Rampage
Date: July 5, 2024
Location: Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Don Callis

We’re still in Chicago for the second half of Beach Break, which didn’t exactly mean much on Dynamite. Hopefully the show goes somewhere off of the big ending from Dynamite, but there is a real chance they save that for tomorrow night. We are starting to get ready for All In though and that build might continue here. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Rush vs. Komander

Metalik is here with Komander. For some reason Komander tries a handshake to start, earning a shove down. Rush knocks him outside without much trouble and adds a whip into the barricade as Callis talks taking Rush to a baseball game. A chair is sent in, which is enough of a distraction to let Rush whip Komander with a camera cable. Back in and Rush hits a running double stomp but Komander manages a tornado DDT. That doesn’t work for Rush, who takes him outside for a HARD swing into the barricade as we take a break.

We come back with Rush stomping away in the corner and hitting the cocky kick to the mask. Komander is tied in the Tree of Woe for a rather hard kick but the Bull’s Horns misses. The comeback is on with a dropkick to the knee (Callis: “That’s a dirty move.”) to send Rush outside. Komander hits the dive into the Asai moonsault, setting up the shooting star press for two back inside. A headbutt cuts Komander off and an apron superplex gives Rush two. Rush suplexes him off the apron and the Bull’s Horns finishes at 11:56.

Rating: C. This is a good example of a match that went long and really shouldn’t have. If Rush is supposed to be the next big star for Callis, there is pretty much no reason for him to take about twelve minutes to beat Komander. It’s ok to just have Rush go in there and maul someone and that’s what should have happened here.

Post match Rush throws Komander at Callis’ feet.

The Undisputed Kingdom isn’t worried about the Conglomeration, who has Kyle O’Reilly bamboozled. Roderick Strong swears vengeance and are ready to bring O’Reilly back.

Konosuke Takeshita/Kyle Fletcher vs. Private Party

The Family jumps them before the bell and Private Party is in trouble to start. Kassidy armdrags Fletcher down for a breather and it’s off to Quen for a springboard missile dropkick. Takeshita comes in and gets caught with a moonsault but he’s fine enough to suplex Kassidy and Quen at the same time. We take a break and come back with Quen fighting his way to freedom, allowing the tag off to Kassidy. The pace picks up and the Family is sent outside for Kassidy’s big flip dive.

Kassidy throws on a shark hat but the Family fights back and hits stereo brainbusters for two each. A superbomb is reversed into Gin and Juice to Takeshita and Silly String gets two on Fletcher. Takeshita runs both of them over with a clothesline though, leaving Fletcher and Quen to slug it out. Back in and Takeshita takes out Kassidy, leaving Quen to get caught with the piledriver for the pin at 10:10.

Rating: B-. For once, commentary covered part of the issue here, as they hammered in the idea that Takeshita and Fletcher are part of the same stable but not a regular team. That makes the match feel a bit more competitive, as while Private Party isn’t the most successful team, they’re at least a regular team with experience. Takeshita got to look like his usual awesome self and Fletcher was….well Takeshita was great.

We see a clip from earlier this week, with Rush and Don Callis coming to terms.

We look at MJF turning heel and attacking Daniel Garcia on Dynamite.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. GPA

Roderick Strong, with the Kingdom, is on commentary. O’Reilly kicks away to start and shrugs off GPA’s comeback attempt. The cross armbreaker finishes for O’Reilly at 1:48.

Samoa Joe wants to massacre Chris Jericho on Dynamite. Ticked off Joe is always awesome.

Video on Mariah May vs. Hikaru Shida.

Toni Storm does a kind of old school newsreel announcement about her match with Trish Adora on Collision.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament Semifinals: Mariah May vs. Hikaru Shida

Toni Storm and Luther are here with May. The fans are behind Shida to start before the slow forearm exchange gets things going. May takes her down out of the corner and a running kick to the chest gets two. May’s sunset bomb to the floor is countered into a hurricanrana, leaving Storm annoyed as we take a break.

Back with May making the clothesline comeback and hitting a middle rope hurricanrana out of the corner. May goes up but gets caught with a superplex. Back up and May grabs a spinning side slam before they trade German suplexes. Shida’s Falcon Arrow gets two but May sends her into the corner for the hip attack. They trade rollups until Shida tries the Katana, which is reversed into a cradle to give May the pin at 11:37.

Rating: B-. They haven’t exactly been hiding that this is May’s tournament to win, but they’re doing a nice job of making her work to get there. Beating Shida still means a lot as she’s one of the most successful stars the division has ever seen and May gets to beat another former champion. Storm is waiting for her though, and the finals could not feel like more of a formality.

Overall Rating: C+. The wrestling was mostly good but this was a show that you absolutely could have skipped. With the first half being the Don Callis Show and the main event being the only match with any value (and not exactly much in the way of drama), I wasn’t exactly invested in this one. That’s a bit of a step down from recent Rampages, which is a shame as the show was fun for a bit.

Results
Rush b. Komander – Bull’s Horns
Konosuke Takeshita/Kyle Fletcher b. Private Party – Piledriver to Quen
Kyle O’Reilly b. GPA – Cross armbreaker
Mariah May b. Hikaru Shida – Rollup

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Forbidden Door 2024
Date: June 30, 2024
Location: UBS Arena, Elmont, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness, Taz

It’s back to the pay per view schedule with one of the biggest shows AEW presents every year. This is built around the international guest stars, including several stars from New Japan and CMLL. The main event will see Swerve Strickland defending the World Title against Will Ospreay in a pretty big showdown. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kyle Fletcher vs. Serpentico

Bonus match (on a card that already has 14 matches). Fletcher runs him over to start and poses a bit before going after the mask. The comeback is cut off with another kick to the face, followed by a running kick to the back. The piledriver plants Serpentico but Fletcher would rather put him on the ropes. An El Generico brainbuster in the corner finishes for Fletcher at 3:12.

Rating: C-. Total squash as I guess Fletcher gets some heat back after losing the ROH TV Title in Mexico on Friday. The match was nothing to see as Serpentico gets wrecked again, but it also didn’t make me any more interested in Fletcher. He does well enough in the ring, but there is little about him that stands out in any significant way.

Zero Hour: Private Party vs. House Of Black vs. Tomohiro Ishii/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gabe Kidd/Roderick Strong

O’Reilly and Black go to the mat to start before trading shots to the ribs. Ishii comes back in to a nice reaction and gets to chop it out with King. Kidd tags himself in and Strong adds a running shot to the face. Quen tags himself in as the rapid fire tags continue, only to be sent outside. Kidd comes back in to chop away (and bark) at O’Reilly, who gets caught in the corner for an exchange of chops from Kidd and Strong.

The team argues over who gets to chop him so it’s off to Ishii for a double clothesline. The House kicks Ishii down before everything breaks down. Quen hits a Trouble In Paradise on Black, who is back with a jumping knee to the face. Kidd brainbusters Ishii but gets chopped by King. Private Party hit stereo running flip dives before Kassidy rolls King up, with tights, for two, only to get Ganso Bombed for the pin at 8:35.

Rating: B-. This was the wild match that you would have been expecting and that’s not a bad thing. There is something to be said about getting a bunch of people in the ring and letting them fly all over the place to go nuts, which is what we got here. Good choice to fire the fans up, as this kind of thing almost always tends to be. The House winning is the right choice too as they’re the bigger of the two regular AEW teams.

Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale/Tam Nakano vs. Momo Watanabe/Kris Statlander

Stokely Hathaway is here with Watanabe and Statlander. Nakano takes Statlander down to start and hits a quick dropkick before it’s off to Nightingale. That means Statlander runs off to Watanabe, who is quickly dropkicked down for two. Watanabe and Nakano slug it out until Nakano hits a heck of a superkick. A Hathaway distraction slows things down though and Statlander gets in a belly to back suplex.

Statlander’s delayed vertical suplex gets two and Watanabe hits a hard shot to the back of the head. Nakano finally manages a quick shot and brings Nightingale back in to beat up Statlander. That lasts for all of ten seconds before the threat of the Pounce means it’s back to Watanabe. A hard spinebuster gives Nightingale two but Statlander offers a distraction, allowing Watanabe to get in a kick to the head.

Nightingale is back up with a dropkick, only for Nakano to miss a high crossbody. Nakano’s German suplex gets two on Statlander and a tiger suplex plants her again. That leaves Nightingale to hit a super Death Valley Driver for two on Watanabe, followed by a heck of a Pounce. Nakano comes back in and grabs a bridging German suplex to pin Watanabe at 10:23.

Rating: B-. Another good one here, though a middle rope Death Valley Driver not being the finish is a bit ridiculous, especially when the finish came a minute later. Either way, this was more about teasing Statlander vs. Nightingale, which does feel like a personal feud and a big rivalry. Throw in the fans loving Nightingale and things are even bigger.

Zero Hour: Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Mariah May vs. Saraya

Toni Storm and Harley Cameron are here too. May sends her into the corner to start and hits some running uppercuts, setting up a rather spinning side slam for two. A Stratusphere plants Saraya again and a missile dropkick gets two more. The hip attack takes too long though and they fight up to the top. May gets sent crashing out to the floor, leaving Saraya to do some jumping jacks until she gets back in.

A double knockdown gives them a breather and they slug it out from their knees. May sends her into the corner for the running hip attack but Storm has to cut off Cameron. Saraya’s superkick into the Rampaige gets two but the Scorpion Crosslock is broken up. Instead Saraya rams her face first into the mat over and over but a suplex is countered into a bridging rollup to give May the pin at 8:28.

Rating: C+. That was the only way this should have gone as May winning the whole tournament to set up a title match against Storm at All In is not the worst idea. At the same time, May gets a nice boost here and beats another former champion in Saraya. Good enough match here, though I’m not sure why it needed to be on this show.

Zero Hour: Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Mistico/Lucha Bros

Fenix and Titan start things off with Fenix knocking him down and springboarding around, setting up a double flip into a standoff. The fans greatly approve as it’s off to Penta vs. Tsuji, with the latter blocking Cero Miedo. Penta isn’t having that and sends him into the corner for the running dropkick, only to be stomped face first onto the mat. Back up and they chop it out before trading shots to the face.

The Fear Factor is broken up so Penta kicks him to the floor instead. It’s off to Mistico to face Takahashi and the fans greatly approve again. An early mask tear attempt is blocked so Mistico sends him outside instead. Tsuji and Titan come in to stomp away but Mistico breaks that up and hits a dive onto Takahashi. Back in and the Bros strike away, setting up Mistico’s Swanton for two on Takahashi. Titan and Tsuji send the Bros outside for dives, followed by a running sunset bomb from Takahashi to send Mistico onto the floor.

Back in and Mistico fights off all three of them at once, allowing the tag back to Penta. Everything breaks down and Fenix’s assisted splash off of Penta’s shoulders gets two on Titan. We hit the parade of big knockdowns until Titan tornado DDT’s Fenix into a superkick for the six way knockdown. Mistico hits the big dive to the floor and the spike Fear Factor hits Takahashi, who rolls out to the floor. Back in and La Mistica finishes Titan at 12:05.

Rating: B. I’m not sure why this wasn’t on the main show, or maybe just make this the only Kickoff Show match. It had the action, but having Mistico, a CMLL star, and the Lucha Bros, best known as AAA guys, on the same show is a big deal that you do not see very often. Almost like it would be….forbidden.

The opening video looks at the major matches and how big this night really is.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hechicero

MJF is of course the big hometown boy and gets a hero’s welcome, even doing a bit of crowd surfing. Hechicero takes him to the mat to start for a quickly broken cross armbreaker. Back up and MJF shakes his hand, which allows for a kick to the ribs and a “yeah of course I did” shrug.

MJF flips (yes flips) away into a double eye poke ala Roddy Piper. They head outside with MJF setting him in a chair and hitting a running boot to the face. Back in and Hechicero snaps the arm across the top rope to take over and we hit the armbar. MJF fights up but the Heatseeker is blocked, allowing Hechicero to plant him down for two. A running knee in the corner connects for Hechicero and the fans are NOT happy.

MJF manages a quick clothesline before spinning around into a piledriver for a needed breather. Hechicero is right back up with a springboard spinning dropkick before grabbing the cross armbreaker. That’s broken up as well so MJF tries the Salt Of The Earth, which is reversed into a double arm crank with Hechicero’s legs. The ropes are reached for the break so MJF hammers away in the corner and even bites the mask. A Canadian Destroyer into the brainbuster gives MJF the pin at 9:48.

Rating: B-. The match could have been worse, but it still feels like quite the waste of MJF in a spot where he could have been doing something more important. At the same time, it made Hechicero look great all over again, as he has more than enough talent to be a star anywhere. That kind of thing will always work, though I’m not sure if it was the best idea in this spot.

