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AEW announces nearly 19,000 fans at O2 Arena for Forbidden Door

By
Colin Vassallo
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In a follow-up to Tony Khan’s announcement that AEW now holds the record of the largest wrestling event inside the O2 Arena, the exact number was given during the pay-per-view broadcast.

Standing in the middle of the ring, Tony Schiavone announced that the attendance was 18,992, with AEW moving nearly 2,000 tickets over the last 24 hours.

That is over the 18,885 attendance that WWE had for the 2023 Money In The Bank premium live event which was headlined by the Bloodline: Civil War tag team match.

While WWE still owns the biggest gate in the arena due to the extremely high ticket prices they charged for Money In The Bank, Forbidden Door 2025 will go down as the fourth-largest gate for AEW in their history, trumped only by the three All In shows.

KnokX Pro on last night’s incident: “Irresponsible act of violence” by Raja Jackson

By
Colin Vassallo
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Following the outrageous incident at their live event yesterday where Raja Jackson nearly left an indie wrestler dead, promotion KnokX Pro issued a statement of their own.

This follows the statement which was issued by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, the father of Raja, who wanted to clear the “misinformation” about his son, never mind that he unloaded 22 punches to the face and head of Syko Stu who was already knocked out.

The full statement reads as follows:

“First and foremost our thoughts and prayers are with our brother Mr. Stuart Smith (Syko Stu) as he remains a priority and we are monitoring his well being.

What was supposed to be a planned and agreed upon wrestling spot, turned into a selfish, irresponsible act of violence against Mr. Smith. This egregious act is reprehensible and never should have occurred.

In the 17 years of operation of KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy, there has never been anything as heinous take place such as this and we apologize to our patrons and fans.”

KnokX Pro is owned by WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi and is a WWE ID-affiliated promotion.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson issues statement over son’s incident

By
Colin Vassallo
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Former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson issued a statement over what happened with his son Raja at the KnokX Pro Wrestling event yesterday where he nearly murdered an indie wrestler by the name of Syko Stu.

Jackson said he wanted to clear some “misinformation” about his son and was told that Stu was awake and stable in hospital.

He said that his son was “unexpectedly hit in the side of the head” by Stu before the match and Raja was told he could get “payback” in the ring, which he thought was part of the show.

“It was bad judgement, and a work that went wrong. Raja is a MMA fighter not a pro wrestler and had no business involved in an event like this,” Jackson wrote, adding that he does not condone his son’s actions at all.

“He suffered a concussion from sparring only days ago and had no business doing anything remotely close to physical contact,” he continued.

He said that as a father, he’s deeply concerned with the health and wellbeing of Mr. Smith and is very upset that any of this happened.

“My main concern now is that Mr. Smith will make a speedy recovery. I apologize on his behalf and to KICK for the situation,” he concluded.

Rampage was coincidentally live streaming on Kick as well when the incident happened and his reaction was captured live.

“Is he going to get banned?” Jackson asks regarding Kick banning his son. “He might get more than that,” an unknown voice is heard saying.

Jackson is then handed over a cell phone with the footage and plays it, clearly uttering “What the f*ck?” when he sees what happened.

NXT Heatwave live on Peacock and Netflix tonight

By
Colin Vassallo
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NXT Heatwave

Live tonight from the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts, WWE presents NXT Heatwave 2025 streaming exclusively on Peacock in the United States and Netflix internationally. The full card is as follows:

Oba Femi vs Je’Von Evans for the NXT title; Jacy Jayne vs Masha Slamovich vs Ash by Elegance in a triple threat match for the TNA Knockouts title; Hank Walker and Tank Ledger vs DarkState for the NXT Tag Team titles; Blake Monroe vs Jordynne Grace; Jaida Parker vs Kelani Jordan vs Lola Vice in a triple threat match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women’s title; Chelsea Green and Ethan Page vs Tyra Mae Steele and Tavion Heights in a mixed tag team match.

The pre-show will kick off at 6PM ET and will air on WWE’s social media channels for free while the PLE will start at 7PM ET.

AEW Grand Slam: Australia coming to Sydney in February 2026

By
Colin Vassallo
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Grand Slam Australia

AEW will be back with Grand Slam: Australia on Saturday, February 14, 2026 this time in Sydney.

The news was revealed by AEW President Tony Khan on Nine News Queensland today.

The Grand Slam: Australia show will be held at the Qudos Bank Arena, an arena which sits 21,000 fans. This year’s Grand Slam: Australia was held in Brisbane and was originally set to take place at the SunCorp Stadium but was later moved to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre due to slow ticket sales.

With Sydney more accessible than Brisbane, thousands of more fans are expected to be at the show. The show will replace Collision that night on television.

Speaking of Brisbane, AEW will also travel to the city the follow night for a rare AEW House Rules non-televised event.

Tickets for both shows are expected to go on sale next month on September 1 at Ticketek.com.au.

