Also on AEW Collision, Thunder Rosa made her return to form a surprising alliance.
We’re getting down to the nitty gritty in the Continental Classic tonight on AEW Collision. For the Blue League, especially, several competitors are in must-win situations, particularly Eddie Kingston.
Maybe he wouldn’t be under so much pressure if he wouldn’t have put both of his titles up for grabs in this tournament, but he did and there’s no going back now. To get them back and become the first ever AEW Continental Champion too, he’s got to go on and win it all.
Kingston made that more difficult for himself by losing his first two round robin matches, but a victory over his archrival Claudio Castagnoli kept him alive. Kingston will need to win against Brody King tonight to still have a chance, and as luck would have it, Castagnoli is in the very same boat against group leader Andrade El Idolo.
All of which is to say that this is an important night in the Continental Classic, and there’s also a title defense by Orange Cassidy, always a good time. Let’s do this.
AEW Collision Winter is Coming results from Garland, Texas:
Claudio Castagnoli def. Andrade El Idolo by pinfall in a Continental Classic Blue League match, utilizing a low blow while the ref is distracted to set up the finish, and Claudio stays alive to advance from the Blue League
A highlight/promo video combo takes us back through the Continental Classic Gold
Abadon def. Jazmin Allure by pinfall in a quick squash match, but …
After the match, Julia Hart appears to taunt Abadon with the TBS Championship again, and when Abadon decides to just attack Hart, Skye Blue comes to the ring and helps Hart; in turn, Abadon gets some unexpected assistance from a returning Thunder Rosa, and Abadon shakes Rosa’s hand after they clear the ring
Renee Paquette gets a word with The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass, who are pretty mad about getting attacked by the Devil and his goons a few weeks ago; Top Flight and Action Andretti stop by to issue a title challenge, and since the champs are in a fighting week, they accept for next week
Orange Cassidy def. Bryan Keith by pinfall to retain the AEW International Champion
Miro says he’s done avoiding people to please his wife and is ready to kill everyone
Roderick Strong says he thinks he’s found his next “victim” in Komander
FTR dares the House of Black to come out and face them, accusing the House of jealousy of their extended run of tag team success; Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews appear on the big screen to repeat the claim that no one in the back will save them and only the House loves Cash Wheeler, and they punctuate their point by burning a picture of Dax Harwood, his wife and his daughter
A hype video promotes the recent run of Keith Lee, including his assertion that Shane Taylor was not “him”
Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale def. Diamante and Mercedes Martinez in a wild Texas Street Fight that is the wildest AEW women’s division match in some time
Paquette talks to “Timeless” Toni Storm and Mariah May, with the latter ending up disappointed that the former says she’s too busy to watch her debut match
Brian Cage def. Kari Wright by pinfall in a quick squash match
Cage and the Mogul Embassy (sans Swerve Strickland) are in a celebratory mood, but Keith Lee tells them they they can tell “him” that his patience is running out; hmm …
Eddie Kingston def. Daniel Garcia by pinfall in a Continental Classic Blue League match
Bryan Danielson def. Brody King by pinfall in a Continental Classic Blue League match
Some intriguing matches also got set up for Dynamite and Final Battle on AEW Collision this week.
Saturday night’s alright for fighting, and tonight, it’s more than alright for fighting in a tournament. The Blue League of the Continental Classic takes center stage tonight on AEW Collision from Erie, Penn.
Most notably, Bryan Danielson makes his debut in the Classic as he’s only recently been cleared to compete. He’s back now, and he can compound the misery of one Eddie Kingston by beating the Mad King tonight.
Maybe Eddie is having some remorse over putting both of his championships up for grabs in this tourney, eh?
Get ready, Erie. Here we go.
AEW Collision results from Erie:
Brody King def. Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall in a Continental Classic Blue League match, going to six points after his first two matches
Abadon def. Kiera Hogan by pinfall; after the bell, the lights go out and come back on to reveal TBS Champion Julia Hart standing in the corner, then disappearing when the lights go off and on again
Samoa Joe is interrupted backstage by Roderick Strong, who insists MJF is the Devil and tries to convince him that the tag team match MJF agreed to on Dynamite is a setup; Joe simply laughs and walks away
“SAMOA!!!!!!!!
Joe.”