We get a rather praise-heavy Young Bucks video (with Kenny Omega’s face blurred in a nice touch) which mocks the Acclaimed and Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Elite vs. Acclaimed/Hiroshi Tanahashi

Caster’s rap mocks President Biden at the debate and Okada’s use of the word b****. Okada and Caster start things off but Okada decks Tanahashi off the apron, meaning it’s time for a historic standoff. Instead of doing anything though, it’s off to Matt, who gets taken down with a middle rope crossbody into some air guitar. Bowens comes in to take Matt into the corner, where some running elbows put him in even more trouble. Nick is brought in and it’s a double Scissor Me Timbers for a nasty crash.

Back up and Okada gets in a cheap shot to take over on Caster, with Matt putting on the headphones so Okada can dance. Caster gets caught in a camel clutch so Nick can run the ropes and then kiss his brother on the cheek. The slow beating continues in the corner as we get a few CM PUNK chants. That turns into a HE GOT FIRED chant as Caster knocks Matt off the top and hits a high crossbody.

Okada comes in and gets dropped as well, allowing the tag off to Bowens for the house cleaning. Okada gets dropped with a right hand and a spinning torture rack slam gets two on Matt. Bowens is taken down as well though and it’s a double tag to bring in Okada and Tanahashi. The dragon screw legwhip sets up the Texas Cloverleaf on Okada but the Bucks make the save.

Everything breaks down and the Rainmaker is countered into the Arrival into the Mic Drop. The High Fly Flow is broken up though and the rather delayed version hits raised knees. A superkick puts Tanahashi down again and the Bucks hit stereo slingshot dives to take the Acclaimed down on the floor. Okada hits his top rope elbow but the Rainmaker is countered into a small package for two. Back up and the Rainmaker finishes Tanahashi at 13:02.

Rating: C+. Tanahashi was trying here but those knees are just not holding him up any longer. Other than that, it was about what you would expect with the Bucks and the Acclaimed, which was only going to go so far. We still have the title match to come between the teams and that probably should have been here, but instead we get this feud extended even further.

We recap Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi

McGuinness is already on Danielson, as you knew he would be. Danielson goes after the arm to start before tying up Takagi’s leg. That’s broken up in the ropes so Danielson takes him down again and grabs a surfboard. As usual, that doesn’t last long and it’s Takagi dropping him down hard. A backsplash gives Takagi two as McGuinness compares Danielson to Mozart and Napoleon, both of whom were FAR more successful.

Danielson gets knocked out of the corner but manages to send Takagi outside. The suicide dive doesn’t quite work though and Takagi catches him with a hanging fisherman’s neckbreaker,. Danielson lands on his head, because Danielson, and we pause for the medics to check on him. Thankfully he gets back up and beats the count back in, where Takagi drops a knee to the back of the head. Danielson fights up and they trade shots to the face until Takagi hits a clothesline.

Another kick to the head gives Danielson a breather and he goes up top. Takagi is right there with him, so Danielson grabs a belly to back superplex for the big double knockdown. Danielson’s triangle choke is muscled up into a powerslam and they’re both down again. Back up and Takagi superplexes him into a heck of a sliding lariat for two.

Made In Japan is broken up but Danielson misses a charge into the corner. Now Made In Japan can connect for two more, with McGuinness being left speechless. Danielson can barely get up so Takagi hits a running shot to the side of the head. Another sliding lariat is loaded up but Danielson reverses into a Fujiwara armbar.

That’s switched into the LeBell Lock but Takagi slips out. A reverse fisherman’s suplex puts Takagi down and the running knee gives Danielson two. Danielson stomps away at the head and grabs a triangle choke but Takagi powers up. That doesn’t work though as Danielson pulls him into a Disarm-Her for the referee stoppage at 19:58.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the fire out of each other and it’s another awesome Danielson match. At some point he needs to win a few of these things and this was a goo example of how to make it work. Rather awesome match here and Danielson gets to move on towards what could be a rather deep run in the whole thing.

We recap Toni Storm defending the Women’s Title against Mina Shirakawa. The bigger story though is the battle over Mariah May, as both of them want her too.

Women’s Title: Mina Shirakawa vs. Toni Storm

Storm is defending and Mariah May is in a neutral corner. As you might expect, Storm is dressed as the Statue Of Liberty. May refuses to pick before the match so they circle each other instead. Shirakawa stops to dance and gets a hip attack to the face for her efforts. That just earns her more dancing before Shirakawa drops Storm knees first onto the mat. The Figure Four around the post goes on and McGuinness thinks May needs a hug. Back in and a dropkick to the leg keeps Storm in trouble but she’s back with a fisherman’s suplex for two.

There’s the running hip attack to put Shirakawa on the floor but another one only hits the steps. Shirakawa uses the breather to hit a big dive, only to have Storm catch her with a super chokebomb back inside. Storm misses a charge though and Shirakawa grabs the Figure Four to stay on the bad leg. They sit up and slap it out until Storm manages to escape.

Back up and they slug it out with Shirakawa getting the better of things and going up top. Storm is right there for another forearm off until Shirakawa hits a super DDT for two more. Shirakawa’s Glamorous Driver is broken up and Storm snaps off a release German suplex. Another hip attack gives Storm another two but Shirakawa is right back with the Glamorous Driver for her own near fall. Storm gets in a quick rollup for two, followed by Storm Zero to retain at 11:38.

Rating: B. Storm continues to feel it in these big pay per view matches, but May was more or less just window dressing. That’s normally a good thing, but she’s the entire point of the story in the first place. The match was good, though it was hard to believe that Shirakawa was going to be the one to end Storm’s reign.

Post match Storm and May look at each other and Shirakawa wants a handshake. Respect is shown and we get the big hug and we get the three way kiss. So May’s choice of a side was to not pick a side. Got it.

We recap Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy.  Sabre isn’t over Cassidy pinning him last year and Cassidy is having a rough time but is ready to fight again.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy

They go technical to start with Cassidy not being able to get very far with some arm cranking. Instead Cassidy bails out to the floor for a breather before rolling back inside, with Sabre holding the ropes open. Back in and they fight over a cross arm choke until Cassidy ties him up on the mat.

That’s broken up as well so they trade rollups for two each. Sabre ties him up in a headscissors but Cassidy makes it over to the ropes rather quickly. Sabre does his own slow kicks but Cassidy takes out the knee to put him down for a change. Cassidy twists on the leg outside and again inside, setting up a top rope DDT for a rather near fall.

Sabre is right back with a kick to the arm and some finger snapping to put Cassidy down. The double arm crank goes on but Cassidy escapes and goes back to the leg. The Texas Cloverleaf is broken up so Cassidy hits the Beach Break for two instead. Back up and the Orange Punch is blocked so Sabre pulls him back into the European Clutch for two. Cassidy tries the Mouse Trap but Sabre reverses into a….well he tied up all four of Cassidy’s limbs at the same time with Cassidy having to give up at 16:20.

Rating: B. I’m still not sure I get why Cassidy was so upset coming into this one but he was holding his own out there well enough, only to get tied up by Sabre. It was a good back and forth match, with Sabre being able to do things in there that no one else can make work. Cassidy needs something new though, and I’m not sure what that is going to be coming off this loss.

Post match Sabre actually gives him the sunglasses back.

We recap the Learning Tree vs. Samoa Joe and company. Joe and company are sick of Chris Jericho and want a fight, with Jericho bringing in Jeff Cobb to replace the injured Bryan Keith.

Learning Tree/Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe/Hook/Katsuyori Shibata

Jericho is sure the fans don’t really want him to retire as he starts with Shibata. Before that goes anywhere though, it’s already off to Bill to face Shibata instead (third time tonight we’ve seen the “heel tags out instead of fighting” sequence). Chopping ensues with neither being able to get the better of things so it’s off to Cobb vs. Joe for the hoss showdown.

Cobb takes over by powering Joe into the corner and Jericho comes in to rake the eyes. Cobb comes back in and Joe gets the better of things for a change, allowing the tag off to Hook. Jericho chokes him on the ropes to cut him off and Cobb adds a standing moonsault. Hook manages to fight back and brings Shibata back in, with the good guys taking over on Cobb in the corner.

Jericho comes back in to take over on Shibata as everything breaks down. Shibata gets posted and Hook goes up top for an ax handle to Bill. The referee gets distracted though and Jericho hits Shibata low, setting up the Walls. That’s broken up so Cobb comes back in for the Tour of the Islands, only to have Hook t-bone him. The Codebreaker gives Jericho two on Hook but Hook comes back up with his own Judas Effect for the pin at 13:38.

Rating: C+. Hook gets a nice rub off the ending but this was the least interesting match n the card and the match didn’t make things much better. While the ending would suggest something of a downgrade for Jericho and the Learning Tree, that doesn’t seem to be the most likely outcome. Perfectly fine match, but it could have been on any AEW TV show instead.

TNT Title: Jack Perry vs. Dante Martin vs. El Phantasmo vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Lio Rush vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Ladder match for the vacant title. Takeshita drops Perry to start and everyone else goes after ladders. With that not working, the fight heads outside instead with Briscoe grabbing various toys. Perry goes up a ladder but Rush makes the fast save. A ladder is thrown outside and almost hits Briscoe, leaving Rush to go up the ladder for a change. Phantasmo goes up but Martin makes the save and climbs as well.

That’s broken up but Martin dives onto Phantasm on the way down. Back up and Takeshita brainbusters Martin onto the side of the ladder, only for Briscoe to come in with the ladder around the neck. Briscoe grabs a chair and hits a step up flip dive onto a ladder onto Takeshita on the floor for the big crash. Perry goes up but Phantasmo walks across a bridged ladder to cut him off on top.

Martin gets taken down and bangs up his leg, leaving Perry to set up a table. Briscoe and Takeshita brawl on the floor until Rush dives onto the latter. That leaves Briscoe to go up a ladder for a splash but he lands on his feet, instead hitting a forearm on Perry on the table, which doesn’t break (similar to how Adam Copeland broke his leg).

Back in and Takeshita powerbombs Rush onto a ladder before pulling Phantasmo into a knee to the face. One heck of a Blue Thunder Bomb puts Phantasmo through the tables but Briscoe cuts off the climb attempt. Briscoe plants Takeshita onto the ladder and goes up, only to have Perry breaks up Briscoe’s climb. Perry beats on Briscoe with the chair and then wins the title at 16:48.

Rating: B-. That was a ladder match alright. Looked like it had about six people, some ladders, a chair and some tables too. There really isn’t much else to say about this, as it featured pretty much exactly what you would expect and had the most likely winner getting the title in the end. That’s pretty much exactly what was expected the second the match was announced and while it was ok enough, it was hardly thrilling.

We recap Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer, which is winner take all for the TBS Title and the New Japan Strong Women’s Title respectfully.

TBS Title/NJPW Strong Women’s Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer

Title for title. We get the referee’s instructions and Vaquer headbutts her to start. They trade rollups for two each until Vaquer grabs a wristlock and hits a very springboardy wristdrag. Mone gets in a quick breather and hits a Meteora for two. Vaquer is right back up with a shot of her own but Mone grabs Two Amigos, with Vaquer countering the third. Vaquer starts in on the leg and ties her legs around Mone’s head for some rams into the mat to wake the crowd up.

Mone fights up again and knocks her into the corner for the running knees and a springboard DDT gets two. The Mone Maker is countered into a DDT from Vaquer and she drops a leg for two more. Another shot from Mone leaves them both down so it’s a double nip up for the forearm exchange. Vaquer grabs a crossface but Mone reverses into a Bank Statement. That’s broken up as well, with the fans mostly cheering for Vaquer now.

Some knees to the ribs put Mone down but Vaquer can’t follow up. The fans give us a F*** THE CELTICS (as in Mone’s hometown team) chant as Mone goes up, only to dive into raised boots. Vaquer dragon screws her into the corner as the fans move on to the Red Sox. Mone’s crossface is countered, as is the Mone Maker, only to Mone pull her into the crossface for the tap at 16:47.

Rating: B-. This is where the Forbidden Door concept stops working for me. The action was fine enough, but it was really hard to get interested in a match between Mone, who has only wrestled here a handful of times, and Vaquer, who has had one short match in the promotion. It didn’t feel like a feud or a rivalry, but rather two people who don’t have a history around here having a match. It was good, but I had no attachment to either of them and it kept me from getting into this one.

Post match Mone celebrates….and Britt Baker returns to a hero’s welcome.

We recap Jon Moxley defending the IWGP World Title against Tetsuya Naito. Moxley took the title from him a few months ago and it’s time for the rematch.

Jim Ross is back for the last two matches.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley

Moxley is defending. They slug it out to start with Moxley going after the knee to take Naito into the corner. Some corner clotheslines have Naito in more trouble and they head outside with Moxley dropping him onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Naito spits in his face so Moxley slaps him down for two. A piledriver gives Moxley two more and he puts Naito on top for a rake to the back.

Naito slips between the legs though and shoves Moxley down to the floor for the big crash. They go outside with Naito grabbing a piece of the barricade to beat on Moxley, sending JR into a hilarious frenzy about that not being tranquilo. Back in and Naito has to fight out of a Figure Four, turning it into a small package for two. Moxley’s Death Rider attempt is countered into a springboard tornado DDT for two more and they’re both down.

