Worlds End 2023
Date: December 30, 2023
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Long Island, New York
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness

It’s the last pay per view of the year and that means we could be in for a rather big show. The main events will see MJF defending the AEW World Title against Samoa Joe with the Devil’s reveal lurking. We also have the finals of the Continental Classic, which means the crowning of the first Triple Crown Champion. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale

Stokely Hathaway, the source of the issues between these two, is at ringside and both of the women are from Long Island. An exchange of shoulders doesn’t go anywhere as Hathaway blames Tony Schiavone for the issues between these two. Nightingale takes her to the mat and grabs a headscissors but Statlander easily slips out. A legsweep and some spinning knees give Statlander two but Nightingale runs her over with a crossbody.

Back up and Statlander strikes away, setting up the pretty impressive slam. We hit the bodyscissors and then a chinlock to keep Nightingale down, followed by a belly to back suplex for two. Back up and they collide for a double knockdown, followed by Nightingale crushing her in the corner. A spinebuster gets two for Nightingale, who gets planted down to give Statlander the same. Statlander hits an electric chair faceplant but Nightingale is right back up with the Pounce.

The Cannonball into a Death Valley Driver gives Nightingale two more, followed by Statlander’s ax kick for the same. Nightingale powerbombs her onto the apron though and a missile dropkick gets two more. Saturday Night Fever is broken up so Statlander settles for a discus lariat, only to miss the 450. The Babe With The Powerbomb doesn’t work as Statlander lands on Nightingale (with Nigel pointing out that it was more of a legdrop for Statlander), so Nightingale grabs a better version for the pin at 13:21.

Rating: B-. This was a hoss fight and thankfully they went home after the not so great powerbomb slip. It’s very nice to see Nightingale get a win after being known for coming up short so often. At the same time, what in the world has happened to Statlander? She went from on ire to losing clean in a Zero Hour match, which is hardly the best way to go for her. She needs to get back on track, though I’m not sure I see that happening anytime soon.

Zero Hour: Battle Royal

Action Andretti, Darius Martin, Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Danhausen, Bryan Keith, Matt Menard, Rocky Romero, Trent Beretta, Angelo Parker, Kip Sabian, Christopher Daniels, Lance Archer, Killswitch, Dalton Castle, Johnny TV, Butcher, Blade, Serpentico, Lee Johnson

For a future TNT Title shot. Castle (with two suspiciously large Boys) and TV get in a fight at ringside while everyone else jump Archer and Killswitch to bury the under tables at ringside. Everyone else gets inside and Serpentico is quickly eliminated. Sabian knocks Castle out (less than two minutes in) before a launched Danhausen gets rid of TV and Johnson follows him out.

The Dark Order beats up and eliminates Parker before Reynolds is out as well. Butcher tosses Silver as the ring is rapidly clearing out. Keith kicks Sabian out before going after Butcher and the Blade, who put him out. Archer is back up so Menard chops away at him, earning the quick elimination. Archer’s running knee gets rid of Daniels before Andretti (following his water bottle trick) and Martin manage to take Archer down.

Killswitch is back in and starts clearing the ring until it’s down to Killswitch, Archer, Danhausen and Trent. Danhausen gets saved from the Blackout and Trent and Danhausen manage to get rid of Archer. Then Trent turns on Danhausen to throw him out (the fans DO NOT approve) but has to slip out of Killswitch’s chokeslam. A low bridge puts Killswitch on the apron and a jumping knee puts him down on said apron. Not that it matters as a headbutt knocks Trent down to give Killswitch the win at 13:47.

Rating: C. One of the worst things you can do in a battle royal is having a field where one or two people is a likely winner. That was certainly the case here, and as soon as you remembered who the TNT Champion is, the drama goes even lower. It made for a bunch of waiting around for Archer and Killswitch to get back up and then it was just a matter of time.

Zero Hour: FTW Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Hook

Hook is defending (Yuta’s Ring Of Honor Pure Rules Title isn’t on the line) in an FTW Rules match, meaning anything goes. We start fast with Hook jumping him and grabbing a throw, only for Yuta to get in a cheap shot. It’s time to grab some weapons but Yuta takes too long, allowing Yuta to grab a suplex on the ramp. One heck of a trashcan lid shot puts Hook down but Yuta makes the mistake of yelling at Taz.

That’s enough for Hook to come back with a clothesline and they get back inside. Yuta knocks him down again and a running backsplash gets two. Hook manages another suplex and they slug it out for a double knockdown. A t-bone suplex sends Yuta into a trashcan in the corner for two but Redrum is broken up. Yuta DDTs him for two and Hook bails to the floor for a breather. With Yuta grabbing a 2×4, Hook pulls out a stick (hockey or lacrosse) and nails Yuta hard. Redrum, with the broken stick, retains at 10:15.

Rating: C+. They were smart to go with the weapons stuff here as Hook probably isn’t capable of a regular match yet and the Pure Rules still aren’t interesting. Odds are they’ll do this again under Pure Rules and then have a regular match later on, but this one had to go this way to start. Hook has cooled off a lot but at least he got some momentum here.

The PPV proper opens with a look at the big matches and a talk about how this is the end of everything.

Brody King/Jay Lethal/Rush/Jay White vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Mark Briscoe/Daniel Garcia

Matt Menard is on commentary. Rush and Castagnoli trade the heavy strikes to start with Castagnoli getting the better of things. Rush sends him outside but Castagnoli is back in and they stare each other down. Briscoe and Lethal come in with Lethal not being able to get the Figure Four. A chop off goes to Briscoe so Danielson comes in with the LeBell Lock to White. That means a quick rope break as Nigel is in rare form of insulting Danielson.

A running corner dropkick hits White and a middle rope hurricanrana drops him again. King comes in and shrugs off Garcia’s right hands, setting up a swinging Boss Man Slam to plant Garcia. King takes him outside and yells at Menard, who isn’t exactly interested in coming after the monster.

Back in and Lethal stomps away on Garcia (who might have a broken nose) before White adds a seated chop. Garcia manages to fight out of the corner though and it’s Briscoe coming back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and the fight heads outside. Briscoe hits the running Blockbuster and Bang Bang Elbow from the apron, followed by a fisherman’s buster for two on White. Back in and Briscoe knocks Lethal off the top, only to have Lethal pop back up for a top rope superplex.

Everything breaks down again and Castagnoli unloads with uppercuts to King. Castagnoli muscles King up for an impressive suplex but Rush is back in for the save. Danielson cuts Rush off and dropkicks King to cut off Castagnoli’s Swing. Garcia and Lethal slug it out until Lethal grabs his namesake Combination. The Figure Four goes on but Briscoe makes the save with the froggy bow. We hit the parade of finishes until Garcia rolls Lethal up for the pin at 17:12.

Rating: B. This was the insanity that you were expecting as this wasn’t about the teams but rather getting eight people in the ring for a pay per view match following the Continental Classic. In other words, it was a great choice for an opener and Garcia’s likely face push continues, as he gets a nice win in a match where someone had to pick one up.

We recap Andrade El Idolo vs. Miro. CJ Perry, Miro’s wife, is managing El Idolo so Miro promised to not end him until after the Continental Classic. Since El Idolo is out, he’s fair game for Miro.

Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo

CJ Perry is here with El Idolo, who gets jumped to start as the beating is on. El Idolo gets in a shot of his own but dives into a suplex to cut that right off. Perry yells at Miro about her infected finger so Miro chokes him on the ropes in front of her. Miro throws El Idolo to the floor, where El Idolo gets in a shove over the announcers’ table.

Back in and El Idolo blocks a superplex attempt so they slug it out instead. El Idolo gets the better of things so Miro drops him with a clothesline. Miro gets knocked into the corner but it’s too early for the running knees. Instead Miro bails to the floor, leaving El Idolo to hit the middle rope moonsault.

Back in and the double moonsault gives El Idolo two so we hit the Figure Four. That’s turned into the Figure Eight…but Perry cuts it off. Miro, now much happier…or at least whatever passes for happy with him, kicks El Idolo in the face, setting up Game Over for the tap at 15:03.

Rating: C. This was a rough one as it just kept going. It’s a good example of a match that should have been cut down by at least five minutes so there wasn’t as much slow offense and standing around. The Perry turn was the right way to go as she and Miro work really well together. I’m not sure what took so long to set them up, but at least now things are as they should be.

We recap Toni Storm defending the Women’s Title against Riho. Basically Riho returned, wanted a title shot, earned one, and is getting it.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Riho

Riho is challenging. Storm takes over to start so Riho starts spinning around. A running knee into and a running bulldog out of the corner gives Riho two and we hit the chinlock. That’s broken up and they head outside where Storm gets in a slam to take over. Storm slowly hammers away and gets in a slam, setting up the double bicep pose. The half grab goes on to stay on Riho’s back, followed by a toss out to the floor.

Back in and Storm declares “she’s toast now” before grabbing a Texas Cloverleaf. Luther adds some cheating but gets caught, meaning the hold is broken and Luther is out of here. Riho hits the 619 and a high crossbody, followed by another dive to the floor. Back in and Riho misses a charge in the corner, allowing Storm Zero to connect for two. Riho tries to spin over her but gets caught in a hard DDT to retain the title at 11:47.

Rating: C+. This could have been a lot worse, but they weren’t given the chance to set up much of a feud. It was more or less Riho coming back, saying she wanted the title, getting a title shot and then losing with little in between. Storm is still great at what she’s doing and has Mariah May waiting on her, so this shouldn’t have been the most stunning result.

Post match Mariah May brings out rose petals to celebrate.

Dante Martin is upset about not being a champion so Orange Cassidy comes in to say he knows where this is going. Martin issues the challenge and they’re on for Dynamite.

Swerve Strickland vs. Dustin Rhodes

Rhodes is replacing an injured Keith Lee. Swerve jumps him before the bell and beats him up on the floor, with the cinder block being loaded up. The Swerve Stomp onto the ankle onto the block leaves Rhodes laying. Medics come down to check on Rhodes…who wants to go anyway.

The bell rings, with Swerve taking him down immediately and hammering away before shouting that it could have been you (meaning Lee). Swerve dropkicks the leg out again and gets in some dancing so Rhodes gets in a shot of his own. Rhodes manages a high crossbody for two, followed by the Canadian Destroyer and snap powerslam for two.

Nana offers a distraction and gets dropped with a right hand, followed by a piledriver and Cross Rhodes for two on Swerve. Back up and Swerve hits a Downward Spiral, setting up a half crab. Rhodes makes the ropes and fires up again before flipping Swerve off. The House Call cuts Rhodes off though and a second knocks him silly. Swerve snaps the arm and hits the Swerve Stomp to win at 9:24.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t about the action, but rather the fact that this match didn’t need to happen. Swerve took Rhodes apart before the match and left him laying, but instead of letting that be it, they had to have a nine minute match anyway. Throw in Rhodes doing high risk moves so he can get his stuff in and this made Swerve look weaker than need be. He won in the end, but the match didn’t need to happen.

Don Callis Family/Big Bill/Ricky Starks vs. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara/Sting/Darby Allin

Guevara gets knocked around by Takeshita to start so it’s quickly off to Jericho. The fans don’t seem to pleased with that, even as Hobbs comes in to run him over. Takeshita gets in a few shots until Jericho makes it over to Allin for the tag. That doesn’t last long as Allin is taken over for the tag to Hobbs so the beating can be on.

A suplex from Hobbs lets Bill come in for a huge toss across the ring. Allin manages to get over for the tag to Sting and house is quickly cleaned. Everything breaks down and Bill gets in a cheap shot, followed by a Boss Man Slam. Jericho comes back in with a Codebreaker and is soundly booed out of the building.

Allin manages to knock Jericho into Hobbs for a breather and a Scorpion Death Drop takes Hobbs down. Takeshita drops Allin HARD though and then does it to both Guevara and Allin with a single German suplex. Sting is back in and grabs the Scorpion on Takeshita, with Callis making the save. The Scorpion goes on but gets broken up again, allowing Guevara to come in and go all flippy. The shooting star press finishes Starks at 15:43.

Rating: C+. The match was the usual fun wild brawl, but this was ALL about Jericho. I’m not sure what AEW needs to do about him at the moment, but they are going to have to do something about it soon. Jericho can’t come out there and be this kind of a distraction so he needs to either go away until his name is cleared or AEW is going to need to come up with some kind of a long term solution. The match was kind of a mess because of him and that can’t happen again.

We recap Julia Hart vs. Abadon for the TBS Title. They’re both weird and want to be champion.

TBS Title: Julia Hart vs. Abadon

Abadon is challenging and under house rules, biting is allowed. The fans declare THIS IS SPOOKY and Abadon grabs a quick cutter to take over fast. Hart isn’t quite sure what to do here so they grab each other by the throat until Hart can leg sweep Abadon down. Choking on the ropes has Abadon in more trouble until a running knee hits Hart in the corner.

A Codebreaker gets two but Hart manages to grab Hartless. The ropes don’t help so Abadon has to crawl out and knock Hart away. Cue Skye Blue for a cheap shot before she dives underneath the ring, leaving Abadon to go after her. The distraction lets Hart drop Abadon, setting up the moonsault (which seemed to be more Hart’s knees slamming into Abadon) to retain at 11:13.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure if it was the spooky vs. spooky stuff here, but they lost me and lost me hard during this one. They just kind of kept doing things until Blue showed up at the end and it couldn’t have been much less interesting. Maybe I just couldn’t get into it for some reason but this wasn’t working and felt a lot longer than it lasted.

We recap Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage. Copeland came back and wanted to reform the team, but Cage said no. The Waynes were brought into this, with Copeland attacking Nick and Shayna costing him the title as a result. Now it’s about violence, revenge and the title, with the latter being a good bit less important than the others.

TNT Title: Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage

Cage, with the Waynes, is defending and this is No DQ so Copeland jumps him on the floor to start. They brawl around ringside, with Nigel McGuinness insulting Copeland. That earns him a SHUT UP NIGEL, with Nigel obliging before waiting for Copeland to be out of earshot to call him a coward. Cage’s right hands don’t do much as he has to avoid his hand being stomped onto the steps.

Cage bails into the crowd with Copeland following, setting up a big dive to take Cage down again. They go back to ringside where Copeland drops him again, earning a YOU STILL GOT IT chant. Back in and Copeland’s spear hits post, followed by a drop onto the steps for two. With Copeland bleeding around the eye, Cage grabs some kendo sticks and chokes away before punching at the cut.

Cage grabs a chair and puts it over Copeland’s back for a Boston crab in a creative, and mostly painful, looking hold. With that broken up, Copeland gets in a stick shot of his own, followed by some more to the ribs. As usual, Copeland gets the bar from the chair for the Crossface but that’s not good enough. We get the obvious ladder brought in, with Cage being catapulted face first into it in the corner.