AEW claims wrestling attendance record at the O2 Arena with Forbidden Door

By
Colin Vassallo
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AEW President Tony Khan announced during the Zero Hour show that AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door broke the record for the largest pro wrestling event ever inside the O2 Arena.

Khan made the announcement alongside Martha Hart and Oje Hart.

Khan never gave out a number but WWE’s record was in 2023 for Money In The Bank with an announced attendance of 18,885. With no number announced, it’s unclear by how much AEW surpassed the record.

The O2 Arena can hold 20,000 for a full setup, but with the stage and some blocked off seats for production, the number will be a bit less than that for this show.

AEW also holds the record for the largest crowd and biggest paid attendance for the first All In at Wembley Stadium.

Adam Copeland urges London to “bring loud lungs”

By
Colin Vassallo
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Adam Copeland told the London crowd to “bring loud lungs” tonight at Forbidden Door as he plans to “soak it all in” since this could be probably the last time he wrestles in London.

In a post on Instagram, Copeland said that the last time he was in town for a match was in 2010 against Chris Jericho and Jake Hagar for the WWE World Heavyweight title, so it’s been a long, long time.

“I’ve had a long drought here. Tomorrow that all changes when I team up with @christian4peeps for the first time since 2011,” he wrote.

He said that he’s seen some familiar faces and had some good interactions with people in London and it was good to see everyone again.

“I have to treat every time I perform abroad as the last time I could wrestle in that city,” Copeland added. “So tomorrow I plan to soak it all in. Bring some loud lungs London. Let’s have some fun.”

Isla Dawn makes AEW debut during Collision

By
Colin Vassallo
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Isla Dawn made her AEW debut yesterday on Collision, losing in a quick match to Megan Bayne.

The Scot got her opportunity to wrestle in front of her hometown crowd during the Collision tapings on Wednesday after Dynamite finished. It’s not known if she has signed an AEW contract or if this was a one-off since the show was from Scotland.

Dawn is a former WWE Women’s Tag Team champion as well as a former NXT Women’s Tag Team champion. She was released from WWE in February of this year after seven years with the company.

The son of former UFC champ Rampage Jackson, Raja, nearly kills indie wrestler during show

By
Colin Vassallo
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Raja Jackson, the son of former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, could be facing some serious charges after nearly killing indie wrestler Syko Stu yesterday at an event promoted by KnokX Pro Wrestling while he was also streaming live on Kick.

There was an angle before Stu’s match earlier where he smashed a beer can on the side of Raja’s head but he later apologized for it and everything seemed cool. There was a spot in the actual match where Raja Jackson was supposed to attack Stu as payback, but payback was an understatement.

“They told me to hit him and just leave, I’m telling you, I’m gonna hit him as many times as I can, watch,” Raja is heard saying during the live stream.

When the time came for the trained MMA fighter to do his planned spot, he entered the ring, scooped up Stu and slammed him hard, seemingly knocking him out. He then hit 22 hard shots to the face as Stu laid down motionless.

At that point, the wrestlers in the tag team match realized what was happening and attacked Raja, taking him off Stu and keeping him in the corner.

The live stream continued as Raja walked out of the building, with blood over his shirt, talking thrash. Several wrestlers followed him outside and Raja was talked out of more trouble by whoever was filming the livestream.

Syko Stu, real name Stuart Smith, is a U.S. Army veteran-turned-wrestler and is recovering in hospital from very serious injuries.

KnokX Pro Wrestling is a WWE ID-affiliated promotion ran by Hall of Famer Rikishi.

WWE Superstar Rusev wrote that he has known and trained with Syko Stu for 15 years.”He is a former US Army veteran and amazing guy. There are no excuses for what happened in that ring. Praying for strong Kick out,” he wrote.

The video below shows exactly what happened. Warning: graphic content.

Will Ospreay says he’s terrified of upcoming surgery

By
Colin Vassallo
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Will Ospreay admitted that he is anxious, scared, and terrified about what will happen after tonight since he has to undergo surgery for two herniated discs.

Speaking to CBS Sports, the popular Brit said that he doesn’t know what it looks like afterward because for the first time in his life, he’s been “disqualified” from doing something that he loves doing.

“I’m anxious. I’m scared. Generally, I’m terrified. Not about the match, but just about afterwards,” Ospreay said. “I’ve never had anybody cut into me. I’ve never had surgery.”

Ospreay said he talked to Adam Copeland about surgery and Copeland told him that the hardest thing is not the surgery, but the mental battles afterward.

Osprey said that knows what he’s capable of doing and knows what he cannot do in the ring tonight and the medics and surgeon also know that.

“And the most important thing is that my safety is utmost guaranteed. I can guarantee my safety in this. I’ll make it through,” he concluded.

