AEW Full Gear 2023 results: MJF, Swerve, Julia Hart big winners in Inglewood

A dramatic journey to the main event and an incredible Texas Death match were highlights from Full Gear.

In pro wrestling, it’s common to talk about someone as champ and another wrestler chasing them. When the main event of AEW Full Gear 2023 hits the Kia Forum tonight, it will be a rare case of one man filling both roles.

MJF is in the midst of an impressive AEW World Championship reign, but he hasn’t actually had his beloved Triple B title belt for some time. That’s because Jay White took physical possession of the championship and simply refused to give it back — and not for MJF’s lack of trying.

One expects that he’ll have to relinquish it if MJF emerges victorious in Inglewood. And considering White is the biggest underdog on the card at places that traffic in betting lines and such, there’s not a whole lot of belief that he’ll get the job done.

Other challengers seem to have better odds. The consensus seems to be that “Timeless” Toni Storm has a good shot at dethroning AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida, especially since Full Gear is being billed as Toni’s “Hollywood Homecoming.” Kris Statlander may be in a precarious situation as well, considering she’s going to be defending her TBS Championship against both Julia Hart and Skye Blue.

Amidst all of that, the most anticipated match of the night may be the Texas Death match between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Adam Page, the latest showdown in a program that has become very personal.

We’re looking forward to the whole Full Gear card, so here we go.

AEW Full Gear 2023 results from Inglewood:

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

  • The broadcast begins with a replay of the end of Zero Hour, where MJF was taken away in an ambulance, making his status for the main event seem uncertain
  • Adam Copeland, Darby Allin and Sting def. Christian Cage, Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne by pinfall in a match that involved Ric Flair taking a low blow and Cage accidentally hitting Luchasaurus with his tile belt and then running out on the match
  • Allin reminds the fans that this could be Sting’s last match ever in California and asks for more applause for the Icon, who returns to the ring to soak it all in
  • Tony Schiavone and Bryce Remsburg call out Jay White and Schiavone is about to say that White will get the world championship by default, but Adam Cole, on crutches, says he will defend it in MJF’s place
  • Orange Cassidy def. Jon Moxley by pinfall to retain the AEW International Championship
  • “Timeless” Toni Storm def. Hikaru Shida by pinfall to become the new AEW Women’s World Champion
  • Eddie Kingston tells Renee Paquette that he wants to up his game, putting both of his titles on the line in the Continental Classic, so the winner will grab both those belts plus the Classic trophy
  • Big Bill and Ricky Starks def. Kings of the Black Throne, FTR and La Facción Ingobernable (Rush and Dralístico) in a Ladder match to retain the AEW World Tag Team championship
  • Julia Hart def. Kris Statlander and Skye Blue by pinning Blue to become the new AEW TBS Champion
  • The AEW blockbuster signing is revealed … and it’s Will Ospreay, who says he’s going to “finish up” with NJPW before joining on “the road to Revolution”
  • Swerve Strickland def. Hangman Adam Page by 10 count in a Texas Death match
  • Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega def. The Young Bucks by pinfall, earning an AEW World Tag Team Championship shot any time they choose
  • MJF def. Jay White by pinfall to retain the AEW World Championship

AEW Dynamite results 06/07/23: Orange still golden, but are The Gunns?

AEW Dynamite from Colorado Springs featured an AEW International Championship match between Orange Cassidy and Swerve Strickland.

Orange Cassidy has been magic during his AEW International Championship reign, defending the belt tirelessly despite the fact that he’d rather not wrestle at all if he had his druthers. But with all due respect to the wrestling maneuver of the same name, Swerve Strickland could be the magic killer tonight on AEW Dynamite from Colorado Springs.

Swerve was popular was a fan favorite but has really seemed to hit his groove since embracing his villainous side, not to mention dropping the dead weight (sorry, but it’s true) that was the Mogul Affiliates and joining forces with The Embassy. If someone is going to end Cassidy’s run prior to Forbidden Door, it could very well be Strickland — plus it would be fun seeing Swerve have to defend the title against someone from NJPW later this month.

