Rampage
Date: January 12, 2024
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Jim Ross

We’re still in Daily’s Place and that means it’s the second half of the Homecoming special. At the same time though, it’s Rampage, which means you could be seeing almost anything. Odd are we’ll get at least one good match here, which tends to be the case with Rampage. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Continental Crown: Eddie Kingston vs. Wheeler Yuta

Only Kingston is defending and commentary does clarify that all three of his titles are on the line. They go with the grappling to start until Yuta takes him to the mat to work on the arm. Back up and Yuta sends him outside, setting up the suicide dive to knock Kingston into the barricade. They get back in so Kingston’s arm can be wrapped around the rope again.

More cranking on the arm gets two and a dropkick is good for the same. We take a break and come back with Yuta stomping on the arm. Yuta mockingly kicks him in the back, earning a heck of a chop from Kingston. A suplex drops Yuta and a DDT gives Kingston two. Kingston puts him on top or some chops but Yuta is back with a middle rope diving DDT for two of his own.

The hammer and anvil elbows set up a Disarm-Her but Kingston is right next to the rope. The spinning backfist misses for Kingston though and Yuta snaps off a German suplex for two more. An Angle Slam sets up the top rope splash for another near fall on Kingston and we hit the keylock. With that broken up, Kingston grabs the Saito suplex and a northern lights bomb retains the titles at 17:15.

Rating: B. I was surprised at how long this match got and it made things a bit better. Yuta was picking Kingston’s arm apart but Kingston fought through it and won with something other than the spinning backfist. It was a nice story and Kingston is one of the best going today at fighting from underneath. Solid stuff here, and amazingly enough the lack of Pure Rules made Yuta more interesting.

Mark Briscoe and the Hardys liked teaming together and want to do it again, with the ratings going up as a result. Maybe some Trios gold are in the cards? Jeff even gives Mark a Hardys necklace.

Swerve Strickland vs. Matt Sydal

The Mogul Embassy is here with Strickland, who starts fast with a rollup for two. The middle rope elbow to the back hits Sydal and Strickland grabs some Nikki Bella Rack Attacks to keep him in trouble. Sydal manages a quick hurricanrana and an Air Raid Crash gets two. Strickland isn’t having that though as it’s the rolling Downward Spiral but the Swerve Stomp misses. A rollup doesn’t work for Sydal as Strickland reverses into the JML Driver for the pin at 4:24.

Rating: C. That’s what this should have been. Strickland is on a roll right now and there is no need to have him take too long to beat someone on Sydal’s level. Sydal got in a bit of offense before falling to one of Strickland’s big moves. That’s exactly how this match should have played out and they didn’t do anything nuts. Nice work.

Private Party interrupt Top Flight and Action Andretti, the latter of whom aren’t happy. The challenge is made an accepted, with Andretti doing his water bottle trick.

Queen Aminata vs. Hikaru Shida

Shida starts fast and hammers away in the corner but Aminata takes her down for a running hip attack. We take a break and come back with an exchange of kicks to the back, with Shida sitting down so Aminata can kick her. Back up and Amiata knees her in the face for two, only for Shida to come back with the Falcon Arrow. The Katana finishes for Shida at 8:20.

Rating: C. Aminata has been around quite a few times in the last week or so as she seems to be the latest work in progress. So far she’s ok, though she’s roughly #179 or so on the list of women using a running hip attack at the moment. Shida feels like she has been stuck in limbo for awhile now and this isn’t going to make things much better.

We look at Daniel Garcia of all people saving FTR from a House Of Black attack on Collision.

Saraya shows Ruby Soho a soundless clip of Harley Cameron kissing Angelo Parker. Parker comes in with a birthday cake for Soho, who slams it into his face and storms off. Parker says that’s not what it looks like, even with Saraya saying she always wins. With everyone else gone, Parker unpauses the video, which shows him shoving Cameron away and looking confused.

Dark Order vs. Matt Menard/Angelo Parker/Jake Hager

-1 is here with the Order and Parker still has cake on his face as he locks up with Silver to start. Silver runs Parker, now with a gold chain around his neck, over and stops to dance. It’s off to Hager (now with chain) to take over as JR talks about Hager’s football background, with Silver getting beaten down in the corner. Uno comes in and the Order clears the ring as we take a break.

Back with Reynolds fighting out of a chinlock and diving over to Uno for the tag. Everything breaks down and the Pendulum Bomb gets two on Parker. A double DDT plants Reynolds and the Hager Bomb connects for two. The ankle lock goes on but -1 grabs Hager’s hat. That’s enough of a distraction for the Stunner/German suplex/rollup combination to pin Hager at 10:22.

Rating: C+. What else were you expecting here? It was the latest edition of bringing up Brodie Lee, which AEW has a certain fondness of doing. The match was nothing worth seeing as it was a run of the mill six man tag with the crowd favorites winning. They were playing to the live audience here, which is usually a bad idea but it’s airing at almost 11pm on a Friday so it’s a bit more acceptable.

Overall Rating: B-. The opener was rather good but the rest was the usual supplemental stuff that you don’t need to watch. Parker and Soho’s segment was a pretty big step forward for them but other than that, it’s a pretty nothing show. Then again with this much AEW content on a single weekend, there is only so much you can get out of an hour long show on a Friday night.

Results
Eddie Kingston b. Wheeler Yuta – Northern lights bomb
Swerve Strickland b. Matt Sydal – JML Driver
Hikaru Shida b. Queen Aminata – Katana
Dark Order b. Matt Menard/Angelo Parker/Jake Hager – Rollup to Hager

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: January 10, 2024
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re back to Jacksonville for the Homecoming show, which is likely going to focus on a lot of the greatest hits. At the same time, there is still a chance that some of the regulars are going to be over in Japan, so it is hard to say who will be around for the show. We’re also less than two months away from Revolution so it might be time to start getting ready. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Hangman Page vs. Claudio Castagnoli

They start fast and slug away with the fight heading to the floor. Castagnoli gets the better of things before they head back inside. A bunch of forearms to the head rock Page and Castagnoli gets the Swing, setting up the Sharpshooter. The rope is grabbed so Castagnoli slugs away again, only to get caught with a fall away slam.

A springboard clothesline sends Castagnoli to the floor and there’s a slingshot dive to hit him again. We pause for Page to have a fan’s beer, with Castagnoli gorilla pressing him over the top and onto the ramp. Back from a break with the fight on the ramp, with Page clotheslining Castagnoli into the ring. The Buckshot Lariat is countered into Swiss Death for two and they slug it out back inside.

Page knocks him to the floor hits a moonsault, followed by another off the stage to drop Castagnoli again. A Tombstone gives Page two and they both need a breather. They trade more hard shots until the Deadeye gives Page two. Castagnoli takes him to the corner and tries a super Riccola Bomb but Page reverses into a hurricanrana. That and a pair of Buckshot Lariats finish Castagnoli at 17:05.

Rating: B. For a cold match, this was a heck of a fight with both guys laying it in as well as they could. That’s all you can ask for out of a match like this and they made it work rather well. Page needs the win as he seems primed for another match with Swerve Strickland so starting against Castagnoli is a good thing. As for Castagnoli…oh he’ll be fine as always.

We take a quick look at Brodie Lee.

Dustin Rhodes/ Preston Vance/Orange Cassidy/Adam Copeland vs. Mogul Embassy/Lance Archer

Jake Roberts and Prince Nana are here with the heels. Rhodes powerslams Toa to start and hands it off to Vance, who gets driven into the corner. Cage comes in to send Vance into the buckles but it’s off to Copeland to slug away. Cassidy gets to come in and tires his usual on the Gates of Agony, with Toa Pouncing him out to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Archer beating on Cassidy in the corner. Roberts and Jose the Assistant get in a fight on the floor, with the distraction letting Cassidy fight over to Vance. House is cleaned and everything breaks down, with Copeland Impalering Cage. The villains clear the ring but Archer and Cage hit each other, leaving Copeland to spear Cage down. Vance’s discus lariat finishes Cage at 10:21.

Rating: B-. This was a bit about Brodie Lee but more about getting some people on the show, even in something of a random fashion. The match was the usual form of chaos and it was good enough for a match that got a bit of time. That being said, Copeland being in there felt a bit off, as this kind of match seems somewhat beneath him. Anyway, nice stuff here, even with Vance feeling out of place.

Bullet Club Gold wants the Trios Titles so here are the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn, who again suggest an alliance. The Club wants more time to think about it.

Here is Samoa Joe to get things going. After a THANK YOU JOE chant, it’s time to make some changes to who gets title shots. Here are the changes that we’re making: no more whining and crying here or on social media. Bring your record and your reputation and submit it to the championship committee. If you’re deemed worthy, you get the right to get beaten up. The new championship era is here and for all who want a piece of him, our champion will be waiting….and here is Swerve Strickland, flanked by the Mogul Embassy.

Swerve declares this his house and says the same thing he said to Hangman Page: this isn’t personal, but Swerve wants something Joe has. Now once he takes the title, and Joe makes it personal, Swerve can do that too. Cue Page to interrupt, saying he’s throwing his name in the title picture too. Page talks about what he did in 2023 and promises to make the title his in the new year. Swerve is about to go after him but leaves instead.

Joe and Page go face to face, with Page saying he remembers what Joe did and promises to take the title. With everyone else gone, here is Hook to confront Joe. Hook gets in his face and says one week before leaving. Even Taz sounds confused. Hook in a one off title match where he gets to showcase himself in defeat isn’t a bad idea, as it isn’t like he has anything else going on.

Toni Storm didn’t watch Mariah May’s match and is worried about Wendi Richter rather than the debuting Deonna Purrazzo. May: “She kicked me in the face.” Storm: “Darling, have a chocolate.” She wants to meet this Donna Polazzo but can’t remember the last line of her catchphrase. May tries to help her and is told she’s ruined the moment. This was absolutely hilarious.

Ricky Starks vs. Sammy Guevara

Starks works on the wristlock to start but Guevara is back with a headlock. Guevara knocks him outside for the moonsault, with Starks coming up favoring his arm. Back up and they fight on the apron, with Starks hitting a double underhook faceplant to take over as we take a break.

We come back with Guevara knocking him down but moonsaulting onto raised boots. Starks’ sitout powerbomb gets two but he has to reverse the GTS into a rollup for two more. Back up and Guevara kicks him in the face twice and grabs a quick small package for the pin at 9:22.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure if something happened in there but Starks was looking off for a good chunk of the match. The ending came a bit out of nowhere too and made things feel all the weirder. They did the right thin by having Guevara win of course, as the Tag Team Title match is looming this weekend

Post match respect is shown but it’s a ruse for Big Bill to come in and beat up Guevara. Chris Jericho runs in from behind for the save. Jericho and Bill fight into the crowd while Guevara celebrates with fans.