A low blow cuts Copeland off so Cage goes up, where a superplex is countered into a sunset bomb to leave them both down. It’s time for a table, with the distraction letting Copeland grab an Impaler onto the chair. The Conchairto is loaded up but cue Nick Wayne with a low blow for the save. Cage loads up a spear through the table but naturally gets speared through it himself. Shayna Wayne breaks up the cover and Nick hits Copeland with the title. Wayne’s World to the floor (next to the table rather than through it) drops Copeland again and Cage gets two.

That leaves the Waynes to cover the table with lighter fluid and set it on fire but Copeland spears Cage back inside. The fire goes out so Copeland puts on more fluid and it’s on fire again. Nick gets sent onto (not through) the table and goes writhing onto the floor. Cage’s belt shot is cut off and Copeland hits a Killswitch for the pin and the title at 24:40.

Rating: B. Now this felt like a fight and that is a good thing to see. It also helps that these two have a history, along with Cage being one of the best things in all of wrestling today. The ending isn’t great, but I guess Copeland needed his “you still got it” moment. They could have done without some of the weapons, but the point here was they wanted to hurt each other and then tried to do it. That made or a better match and I liked what we got here.

Post match Killswitch jumps Copeland and chokeslams him through a chair….and since the contract from earlier is for a title match anywhere any time….but hold on as Cage wants it instead. Killswitch hands it over and let’s do this.

TNT Title: Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland

Cage is challenging and wins the title with a spear in ten seconds. That was A, great and B, even better because it gets rid of the Money In The Bank thing (with Edge getting some payback after being so well known for using the briefcase before).

Copeland gets looked at after the match.

We recap the Continental Classic, which has been going on for over a month now. Kingston wants to win to prove he belongs while Moxley wants to win because he likes winning.

Continental Classic Finals: Triple Crown Title: Eddie Kingston vs. Jon Moxley

For the vacant title and Bryan Danielson is on commentary. They go technical to start with Moxley taking it to the ground for some grappling. Moxley gets the better of things until a rope gives Kingston a breather. Back up and they go to the test of strength with neither getting the better of things. They stare each other down a bit more as Danielson is in full analysis mode, talking about each of them having strengths.

Kingston manages a jumping enziguri to put him on the floor but the dive goes over Moxley for a nasty crash. Back in and Moxley hits a quick suplex, followed by a Paradigm Shift on the floor. They get back in with Kingston’s chop hitting a raised forearm, leaving Kingston in a lot of pain. A piledriver gives Moxley two so we pause for some yelling at the referee (possibly due to Kingston’s bell being rung).

Kingston is back up and drops Moxley to his knees off a single chop. They chop it out and even Danielson is thinking this is a bad move. Kingston grabs a suplex so Moxley pops up, only to grab his banged up knee. The spinning backfist drops Moxley for no cover as Danielson is livid. The machine gun chops have Moxley in trouble in a variety of corners, setting up a DDT to plant Moxley again.

Moxley is back up with a cutter so Kingston hits the spinning backfist, only to get dropped with a hard lariat. The northern lights bomb gives Kingston two but Moxley is back with the bulldog choke. That’s broken up and another northern lights bomb gives Kingston another two. One heck of a lariat drops Kingston for two, sending commentary into stories of injuries from clotheslines. They headbutt it out from their knees until another spinning backfist gives Kingston the pin and the titles at 17:05.

Rating: B+. Much like the previous match, this felt like a fight but for a very different reason. While Copeland vs. Cage felt like a fight between two people who hated each other, this felt like two people wanting to survive to claim a prize. That worked very well and I dug what we got here. Danielson in particular made a feel more like a sporting contest and it made things that much better.

Post match Eddie is presented with the title. Respect is shown and Moxley lets Kingston have the ring.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

We recap Samoa Joe vs. MJF for the World Title. While Joe is challenging, the real story is MJF being chased by the Devil, who very well could be revealed here.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Samoa Joe

MJF is defending and we get a video of people talking about how he’s THEIR scumbag, including a video from his ex-girlfriend giving a VERY censored story about a night in the back of a car. Before the match, cue Adam Cole to support MJF, whose shoulder is completely wrapped up. Joe backs him into the corner but MJF goes to the eye in a smart move.

A shot to the arm cuts MJF down fast and Joe drops a leg on said arm to make it worse. It’s too early for the Muscle Buster though and Joe gets low bridged to the floor. Back in and a low superkick staggers Joe and the Kangaroo Kick connects. MJF is knocked outside for a heck of a suicide dive, followed by a suplex to rock the shoulder again.

They go to the apron where Joe drops him hard with a MuscleBuster for two. MJF manages a shot to the back of the head and rams Joe into the buckle over and over. Joe shrugs off some right hands in the corner and MJF collapses when trying a fireman’s carry. He’s fine enough to catch Joe with a Heatseeker for two before grabbing the Salt Of The Earth.

Joe reverses into an armbar of his own but MJF makes the rope. Back up and the ref gets bumped so MJF gets all smiley. A low blow cuts Joe off on the middle rope and an F5 of all things leaves both of them down. MJF’s cover gets a very delayed two and Joe pulls him into the Koquina Clutch….for the knockout and the title at 17:47.

Rating: B. This was interesting as Joe won (more or less) clean and that makes sense. MJF isn’t John Cena, meaning at some point the odds are so strongly against him that he has to lose. That’s what took place here, as Joe had been built up as this unstoppable force and MJF was coming in very banged up. While MJF fought, he ultimately couldn’t last against someone like Joe. It told a good story, as the hero goes out on his shield and loses in the end.

Post match Joe leaves and Cole tells MJF to listen to the fans cheering for him. Cue the Henchmen to take both of them down, with Cole saying hit him instead. MJF says hit him instead of Cole. Then the lights go out and the Henchmen have let Cole go. The Henchmen are Wardlow, the Kingdom and Roderick Strong, with MJF being in tears. The big beatdown is on with Cole dropping the Devil mask on MJF to end the show.

Now this is probably the biggest story of the show as it is the big reveal after a months long story. While we’ll have to wait and see what the actual story is, in theory it’s all of MJF’s past sins coming back to haunt him. MJF may be a changed man, but he’s hurt a lot of people on his way to the top. That seems to be what came back to bite him here, as Cole and company wanted to take down the villain who had hurt them all on his way to the top. Cole in particular should feel upset, as he turned into some kind of goof and then lost to MJF at All In because he wasn’t being himself. The real explanation will help, but the potential is there.

Overall Rating: B. This show might not have been great, but the last three matches did a lot to help boost it up. I know I say it a lot about Tony Khan produced shows, but there was too much here at first. The matches that came before the big stuff needed to be trimmed down, as only one non-cash-in match was less than ten minutes long. It’s ok to have something go 5-6 minutes instead of stretching it out way longer than it needs to go and it would have helped a lot.

Now on the good side, the matches that had the biggest builds did rather well, with Copeland vs. Cage, the tournament final and the World Title match all being big hits. It continues to show what AEW can do with some nice storytelling to back up the good action. There are still some corrections to be made and overall this is on the weaker end of the AEW pay per view offerings, but this started off weak and finished very strong and that is a great thing to see.

Results
Willow Nightingale b. Kris Statlander – Babe With The Powerbomb
Killswitch won a battle royal last eliminating Trent Beretta
Hook b. Wheeler Yuta – Redrum
Blackpool Combat Club/Daniel Garcia/Mark Briscoe b. Jay White/Rush/Brody King/Jay Lethal – Rollup to Lethal
Miro b. Andrade El Idolo – Game Over
Toni Storm b. Riho – DDT
Swerve Strickland b. Dustin Rhodes – Swerve Stomp
Sting/Darby Allin/Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara b. Big Bill/Ricky Starks/Don Callis Family – Shooting stark press to Starks
Julia Hart b. Abadon – Moonsault
Adam Copeland b. Christian Cage – Killswitch
Christian Cage b. Adam Copeland – Spear
Eddie Kingston b. Jon Moxley – Spinning backfist
Samoa Joe b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman via referee stoppage

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It’s the end of the year and that means there is time for one more pay per view. Since it’s AEW, the show is stacked with twelve matches announced so far. The two big draws are the finals of the Continental Classic for the Triple Crown Title, plus MJF defending the World Title against Samoa Joe. The question in the latter is whether or not the Devil will be revealed, which would probably help quite a bit. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale

This was added on Rampage and the big issue seems to be Stokely Hathaway trying to cause drama. That is where Hathaway excels and some of the things that he’s been saying have been more entertaining than the story itself. As for the actual match, both of them need a win and maybe a change of pace, which very well could come here, even if the options aren’t great.

I’ll go with Statlander winning here as she could use the win more, along with the principle that Nightingale doesn’t win anything. At the same time, having Nightingale be the evil one who sides with Hathaway might be the traditional way to go, but I can’t imagine anyone in AEW thinking evil Nightingale is a good idea. Statlander wins and then something probably happens after the match, but Nightingale going bad would be the worst possible outcome.

Zero Hour: FTW Title: Hook(c) vs. Wheeler Yuta

This is under FTW rules, meaning anything goes. I’ll take that over Pure Rules, but this hasn’t been the most eye catching feud so far. They seem to be going for a brawling vs. technical style, which could work well when Hook gets to show off all of his suplexes. That works in theory, but egads Yuta is not interesting a lot of the time and there isn’t much of a way around that. Having an opponent as young as Hook isn’t going to help that and I’m almost worried about how this is going to go.

I’ll go with Hook winning here, as it lets Yuta complain that they didn’t do things in the right style to set up a rematch. I appreciate the idea of Hook getting in the ring more often and he’s done well before, though he needs things set up very well for him. Keeping him on the pre-show is the right move at the moment, though he might be in for a bigger feud with Yuta should this continue. Hook needs to win to make that happen, so we’ll say Hook wins here.

Zero Hour: Battle Royal

So this is a tricky one, as we have a twenty man battle royal for a future TNT Title shot but we don’t know any of the participants. That doesn’t leave much in the way of a preview, but AEW sure does love itself a battle royal here and there. These things kind of have to happen if there are so many people who need to get on the show, but it is quite the cliché at this point.

We need a blind guess here, so I’ll play the safe guard here and go with Trent Beretta. You can almost guarantee that he’s going to be involved in the thing so let’s say he wants to set up his one off title shot. This is pretty easily the one with the least amount of confidence as I can’t even guess who all will be included, but hopefully they have the entertaining kind of battle royal that they know how to do.

Swerve Strickland vs. Keith Lee

We’ll go with this one before Tony Khan changes his mind and doesn’t do the match again. These two started having issues last November and then did a big angle in December, only to never actually wrestle. That leaves us with a weird match as the story has pretty much gone ice cold, but also because Strickland is in a very different place than he was when the whole thing started.

There is no reason for Strickland to lose here as he is rapidly rising up the ranks and could be on the way to the World Title picture in the near future. While Lee is incredibly athletic and fun to watch, he also has very little going on at the moment. I’m really not sure why this loose end needed to be fixed over a year after it got started, but Strickland wins here and moves on to something more important.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Riho

Riho returned after another hiatus and was immediately back in the title scene, as tends to be the case when she returns most of the time. She might even be acting a bit more serious this time around, but Storm is still feeling it with this rather bizarre Timeless deal. That has made for a pretty strange story but then again, it isn’t like they had time to really set anything up.

Storm wins here, as Riho is likely going to go away again after or shortly after the match. With Mariah May likely waiting on Storm in the near future, this should be Storm retaining and doing pretty well. Riho hasn’t been interesting in a good while now so it would be pretty insane to give her the title again. Storm retains and moves on to something more natural for her, while Riho just kind of fades away until she gets another title shot down the line.

TBS Title: Julia Hart(c) vs. Abadon

This is another surprise as Abadon is getting a push that isn’t close to Halloween. That’s a different way to go for her and it’s kind of working, as AEW has presented her as the creepy monster who could be a threat. At the same time, Hart is already the supernatural kind of star so this is a bit of a weird setup. The match hasn’t had a great build, but it deserves credit for adding someone new to the mix.

While Abadon has done well enough in her chance, there is no reason to expect her to win the title here so we’ll say Hart retains. Hart has been doing well with her new stuff and it would be kind of nuts for her to lose one of her first title defenses. Abadon has done well in a short amount of time, but she hasn’t shown herself ready for the level of being a champion. It should be a weird fight, but Hart wins in the end.

Ricky Starks/Big Bill/Don Callis Family vs. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara/Darby Allin/Sting

Here we have the result of a pretty wild segment on Dynamite which saw about three stories coming together to set up an eight man tag. In other words, Sting needed to be on the show and he works almost exclusively in big tag matches. That has served him well so far and now we get to see what he can do again with quite the group of talented people around him.

There is little reason to have the freshly reunited Guevara and Jericho, as well as Sting, lose here so we’ll go with the good guys winning. I’m not sure who you have them pin here, but Jericho or Guevara pinning Starks or Bill would do well to set up their Tag Team Title match. This should be a lot of fun as the teams should be able to have the kind of wild match that this needs to be.

Blackpool Combat Club/Mark Briscoe/Daniel Garcia vs. Brody King/Jay White/Jay Lethal/Rush

This is the second eight man tag as we have most of the people in the Continental Classic thrown onto the show. That could go in a variety of different ways as there are several combinations, even if we’ve seen a bunch of them in recent weeks. The good thing is they can put almost any of them together for a solid match and we’ll probably be seeing quite a bit of it here.

Hopefully this ends with either Garcia or Briscoe getting the pin as both of them had a bit of momentum after their last match in the tournament. Neither of them have anything going on at the moment but a win in a match like this could be a nice boost. This has the potential to be all over the place with quite a bit of time and it could be quite the show stealer if given the chance.

Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo

It’s the classic story: Miro is married to CJ Perry, who is managing El Idolo, but promised not to massacre El Idolo until after the Continental Classic was over. Since Miro almost never wrestles (one match per month since September), it’s hard to say where this is going to go but at least there is a story. Granted it isn’t much of one as Perry and El Idolo have barely been a thing long enough to matter, but it’s something.

Since Miro never really does anything these days, I’ll take El Idolo to win here as he has quite a bit more going on at the moment. I’m sure this will wind up involving Perry, but there is only so much that she can do given how things are set up. Miro is one of the more interesting people in AEW but he never really wrestles, so there is little reason for him to win. El Idolo did well in the tournament and a win over Miro could take him a long way.

TBS Title: Christian Cage(c) vs. Adam Copeland

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Cage is overshadowing Copeland, despite Copeland being treated as the bigger star. The good thing is that Cage has turned into a heck of a villain in AEW and he has done it by becoming one of the most unlikable people imaginable. They’re going to have a No DQ match, which should open up quite a few doors for some wild brawling involving Cage’s friends. In other words, exactly what this needs to be.

As much as I don’t want it to be the case, I’m thinking Copeland wins here. He hasn’t had the big moment in AEW yet and there is a good chance that he’ll get the title here for that moment. Cage winning would make more sense and I certainly hope he does, as he has become the best heel in AEW in a very long time. I’m expecting Copeland to win here but really hope I’m wrong.