Another champ, Kris Statlander, will also be in action tonight. The AEW Women’s World Champion should get a pretty nice contest from Anna Jay, who has been impressive in recent appearances.

We’ll hear from MJF, probably about how he’d prefer not to defend his title at Forbidden Door (though he’ll likely be forced to do so). Tony Khan has an announcement to make about the main event for the first episode of AEW: Collision, coming up ever so quickly on Saturday, June 17. And the ever popular “JungleHook” team of Jack Perry and Hook will join forces once again, which should prove popular with the fans on hand in Colorado Springs.

AEW Dynamite results from Colorado Springs:

  • Orange Cassidy def. Swerve Strickland by pinfall to retain the AEW International Championship
  • The Mogul Embassy heads down to assault Cassidy after the bell, but the lights go out and come back on to reveal that Sting and Darby Allin have cleared the ring
  • A video package hypes tonight’s match between Ricky Starks and Jay White
  • The video from Dominion with Bryan Danielson challenging Kazuchika Okada is shown before he joins the commentary desk
  • Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta) def. Chaos (Rocky Romero and Best Friends) by submission as Moxley gets Romero to tap out
  • Hangman Adam Page and the Young Bucks challenge the BCC to a trios match next week and ask if they can handle it without Danielson or Konosuke Takeshita helping them

  • A video package promotes the rematch between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door
  • MJF is interrupted during his insults of Colorado and its citizens by Adam Cole, who bears the brunt of the champ’s barbs for a bit before firing back and saying no one respects MJF; it seems to have the desired result, as MJF says he’ll wrestle Cole “any day of the week”
  • Matt Hardy says Ethan Page is the newest member of the Hardy party and makes him apologize to Isiah Kassidy, and Matt says he can make Ethan into a better human being

  • Hook and Jack Perry def. Dralistico and Preston Vance by submission in a wild Texas Tornado tag team match that featured plenty of blood, weapons and Jose The Assistant attempting to get involved
  • Tony Khan announces that the main event of the AEW: Collision premiere will pit Jay White and Juice Robinson of Bullet Club Gold and Samoa Joe vs. FTR and CM Punk
  • Konosuke Takeshita def. Damon Ace by pinfall in a quick squash match; afterward Don Callis repeats his assertion that his “new family” is going to cut The Elite out of AEW for good
  • Christian Cage says Arn Anderson cost him a title at Double or Nothing so he’s taking revenge by … having Luchasaurus beat up Brock Anderson, it seems

  • Kris Statlander def. Anna Jay by pinfall to retain the AEW TBS Championship, with Taya Valkyrie looking on backstage
  • Toni Storm talks about the four-way match to determine her No. 1 contender, and she says she and Ruby Soho will be watching
  • Jay White def. Ricky Starks by pinfall after the ref takes a bump and The Gunns hit the 3:10 to Yuma on Starks

AEW Rampage Championship Friday results 06/02/23: Title matches aplenty

See if any of the four titles on the line on AEW Rampage Championship Friday changed hands.

How’s this for a high concept hour of televised wrestling: four championship matches from three different promotions. Oh, and none of them are AEW titles up for grabs. That’s what AEW Rampage is offering this week.

Not what you see every week on this show, which is why it’s being billed as “Championship Friday.” And with talent from NJPW and AAA along for the ride as well, it’s going to be a very interesting and entertaining slate.

So let’s not waste any time and get right into the good stuff.