Willow Nightingale/Kris Statlander/Anna Jay/Thunder Rosa vs. Saraya/Ruby Soho/Skye Blue/Julia Hart

Harley Cameron is here with Saraya and company. Anna and Soho lock up to start with the former snapping off a headscissors. Nightingale comes in for the basement crossbody before it’s off to Rosa vs. Hart. The villains get to stomp away in the corner but Rosa elbows her way out of trouble. It’s back to Nightingale to take over but Cameron shoves her off the top.

We take a break and come back with Statlander getting the tag to come in and clean house. A falcon Arrow gives Statlander two and the villains get caught in a quadruple suplex, leaving commentary trying to figure out how to call it. Everything breaks down and we get the parade of knockdowns. We get a Jay vs. Hart slugout until Blue tags herself in and superkicks Jay. That’s fine with Anna, who pulls her into the Queenslayer for the tap at 8:58.

Rating: C+. This got a hair more time than women’s matches tend to get around here and that helped things out a bit. At the same time, there is only so much you can do with eight women in a match that barely gives them a minute each. At least it got them on the show though, and in this case that feels like the main goal.

Wheeler Yuta doesn’t like Eddie Kingston and challenge him for the Continental Crown on Rampage. Of note: commentary says that if Yuta wins, he’s a quadruple champion, so apparently all of the titles are defended at once.

Bryan Keith vs. Roderick Strong

The rest of the Undisputed Kingdom is here too. Keith kicks him down to start and chops away before taking it to the apron. Strong fights back and takes him back inside for the stomps in the corner. An enziguri into the Angle Slam gives Strong two but Keith kicks him in the face again. Diamond Dust plants Strong and Keith rolls him up for two, only to get kneed in the face. End o Heartache finishes for Strong at 4:21.

Rating: C+. This was a better debut than the Kingdom had as part o the team last week. At the very least, Strong didn’t take a good while to pick up the win, which should get him closer to Orange Cassidy and the International Title. Keith feels like he is on an extended tryout and that might be better. While he is talented, the roster is heavy enough already and adding someone else doesn’t seem like the best idea, at least with someone of Keith’s status.

Post match the team gets in the ring, with Adam Cole promising that the team is going to win a lot of titles.

Deonna Purrazzo wants the Women’s Title and will debut on Collision. Red Velvet comes in and seems to accept the challenge.

Jim Ross joins commentary for the main event.

Sting/Darby Allin vs. Don Callis Family

Texas Tornado tag with Ric Flair and Don Callis here too. It’s a brawl to start with Sting chasing Hobbs into the crowd and hitting him with a chair. Takeshita and Allin follow in a different area as Hobbs is sent into some trashcans. Back at ringside, Takeshita hits a scary rolling German suplex on Allin and we take a break.

We come back with Allin being tossed into a powerslam, with Sting (looking spent) having to make a save. The Family sends Allin flying, with a nasty landing head first in the ropes. Sting gets kneed down by Takeshita….s Flair comes in to chop away at Hobbs. Sting is back up for the save and they all fight to the stage, with Allin being sent into the wall.

Takeshita’s running knee misses so Allin climbs the stage and Coffin Drops onto Takeshita, who kind of guides him down instead of catching him. Hobbs and Sting fight along the platform around ringside, with Sting hitting a Death Drop off said platform and through the announcers’ table for the in at 9:59.

Rating: B-. To call this wild would be an understatement, with Sting and Allin doing some crazy bumps that are probably not exactly safe. For now though, Sting’s retirement tour continues with another win, and now all he needs is to get through Revolution in less than two months. This was a crazy main event, but at times it was scarier than it needed to be.

Post match Sting is asked who he wants to face in his final match…..and here are the Young Bucks to interrupt. The staredown seems to say the match is on to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There was a weird theme to this show as it felt like they were trying to get in as much stuff as they could. Granted that is probably due to what seems like some of the bigger names still missing, which is ok for a one off. The good thing is they still do have a lot more time before Revolution, so having more of a fun show designed to set things up for the future is hardly some terrible choice. They tried something different here and it worked well enough to get by for a week.

Results
Hangman Page b. Claudio Castagnoli – Buckshot lariat
Orange Cassidy/Preston Vance/Adam Copeland/Dustin Rhodes b. Mogul Embassy/Lance Archer – Discus lariat to Cage
Sammy Guevara b. Ricky Starks – Small package
Willow Nightingale/Anna Jay/Thunder Rosa/Kris Statlander b. Saraya/Ruby Soho/Julia Hart/Skye Blue – Queenslayer to Blue
Roderick Strong b. Bryan Keith – End Of Heartache
Sting/Darby Allin b. Don Callis Family – Scorpion Death Drop through a table to Hobbs

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: January 5, 2024
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Ian Riccaboni

We’re done with Worlds End and that might mean a little something around here. The question becomes what we might be getting with this show, as Rampage has a tendency to be all over the place with fairly random matches. Hopefully we get another of the entertaining matches that tend to take place on this show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Hardys/Mark Briscoe vs. Butcher and the Blade/Kip Sabian

Sabian works on Briscoe’s arm to start and then runs him over for a bonus. Briscoe is back up to take over on Sabian and the Hardys come in for a double suplex. Blade comes in but gets caught by the leg, meaning he’s already handing it off to Butcher. Matt’s middle rope elbow gets two but Butcher counters the Twist of Fate and hits a hard clothesline. It’s back to Sabian, who is quickly neckbreakered so Mark and Butcher can come back in. Everything breaks down and Sabian hits an Arabian moonsault onto Briscoe. Back in and the villains take turns beating on Briscoe as we take a break.

We come back with Briscoe and Blade trading forearms until Briscoe snaps off a neckbreaker. The double tag brings in Jeff to beat on Sabian, including the basement dropkick for two. A middle rope splash gives Jeff two more and Matt comes in for Poetry In Motion. Everything breaks down again and Sabian’s springboard dropkick accidentally takes out his partners. The Twist of Fate into the Swanton into the Froggy Bow finishes Sabian at 11:13.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t a match that broke any new ground but they did what they needed to do and did it rather well. That’s what you need to do sometimes and it worked for an opener. If nothing else, I can go for the Hardys filling in a six man tag over having them get some kind of focus, as it tends to hide their limitations these days. Nice opener here as a good six man can go a long way.

Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara have a Tag Team Titles hot coming but Guevara is ready for Ricky Starks next week. Guevara knows that Starks is good but he’s not that good. Jericho will be ready to take care of Big Bill too.

The former Jericho Appreciation Society is ready for Anna Jay’s match, but she thinks it’s time for a change because things are feeling stale. She’ll go out there by herself tonight, but here is Harley Cameron to interrupt. She wants to help all of them and whispers something to Parker, who seems intrigued.

Willow Nightingale/Kris Statlander vs. Notorious Mimi/Kennedi Hardcastle

Hold on though as Stokely Hathaway steals the microphone to handle the introductions. Statlander gets a bit more praise than Nightingale (“Thicker than a Snickers and quicker than a cat with whiskers.”), possibly due to Hathaway thinking she’s rather fetching. Statlander takes Mimi into the corner to start but Hardcastle gets in a cheap shot from behind. That’s fine with Nightingale, who suplexes both of them down at once. Statlander comes back in with clotheslines to run them over, followed by Nightingale hitting a spinebuster for the pin on Mimi at 2:36.

The Hardys want a match on Dynamite so here is Private Party to share some respect. No match is set though, oddly enough.

Anna Jay vs. Hikaru Shida

Jay slugs away against the ropes to start but Shida ducks some shots to the face and grabs a neckbreaker. Shida’s running knee connects and we go outside for the chair, which takes too long to set up. Instead Jay runs her over and then wraps Shida’s ribs around the post for a rather nasty visual. We take a break and come back with Jay yelling a lot and Shida unloading with forearms. A brainbuster gives Shida two but Jay hits a pendulum kick out of the corner. The Queenslayer goes on but Shida lips out and scores with a running knee for two more. The top rope Meteora into the Katana finishes Jay at 9:10.

Rating: C+. Shida winning makes sense as she’s one of the biggest stars the division has ever seen, but it’s weird to see Jay going back and forth with the wins and losses. She has potential and it seems that AEW wants to push her, but that’s not going to work when she keeps losing her momentum. Nice enough match, though Jay losing again is almost disappointing these days.

Sonjay Dutt yells at the Jarretts and Jay Lethal, demanding that they get back on the same page. Karen Jarrett wants the team to have a name but Jeff Jarrett says it needs to have LOSER in it because of Lethal. Jeff and Lethal have to be held apart.

Video on the Christian Cage/Adam Copeland ordeal at Worlds End, plus Cage intentionally not thanking Killswitch on Dynamite.

Ring Of Honor Pure Rules Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Komander

Yuta is defending and they fight over arm control to start. A double wristlock has Komander using his first rope break barely a minute in. La majistral into a half crab sends Yuta to his first rope break as they’re certainly starting fast. Komander’s hurricanrana sends Yuta outside but it’s too early for a dive. Instead Yuta takes him down by the arm as we take a break.

Back with Yuta holding him in a Gory Stretch but Komander rolls him into the corner for the break. A springboard kick to the face drops Yuta again and a springboard tornado DDT gets two. Komander misses a twisting moonsault though and it’s an Angle Slam to put him down. Yuta grabs a Kimura so Komander has to use his last rope break. They trade kicks to the face until Yuta gets two off a bridging German suplex. The hammer and anvil elbows set up another Kimura to retain the title at 10:54.

Rating: C+. Yuta has something of a formula to his title defenses and it was on display here. He takes away the rope breaks and then usually wins by submission, which might make sense but doesn’t make for the most thrilling stuff. I get that the idea is to have a title match, but Yuta’s style is only so interesting and doesn’t exactly scream big time featured showcase. It also didn’t help that even commentary was pointing out how strange it was for Komander of all people to get a shot at this title, but AEW’s title shot logic has always been a bit all over the place.

Overall Rating: C+. As is usually the case these days, Rampage is just kind of there for the most part. You know what you’re going to get most weeks and that was the case again here. It’s not a bad show, but it’s a show that you could skip a good chunk of the time. Even the best match on here was just pretty good, with the big attraction being things announced for Dynamite. The show is easy enough to watch, but it’s also something that could be dropped without much being lost, which puts it in a very weird place.

Results
Hardys/Mark Briscoe b. Butcher and the Blade/Kip Sabian – Froggy Bow to Sabian
Willow Nightingale/Kris Statlander b. Notorious Mimi/Kennedi Hardcastle – Spinebuster to Mimi
Hikaru Shida b. Anna Jay – Katana
Wheeler Yuta b. Komander – Kimura

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: December 29, 2023
Location: Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

It’s the final show before Worlds End and the card should be mostly set. While AEW likes to add in a good bit more at the last minute, the Continental Classic and likely most of the title matches are ready to go. This show could include some hard pushes towards some of those matches, which AEW tends to do well. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Chris Jericho to get things going. Jericho welcomes us to the show and talks about Sammy Guevara quitting the Don Callis Family on Dynamite. He made the save and now we have an eight man tag at Worlds End. After their no holds barred tag match a few months ago, Sting called Jericho and now they’re cool. For now though, Jericho wants Guevara out here right now. Cue Guevara to a strong reaction and Jericho praises him for his abilities.