Despite the severe neck trauma Samoa Joe has inflicted on Roderick Strong, Roddy still wants to offer the former #ROH World TV Champ some advice.
Andrade El Idolo def. Daniel Garcia by pinfall in a Continental Classic Blue League match, sending Andrade to three points and dismaying Matt Menard, who was sitting in with the commentators
Willie Mack throws out a challenge to Wardlow for next week after seeing what Wardlow did to his friend, AR Fox
After the damage Wardlow inflicted on AR Fox last week on #AEWDynamite, Fox’s tag partner, Willie Mack, has challenged Wardlow to a match!
Strong dedicates The Kingdom’s match to his best friend, Adam Cole
The Kingdom def. Iron Savages by pinfall, with Strong getting in a shot after the bell before stumbling back to his wheelchair
Ethan Page says he’s refocused himself and wants to check off a bucket list item, challenging Kenny Omega to a match next week to determine who is the true King of Canada
"All Ego" Ethan Page just threw down an epic challenge to Kenny Omega to determine who is the best Canadian Wrestler!🇨🇦🇨🇦
Next week on #AEWCollision In Montreal – Page versus Omega!
Willow Nightingale and Mercedes Martinez exchange words in recorded promos
Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black def. Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal by pinfall; afterward, FTR hits the ring and violently declines Black’s invitation to join the House of Black, though it ends badly for the top guys and Black mocks them for having no one to come to their aid
Earlier this week, Toni Storm is upset Renee Paquette is interviewing her instead of RJ City, and Storm warns Skye Blue before throwing Renee’s own shoe at her
Feeling upstaged by Skye Blue at her Award Ceremony, Timeless #ToniStorm is ready to get in the ring to defend the #AEW Women's World Championship against @Skyebyee THIS WEDNESDAY on #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS!
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
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”
OK it was a lot of fists and pinfalls as well, but also a romance subplot on this episode of AEW Rampage.
This is like Bizarro AEW this Friday night. Why? Because Rampage is live and Collision will be taped right after it. See? Bizarro!
But that also means the crowd at the Oakland Arena should be hit for this edition of Rampage, because they’re seeing it fresh instead of after two hours of Dynamite. That’s something and can only help what we’re about to watch.
Let’s see how this live hour plays out.
AEW Rampage results from Oakland:
Ricky Starks def. Preston Vance by pinfall with just a tiny bit of help from tag team partner Big Bill, who was on guest commentary; afterward, Rush and Dralistico hustle down to save their teammate
Chris Jericho calls out Konosuke Takeshita ahead of their match in DDT Pro this weekend in Japan, vowing to get his revenge
Don Callis and Prince Nana say they’ve made a deal to have Brian Cage fight alongside Callis’ Family (since Sammy Guevara still isn’t cleared) next week on Dynamite for the Street Fight
Jeff Jarrett takes exception to questions about when Jay Lethal will get his ROH World Championship shot, and Lethal brags about beating Eddie Kingston; Ortiz stops by and proves unafraid of the odds, smacking Lethal and getting saved from certain ruin by a gaggle of refs and officials
Red Velvet def. Ruby soho by pinfall after Ruby gets distracted by flowers being delivered to her during the match (no, really)
Roderick Strong comes out with The Kingdom, insulting Oakland and saying he wants to dedicate the upcoming match to his best friend, Adam Cole
The Kingdom def. Los Suavecitos by pinfall with their new finisher, The Neck Check, and Strong “miraculously” gets out of his wheelchair to hit a Backstabber afterward
Daniel Garcia says he’s sick of being sad, and to cheer himself up, he wanted to challenge someone he has respect for, and he’s decided on Andrade; Soho and Saraya stop by and get into it with Angelo Parker and Matt Menard, and while it seems like Ruby and Angelo are hitting it off, their partner seem to want to keep them apart
Action Andretti and Darius Martin confront The Kingdom, but Strong says Martin will be “his first victim”
FTR def. Komander and El Hijo del Vikingo by pinfall, and the two team show each other respect afterward … but then the lights go out and the House of Black gives them mock applause on the big screen
AEW Collision did a nice job of loading up the next episode of AEW Dynamite.
What do you do when you have a bunch of tag teams whose subplots all kind of overlap? Throw them into one big eight-man tag main event, which is what’s happening tonight on AEW Collision from Wichita.