AEW Rampage Championship Friday results:

  • El Hijo del Vikingo def. Dralistico and Komander by pinning Dralistico to retain the AAA Mega Championship
  • Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett and company can’t believe they might be facing suspensions, but Mark Briscoe says Tony Khan promised there would be no suspensions because then they wouldn’t get the butt kickings they deserve … from Briscoe and Aubrey Edwards
  • Zack Sabre Jr. def. Action Andretti by submission to retain the NJPW World Television Championship
  • Willow Nightingale def. Emi Sakura by pinfall to retain the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship
  • Katsuyori Shibata def. Lee Moriarty by submission to retain the ROH Pure Championship …
  • … but after the match, Daniel Garcia came to the ring to confront Shibata, who simply stared him down and held the title over his head

Opening Bell: Jay White makes Dynamite debut, Trish Stratus explains her turn

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 17, Simmons Bank Arena, North Little Rock, AR

Why, Trish Stratus, why?

That’s what many WWE fans want to know after the Hall of Famer ruined what appeared to be a perfectly good partnership she had going with Becky Lynch and fellow legend Lita. Was it just jealousy over not being part of the tag team champions, or was Trish simply following a precedent from way back? We’ll apparently hear directly from her mouth Monday on Raw.

United States Champion Austin Theory doesn’t need to explain himself at all, given that he’s on a roll that includes a big WrestleMania victory over John Cena. Talking might not be the best idea anyway against his opponent this week, Bobby Lashley. He’s more of an actions over words guy, and besides, they know each other well from previous clashes.

A match that was originally promoted for last week until travel gremlins struck will be back in North Little Rock too. Well, half of it, anyway. The Miz was going to face Matt Riddle last Monday, but now he’s going up against Seth Rollins instead. You decide whether that’s better or worse for the A-Lister.

Last and certainly not least, Brock Lesnar will be back on Raw this week as well. You may recall that Cody Rhodes challenged him to a match at Backlash after the Beast Incarnate decided to beat him down instead of tagging with him against the Bloodline. We’ll miss happy-go-lucky Cowboy Brock, but we’re definitely interested to see what this return to his more vengeful side holds. And Backlash needs a main event, so … yeah.

AEW Dynamite preview – Wednesday, April 19, Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh

Buckle up everyone. Jay White, a.k.a. King Switch, a.k.a. the Catalyst, a.k.a. one half of Bullet Club Gold, apparently, a.k.a. numerous other things, is ready to start making his presence known in AEW. That begins this week when he faces Komander in what looks like a fantastic Dynamite debut.

A championship will also be on the line in Pittsburgh between two large men who still have unfinished business with each other. Powerhouse Hobbs is looking to make the chapter in his book where he’s the TNT Champion a long one, but Wardlow wants that title back around his own waist. Something has to give — hopefully not the ring.

A big tag women’s tag team match is also on the slate. The Outcasts have been running roughshod for weeks, but now they’ve angered their two highest profile foes into a match. Can Ruby Soho and Toni Storm keep their winning ways going against AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker?

And that’s not all. When you tune in for Dynamite Wednesday, you can also expect:

WWE SmackDown preview – Friday, April 21, Value City Arena at The Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH

O-hi-o, you’ve got championship matches incoming this week on SmackDown. Recently crowned Women’s Tag Team Champions Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez will try to make their first title defense a successful one when they face the challenge of Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville.

Gunther has held his Intercontinental Championship a lot longer and fended off a number of different wrestlers with their eyes on his gold. He thinks Xavier Woods is a “goof,” but the last man standing in The New Day will try to show the Ring General he’s a serious threat in Columbus.

On top of those title bouts, there’s a tag team match that figures to be somewhat significant. Braun Strowman and Ricochet got laid out by the Viking Raiders, and they’re not likely to be in a forgiving mood when the two teams meet on Friday night.

AEW Rampage preview – Saturday, April 22, Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh (recorded on April 19)

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about AEW Rampage this week is that it’s not on Friday thanks to the NHL Playoffs. It will air on Saturday at 10 p.m. instead.

That’s pretty late on a different night, but AEW has a heck of a hook to try to get you to watch: El Hijo del Vikingo will defend his AAA Mega Championship against Dralistico. Yes, that’s an insane match to randomly throw on a show that’s on an unusual night, but don’t question it, just roll with it because it’s almost sure to be amazing.