But why did Guevara turn on him for Don Callis? Guevara talks about how it’s hard to be in Jericho’s shadow and maybe he thought he needed more. It’s time to stop blaming everyone else though and now he knows he’s the man that he should have been the whole time. Guevara offers an apology, which Jericho accepts and offers one of his own. They have the eight man tag tomorrow, but after that, Jericho still needs a partner for the Tag Team Title shot. The big hug seems to seal the deal. This was a nice way to make it clear that everything was ok and explain the rushed turn for Guevara.

We recap the House of Black attacking Daniel Garcia after he beat Brody King on Collision.

Garcia, with Matt Menard, says he’s sick of people like the House of Black and promises vengeance.

Ruby Soho vs. Marina Shafir

Soho has Saraya and Harley Cameron with her while Shafir has Nyla Rose. They both miss clotheslines in the corner to start until Shafir kicks her down to take over. Cameron offers a distraction though and Soho knocks Shafir outside as we take an early break. Back with Shafir not quite being able to hit a backbreaker and grabbing a chinlock instead. With that keeping Soho down, Rose beats up Cameron and chases Saraya off, leaving Shafir to slam Soho for two. Cameron is back up for a distraction though and Soho’s rollup with tights gets the pin at 5:15.

Rating: C-. A match that is only running a little over five minutes probably shouldn’t have a break in the middle, but Shafir’s stuff can be a bit rough to watch. She doesn’t feel natural or smooth in the ring and that was the case again here. Rose chasing off Soho’s friends felt more important, as the match barely got enough time to do anything.

The Don Callis Family and Big Bill/Ricky Starks promise to take out Sting, Darby Allin, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara. Powerhouse Hobbs promises to show why he’s big, Black and jacked.

Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale make sure that they’re ok but they should fight at Worlds End anyway. Cue Stokely Hathaway to ask if Willow was busy watching Rugrats when she took so long to make the save on Dynamite. Statlander shrugs it off and the match is on.

Ring Of Honor Pure Rules Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Matt Sydal

Yuta is defending. They fight over wrist control to start until Sydal rolls him up for a close two. Another exchange of rollups get two each until Sydal hits a flipping backsplash for two more. Yuta kicks him down and forearms away in the corner as we take an early break. Back with Yuta getting two off a dropkick but getting kicked in the face.

Sydal hits some running knees and an Air Raid Crash gets two. Some more strikes to the face don’t do much to Yuta, who grabs a bridging German suplex for another near fall. Something like a crossface sends Sydal to the rope for the first time so Yuta elbows him in the face. The seat belt retains the title at 9:34.

Rating: C+. As usual, there is only so much to be gotten out of the Pure Rules matches. Yuta isn’t overly interested in these things and that was the case again here, as he’s just a villain who does his thing and wins. It doesn’t help that this was a cold match with nothing to make it more intriguing, but that’s the case with a lot of the Pure Title stuff. It really is a title that doesn’t need to be around but that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.

Post match Danhausen comes out to say he’s the fourth judge and since Yuta cheated with a clenched fist, Yuta is disqualified. Yuta beats him up but Hook makes the save.

We recap Samoa Joe taking an injury and taking out MJF on Dynamite.

Orange Cassidy/Rocky Romero/Trent Beretta vs. Action Andretti/Top Flight

Cassidy and Andretti start things off with Cassidy taking him down to start and getting in a quick thumbs up. Andretti gets to his feet and flips into a standoff, only to have Cassidy take him into the corner. Trent comes in and drops Andretti with a shot to the face so it’s off to Darius.

That’s enough for commentary to ignore the match and talk about Worlds End as Trent is dropkicked into the wrong corner. Top Flight comes in to clean house and the triple dive takes down Cassidy and company as we take a break. Back with Andretti enziguring Romero into the corner and the tag brings Dante back in. A springboard high crossbody gets two on Romero as everything breaks down.

Dante hits a half nelson Skull Crushing Finale on Romero, followed by a big save to leave everyone down. We get the double tag to Dante vs. Cassidy but they’re both sent to the floor, leaving Dante to hit an Arabian moonsault onto Romero. Back in and Romero’s release German superplex drops Darius on his face, followed by a rollup for two on Cassidy. The Orange Punch is countered with a superkick and the swinging half nelson slam finishes Romero at 12:55.

Rating: B-. Top Flight and Andretti are turning into a thing and they should probably be winning some of the Six Man Tag Team Titles sooner than later. It’s not like the Mogul Embassy needs the titles so give them to a team that might get something out of them. Good main event here, as the six man matches continue to be fun.

Overall Rating: C+. I’ve been saying this for a few weeks now but this was another very typical Rampage episode, with one segment that felt like it mattered with the bigger stories, an entertaining main event and not much more. That being said, this show at least felt more important with the lack of a Collision this week and now we get to see where everything heads on Saturday. Not a must see show, but there are worse things to watch.

Results
Ruby Soho b. Marina Shafir – Rollup with tights
Wheeler Yuta b. Matt Sydal – Seat belt
Action Andretti/Top Flight b. Orange Cassidy/Trent Beretta/Rocky Romero – Spinning half nelson slam to Romero

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

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

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale

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

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

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

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

Zero Hour: Battle Royal

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

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

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

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

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

Zero Hour: FTW Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Hook

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo

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

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

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

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

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

Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Riho

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

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

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

Post match Mariah May brings out rose petals to celebrate.

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

Swerve Strickland vs. Dustin Rhodes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TBS Title: Julia Hart vs. Abadon

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

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

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

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

TNT Title: Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TNT Title: Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland

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

Copeland gets looked at after the match.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

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

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Samoa Joe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AND

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

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

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale

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

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

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

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

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

Zero Hour: Battle Royal

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

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

Swerve Strickland vs. Keith Lee

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

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

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Riho

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

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

TBS Title: Julia Hart(c) vs. Abadon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo

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

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

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

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

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

Triple Crown Title: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston

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

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

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

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

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

Overall Thoughts

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

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Final Battle 2023
Date: December 15, 2023
Location: Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

It’s the biggest Ring Of Honor show of the year and that could mean all kinds of things. The main event is again about the Women’s Title, as Athena, in her hometown, defends against Billie Starkz. Other than that, we’ll be getting a new TV Champion in a six way match with five wrestlers announced. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Taya Valkyrie vs. Jazmin Allure

Bonus match and Johnny TV is with Valkyrie. A hard shot to the face puts Allure down to start and it’s time to choke on the ropes. Allure’s right hand doesn’t get her very far as Valkyrie hits the sliding German suplex. The running knees in the corner hit Allure for two and we hit the chinlock. Allure fights up and slugs away but gets caught up top, meaning it’s a top rope superplex. The curb stomp finishes Allure at 4:26.

Rating: C. So this week on Ring Of Honor, Valkyrie won a match over a bigger name but on the pay per view Kickoff Show, she beats someone who has only popped up here and there. Not much to see with this one but having Valkyrie around is a good thing. She’s a talented veteran and that adds a lot to the division. I’m not sure why this needed to be on the show, but at least Valkyrie was pretty dominant.

Zero Hour: Von Erichs vs. Outrunners

The Von Erichs in Dallas and you don’t advertise it better than this? Ross (which I know because commentary is smart enough to say which Von Erich is which since they aren’t known in Ring Of Honor) takes Magnum down to start and hits a dropkick, followed by a standing hurricanrana for two. Marshall comes in and clears the Outrunners out, meaning it’s time for a meeting on the floor.

Back in and Ross scares the Outrunners back to the floor where they hit…something on Ross that the camera misses. The beating is on back inside but Floyd has to cut off a hot tag. Ross kicks his way to freedom anyway though and it’s Marshall coming in to clean house. Monkey flips have the Outrunners flying and stereo Claws make the Outrunners tap at 6:11.

Rating: C. The match wasn’t very good but this was as much of a layup as you could get. You have the most famous family in the history of Dallas wrestling in a match close enough to Dallas and they won with their family’s signature move. This couldn’t have been an easier idea and they went exactly as they should have with it. Aside from the Outrunners losing of course, because that should never happen.

Zero Hour: Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Bryan Keith vs. Jack Cartwheel

Keith grabs a headlock to start and grinds away until Cartwheel reverses into one of his own. Cartwheel cartwheels away but a headscissors is broken up so Keith can kick him down for two. An enziguri staggers Keith, who boots Cartwheel in the face for his efforts. Back up and a cartwheel into a dragon screw legwhip drops Keith and a slingshot spinning elbow gets two.

A cartwheel into a powerslam plants Keith and a cartwheel Death Valley Driver is good for another near fall. With Keith on the floor, Cartwheel hits the big rolling flip dive but misses a shooting star press back inside. Keith avoids a shooting star press though and hits a Tiger Driver 97 for the pin at 7:04.

Rating: C+. Having something on the line here helped a lot as that hasn’t been the case with the other two so far. I’m not sure why Johnny TV didn’t get this spot as he’s been feuding with Dalton Castle and is named TV but I guess we needed some Texas flavor to it instead. Keith has done well in the appearances I’ve seen from him over the years while Cartwheel is incredibly athletic, even if it seems like he’s just adding stuff to moves that would already be good on their own.

Tony Khan comes out to talk about his history around here and Jay Briscoe’s legacy at this event. For now though, we have one more bonus match.

Zero Hour: Daniel Garcia vs. Blake Christian

Feeling out process to start and they take turns driving each other into the corner for some dancing. They strike it out a bit until a butterfly suplex gives Garcia two. One heck of a chop puts Christian down again and the fans want it one more time. Christian motions for Garcia to bring it and then hits a basement dropkick.

Something like stereo kicks to the back keep Garcia down but he fights out of a rear naked choke. Garcia gets knocked into the corner and kicked in the face but he’s fine enough to suplex Christian into the corner. A backbreaker gets Christian out of trouble so he does it again and hits Garcia in the back of the neck.

They trade kicks to the face until Christian hits a running Spanish Fly for two more. Garcia is right back with a leglock into an ankle lock but Christian sends him outside for a big flip dive. A springboard 450 gives Christian two but Garcia pulls him into the Dragon Tamer for the tap at 12:15.

Rating: B-. Good stuff here, which might be due to the amount of time they received. It made the match feel a bit more important, but at the same time, there is only so much that you can get out of this kind of a match. There was no story and it was added with no notice, meaning it was only going to be so interesting, especially with a newcomer like Christian.

Tony Khan has another announcement but Ring Of Honor World Champion comes in to say he wants to be on the card. Anthony Henry comes in to say he’ll fight so the Proving Ground match is on. That’s how the World Champion is booked for the biggest show of the year, less than two minutes before the show starts.

