai Black gone and Buddy Matthews apparently stepping away from AEW, the House of Black might be finished.

Can the House of Black survive as an ongoing thing in AEW with just Brody King and Julia Hart? Because if not, it appears the group might be done.

The faction was dealt a big blow when the man from which it took its name, Malakai Black, was reportedly granted a conditional release from AEW. Black confirmed as much in an Instagram post a week ago, flat out saying “I did indeed ask for my release.”

The House of Black went forward, however, with Buddy Matthews and King booked in a tag team match against Darby Allin and Sting that opened the Rampage portion of AEW Grand Slam in New York. The Great Muta assisted Allin and Sting in getting the victory, spitting his iconic green mist into the face of Matthews.

It turns out Matthews was the intentional victim of that spot, as he too is possibly on his way out of AEW. Here’s what Fightful Select had to say about Matthews this weekend:

After this week’s AEW Rampage Grand Slam, Fightful was informed that the Great Muta spot was a way to write Buddy Matthews off television for the time being. We weren’t given context as to whether or not Matthews was being released, but had heard numerous times over the previous couple of months that he’d expressed dissatisfaction regarding his situation

Matthews himself later said at a Fight Life Pro Wrestling show that he needed “to go away for a while” and “recalibrate.”

The common thread between Black and Matthews, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer, is that they both would prefer to be back in WWE but can’t just jump ship due to their AEW contracts.

Meltzer explained on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio:

Like Malakai Black, they both wanted to leave, they want to go to WWE. They’re both under long-term contract, and we’ll have to see how this plays out.

As for King, he seemed to reinforce his status with AEW with one GIF on Twitter on Sunday night.

It will be interesting to see if AEW decides to rebuild the House of Black around King and Hart (who has seemed to find herself creatively since joining the group) by adding new members or gives them a new direction. It wouldn’t be hard to see things going either way, as there are plenty of underutilized talents who could get a boost by joining up, but King also has unrealized potential for a singles push.

If this the end for House of Black, it’s a bit of a bummer because they seemed to have something good going a few months ago but never quite made it past the periphery of AEW’s main event scene. Hopefully, Black, Matthews and everyone ends up where they want to be, professionally and personally.

AEW Rampage quick results: Best Friends bust the Trustbusters

See everything that went down in Charleston with AEW Rampage results for the August 19, 2022 episode.

One good show deserves another, right Charleston?

AEW Rampage was taped on Wednesday night, as it often is, but is certainly worth watching with a pair of championship matches on the card. Not only that, but the AEW World Trios Championship tournament continues as well, with Orange Cassidy and Best Friends in action.

Let’s not waste any time and dive right into the details.

AEW Rampage results in 30 seconds:

  • Claudio Castagnoli throws out an open challenge for his ROH World Championship, and it’s answered by Dustin Rhodes, who talks about the history the two men have together before the champ accepts
  • Ruby Soho says she and Ortiz have been chomping at the bit to get their hands on , and it a
  • Swerve In Our Glory def. Private Party by pinfall to retain their AEW World Tag Team Championship, then take part in a show of mutual respect afterward
  • QT Marshall says he isn’t worried about what Powerhouse Hobbs has planned for The Factory, but promises the man in person that his group will take our Ricky Starks
  • Zack Clayton cuts a promo ahead of his FTW Championship shot, calling himself the biggest star on the show in a “disgusting state” like West Virginia
  • Hook def. Zack Clayton by submission in a matter of seconds to retain his FTW Championship
  • Matt Menard and Angelo Parker ponder what it would be like if the FTW Championship was held by a sports entertainer
  • Billy Gunn says the Ass Boys opened the door for him to spank their asses, and he’s bringing friends to help him … in the form of The Acclaimed
  • Buddy Matthews def. Serpentico by pinfall, then battles Miro after The Redeemer drops off Malakai Black’s mask on the ramp
  • Dr. Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter can’t think of a more toxic tag team in pro wrestling than ThunderStorm, and say they’ll be watching and waiting for whoever emerges from their rematch
  • Athena def. Penelope Ford by pinfall, but gets attacked by The Baddies afterward, and Jade Cargill attacks her with a sledgehammer
  • Ricky Starks says he has a whole lot to say and will do it next Wednesday on Dynamite
  • Best Friends and Orange Cassidy def. The Trustbusters by pinfall in an AEW World Trios Championship tournament match, with a special guest assist from Danhausen