Moxley gets up and tries a sleeper, only to be reversed into Destino for…no cover, as Naito tries it again but gets reversed into a Death Rider. They slug it out again until Moxley hits a heck of a lariat into the Death Rider for two. With nothing else working, Moxley grabs a chair, which is quickly taken away by the referee. Destino and the Death Rider are both blocked, only for Destino to to give Naito the pin and the title back at 16:41.

Rating: B-. Much like the previous match, this was a feud that has been taking place elsewhere and the match was only taking place here because it had to. Naito getting the title match is a good thing, if nothing else to get it away from AEW, which doesn’t need another title floating around. The match was good and it feels like a big deal when Moxley loses in AEW, but it wasn’t overly interesting.

We recap the AEW World Title with Swerve Strickland defending against Will Ospreay. Strickland is the reigning champion but Ospreay is the hot new star so it might be time for a changing of the guard.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay is challenging and his International Title isn’t on the line. They fight over a lockup to start before both of them flip out of hurricanrana attempts. Missed kicks to the head leave us with a standoff and the fans are WAY into this. Swerve kicks away but Ospreay chops him into the corner to cut that off. They head outside with Ospreay striking away, only to get caught with the middle rope elbow to the back of the head back inside. Swerve slows things down and chops away as Prince Nana is a bit worried.

They go outside again and Swerve loads up something on the barricade, only to be hurricanranaed back down. Back in and Swerve manages a short armscissors but Ospreay slips out. Swerve hammers away but Ospreay gets up and they forearm it out. The Hidden Blade and House Call both miss, with Ospreay grabbing a Styles Clash for two. The Oscutter is countered into the Swerve Stomp as we cut to Daniel Garcia watching in a sky box.

They go up top again with Strickland grabbing something like a super Angle Slam for the big crash and a near fall. Swerve takes it to the apron, where the Oscutter misses, sending Ospreay crashing onto the apron. The Swerve Stomp is loaded up but Ospreay rolls away before it can launch, leaving Swerve to hit the Stomp onto a standing Ospreay against (not through) the announcers’ table.

A piledriver onto the barricade (geez) rocks Ospreay again and the JML Driver gets two back inside. Another Swerve Stomp takes too long and Swerve gets crotched, setting up a springboard Oscutter for a very near fall. The Hidden Blade is blocked and the Oscutter is as well, leaving Swerve to go after the arm. That’s broken up and now the Oscutter connects, setting up the Storm Breaker for two. Ospreay scores with a headbutt but the Tiger Driver 91 is countered into a cradle to give Swerve two of his own.

The Hidden Blade connects for Swerve but he misses a Swerve Stomp. The referee gets hit by another Hidden Blade, followed by another to Swerve….and Don Callis is here. Nana won’t let Callis use a screwdriver so Ospreay goes after him, only to let him go. Back in and the House Call into the Swerve Stomp gets two more with a second referee. Swerve snaps the arm and another House Call (that looked great) gets a VERY near fall. Another House Call sets up a JML Driver to retain the title at 27:04.

Rating: A-. This was pretty easily the best match on the show and I might even be underrating a bit. They beat the living daylights out of each other but took their time to get there, with Swerve getting to show just how awesome he can be. Swerve needed a big win like this and even Callis being around didn’t bring it down. Awesome stuff here and a heck of a main event.

Medics check on Ospreay and Swerve shows respect to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The main event pulled it up a lot and there is nothing really bad on the show, but this is absolutely not my show and it never has been. The amount of matches and the parade of guest stars isn’t something that draws me in, as it feels more like Tony Khan getting to run loose in a candy store and do a show he finds fun rather than something for everyone else. As usual, the wrestling is more than good enough to hold up, but you could pretty easily chop off almost all of the pre-show and not lose anything.

Results
Kyle Fletcher b. Serpentico – Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle
House Of Black b. Tomohiro Ishii/Kyle O’Reilly, Gabe Kidd/Roderick Strong and Private Party – Ganso Bomb to Kassidy
Willow Nightingale/Tam Nakano b. Momo Watanabe/Kris Statlander – Bridging German suplex to Watanabe
Mariah May b. Saraya – Bridging German suplex
Lucha Bros/Mistico b. Los Ingobernables de Japon – La Mistica to Titan
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Hechicero – Brainbuster
Elite b. Acclaimed/Hiroshi Tanahashi – Rainmaker to Tanahashi
Bryan Danielson b. Shingo Takagi via referee stoppage
Toni Storm b. Mina Shirakawa – Storm Zero
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Orange Cassidy – Arm and leg crank
Hook/Samoa Joe/Katsuyori Shibata b. Learning Tree/Jeff Cobb – Judas Effect to Jericho
Jack Perry won the TNT Title Ladder Match
Mercedes Mone b. Stephanie Vaquer – Bank Statement
Tetsuya Naito b. Jon Moxley – Destino
Swerve Strickland b. Will Ospreay – JML Driver

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It’s that time again as we have the show built around the idea of gust stars from a variety of other promotions. You get to wrestlers from around the world coming in to compete against the stars of AEW, which can make for some rather interesting situations. The buildup to the show is not often the strongest but you can see one heck of a night of action. That should be the case again so let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander/Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale/Tam Nakano

This, along with the other two Zero Hour matches, were not important enough to be announced on Dynamite but rather a few hours later on Twitter. I’m not sure I get the thinking, but it isn’t exactly making me interested in what we’ll be seeing here. In this case, Statlander vs. Nightingale is the big draw, as they are already set to face off in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament.

I’ll go with Statlander and Watanabe winning here to give a bit of doubt about Nightingale being able to make it to the finals of the tournament. That should make for a good match here, but Watanabe and Nakano are people who have not been around AEW very much over the years. That doesn’t exactly make for a big time match, but that is kind of the point in having the match on the Zero Hour show.

Zero Hour: Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Mariah May vs. Saraya

It’s a little weird to have May on the show when she already has a major role in another, bigger match on the card. For now though, we could be in for a nice match as either of them going forward could be an interesting way to go. Both of them could make for an a solid choice for the next round, though there is some logic that comes into play here which should determine the winner.

At the end of the day, May being involved in the Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa match is a lot more important and there is pretty much no reason for her to go into that spot as a loser. May going over here makes a lot more sense and while there is something to the idea of Saraya going on towards a title shot in London, it isn’t the best option that they have available here.

Zero Hour: Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Mistico/Lucha Bros

The big draw here is that Mistico and the Bros have never teamed together before. That isn’t the biggest draw in the world but it is certainly a cool enough moment and better than nothing. In other words, this feels like an excuse to get Mistico onto the show and that is not a bad idea. The match itself is only so important here, but that is often the case on Zero Hour.

There is pretty much no reason for Mistico and the Bros to lose here as Mistico can do his stuff and pop the crowd. There are some talented people in Los Ingobernables but it feels like they are here for the sake of making Mistico look that much bigger. It’s not a bad idea either, so hopefully they at least have an entertaining match on the way to the main show proper.

Zero Hour: House Of Black vs. Tomohiro Ishii/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gabriel Kidd/Roderick Strong vs. Private Party

Yes there is a fourth match on this show, which was added during this week’s Collision. This feels like little more than a way to get a bunch more people onto the card, which is often not the most thrilling way to go. In this case we do have some big names who probably should have been on the show, but that doesn’t exactly make for the most exciting match possible.

I’ll take the House Of Black here, as they’re the biggest of the two regular teams (at least in AEW) and it makes the most sense to give them the win. This is going to be the insane match with everyone going nuts all over the place and trying to get in as much as they can, which isn’t going to be easy given how many people are involved. Odds are it should be fun though and that’s what you want out of a match like this one.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy

We’ll start the main card here as Sabre wants revenge on Cassidy for beating him at last year’s show in a four way match. The other idea is that Cassidy isn’t good enough to beat Sabre on his own and is going to need some kind of special trick to pull it off. I’m not sure what that is going to be, but then again that’s kinds of the point of watching the match in the first place.

As much as I want to take Sabre here, it feels like a situation where Cassidy is coming in as the huge underdog but manages to pull it off somehow anyway, as tends to be his custom. It might not be the most thrilling way to go but that has never really stopped AEW with Cassidy before. It’s always fun to see whatever Sabre can do to torment someone else so we should be in for a good one here with Cassidy winning.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hechicero

This is a bit early for a match involving someone as big as MJF but it isn’t like AEW has treated it like anything important. For the second year in a row, MJF’s Forbidden Door match feels like it was thrown on for the sake of giving him something to do and I do not get the thinking behind that move. It’s MJF’s first pay per view match since December and he’s more or less an after thought. That’s quite the odd way to go, but at least it’s an easy pick.

Save for some wacky interference, there is no reason for Hechicero to win here so we’ll take MJF in what should be an easy one. MJF will probably get in some trouble here but then wind up winning anyway, because there is pretty much no reason for Hechicero, who is probably not sticking around, to beat one of the biggest stars in the company. I’m still not sure I get the thinking here, but MJF wins.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi

The roller coaster that is the last full time year of Danielson’s career continues and that means we have another match against a hard hitter. That is kind of his trademark at this point and in this case he actually has a better chance to pull it off. It’s quite the way to go for a first round match in a #1 contenders tournament, but Danielson has a tendency to go a bit nuts anyway.

While Danielson might not have the best win/loss record, there is no reason to believe he goes down here. Takagi is another guy who isn’t likely to be around for the long term, which would likely include another match in the tournament. That leaves Danielson to win a heck of a fight, which isn’t something you get to say very often in AEW but it makes all the sense in the world here.

Learning Tree/Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe/Hook/Katsuyori Shibata

Cobb is substituting for an injured Bryan Keith as Jericho’s latest weird character gets a pay per view match. The good thing about Jericho being in the match is that he can’t talk, which would be about as bad as it could get around here. Joe vs. Cobb is the hoss fight fans would want to see while the rest…well they’re all involved as well, no matter how odd it might be.

I’ll take the Learning Tree and Cobb to win here, as it seems like we’re going to be seeing Jericho do his thing for a long time to come, no matter how much of a mess it might be. That doesn’t go well if he loses his big match as part of the team, so odds are Cobb pins Shibata to get the win, giving Jericho something else to talk about. The match itself should be ok, but egads this has been a rough sit for a good while now.

Elite vs. Acclaimed/Hiroshi Tanahashi

Tanahashi is replacing Billy Gunn for the sake of it’s Forbidden Door and therefore Tanahashi has to be on the show. Much like the Learning Tree match, the good thing here is that if the Bucks are in the match, they can’t be talking (in theory at least) and that should make things a bit less annoying. This feels like a match that should be on Dynamite but here we are instead, though at least the addition of Tanahashi makes it feel more special.

It’s hard to imagine the Bucks losing a big match until Blood And Guts at the earliest so we’ll say the Elite wins here and keeps things going. Odds are we get a rematch of this later on with Gunn in there rather than Tanahashi, but for now at least we should be in for something good enough. The Elite go over though, as they’re a bigger deal than another makeshift team.

TNT Title: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Dante Martin vs. El Phantasmo vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Lio Rush vs. Jack Perry

Here we have a ladder match for the vacant title as Adam Copeland decided that jumping off a cage and landing on his feet was a good idea. The ladder match part makes it all the more eye roll inducing because it’s such a cliché at this point, but it also lets someone potentially steal the title without having to get a pinfall. That opens up some doors, but I think you know where this is going.

As much as I’d love to see someone like Martin, who could actually be made by something like this, get the title, this feels like it’s Perry all day. AEW is obsessed with getting this guy over one way or another and it feels like he’ll do it here as a way to become that much bigger of a deal. The match will be the usual car crash, meaning it’s only going to be so good, but it should be exciting.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Mina Shirakawa

This is both a title match and part of a love triangle, as both of them are trying to woo Mariah May. That has made for quite the unique story but it is something that has been set up well enough that I’m curious to see where it goes. The match quality itself might be up in the air as Shirakawa doesn’t have a long track record in AEW, but that is far from the most interesting part here.

I’ll go with Storm to win of course, as the title isn’t likely changing hands here, though the question becomes what happens with May. It would not surprise me at all to see her side with Storm before eventually winning the Owen Hart Tournament and getting a shot against Storm at Wembley. For now though, all is right in the world as May signs with Storm and moves forward, though it could be quite the path there.

AEW TBS Title/NJPW Women’s Strong Title: Mercedes Mone(c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer(c)

We’re going title for title here and…I have almost no idea what to expect here as all I’ve seen from Vaquer is most of an eight minute match this week on Collision. Other than that it’s been all hype videos and promos from Mone, which isn’t the best way to go. What matters though is that we have what could be a huge match which could go either way, as the title vs. title stipulation shakes things up.

While there is a chance that Vaquer wins, I can’t imagine Mone loses anywhere near this close to her AEW debut. AEW knows that she is a star and isn’t about to have her lose a big match, or any match for that matter, here. They have also hyped up the idea that she needs to win the NJPW belt, even if that means we are going to be seeing another title running around AEW, because we haven’t had that in a bit.