And now, the show proper.

AAA Mega Title: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus

Taurus is challenging and isn’t interested in the Code Of Honor. The much smaller Vikingo is sent flying to start and Taurus knocks him out of the air. Back up and Taurus misses a running knee in the corner but the big running flip dive is countered into a powerbomb. They head back inside where Taurus hits a ripcord powerslam for two as the pace slows down again.

A clothesline puts Vikingo over the top, with his head bouncing off the apron on the way down. Taurus follows with the rather large flip dive and a reverse Sling Blade back inside. One heck of a pop up Samoan drop plants Vikingo but he avoids a big dive. Vikingo gets two fight back with a big flip to send Taurus outside.

Vikingo loads up two springboard flip dives but has to bail out and hits a standard dive, with Taurus standing there waiting the entire time (my goodness people just don’t do the dive if it takes that long). Back in and Taurus runs him over and they go upside, with Vikingo snapping off a super hurricanrana. They strike it out on the apron until Vikingo hits a not great looking running sunset bomb. Vikingo springboard dropkicks him into the corner but misses a charge into the corner.

A top rope gorilla press plants Vikingo (geez) but Vikingo kicks him in the face a few times. Vikingo hits a moonsault Samoan driver (because someone can do that) but Taurus spears him down for a double knockdown. Taurus is sent outside for a 720 (yes a 720), which thankfully doesn’t land on his head. Back in and one heck of a backbreaker plants Vikingo but he’s able to knock Taurus into the corner. The running knees and the 630 retain the title at 16:30.

Rating: B. Yes they botched quite a bit and it went a bit long, but my goodness I wanted to see Vikingo beat the monster put in front of him. This was a heck of an opener and Vikingo, despite being rather small, can get a crowd behind him like few others. This was about the entertainment value rather than the quality (which wasn’t exactly terrible) and I had a heck of a time with it. Just don’t stand there waiting on a dive like that again. Ever. That was terrible.

Commentary runs down the card.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Mogul Embassy vs. TMDK

TMDK (Shane Haste/Bad Dude Tito/Kosei Fujita) is challenging. Kaun and Fujita start things off with Kaun taking over and dropping him with a kick to the chest. Fujita is back up with a spinning kick to the face, allowing the tag off to Tito to take over on Kaun. It’s back to Fujita, who gets taken into the corner for the tag to Cage.

One heck of a powerslam plants Fujita for two and his right hands don’t do much good. Fujita does manage to punch his way out of trouble and everything breaks down. Haste kicks Toa into the corner and Haste nails a running kick to the face for two. The Gates aren’t having any of this and run Fujita over but Tito makes the save. Haste knees his way out of trouble but Toa cuts him in half with a spear for two.

Tito counters Cage’s discus lariat into a Death Valley Driver for two and Fujita springboard dropkicks Kaun for the same. Cage grabs the apron superplex to plant Fujita for two more with Tito making the save this time. Open The Gates hits Haste, leaving Fujita all alone against the champs. Running shots in the corner set up a toss sitout powerbomb to give Cage the retaining pin at 12:01.

Rating: B-. Nice match here as everything went nuts in a smart move. At the same time, and much like earlier, there is only so much you can get out of the champs defending against a team that got their build in a tournament in Japan which was only mentioned before the match. It wasn’t a bad match, but this really could have been dropped from the card without much being lost.

We recap Tony Nese vs. Ethan Page in an I Quit match. Page was on a winning streak but Nese and his friends cut it off and then got on Page’s nerves. Now it’s time for an I Quit match, which is quite the escalation after one match. Also of note, commentary calls them former friends, which certainly hasn’t been a major part of the story.

Tony Nese vs. Ethan Page

I Quit match and Mark Sterling is here with Nese but is handcuffed to the ring. Well he is eventually that is, complete with Mark Henry coming out to make sure it happens. Nese jumps Page from behind to start fast and hammers away, only to get elbowed in the face to cut him off. They head outside where a Sterling distraction lets Nese get in another cheap shot to take over again. Hold on though as Sterling grabs some protein powder, which is thrown into Nese’s eyes by mistake.

They fight outside again, where Page is sent face first into the handcuffs for a fairly creative spot. Nese grabs the mic and tells Page to quit on behalf of the people. That’s not happening so Nese stomps away at the bloody Page, who fights back again. That means Nese is knocked over the barricade but comes back with a weight (as in the kind you put on a bench press).

The big shot misses but Nese sends him into the barricade to take over. Back in and Nese grabs a jump rope for some whipping, only to have Page fight back without much trouble. Nese teases quitting but uses the distraction to hit page with the microphone. That sets up the big flip dive to the floor, meaning some tables can be set up. Page gets in a shot to break things up and heads to the top, where he is knocked back down.

Not that it matters as Page grabs the slingshot cutter to send Nese through the tables. Back in and some chairs are set up with Nese hurricanranaing Page….completely over the chairs. Thankfully commentary acknowledges that it didn’t make contact and Page doesn’t quit. Nese goes to grab the keys to the handcuffs and, after taking out the referee, unlocks Sterling.

The stomping is on and then it’s time to handcuff Page so Nese can smash him with the weight, with Sterling promising to show the tape to Page’s daughter. Well that’s the plan at least as Sterling explains the idea without actually doing anything, allowing Scorpio Sky to come in for the save. Page is able to stomp Nese’s fingers underneath the plate and then DDT him into it.

Sterling gets hit in the face with the plate (probably should have killed him) and the Ego’s Edge drops him again. Sky takes Sterling to the back but Nese is back up with a chair to the head, meaning Page can indeed be handcuffed. Nese gives him one last chance to quit but Page shouts “F*** YOU” and makes the no hands comeback. The referee uncuffs Page, who hits Nese with the chair and chokes him with the handcuffs for the win at 20:01.

Rating: C+. I have no idea what to think of this, but the thing that stands out the most is how overbooked this was. It felt like they weren’t sure if they wanted to have the violent, bloody brawl or some kind of goofy match with all of the exercise equipment. While I wouldn’t call it bad, they could have cut out a lot of this and had a tighter match. It never felt like the biggest match ever as Nese has never been more than a midcard star at best, but at least Page gets a signature win over someone other than a jobber.

Nyla Rose vs. Vertvixen

Another bonus match. Rose starts fast and loads up the Beast Bomb in less than a minute but Vertvixen punches her way to freedom. Another hard shot drops Vertvixen but Rose pulls her up at two. The top rope knee to the back and the Beast Bomb finish for Rose at 2:39. Well that happened.

We recap the TV Title match, which is the result of Samoa Joe vacating the title. Therefore Survival Of The Fittest was brought back with the winner being the new champion.

TV Title: Survival Of The Fittest Finals

Dalton Castle, Lee Moriarty, Kyle Fletcher, Lee Johnson, Bryan Keith, Komander

Elimination rules but only two are in the ring at once. Castle and Moriarty start things off with a handshake before going to the mat. Fletcher comes in and gets beaten up without much effort, meaning it’s off to Johnson vs. Moriarty. It’s Johnson cleaning house and sending Castle outside but getting headscissored by Komander. Keith comes in and cuts off Komander, meaning it’s time for a showdown with Castle. That’s broken up by Fletcher, who tells Castle to bring it.

The fans are way behind Castle as he throws Fletcher outside, much to the fans’ delight. Komander and Fletcher both go up and stare at each other until Komander walks the ropes to dive onto everyone else. Back in and Johnson takes over on Keith but Moriarty slips out of a powerbomb attempt. Moriarty pulls Johnson into the Border City Stretch for the tap and the elimination at 8:47.

The Boys warm Castle up so he can take Moriarty down, followed by a suplex. Cue Johnny TV to drop…someone the camera misses on the floor. Apparently he dropped the Boys, which distracts Castle enough for Moriarty to hit a suplex Downward Spiral for the elimination at 11:17.

The fans are NOT happy, even as Moriarty, Keith and Fletcher slug it out. Komander is back in as a mini tag match breaks out, resulting in the Tower Of Doom leaving all four down. Keith is up with a fireman’s carry backbreaker for one on Moriarty, followed by a tiger driver to get rid of Moriarty for the pin at 15:39. That leaves Fletcher, Keith and Komander, with Keith kneeing Fletcher down. The tiger driver is blocked though and Fletcher Tombstones Keith for the pin at 16:54.

Fletcher and Komander slug it out with Fletcher getting rocked up against the ropes. The spinning Tombstone is broken up and Komander kicks the leg out, setting up a poisonrana. A slingshot hurricanrana to the floor is countered as well and Fletcher hits the jumping Tombstone on the apron to leave them both on the floor. Komander barely beats the count and it’s a brainbuster to give Fletcher two.

Fletcher puts him on top but Komander kicks the leg out and hits a springboard Canadian Destroyer for a rather near fall. A rope walk 450 onto the apron sets up a regular 450 for two and they’re both down. Komander goes up again but gets caught, setting up a brainbuster onto the turnbuckle for another near fall. Another jumping Tombstone gives Fletcher the pin and the title at 26:03.

Rating: B. The big positive here was they got the Survival part right. Fletcher felt like he survived against the others and that was a heck of a finishing sequence. That being said, it was another long match on a show that is going to go late into the night and it features another heel champion. Ring Of Honor needs to give us something more to cheer about and that is rarely the case when it comes to titles. Very energetic match, but dang some of those kickouts were a bit ridiculous.

Pure Rules Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Tom Lawlor

Lawlor is challenging in his ROH debut. They go to the mat to start with Lawlor getting the better of things and leaving Yuta a bit shaken. Lawlor’s armbreaker has Yuta going to the ropes for his first break and Lawlor seems pleased. Yuta gets in a right hand behind the referee’s back so Lawlor punches him back, earning his official warning.

Yuta takes over again and goes for the leg, sending Lawlor over to the ropes for his first break. They strike it out, with Lawlor favoring his leg, including as they trade discus forearms. Lawlor is back with a spear but Yuta goes straight back to the knee to take over again. An Octopus Hold into an abdominal stretch into a rollup gives Yuta two but Lawler suplex slams him down for the same.

A monkey flip breaks up another leglock attempt and Lawlor starts in on the arm, including a hammerlock piledriver for another near fall. Something like an Anaconda Vice sends Yuta to the ropes for another break, followed by a right hand to drop Lawlor again. They go up top with Lawlor grabbing a Kimura, which he holds while superplexing Yuta back down.

Another Kimura has Yuta using his final rope break so Lawlor goes with Becky Lynch’s Disarm-Her. Yuta reverses that into an ankle lock, which is reversed into another Kimura. That’s escaped as well and Yuta grabs the seatbelt for the…..pin at 13:12, despite Lawlor’s shoulder being a good foot off the mat and his feet being in the ropes.