FTR is still hot for another shot at Big Bill and Ricky Starks, the duo who beat them for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Gates of Agony has been making trouble for FTR and other face teams too … an umbrella that now apparently includes La Faccion Ingobernable.
So yes, all four teams are going to be involved in the last match tonight. Will that settle anything? Probably not. But that’s just how you gotta roll sometimes in wrestling.
There’s some other interesting stuff on the card, beginning with the first match that’s wasting exactly zero time to get started.
AEW Collision results from Wichita:
AR Fox isn’t waiting for the Elton John song to start the show, attacking Swerve Strickland in what passes for a cold open to Collision
Swerve Strickland def. AR Fox by pinfall, after which …
… FTR comes out to brawl with Gates of Agony, and are soon joined by Big Bill and Ricky Starks, as well as La Faccion Ingobernable, and the faces end up clearing the ring as House of Black watches from somewhere in the seats
MJF responds to Daniel Garcia calling him out on Rampage, and he seems OK with it since Garcia is a young guy, but wants to know if he’s getting the professional wrestler or the sports entertainer
More from MJF, who sarcastically congratulates Jay White for pinning him and calls Switchblade a nobody; needless to say, Bullet Club Gold sees that pin somewhat differently, and White says his group has earned the night off but will be back on Wednesday
Kip Sabian is pissed off (his words) at Mark Briscoe, and challenges him to find two partners to face him and The Workhorsemen
Roderick Strong complains that no one is taking neck health seriously enough, but The Kingdom is going to prove it’s important tonight
The Kingdom def. Brixton Nash and Jameson McGregor by pinfall
Briscoe gets an offer from FTR to do double duty and team with him, but Mark says while he appreciates it, he has a couple other guys in mind and will holler at them after the show
Darby Allin def. Lance Archer by pinfall, but Jake Roberts says he has more guys to go after him: The Righteous, who distract Darby long enough for Lance to him him with the Blackout
Kris Statlander thanks Skye Blue for doing the right thing, and even though Skye says she only did it for Willow Nightingale, Willow tries to convince Kris that all of them are friends
Things are still very rocky between Skye Blue and TBS Champion Kris Statlander!
Alex Abrahantes is interrupted by Strickland, but Abrahantes takes exception to Swerve’s home invasion of Hangman Adam Page and says Penta will beat some respect into him next week
The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass are ready to celebrate 69 days as trios champs, complete with balloons, streamers and the whole nine yards; Anthony Bowens has a special gift for Max Caster, which turns out to be a video message from MJF saying Caster has earned his respect and he’s starting to like The Acclaimed, but just when the segment looks like it’s going to end …
Bowens & Daddy Ass has a special surprise for Max Caster!
… Dalton Castle and The Boys take the 69 trophy that The Acclaimed had over at the announce table and smash it; that sets off a brawl between the two teams and ends up in a match
The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass def. Dalton Castle and The Boys to retain the AEW World Trios Championship
Andrade El Idolo says he’ll give his answer to C.J. Perry next week, face to face
Next week on #AEWCollision, Andrade El Idolo will answer CJ Perry, face-to-face, on whether he will accept The Hot and Flexible One’s managerial services!!👀
Mark Briscoe, Dustin Rhodes and Keith Lee def. Kip Sabian and The Workhorsemen by pinfall
Briscoe challenges White for his title shot at Full Gear on this coming episode of Dynamite
Willow Nightingale def. Emi Sakura by pinfall
Samoa Joe says he hasn’t heard back from MJF on his offer to watch his back and says the champ will keep enduring the pain he has been; also Lee stops by to challenge him for his ROH World Television Championship on Dynamite
La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush and Preston Vance) and FTR def. Big Bill, Ricky Starks and Gates of Agony by pinfall when Rush pins Kaun, but LFI walks away from FTR without shaking hands afterward
House of Black has a message for FTR on the big screen, but they appear in the ring to deliver it hands on until Blackpool Combat Club’s Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta arrive with a steel chair to drive them off
The AEW tag team champions were the unexpected beneficiary of the return of Malakai Black and company.
It’s not fun to think about, but since Bryan Danielson has said it himself, it’s time to face facts: We won’t have the pleasure of watching the American Dragon in the ring forever. That’s why it behooves AEW to get him in the ring with as many amazing opponents as possible while he’s still around, which is exactly what’s happening on tonight’s episode of AEW Collision in Memphis.