Triple Crown Title: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston

If not for the whole Devil thing, I would almost have this one be the main event of the show. The Continental Classic has dominated AEW TV for the last six weeks or so and this has the most potential of anything on the card. Kingston is getting to defend his Ring O Honor and Strong Openweight Title, which has me wondering how much the whole tournament was necessary to get us here. Anyway, the promo to set this up has me wanting to see these two go at it and now we’ll get to see just that.

For the life of me I have no idea why Moxley would win here as the big emotional moment would be Kingston winning another big one to give the fans something to cheer. I’ll go with that as the feel good option, while also remembering that Tony Khan really, really, really likes to snatch those moments away from the fans. Moxley absolutely does not need this win while Kingston certainly does, so hopefully sanity prevails and Kingston wins as he should.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman(c) vs. Samoa Joe

This is one of the weaker World Title matches in recent memory, as Joe has played a huge second fiddle to the Devil and everything going on with him. They tried to remedy that on Dynamite by having Joe fake the injury and cost MJF the ROH Tag Team Titles, even though that is one of the best things that could have happened. I’m far more interested in the Devil story finally going anywhere than the result of the title match though and that’s really not good.

There is zero reason for the Devil to not be revealed or MJF to retain the title here so I’ll take Joe to win. MJF already beat him once so get to where things should be, which is Joe winning the World Title on a grand stage. The Devil (I’ll take Adam Cole for the reveal, as it might not be the most interesting but it’s the person who makes the most sense) needs to be done here and cost MJF the title though, even if I have no idea what is next for everyone after.

Overall Thoughts

The biggest though, other than how many matches there are on here, is how weird the build to this has been. Dynamite, and a good chunk of Collision, has been dominated by the Continental Classic and the Devil stuff as of late and there is only so much that can be done for the rest of the show. I have hope for how this is going to go, but it’s going to be on the wrestlers to do the heavy lifting here.

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Dynamite
Date: December 27, 2023
Location: Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s the last Dynamite of the year and the last one before Worlds End. That means we have the semifinals of the Continental Classic so we can find out who fights for the title on Saturday. On top of that, MJF and Samoa Joe are defending the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles against the Devil’s Henchmen so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Continental Classic Gold League Finals: Jon Moxley vs. Swerve Strickland vs. Jay White

Moxley and Swerve waste no time in fighting to the floor, with White being smart enough to let them fight. They go into the crowd with White following and staying behind for the most part, instead getting in some cheap shots. Moxley drops Swerve and takes it back to ringside, where White takes out Moxley’s knee. White takes them both down but Swerve kicks him off the apron. The flip dive misses for Swerve but he mostly sticks the landing and hits a knee from the apron to White’s jaw.

Moxley gets back in so Swerve bites his finger and hits a clothesline. Swerve knocks them both to the floor and hits a big high crossbody as we take a break. Back with Swerve being knocked off the apron, leaving White to blast Moxley in the knee with a chair. The distraction lets Swerve hit a powerslam on White into a 450 but Moxley makes the save with a Stomp.

We take another break and come back with Moxley grabbing the bulldog choke on White but Swerve breaks it up. A Blade Runner gets two on Moxley with Swerve breaking it up. Back in and White chairs them both down before wedging the chair in the corner. Swerve obeys the laws of wrestling by sending White into the chair before reversing Moxley’s choke into a rollup for two more. The Swerve Stomp is broken up by White, who gets taken down by the King Kong Lariat. The Death Rider gives Moxley the pin at 23:11.

Rating: B. Yeah it was really good and that’s not exactly shocking. What matters here is that Swerve, the hottest star in the match at the moment, didn’t take the pin, which leaves him strong coming out. Moxley winning is more of the safe pick than anything else, as he is able to either win the title or make someone look good in defeat. Heck of an opener here and the extra time helped, even if Moxley forgot about that knee injury pretty quickly.

We recap the Blue League finals being set up on Collision.

Swerve Strickland isn’t happy with being interviewed so soon after the match but if Keith Lee is looking for him, come see him at Worlds End. Tony Schiavone happens to have a contract for the match on him, so everything seems set.

Renee Paquette brings out Mariah May for a chat. May knows people have been waiting for her debut, which will be next week. Cue Riho to chase May off but Toni Storm comes in for the brawl, with Riho getting the better of things.

Top Flight and Action Andretti issue a challenge for…well we don’t know, because Orange Cassidy comes in to say he knows what’s going on here. Cassidy and the Rocky Romero/Trent Beretta will see them on Rampage. Cassidy and Trent leave, with Romero accusing Cassidy of being a bit out there lately. Then Andretti takes a bottle of water and crushes all of it into his mouth in one gulp.

Now that Andrade El Idolo is out of the Continental Classic, Miro is ready to hurt him.

Here is the Don Callis Family for a Boxing Week celebration. Callis gets to the point, by unveiling custom paintings of each member of the family (with Callis in each, including punching a kangaroo with Kyle Fletcher). He says the Family is complete but here is the returning Sammy Guevara, who hasn’t heard from Callis in a long time.

Callis is surprised that Sammy didn’t get the gift he sent for the new baby and blames the Canadian Postal Service. We get the final picture, with the Family surrounding Sammy as he holds his baby. Sammy DOES NOT like his baby being in the picture, but Callis suggests that Sammy isn’t smart enough to be a father. Sammy says Callis didn’t call when he was injured so Callis complains about Sammy being gone so often.

Callis wants him to pick a family and suggests Sammy will be a bad father, so Callis gets shoved down. The beating is on but Chris Jericho makes the save. Jericho breaks the first three pictures with the bat but lets Sammy break the last one. They do the big handshake but Big Bill and Ricky Starks run in for the beatdown. Then the lights go out and Sting/Darby Allin make the save. So that was….four or so segments packed into one? And likely setting up an eight man tag (or so) at the pay per view?

Roderick Strong and the Kingdom have a chart to prove that MJF is the Devil.

Worlds End rundown.

Continental Classic Blue League Final: Eddie Kingston vs. Bryan Danielson

Danielson tries to hide in the ropes a bit to start but Kingston sends him outside for a suicide dive. Kingston chops him around ringside but comes back in and gets chopped in the corner. They fight to the apron where Danielson gets in a DDT, followed by the running knee off the apron to send us to a break.

Back with Danielson striking away but Kingston suplexes him down. The rapid fire chops in the corner have Danielson spitting at Kingston, who unloads with even harder chops. Danielson pulls him into the LeBell Lock to send Kingston bailing to the ropes, meaning Danielson can go up top. Kingston chops away again but gets caught on top as well. A belly to back superplex attempt is countered int a crossbody onto Danielson and we take another break.

Back again with Kingston firing off more chops but Danielson suplexes his way out of trouble. A northern lights bomb gives Kingston two but the running knee gives Danielson two of his own. Danielson stomps away so Kingston flips him off, leaving Danielson to load up another knee. That’s cut off with a spinning backfist and a half and half, followed by two more spinning backfists. The powerbomb gives Kingston the pin at 22:33.

Rating: B+. I was getting into this one as it was Kingston fighting for everything he had because he wants to win the while thing. While Danielson can use it to put another line on an already complete resume, Kingston needs it to prove himself in the first place. The fact that it was a heck of a fight that had me wondering who was going to win made it even better. Awesome stuff here.

Post match Jon Moxley comes out to say that despite his faults, Kingston has a lot of fans who love him. Moxley is ready to take him apart but Kingston cuts him off, saying he’s not some young boy. Kingston promises to take him out on Saturday and wants his music played. That helped to give the match some spice.

Christian Cage is ready for a sitdown interview with Adam Copeland when Copeland jumps him for the big brawl. The locker room (seemingly a lot of ROH people) breaks it up.

Skye Blue vs. Kris Statlander

Stokely Hathaway is on commentary. Statlander powers her into the corner to start but gets taken down by the hair. Some stomping in the corner has Statlander down but she reverses a suplex. They go to the apron where Blue hits a reverse Sling Blade as we take a break. We come back with Statlander grabbing a rolling suplex out of the corner for two. Code Blue gives Blue two of her own but Statlander hits a powerbomb for the same. Statlander takes her to the top, only to have Blue slip out. Cue Julia Hart for a cheap shot though, allowing Blue to hit a heck of a super Code Blue for the pin at 9:11.

Rating: C. Another women’s match where a good chunk of it is cut out, meaning there is only so much that can be done. It also doesn’t help that it feels like the same group of women have been in the middle of a really long feud for months without it really going anywhere. That was the case here, and it’s kind of hard to get invested in it happening every week without much really changing.

Post match the beatdown is on but Willow Nightingale makes the save. Abadon comes out for the staredown with Hart.

Ruby Soho is ready for Marina Shafir on Rampage but Saraya offers her the help of….Harley Cameron, who whips out a butcher knife and laughs a lot.

Another Worlds End rundown.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Samoa Joe vs. Devil’s Henchmen

MJF and Joe are defending and the Henchmen come through the crowd for their entrance at 9:59. And Joe has been attacked in the back and is holding his knee. MJF says he’s doing this himself and the bell rings, with MJF throwing his jacket at the taller one to start. MJF sends him into the corner before taking the other one to the floor. It’s time to go for the mask but a third masked man comes out from under the ring with a pipe shot. The smaller masked man hits a Heatseeker for the pin (with feet on the ropes) at 1:43.

Post match more masked men come in to beat on MJF until Samoa Joe makes the save with a chair. The Devil appears on screen and text says “Pleasure doing business with you.” Then Joe chairs MJF down and says he did this to MJF. Commentary says Joe is in league with the Devil, as MJF is left laying and Joe poses with the title to end the show. This felt like Joe having a short term arrangement with the Devil rather than actually working with him full time.

Overall Rating: B. As has been the case in recent weeks, this was mainly about the tournament and the Devil stuff, though they did add a good bit of content to the pay per view card. Things are going to get interesting next week when there is no tournament to lean on, but above all else, AEW needs something fresh coming out of Worlds End. Things are still good because of the action, but the storylines are feeling rather stale in a lot of areas. That being said, the action tonight was more than enough to carry the show and they set things up for the future, so this was another good week for Dynamite.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Jay White and Swerve Strickland – Death Rider to White
Eddie Kingston b. Bryan Danielson – Powerbomb
Skye Blue b. Kris Statlander – Super Code Blue
Devil’s Henchmen b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Samoa Joe – Heatseeker to Friedman

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Collision
Date: December 16, 2023
Location: Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

We’re two weeks away from Worlds End and that means we have more Continental Classic matches this week. The tournament field is starting to thin out and that should make things more interesting. Another thing they might want to work on is building up the pay per view card, as with Kenny Omega now stuck on the sidelines, the Tag Team Title match is off for now, leaving the card with two matches. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Eddie Kingston, Daniel Garcia, Claudio Castagnoli, Andrade El Idolo, Brody King, Bryan Danielson and Orange Cassidy (who is a bit confused) are ready to fight.

Opening sequence.

Continental Classic Blue League: Andrade El Idolo vs. Claudio Castagnoli

They fight over a lockup to start before an exchange of shoulders doesn’t get either of them anywhere. Andrade knocks him outside but Castagnoli is back in with a hard clothesline. It’s too early for the Swing though as Andrade hurricanranas him to the floor. A dropkick through the ropes has Castagnoli in more trouble but he nails an uppercut. Back in and Castagnoli shrugs off a dragon screw legwhip and hits Swiss Death as we take a break.

We come back with Andrade hitting a running forearm but the Swing puts him down. The Sharpshooter goes on but Andrade reverses into a Figure our. That’s enough to send Castagnoli bailing to the ropes for the break so Andrade goes up, taking off the turnbuckle covering at the same time. A super sunset bomb gives Andrade two and the running knees in the corner get the same.

Castagnoli catches him on top though and it’s a superplex back down, only to have Andrade roll some Amigos. They trade kicks to the face until Andrade scores with a spinning elbow to the face. Andrade goes up again and tries a super hammerlock DDT, only to get crotched onto the turnbuckle. Hold on though as the referee notices the removed pad, allowing Castagnoli to get in a low blow. The Neutralizer finishes Andrade at 15:30.

Rating: B-. That adds a bit of drama to the tournament and it’s kind of nice to see Andrade get what was coming to him after cheating multiple times. Castagnoli gets to stay alive while Andrade’s spot in the semifinals isn’t entirely locked up yet. The match was the good stuff you would expect from these two, and it certainly didn’t feel like that long of a match.

Blue League Standings
Andrade El Idolo – 9 points (1 match remaining)
Bryan Danielson – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Brody King – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (2 matches remaining, eliminated)

We recap the Dynamite Continental Classic matches.

Abadon vs. Jazmin Allure

Abadon jumps her to start and hits a swinging Rock Bottom. A running knee and the Black Dahlia finish Allure at 1:07.

Post match here is Julia Hart for the brawl, with Abadon laying her out and posing with the title. Cue Skye Blue to jump Abadon and the double teaming is on. Cue the returning Thunder Rosa (who was on Spanish commentary earlier) for the save.

The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn are back and want revenge on the Devil and his henchmen. Action Andretti and Top Flight come in for a challenge to a title match next week. Game on.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Bryan Keith

Keith is challenging and the fans certainly seem to like him. A headlock takeover puts Cassidy down to start but he’s back up to put his hands in his pockets. Cassidy starts picking up the pace but gets kicked in the face as we take a break. Back with Cassidy hitting the tornado DDT and suicide dive to send Keith into the barricade.

Keith is able to catch him on top though and a running knee drops Cassidy. The tiger driver is countered into Beach Break for two and Cassidy needs a breather. Cassidy kicks away but Keith does the same, setting up Diamond Dust for two more. The tiger driver is loaded up again but this time Cassidy reverses into the mouse trap to retain at 9:12.

Rating: B-. As has been the case every time I’ve seen him, Keith put in a rather nice match with the intensity being on full display. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him around here a lot more often as there are far worse prospects. At the same time, Cassidy adds another win to his tally as we wait for another serious challenger to come up against him.

Miro wants to beat up Andrade El Idolo and it isn’t just because El Idolo is being managed by Miro’s wife.

Komander is interrupted by Roderick Strong and the Kingdom, with Strong mocking Komander for not winning the ROH TV Title. Strong wants a match and Komander seems interested.

Here is FTR for a chat about the House Of Black. Wheeler talks about the success they’ve had around here but the House is still unrealized potential. If the House wants a fight, come get one. Cue the House on the screen to say no one can save FTR, but Buddy Matthews has a question for Wheeler: who loves you? Everyone loves Harwood, but who loves Wheeler? Malakai Black holds up a photo of Harwood’s family and burns it, saying the House is their family now. FTR runs off.

Video on Keith Lee, who beat Shane Taylor at Ring Of Honor Final Battle. Taylor is not the “him” that Lee has been looking for.