Rating: B-. This was a technical battle between two rather skilled technical wrestlers and it worked well, aside from the terribly screwed up ending. The Pure Rules thing can work very well and it was good enough here, but this was another match with no backstory and an outsider getting a random title match. Hook is already feuding with Yuta, but here is Lawlor instead. That can get old fast and I wasn’t a fan of it here.

Post match Yuta stays on Lawlor but Hook makes the save. Yuta low blows Hook before leaving.

We recap Shane Taylor vs. Keith Lee. They were a monster team back in the original ROH but Lee went on to WWE and left Taylor to start over. Now Taylor wants revenge. That’s an actual story and I could have gone for it getting some more development than it received.

Shane Taylor vs. Keith Lee

They stare each other down to start before going to the test of strength. Taylor’s headlock has Lee in some trouble but he breaks out so they can run the ropes. One heck of a shoulder drops Taylor and he’s more than a bit stunned. Lee chops away and hits a slingshot crossbody for one.

Taylor is back with a Tower Of London for two and the apron legdrop crushes Lee again. We hit the chinlock back inside, followed by a knee to the face to give Taylor two. Back up and the forearm exchange goes to Lee, who hits a splash in the corner. Taylor knocks him back down and hits a middle rope splash for two more.

Lee knocks him down again and goes to the corner, only to have Lee Moriarty pop up for a distraction. The sitout powerbomb drops Moriarty but Taylor gets in a knee to the back of the head for two. Taylor goes up top and hits a super Canadian Destroyer….for two more. Back up and Keith grabs the Big Bang Catastrophe for the pin out of nowhere at 14:33.

Rating: B-. It was a good hoss fight with some big heavy shots, but again it ran longer than it needed to. There were too many times where they were slowing way down and it would have been better with a few minutes less. I’m not sure how much sense it makes for Keith to win here, but it won’t matter if he doesn’t get a stronger push than he has had in recent months.

Post match Keith pulls Taylor up and Taylor acknowledges the crowd.

Bryan Keith wants gold so Orange Cassidy comes in to say come collect the International Title on Collision.

We recap the Blackpool Combat Club vs. Mark Briscoe/FTR, which is a big tribute to Jay Briscoe and little more.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. Mark Briscoe/FTR

After Dax Harwood goes over to glare at a fan on her phone, we start with Harwood vs. Moxley with neither getting very far. Castagnoli comes in to drive Harwood into the corner before it’s off to Danielson to strike it out with Wheeler. Briscoe gets to come in to a rather strong reaction and hammers away in the corner. It’s back to Harwood, who gets caught by the arm (now bleeding) with Danielson cranking away.

Castagnoli’s Swing has Harwood in more trouble but he German suplexes his way out of trouble. Wheeler gets the tag to clean house, including Redneck Boogie for two on Danielson. Back up and Danielson loads up the Swan Dive but gets caught with the PowerPlex into the Froggy Bow. The Doomsday Device is broken up so Danielson loads up a superplex on Briscoe. That’s broken up as well but Briscoe’s second Doomsday Device attempt lands on Castagnoli’s uppercut.

Moxley is back in with a cutter but Wheeler brainbusters him down. The Shatter Machine is broken up and it’s the running knee to Wheeler. Briscoe fights up to slug away at Moxley and Danielson but Castagnoli comes in with a Neutralizer for two. FTR is back in and a triple Shatter Machine gets the same on Castagnoli. The Jay Driller is broken up and the triple stomping has Briscoe down again.

The Club tries its own Doomsday Device but it gets broken up, meaning the brawl heads to the floor….where it’s a double countout at 19:17. Briscoe is NOT having that though and yeah we’re restarting it….as a Fight Without Honor (street fight, which I believe it was advertised as in advance). The fight is on in the crowd until Briscoe and Moxley head inside. The bloody Briscoe sends him outside and uses a chair for a step up flip dive. FTR loads up a table but let’s bring out a barbed wire ladder instead.

Moxley uses a fork on Harwood’s eye, followed by a curb stomp onto a chair back inside. Danielson is back in for a LeBell Lock to Wheeler, with Moxley adding barbed wire across the eyes. Briscoe makes the save but Moxley grabs a choke. Harwood makes the save this time so let’s throw in a bunch of chairs. A spike piledriver onto the chairs is broken up so Moxley is piledriven off the apron through a board covered in tacks. Danielson kicks away at Briscoe, who isn’t overly impressed. Briscoe fights up and hits a Jay Driller onto the chairs to finish Danielson at about 31:15 overall.

Rating: B. Yeah it was a mess and I’m not sure what was going on with the rules, but my goodness this was an entertaining fight. Much like the opener, they weren’t going for some classic match here as this was more about people beating the fire out of each other until one of them couldn’t get up anymore. At the very least, it’s great to see Briscoe getting a big win and I’m sure Danielson was more than happy to let him get something that big. Heck of a fight here, which was what they were trying to do.

Eddie Kingston vs. Anthony Henry

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Henry wins or survives the ten minute time limit, he gets a future title shot. They start fast and fight out to the floor, where Henry hits a running boot against the barricade. Back in and a double stomp gives Henry two, followed by another kick for two. Kingston gets up and they chop it out, with Kingston snapping o the rapid fire corner chops. Henry is right back with an enziguri into a German suplex for two and they both need a breather. A top rope double stomp misses though and Kingston hits the spinning backfist. The stretch plum finishes Henry at 5:42.

Rating: C. It was a fine match but it’s a Proving Ground match, which has so far been a guaranteed win for the champion. I like the idea of Kingston being on the show, but it would have been nice to have something better for him than a midcard tag wrestler. It wasn’t exactly must see either, but at least they kept it short.

We recap the main event, with Athena defending the Women’s Title against Billie Starkz. Athena was training her as a minion but Starkz rebelled, setting up the title match. Athena has also added that she’s gone if she loses.

Ring Of Honor Women’s Title: Athena vs. Billie Starkz

Athena, the hometown star with a broken nose, is defending. Starkz knocks her fast into the corner and they fight out to the floor. Athena sends Starkz face first into the barricade a few times, with Starkz coming up bleeding. Back in and Athena keeps up the beating, including a neck crank as the blood continues to flow. Starkz gets sent to the floor as this has been much more of a brawl than a match so far.

Athena cuts off a comeback attempt but Starkz fights out of the Tree of Woe and suplexes her into the corner. They both mix kicks to the face before Starkz grabs a dragon suplex. Starkz spears her down and pulls off the mask, setting up some less than great looking forearms. The Swanton connects for two so Athena goes outside, with Starkz hitting a suicide dive into the barricade.

Athena gets in a shot of her own and loads up the announcers’ table but Starkz suplexes her down to the floor. A fireman’s carry is escaped and Starkz pulls her down by the hair. They fight onto the barricade again and it’s a reverse Sling Blade to send Starkz face first onto the floor. It’s time to really try something new so they head back inside for a top rope German superplex for two on Starkz. Back up and the ref gets bumped so Athena asks guest ring announcer (and head Minion) Lexi Nair to hand her the title.

Starkz dropkicks Athena into Nair and Starkz’s End gets two. Back up again and they fight to the apron, where Starkz hits an electric chair driver to knock Athena silly on the floor. The Swanton misses back inside and Athena punches her in the face for a double knockdown. Athena wins a slugout and hits Despicable Knee for two. They trade some rollups for two each until Athena ties her up in something like a modified Octopus hold for the tap to retain at 28:21.

Rating: B. I would bet that this had to be more of a brawl than a match due to the injury, as the style let Athena take a few long breaks in there. Other than that….my goodness who is left to take the title from Athena? This is the match that has been built up for months now and, again, Athena just retains. I’m not sure who in the world is supposed to take the title from her, but it might not be happening for a bit. It’s cool to see a milestone like the women headlining, but it would also be cool to see a heel lose a major title match around here.

Post match Starkz goes to leave but Athena pulls her back. Starkz shows respect and poses with Athena and Nair to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Wow indeed. This show, counting the Zero Hour (which I do as it was advertised and played a role in the show, plus it’s playing if you go to watch Final Battle on Honor Club), was over five hours and, as tends to be the case, the good guys/women didn’t do very well in title matches. Ring Of Honor has a really bad record of pulling the trigger on a big title change (the biggest they’ve had in months, with Eddie Kingston, wasn’t even in ROH) and that was the case again here. There were some nice moments like the six man and Lee/Taylor making up, but those were pretty few and far between.

As has been the case for months, the wrestling is far from the problem around here. Instead, the problem is in how everything is thrown together with SO MUCH CONTENT included. This show had five matches added the day of the show and even more that were only added within the last two days. That doesn’t leave me wanting to see more ROH, but rather hoping that they never do that again. The weekly show continues to feel mostly disconnected to the PPVs and there is no reason to believe that will change.

Overall, it’s a good show because the wrestlers are so talented, but this was another pay per view that felt like it was thrown together at the last minute, with Tony Khan adding whatever came to his head in the car that morning. Ring Of Honor isn’t enjoyable to watch most of the time and a lot of the reasons why were on display here. As usual it isn’t about the action, which is strong, but the way that action is presented. Fix that and you have a heck of a show, but otherwise, you have a big mess which just keeps going.

Results
Taya Valkyrie b. Jazmin Allure – Curb Stomp
Von Erichs b. Outrunners – Double Iron Claws
Bryan Keith b. Jack Cartwheel – Tiger driver
Daniel Garcia b. Blake Christian – Dragon Tamer
El Hijo del Vikingo b. Black Taurus – 630
Mogul Embassy b. TMDK – Toss sitout powerbomb to Fujita
Ethan Page b. Tony Nese – Choke with handcuffs
Nyla Rose b. Vertvixen – Beast Bomb
Kyle Fletcher won Survival Of The Fittest last eliminating Komander
Wheeler Yuta b. Tom Lawlor – Seat belt
Keith Lee b. Shane Taylor – Big Bang Catastrophe
Mark Briscoe/FTR b. Blackpool Combat Club – Jay Driller to Danielson on a pile of chairs
Eddie Kingston b. Anthony Henry – Stretch plum
Athena b. Billie Starkz – Octopus hold

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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Ring Of Honor
Date: December 14, 2023
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the go home show for Final Battle and there are only six matches set for the pay per view card. While the card will almost be guaranteed to be expanded, the question is whether the new matches will be announced tonight or if they will be thrown out there the day of the show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Eddie Kingston vs. Evil Uno

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning if Uno (with the Dark Order) wins or survives the ten minute time limit, he gets a future Ring Of Honor World Title shot. Granted I’m not sure how that works because of the Triple Crown deal but there is a good chance it won’t matter in the slightest. The fans are behind Uno (hometown villain) as Kingston rams him with a shoulder.

Uno snaps off a hurricanrana to send him outside but the hard chop only hits the post. Kingston goes after the arm but Uno snaps off a suplex as commentary points out that this is now for a shot at the Triple Crown Title. They chop it out again with Kingston getting the better of things until Uno elbows him in the face. Uno strikes him down and gets two off a twisting brainbuster. The piledriver gets two more but Kingston is back up with a pair of spinning backfists for the pin at 6:50.