Tony Khan announced a few days ago that he had a dream match lined up for tonight, and while that inevitably led to fans’ imaginations running wild with potential opponents from just about everywhere, it turns out there was one within the company who has been appearing on Collision quite often. That’d be Andrade El Idolo, who has, pretty incredibly, never faced Bryan in a televised match of any kind.
(Seriously, we had our research intern look it up. Just kidding, we don’t have one of those.)
While that bout may just be for the pure in-ring excitement, the rest of Collision looks like it stems from things going on over AEW programming in recent weeks. Eddie Kingston will battle Jeff Jarrett in a Memphis Street Fight, attempting to keep Jay Lethal from earning a shot at his ROH World Championship.
New-ish AEW World Tag Team Champions Big Bill and Ricky Starks will try to remain in that position when they face Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta, while the previous titleholders, FTR, return to action for the first time since losing them. And Action Andretti will try to keep his head attached to his shoulders while staying out of any marital drama as he takes on Miro.
If that weren’t enough for you, be sure to stay tuned afterward as Battle of the Belts VIII presents three championship matches. We’ll get to that in due time, but for now, let’s see what Collision has in store.
AEW Collision results from Memphis:
(please scroll down for full details on any match or segment in bold)
Bryan Danielson def. Andrade El Idolo by pinfall, but Malakai Black appears after the bell and lays out Danielson with a spin kick
Skye Blue def. Hollyhood Haley by pinfall
The Gunns def. Outrunners by pinfall; after the match, the lights go out and the man in the devil mask appears on screen, but doesn’t go after Bullet Club Gold
While Orange Cassidy is being interviewed, Kris Statlander says she needs a pump before her match and squats the interviewer
Jeff Jarrett def. Eddie Kingston by pinfall in a Memphis Street Fight thanks to help from Jay Lethal, Karen Jarrett, Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt (yes, all of them); Lethal will receive a ROH World Championship shot as a result
The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass have to apologize for Max Caster’s behavior but are ready to take down Daniel Garcia, Daddy Magic and Cool Hand Ang on Battle of the Belts
Miro def. Action Andretti by submission in a match that was probably harder than Miro would have figured; C.J. Perry applauds from ringside and Miro decides against beating up Andretti after the bell in what passes as a show of respect from him
Anna Jay seems like she’s still trying to keep the peace between Daniel Garcia and Matt Menard; Angelo Parker and Ruby Soho have an amusing exchange about family problems before Soho says she deserves to be a champion and is willing to challenge any of them
Rush says he’s sick and tired of all the opportunities going to other wrestlers and mad about the company saying he’s too dangerous … to be continued …
Kingston is getting checked out by the trainer but still delivers an angry promo to Lethal, calling him “Jeff Jarrett’s little bitch” and promising to beat Lethal down in front of his mother
FTR vs. Bad Thad Brown and Darian Bengston is interrupted by an attack from the House of Black, who lays out FTR
Big Bill and Ricky Starks def. Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta by pinfall to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship thanks to interference by the House of Black, but …
… when the House of Black tries to press its advantage after the match, the faces get reinforcements: from Bryan Danielson, FTR, and eventually, Jon Moxley, leaving the faces standing over a prone Starks to end the show
Full AEW WrestleDream results from Seattle including title matches, a betrayal and a familiar face from Christian Cage’s past.
What’s in a dream? We’re about to find out, pro wrestling style, thanks to AEW WrestleDream in Seattle.
Tony Khan conceived this new addition to the AEW pay-per-view lineup as a way to honor the great Antonio Inoki, the founder of New Japan Pro-Wrestling who passed away a year ago. While this isn’t a straight up dual-branded PPV with NJPW a la Forbidden Door, there will definitely be some New Japan talent who are prominently featured in the show.
There are also several levels of intrigue around the event. Khan hasn’t been shy about calling WrestleDream the end of one era of AEW and the beginning of a new one, but he has declined to elaborate on what that might mean.
Could there be some debuts? Perhaps. Many fans are anxious to see if WWE Hall of Famer Edge, likely using his real name of Adam Copeland, might show up since his WWE contract has expired. The fact that the main event will feature Darby Allin and Copeland’s longtime friend Christian Cage has only ratcheted up the hype.