IWGP World Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Tetsuya Naito

This is the other World Title match on the show, which is arguably a bigger match than the main event. Thankfully AEW has managed to avoid treating this as such a big deal, as that would be about as bad of a result as you could get for the AEW World Title. Moxley is already one of the biggest stars in AEW, but that brings up the question of whether or not he gets to retain the title here.

This one could go either way, but I’ll take Naito to win here, as I can’t imagine Moxley being the next big thing in AEW. Naito can get back the title that Moxley took fro him and we could be in for a rather good match on the way there. It also gives the other promotions their big win on the show, which very well could otherwise be dominated by AEW. This one could go either way of course, but I’ll take Naito to get the title back.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland(c) vs. Will Ospreay

Here we have the biggest match on the card and thankfully the best built up story. It’s an idea that has been done before, as you have Ospreay as the new ace of the company and Strickland being the “not so fast” champion. Ospreay has pretty much been able to do no wrong so far in AEW and Strickland can work well with anyone. That opens up the door for something great, but there is one thing in the way.

That thing is the Don Callis Family and unfortunately I’m expecting them to be what costs Ospreay the match here. Ospreay getting the World Title at some point seems to be an inevitability, but I would hope that Strickland gets at least one successful defense in the main event spot. Strickland has done incredibly well in this role and this could be another great one, though odds are the Family gets involved to cost Ospreay. It’s predictable, but that’s about all I can expect to happen.

Overall Thoughts

As you can probably tell from here, this is going to be a very long show. Fourteen matches and a show that could go around six hours makes for one heck of a marathon and I’m worried about things getting bogged down by sheer volume. There is a great show in there somewhere but AEW has a tendency to put in way too much on any pay per view. Hopefully they can find a way around it, but they’ve got a big challenge in front of them.

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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Collision
Date: June 29, 2024
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness

We’re a day away from Forbidden Door and that means it is time for the big final push towards the show. That could go in a variety of ways but with most of the show already set, this is likely going to be about pushing things that have already been set up. That could still make for a good show so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Orange Cassidy/Tomohiro Ishii vs. TMDK

Haste wants to check on Cassidy’s pockets to start but with nothing happening, it’s off to Ishii instead. They go head to head to no avail so we’ll try Eagles vs. Cassidy instead. Cassidy takes him down without much trouble and sends Eagles into the corner so many times that Eagles has to grab the referee. Tis but a ruse though, as Haste drops Cassidy onto the apron, allowing Eagles to hit a bit flip dive as we take a break.

Back with Cassidy kicking Haste into Eagles, allowing the tag off to Ishii to clean house. Haste’s kick to the face is shrugged off and Ishii grabs a Saito suplex for two. Ishii and Cassidy hit the alternating strikes in the corner and Cassidy’s top rope elbow gets two. Back up and a Falcon Arrow plants Cassidy but he’s back with Stundog Millionaire. Eagles plants him again but Ishii makes the save. Cassidy kicks Haste into the corner though and grabs the Beach Break for the pin at 10:46.

Rating: C+. This was about getting Cassidy in the ring with Zack Sabre Jr.’s teammates and little more, which made for kind of a weird match. Cassidy is working rather hard as of late and might be more than a bit worn down for Sabre, which tends to be exactly what he tends to do most of the time. Not bad at all here, but it feels a bit off from the matches Cassidy and Ishii have tomorrow.

We get a Hangman Page vignette as he sits and drinks in his empty house. That very well could be the wildcard from the Elite. Or he’s just a loner drunk again.

The Learning Tree is in the back and walks into the trainer’s area to complain about faulty wrist taping. Chris Jericho also advocates stealing tape.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Lady Frost

Non-title and here is Mercedes Mone to watch. Vaquer puts her down to start and then spins out of a wristlock. An STF sends Frost over to the ropes and they head outside, where Frost snaps off a hurricanrana. Frost tries a handstand on the apron but gets superkicked, leaving us with a Mone/Vaquer staredown as we take a break.

Back with Frost hitting some faceplants to send Frost into the mat but Frost kicks her in the head. A twisting high crossbody gives Frost two, with Mone approving at ringside. Vaquer is back with a spinning DDT for two and some headbutts in the corner have Frost in more trouble. A package backbreaker finishes Frost at 7:58.

Rating: C+. Well at least they finally got Vaquer in the ring for once before her title match against Mone. That’s what we’ve been needing since the match was announced as Vaquer hasn’t wrestled in AEW prior to this, which doesn’t give fans much to go on. This was better than nothing, but the story is only going to be so interesting going into tomorrow.

Post match Mone comes in for the staredown but Vaquer leaves. Vaquer’s partner, Zeuxis, comes in to jump Mone, allowing Vaquer to lay Mone out.

The Lucha Bros are ready for Forbidden Door when Los Ingobernables de Japon come in to challenge Death Triangle. The Bros are going to pass because Pac is in the Owen Hart Cup, but they’ll team with Mistico instead. Los Ingobernables are cool with that. Well Takahashi isn’t, as he’s kind of panicking over the Mistico idea.

Serena Deeb vs. Kelly Madan

Deeb chops away to start and hits a neckbreaker over the middle rope. A hammerlock lariat into Deebtox finishes Madan at 1:15.

Post match Deeb says she isn’t going into wrestling purgatory and wants some competition. And cue Riho for the staredown, because it’s time to pretend she’s amazing again.

The Learning Tree critiques hand washing techniques.

Post match the Learning Tree tries to ride a Zamboni machine but get beaten up by Samoa Joe and pals. The fight heads into the arena, where Jeff Cobb runs in to even things out so the Learning Tree can stand tall.

Video on Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy.

Cassidy says his world is falling apart but he’s here, unlike Sabre. Cue Sabre to say he knows what Cassidy is going to do, so Cassidy offers to pin him with his hands in his pockets. Cassidy grabs him by the shirt, with Sabre saying he’s already won.

Hechicero vs. Kevin Blackwood

Hechicero takes him down and ties up the leg before switching to an ankle lock. Some elbows to the face and a flapjack set up a Mad Scientist Bomb to rock Blackwood again. The Rings of Saturn with the legs makes Blackwood tap at 2:22.

The Patriarchy wants the Trios Titles so here is the Bang Bang Gang for the argument. Jay White mocks the team but gets why Christian Cage wants to latch onto him.

Daniel Garcia vs. The Butcher

They’re both from Buffalo. They fight over a lockup to start until Butcher powers him into the corner for some stomping. Garcia fights back but gets taken outside for a ram into the barricade. Garcia’s running boot is countered into a backdrop onto the barricade and we take a break. Back with the fans declaring this awesome as Butcher keeps Garcia in trouble. Garcia fights back and grabs a swinging neckbreaker for the breather. Back up and Garcia shrugs off a big boot before dropping Butcher with a clothesline. The piledriver finishes for Garcia at 9:00.

Rating: C+. The fans were into it, but I’m really not sure what the point is in having the fans split between two hometown stars before Garcia gets his big title match next week. Garcia isn’t likely to win, but this wasn’t the best way to get the fans behind him on the way there. Then again there have always been some rather odd choices for Garcia in AEW.

Post match dancing ensues and respect is shown.

The Don Callis Family interrupts Will Ospreay, who still says he can win the World Title on his own. That works for Callis and we pan out to show Rush standing with the Family.

Brodie Lee is getting his own custom shoe.

Jack Perry wants the TNT Title but doesn’t want to wrestle tonight. Christopher Daniels pops in to say Perry wrestles tonight or he’s out of the title match. Fans chant for CM Punk.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Hikaru Shida vs. Deonna Purrazzo

They fight over wrist control to start before switching to an exchange of forearms. Purrazzo gets knocked into the corner with an enziguri and then out to the floor, with Shida hitting a big dive. Back up and Purrazzo kicks her down and we take a break. We come back with Shida hitting some running knees for two but Purrazzo legsweeps her down. The Fujiwara armbar goes on but Shida slips out again. A step up kick to the head drops Purrazzo and the Falcon Arrow connects. The Katana finishes Purrazzo at 9:09.

Rating: B-. I’m a bit surprised that Purrazzo lost here as she was on something of a roll. That being said, Shida is possibly the most successful star in the history of AEW’s women’s division so losing to her is hardly some career killer. They did well here with Shida getting another win, and while I can’t imagine her winning the whole thing, someone will get a nice boost from beating her.

Post match Purrazzo jumps Shida again but Thunder Rosa runs in for the save.

We get another rather serious video from Jeff Jarrett, talking about what it means to honor Owen Hart’s legacy. The rest of Jarrett’s friends are ready to have his back, though he wants to go to the ring on his own. They all seem ok with this and will be with him in spirit.

We get a very slow pan up Toni Storm as she talks about how she is ready to beat Mina Shirakawa. As you might expect, this is rather over the top, as only Storm can do.

Mark Briscoe/Dante Martin/Lio Rush vs. Konosuke Takeshita/Jack Perry/El Phantasmo

Rush and Perry start things off but let’s try Takeshita instead. Rush gets two off a quick rollup before getting kicked in the face for his efforts. Phantasm comes in and all three opponents send him into the corner for some running clotheslines. We settle down to Rush’s suplex getting two on Phantasmo but he fights back up for a breather. Hold on though as Perry drops to the floor instead of tagging. Briscoe dropkicks Perry through the ropes and we take a break.

Back with Martin hurricanranaing Phantasm and Takeshita at the same time, allowing the tag back to Briscoe. Phantasmo kicks Briscoe in the head so Rush can come back in to pick up the pace. A suicide dive take Takeshita down but Phantasm and Martin hit dives of their own. Back in and Martin’s frog splash gets two with Perry making the save.

Briscoe’s running flip dive from the apron misses though and Takeshita comes back in to clean house. Martin catches him on top with a super hurricanrana, only o have Perry break up something on top. The distraction lets Takeshita hit the Blue Thunder Bomb into the running knee to finish Martin at 10:51.

Rating: B-. This was the preview for the ladder match which has nothing to do with ladders but that’s how ladder matches are built up. It’s hard to imagine anyone but Perry winning but at least there is quite the lineup of talent involved. It also helps that it was the best match of the night so far, though the lineup has only been so good this week.

Post match Perry decks Takeshita, who gets superkicked by Phantasmo, who gets Stunnered by Rush, who gets in a tug o war with Martin, who is knocked down by a ladder shot from Briscoe, who climbs the ladder and throws the title onto the pile before hitting a flip dive onto everyone.

Forbidden Door rundown.

We get the weigh-in for the World Title match between Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay, with Prince Nana as moderator. Ospreay weighs 220 and Swerve weighs 230. They go nose to nose and pose for photos before Ospreay says they are 24 hours away from ushering in a new era. Swerve talks about how he’s a businessman and offers Ospreay’s wife a contract. That’s enough for the fight to be on, with all of the seconds getting into it as well. Ospreay manages a quick Hidden Blade and poses over Swerve to end the show. This has been the best built match on the pay per view, but I’m worried that it’s going to get overshadowed.

Overall Rating: B-. The ending segment was good, but this was a show that seemed more designed as a big preview for tomorrow’s event. While that makes sense on paper, there is only so much that you can get out of having a preview of what is supposed to be a bunch of one off special matches. It also doesn’t help that this was a two hour show which came the day before an hour long show and the day before a four plus hour pay per view (with an hour and a half pre-show). Not a bad show, but not one you really needed to watch.

Results
Orange Cassidy/Tomohiro Ishii b. TMDK – Beach Break to Haste
Stephanie Vaquer b. Lady Frost – Package backbreaker
Serena Deeb b. Kelly Madan – Deebtox
Hechicero b. Kevin Blackwood – Rings of Saturn with legs
Daniel Garcia b. The Butcher – Piledriver
Hikaru Shida b. Deonna Purrazzo – Katana
Konosuke Takeshita/Jack Perry/El Phantasmo b. Mark Briscoe/Dante Martin/Lio Rush – Running knee to Martin

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: June 12, 2024
Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We have less than three weeks to go before Forbidden Door and last week saw some more of the card coming together. In addition to all of that though, Will Ospreay is the #1 contender and will be challenging Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Title. On the New Japan front, Jon Moxley will be defending the IWGP Title against former champion Tetsuya Naito. We have 18 days to get to those matches though so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Here is Swerve Strickland, with Prince Nana, for an opening chat. He hypes up the Forbidden Door title match against Will Ospreay and praises Ospreay’s recent successes. Ospreay has been an assassin, but that won’t be the case at Forbidden Door. Strickland is called Killshot because if you don’t pull the trigger, he will. Ospreay is a fighting champion, unlike the Young Bucks….which brings out the Elite to interrupt.

The Bucks brag about how they have cleared out half the roster and that means they want the best of AEW to Blood & Guts at some point in the future. The Elite gets in the ring and offer Swerve a spot on the team as the fifth man. They throw in an offer of their new shoes, but they aren’t Swerve’s size so he throws them into the crowd. The fight is teased but the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn run in for the save. Christopher Daniels pops in to say get out of the ring because we have a match to get going. I’m not sure when Blood & Guts is happening but it very well might be the big blowoff to the whole Elite thing.