Kris Statlander/Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Martinez/Diamante

Street fight, with weapons provided. Believe it or not the brawl is on to start and they’re quickly on the floor, where Nightingale gets hit in the head with a bottle. Martinez tears away at the cut but Nightingale and Statlander can cut off Diamante’s dive off the steps. A barbed wire bat to the head cuts Diamante open but Martinez is back in with a tire iron for the save. Martinez hits a release German superplex to drop Nightingale onto some chairs for two and we take a break.

Back with Statlander being sent through a piece of plywood but Nightingale sends the villains into each other. A Pounce sends Martinez into a board in the corner but Diamante gets in a shot to Nightingale. Statlander is back in to beat on Martinez, only to have Diamante come back in with a briefcase (that Statlander and Nightingale brought to the ring). Said briefcase is full of thumbtacks and glass and it’s time for people to be dropped onto the contents. Diamante dropkicks Nightingale into a powerbomb through a table at ringside but Statlander hits a discus lariat with a chain to pin Diamante at 10:31.

Rating: C+. I have no idea what to say about this, but it was certainly a violent sprint. At the same time, I’m not sure if this feud warrants this kind of a bloody match, as it doesn’t quite seem like the right fit. Statlander and Nightingale winning is good as they could go for moving up the ladder, though they need something to move towards. I’m not a fan of the glass and thumbtacks though, even if they might have been the logical call in this kind of a match.

Toni Storm is ready to face either Saraya or Riho at Worlds End. Mariah May is getting her American wrestling license and wants Storm to commentate her first match. Storm isn’t sure but wants Saraya and Riho to beat each other up.

Adam Copeland wants to face Christian Cage at Worlds End in a No DQ match.

Brian Cage vs. Karl Wright

Kick to the head, release German suplex, fall away slam, powerbomb, Drill Claw gives Cage the win at 1:28.

Post break the Mogul Embassy is proud of Cage’s win but Keith Lee comes in to say that Cage can tell “him” (suggesting Swerve Strickland) that his patience is running thin.

Continental Classic Blue League: Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia

Matt Menard is on commentary. Kingston wants him to bring it to start so Garcia loads up the dancing. Instead he chops away and actually gets the better of things, with Kingston favoring his throat. A dragon screw legwhip off the apron drops Kingston again and it’s time to crank away on that leg back inside. Kingston isn’t having that and fights up to drop Garcia as we take a break.

Back with Garcia fighting out of a chinlock but getting caught in the corner for the rapid fire chops. Garcia tries some weak dancing, earning himself even more chops. Even more dancing, this time with Garcia down in the corner, actually starts a comeback, setting up a running knee in the corner.

A kneebar sends Kingston bailing to the rope so Garcia pulls him back in with an ankle lock, complete with a grapevine. That’s broken up as well and Kingston suplexes him into the corner, setting up the spinning backfist for two. Back to back Saito suplexes give Garcia two but Kingston hits a half and half suplex. Another spinning backfist finishes Garcia at 12:10.

Rating: B-. They had a story here of Garcia turning into a hybrid of the dancing goof and the serious wrestler, which made for a good mix. That version had Kingston on the ropes but still came up short, which feels like it’s going to be the perfect way to set up Garcia stealing a win in his final match. Kingston surviving, and possibly even advancing to the finals, makes sense as you don’t want him to just lose his title without even making a run in the tournament. Good match here, with some of the stories being set up for later.

Blue League Standings
Andrade El Idolo – 9 points (1 match remaining)
Bryan Danielson – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Brody King – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (1 match remaining, eliminated)

Continental Classic Blue League: Bryan Danielson vs. Brody King

King backs him into the corner so Danielson starts kicking away at the leg to slow things down. That’s not working for King, who knocks him right back down and rakes away at the eyes in the corner. There’s the Cannonball in the corner to knock Danielson silly and they head outside, with King sending him face first into the announcers’ table. One heck of a crossbody up against the barricade crushes Danielson and we take a break.

Back with Danielson’s bad eye busted open and the fight heading outside again. This time King misses another crossbody into the barricade, allowing Danielson to hit a shotgun dropkick back inside. King crotches him on top for a clothesline and they both need a breather. Danielson manages a quick half crab before kicking away at the leg even more.

The hammer and anvil elbows rock King but he’s right back with the Death Valley Driver for two. Back up and Danielson’s running knee gets two so he fires off kicks at King’s head. A hard clothesline takes Danielson’s head off for two but he’s back up with the fabled small package for two. Three straight running knees, with the last one to the back of the head, finishes King at 14:48.

Rating: B+. This started a bit slow but once they got going, they were beating the fire out of each other. That’s about what you have to expect from Danielson in a tournament like this, as he can bring out the best in anyone. King’s run definitely seems to be fading, as Danielson seems to be almost a lock for the semifinals. For now though, awesome big man vs. little man match and they had the crowd going nuts on those kickouts at the end.

Blue League Standings
Andrade El Idolo – 9 points (1 match remaining)
Bryan Danielson – 9 points (1 match remaining)
Brody King – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (1 match remaining, eliminated)

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling here was quite good and they built up a few things other than the tournament. The whole league portion of the tournament is over in a week and that means we can move on to the bigger stuff. For now though, it means we’re still getting in some solid matches, including a pretty awesome main event. I’m a bit worried about what they’re going to do when the tournament is over, but things are still working well for the moment.

Results
Claudio Castagnoli b. Andrade El Idolo – Neutralizer
Abadon b. Jazmin Allure – Black Dahlia
Orange Cassidy b. Bryan Keith – Mouse trap
Kris Statlander/Willow Nightingale b. Mercedes Martinez/Diamante – Discus lariat with a chain to Diamante
Brian Cage b. Karl Wright – Drill Claw
Eddie Kingston b. Daniel Garcia – Spinning backfist
Bryan Danielson b. Brody King – Running knee to the back of the head

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: December 6, 2023
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re north of the border here and well on the way towards the big closing pay per view of the year. As has been the case in recent weeks, it’s another Continental Classic week with three more matches to keep things going. Other than that, and probably a good bit bigger, we have Christian Cage defending the TNT Title against Adam Copeland. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Excalibur runs down the card.

Continental Classic Gold League: Jon Moxley vs. Rush

They strike away at each other to start with Rush suplexing him hard onto the arm. The fight goes outside and into the crowd, followed by another trip into another part of the crowd. Rush puts him in a chair and hits him with a beer (that’s not a good idea around Moxley) before they head back inside.

Rush takes Moxley into the corner for the Tranquilo pose, only for Moxley to come back up with a double middle finger. Believe it or not, Rush pounds him down again but this time Moxley grabs a cutter. A superplex gives Moxley two and they go back to the floor, with Rush belly to bellying him into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Rush hitting a piledriver and then a top rope superplex for two. They fight out to the floor and crash onto the ground, where Moxley crawls over to whisper something to Rush. Since countouts suddenly matter, they beat the count back in at nine and trade strikes back inside. Rush knocks him hard into the corner but Moxley comes out with the King Kong Lariat. The Death Rider gets two so Moxley grabs the choke for the win at 14:28.

Rating: C. I’m sure I’ll get yelled at for this one but my goodness I was bored out of my mind for a good chunk of this. It was a lot of two people hitting each other and barely selling a thing, which doesn’t make for an interesting match. Instead it was waiting for someone to get to the finish, which has been the case in a lot of Rush matches. I get what they were going for, but it really didn’t land for me.

Gold League Standings
Jon Moxley – 9 points (2 matches remaining)
Swerve Strickland – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Jay White – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Rush – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Jay Lethal – 0 points (3 matches remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Rush pops up to his feet immediately after being choked out.

Video on Jay Lethal vs. Jay White.

Here are Roderick Strong and the Kingdom for a chat. Strong (who now shouts first names) wants Samoa Joe to hurt MJF and shrugs off the idea that MJF isn’t bad. He’s sick of being held back by the wheelchair and pops up, saying it has held him back for far too long.

Hangman Page talks about how he wasn’t allowed to fly for a bit so he’s been gone. As for Swerve Strickland, he broke into Page’s house and into his son’s room and it took a bunch of people to beat him on pay per view. Page took something from Swerve though and this is not over.

Swerve wants something but now Page is going to make sure he never has it. MJF pops out of his locker room (where Page and Renee Paquette are standing) to mock Page. They argue about their history until MJF says Page is jealous over his title reign not being as long. MJF accuses him of being the Devil and a fight almost breaks out until Samoa Joe breaks it up. Can we just announce MJF vs. Everyone already?

Continental Classic Gold League: Swerve Strickland vs. Mark Briscoe

Feeling out process to start with Briscoe taking him down into a headlock. Swerve reveres into one of his own but Briscoe is back up with a boot to the face. Briscoe hammers away in the corner and grabs a suplex as Schiavone talks about how many wrestlers in WCW would love to play spoiler in the tournament.

Back up and Swerve takes him down, setting up the middle rope elbow to the back of the neck. A neckbreaker gives Swerve two but Briscoe sends him to the floor for a dropkick through the ropes. The apron Blockbuster is broken up and they chop it out on the apron. Swerve backdrops him over the barricade before superplexing him off the barricade and back to ringside.

We take a break and come back with Swerve working on the arm but Briscoe fights up with the chops. A fisherman’s buster gives Briscoe two but Swerve is back with a kick to the head for the same. They go to the corner and crash out to the floor, where Briscoe hits a quick dive.

Back in and one heck of a lariat gives Briscoe two but the Jay Driller is countered. The House Call connects on Briscoe but the 450 hits raised knees. Briscoe’s Froggy Bow hits raised knees as well so Swerve rolls him up for two of his own. We get the five minute call as they fight to the apron again. Swerve plants him with a Death Valley Driver, followed by the Swerve Stomp for the pin at 15:43.

Rating: A-. Oh yeah this was awesome stuff with two guys beating the fire out of each other until one got the pin. Briscoe is someone who can work well with anyone and has that weird charisma that makes you want to see him win. At the same time, Strickland is on a roll right now and I could easily see him winning the whole tournament. Great match here and the best of the tournament so far.

Gold League Standings
Jon Moxley – 9 points (2 matches remaining)
Swerve Strickland – 9 points (2 matches remaining)
Jay White – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Rush – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Jay Lethal – 0 points (3 matches remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 0 points (2 matches remaining, Eliminated)

Mariah May is excited to be here for her first match but she will not say who that opponent will be.

Samoa Joe/Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Devil’s Henchmen

Joe comes to the ring and four masked men surround the ring. The lights go out again and the our men are gone. The Devil pops up on screen and we see MJF down in the back with a broken beer bottle next to him. No match.

Post break we look at what we just saw.

Jon Moxley is in the back and says he is humble for everything because he knows what he is capable of doing. He expected to be 3-0 and he expects to be 5-0. Swerve Strickland comes in to say it’s going to take more than Moxley to beat him. They ace each other next week.

Ben Makiewicz, host of Turner Classic Movies, introduces Toni Storm, playing it completely straight and listing off some of her films. This was great.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue

Storm, with Luther and Mariah May, is defending. They go with the grappling to start with Storm getting the better of things. Storm gets knocked to the apron but lands on Luther’s shoulders, setting up a superplex to take Blue down. The beating continues on the floor, with a running hip attack against the barricade knocking Blue silly.

We take a break and come back with Storm missing the wind up punch and getting kicked in the head. Blue’s high crossbody gets two and a running hip attack knocks Storm silly. Code Blue gives Blue two but Storm catches her up top. A superplex brings Blue down but the hip attack (with the camera going black and white) is countered into a rollup. Storm reverses into a sunset lip of her own (with Blue’s shoulders nowhere near the mat) to retain at 9:28.

Rating: C+. That ending looked terrible but Storm getting a win is a good thing to see. May is likely going to be her surprise challenger at some point in the future (perhaps at the end of the month) and that should make for something interesting. For now though, Storm continues to be the best thing about the women’s division and that is great to see.

May is nowhere to be seen during the celebration. Instead, here is the returning Riho to seemingly challenge for the title. Well so much for May at the moment.

Video on Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage.

Continental Classic Gold League: Jay White vs. Jay Lethal

They go at it to start and strike away with Lethal getting the better of things. The strut is broken up though and White fires off some chops. Lethal takes him down into the basement dropkick, setting up the strut. White gets in a hard knockdown of his own though and we take a break.

Back with the fans making funny JAY chants (Holy Jay/Let’s Go Jay etc) and Lethal taking over. The top rope elbow gives Lethal two but White goes after the knee. A suplex into the corner and a brainbuster give White two, setting up the sleeper suplex. The Blade Runner is countered but so is the Lethal Injection, with White taking out the knee. Another Blade Runner is countered into a rollup but White reverses into one of his own for the pin at 11:21.

Rating: B-. Another good one, though the ending wasn’t exactly in doubt. Lethal is the guy in this half of the tournament whose job it is to make other people look good and he did that here. White gets a boost and Lethal is mathematically eliminated, so things came together as they were supposed to.

Gold League Standings
Jon Moxley – 9 points (2 matches remaining)
Swerve Strickland – 9 points (2 matches remaining)
Jay White – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Rush – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Jay Lethal – 0 points (2 matches remaining, Eliminated)
Mark Briscoe – 0 points (2 matches remaining, Eliminated)

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

TNT Title: Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage

Cage is defending. Copeland starts fast by knocking him to the apron for the forearms to the chest. A bunch of rams into the announcers’ table have the WOO energy drinks flying but Cage bails back into the floor. Copeland blocks the low blow though and goes after the hand to keep Cage in trouble. Cage manages a ram into the post though and we take a break.

Back with Cage hammering away (with the left hand) in the corner so Copeland bites the right hand to escape. A middle rope Russian legsweep takes Cage down and they go outside again. This time cage sends him into the steps and hits a frog splash for two. Cage’s spear is countered into the Impaler for two but Cage is back up with more left hands in the corner. This time Copeland counters into a Liger Bomb for two but Cage is right back up.

The Killswitch is countered into an Edge-O-Matic for two, followed by the Crossface to keep Cage in trouble. With that broken up, Copeland hammers him down but the spear is countered into the Killswitch for two more. The referee takes a shot to the eye….so Cage kicks him low and grabs the title. That misses so they both try spears, only to collide in the air. Cue Nick Wayne’s mom (who is apparently named Shanna) to grab the title and hit Copeland. With Wayne gone, Cage puts Copeland’s face on the title and stomps on it (that didn’t look great) for the pin to retain at 18:04.

Rating: B-. The ending is going to get the attention here and it was….I guess the word is fine? It was perfectly logical, but as soon as Copeland crushed Nick Wayne with the Conchairto (note: send him a Christmas card for that) in front of Wayne’s mom, you knew there was going to be payback down the line and this match felt like the perfect place. They shouldn’t have done a swerve for the sake of a swerve, but the match (which was good) felt like a lot of waiting around until Wayne came out to cost Copeland the title.

