Tag: Sting

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)

AEW Collision results: Toronto isn’t Punk Country (but it does like Naito)

See the final matches and actions of AEW and NJPW’s finest the night before Forbidden Door on AEW Collision.

If someone had come back in time from 2023 to tell a slightly younger version of me that “hey, there’s a second big U.S. wrestling promotion and they work hand in hand with New Japan Pro-Wrestling,” younger me would have thought, “wow, that sounds pretty cool!” And as it turns out, it definitely is, as we’ll see tonight on the second episode of AEW Collision.

As you no doubt are already aware, AEW and NJPW are teaming up for their second annual Forbidden Door supershow Sunday night in Toronto. But as it turns out, a bunch of wrestlers from both companies will also be in action tonight.

One very intriguing crossover match has already captured our imaginations. Swerve Strickland has been superb these last few months as a heel, even though AEW hasn’t exactly booked him toward the top of the card. That hard work pays off on Collision, when he’ll take on none other than New Japan’s Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi. It should be a really fun matchup, to say the least.

The main event has some of the flavor of last week’s, with CM Punk and FTR joining forces once again, this time adding Ricky Starks to the mix. Bullet Club Gold is on the other side for the second straight week as well, bolstered by The Gunns. Could Jay White and company have some other devious tricks up their sleeves? You can’t put it past them.

We’ll also see Miro and Andrade El Idolo, plus another first round match in the Women’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament. Plus Darby Allin and Sting will announce their mystery partner for Forbidden Door. Sounds like a fun two hours, and we’re looking forward to recapping it.

AEW Collision results from Toronto:

  • CM Punk, FTR and Ricky Starks do a cold open of sorts, along with the other side of the main event: Bullet Club Gold and The Gunns
  • Tony Schiavone calls out Darby Allin and Sting, but he gets Chris Jericho instead, flanked by Minoru Suzuki, and they plan on torturing Schiavone to tell them who the mystery partner is; happily for Schiavone, Allin and Sting come out and tell Jericho their partner is someone who already kicked Jericho’s ass … at the Tokyo Dome … yep, it’s Tetsuya Naito, who appears in the flesh to confront Jericho in the ring

  • Miro says he’s been in exile for almost a year, but says he must walk alone so he has renounced his god, his gold and his beautiful wife

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Swerve Strickland by pinfall, then saw MJF on the big screen promising to embarrass him and claiming he asked Tony Khan for their match to lead off Forbidden Door

  • Andrade El Idolo def. Brody King by disqualification after Buddy Matthews invades the ring while King is about to submit to the Figure Eight, and the House of Black teammates administer quite the beating
  • Christian Cage and Luchasaurus come to the ring to talk with Schiavone, and Cage spends his time running down his own hometown and acting like he’s the TNT Champion, not Luchasaurus

  • A video package hypes the field of the Men’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament

  • Willow Nightingale def. Nyla Rose by pinfall in a Women’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament first round match; The Outcasts surround the ring after the match, but Skye Blue runs down with a chair to deter an ambush
  • Scorpio Sky says he wasn’t thrilled by the video package last week because he let his first big break control him, so now everyone will find out who he really is
  • Powerhouse Hobbs def. Jeremy Prophet by pinfall
  • Bullet Club Gold and The Gunns def. Ricky Starks, FTR and CM Punk as Jay White pins Starks

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

Don’t expect Chris Jericho to be the opponent for Sting’s final match

Sting vs. Chris Jericho would be a dream match to many … but not to Jericho, apparently.

It’s hard to believe considering the time they both spent in WCW simultaneously, but Chris Jericho and Sting have never had a match together — not one-on-one, not in a multi-person affair, nothing. And while the idea of the two unquestionable pro wrestling greats facing off in the twilight of their respective careers sounds like a legit dream match for many fans, it doesn’t sound like we should hold our breath waiting for it to happen.

A fan recently floated the idea of this never before seen pairing in the ring, preferably in Atlanta, a hotbed for WCW back in the day. Jericho responded and quickly shot it down.