Rating: C+. I’m no Uno fan but you could tell he was having a blast out there in front of his hometown fans and was putting in extra effort. At the same time though, Kingston hitting him in the face for the pin probably took away that energy. If only AEW/ROH had a huge roster with people Uno could have beaten for an easy win here instead of losing to the champ. Who doesn’t have his title and won’t be defending on the biggest show of the year because of the Modern American Triple Crown.

Respect is shown post match.

Leyla Hirsch vs. Katrina Creed

Rachael Ellering and Maria Kanellis-Bennett are here with Hirsch. Leyla takes her down by the leg to start before pulling her into an armbar. Creed misses a dropkick and gets gutwrench suplexed for two. Maria gets in a cheap shot and a suplex gives Leyla two more. Back up and Creed dropkicks her into the corner, only to have a spear cut off by a knee to the head to give Leyla the pin at 4:15.

Rating: C. The fans were into Creed here and the energy helped, but there was only so much to be gotten with Hirsch mainly wrecking her. The whole Hirsch/Ellering/Kanellis-Bennett deal isn’t interesting but we’re likely going to be seeing it go on for a good bit longer. Hirsch getting something to do is nice, but it would be nice if they actually picked up the pace.

The Outrunners are ready to rule the tag team division because if you haven’t seen them, you ain’t seen nothing yet. These guys are too fun.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Jason Geiger

Pure Rules Proving Ground match. Yuta takes him into the ropes a few times, with Geiger using a rope break. Back up and an exchange of shoulders gives us an exchange of knockdowns. A dropkick gives Yuta two, with Yuta leaning him into the ropes for the second break. Yuta ties up the legs so Geiger has to use his third rope break but Geiger’s kneebar sends Yuta over for his own rope break. That’s fine with Yuta, who grabs a guillotine choke in the ropes for the knockout at 4:24.

Rating: C. This was another match that was just shy of being a squash, as Yuta was only in the slightest bit of trouble near the end. The Pure Rules can go well, but I’m still not sure they need a full division and title around the concept. Granted the division is all of three or four people most of the time, but it’s one of those ideas that sounds cool but only works so well in execution.

Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson

Castle and Bronson start things off with Castle easily getting the better of a wrestle off. The Boys come in and are rammed into each other, allowing the quick tag to Boulder. A double suplex drops the Boys and it’s Jameson coming in to power Brandon into the corner. Boulder drops him for two as well and the alternating beatings continue. Boulder drives Brandon into Bronson’s beard, but Castle goes over to steal the Savage Sauce.

In what can’t be a good idea, Castle drinks said sauce and an enziguri is enough to bring him in off the diving tag. Suplexes abound but Boulder is able to carry Castle and the Boys around at the same time without much trouble. The double Samoan drop/fall away slam connects but Castle is right back up and demands a Boy. Said Boy (and the other) are thrown onto the Savages, setting up the Bang A Rang to finish Jameson at 7:26.

Rating: C+. While this might not have exactly gone a long way towards building up Castle for his title shot tomorrow night, this is exactly the kind of fun match that I love seeing him have. Castle drinking the sauce and then going nuts was hilarious and he knows how to sell that kind of comedy as well as anyone. Very entertaining match, though it might have been better suited at any other time besides a day before Castle’s TV Title shot.

Post match Johnny TV comes out to the stage for a staredown with Castle.

Butcher and the Blade want to rip people and get titles.

Rachael Ellering vs. Taya Valkyrie

Leyla Hirsch, Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Johnny TV are all here too. They fight over arm control to start with neither being able to get very far. Ellering manages to send her outside though and that means it’s time for a meeting with TV. Back in and Ellering hammers away, meaning Valkyrie bails right back to the floor.

This time TV gets in the way and Valkyrie gets in a cheap shot to take over for the first time. The beatdown is on back inside but Valkyrie stops to dance, allowing Ellering to get in some shots to the face. A TKO gives Ellering two but Valkyrie’s spear is good for the same. Valkyrie curb stomps her for the pin at 6:49.

Rating: C+. This one was a bit strange as Valkyrie is a newcomer around here and she got a pretty definitive win over Ellering. While Ellering might not be a top level star, she’s certainly someone who has a bit of status. I could go for more Valkyrie, but I have a feeling this is going to be about Maria and company more than anything else, because that hasn’t gotten enough time to go around in circles yet.

Back at Collision, Ethan Page was disappointed by his loss to Kenny Omega but he wasn’t expecting bad ribs. Or five V Triggers for that matter. He had a lot of options but lost and now he has to get ready for Tony Nese at Final Battle in an I Quit. Omega beat him by pin, but he’s not giving up against Nese. Those words will not come out of his mouth…and here is Nese for the shouting match. Very fired up promo from Page here.

Cole Karter/Griff Garrison vs. Bobby Sharp/Shaun Moore

Maria Kanellis-Bennett is here with Karter/Garrison. Karter shakes Sharp’s hand to start but pulls him in, only to get caught with a dropkick. That earns Karter a hard clothesline and it’s off to Garrison for a drop down dropkick. The villains keep taking turns with the beating until Sharp flips over and brings in Moore. Not that it matters as some misdirection into a blind tag lets Garrison punch him down for the pin at 2:47. Pretty much a squash.

The Workhorsemen are ready for the four way.

Shane Taylor vs. Channing Decker

Lee Moriarty is here with Taylor. Decker slugs away to start and gets dropped with a clothesline for his efforts. Taylor unloads in the corner but charges into a boot to the face. A release Rock Bottom gets Taylor out of trouble and the Marcus Garvey Driver finishes Decker at 3:44.

Rating: C. Just a squash here before Taylor faces Keith Lee at Final Battle. That’s one of the first matches that feels like it is building towards a match at the pay per view, which says a lot when it was a match with no drama and went less than four minutes. Taylor vs. Lee might not be the biggest match, but it’s better than nothing, which sums up Ring Of Honor quite well at the moment.

Video on how we got to the Survival Of The Fittest match. We still don’t know the last entrant.

Righteous vs. Australian Take Over

Vincent gets caught with an early backbreaker from Julian Ward, meaning Kaz Jordan can come in and get caught in the wrong corner. Dutch comes in to whip him hard into the corner, allowing Vincent to pull him face first into the post. A missed charge staggers Dutch though and Kaz scores with a dropkick. Ward comes back in and is quickly taken down, with Kaz being sent outside. Autumn Sunshine finishes Ward at 4:35.

Rating: C. The night of pretty ok at best matches continues with another squash. They’re trying to set up the tag team division, but that is only going to last so long with the champions being nowhere in sight. At the same time, commentary keeps talking about Jake Roberts mentoring the Righteous. Wouldn’t it be nice to see them together again outside of that initial appearance?

The Infantry is ready for the four way tag, which will be a war.

Brian Cage vs. Gravity

Prince Nana is here with Cage, who powers Gravity into the corner to start. Some chops put Gravity down, allowing Cage to stand on his head for some extra pain. Back up and Gravity manages a double springboard hurricanrana, with Cage being sent outside. That means the big dive but Cage avoids the 450 back inside.

Cage is annoyed enough that he grabs a half nelson slam for two but the apron superplex is broken up. Instead Gravity grabs a crucifix bomb for two, only to have Cage come back with a flipping Downward Spiral for the same. Gravity drops him again though and the top rope splash gets two. Cage shrugs it off and hits a pop up powerbomb, setting up something like a Prism Trap for the win at 6:39.

Rating: C+. As usual, power vs. speed is one of those ideas that is almost impossible to screw up and they made it work here. Gravity knows how to fly around well enough and Cage knows how to throw people around with that rather impressive power. Not a classic by any means, but it was the entertaining match you would have expected.

Maria Kanellis-Bennett mocks Rachael Ellering for her loss but Leyla Hirsch tries to cheer Ellering us.

Infantry vs. Workhorsemen vs. Butcher and the Blade vs. Outrunners

Magnum runs Dean over with a shoulder to start but Bravo comes in for a jumping neckbreaker. Henry tags himself in but gets backed up to the ropes by Bravo. Another blind tag lets Drake come in for a neckbreaker, only to get into a slugout with the Butcher. An elbow to the face puts Drake down so it’s off to Magnum, who gets caught in a side slam/legdrop combination.

Back up and Floyd loads up a rather big bicep pose but Henry tags himself back in to take over on Blade. Floyd misses a bunch of right hands to just about everyone in the corner so Blade plants him with a DDT. Everything breaks down and an ax kick into a frog splash gives Bravo two on Floyd. Dean hits a big flip dive to the floor as commentary admits they have no idea who is legal. Not that it matters as Butcher and the Blade hit their powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to finish Floyd at 6:38.

Rating: B-. The match was quite energetic and they kept things moving throughout, which is the key to something like this. At the same time, and as has been the case for months now, almost none of this matters without the Tag Team Titles being a factor. If you have something for these teams to fight over then fine, but that hasn’t been the case for a good while and it’s starting to show.

Final Battle rundown.

Athena vs. Roxanne

Non-title Proving Ground match. Right hand ends Roxanne at 32 seconds.

Post match Billie Starkz runs in to go after Athena and the fight is on, with Starkz sending her into the barricade over and over. Starks sends her face first into various things and Athena looks to have a broken nose to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling was good, but other than the main event and one or two other matches, this did next to nothing to make me care about Final Battle. This was their last chance to draw interest and they had a pretty much run of the mill show. There were a bunch of tag matches and near squashes, which don’t so much make me want to see Final Battle as much as want to see what’s on at the same time. I liked most of the wrestling well enough, but if this is the best they have to make me want to see Final Battle, they missed pretty hard.

Results
Eddie Kingston b. Evil Uno – Spinning backfist
Leyla Hirsch b. Katrina Creed – Knee to the head
Wheeler Yuta b. Jason Geiger – Guillotine choke
Dalton Castle/The Boys b. Iron Savages/Jacked Jameson – Bang A Rang to Jameson
Taya Valkyrie b. Rachael Ellering – Curb stomp
Cole Karter/Griff Garrison b. Bobby Sharpe/Shawn Moore – Right hand to Moore
Shane Taylor b. Channing Decker – Marcus Garvey Driver
Righteous b. Australian Take Over – Autumn Sunshine to Ward
Brian Cage b. Gravity – Prism Trap
Butcher and the Blade b. Outrunners, Infantry and Workhorsemen – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Floyd

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.

Ring Of Honor
Date: December 7, 2023
Location: Erie Insurance Arena, Erie, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re eight days away from Final Battle and the card is finally kind of starting to come together. This week should see more of the Survival Of The Fittest participants announced, plus likely some stuff that has little to do with Ring Of Honor. I’m almost scared of the wonders this show is going to have so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

Billie Starkz vs. Dani Mo

Mo takes her into the corner to start and gets run over for her efforts. A snap German suplex sets up the Swanton to end Mo at 1:10.