Overall Rating: B. This show went in a few different directions as you had the main event, the MJF stuff and the tournament. That gives you a lot of variety, but some of it is wildly more interesting than others. The tournament is going to go on for a few more weeks while Cage vs. Copeland seems set for a rematch (please nothing involving a ladder, I beg of you). That leaves the MJF/Devil stuff and while it’s not a bad story yet, they are going to need a heck of a reveal for this to be worth the time spent on it. For now though good show, but things need to change up a bit before they run out of steam fast.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Rush – Rear naked choke
Swerve Stickland b. Mark Briscoe – Swerve Stomp
Toni Storm b. Skye Blue – Sunset flip
Jay White b. Jay Lethal – Rollup
Christian Cage b. Adam Copeland – Stomp onto the TNT Title

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: November 29, 2023
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Bryan Danielson, Excalibur, Taz

It’s the second week of the Continental Classic and that seems to be the focal point of the show again. That went well enough last week, but I’m curious to see how well it holds up week after week. Other than that, Christian Cage has to respond to Adam Copeland’s challenge for a TNT Title match next week. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Bryan Danielson joins commentary.

Continental Classic Gold League: Jon Moxley vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal takes him down rather fast to start but the figure four doesn’t last long. Instead Lethal knocks Moxley outside for the suicide dive, only to have Moxley come right back with a dive of his own. Moxley comes up favoring his knee so Lethal is right back to go after the knee. Lethal knocks him off the apron and we take a break.

Back with Moxley grabbing a cutter but Lethal pulls him off the top with a super dragon screw legwhip. More shots to the knee have Moxley down but he sends Lethal into the corner. Moxley’s rear naked choke is broken up though and now the Figure Four can go on for a lot longer. The rope is grabbed though and it’s a Paradigm Shift into a pulling piledriver. The rear naked choke goes on though and Lethal is done at 11:20.

Rating: B-. Lethal continues to be one of the most consistent stars in AEW as he can have a nice match against anyone. That was the case here, with Lethal working on the knee, even if Moxley only sold it so much. Moxley feels like a strong candidate to go to the finals, so stacking him up with wins to start makes sense.

Gold League Standings
Jon Moxley – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Swerve Strickland – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Jay White – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Rush – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Jay Lethal – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Following his loss on Collision, Eddie Kingston says he didn’t deserve to win and now he has to face Bryan Danielson. Time to heal up.

Danielson is all fired up and says he’s coming to win.

Tony Schiavone announces the Revolution will take place on March 3 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Naturally this means a discussion about the Clash Of Champions match between Sting and Ric Flair, who come in to talk about said match. Sting thanks Flair for putting him on the map that night and Flair talks about how awesome Sting was that night. Trivia for you: according to AEW, that was the only match these two have ever had and now they’re legends 35 years later with nothing in between.

Continental Classic Gold League: Rush vs. Mark Briscoe

They go right to the slugout to start with Briscoe knocking him into the corner. Rush switches places with him and takes Briscoe out of the corner before they head outside. An exchange of whips into the barricade has Rush down, setting up the Bang Bang Elbow off the apron. Back in and Rush hits a superkick but Briscoe hits a hard lariat as we take a break.

We come back with Rush holding a leglock, with Briscoe making it over to the ropes. Rush sends him flying into the corner but a spear cuts off the Bull’s Horns for two. They fight to the apron until Briscoe charges into a suplex out to the floor. Back in and Rush gets knocked off the top, setting up the Froggy Bow for two. The Jay Driller is broken up though and the Bull’s Horns finishes for Rush at 11:22.

Rating: B-. This was the fight you would expect from these two and it was a fun brawl. Rush winning does get him on the board, but it’s rather frustrating to see Briscoe lose so often. He has so much charisma and could be a steady hand in the midcard. Instead he seems there to put people over, but maybe things can change in the next few weeks.

Gold League Standings
Jon Moxley – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Swerve Strickland – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Jay White – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Rush – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 0 points (3 matches remaining)
Jay Lethal – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Toni Storm is proud of winning the Women’s World Title but she’s a bit tired from celebrating and has some gout.

Here is MJF, on a cane, for a chat. He’s set to defend the World Title against Samoa Joe next month and he respects Joe very much. We hear a story about MJF seeing Joe in TNA and knowing what kind of a monster he saw. Then Joe went to WWE, who didn’t see his talents or make him a World Champion. The road Joe paved brought MJF to wrestling though so thank you…..but MJF has gone down his own road as well. MJF talks about the names he has beaten and now their match is about MJF’s own legacy.

On December 30, MJF doesn’t care about his injuries because it is going to be about how much fight he has in him. If Joe wants the title, he’ll have to put MJF down. Then the lights go out and the Devil minions show up, only to have Joe make the save. Then the screen goes back and a text crawl comes up, with someone challenging Joe and MJF to team together to face the unknown in a tag match. An angry MJF says it’s on and promises to unmask people.

Commentary says their IT security is looking into who keeps taking over.

Wardlow vs. AR Fox

Fox knocks him over the top and out to the floor to start the beating on the floor. They get inside with Wardlow suplexing him over the top to get us to the opening bell. Wardlow takes him back outside to keep up the beating but Fox kicks him down back inside. A 450 gives Fox two but Wardlow calmly powerbombs him. A Swanton crushes Fox and another powerbomb makes the referee stop it at 3:13.

Rating: C+. This was another slow step forward for Ward low as he gets to beat up a slightly bigger nae this week. That is a nice way to keep him moving but it is only going to mean so much if there isn’t some consistency. Wardlow has been higher than this before, only to have everything stop out of nowhere. Keep this up and it should work.

Hardys/Brother Zay vs. Action Andretti/Top Flight

Andretti sunset flips Matt for two to start but the Hardys take Andretti down without much trouble. It’s off to Zay, who gets caught in the wrong corner, allowing Dante to come in for a running corner clothesline. We take a break and come back with Jeff taking Andretti into the corner.

Andretti fights back to take Matt down and the hot tag brings Dante back in. Everything breaks down and Zay takes Dante down for two. Jeff cuts Darius off the apron (the fans do not approve), leaving Dante to get caught in a double electric chair/springboard missile dropkick combination for two. Back up and a dropkick into a German suplex gives Dante the pin on Zay at 9:46.

Rating: C+. This was about getting Dante back in the ring to show that he can still do it. You can see the athleticism there and Top Flight has looked like a potential breakout team for a long time now. What matters though is how long they can stay healthy, as it feels like they have spent years apart due to the injuries destroying them. For now though, I can go with the Hardys putting someone else over, as it’s what they do best at the moment.

Post match, Penta El Zero Miedo, Hijo del Vikingo and Komander seem to want to face Top Flight and Action Andretti.

TBS Title: Julia Hart vs. Emi Sakura

Hart is defending and due to House Rules, the match cannot end by submission. Hart starts fast by knocking her into the corner for a running elbow. Sakura chops her way out of trouble but gets taken down by the arm. They head outside with Sakura hitting a running crossbody against the steps as we take a break.

Back with Sakura hitting the delayed butterfly backbreaker, only to have Hart pull her into a triangle choke. Since that doesn’t work, Hart hits a running forearm to the back, setting up the moonsault to retain at 7:34. Sakura seemed to try to roll away and it looked like Hart almost had to hold her down for the pin.

Rating: C. The match was nothing of note but I’m a bit curious about that ending. I’m not sure if that was a communication issue or something that didn’t work like they were planning. Either way, it’s another win for Hart, who is on a roll at the moment and getting win after win is the right way to go.

Here is Christian Cage, with security, to call out Adam Copeland for a chat. Cue Copeland, so Cage sends security away. Cage talks about their history together and how much success they had on their own and together. We hear about their history, including Cage and Copeland being friends as children. Copeland was raised as Cage’s brother so they should do it one more time. Copeland seem to agree but then catches the low blow. He’s coming for the title next week and says “go f*** yourself”, which is NOT censored on the TNT feed. Good stuff here, as Copeland knew Cage and didn’t fall for his tricks.

Continental Classic Gold League: Swerve Strickland vs. Jay White

Feeling out process to start and they’re quickly out on the floor. Swerve sends him hard into the barricade and fires off some chops back inside. Things head back outside with Swerve dropping him over the barricade, followed by an apron double stomp to the back. White manages a DDT on the way back inside though and we take a break.

Back with White cranking on both arms but Swerve comes up with some chops. White doesn’t seem to mind and suplexes him into the corner, meaning it’s time to yell a lot. Swerve’s rolling Downward Spiral is blocked but so is the swinging Rock Bottom. A quick suplex gives Swerve two but White grabs what looked to be a Downward Spiral.

Swerve hits a quick clothesline though and they slug it out. White goes back to the knee and a swinging Rock Bottom gets two. Back up and White tries the low blow but gets taken down instead. The Swerve Stomp gets two more but White grabs a quick Blade Runner. Swerve rolls to the apron before the cover though and they chop it out with five minutes left…when Swerve grabs a cradle out of nowhere for the pin at 15:26.

Rating: B. These two tore it up here as Swerve continues to FINALLY get the chance to show what he can do. It feels like we’ve been waiting to see it happen for the better part of ever now and at least it seems to finally be going somewhere. Beating White clean is a pretty big deal, so well done on making someone feel like a much bigger deal, which isn’t easy to do.

Gold League Standings
Jon Moxley – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Swerve Strickland – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Jay White – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Rush – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 0 points (3 matches remaining)
Jay Lethal – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Overall Rating: B. The tournament is by far the biggest focus for the show and that is good enough, but they also focused on the other important stories on the show. That would include the Cage vs. Copeland title match next week, plus the banged up MJF vs. Samoa Joe. Good show here, though I continue to wonder how long the tournament is going to be able to last at this level.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Jay Lethal – Rear naked choke
Rush b. Mark Briscoe – Bull’s Horns
Wardlow b. AR Fox via referee stoppage
Action Andretti/Top Flight b. Hardys/Brother Zay – German suplex to Zay
Julia Hart b. Emi Sakura – Moonsault
Swerve Strickland b. Jay White – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: November 22, 2023
Location: Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re done with Full Gear and that means it is time to start the Continental Classic. This is a round robin tournament that will run until the end of the year with a new title (plus seemingly two more though it’s a little unclear how it works) going to the winner. Samoa Joe is also coming for MJF and the World Title so let’s get to it.

Here is Full Gear if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

The graphics on the sides of the entrances are now Ric Flair WOO Energy with a cartoon Flair. The drinks are also at the announcers’ desk.

Here are the rules for the Continental Classic:

20 minute time limit
3 points for a win
1 point for a draw
Everyone is banned from ringside

Continental Classic Gold League: Swerve Strickland vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal shoulders him down to start but an anklescissors sends Lethal to the floor. They strike it out on the apron, with Lethal going after Swerve’s banged up arm. Swerve is knocked to the floor for a suicide but Swerve is right back on the leg back inside. They strike it out with shots to the leg and arm until Lethal gets in a shoulder breaker as we take a break.

Back with Swerve catching him on top and hitting a Downward Spiral for two. Lethal puts him right back down and drops a top rope elbow for two. The basement dropkick is countered into a stretch muffler to send Lethal bailing to the ropes. That’s fine with Swerve, who hits the House Call into the Swerve Stomp for the pin at 13:51.

Rating: B-. The action was good enough and the working on the leg/arm worked well enough for a story. Swerve pretty much had to win coming off the momentum he had in the Full Gear match against Hangman Page, though it’s a bit much to take to have him be this fine so soon after that kind of a fight. I’m not sure why Swerve had to wrestle here, but they did the right thing in their current situation.

Gold League Standings
Swerve Strickland – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Rush – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Jay White – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Jay Lethal – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Orange Cassidy, Hook and Katsuyori SShibata are cut off from making an announcement as Wheeler Yuta interrupts. Yuta is sick of Shibata and wants the Pure Title back. Cassidy doesn’t get to make his announcement.

Here are MJF (on a cane) and Adam Cole (on crutches) for a chat. Cole has a seat in a chair as MJF talks about how the Devil is here and no one is on his level. He brags about his win over Jay White but sometimes he can be a bit too humble. None of what he has done without his brochacho though so it’s time for Storytime with Adam Cole. Uh, bay-bay.

Cole say she’s a long way off from being able to get back in the ring but he wants to be here with MJF. He understands, and threatens the person in the Devil mask. Cue said person on the screen….and here is Samoa Joe. After mocking Cole, he wants MJF to honor his deal of a title shot. MJF has thought about this and says something that gets muted. Cole insists that MJF is a man of his word and praises Joe.

Cole tells MJF to be a man of his word so MJF says Joe wouldn’t be the first Ring of Honor legend he has beaten in Chicago. Twice. The challenge is thrown out for right now but Joe says nah. He knows better than to face MJF when he can complain about his injury. Instead, we’ll do it at World’s End in MJF’s hometown of Long Island.

The match is on, though MJF has to calm the crowd down after praising Long Island a bit too much. Joe says MJF doesn’t have to worry about the Devil anymore because MJF is now his property. He wants the best MJF, so for now, he has MJF’s back. That’s a nice little twist on a match we knew was coming.

Hook/Orange Cassidy/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Angelo Parker/Matt Menard/Jake Hager

Before the match, Cassidy gets to make him announcement: Danhausen is back! Menard uses the distraction to jump Hook from behind and gets thrown down for his efforts. Everything breaks down and a backbreaker/running knee to the head combination puts Hook down. Hager yells at the referee and we take an early break.

Back with Hook suplexing his way out of trouble and handing it off to Cassidy to pick up the pace. The Stundog Millionaire cuts off Hager and Shibata comes in to forearm away. Shibata chops Hager down in the corner and nails the running dropkick….and Danhausen has Hager’s hat. Everything breaks down and Shibata/Hook grab a stereo sleeper/Redrum for the double submission at 8:08.

Rating: C. This was only so competitive as the match was more about getting Danhausen back in the fold. The fans are going to be happy with just about anything he does and it was a smart move to bring him back. At the same time, the double submission worked well as one of the Ring Of Honor champions is back. And later this week, he’ll be back on Ring Of Honor!

Adam Cole is glad to be back when Roderick Strong and the Kingdom interrupt. Strong asks where Cole was on Friday, which sends Cole into a rant about how they’re not best friends anymore.

Here is Christian Cage, with Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne, for a chat. Cage says things did not go their way at Full Gear but Luchasaurus lost that match. They have both benefited from their relationship with cage and it is time to rechristen them. Luchasaurus takes the knee and is renamed….Killswitch. Wayne takes the knee even faster but Cage tells him to get up because he is special. Since Cage sees himself in Wayne, he is now the Prodigy Nick Wayne.

Cue Wayne’s mom (Cage: “You are a terrible mother.”) but Cage cuts her off and berates her. It’s a good thing Wayne’s father is already dead because he could never be as good of a wrestler as Cage. He tells her to go get to her shift at Denny’s….but Luchasaurus gets between them. Cage tells him to get back on his knees. That doesn’t happen so Cage slaps him….and shoves him into Wayne’s mom. Cage orders Wayne to grab a chair but wants Luchasaurus to hit the Conchairto. Hesitation ensues but here is Adam Copeland for the save. Wayne is left alone for the spear and an Impaler, setting up a Conchairto.