That would seem to rule out Jericho as a potential opponent for a Sting retirement match, a possibility that looms ever larger as the Icon heads further into his 60s. AEW CEO and GM Tony Khan recently noted that Sting had yet to give him a specific timeframe for when he might call it quits, but said AEW would make it into a big event when the time arrived.

Though Jericho, no spring chicken himself, would appear to be an obvious candidate, his response on Twitter suggests he’d rather not be — unless his quip was meant to be in-character, which is always possible. There’s no lack of other potential opponents for Sting’s final match, many of whom have a prior history with him between the ropes that dates back decades.

Still, one of the best parts of being a pro wrestling fan is the sheer number of “what ifs” and unrealized dream matches between top level stars. Sting vs. Jericho definitely belongs in that category, but it appears it will stay there forever.

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 Dynamite results 05/31/23: Britt, Adam lower the Boom, CM Punk confirmed

Get filled in on all of the action from AEW Dynamite in San Diego.

AEW Dynamite usually promotes a bunch of matches and segments well ahead of time. For tonight’s show in San Diego? Not so much.

That’s not to say we didn’t have any advance notice about what’s on the card. For instance, the mixed tag match pitting Adam Cole and Britt Baker against Chris Jericho and Saraya was advertised last week. And after his dramatic betrayal of The Elite Sunday at Double or Nothing, we knew we’d hear from Konosuke Takeshita (and, sadly, Don Callis).

But the rest of the slate was a mystery until this afternoon. Now we know some more of the matches, starting with a title defense by a champ whose reign has only been a few days. TBS Champion Kris Statlander has issued an open challenge, and it was answered by Nyla Rose.

Other wrestlers who were prominent at Double or Nothing will also be in action. The Blackpool Combat Club is undoubtedly riding high after defeating The Elite, but they’ll have to be on top of their game to defeat the Lucha Bros. and Bandido. Swerve Strickland, Big Bill and Trent will collide in a three-way dance, and Orange Cassidy will team with Darby Allin to face the Gates of Agony.

So that’s a lot more info than we had before. Plus we haven’t even gotten to the thing that has been the subject of equal parts excitement and eye-rolling, another announcement from Tony Khan about the debut episode of AEW: Collision next month. Will he confirm the participation of a certain Mr. Brooks? And will anyone be salty if the announcement is anything else?

(Spoiler: Yes. Yes they will.)

Let’s see how this all goes down.

AEW Dynamite results from San Diego:

  • Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta) def. Lucha Bros. and Bandido by pinfall
  • Matt Jackson says the BCC brings out the worst in The Elite, Nick Jackson says one setback won’t bring them down, and Hangman Adam Page is interrupted by what’s left of the Dark Order, who seem jealous; Page also confirms that Kenny Omega has left the country … but he’s not in Canada
  • Tony Schiavone talks to Jay White and Juice Robinson, who say Ricky Starks doesn’t have any friends and call FTR “a little bit slow,” and after beating the Top Guys up, they flee as Starks chases them off and challenges White to a match next week
  • Tony Khan has another announcement about the debut of AEW: Collision, and it’s what we expected: the show will feature CM Punk
  • Swerve Strickland def. Big Bill and Trent by pinning Trent
  • The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass tell Rene Paquette they want gold again, and that Billy Gunn deserves to hold gold one more time — an idea that proves popular with the fans
  • Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita come to the ring to plenty of boos, with Callis saying his new family is going to cut The Elite out of AEW
  • Arn Anderson and Wardlow tell Luchasaurus if he wants to be next in line, so be it
  • Darby Allin and Orange Cassidy def. Gates of Agony by pinfall, and Sting is on hand to prevent a post-match beating from the Mogul Embassy
  • A pre-recorded MJF promo has the champ claiming that no one is on the level of the Devil
  • Schiavone welcomes Hook to the ring, and when La Faccion Ingobernable attacks him, a chair-wielding Jack Perry comes to his aid
  • Toni Storm and The Outcasts scoff at the idea that there’s anyone good enough to hang with them
  • Kris Statlander def. Nyla Rose by pinfall to retain the AEW TBS Championship, as Taya Valkyrie looks on backstage
  • Britt Baker and Adam Cole def. Saraya and Chris Jericho by pinfall, with Hikaru Shida and her kendo stick on hand to neutralize the other Outcasts

AEW Dynamite results: Stacked Detroit card ends in big betrayal

Two titles were also on the line in the Motor City, but did either one change hands?