Post match Athena runs in to beat Starkz down but Starkz fights back on the floor. Athena manages to suplex her into the post until it’s broken up…..and then they keep fighting anyway. Then it’s broken up again and they break free to keep fighting again. They go at it a third time until Athena manages a powerbomb on the floor, followed by a Starkz’s End to plant Starkz on the title to finally wrap it up. They’ve set this up well, but Athena has to finally drop the title already.

Wheeler Yuta and Bryan Danielson want to team up with a mystery partner to face FTR and Mark Briscoe as a tribute to Jay Briscoe. So not only are they bringing in another AEW star who has little to nothing to do with anything going on in Ring Of Honor, but another title won’t be defended on the show. Barring a shocking MJF Tag Team Title defense, we’re likely looking at the Women’s Title and TV Title being the only belts on the line. That’s quite a choice for a promotion with quarterly pay per views.

Johnny TV vs. Dalton Castle

The Boys are here with Castle, who is knocked outside with a shot to the face. Back in and a spinning clothesline puts Castle down, setting up a standing shooting star press for two. That means Castle needs a fan up before coming back in with a clothesline and DDT. TV knocks him right back to the floor though and drops down onto him for two. They go outside again but this time the Boys toss Castle back inside, where Castle sends him to the floor for a change.

The suplexes put TV down a few times before, believe it or not, they go outside again, this time with TV missing a charge. Castle kicks him in the face and hugs the Boys before loading up the Bang A Rang. Cue Taya Valkyrie or a distraction/a spear to take out the Boys, allowing TV to slip out. A running knee to the face sets up a missed Starship Pain but Castle goes outside to yell at Taya. Back in and TV kicks him in the face but cue Kiera Hogan to take out Taya. That’s enough for Castle to grab the Bang A Rang for the pin at 9:12.

Rating: C+. It was a fresh matchup and I can go for having Taya and TV around here, but it also wasn’t exactly great. The constant going to the floor didn’t help and there was quite a bit going on here. In theory this sets up a mixed tag, but maybe they could have waited on Castle to be done with Survival of the Fittest before starting something new for him?

Rachael Ellering vs. Nikki Victory

Leyla Hirsch and Maria Kanellis-Bennett are here with Ellering. After a handshake, Ellering takes over on the arm to start and muscles her over with a gutwrench suplex (Maria approves). Some chops put Victory down again but Maria accidentally (in theory at least) grabs Ellering’s leg. Not that it matters as the Boss Woman Slam finishes Victory at 3:11.

Rating: C. As has been the case with the Maria stuff for months: anytime they would like for this stuff to go somewhere, it would be appreciated. Between Ellering and the Griff Garrison/Cole Karter stuff, I’ve pretty much lost interest in people doing her thing/doing their own thing while she glares. It stopped being interesting a long time ago and it feels like we’ve been in this same spot for months.

Athena is happy with beating up Billie Starkz because Starkz turned on the Minions. Tony Khan has announced that they are going to main event Final Battle and Lexi Nair gets to be guest ring announcer! Now off to TGI-Fridays to celebrate!

Infantry vs. Workhorsemen

Henry and Dean fight over a wristlock to start before Bravo comes in to stay on the arm. It’s off to Drake for a DDT and the big chop puts Bravo down again. A belly to belly gives Drake two and a slingshot hilo gets the same. Bravo finally slips between the legs and brings Dean back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and a double DDT puts Henry down. Boot Camp is broken up but Drake misses a Cannonball in the corner. Bravo kicks Dean by mistake though, setting up the assisted Downward Spiral to finish Dean at 7:09.

Rating: C. It was a perfectly fine match but I cannot come up with a single reason to care about what they were doing here. There was no interest here, which might be due to these teams being on the show so frequently. There’s nothing special to seeing them in the ring and it’s really hard to imagine them going very far, especially with the Tag Team Titles not being a factor around here. Not a terrible match or anything, but I could go for something interesting instead of just four guys doing stuff.

Renegades vs. Trish Adora/Lady Frost

Frost and Robyn jump over each other to start until Frost grabs a running flip neckbreaker for two. Charlette grabs the leg from the floor though and Robyn hits a basement dropkick for two of her own. An assisted slap gives Charlette two more and we hit the chinlock. That lasts as long as the average chinlock and Frost gets over to Adora for the hot tag. Everything breaks down and the Lariat Tubman into Frostbite finishes Robyn at 5:07.

Rating: C. Another perfectly fine match which isn’t likely to mean much going forward. The Renegades lose far more often than not and it’s not like Adora and Frost have anything to fight for as a team. In other words, this was another of those matches that Ring Of Honor includes each week to extend the show without adding much value.

Rachael Ellering argues with Maria Kanellis-Bennett for almost costing her that match. Maria says it was a mistake and leaves. Leyla Hirsch and Ellering seem to make peace though.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Josh Woods vs. Lee Johnson

They go with the grappling to start and Johnson bails over to the ropes in a smart move. A headscissors has Woods down for a bit and a dropkick into an armbar makes it worse. Back up and Woods hiptosses him to the floor, setting up a ram into the barricade. They get back inside where Johnson gets an elbow up in the corner, followed by a jumping neckbreaker for two. Woods reverses a superplex into a twisting superplex (that was cool) for two of his own. A running knee to the face and gutwrench powerbomb give Woods two more but Johnson scores with a kick to the face. The frog splash finishes for Johnson at 7:35.

Rating: C+. This was one of the better matches of the show so far and for once it actually played a role for Final Battle. Johnson is probably the biggest underdog to win the title as anyone but at least he’s getting a chance. At the same time, Woods will likely bounce back and go after the Pure Rules Title in a story that has started and stopped all kinds of times over the last few months.

Righteous vs. Outrunners

Vincent hammers on Magnum to start but Magnum is right back with some chops. The Outrunners even manage to get in a double pose, which has to put them ahead on points. Dutch comes in off a blind tag and runs Magnum over with a crossbody. Vincent gets in a few shots of his own but Magnum fights up and brings Floyd in to clean house. A spinning suplex drops Vincent but Dutch is back with the spinning Boss Man Slam. Autumn Sunshine finishes Floyd at 4:19.

Rating: C. While these tag matches are coming off as filler, they are at least building up some teams. At the end of the day though, those matches need to actually lead somewhere and as long as MJF has the Tag Team Titles, I’m not sure I can imagine that happening. For now though, at least the Righteous won something, even if Jake Roberts wasn’t here (again).

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Lee Moriarty vs. Tracy Williams

Moriarty grabs a headlock to start but Williams technicals his way to freedom and a standoff. A big boot puts Williams down and it’s time to work on the arm. Williams breaks it up so Moriarty easily kicks him down again and fires off more kicks to the arm. They go to the corner where Williams manages a DDT onto the top turnbuckle. The crossface has Moriarty in trouble but he goes to the bad arm to escape. A suplex spun into a Downward Spiral finishes Williams at 6:27.

Rating: C+. Given that I don’t think Williams has won a match or two at most since returning to Ring Of Honor, there was only so much doubt about the result here. Moriarty is someone who could have a nice run if given the chance, but I can’t imagine he wins the title. Other than that, it’s another pretty nice Williams match where he still can’t win.

Respect is shown post match.

Dalton Castle is happy to go to Final Battle (which he was doing before this week) because no one is more ready for TV. Cue Johnny TV and they get in an exchange of TV show titles. Castle seems to win with Hey Dude but Taya Valkyrie comes in to say TV is a better action star.

Butcher and the Blade vs. The Boys

Brandon and Butcher start things off with Butcher ignoring some dropkicks. Brent comes in for a double dropkick to put Butcher down but it’s off to Blade for the chops in the corner. A standing Sliced Bread gets Brent out of trouble as everything breaks down. Butcher and Blade collide but are fine enough to beat up Brent on the floor. Back in and Brandon gets knocked down, setting up the chinlock. Brandon enziguris his way out of trouble though and it’s Brent coming back in to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and the powerbomb/neckbreaker combination finishes Brent at 5:58.

Rating: C. This was another on a too long list of tag matches this week and it’s not a great sign that Butcher and the Blade took almost six minutes to beat the Boys. That being said, I can go for Butcher and the Blade being around as they have the talents to do something. Other than that though, nice enough match, but the show is already running long and this didn’t help things.

Cole Karter and Griff Garrison complain about not doing anything in four months so Maria Kanellis-Bennett suggests new music. With her singing.

Christopher Daniels vs. Angelico

Serpentico is here with Angelico, who works on the arm to start. Daniels switches that into a headlock and cranks away for a good while. With that broken up, Angelico chokes on the ropes before grabbing a leglock to keep Daniels down. Daniels fights up and drops Angelico with some elbows, followed by the right hands in the corner. The STO gives Daniels two but Serpentico breaks up the Iconoclasm out of the corner. Angelico’s leglock makes Daniels tap at 7:29.

Rating: C+. This was the technical match with Angelico tying Daniels up and Daniels trying to keep up with him. That has been the case for a lot of Daniels matches as of late and now we get to see what is left for him. At the same time, Angelico gets a bit of a boost after losing his big title match, which he might have needed with Serpentico dragging him down as part of a team.

Post match the beatdown is on but Orange Cassidy and Danhausen make the save.

Here is Tony Khan to emcee the contract signing between Ethan Page and Tony Nese. The two of them, plus Mark Sterling, come to the ring. Khan announces that the match will be an I Quit match because Sterling says Page has quit everything he has ever started. Like his partners, his vlogs and like he’ll do with his fitness journey. Page says he’ll win but Nese says Page is just like all of these losers here: beyond helping. Nese tells him to always take your protein and some powder to the eyes blinds Page. The beating is on and Nese puts Page through the table.

Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Kyle Fletcher vs. Gravity

Gravity wastes no time in taking him outside and there’s the big running flip dive. Back in and Fletcher grabs a swinging Side Effect to take over, followed by the stomping in the corner. A hurricanrana and standing moonsault give Gravity two each as commentary talks about the history of Survival Of The Fittest. Fletcher is right back with a Michinoku Driver for two, followed by the spinning Tombstone for the pin at 5:29.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have time to do much here and the match felt like it was kind of tacked on at the end. Fletcher being added to the title match is fine enough as there will certainly be an interesting field in there and he could be a dark horse to win the thing. Gravity going in might make a bit more sense, though Komander will already be in there for the flips.

Overall Rating: C+. And that’s one of the last editions of Ring Of Honor before Final Battle, with a bunch of stuff that feels like it has nothing to do with the pay per view and a bunch of midcarders being added to the TV Title match. As usual, there is a good show buried under all of the extra stuff that makes the show feel so long. They did a really good job with building towards the Women’s Title match and Page vs. Nese was good enough, but the TV Title match doesn’t feel important and the rest of the card is either just there or doesn’t exist yet. Final Battle needs a lot of work and I don’t think we’ll be getting it in time.