The former Jericho Appreciation Society is annoyed at their loss but Anna Jay tells them to shut up. Angelo Parker says he’s got her back tonight…but is getting a call from Ruby Soho.

Continental Classic Gold League: Rush vs. Jay White

Rush easily powers him into the corner to start and then does it again for a bonus. A takedown lets Rush stomp away and there’s a basement dropkick to the back of the head. They head outside where Rush drops him with a hard chop, followed by some hard whips into the barricade.

Back in and they trade chops in the corner with Rush getting the better of things (as he tends to do). White gets stomped down in the corner, setting up the cocky kick to the face. We take a break and come back with White suplexing him into the corner for two. That’s too much selling for Rush though as he’s back with rolling suplexes into a brainbuster for two.

White manages a brainbuster of his own for two more before mocking the matador’s cape. They slug it out again until a swinging Rock Bottom plants Rush for two more. Rush snaps off a German suplex and suplexes him into the corner, only to have the Bull’s Horns cut off. The Blade Runner is blocked as well but the referee gets distracted. That lets White hit a low blow into the Blade Runner for the pin at 13:56.

Rating: B. This is becoming more of Rush’s traditional match, as he beats the fire out of someone for a good while before getting to whatever they have for a finish. White was mostly squashed here until managing to get in some offense of his own. That being said, White did get the win (cheating aside), which he needed after losing at Full Gear.

Gold League Standings
Swerve Strickland – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Jay White – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Rush – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Jay Lethal – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

We look at Ricky Starks and Big Bill retaining the Tag Team Titles, plus Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega earning a title shot, both at Full Gear. The teams got into it at the media scrum and the champs jumped Jericho afterwards, damaging his arm in the process.

Here is Toni Storm for her Women’s Title acceptance speech, though first we get an Oscar winner announcement style introduction. She didn’t have anything prepared but does pull out a list of people to thank. That includes Anthony Khan, all of those at Warner Discovery (including founder Jack Warner, who died in 1978) and all of the little Toni Storms out there.

Skye Blue vs. Anna Jay vs. Ruby Soho

Angelo Parker, Matt Menard and Saraya are here too. They trade rollups to start until Soho and Parker stop to stare at each other a bit. Soho is sent outside, leaving Jay to kick Blue in the face. Back in and Soho suplexes Blue, allowing Parker to trip Blue up. Jay bends Blue around the post and we take a break.

We come back with Jay planting them both with a Tower Of Doom before they all head outside. Soho gets the better of things but stops to look at Parker, allowing Blue to dive onto Soho and Jay back inside. Jay gets sent outside where Menard offers a distraction. Saraya breaks that up, leaving Blue to kick Soho right into Parker’s arms (Soho doesn’t seem to mind). That’s broken up as well and the distraction lets Blue hit a TKO to pin Jay at 9:52.

Rating: C+. The action was good enough but this was all about Parker and Soho and nothing more. They’re having that forbidden romance deal and in a way that’s kind of interesting. I could go or it being someone other than Parker, but Soho needs something to get her somewhere and maybe this is it. Jay losing is a bit frustrating, though if AEW has to start pushing Blue again, doing it in her hometown makes sense.

Wardlow is interrupted by AR Fox and drops him as a result.

Continental Classic Gold League: Mark Briscoe vs. Jon Moxley

They go to the slugout to start with Moxley taking him into the corner for some chops. Briscoe manages to send him outside for a running Blockbuster from the apron. Back in and the Froggy Bow misses, allowing Moxley to knock him into the corner again. We take a break and come back with Moxley working on an STF on the bloody Briscoe (commentary does in fact make fun of the fact that Moxley isn’t bleeding for once).

The comeback is on with Briscoe striking him down, setting up a running shot in the corner for two. Moxley’s armbar sends Briscoe to the ropes so Moxley grabs the Paradigm Shift. Briscoe pops back up and hits a dropkick before collapsing for the double breather. The Death Valley Driver into the Froggy Bow gives Briscoe two but Moxley is back with the Death Rider for the same. Moxley wins a slugout and hits a Stomp into another Death Rider for the pin at 11:23.

Rating: B. It’s against bigger names, but Briscoe continues to lose now that he’s back in AEW. I’m not sure how wise that is as he’s one of the most charismatic people they have but at least it was to one of the company’s top stars. Moxley is going to be a favorite to win the tournament, though I could go for an explanation for why he’s getting the chance to win three titles after losing to Orange Cassidy on Saturday when Cassidy isn’t in the tournament.

Gold League Standings
Swerve Strickland – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Jay White – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Jon Moxley – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Rush – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Jay Lethal – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Respect is shown to end the show.

Of note: the Ring Of Honor Instagram account has announced that Ronda Rousey will be wrestling on this week’s Ring Of Honor. Unless it was mentioned in a quick throw away line, I did not hear her name or any reference to her on this show. Katsuyori Shibata’s Pure Title match on the same Ring Of Honor was mentioned and Wheeler Yuta said he wanted the title. That was mentioned, but not Rousey, who has been announced by the official Ring Of Honor social media. That’s a very interesting choice.

Overall Rating: B+. Well the focus was on the tournament here and that stuff went very well. I’m not surprised by that part as it is still fresh and new with some very talented wrestlers involved, but it should be interesting to see how that goes a few weeks from now when the new shine has worn off. The rest of the show was rather good, with the six man tag being the weakest point and even that was completely fine. This was a wrestling based show and as usual, AEW knows how to make that work.

Results
Swerve Strickland b. Jay Lethal – Swerve Stomp
Hook/Orange Cassidy/Katsuyori Shibata b. Angelo Parker/Matt Menard/Jake Hager – Double submissions
Jay White b. Rush – Blade Runner
Skye Blue b. Anna Jay and Ruby Soho – TKO to Jay
Jon Moxley b. Mark Briscoe – Death Rider

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Full Gear 2023
Date: November 18, 2023
Location: Kia Forum, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We’re back to one of the main pay per views and that should mean a heck of a show. This time around we’ve got MJF defending the World Title against Jay White, who has the physical title. Other than that, Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page has the potential to be a heck of a violent fight. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Ring Of Honor World Title: Eddie Kingston vs. Jay Lethal

Kingston is defending, Ring Of Honor executive Stokely Hathaway is on commentary, and Lethal’s friends are here, despite Kingston saying he wanted this to be one on one. Kingston sweeps the leg down for two to start and sends Lethal outside but he’s smart enough to not follow him (as Lethal is quickly surrounded).

Lethal pulls him down for a posting and some right hands, setting up a triple strut from Lethal, Jeff Jarrett and Sonjay Dutt. A forearm from Dutt rocks Kingston again as Hathaway is promising some stern talkings after the match. Lethal grabs a chinlock before stomping away at the ribs/arm.

Kingston fights up and gets in the boot scrapes in the corner. A distraction cuts that off but Lethal can’t hit the top rope elbow. The Lethal Injection is countered into a Saito suplex but Kingston has to take out Dutt. Cue Ortiz to guitar Dutt as another Lethal Injection is countered into the half and half. The spinning backfist retains Kingston’s title at 10:53.

Rating: C+. Lethal never felt like a serious threat to win the title but it’s smart to have Kingston face a former World Champion to add another win to his resume. I’m not sure who is going to be challenging Kingston at Final Battle, but they seem to be teasing Ortiz. I know there’s a history there, but that hardly feels like a headlining match on the biggest show of the year.

Zero Hour: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Buddy Matthews

They slug it out to start but Castagnoli can’t get the swing. Instead they go outside where Castagnoli sends him into the barricade, setting up the running uppercut. Matthews gets in a hard shot of his own though and the top rope Meteora gets two back inside. The chinlock keeps Castagnoli down for a bit, only to have him come back with the discus lariat. Some kicks set up another failed swing attempt so Castagnoli uppercuts him for two.

Back up and Matthews tries another Meteora, only to get pulled into the swing. They go up top where Castagnoli fires off headbutts until Matthews slips out and hits a Cheeky Nandos Kick. A Jackhammer gives Matthews two and he grabs a Crossface. That’s broken up as well and Castagnoli grabs a Riccola Bomb into the Scorpion Deathlock for the tap at 10:26.

Rating: B. Sometimes you just need two big, strong guys to hit each other really hard for a little while and that is what we got here. It was an entertaining, hard hitting match and Castagnoli won. I could still go for Matthews getting a better push, but for now I can settle for him getting something of a showcase match here.

Post match Castagnoli offers a handshake but Matthews bails.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Samoa Joe vs. The Gunns

MJF and Joe are defending and of course they’re in Los Angeles Lakers gear. The Gunns take over on MJF to start but Joe cuts off a whip into the corner like a good partner. MJF says he doesn’t need Joe, but they send the Gunns outside for a heck of a suicide dive from Joe. Back in and Joe snaps off the right hands in the corner, setting up an enziguri.

It’s back to MJF, who gets caught in the wrong corner and has to send both Gunns outside. A roll underneath a double clothesline sets up a big boot for two on Austin. Joe loads up the MuscleBuster but MJF tags himself in and tries his own version. That’s broken up so MJF can hit a double DDT, only to have Joe break up the Kangaroo Kick. The Gunns escape stereo MuscleBusters and 3:10 To Yuma hits Joe. MJF breaks up the cover…and Adam Cole is here! The distraction lets Joe Koquina Clutch Colten to retain at 9:23.

Rating: C+. This is about what it was always going to be, as the Gunns might be good but they’re not going to beat the World Champion and his next likely challenger. I could certainly go for getting the titles off of MJF already so they can do something in Ring Of Honor again, but the champs retaining here makes sense in the bigger story with MJF and Joe.

Post match Joe leaves and the Gunns jump MJF again to wreck his knee. The Gunns Pillmanize the leg and MJF has to be stretchered into an ambulance. MJF shouts to Cole to not let him take his title.

The opening video looks at the show’s matches and talks about how people are fighting for prizes and honor

We open with a recap of MJF’s injury.

We run down the card.

Christian Cage/Luchasaurus/Nick Wayne vs. Sting/Darby Allin/Adam Copeland

A children’s choir sings Cage to the ring for a nearly creepy bonus. Ric Flair is here with Sting and company. Edge has his own face painted as well for a nice touch. Allin cranks away on Wayne’s arm to start, setting up the springboard high angle armdrag. Sting comes in to send Wayne outside for a whip into the barricade.

Back in and it’s off to Cage vs. Copeland but of course it’s off to Luchasaurus instead. Copeland tries to slug away before Allin comes in, with Cage getting in a cheap shot. A chokeslam over the top to the apron leaves Allin down, meaning the villains get to take turns beating on him. Wayne stomps away and mocks Flair before hitting a backsplash for two. They go up top, where Allin manages a super Code Red for a needed breather.

That’s not going to be enough though as Cage slides underneath the ring and pulls Copeland off the rope to break up the tag. Cage misses a spear though and it’s Copeland coming in, meaning Luchasaurus and Wayne bail from an attempted tag. Everything breaks down and Allin hits a dive through the ropes, followed by Sting hitting one off the apron.

Back in and a double Scorpion Death Drop puts Luchasaurus down. Luchasaurus fights back up and wrecks the good guys, leaving Cage to get in a fight with Flair on the floor. Cage hits him low but accidentally hits Luchasaurus with the TNT Title, allowing Copeland to chase Cage into the crowd. The spear and Coffin Drop finish Luchasaurus at 15:01.

Rating: B-. Good choice for an opener here as the fans are always going to be into whatever Sting is doing. As usual, Cage is a phenomenal heel and I’m sure his next promo will play into this perfectly. Copeland vs. Cage is probably coming next month or at Revolution, but for now I’ll take a good enough opener as part of Sting’s retirement tour.

Jay White is brought to the stage where we’re told the MJF vs. White match is canceled and White is…..cut off by Adam Cole. There is no way that White is leaving with the title, so he has talked to Tony Khan. If MJF can’t wrestle tonight, Cole will do it in his place. White is fine with that. If Cole talked to Khan already, why was Schiavone out there to award the title to White?

We recap Orange Cassidy defending the International Title against Jon Moxley. Cassidy lost to Moxley in September at All Out but then a string of injuries have put us right back where we started.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley

Cassidy is defending and gets jumped in the corner to start. Moxley sends him into the corner and then out to the floor. Some rams into the announcers’ table have Cassidy in even more trouble and a release suplex makes it worse back inside. Moxley stomps away in the corner before cutting off a charge with a swinging Boss Man Slam. They go up top where Cassidy fires off some headbutts, setting up a superplex for the big crash.

Moxley, now busted open, gets dropped with a diving DDT for two. Cassidy sends him outside and over the announcers’ table, meaning the suicide dive can connect. The suicide elbow connects as well but Moxley is right back with the hammer and anvil elbows. The Bulldog choke is broken up but Cassidy can’t hit the Beach Break.

Instead Cassidy grabs the Redrum until Moxley grabs the buckle to escape, pulling off the pad in the process. A cutter puts Cassidy down and a Gotch style piledriver gives Moxley two. Moxley gets set into the buckle, setting up three straight Orange Punches to….barely keep Moxley down. Three more set up the Beach Break to retain at 12:00.

Rating: B. It’s a good fight and the ending felt like Cassidy was slaying a giant, but this would have been better if Cassidy hadn’t won the title back in the first place. It makes Cassidy feel like a bigger deal, though I’m not sure where they’re supposed to go with him from here. He’s already had the big long term title reign and now he has beaten a former World Champion, so the main event scene would seem to be the only thing left. That might be a stretch, but it seems to be the only remaining outcome.

Post match their friends come in to check on them, with Wheeler Yuta bumping into Hook.

Mark Briscoe is in the Continental Classic. He eats continental breakfasts!

Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Hikaru Shida

Storm, with Luther, is challenging and rips up the script to show you how serious this is. Shida slugs away to start and hits a running knee in the corner. Chops in the corner and more in the corner have Storm in trouble as Nigel confuses the rest of commentary with silent movie references. Storm fights back with the windup punch as Mariah May is watching in the back. Shida is back with a running knee but Storm knocks her down again. Luther sticks something in Storm’s trunks and hands her a shoe, which knocks Shida down for two.

Shida strikes away and gets two off a Falcon Arrow, only to hurt her leg coming of the top. An ankle lock of all things has Shida in trouble but a quick grab of the rope gets her out of trouble. Another shoe shot is blocked so Shida grabs the kendo stick and unloads on Luther. Back in and Shida rolls her up for two, only for Storm to grab a German suplex. The hip attack, with a metal tray included in Storm’s tights, finishes Shida at 10:22.