TNT Title Qualifying Match: Dustin Rhodes vs. Jack Perry

Perry is in street clothes and they brawl out to the floor to start, with Perry sending him into the steps. A piledriver onto the exposed concrete is countered into a backdrop to put Perry down and we take a break. Back with Rhodes busted open and Perry choking on the rope. Perry takes too long though and gets caught in a snap powerslam for a breather.

They slug it out until Rhodes snaps off a bulldog and hammers away as well. Cross Rhodes is broken up so we get an old Flip Flop And Fly. Now Cross Rhodes can connect for two but Perry sends him into an exposed buckle (apparently the pad was pulled off earlier). Dustin gets dropped onto the exposed concrete but beats the count. Back in and Perry gets in a low blow, only for Dustin to flip him off. The running knee finishes for Perry at 10:06.

Rating: C+. I still do not get the Perry hype and this didn’t change that stance. The match was full of things like low blows and cheap shots and it didn’t make me care about Perry any more or less. He’s still just a guy in the ring whose best attribute seems to be the friends he keeps and that’s not exactly making him feel like a star. Odds are he wins the TNT Title, though maybe sanity will prevail instead.

We look at Kyle O’Reilly and Willow Nightingale saving Orange Cassidy on Collision.

Cassidy is happy to have O’Reilly, Nightingale and Mark Briscoe behind him. Briscoe calls them a conglomeration and goes into a crazed rant about how they are going to hurt the Don Callis Family (O’Reilly’s jaw dropping in awe makes it even better). That was some amazing stuff from Briscoe, who just turned up the insanity and went nuts on his opponents.

Rush vs. Deonn Rusman

Rush knocks him to the floor, beats him up, and hits the Bull’s Horns for the pin at 1:29.

Post match Rush grabs the mic and calls Rusman a typical weak American. Cue MJF and the brawl is on, with MJF and Rush stopping to beat up security. The fight heads into the crowd and then into the back, with Christopher Daniels failing to break it up. The locker room and agents break it up.

We look at Samoa Joe and Hook attacking the Premiere Athletes on Collision.

Mark Briscoe/Orange Cassidy/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong/Kyle Fletcher/Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis is on commentary and Trent Beretta and the Kingdom are here with the villains. Strong wants to face O’Reilly to start before handing it off to Fletcher instead. Briscoe comes in and strikes away at Takeshita and it’s off to O’Reilly as the rapid fire tags continue. Everything breaks down and Fletcher hits a big dive, followed by one from Cassidy. Trent offers a distraction though and Takeshita drops Cassidy as we take a break.

Back with O’Reilly getting the tag and starting to clean house. Everything breaks down and Red Neck Kung Fu clears the ring. Cassidy’s top rope DDT gets two on Fletcher but Takeshita counters the Jay Driller into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Stundog Millionaire hits Fletcher but Strong distracts Cassidy on top. Fletcher gets dropped with a brainbuster and Briscoe adds the Froggy Bow for two. A cheap shot drops Briscoe and Fletcher hits the piledriver for the pin at 13:05.

Rating: B. They didn’t even try to have a normal tag match here and they shouldn’t have. This was all about getting in as much as they could and it was a blast once they just went full speed ahead. I’m not wild on the Ring Of Honor World Title being made to look less important, but that whole thing has been a wash for a long time now. Really fast paced, entertaining match here.

Post match the villains keep up the beatdown so Willow Nightingale tries to make the save. Kris Statlander cuts that off though and Stokely Hathaway threatens more violence.

Rey Fenix is ready for Will Ospreay.

Shingo Takagi is in the Owen Hart Cup.

Christopher Daniels says Tony Khan is putting the Elite in Eliminator Matches next week, with all seconds barred from ringside.

Hook/Samoa Joe vs. Premiere Athletes

Hook and Joe jump them during their entrance and Katsuyori Shibata is a cameraman. We start with Joe hammering away on Nese before it’s off to Hook, who gets stomped down in the corner. Hook sidesteps Daivari’s dive (Joe approves) and stereo chokes finish the Athletes at 2:30. Now can we please stop presenting the Athletes as a big deal on ROH? Of course not, but this isn’t going to make me care about them any more.

Stephanie Vaquer is ready to face one of the best in Mercedes Mone.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Zeuxis

Zeuxis (Vaquer’s regular partner) is challenging and sends her into the ropes to start. That doesn’t get her very far as Mone gets in her dancing before taking Zeuxis down for two. A spinning kick staggers Mone but she takes the legs out, only for Zeuxis to pop back up. The running dropkick puts Mone on the floor as we take an early break.

Back with Zeuxis hitting a fireman’s carry into a powerbomb for two. Mone’s middle rope sunset flip is countered into a stomp to the ribs for two more. Back up and Mone hits a middle rope Meteora for two of her own. Three Amigos are countered into a Backstabber for two on Mone but she’s right back with the Mone Maker for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C+. This is a good example of why Forbidden Door season is a problem. We barely know who Stephanie Vaquer is and now we’re supposed to be interested in Mone wrestling Vaquer’s partner. These stories tend to go at about a million miles an hour (as they don’t have time to do anything else) and if you aren’t familiar with the guest stars, it can be really hard to get into these matches. Zeuxis was good enough, but I’m having a real hard time getting into this Mone vs. Vaquer match and this didn’t help things.

Video on Mina Shirakawa and her friendship with Mariah May.

May, cuddled up to Toni Storm, promises to run next week’s contract signing, though Storm isn’t worried.

Big Bill introduces Chris Jericho for TV Time (and yes there is now a Learning Tree set). Jericho tells the local farmers how to grow better corn but thinks Private Party needs to learn. Cue Private Party, with Jericho not thinking much of their fundamentals. He learned from Stu Hart and explains how to go up top like Owen Hart. Then Private Party beats up the villains and clear the ring. Well at least this should be the lone Jericho segment this week.

Video on Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito at Forbidden Door.

The Bang Bang Gang isn’t impressed by the House Of Black so the challenge is issued for Collision.

Daniel Garcia vs. Nick Comoroto

Jacoby Watts is here with Comoroto (for those of you who don’t watch ROH). With MJF watching in the back, Garcia grabs a guillotine and hits the Red Cross for the win at 1:10.

Will Ospreay is ready for tonight and Forbidden Door.

A ticked off Pac enters the Owen Hart Cup.

International Title: Will Ospreay vs. Rey Fenix

Ospreay is defending and Swerve Strickland is watching in the crowd. They trade missed kicks to the head to start and it’s an early standoff. A pop up hurricanrana sends Ospreay outside and a frog splash gives Fenix two. We take a break and come back with Fenix grabbing a quickly broken Black Widow.

As we’re told that Blood and Guts is on July 24 in Nashville, Ospreay flips out of a super hurricanrana to stick the landing. They trade kicks until Ospreay’s spinning Air Raid Crash gets two, sending us to another break. Back again with Ospreay getting the better of a strike off until Fenix grabs another Black Widow.

A crucifix bomb gives Fenix two and a German suplex gets the same. The Oscutter gives Ospreay two but the Hidden Blade is countered with a jumping hurricanrana. Fenix’s flip is forearmed out of the air and Ospreay (with a stare) hits his own Swerve Stomp. The Hidden Blade retains the title at 15:11.

Rating: B. I don’t think there was any doubt to this one but it was a way to give Ospreay another big win on the way to Forbidden Door. Fenix is someone who can wrestle an exciting match with anyone and of course Ospreay can do that kind of thing rather well too. It was a big spot fest and that’s what it should have been, with the pretty obvious result not being a problem.

Post match Strickland gets in the ring and won’t shake hands. Strickland accuses Ospreay of thinking this is still a game and says he isn’t strong enough to hold this on his shoulders. Ospreay takes the title and puts it on his shoulder so Swerve takes it back. Swerve says he’d kill Ospreay if they weren’t friends and leaves, with Ospreay pointing at the Forbidden Door sign (oh dear) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a show where the wrestling carried it, though they did build up more than a few things for Forbidden Door. While I am having a really hard time caring about what happens there as almost nothing has my attention, they did a nice enough job of making what they have feel more important. I can go with a show that has a goal and makes a good effort to accomplish it, even if it’s not my style. Nice show this week.

Results
Jack Perry b. Dustin Rhodes – Running knee
Rush b. Deonn Rusman – Bull’s Horns
Roderick Strong/Kyle Fletcher/Konosuke Takeshita b. Mark Briscoe/Orange Cassidy/Kyle O’Reilly – Piledriver to Briscoe
Samoa Joe/Hook b. Premiere Athletes – Redrum to Daivari
Mercedes Mone b. Zeuxis – Mone Maker
Daniel Garcia b. Nick Comoroto – Red Cross
Will Ospreay b. Rey Fenix – Hidden Blade

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: June 5, 2024
Location: Blue Arena, Loveland, Colorado
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Taz, Excalibur

We’re coming up on Forbidden Door and now we have the World Title match set, as Will Ospreay will challenge Swerve Strickland. Other than that, it’s going to be time to see which guest stars we have for the show, some of whom might pop up for the first time this week. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here is MJF to get things going and he references being high on weed to start. He shills his new merch and tickets for Forbidden Door before talking about the people who have shown up while he’s gone. First up we have the Rainmaker, who looks like he can’t even afford a gym membership. Then you have Swerve Strickland, who says he’s a business mogul but apparently he skipped public speaking classes at business school.

Finally we have a guy with a cockney accent saying he’s the best in the world. MJF lists off a bunch of people better than Will Ospreay, including himself. He carried this place but then when he was gone healing up, people tried to smear his name. Cue Rush to say like every other American, MJF never shuts up. Where are Rush’s celebration and big moment?

MJF: “I didn’t get any of that.” Maybe Brandon Cutler is running the audio because no one can hear him. He asks if anyone could hear him before doing his version of It Doesn’t Matter. MJF casually suggests that Rush is a nepo baby before praising Rush’s successes. Sure Rush has beaten some of the best, but MJF is the best. MJF goes into some Spanglish before the fight is on, with security and Christopher Daniels breaking it up. This was MJF showing the insane charisma that he has, though starting with Rush, even in a one off match, is a little weird.

Video on Roderick Strong before his World Title shot tonight.

Orange Cassidy vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay Lethal vs. Rey Fenix

For an International Title shot next week. The bell rings and Excalibur’s copy for the WOO Energy spot pops up on screen as Lethal clears the ring but poses instead of diving. Cassidy is back in to send Lethal to the apron but O’Reilly grabs Cassidy for an armbar. Fenix comes back to clear things out, only to pose too long so Lethal can get in a shot from behind.

The Lethal Injection is cut off by O’Reilly and Fenix kicks Lethal in the head. Everyone gets kicked down and we get a four way breather. We take a break and come back with Fenix diving in to break up a cover, leaving all of them down again. Lethal grabs a Figure Four on Cassidy and O’Reilly grabs a guillotine on Fenix. Lethal lets go to save Fenix so O’Reilly grabs Lethal for a cross armbreaker. Cassidy and Fenix break that up until Cassidy puts Fenix down with a DDT. Back up and Lethal takes everyone out before trying a Figure Four on Fenix, which is reversed into a small package for the pin at 8:34.

Rating: B. This is the kind of match that is almost always going to be entertaining and it worked well here. Lethal was good as the normal wrestler who wasn’t going nuts for long stretches out there while the other three did their collective things. Fenix vs. Ospreay will be fine for a big flashy title match next week and that’s all it needed to set up.

Post match Trent Beretta and Don Callis come out, with the latter throwing a chair inside. Cassidy grabs a chain to even things up but here is Kris Statlander to get between them. Stokely Hathaway comes out to threaten Cassidy with Statlander violence…and then Statlander decks Cassidy. Since Cassidy can’t bring himself to hit Statlander, Willow Nightingale runs in to chase her off. That feels like a mixed tag in the making.

Chris Jericho goes all educational to his driver. Then he does it to the camera operator too.

Willow Nightingale is annoyed at losing her TBS Title but she’s ticked off at Kris Statlander. Orange Cassidy comes in for a fist bump. Nightingale was showing some intensity here and it worked.

Christopher Daniels comes out to announce the next TNT Title qualifying match.

Mark Briscoe vs. Brian Cage

Mark Briscoe’s ROH World Title isn’t on the line (he won it two months ago today and has yet to have a title defense). Briscoe starts fast and sends him outside for a dropkick through the ropes. Cage is back with a ram into the barricade, setting up the apron superplex for the crash as we take a break.

Back with Briscoe applying Redneck Kung Fu as Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita are watching from the crowd. Briscoe grabs an exploder suplex for two and Cage is sent outside. That means Briscoe can use a chair for the step up flip dive but Cage is right back with a helicopter bomb. Briscoe shrugs that off and knocks him down again, setting up the froggy bow for the pin at 10:15.