Results
Billie Starkz b. Dani Mo – Swanton
Dalton Castle b. Johnny TV – Bang A Rang
Rachael Ellering b. Nikki Victory – Boss Woman Slam
Workhorsemen b. The Infantry – Assisted Downward Spiral to Dean
Lady Frost/Trish Adora b. Renegades – Frostbite to Robyn
Lee Johnson b. Josh Woods – Frog splash
Righteous b. Outrunners – Autumn Sunshine to Floyd
Lee Moriarty b. Tracy Williams – Suplex Downward Spiral
Butcher and the Blade b. The Boys – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Brent
Angelico b. Christopher Daniels – Leglock

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.

Collision
Date: December 9, 2023
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

The road to Worlds End continues as we have more Continental Classic matches to cover. That should be enough to carry things through the week but some other things need to be set up for the pay per view aside from just one title match. There is a chance we could see something like that covered this week. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite you need a recap.

Ethan Page, Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, Andrade El Idolo, Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston are ready to fight.

Opening sequence.

Continental Classic Blue League: Eddie Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Kingston hits the spinning backfist and Saito suplex to send Castagnoli to the floor early. Back in and a northern lights bomb gives Kingston two but Castagnoli is right back with the Neutralizer for two of his own. A running double stomp hits Kingston and it’s the Swing into a Sharpshooter. With that broken up, Castagnoli unloads with some forearms in the corner for two before cutting off a comeback with a clothesline.

Boots to the face in the corner keep Kingston in trouble as the beating continues. A top rope superplex gives Castagnoli two as we take a break. Back with Castagnoli grabbing a suplex for two and telling Kingston to do more. Kingston does just that by nailing some suplexes for two. The rapid fire chops in the corner and a lariat give Kingston two more but he can’t get the stretch plum.

Something like a powerbomb gives Castagnoli two and we hit the crossface. Kingston makes the rope and escapes the Riccola Bomb as well, only to get blasted by an uppercut for two. Kingston gets in a hard shot of his own for a very close two with three minutes left in the time limit. The spinning backfist looks to set up a powerbomb but Castagnoli reverses into a hurricanrana, which is reversed into a sunset flip to give Kingston the upset pin at 18:03. Castagnoli’s stunned face is great.

Rating: B. These two work well together and that was on display again here, as they had a hard hitting match. The rollup finish makes sense as Castagnoli tried to use his better skills to escape, only to get caught by Kingston’s wrestling for once. That’s not something I would have expected and we wound up with a good ending to a very awesome match.

Blue League Standings
Bryan Danielson – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Brody King – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Andrade El Idolo – 3 points (5 matches remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (2 matches remaining)

Jon Moxley says he wasn’t scared of Rush. It was a hard match but no, he wasn’t scared. Swerve Strickland is going to be a hard match too but Strickland is going to be in over his head. Pack a lunch.

Hook is interrupted by Wheeler Yuta, who brags about beating Hook last week. Yuta says he can beat Hook under either set of rules so we’ll do it under FTW rules. Works for Hook.

Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Martinez

Martinez has Diamante with her. They take turns powering the others into the corner until Martinez stomps her down. Nightingale is back up for some clotheslines against the ropes and a backsplash sends Martinez outside. Diamante offers a distraction though, allowing Martinez to send Nightingale into the barricade. A DDT off the barricade plants Nightingale and takes us to a break.

Back with Nightingale rolling some suplexes and getting two off a bulldog. The cannonball gives Nightingale two but another Diamante distraction lets Martinez grab a fisherman’s buster for her own near falls. Some Saito suplexes plant Nightingale again and Martinez hits something like a Razor’s Edge Dominator…and is quickly small packaged to give Nightingale the pin at 9:47.

Rating: C+. Slightly ridiculous ending aside, Nightingale winning here was the right call. She needs a win to get her back to some prominence and Martinez can help make anyone look good. It might not have been a classic, but it did what it needed to accomplish with some good action at the same time. What more could you need?

Post match Martinez and Diamante stomp Nightingale down and it’s time for a small ladder. Diamante grabs a lead pipe but Kris Statlander makes the save with a chain.

Jake Hager interrupts Matt Menard and Angelo Parker (hometown boys) to rant about Danhausen putting Hager’s hat down his pants. With Hager gone, Parker and Menard go off about how they have always wanted to be here. Saraya, Anna Jay and Ruby Soho come in to yell at the guys, though Soho seems pleased with Parker. The guys leave so Saraya yells at Soho, who faces Riho next week.

Swerve Strickland says he is the leader of this company no matter what and he’ll be World Champion. First up though it’s the Continental Classic so he hopes Jon Moxley is ready. The level of confidence is rising and it’s pretty awesome.

Wardlow vs. Willie Mack

Mack goes for a double leg to start and is easily powered away. A dropkick staggers Mack but a missed charge puts him on the floor. Mack’s dive only bounces off of him but Mack trips him down inside. The standing moonsault gets two but Mack’s hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb. The wind up clothesline sets up the powerbomb for the referee stoppage at 3:14.

Rating: C+. This is how you bring Wardlow up to the top level again, as he is still smashing people but he’s moving up the ladder with better competition. That is a story that has worked for years, but at the end of the day, it isn’t going to matter if AEW cuts his legs out again. For now, things are working, but we’ll have to see where it goes.

Video on the House of Black wanting FTR to join the team.

We look at Ricky Starks and Big Bill hurting Chris Jericho’s arm.

Kenny Omega vs. Ethan Page

Page has a banged up arm coming in. They shake hands to start with Omega hitting a running shoulder, only to have Page come back with some right hands in the corner. Omega knocks him to the floor but the dive takes way too long, allowing Page to come back in with a springboard cutter. They go outside again with Omega being whipped into the barricade, only to moonsault off of some barricade to take Page down.

The Kitaro Crusher gets two on Page back inside but he’s fine enough for a suplex over the top and out to the floor in a nasty crash. We take a break and come back with Omega hitting a powerbomb into the V Trigger for two. Page manages an Iconoclasm into a DDT for two of his own and they both need a breather.

Omega can’t quite hit You Can’t Escape but he can hit a pair of snapdragons (Schiavone: “Man he snaps those off.”). They head up top, where Page grabs a super powerslam for two more as things slow down a bit. The One Winged Angel is broken up and an exchange of rolls ups gets two each. Some V Triggers rock Page and the One Winged Angel gives Omega the pin at 12:38.

Rating: B-. Here’s a good example of Tony Khan doing self-inflicted damage (no this isn’t some game changer). One of the biggest matches at Final Battle is Ethan Page vs. Tony Nese. Page faces Kenny Omega six days prior on Collision and loses clean. Why did that need to happen? Of course Page shouldn’t be beating Omega, but why book someone set for a big pay per view match in a meaningless match here? Is a battle of two Canadians in Montreal that important? The match was good, but it had almost no build and just came and went, with Page’s status taking a hit on the way to Final Battle.

Post match here is Big Bill to boot Omega in the face. Page chases him off.

CJ Perry hypes up Andrade El Idolo against Bryan Danielson tonight. Miro comes in to ask when Perry last said so many good things about him. He is the breadwinner and she stays at home. When his father caught the fish, his mother cleaned them! Once the tournament is over, El Idolo is done. So Miro is now a full on heel and rather misogynistic. Got it.

Julia Hart is ready for Abadon.

Komander/Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Matt Menard/Angelo Parker

The fans go nuts for Menard and Parker in a nice moment. We get a DADDY MAGIC chant as he waits for Penta to take off his glove. Instead Penta takes him into the corner for a kick to the head and it’s off to Parker, who kicks Komander in the face. Komander fights up with the kicks to the face and it’s an assisted dropkick in the corner. The double dives are broken up though and we take a break.

Back with Penta cleaning house and sliding to the floor for stereo superkicks. Parker slugs away at Penta, who knocks him right back down. Menard is back in with a Boston crab but Penta makes the save. An assisted Codebreaker gets two on Komander but a shooting star spike Fear Factor finishes Parker at 10:01.

Rating: C+. The result doesn’t quite matter here as Menard and Parker just getting to show up at an event like this is a cool moment. Seeing them get that kind of a reaction was awesome and you could see how much it meant to them. I’m not quite sure how much Komander and Penta needed the win, but it’s hardly some terrible result.

Video on Keith Lee vs. Shane Taylor at Final Battle.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Video on the upcoming Continental Classic matches.

Continental Classic Blue League: Bryan Danielson vs. Andrade El Idolo

We get a handshake to start before they fight over a wristlock. A test of strength results in Danielson getting a monkey flip so Andrade grabs a headlock. Commentary points out that the forearm is going around the eye in a nice touch, even as Danielson fights up with some kicks. A few dragon screw legwhips take Danielson down but he sends Andrade to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Andrade hammering away at the eye but getting backdropped to the floor. Andrade is right back in with a Figure our. That’s broken up so Andrade puts Danielson (bleeding from the eye) on the top for a superplex. Danielson cuts it off with some headbutts (the man isn’t that bright) and a missile dropkick drops Andrade again. The YES Kicks rock Andrade but the LeBell Lock is broken up. Danielson blocks the Figure Four attempt and knocks Andrade down again for a needed breather.

They slug it out until Andrade gets him in an inverted Gory Stretch and drives Danielson into the corner. Danielson crotches him on top and grabs a belly to back superplex. The LeBell Lock sends Andrade to the ropes and the spinning back elbow gives Andrade two. They slug it out again with three minutes left and Andrade knocks him into the corner. The running knees to the back connect and Danielson is mostly out. The hammerlock DDT finishes clean for Andrade at 18:23.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the fire out of each other and the eye injury played into everything as well. Danielson is still the major star around here and the key player in the whole tournament but he had to lose at some point. Andrade continues his recent roll, which is likely going to come to a crashing end at the hands of Miro. For now though, heck of a match and the clean win is a big deal for Andrade.

Blue League Standings
Andrade El Idolo – 6 points (4 matches remaining)
Brody King – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Bryan Danielson – 6 points (2 matches remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (2 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (2 matches remaining)

Medics come out to check on Danielson, with the Blackpool Combat Club coming in to get rid of Andrade (who was concerned) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was one of the better AEW TV shows in a good while with a pair of rather awesome matches. You don’t get that kind of thing on free TV very often and the effort was clearly a bit higher tonight. The tournament matches are still holding strong and I want to see how they go, though having some other things get a bit more time would be nice. For now though, one of the best Collisions yet and a rather good night.

Results
Eddie Kingston b. Claudio Castagnoli – Sunset flip
Willow Nightingale b. Mercedes Martinez – Small package
Wardlow b. Willie Mack via referee stoppage
Kenny Omega b. Ethan Page – One Winged Angel
Komander/Penta El Zero Miedo b. Matt Menard/Angelo Parker – Spike Fear Factor to Parker
Andrade El Idolo b. Bryan Danielson – Hammerlock DDT

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

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

AND

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