Rating: B-. That ending was more than a little weird as Storm, the big face of the match, has to cheat to win despite Shida not having some big kickout beforehand. Not that it really matters though, as this was ALL about getting the title back on Storm. The Timeless deal is the hottest thing in the women’s division at the moment and it would have been insane to not ride that momentum while it’s going so strong.

Post match Mariah May comes out to give Storm some flowers. Luther takes Storm to the back.

Eddie Kingston is in the Continental Title and says his titles will be on the line in the tournament, which is to crown a Continental Title.

Tag Team Titles: Kings Of The Black Throne vs. FTR vs. La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Ricky Starks/Big Bill

Starks and Bill are defending in a ladder match. It’s a brawl to start with FTR breaking up a Bill vs. King showdown. Harwood brings in a ladder, which is sent into his face for a knockdown. Wheeler and Rush slug it out inside until Wheeler hits a dive onto a bunch of people. Dralistico hits a bigger dive onto the pile, followed by a moonsault from Black and a superplex from Harwood.

Back in and Harwood and Rush have a ladder duel until Harwood can do the Terry Funk spot. Rush kicks Wheeler in the face in the corner and hits the Tranquilo pose. Black throws a ladder into Wheeler’s face but Wheeler gets in a low blow and a piledriver onto a ladder. Starks comes back in and cleans some house, including a rope walk shot to Harwood’s head.

With everyone else down, King goes up so Bill tips the ladder over to send him into another ladder in the corner. Dralistico hits a springboard Codebreaker to Bill and it’s time for a bunch of people to go up a group of ladders. With that broken up, Dralistico hits a poisonrana on King, who is right back with a Ganso Bomb onto a bridged ladder. Wheeler dives onto King onto a ladder so Harwood and Starks go up. With Harwood knocked down, Starks drops Wheeler as well and retains at 20:34.

Rating: B. This is one of those matches that you’ve seen done a bunch and it does still entertain. That was the case again here, with a bunch of high spots that set up a bunch of crashes. It wasn’t a great ladder match as they did stuff that has been done better before, but at least Starks and Bill get to continue their rather entertaining reign.

TBS Title: Julia Hart vs. Kris Statlander vs. Skye Blue

Statlander is defending and slams them both to start. Hart is sent into the corner so we get a Statlander vs. Blue showdown. With that not working, they go outside so Statlander can suplex both of them at once. Back in and Statlander gets knocked down, leaving Blue and Hart to shake hands (with left hands) before fighting as well. Blue hammers away and gets two off a kick to the face. Statlander is back up and all three are knocked down for a breather.

Hart is knocked outside and Statlander faceplants Blue before going up. That lets Hart knock her back down and moonsault Blue for two as Statlander makes a save. Blue reverses Saturday Night Fever and grabs Code Blue for two of her own. Hartless has Blue in trouble until Statlander suplexes both of them down (Excalibur: “One could describe her as a human suplex machine!” Taz: “EASY THERE PARTNER!”). Statlander grabs Saturday Night Fever to Blue but Hart knocks Statlander off and steals the pin for the title at 11:19.

Rating: C+. This was quite the triple threat match and not much more than that. The “one person hits their finish and someone else steals the pin” is as played out as you can get. While I wasn’t wild on how she did it, I’m rather pleased with Hart winning the title. She probably should have gotten it last month, but at least she got the title here, as she should have.

Tony Schiavone brings in the new big signing for AEW….and it’s Will Ospreay. Cue Ospreay to say he’s got to finish up with New Japan and then he’ll be on the road to Revolution, where he’ll be all yours. He’s ready for the best in AEW, especially at Wembley Stadium. This wasn’t exactly a shocking surprise, but it’s probably about as big of a star as they could have realistically brought in.

We recap Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland in a Texas Death match. They’ve been feuding for a few months now and Swerve made it personal by breaking into Page’s house. Page is out for blood and revenge.

Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page

Texas Death match, meaning you can only win by submission or knockout (still not how a Texas Death match works but whatever). Prince Nana is here with Swerve and does his dance with a dance team. Page jumps Swerve during his entrance and hits a powerbomb into a Buckshot Lariat as I don’t think the bell ever rang. They go outside with Page whipping him into the barricade over and over. Page grabs some duct tape and ties his hands together for a staple to the bicep.

A chair to the head knocks Swerve silly again and we’ve got blood. Page stables a paper to Swerve’s face and lets Swerve’s blood drip onto his face (the fans aren’t sure about that). A barbed wire chair shot to the head is cut off by a low blow to give Swerve a breather. Swerve gets his hands untied and Page staples him in the chest…to no effect. A hard shot to the face knocks Page down the barbed wire chair is wedged in the corner. Page is sent into said chair but he’s back up for a slugout.

They fight to the apron, where Swerve hits a Death Valley Driver onto a cinder block. Somehow that’s not enough for a knockout so Swerve piledrives him onto the barricade (giving us a shot of Swerve’s face, which is COVERED in blood). Back in and more right hands seem to wake Page up so he hits a pair of fall away slams. Page rakes some barbed wire over Swerve’s face and then wraps it around his chest for another fall away slam.

With Swerve on the floor, Page grabs the barbed wire chair for the moonsault to knock Swerve down again. Back in and the Buckshot Lariat is blocked so Swerve kicks the barbed wire chair into his face. Page is right back with a Tombstone onto the barbed wire chair but Nana breaks up the ten count. Swerve manages a powerbomb onto the chair, setting up the Swerve Stomp onto Page onto the chair. Page is up again so let’s grab a bag of glass….which is stomped onto Page’s back as well.

The JML Driver gets nine so Swerve Cactus Clotheslines him….and pulls out a barbed wire board. Said board is bridged between two chairs in the ring but Page slams him through said board. Then a powerbomb and Dead Eye onto the wire lets Page wrap the wire around Swerve’s neck. The Buckshot Lariat….still doesn’t finish as Nana pulls Swerve to the floor to break the count.

Cue Brian Cage to wreck Page and set up a table, but Page saves himself with some barbed wire shots. Nana tries to come in but gets Dead Eyed through the table at ringside. Swerve is back up with the remains of the cinder block to the head though and then chokes Page out with a chain to FINALLY win at 29:56.

Rating: A-. Well, if you’re going to go violent and death matchish, do it like this. These guys beat the living daylights out of each other and it felt like they had been through a war. It was one of the best fights I’ve seen in a good while, which has been Swerve’s forte over the years. The one drawback here is it went about five to seven minutes long, which hut it a bit. I’m not sure if Page losing was the right call, but at least the numbers caught up with him. What might matter the most here is giving Swerve the big win that he needs, as this was one heck of a fight and worth seeing, assuming you don’t mind quite a bit of blood.

We recap the Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega/Chris Jericho. The Bucks aren’t happy that Omega is teaming with Jericho and want to fight about it. If Omega and Jericho win, they get the Bucks’ Tag Team Title shot but if the Bucks win, Omega and Jericho can no longer team together.

Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega vs. Young Bucks

Don Callis is on commentary as Omega runs Nick to start. The springboard spinning armdrag takes Omega down and we get a handshake before it’s off to Matt vs. Jericho. That doesn’t get very far so Omega comes back in but doesn’t seem overly thrilled. Everything breaks down and Jericho triangle dropkicks Nick to the floor. The Bucks are back up to crush Jericho’s arm in the steps and the villains take over back inside.

The arm is wrapped around the post as Nick pulls away, only to have Jericho score with a middle rope dropkick. Omega comes in and tells Matt that he can’t escape, only for Matt to escape. Instead Omega moonsaults onto Nick at ringside, followed by Jericho Lionsaulting onto both of them. The Walls have Matt in trouble and Omega breaks up Nick’s springboard save.

Jericho’s arm gives out though and Matt slips out, allowing him to hit the double northern lights suplex (because Matt Jackson, who had a back injury for years, can shrug off about a minute in a Boston crab and suplex two men at once). Nick German suplexes Omega onto the apron and Nick’s Swanton to a hanging Omega gets two. Back in and the referee checks on Omega, allowing Matt to kick Jericho low. It works so well on Jericho that Omega gets one as well and a Judas Effect gets two on Jericho.

The BTE Trigger hits Jericho for two more but he’s able to send Matt’s kick into Nick. Matt kicks Jericho in the arm but Omega is back up to knock both of them into the ropes. Omega has to decide who to V Trigger and goes with Matt, only to have the One Winged Angel broken up. Matt hits Omega with his own One Winged Angel but Omega is back up with a German suplex for two more. Jericho is back up with a superkick but gets superkicked down. Back up and Omega grabs the One Winged Angel to finish Matt at 20:44.

Rating: B. It was good stuff and a heck of a match which didn’t get to that epic level. It doesn’t help that it’s so similar to Omega/Hangman Page vs. the Bucks from a few years ago but I can go with the slightly watered down version just as well. If nothing else, this gives the Bucks something else to complain about, just in case they only have five things to whine about this week. I do like the idea of Omega and Jericho continuing as a team though as they work well together.

Post match the Bucks turn down a handshake and rant a lot.

AEW World Title: Adam Cole vs. Jay White

So Cole is defending on behalf of MJF but White has the title….and never mind as here is MJF, as they set up an angle to run for about four and a half hours.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Jay White

MJF, with a very banged up leg (and Cole), is defending and the Gunns are here too. White, being intelligent, goes right after the knee to take over. A suplex into the corner gives White two and MJF sends him outside, where the Gunns get caught with a chair. That’s good for an ejection and MJF gets a breather, but White tells Cole to get in. MJF gets fired up and tells White to hit him, which he does, square in the knee.

Back up and MJF hammers him into the corner for a bite to the head, followed by the Kangaroo Kick. For some reason MJF loads up a dive but White kicks out the leg without much trouble. White’s knee gives out when he’s whipped across the ring but he manages to kick White in the corner. White is back up with a swinging Rock Bottom and dumps him out to the floor. MJF manages to fight back again and sends him through the announcers’ table, setting up a top rope elbow to the floor.

Back in and the dragon screw legwhip over the rope puts MJF down again and the bad leg is tied in the Tree of Woe. The leg is fine enough for MJF to pull himself up and superplex White back down. White goes up to bring him back down with a super swinging Rock Bottom for two more. The chops make MJF tell him to bring it so White Downward Spirals him. The Blade Runner is countered into an exchange of rollups for two each and they knock each other down.

White blocks the Heatseeker….so MJF hits a running cutter over the top and out to the floor. Back in and the knee gives out again as MJF can’t even stand. The doctor asks if MJF wants to stop it so MJF hits himself in the knee. White grabs some dragon screw legwhips and we hit the Figure our. Cole teases tossing in the towel but MJF manages to turn it over. White escapes and yells at Cole before trying to grab the ROH Tag Team Title belt.

The pulling sends it into MJF’s head for two and the fans are still into it. The referee gets bumped though and Cole loads up the diamond ring. White goes for the leg though and grabs the ring instead, so MJF goes low to save himself. The Gunns come in and are quickly dispatches, setting up a ring shot to retain the title at 29:56.

Rating: B+. This was a weird match as MJF was the fighting underdog throughout and then cheated to even out a bunch of the cheating White had already done. The story they had went rather well, though it could have been trimmed down a bit at the end of a really long show. At the same time, it doesn’t exactly make White look good to not be able to beat someone on one leg who had already wrestled that night.

MJF and Cole celebrate and limp up the ramp to end the show. No Devil stuff at all.

Overall Rating: A-. Another rather good pay per view from AEW, even with the show feeling rather long at times. As usual, there was nothing close to a bad match with the weakest match being completely fine. The Texas Death match is the best match on the show with the main event being a close second. I’m not sure if this felt like one of the biggest shows AEW has run, but it’s certainly worth a look, assuming you don’t mind some of the matches going a good bit longer than they need to.

Results
Eddie Kingston b. Jay Lethal – Spinning backfist
Claudio Castagnoli b. Buddy Matthews – Scorpion Deathlock
Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Samoa Joe b. The Gunns – Koquina Clutch to Colten
Sting/Darby Allin/Adam Copeland b. Christian Cage/Nick Wayne/Luchasaurus – Coffin Drop to Luchasaurus
Orange Cassidy b. Jon Moxley – Beach Break
Toni Storm b. Hikaru Shida – Running hip attack with metal tray
Ricky Starks/Big Bill b. FTR, La Faccion Ingobernable and Kings Of The Black Throne – Starks pulled down the titles
Julia Hart b. Kris Statlander and Skye Blue – Saturday Night Fever to Blue
Swerve Strickland b. Hangman Page when Page could not answer the ten count
Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega b. Young Bucks – One Winged Angel to Matt
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Jay White – Right hand with diamond ring

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

AEW has changed up its pay per view schedule so much that their original Big Four do not exactly feel as important these days. While the promotion isn’t ice cold, they don’t have the hottest product in the world going into this show. That being said, AEW’s pay per view record is more than good enough to rally things up in the blink of an eye. The main event and a few other things have me interested and that might be enough to carry things. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Ring Of Honor World Title: Eddie Kingston(c) vs. Jay Lethal

So this match, which felt like it could have headlined Final Battle next month, is instead taking place here and might not even main event the pre-show. Lethal’s friends helped him beat Kingston to set this up and now Kingston wants to face him one one one. That should work out rather well as Lethal is capable of wrestling a good, simple match against anyone and we could be in for something nice here.

I’ll go with Kingston winning, as Lethal isn’t exactly on fire right now. There is little reason to change the title here since this feels like a way to give Kingston a win over an ROH legend. I’ve heard worse ideas, though I’m not sure who is going to face Kingston at Final Battle. They teased something with Ortiz on Rampage, but that’s for next month. For now, Kingston wins here and moves on to Final Battle.

Zero Hour: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Buddy Matthews

The two stables have been kind of teasing each other in recent weeks and then Castagnoli saved Wheeler Yuta from Matthews after their match on Collision. Therefore, we have a heck of a rather hard hitting showdown and that should be more than enough to make for some entertaining television. Matthews continues to feel like someone who could be a breakout star and it’s nice to see him getting this kind of spot.

For now though, Castagnoli wins here, as the only way I can imagine seeing Matthews win is through some House Of Black interference. This is one of those matches that sounds goo on paper and will probably be even better when they actually get in the ring. Castagnoli is about as dependable as you can get and we should be in for a good, hard hitting, ten or so minute match here.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Samoa Joe(c) vs. The Gunns

Joe is teaming with MJF in the place of Adam Cole, though I’m not sure if it’s going to be a permanent thing. At the same time, Joe is probably going to want some compensation for helping MJF, which likely leads to a title match next month in Long Island. For now though, they have to deal with a talented team who can be a threat to win the titles. Granted they’re fighting to be the champions of a show they’ve never wrestled on.

As much as I’d love to see MJF get away from the titles and have them actually be around in ROH, I’m not sure I can picture the Gunns winning here. MJF and maybe Joe will have to lose the titles at some point in the future, though that might not happen until Final Battle. ROH needs the titles back, but this doesn’t feel like the spot where that is going to happen just yet.