Rating: C. This was pretty much what you would expect from Briscoe vs. Cage and it wasn’t exactly great. I’m not sure why how but they’ve managed to make the Ring Of Honor World Title feel that much more worthless. That’s a heck of a trick, but I wasn’t sure if Briscoe was going to win here and Cage almost never wins.

Jack Perry says he’s going to win the TNT Title.

The Premiere Athletes interrupt Samoa Joe and Hook, with Hook’s Funions being knocked away. Joe holds Hook back from violence, saying people like them pick their spots.

Chris Jericho and company educate Matt Menard and Angelo Parker about commentary and parenting.

The Acclaimed come out for their rap but the Young Bucks (the subject) cut them off.

Swerve Strickland calls MJF a little b**** and says he’s ready for Will Ospreay. He’s proud of Team AEW, but next time, include the World Champion.

Video on Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer, which is title for title at Forbidden Door.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. Team CMLL

Wheeler Yuta is back from injury for the first time since January and it’s Rugido/Magnus/Volador Jr./Esfinge. Thankfully Excalibur is there to tell us that Magnus is the one with his back to the camera. This would be more informative if he didn’t say it when all four had their backs to the camera. It’s a brawl to start and all eight head out to the floor.

We settle down to Danielson and Rugido chopping it out but it’s quickly off to the parade of strikes. Team CMLL clears the ring and hit stereo dives, setting up Magnus’ 619 for two on Danielson. Everything breaks down again and Hart plays Bret in a Hart Attack on Magnus. Yuta’s Fastball Special connects and we take an early break.

Back with Moxley striking away on Magnus, who manages to enziguri his way to freedom. Esfinge comes in to monkey flip Castagnoli and then grabs a leg tie rollup for two. Castagnoli cuts off the running knees with the Swing to Magnus and Moxley adds the dropkick. Volador is back in with a sunset flip for two and Rugido’s powerslam gets the same on Yuta. Back up and Yuta hits the Angle Slam, setting up the seat belt to pin Rugido at 11:58.

Rating: B-. This is the definition of “it’s not for me”. The action was good and the CMLL guys are talented, but this felt like little more than an exhibition as you had people coming in from a different promotion and getting a match against a top faction because it’s Forbidden Door season. I’m sure the CMLL guys will have a match at the pay per view and it will be good, but it’s likely nothing that is going to interest me very much.

Chris Jericho explains how to scoop chicken and dumplings. I have no idea who thinks this is funny but they should be severely punished.

Video on Daniel Garcia.

The Acclaimed threaten the Young Bucks.

Post break the Young Bucks talk to the Patriarchy, with Christian Cage wanting another title shot. They agree to keep up their partnership.

Mariah May vs. Saraya

Toni Storm/Luther and Harley Cameron/Zak Knight are here too. May wears an Outcasts jacket to the ring so Saraya jumps her to start fast. The big chase is on with May getting suckered into a superkick so Saraya can look at the camera. May is sent hard into the barricade and we take a break.

Back with May winning a slugout and hitting a hard headbutt. May hurricanranas her out of the corner and hits a missile dropkick for two. The running hip attack gives May two but Saraya is back up with Rampage for the same. Saraya grabs the Scorpion Crosslock for the win at 9:06.

Rating: C. This was a weird situation as Saraya hasn’t been doing much of anything lately and she beat May, who has at least been presented as a big deal, clean. The match wasn’t exactly great either, as Saraya isn’t exactly as sharp in the ring as she used to be. Maybe we’re getting ready for Saraya to be in a title match down the line, but otherwise this was way out of left field.

Post match Storm comes in to check on May but the Outcasts beat Storm and May down. Mina Shirakawa runs in for the save. May hugs both Mina and Toni.

Chris Jericho tells Private Party that they should open up their party and make it public. An argument ensues.

Bryan Danielson is happy with Wheeler Yuta for winning but isn’t happy with his own losses. He isn’t done with his last year yet though and now he wants in on the Owen Hart Cup to go on to a World Title shot at All In. Danielson getting fired up for anything is a good thing, but it’s still hard to fathom him winning anything big.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland vs. Roderick Strong

Swerve is defending and Prince Nana/the Kingdom are here too. They go technical to start until Swerve grabs a headscissors into an armdrag. It’s too early for the House Call though and Strong bails out to the floor. Back in and Swerve starts in on Strong’s knee but an Undisputed Kingdom distraction breaks up the Swerve Stomp. Strong backbreakers Swerve onto the turnbuckle but his dropkick through the ropes is blocked. Swerve posts him hard and we take a break.

Back with Swerve fighting out of a seated abdominal stretch and starting the comeback. The middle rope elbow to the back sets up a brainbuster for two and we slow down a bit. The powerbomb into a powerslam gets two on Strong but the threat of the House Call sends Strong outside. They go outside with Swerve diving onto the Kingdom, allowing Strong to send him into the steps. Back in and Strong hits a Codebreaker to cut off a comeback. The Sick Kick gives Strong two but Swerve sends him to the apron for the Stomp. Back in and the House Call retains the title at 14:10.

Rating: B. This is the kind of match where you know it’s going to be good because the wrestlers are rather talented. Strong isn’t going to be a top level challenger but he is perfect for a spot like this as he made Swerve look good. Rather nice main event here, and sometimes you just need to have that kind of a match.

Overall Rating: C+. They were having a weird balancing act here as it was a mixture of good to ok at best wrestling, the Forbidden Door stuff (which I find a chore to get through) and whatever the heck they’re trying for with those Jericho segments. Those things were TERRIBLE and not in a way that makes me want to see someone beat Jericho (whomever that is going to be as he doesn’t seem to have any serious challenges at the moment) but rather wanting to wring the neck of whomever allowed it on TV. There are good parts to this show and it is NOT bad, but egads the rough parts ranged from boring to dreadful.

Results
Rey Fenix b. Jay Lethal, Orange Cassidy and Kyle O’Reilly – Small package to Lethal
Mark Briscoe b. Brian Cage – Froggy Bow
Blackpool Combat Club b. Team CMLL – Seat Belt to Rugido
Saraya b. Mariah May – Scorpion Crosslock
Swerve Strickland b. Roderick Strong – House Call

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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Rampage
Date: May 31, 2024
Location: Kia Forum, Inglewood, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Matt Menard

We’re still off the normal schedule with another early evening show. Rampage has been picking things up a bit lately and there is a good chance that we might be seeing it again here. If nothing else it would make sense to have this show be a bit bigger for the major location. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

TNT Title Qualifying Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Penta El Zero Miedo

They run the ropes to start and Penta dives over him for the standoff. Takeshita kicks him in the face but Penta grabs a Backstabber out of the corner. It’s too early for the dive to the floor and Takeshita cuts off a kick from the apron to cut him down. Back in and Takeshita grabs a chinlock, followed by a suplex as we take a break.

We come back with Penta hitting a running Sling Blade to send Takeshita outside. The big running flip dive takes Takeshita down again but he’s right back with a rather impressive wheelbarrow suplex. Penta grabs Made In Japan for two and they’re both staggered. Takeshita is knocked to the apron and a springboard Canadian Destroyer knocks him silly. Back in and the Blue Thunder Bomb gives Takeshita two but the running knee misses. Instead it’s a hot shot to Penta, setting up the running knee for the pin at 13:09.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of match I was looking for from AEW. While there might not have been a ton of drama over who was going to win, there is something cool about taking two talented wrestlers and letting them have a match. It was a nice opener and I dug seeing these two go at it, likely for one of the first, if not the first, time ever.

Chris Jericho, with the Learning Tree, says he is done with Rampage commentary after being attacked by Hook last week.

The Undisputed Kingdom says Double Or Nothing sucked, with Roderick Strong saying he was the next man in the Casino Gauntlet this week on Dynamite. This weekend, he wants Lio Rush and then he’ll go after Swerve Strickland AND Will Ospreay.

Satnam Singh vs. Peter Avalon

Singh lays down so Avalon can cover him, with Avalon being launched through the air shortly thereafter. A bearhug finishes for Singh at 1:05.

The Cage Of Agony is ready to restart everything and they’ll do it starting on Collision. Hechicero of all people comes in and seems to have joined the team.

Toni Storm vs. Vita Van

Non-title and Mariah May and Luther are here too. Van takes her down for an early submission attempt, sending Storm straight to the ropes. A chop staggers Van but she ducks a clothesline, only to get hip attacked in the face. Storm sends her outside and tells us she’ll see us soon after the break. Back with Storm hitting the big wind up right hand for two but Van runs her over for two. A Backstabber out of the corner into a fisherman’s suplex gives Storm two but Van’s ax kick gets the same. That’s enough for Storm, who hits a running hip attack in the corner, followed by Storm Zero for the pin at 8:57.

Rating: C. Well that was long. Storm has had some longer matches against not exactly top level competition lately and it’s a bit odd to see. I do like having the bigger name on the show though and having Storm around is one of the better things that has happened lately. She’ll need a new challenger sooner than later, but this works for now.

The Outcasts offer some mocking applause for May and Storm before Saraya faces May on Dynamite.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jordan Cruz

O’Reilly charges right at him to start and strikes away before cranking on the arm. The cross armbreaker makes Cruz tap at 1:17.

Johnny TV, with Taya Valkyrie, challenges Claudio Castagnoli for Collision.

Rey Fenix vs. Isiah Kassidy

Kassidy is getting some pretty big spots lately. They fight over wrist control until Fenix hits a dropkick to put him down. Kassidy’s springboard hurricanrana doesn’t work as Fenix cartwheels his way out, setting up a German suplex to send Kassidy flying. We take a break and come back with Fenix snapping off a super hurricanrana for two.

Kassidy manages a springboard Stunner to knock Fenix throat first over the top. The big flip dive takes out Kassidy again but Fenix hammers away on the mat back inside. One heck of a Canadian Destroyer gives Kassidy two but he misses a Swanton. Fenix’s frog splash gets two and something like a double underhook brainbuster finishes Kassidy at 11:19.

Rating: C+. Another fun match with Fenix and Kassidy both getting to fly around and show off their athleticism. That’s all you need in a match like this as Fenix gets to shake off some more of his ring rust. As good as he is, there is always the chance that an injury could take him out again, but he’s quite an entertaining star when he’s out there.

Overall Rating: B-. This was more like it with what felt like a big time opener, a good enough main event and Storm being out there for some star power. The best thing about a show this short is that it didn’t feel long, which wasn’t the case here. I had a good enough time with the show and that’s about as high as most Rampages are going to get.

Results
Konosuke Takeshita b. Penta El Zero Miedo – Running knee
Satnam Singh b. Peter Avalon – Bearhug
Toni Storm b. Vita Van – Storm Zero
Kyle O’Reilly b. Jordan Cruz – Cross armbreaker
Rey Fenix b. Isiah Kassidy – Double underhook brainbuster

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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We’re back on pay per view and the card is looking like it could go in a variety of ways. AEW is promoting this as a triple main event with a rather interesting set of matches on top, though your taste in the recent storytelling efforts may vary. The good thing is AEW tends to focus on the in-ring wrestling with its pay per views and that tends to go rather well. Let’s get to it.

Buy-In: Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo

This is a feud that has been built up in recent weeks and now we get to see what happens when they face off. Both of them could use a big win and they are going to be given the chance to make it happen here. Purrazzo has lost rather frequently but Rosa is the bigger star and a former Women’s Champion. That leaves you with a pair of viable options, which makes this more fun.

I’ll go with Rosa to win here, as she is the bigger star and could easily be moved into either Women’s Title picture. Rosa has been driven nuts by Purrazzo in recent weeks and it should be time to see her get revenge. Purrazzo is not exactly in the best place either, and while I would like to see her win, it makes more sense for Rosa to win here, as she has more potential to jump up the ladder.

Buy-In: Billy Gunn/Acclaimed vs. Brian Cage/Gates Of Agony

Here we have a match between two groups who are in rather different places. Gunn and the Acclaimed lost the Trios Titles not that long ago but they could not feel colder if they were actively trying. They have nothing going on and it’s hard to fathom them getting back to the top of the mountain anytime soon. At the same time, Cage and the Gates aren’t doing much better, but that is pretty normal for them.

This almost has to be Cage and the Gates here, as they just recently split from Swerve Strickland and need to get a win to make themselves feel less worthless. Gunn and the Acclaimed probably need the win more, but I don’t think I can picture it happening. At some point the Acclaimed need to find something to do away from Gunn and hanging another loss on them might make them go in the right direction.

Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita

This is non-title but if Takeshita wins, he gets a future IWGP World Title shot. The whole thing is taking place because of international wrestling politics, which makes it quite the mess, but maybe they can tie it into Forbidden Door. For now though, we should be in for a heck of a fight, as Moxley will brawl with anyone and Takeshita is always a treat to watch no matter what he is doing.

Since it’s Takeshita in a high profile match, I’ll go with Moxley winning, making the stipulation an even bigger waste of time. Maybe Don Callis helps Takeshita win, but at the end of the day, AEW likes having Takeshita look great on the way to big matches, put on a heck of a performance, and then come up short. This should be a good one though, and hopefully they get the chance to show just how good Takeshita is. Before he loses.