Even if no one new shows up, the card should deliver on pure in-ring action as AEW usually does. Let’s see what the night has in store.
AEW WrestleDream Zero Hour pre show results:
Satoshi Kojima, Keith Lee, Athena and Billie Starkz def. Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty), Diamante and Mercedes Martinez by pinfall
Claudio Castagnoli def. Josh Barnett by pinfall; afterward, Barnett gives Claudio a big show of respect afterward and says Inoki-san would be a fan of his, then says he will come after Castagnoli again down the road, to which he says “any time, any place” and pays respect in return
Luchasaurus def. Nick Wayne by pinfall
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and Billy Gunn def. TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Bad Dude Tito) by pinfall to retain the AEW World Trios Championship
AEW WrestleDream results:
(click on ay match with a link for
MJF addresses the crowd, talking about how pissed he is that someone stole his mask and that Adam Cole isn’t here tonight; he also tells The Righteous exactly what he’s about to do to them
MJF def. The Righteous by pinfall to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship
Eddie Kingston def. Katsuyori Shibata by pinfall to retain the ROH World Heavyweight Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship
Kris Statlander def. Julia Hart by pinfall to retain the AEW TBS Championship
Young Bucks def. The Gunns, Lucha Bros. and Orange Cassidy and Hook to win a future AEW World Tag Team Championship shot
Cage and Wayne stomp away on Allin after the bell, but Sting comes down the ramp to make the save, except Luchasaurus arrives to aid the heels, and it looks bad for our heroes …
… until a short film plays that says “Rated R” on a road, bringing Adam Copeland, formerly known as Edge, to the ring; he takes a chair from Wayne and teases a Con-chair-to before using the chair to save the day; Sting and Copeland shake hands as the show goes off the air
During a media call earlier this week, Tony Khan revealed that the plans behind Sunday’s pay-per-view began back on Oct. 1 of last year, when he heard that legendary wrestler and founder of New Japan Pro Wrestling Antonio Inoki had passed away at the age of 79.
Khan told the media that he took a mental note of the date and immediately began the ideation process of putting on a tribute show with New Japan to honor Inoki. The result is WrestleDream.
The last time AEW did something with a distinct NJPW flavor was the dual-branded Forbidden Door event back in June, which produced some of the best wrestling matches of the year. With a title like WrestleDream, I’d imagine we’ll see more of the same Sunday night.
Here are my predictions for the event:
Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
What is a better way to headline a supposed dream card than with a dream match between two of the best technical wrestlers in the world?
When matches like this come around, fans usually cheer for both participants because they are so happy to see the match become a reality. However, I believe that can take away from a match.
Danielson and Sabre should have no such issue as it emanates merely two hours away from the former’s hometown of Aberdeen, Wash. With Seattle being Danielson’s surrogate hometown for the evening, I’d imagine most of the fans in the building will be rooting for the hometown hero, which should elevate the match.
When it comes to picking a winner, that’s where things become difficult. Danielson has openly discussed the end of his full-time in-ring career being in the near future, which could lead to him looking for someone to pass the torch to as this generation’s best technical wrestler.
Sabre would certainly fit that bill.
However, because this match takes place in Danielson’s neck of the woods, I believe he will walk away with the victory, sending the fans in Seattle home happy.
Winner: Bryan Danielson
Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Adam Page
The segment between these two on this week’s edition of Dynamite was fantastic, and it added to my own personal excitement to see this encounter.
While that was fun, this is another match that is proving tough to predict. Why? Because both guys need the win.
Sure, Page has been to the top of the mountain before and has been heavily featured in the past, but he hasn’t been involved in a lot of eventful angles lately. A win here could re-energize his momentum and get him back to the top of the card.
However, Strickland has never been given a main event-caliber push, and it was only until recently that he was a consistent presence on the weekly television shows. And some of that credit should go to the hysterically funny Prince Nana.
Not to mention, it has been a while since Strickland picked up a big win. In my opinion, he’s due.
The match itself should be a classic.
Winner: Swerve Strickland
AEW World Tag Team Championship: FTR (c) vs. Aussie Open
Another match, another potential classic for the world tag team titles.
While Aussie Open is a great team, I don’t see a reason to take the titles away from FTR at this point.