AEW Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Toni Storm

I try to get what I think are the most obvious results out of the way in these things and that seems to be the case here. Shida is a good champion and has been one of the most dependable people in all of AEW, but she’s up against a different kind of force here. Storm has tapped into something with this Timeless deal and that feels like it is going to be enough to go somewhere.

Of course I’ll take Storm here as I can’t see any reason to keep the title on Shida. While she’s very good and one of the workhorses of the division, but Storm is on another level entirely at the moment. It makes all the sense in the world to give her the title as it’s a case of striking while the iron is hot. This should be a layup, and unless Mariah May costs Storm the title, Storm gets the gold here.

TBS Title: Kris Statlander(c) vs. Julia Hart vs. Skye Blue

We’ll stick with the women here and another match that has a somewhat clear favorite. Hart seemed ready to take the title last month at WrestleDream but lost to Statlander, which makes me wonder how things are going to go here. This feels like it should be Hart’s to lose, though Blue being in there is a wild card given how much it seems AEW has wanted to push her.

It’s trickier than I thought but I’ll go with Hart winning here. At some point the House Of Black needs some gold and it would make sense for Hart to get them back on the champions’ list here. Hart has been built up very well in recent months and it fees like the time to go somewhere with that. Statlander has become a star during her reign, but it’s ok to move her out here and maybe into the main Women’s Title picture. Hart wins here, though Blue is a longshot option too.

Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega vs. Young Bucks

This is the Bucks’ title shot vs. the Canadians’ future as a team because, believe it or not, the Bucks can’t handle Omega having another friend. They did a bit of a rushed buildup to this one as the Bucks weren’t happy with Omega and Jericho teaming together because Omega seems to have forgotten the Elite. Thankfully that means the Bucks have turned heel again, which suits them so much better.

I’ll take Jericho and Omega to win here, as it would make the Bucks all the more frustrated and get them out of the title picture at the same time. The Bucks are going to find something else to whine about anyway so maybe the loss is enough to do just that. Omega and Jericho have done well enough as a team and I could see them going for the Tag Team Titles, even if it feels like a rehash of Omega and Hangman Page. Then again, the Elite’s whole thing is about repeating the same melodrama so that kind of fits. Omega and Jericho win here, or at least I think they do.

International Title: Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Jon Moxley

So this headlined a show about two and a half months ago but now we’re right back where we started before All Out. It felt like we were going to get back here eventually and maybe we’re here a bit earlier than expected, but the rematch is on. Moxley no sold the Orange Punch on Dynamite to scare Cassidy, which puts this in quite the different place than the original version.

As much as it would make sense for Cassidy to win here and tie the series, it feels like AEW wants to get back to where this was supposed to be when Moxley won at All Out. Maybe that means Cassidy comes back and wins the third match down the line, but Moxley was champion for all of a few weeks before the concussion screwed things up. I’ll go with Moxley here, despite a feeling that Cassidy could win with a rollup for a shock victory.

Sting/Darby Allin/Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage/Luchasaurus/Nick Wayne

And yes, Ric Flair with be here with Sting and company. That’s likely going to get a bunch of the focus and yes there is always the chance that Flair turns on Sting again because we must repeat history every chance we can. For now though, it seems much more like a way to set up Copeland vs. Cage down the line and that is not the worst idea given how rarely they have fought over the years.

Outside of Flair cheating though, this should be Copeland and company’s to win. Wayne can be right there to take a fall without damaging anything major going forward, as tends to be the case in a six man like this. Things will probably break down multiple times, but this is another step in Sting’s retirement tour and having him get a win on pay per view is a fine way for him to step away from California.

Tag Team Titles: Ricky Starks/Big Bill(c) vs. La Faccion Ingobernable vs. FTR vs. Kings Of The Black Throne

Say it with me: it’s a ladder match. That feels like a requirement that AEW has to cover every so often and we’re getting it here for reasons of “Bill is tall”. That’s not exactly a great reason to have a ladder match but that’s modern wrestling for you. The only team you can probably write off here is FTR as they’ve had the titles so recently that getting them again doesn’t make a ton of sense. That leaves us with three options and it could be either of them.

I’ll take the champs to retain here, as I could go for seeing more of what they can do. They won the titles about a month and a half ago and have wound up doing some nice things with them. Let them get a defense in here, even though it might not be the most traditional match. What matters is getting ready for another match against one of these teams later on, but that might have to wait for Omega and Jericho if all things stand. For now though, the champs retain.

Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland

This is the “steal the show” match as it feels like they’re having two young stars get the chance to break through in a Texas Death Match (or Last Man Standing to everyone else). That’s a bit weird when Page is already one of the most decorated stars in AEW history, but Page is out for revenge/blood on Strickland and that often makes for a much more interesting situation.

This feels like Page getting his revenge so I’ll take that here after one heck of a fight. Strickland has been waiting for that big breakout moment and while it has been said over and over again, it should be coming one day. I just don’t think it’s here, as the idea of having Page get his home violated like that and then lose in the big fight seems like a bad idea. Page wins here, after a war.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman(c) vs. Jay White

If this wasn’t the main event (or at least it should be), I would have put it high up because this doesn’t feel like the highest drama. White stole the belt at the start of their feud and has mostly kept it since, but now MJF wants the belt and the win. They’ve done a nice job with making me want to see MJF beat White and get everything back, but they might have tilted it a bit too far one way.

Naturally MJF retains here and gets the belt back. That’s not exactly a deep story and it’s hard to fathom that it doesn’t end with MJF getting the belt back here. Samoa Joe is all but guaranteed to be waiting for MJF next month in Long Island and having MJF win here is kind of required to make that work. White has done well enough but it’s time to move on without him as champion.

Overall Thoughts

The more I think about it, the more I would consider Strickland vs. Page headlining. It might not be the highest profile match on the show, but it certainly feels like the hottest one. I’m worried that it might be good enough that nothing can follow it and that could ruin whatever comes after. The show looks good enough, though having it come so soon after the previous one feels off in AEW> I’ll still take them as having a real chance to make this work though as Full Gear seems like it has a good deal of potential, as usual.

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Collision
Date: November 11, 2023
Location: Oakland Arena, Oakland, California
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

We’re taped for a rare situation this week with only seven days to go before Full Gear. In theory that should mean we get a few things built up towards the pay per view, which could make things interesting. You never know what you’re going to get around here but an in-ring focus tends to be the case. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Sting, Darby Allin, Adam Copeland, the Righteous, Lance Archer, Jake Roberts, La Faccion Ingobernable, Powerhouse Hobbs, Daniel Garcia and Andrade El Idolo are ready to fight.

Opening sequence.

Andrade El Idolo vs. Daniel Garcia

CJ Perry is here with Andrade. Feeling out process to start with Andrade getting the better of things. Garcia sends him into the ropes for the Tranquilo pose, meaning it’s time for the slugout. The frustrated Garcia is sat on top for a dropkick out to the floor as things get worse. Back in and Andrade strikes away until Garcia gets in a knee snap over the ropes.

Garcia knees him off the apron and out to the floor but it’s time to stare at Perry. That means some dancing from Garcia, though Perry actually dances back a bit. Garcia takes it back inside for a German suplex and we take a break. Back with Garcia putting on the ankle lock and Andrade pounding the mat.

With that broken up, Andrade hits some running clotheslines and nips up. The running knees in the corner give Andrade two, followed by Garcia hitting a brainbuster for the same. Andrade runs him over again and hits the double moonsault for two more. Another shot to the knee sets up the Figure Eight to give Andrade the win at 15:41.

Rating: C+. This was longer than it needed to be and there was only so much that you can get out of these two going for almost sixteen minutes. It was a good enough match, but it was feeling long and came off more like they were trying to fill in time. Andrade winning does at least boost him up though and now we should be in for a big Miro vs. Andrade match in the near future.

In the back, Miro is not pleased.

We look at the end of Dynamite, with the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn being taken out by masked men. MJF was upset but Samoa Joe seemed amused.

Nick Wayne vs. Dalton Castle

Christian Cage and Luchasaurus are here with Wayne while the Boys are here with Castle. Feeling out process to start with Wayne taking over and stopping for a pose. Castle wrestles him down without much trouble and grabs a gutwrench to send Wayne flying. Wayne gets in a shot of his own to set up more posing though and we hit the face ripping.

That’s broken up and Castle snaps off some suplexes but the Bang A Rang is blocked. Wayne’s World is blocked as well so Luchasaurus gets on the apron. The Boys make the save and get double chokeslammed, allowing Wayne to send Castle into the corner. Wayne’s World finishes Castle at 6:47.

Rating: C+. And there’s your next challenger to the Ring Of Honor World Title, as he loses to Christian Cage’s lackey two days after issuing the challenge. AEW has that big of a roster but apparently here was no one else to take this loss than Castle. Other than that, it was nice to see Castle on television again, as that star power and charisma are always worth a look.

Hangman Page is livid at Swerve Strickland for invading his home, so it’s time for a Texas Death Match at Full Gear. He’s ready to kill Strickland and then take his son to his grave every year for a visit. Heck of a promo from Page here, as he continues to do well when he’s serious.

La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Workhorsemen

Dralistico gets taken into the wrong corner to start and the alternating beatdown is on. A quick shot allows the tag to Rush though and Drake is quickly struck down. The fight heads outside and we take a break. Back with Rush slapping Drake in the face and posing before forearming Henry down. Back up and Drake runs Rush over, setting up a missed moonsault. Dralistico hits a top rope Codebreaker, setting up a running flip dive to Henry. The Bull’s Horns finishes Drake at 8:25.

Rating: C. This was another match that felt a bit longer than it needed to be, though at least La Faccion never really felt like they were in any serious trouble. The Workhorsemen have been around Ring Of Honor for a long time without much success and now they seem to be moving into the same jobbers to the stars roles around here. There are worse spots for them, but they’re not exactly must see TV.

Post match the House Of Black pops up to say they’re coming for the Tag Team Titles at Full Gear. As for Julia Hart, she’ll beat Willow Nightingale tonight and then gets a rematch for the TBS Title at Full Gear.

Kris Statlander thinks Willow Nightingale should get a title shot and has no comment on Red Velvet vs. Skye Blue next week. Apparently the winners of Hart vs. Nightingale and Velvet vs. Blue get into a triple threat title match at Full Gear. Velvet has wrestled twice since returning and is 1-1 but is a win away from a title shot?

Roderick Strong vs. Darius Martin

Strong, with the Kingdom, is wheeled to the ring. They start fast with Strong hammering away in the corner before hitting a half nelson backbreaker. One heck of a chop in the corner lets Strong drop him in the corner again. A dropkick cuts off Martin’s comeback and we hit the seated abdominal stretch. With that broken up, Martin flips out of the corner for a kick to the head, followed by a bulldog onto the middle rope. Back in and Strong hits the Sick Kick, setting up the End of Heartache for the pin at 5:50.

Rating: C+. Strong’s story continues, though I’m not sure where it is supposed to go. The ans are getting behind Strong and that might create some issues for everyone involved. For now though, at least Strong is getting back in the ring so there are some more options available. Maybe just tone down the comedy stuff if Strong is supposed to stay a heel?

Post match the beatdown is on until Action Andretti makes the save.

Tony Khan is with Bryan Danielson and announces that Danielson will be at next year’s All In. Also, we’ll be getting the Continental Classic, a 12 man round robin tournament over the next month and a half, with the finals taking place at World’s End. The first entrant: Bryan Danielson. Round robins haven’t gone so well in America and a month and a half is a lot, but the talent should be there.

Willow Nightingale vs. Julia Hart

They start slowly with Hart not knowing what to do with Willow’s power. Hart slugs away but gets slammed down without much trouble. With that not working, they head outside where Willow hits a suplex to plant Hart as we take a break. Back with Hart working on the arm, meaning Nightingale can’t pick her up for the gutwrench powerbomb. Hart hits some running shots in the corner and a running forearm to the back of the head.

Hartless is blocked so they head outside where Nightingale misses a charge into the steps. Back in and Willow pulls her off the top for a full nelson slam and another near fall. The Babe With The Powerbomb….doesn’t quite work as Hart lands sitting down. Another running forearm drops Willow and the moonsault gives Hart the pin at 12:01.

Rating: C+. And so, Nightingale loses again, as tends to be her custom. That being said, Hart seems all but destined to win the title at Full Gear, as Kris Statlander hasn’t had much of note or a bit now. Hart’s moonsault still looks great too as she has come a long way in a short amount of time. Just give her the title while not having Nightingale lose as much and they’ll get somewhere.

Big Bill and Ricky Starks won’t fight the House Of Black at Full Gear. That’s true, because they’ll be fighting the House of Black, La Faccion Ingobernable and FTR. Starks isn’t worried.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. ???

Paul Wight is on commentary. Spinebuster and World’s Strongest Slam finish for Hobbs at 53 seconds.

Post match, Don Callis mocks Chris Jericho and calls Wight Jericho’s last friend in wrestling. Callis praises Wight but says he’s scared of Hobbs. The fight is teased but nothing happens.

FTR wants the Tag Team Titles back.

Lance Archer/The Righteous vs. Sting/Darby Allin/Adam Copeland

Copeland strikes away at Dutch to start and finally clotheslines him down. Allin (with a taped up shoulder) comes in to headlock Vincent before it’s off to Archer vs. Sting. After a WOO off, Sting knocks him to the floor as we take a break. Back with Sting in trouble as Archer gets to stomp him down in the corner. Sting fights away and, after a clothesline to Archer, brings Allin back in.

What looks to be the Code Red is blocked and Dutch hits a running clothesline as we take another break. Back again with Allin fighting out of trouble and bringing Copeland back in to clean house. Allin dives onto Archer on the floor but Dutch takes Copeland down. Sting makes the save and it’s a Death Drop/middle rope elbow combination to drop Dutch. The spear finishes Dutch at 16:21.

Rating: B-. Copeland was looking like a star in here and was moving better than he did during some of his time in WWE. At the same time, Sting continues to look good on the way towards retirement and if he can keep it going for a few more months, we should be in for a nice run. I could have gone with the Righteous not losing so soon into their teaming up with Roberts, but at least it was to a team with much higher star power.

Christian Cage and company come out for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. While it wasn’t a bad show, I couldn’t get into things this week. It felt like there wasn’t a ton of effort put into this show and very little involving the top stories took place. I can go with a show focused more on the midcard feuds, but nothing n here really stood out for the most part. It’s far from terrible, but I was bored more than once and that makes for a long show.

Results
Andrade El Idolo b. Daniel Garcia – Figure 8
Nick Wayne b. Dalton Castle – Wayne’s World
La Faccion Ingobernable b. Workhorsemen – Bull’s Horns to Drake
Roderick Strong b. Darius Martin – End Of Heartache
Julia Hart b. Willow Nightingale – Moonsault
Powerhouse Hobbs b. ??? – World’s Strongest Slam
Sting/Darby Allin/Adam Copeland b. Righteous/Lance Archer – Spear to Dutch

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.