Trent Beretta vs. Orange Cassidy

This is a rematch from a few weeks ago where Cassidy won the first match against his big rival/ex-friend. That should mean we’re in for a more violent match, but in this case we’re not seeing any kind of special stipulation. Cassidy has an extra reason to go after Beretta following the attack on Chuck Taylor, but right now he isn’t exactly getting a big chance to get revenge.

I’ll go with Beretta winning here, as there is pretty much nothing left for him to do at the moment if he loses. Beretta has been built up as a pretty impressive heel as he went after one of the most popular stars on the roster. That being said, I’m not sure I can imagine Cassidy losing, even if it makes more sense for it to happen. I’ll stick with Beretta here, though him losing wouldn’t surprise me at all.

International Title: Roderick Strong(c) vs. Will Ospreay

This is one of the weirder matches on the show, as you do not often see the champion feeling like such a huge underdog. Ospreay has been presented as an ace since the day he debuted for the company and there is no reason to believe that doesn’t continue. Strong is the best thing about the Undisputed Kingdom, but I’m really not sure how much that means.

Give me Ospreay to win here, as I’ll go with what makes the most sense. I’m not sure I can imagine Ospreay losing so soon, as there is a very good chance that he is going to wind up in a top match at All In later this year. While the title is beneath what Ospreay has been doing lately, maybe he can elevate it up a bit. Ospreay wins here, as he is a few miles ahead of what Strong is doing.

TNT Title: Adam Copeland(c) vs. Malakai Black

Their feud is about the title, a weird obsession with being creepy, and Black stealing Copeland’s wedding ring. In addition to all of that, the match is going to be in a barbed wire steel cage, because we’re going to be seeing something rather violent and insane. Or it winds up being a huge disappointment, which is a tendency with big gimmick matches around AEW.

I’ll take Black winning here, as he needs to do something other than lose over and over. His team has been wrecked over and over by Copeland but giving him the win and the title should help things out quite a bit. It should be a violent match, but maybe Kyle O’Reilly comes in to cost Copeland the title for some reason or something like that. Either way, Black needs the win here more than Copeland, though it should be a violent war no matter what.

Trios Titles: Bang Bang Gang(c) vs. Death Triangle

It’s nice to see actual teams competing for the titles, as there are only so many viable options to come after them. While Death Triangle feels like a relic of the past, they do at least look like a heck of a threat to come after the titles. This has the potential to be a heck of a fight, and if they go completely insane, it will have a chance to steal a lot of the rather large show.

I’m thinking the Gang retains, as there is little reason to suggest that Death Triangle will stick around. The three of them are often leaving in one way or another and it would be a bit of a stretch to put the titles on them. The Gang doesn’t have much else going on, but seeing them carry that many belts around is kind of amusing. The champions retain here, and hopefully they do it in an awesome fight.

FTW Title: Chris Jericho(c) vs. Hook vs. Katsuyori Shibata

This is one of the more controversial stories in AEW at the moment, as Jericho is doing a weird condescending heel deal where he tries to be all nice but the fans are sick of him because it isn’t that good. He is also taking credit for everyone’s success, including Hook and Shibata. That makes for a rather odd match but here we are anyway, with the title on the line.

I’ll go with what makes sense in such a triple threat and say Jericho retains, likely after one of the other two does all the work for the finish but Jericho steals it. That would be the logical way to go for what he has been doing lately, but I’m not sure how well it will be received. Jericho is trying something new at the moment but that really doesn’t mean he is making it work. It should be enough to retain here though.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Serena Deeb

I’m not sure I can explain what Storm is doing at the moment, but she seems to be feuding or dealing with Mina Shirakawa, Mariah May and Deeb all at once. This feud seems to be the most personal of the three, as Deeb has attacked Storm’s knee, with Storm promising revenge. The quality of the match is going to depend on how serious Storm takes this, which could go in a bunch of ways.

As messy as Storm’s situation is, I’m not sure I can imagine her losing here so we’ll say she retains. Storm has a lot going on at the moment and while Deeb can wrestle a good match with anyone, I can’t picture her winning the title. Looking at everything else Storm has been doing, it is clear that she has a lot going on and I don’t think she is going to lose the title before she gets there.

TBS Title: Willow Nightingale(c) vs. Mercedes Mone

Here we have the first of the three main events and while it might not seem like the biggest match, it has definitely been treated incredibly seriously. That being said, your mileage may on how Mone has been doing as she has only been so interesting since showing up. Maybe she can knock it out of the park here, but I’ve only been somewhat interested in what she has been doing since debut.

I’ll likely regret this one but I’ll actually take Nightingale to win here. She’s the one the fans want to see right now and while AEW loves itself some heels, it would feel like a horrible idea to take the title off of Nightingale. I’m sure Mone is going to get the title sooner than later as AEW has poured a lot of money into her, but having her come in and take the title in her first match would not feel right. I’ll take Nightingale in a pick I’m pretty sure is going to be wrong.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland(c) vs. Christian Cage

Strickland is the star that the AEW fans chose and yet he might be the third biggest story in the company right now. It’s a shame as he could be in for a great story, but instead we’re getting Cage seeking revenge for Strickland attacking Nick Wayne a year ago. That might be logical, but it doesn’t exactly make for the most thrilling situation. Strickland gave Cage a good beatdown on Dynamite, though we need something a bit better to make it work.

There is almost no reason to believe Cage is winning here, as he seems much more of a person there to give Strickland a nice win. That is a perfectly fine way to go, though Strickland is only going to be able to get so much when he is so far from the top of the company. Hopefully that changes after this, but for now it should be Strickland retaining in a good match.

Elite vs. Team AEW

Whether it goes on last or not, this is absolutely the main event of the show. It’s Anarchy In The Arena, which should be a wild brawl all over the place. The big story here would seem to be the return of Tony Khan, who popped up in a car on Dynamite to bring Darby Allin, and a flamethrower, to the show. That’s certainly a way to go and it has me worried about what we’ll see.

While there is a very good case for this being the end of the evil Young Bucks, I’ll take the Elite to win and continue their dominance. What scares me the most is the idea of Khan joining the team in some weird Vince McMahon/Eric Bischoff deal, but if that doesn’t happen and Khan is back, I’m not sure why it should continue anyway. Either way, the Elite win and I’ll be scared about how it happens.

Overall Thoughts

There is potential here for this to be a really good show. While the storylines have been hit or miss as of late, AEW has an incredibly talented roster who can pull off some near miracles. If they are able to do that here then we should be in for a strong night, but they are going to have to nail quite a few things, especially near the top of the card. That main event could go in a few different ways though and odds are that is what will get the focus after the night is over.

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Collision
Date: May 25, 2024
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

It’s the last show before Double Or Nothing and the show has a little more work to be done. There is a good chance that a match or two, plus something on the Buy-In, could be added here as they have a lot of people with nothing to do. Other than that we should be in for some interesting action, including the Gunns vs. the Lucha Bros. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Here is Jon Moxley for a chat and it is five years to the day of his AEW debut. Before he can say anything, cue Don Callis to interrupt. Callis talks about how he and Moxley got together to beat Kenny Omega last year. Moxley is blamed for putting the 24 stitches in Callis’ head, with the fans wanting it ONE MORE TIME.

Then Moxley said Callis was one of them now, because they are two of the same people. They’re both high functioning sociopaths and if they got together, no one could stop them. He wants to know what it takes to get this deal with Moxley done. Moxley offers to put 24 more stitches in his head but here is Konosuke Takeshita to jump Moxley from behind. Moxley’s arm is Pillmanized and the Blackpool Combat Club come in for the too late save.

After Dynamite, a ticked off and bloody Will Ospreay swore vengeance against Roderick Strong. Ospreay can bring the intensity when he needs to and it was on full display here.

Claudio Castagnoli/Daniel Garcia/??? vs. Righteous/Lance Archer

The good guys need a partner and here is….Hiroshi Tanahashi! Well that works. The fans are impressed and it’s Castagnoli trading shoulders with Dutch to start. Dutch easily slams him but Castagnoli gives him one of his own. Garcia comes in and knocks Vincent into the corner before Tanahashi comes in for Twist And Shout to Archer. Tanahashi’s guitar accompanies Garcia’s dancing but Archer breaks it up as we take a break.

Back with Garcia suplexing his way out of trouble and handing it off to Tanahashi to forearm away at Archer. Everything breaks down and Castagnoli plants Archer but the High Fly Flow is broken up. Orange Sunshine hits Tanahashi but Castagnoli makes the save. Everything breaks down and Tanahashi Sling Blades Archer down. The High Fly Flow gives Tanahashi the pin at 9:35.

Rating: C+. The action was ok enough but obviously this was about the surprise with Tanahashi of all people showing up as a mystery partner. There’s a good chance that this is the first step towards Forbidden Door and if that is the case, it makes sense to start with a huge name. Not a great match, but a fine way to use ten minutes.

Video on the greatness of the Young Bucks and everything they have done for AEW, with Team AEW daring to stand up to them.

Lucha Bros vs. The Gunns

If the Bros win, tomorrow’s six man match is for the titles. Penta and Colten start things off with the Bros clearing the ring rather quickly. The Gunns take over on the floor and it’s Penta in trouble in the corner back inside. Austin comes in to hammer away and we take a break. Back with Penta hitting a superkick and handing it off to Fenix to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and a Fameasser gets two on Fenix, with Penta making the save. The 3:10 To Yuma is broken up and the spike Fear Factor finishes Colten at 8:14.

Rating: B-. It’s nice to have the Lucha Bros back, though it’s hard to fathom that they are actually going to stick around for a long time. When they’re on their game, they’re one of the best teams around though and it should be a good fight tomorrow with the Trios Titles on the line. They didn’t waste time with this one and it wound up being a hot enough match.

Chris Jericho, with Big Bill, knows he has to work hard tomorrow to win but he believes he can do it. Bryan Keith comes in to say Jericho will see him again. Jericho: “Thanks Bryan!”

Kyle O’Reilly vs. KM

KM strikes away to start but charges into a boot in the corner. O’Reilly pulls him into the cross armbreaker for the tap at 1:09.

Video on Mercedes Mone.

We look at Mone brawling with Willow Nightingale last night on Rampage.

Here is Nightingale for a chat. Nightingale says you can’t have a show on TBS without the TBS Champion but last night, Mone put her hands on the title. They are way past respect and Nightingale promises to wreck Mone tomorrow night. She broke her neck a few years ago and fought through that, so Mone isn’t going to stop her. Mone can’t beat her at any percent and tomorrow night, she’ll prove she’s the better woman. Fired up promo from Nightingale here.

Trent Beretta promises to show the world what he has known for a long time. Rocky Romero comes in to say that no matter what happens tomorrow night, he hopes they can put this behind them. Trent says that is not happening and never interrupt him again.

House Of Black vs. Gates Of Agony vs. Infantry vs. Acclaimed

Caster and Bravo trade rollups to start and it’s off to Bowens vs. Matthews, with the latter tagging himself in. Kaun comes in to face Matthews instead but it’s quickly off to Toa vs. King, with the big clotheslines staggering both of them. Everything breaks down and King hits a big suicide dive and we take a break.

Back with Murphy chinlocking Caster but the Infantry breaks it up. A bunch of superkicks send Matthews into the corner for the tag to King but Toa comes in to wreck people as well. Everything breaks down and Toa Samoan Drops King for two. The Infantry hit stereo dives to the floor but Matthews saves King from Boot Camp back inside. A Cannonball/running boot combination hits Bravo to give King the pin at 10:30.

Rating: B-. This felt like the main event of a Ring Of Honor show and that’s not the worst thing. I’m not sure how much this is going to make a difference for any of the teams going forward, but the team with the most going on getting the win is the right way to go. They kept things going here and it wasn’t boring so there are worse ways to use time on this show.

Adam Copeland knew that Malakai Black was going to come after him because he lives in the shadows Copeland cast. Black wanted this version of Copeland, but imagine the kind of force he and Black could be. Imagine if he beats Black and the House joins him. When you see the evil in a man’s eyes, it’s already too late.

Toni Storm, still in agony after Serena Deeb’s attack, says she’ll make Deeb’s seizures feel like a walk in the park.

Leyla Hirsch vs. Mariah May

May chops away to start but Hirsch backs her up. That earns Hirsch a chest to the face (Nigel: “I wish I was wrestling again.”) and a dropkick as we take a break. Back with Hirsch missing a moonsault but blocking a running shot in the corner. Hirsch grabs a German suplex for two but May is back with a headbutt into a running knee for the pin at 7:14.

Rating: C+. As is the case with most of the women’s matches in this slot on any show, so much of the match was in the commercial that there wasn’t time to do much. May gets a win to keep her going towards…whatever the story is with her and Toni Storm and company. Hirsch continues to feel like someone who could go somewhere, but that isn’t likely to happen anytime soon.