Winners: FTR
AEW TNT Championship (2-out-of-3 Falls): Christian Cage (c) vs. Darby Allin
I may not hit on all of my predictions, but if there is one that you can take directly to the bank, it is that Allin will take chances with his body during the match — and some of them will be unnecessary.
I can easily see Cage doing something that would damn near incapacitate Allin, only for it to be used as a means to have the latter come back from behind and win the match.
Winner: Darby Allin
AEW TBS Championship: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Julia Hart
As excited as I am to see the TBS title get some shine on a pay-per-view, I am just as disappointed in the fact that Statlander versus Hart is the only women’s match on this card.
When AEW and New Japan link up, in my eyes, it is a showcase of the best professional wrestling the world has to offer outside of WWE. There are enough great women’s wrestlers out there to warrant putting more than one match on a card of this magnitude. But guess how many women’s matches were on Forbidden Door?
One.
There are enough wrestlers in AEW’s women’s division that would warrant more than one match. But guess how many were on All In, the supposed biggest wrestling show of all time?
One.
Guess how many women’s matches were on All Out?
One.
And no, I’m not counting the pre-show matches. I’m talking about the proper pay-per-view that people pay their hard-earned money to watch.
Somehow, there’s never enough time for more.
Both Statlander and Hart are great wrestlers, and I love seeing the latter’s maturation into someone who has main event potential, but there are more talented wrestlers in AEW’s women’s division. They deserve to be put on this stage as well.
As far as a winner, I’m going with Statlander. I do believe that Hart will have a star-making performance in defeat.
Winner: Kris Statlander
Ring of Honor World & NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata
On paper, this sounds like it should be a banger, but with Kingston recently revealing that he is dealing with a lower back injury that forced him to step away from independent wrestling, I’m not sure what to expect.
Kingston also revealed that he recently signed a four-year extension with AEW. AEW making such a commitment tells me that the promotion is firmly behind Kingston as the ROH champ.
Winner: Eddie Kingston
Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship: MJF (c) vs. The Righteous
As I wrote in a previous column, it would make total sense to have MJF lose to The Righteous and move on from tag team competition since his partner is sidelined with a broken ankle.
Winners: The Righteous
Chris Jericho & The Golden Elite (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) vs. The Don Callis Family (Will Ospreay, Sammy Guevara, & Konosuke Takeshita)
After all of the trouble the Callis family has caused over the last few weeks, my instinct is usually to take the good guys in this situation.
However, I feel like Guevara needs a chance to redeem himself after losing to Jericho at Grand Slam. Sure, he gained some measure of revenge by getting some of his heat back on Jericho after the match.
But I feel like in order for him to get the maximum amount of revenge, he needs to beat Jericho. Maybe that will happen in a one-on-one match one day in the future, but I would make it happen here, and further elevate The Don Callis Family in the process.
Winners: The Don Callis Family
No. 1 contender’s match for AEW World Tag Team Championship: Young Bucks vs. Lucha Bros. vs. The Gunns vs. Orange Cassidy and Hook
Since three of the four teams have already been heavily featured in the past, I’m going to call for the upset and go with the odd couple pairing of Cassidy and Hook to come out on top.
Winners: Orange Cassidy and Hook
Ricky Starks vs. Wheeler Yuta
Yuta is cool and all, but if Starks doesn’t pick up the win here then we have some serious problems.
AEW WrestleDream is a new addition to AEW’s PPV slate for 2023. Take a look at all the matches confirmed for Seattle.
AEW will expand its pay-per-view slate this year with WrestleDream, a pay-per-view held at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Sunday, Oct. 1. The event is to honor Antonio Inoki on the one-year anniversary of his passing, a performer AEW President Tony Khan called “wrestling’s greatest dreamer” when announcing this show at the All Out 2023 press conference.
Though it’s new to the AEW schedule, WrestleDream looks like a worthy addition that could stick around if the company decides to expand to more PPVs each year, as it features some highly anticipated bouts.
Bryan Danielson said on the Sept. 9 episode of Collision that this might be the twilight of his career, and if it is, he wants to go out on a high note. Thus, he challenged Zack Sabre Jr. to a match at WrestleDream, which Khan later said was supposed to take place at Forbidden Door 2022 until an injury to Danielson postponed it.
WrestleDream looks to be a special night for Danielson in front of his hometown fans. If Danielson’s career is winding down, it gives fans more reason to cherish matches like this against Sabre Jr.