Unlike many pro wrestling stables, The Elite and Blackpool Combat Club don’t really have designated leaders. They’re more collections of equals in many ways. But Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley are certainly the frontmen when necessary, and that’s extremely relevant to this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite in Detroit.

See, the beef between the two groups has gotten to the point where something dramatic needs to be done to settle it. And well, Omega and Moxley stepping in against each other in a steel cage fits the bill.

That’s a spectacular main event for free TV by any reckoning, but Little Caesars Arena will also be treated to a pair of title bouts: Orange Cassidy will defend his International Championship against Daniel Garcia, and House of Black will put their World Trios Championship on the line against Bandido and Best Friends under their unique “House Rules.”

There’s more, too, but let’s not waste any more time. Here we go.

AEW Dynamite results from Detroit:

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

  • Claudio Castagnoli def. Rey Fenix by pinfall, meaning he and a partner of his choice will get a ROH World Tag Team Championship shot against the Lucha Bros.
  • Renee Paquette welcomes Miro back to Dynamite, but he ignores her question and walks right into Tony Khan’s office
  • MJF compares the AEW Pillars to The Beatles, calling himself Paul
  • A hype video is shown for the Steel Cage match, not that we need it to get any more amped up
  • FTR come out to apologize to Mark Briscoe, but Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal want an answer to their challenge, and Briscoe reveals that the title match is on for Double or Nothing — with Mark himself as special guest referee; Sonjay Dutt spits moonshine in Dax Harwood’s eyes, and in his blind fury, he accidentally piledrives Briscoe
  • Paquette wants to know how Chris Jericho feels about Adam Cole getting the best of him, but The Ocho has lawyered up and gotten a restraining order, but that doesn’t apply to Roderick Strong, who challenges Jericho to a Falls Count Anywhere match … and Jericho accepts only to find that Strong has ensured that the JAS will be banned from the building next week when it goes down
  • Thunder Rosa makes her return to Dynamite, also passing Paquette on her way to talk to Khan
  • A video promotes Sammy Guevara, which includes testimonials from Jericho and Tay Melo
  • Khan puts over tonight’s show but also wants everyone to tune in for one of the most important AEW announcements ever
  • Orange Cassidy def. Daniel Garcia by pinfall to retain the AEW International Championship
  • Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter accept the challenge from The Outcasts for a trios match next week on Dynamite
  • Tony Schiavone gets some time with Christian Cage, who brags about his ability to get a title shot and mocks the relationship between Wardlow and Arn Anderson
  • Another hype video shows Darby Allin preparing for his world title shot, and offers insight from Sting and Darby himself
  • Julia Hart def. Anna Jay by submission in a No Holds Barred match
  • Best Friends and Bandido are ready for their title shot and decide the final rule for the Open House Challenge is going to be “all witches are barred from ringside”
  • House of Black def. Best Friends and Bandido by pinfall in an Open House Challenge to retain the AEW World Trios Championship
  • Backstage, Cassidy has been laid out by Kyle Fletcher of Aussie Open
  • The final Pillars hype video is about Jack Perry, which strangely has validation from Christian Cage
  • Ricky Starks is sick of Bullet Club, but Jay White remains unimpressed ahead of their match next week on Dynamite
  • Jon Moxley def. Kenny Omega by pinfall in a Steel Cage match after Don Callis turns on Omega and hits him in the head with a screwdriver