Serena Deeb is ready for Deeb Or Nothing and she’s ready to stretch Toni Storm.

Video on Christian Cage vs. Swerve Strickland.

FTR/Bryan Danielson vs. Satnam Singh/Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal

Sonjay Dutt and Karen Jarrett are here with the villains. Danielson and Jarrett start things off and Jarrett gets in an early strut. Lethal comes in instead and gets kneed in the ribs. It’s off to Harwood to take over on Lethal, with Wheeler getting to send him into the corner. Singh grabs Wheeler by the throat though and drops him throat first across the top as we take a break.

Back with Harwood small packaging Lethal for two but getting caught in the Lethal Combination. Singh comes in for some chokeslams from his knee, with Wheeler’s middle rope ax handle breaking it up. It’s back to Danielson to hammer away on Jarrett in the corner but Lethal breaks up the LeBell Lock.

Danielson and Wheeler hit stereo dives before Singh accidentally posts himself. Everyone gets together to kick away at Singh, with a bunch of knees putting him down. Lethal is back in for a double Lethal Injection but the referee catches Karen sending in the guitar. Instead it’s a chair coming in but Jeff chairs Singh by mistake. The running knee finishes Jeff at 10:30.

Rating: B-. This was a nice warmup for Team AEW before their match tomorrow, with commentary playing up the idea that the Young Bucks had paid off the villains to soften the heroes up. It’s a simple story but they did it well, which shouldn’t surprise you given who was out there. Jarrett and company might not be a top level stable, but they’re fine for short term villains to be taken down after giving the good guy a sweat.

Post match Wheeler says FTR debuted here four years ago and now he will live, breathe, fight and die for this company. Everyone is better off because of AEW and they are banged up but they are going to fight for AEW tomorrow night. Harwood says they are fighting for everyone who watches at home and if they die tomorrow, they’ll go out as your heroes. AEW certainly loves these rah rah speeches lately and this was another one of them.

Overall Rating: C+. I liked this well enough and now I need to see them do their thing tomorrow with the big show. They did enough to build up some things for Sunday, with a stipulation being added to the trios match and some stories being slightly advanced. Double Or Nothing needs to be a solid hit and this helped set the stage for it, which is about as good as you could expect with what they had to offer tonight.

Results
Hiroshi Tanahashi/Claudio Castagnoli/Daniel Garcia b. The Righteous/Lance Archer – High Fly Flow to Archer
Lucha Bros b. The Gunns – Spike Fear Factor to Colten
Kyle O’Reilly b. KM – Cross armbreaker
House Of Black b. Gates Of Agony, Infantry and Acclaimed – Cannonball/running boot combination to Bravo
Mariah May b. Leyla Hirsch – Running knee
Bryan Danielson/FTR b. Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh – Running knee to Jarrett

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: May 22, 2024
Location: Mechanics Bank Arena, Bakersfield, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re less than four days away from Double Or Nothing and that means it is time for one of the final pushes to the show. There is a good chance that we’ll be seeing some more matches added to the card. Other than that, we are probably going to be seeing more of the Young Bucks because of course. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence, including clips from Furiosa as part of a crossover event.

Orange Cassidy/Will Ospreay vs. Roderick Strong/Trent Beretta

Don Callis is on commentary and suggests that Cassidy is now one of “his guys”. Cassidy and Beretta slug it out on the floor to start before Cassidy comes back in for a high crossbody on Strong. The Kingdom distracts Ospreay so Trent can get in a cheap shot and take over. Ospreay knocks Strong away and brings Cassidy in to clean house but Beretta crotches him on top. A gutbuster onto the top drops Ospreay again and all four brawl to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Cassidy…seemingly trying to nip up but crawling over for the tag to Ospreay instead. Strong cuts Ospreay off with a half and half suplex and then hits a spinning faceplant for two. Ospreay is back with a poisonrana and Cassidy falls off the top (on purpose) for two more on Strong.

Cassidy’s top rope DDT plants Beretta and another DDT drops Strong for two. Strong is back up and tries End Of Heartache but Callis grabs Cassidy’s foot, allowing him to grab Stundog Millionaire. The Kingdom’s interference fails but here is Wardlow to deck Ospreay from behind. Strong grabs End Of Heartache to pin Cassidy at 12:56.

Rating: B. Rather hot opener here with Strong getting the win that he needs to boost himself up before what is likely a loss to Ospreay on Sunday. Even with the Undisputed Kingdom around him, it’s hard to imagine him leaving with the title without some kind of screwy finish. The Callis/Cassidy stuff…yeah I’m not feeling it, but odds are it continues on Sunday.

Post match Beretta chokes Cassidy out and Strong busts Ospreay open with the International Title.

The Young Bucks have security bar Darby Allin from the building because they want the safest locker room in wrestling. Sonjay Dutt comes in to suggest that he get paid extra if Satnam Singh takes out Bryan Danielson.

Here is Bullet Club Gold for a chat (and yes the wagon for all of their belts is funny). Jay White doesn’t think much of Pac (he’s not sure how to pronounce it) because Pac has been messing with things that don’t concern him. Pac pops up on screen and brings back the Lucha Bros to reform the Death Triangle. Cue Death Triangle to clear the ring and Pac issues the title challenge for Double Or Nothing.

Bryan Keith vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hook

For a shot at Chris Jericho’s FTW Title on Sunday with Jericho on commentary. Shibata and Hook both go after Keith in the corner to start before trading suplexes. Keith gets in one of his own and we take an early break. Back with Shibata hitting running boots in the corner until Hook gets Redrum on Keith. Shibata breaks that up and gets the Figure Four on Keith….but Hook adds Redrum on Keith for the double submission at 6:31.

Rating: C. Ok so it’s going to be a triple threat at the pay per view, making me wonder why Keith, or the qualifying matches, needed to take place at all. At least they didn’t make it go long so Jericho didn’t get to talk that much. Hook being featured is a good thing, though I’m almost scared of how long he’ll have to wait before getting a big win.

Post match Jericho grabs the mic and says he’s here to get more camera time. He’s proud of Hook and Shibata for everything they’ve learned and yes the three way is official. That’s from Tony Khan, making me wonder why he’s allowing the Bucks to do anything at all.

We look at the first Mercedes Mone vs. Willow Nightingale match from last year for New Japan, when Mone was injured. This has set up their rematch at Double Or Nothing.

Video on Konosuke Takeshita.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Matt Sydal

Takeshita jumps him to start and hits a hard brainbuster before stopping to sneer. Sydal manages a quick hurricanrana and a dropkick but walks into the Blue Thunder Bomb. One heck of a right hand knocks Sydal silly for the pin at 2:00. Ok that was WAY more effective than I was expecting. Nice work.

Post match Takeshita keeps up the beating until Jon Moxley hits the ring…to talk. Or hit Takeshita with the microphone. Back to back nice surprises.

The Young Bucks find Swerve Strickland sitting at their seat and says hit his music because he’s up next.

Swerve Strickland vs. Nick Wayne

Non-title and Wayne is alone for once. Wayne runs away to start but Swerve catches him for a whipping with a belt. Swerve picks him up but gets tornado DDTed on the floor as we take a break. Back with Swerve belly to back superplexing him onto the apron and hitting the Swerve Stomp onto the floor. They get back inside and Wayne rolls him up for two with feet on the ropes, as the band-aid over Swerve’s eye is falling off. Swerve isn’t having that and hits the House Call for the pin at 8:57.

Rating: C+. The ending was just about perfect as Swerve turned it on and beat Wayne like the lower level star that Wayne is. Swerve shouldn’t be having trouble beating Wayne and as soon as it started getting difficult, he finished things off out of nowhere. It was a well put together match as it went the way it should have and that’s nice to see.

Post match Killswitch comes in to beat down Swerve as Christian Cage comes in. Swerve takes out Luchasaurus and Cage sprints off, steals a car and bails…but gets cut off by Prince Nana in another car. Swerve shows up and gives Cage a beatdown so good that I’ll forget to wonder how Nana knew where he should have been at the perfect time. Cage avoids a Conchairto on the hood of the car.

Malakai Black vs. Kyle O’Reilly

They trade strikes to start (shocking indeed) until Black grabs a headlock. O’Reilly kicks the leg out on a springboard attempt and sweeps the leg for a bonus. Black kicks him out to the floor though and we take an early break. Back with O’Reilly’s rebound lariat being cut off by an elbow to the face.

O’Reilly snaps off a German suplex for two and the hard kicks keep Black in trouble. The ankle lock goes on but O’Reilly legs go for no apparent reason, allowing Black to hit a brainbuster for two. Back up and Black head fakes him, setting up The End for the knock out and the pin at 10:21.

Rating: B-. This was mainly about the striking and it worked pretty well, with Black looking like more of a killer on the way to the pay per view. The End is one of those moves that is going to knock anyone cold and that makes Black dangerous. I’m not feeling the Black vs. Copeland feud, but it’s nice to see Black getting built up again.

Post match the lights go out and Black gets a Bloodbath. Adam Copeland pops up to say see you soon.

We look at Bryan Danielson’s history in Anarchy In The Arena and what he is willing to do to fight for AEW.

Double Or Nothing rundown.

We look at Toni Storm stealing Serena Deeb’s flag and using it as a towel on Saturday.

Toni Storm/Mariah May vs. Outcasts

Zak Knight is here with the Outcasts. Cameron gets sent to the apron to start but manages a shoulder to May’s ribs. May takes her down back inside and it’s off to Saraya, with the fans seemingly approving. Storm comes in for the slugout and a Thesz press into the right hands has Saraya in trouble. Storm slams May onto Saraya for two and we pause for the referee to check on Saraya. As you might expect, this lets Cameron come in for a cheap shot so the villains can take over as we take a break.

Back with Storm getting the tag to clean house, including a headbutt to rock Cameron. A chokebomb hits Cameron as everything breaks down. Storm and May pause for a hug but get caught with stereo sunset bombs. Back up and Storm and May kiss the Outcasts, setting up Storm Zero and May Day. Another Storm Zero to Cameron finishes at 9:12.

Rating: C. The Storm/May/Deeb/Cameron/anyone else they’re bringing into things is so all over the place and I think that’s what they’re trying to do with it. If the story has so many moving parts, maybe it doesn’t need to make that much sense. The fans are reacting to the people in it and that might be enough for whatever it is they’re doing.

Storm teases disrobing behind Serena Deeb’s flag again but Deeb runs in with a chair shot. And a shoe shot, which sets up a half crab in a chair to make Storm tap.

Bullet Club Gold wants Death Triangle at Double Or Nothing. That’s already set so I guess they’re just happy about it?

Bryan Danielson vs. Satnam Singh

Jeff Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal are here with Singh. Danielson kicks away in the corner to start and is quickly swatted away. A delayed suplex drops Danielson and they head outside. Danielson is sent into the steps as Dutt loads up the announcers’ table….which collapses on its own.

Danielson comes back with the strikes, including a hard shot against the barricade. A Jarrett distraction lets Singh chokeslam him onto the apron for two as the beating is on. Dutt pulls the turnbuckle pad off but Danielson gets in a low blow and strikes away. Singh chops him from his knees but Danielson strikes him down again. The LeBell Lock goes on, with the other villains coming in for the DQ at 4:52.

Rating: C+. This was a good example of “well, what else were they supposed to do?”. Singh did his basic giant stuff, but it was more about giving Danielson an obstacle to overcome. The whole point was about the Elite getting Danielson in trouble and that went well, especially the beatdown. Good storytelling for a mediocre match.

Post match Danielson fights back and gets the guitar but Singh punches it to pieces. Cue the Young Bucks with an envelope (to pay off Dutt and company) but the EVP Trigger only sees their knees collide. Kazuchika Okada comes out for a distraction, allowing Jack Perry to jump Danielson from behind. Danielson is taken up the ramp as Darby Allin arrives in a car, driven by Tony Khan.

Allin comes into the ring and scares the Elite off with a flamethrower (yes a flamethrower) as Nick is sent through a table to end the show. Khan already being back makes me wonder if they’re going to just blow off the Bucks’ story on Sunday. It’s probably false hope, but it’s better than nothing.

Overall Rating: B-. This was an odd show, as it certainly had good parts and things that kept me interested, but it didn’t do much about making me want to see Double Or Nothing. The pay per view should be good, though nothing on it has me begging to see what they’re going to do. This show, while certainly not bad, didn’t make me want to see the pay per view that much more and that’s not a great sign heading into Sunday.

Results
Roderick Strong/Trent Beretta b. Will Ospreay/Orange Cassidy – End Of Heartache to Cassidy
Hook and Katsuyori Shibata b. Bryan Keith – Double submission
Konosuke Takeshita b. Matt Sydal – Right hand
Swerve Strickland b. Nick Wayne – House Call
Malakai Black b. Kyle O’Reilly – The End
Toni Storm/Mariah May b. Outcasts – Storm Zero to Cameron
Bryan Danielson b. Satnam Singh when Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett interfered

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.