WrestleDream goes down on Sunday, Oct. 1. As AEW announces more matches, they will be updated below.
Latest update: Sept. 27, 2023, 9:45 p.m. ET.
AEW WrestleDream 2023 card:
Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Hangman Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland
FTR (c) vs. Aussie Open – AEW World Tag Team Championship match
MJF (c) vs. The Righteous – 2-on-1 Handicap match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship
Chris Jericho and The Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) vs. The Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara and Will Ospreay)
Christian Cage (c) vs. Darby Allin – 2-out-of-3 Falls match for the AEW TNT Championship
Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata – ROH Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship match
Kris Statlander (c) vs. Julia Hart – AEW TBS Championship match
Young Bucks vs. The Gunns vs. Lucha Bros. vs. Orange Cassidy and Hook – Winning team gets a future AEW World Tag Team Championship match
This week’s AEW Collision also saw Ricky Starks escalate things even further with Bryan Danielson and the BCC thanks to some Big help.
If we had a dime for every time some wrestling show was called the start of a new era … well, we wouldn’t have all that much money, because dimes aren’t worth too much in 2023. But we would have a lot of dimes, which isn’t nothing. Yet that actually applies to AEW Collision this week in Cleveland.
An argument could be made that the new, post-CM Punk era of Collision actually started last week, since he was fired the day before. It’s just that Tony Khan was still in full explaining mode that night in Chicago, and though the Young Bucks appeared on that episode, it’s not likely that he had his full plans in place for a brand that was essentially built around Punk.
He’s really gone now, though, so Collision will look different going forward. For tonight, it means settling who’s moving on from the semifinals in the Grand Slam World Title Eliminator tournament. Plus Jon Moxley will defend his AEW International Championship against Action Andretti.
Let’s see how this particular show unfolds.
AEW Collision results from Cleveland:
Jon Moxley def. Action Andretti by submission to retain the AEW International Championship
A video package hypes up Roderick Strong by focusing on (once again) how Adam Cole has turned his back on him after years of friendship and support
Kris Statlander def. Robyn Renegade by pinfall to retain the AEW TBS Championship, but that’s not nearly the most exciting thing about this segment because …
… Jade Cargill returns! Cargill saves Statlander from a post-match attack by Robyn and her sister Charlotte, but she’s definitely doing it because she wants her title back and not because she’s BFFs with Statlander
Renee Paquette talks with Saraya and Ruby Soho, who are both upset about whatever is going on with Toni Storm, while Saraya does the usual “I’m going to walk in and walk out with my championship” thing about her next title defense
Tony Schiavone tries and mostly fails to get to the bottom of the ongoing issues between Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli, but the upshot of it is that there will be a match between the two of them for Kingston’s NJPW Strong Openweight Championship at Grand Slam
Bullet Club Gold (Juice Robinson and The Gunns) def. Aerostar, Gravity and Inframundo by pinfall
CJ Perry explains why she’s back to be a manager, and seemingly determined to do so even if Miro continues to turn his back on her
The Acclaimed want to defend the Trios Championship all over the world, but especially in New York
Rey Fenix def. Angelico by pinfall
FTR tell Schiavone that they’ve beaten nearly everyone and need new challengers, and are willing to go the open challenge route to find some
Roderick Strong def. Darby Allin by pinfall in a Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament semifinal after attempts by AR Fox’s attempt to assist Nick Wayne in helping Allin goes awry
A Powerhouse Hobbs video has him talking about taking Miro to his limits (meat!) and that this chapter of the Book of Hobbs isn’t finished yet
Keith Lee advises people on Collision to run
Bryan Danielson comes to the ring to talk to Schiavone, suggesting that this will be the final year of his career but he wants to wrestle Zack Sabre Jr. at WrestleDream; Ricky Starks comes out with Big Bill and says he’s going to be the face of Collision, and just as it seems Danielson might offer Ricky a spot in the Blackpool Combat Club, Starks and Bill jump him, and not even the arrival of Moxley can turn the tide
Schiavone reveals that Big Bill will get a title shot against Mox next week on Dynamite … but Fenix shows up and says he’s next in line after that
Samoa Joe def. Penta El Zero Miedo by submission in a Grand Slam World Title Eliminator Tournament semifinal