Kross and Scarlett show up at GCW event to help Shotzi

By
Colin Vassallo
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Killer Kross and Scarlett showed up at the GCW Homecoming show yesterday, saving Shotzi Blackheart in her match against Matt Cardona.

With the match descending into total chaos with interference, including one from the returning Nick Gage, Cardona had druids help him along the way. The last two who entered, however, did not help Cardona.

They ended up being Kross and Scarlett, with Scarlett low-blowing Cardona first. The two unmasked to a large pop from the crowd and then Kross drove the Alwayz Ready star through a door which was set up in the corner of the ring.

This allowed Shotzi to finish Cardona after delivering a senton for the pinfall win.

Kross and Scarlett are huge friends of Shotzi and the trio also filmed some supernatural stuff for WWE’s YouTube channel around Halloween.

AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door 2025 live on pay-per-view today

By
Colin Vassallo
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Live today from the O2 Arena in London, England, AEW presents Forbidden Door 2025 on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows:

PPV: “Hangman” Adam Page vs MJF for the AEW World title; “Timeless” Toni Storm vs Athena for the AEW Women’s World title; Kazuchika Okada vs Swerve Strickland or the AEW Unified title; Mercedes Mone vs Alex Windsor vs Persephone vs Bozilla in a four-way match for the AEW TBS title; Zack Sabre Jr. vs Nigel McGuinness for the IWGP World Heavyweight title; Kyle Fletcher vs Hiromu Takahashi for the AEW TNT title; The Hurt Syndicate vs Brodido vs FTR in a three-way tag team elimination match for the AEW World Tag Team titles; Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Darby Allin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Will Ospreay vs Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, The Young Bucks, and Gabe Kidd in a lights out steel cage match; Adam Copeland and Christian Cage vs Kip Sabian and Killswitch.

ZERO HOUR: Paragon, El Desperado, and Yuya Uemura vs CRU, Hechicero, and Josh Alexander in an eight-man tag team match; Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Thekla, and Megan Bayne vs Harley Cameron, Kris Statlander, Queen Aminata, and Willow Nightingale in an eight-woman tag team match; JetSpeed and Michael Oku vs Gates of Agony and Ricochet in a trios match; and The Opps vs Bullet Club War Dogs in a trios match for the AEW World Trios titles.

The Zero Hour broadcast will start at 11:30AM ET and will air on AEW’s social media channels. The pay-per-view will kick off at 1PM ET and it’s available for purchase via Amazon Prime Video, PPV.COM, YouTube, and on TrillerTV for international viewers.

Collision from Glasgow, Scotland tonight on TNT and HBO Max

By
Colin Vassallo
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Tonight’s Collision is the final stop before the AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view tomorrow and it’s a taped broadcast from Glasgow, Scotland.

A total of eight matches were taped for the two-hour broadcast which will air on TNT and also streaming on HBO Max at 8PM ET.

Matches taped include Konosuke Takeshita vs Tomohiro Ishii, The Young Bucks vs Paragon, Isla Dawn vs Megan Payne, Hiromu Takahashi and Skyflight vs Don Callis Family in an eight-man tag match, Skye Blue and Julia Hart vs Queen Animata and Willow Nightingale, Grizzled Young Veterans vs Gates of Agony, plus Big Bill in action and Max Caster’s first international open challenge.

John Cena with 10 dates left in his retirement tour

By
Colin Vassallo
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John Cena has 10 dates left in his retirement tour after yesterday, four of which are premium live events and one is his actual retirement match, leaving just five dates available to promote his matches.

Cena is advertised for next week’s Smackdown in Lyon and then wrestles Logan Paul at Clash in Paris, taking it down to eight appearances.

He then has Wrestlepalooza in September in Indianapolis, Crown Jewel in October in Perth, Survivor Series in November in San Diego, and his final match in December at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

That’s another four appearances deducted, leaving just four appearances on the road to the remaining three premium live events and SNME.

How WWE is going to split those dates remains to be seen but it’s getting awfully close to the finish line, unless Cena agrees to add extra dates in between now and December.

WWE adds live event in Melbourne, Australia in October

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE has added a stop in Melbourne, Australia which will take place during their Crown Jewel tour.

The company is returning to Melbourne at the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday, October 15 and there will be several experiences for fans available for sale including WWE Superstar meet and greets, ramp walk, etc.

Prices are $84.70, $94.70, $113.10, $138.10, $165.30, $271.70, $267.70, $321.25, $421.25, $527.05. $727.05, and $1,030.65. Fan experiences start from $652.05 to $1,780.65. All prices are in Australian Dollars.

This show will not be televised.

Tickets for the WWE Supershow Australia go on pre-sale on Tuesday, August 26 on Ticketek.com.au and the pre-sale will run for one day before tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, August 28 at 3PM local time.

Tickets for Wrestlepalooza 2025 go on general sale

By
Colin Vassallo
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Wrestlepalooza

Tickets for the Wrestlepalooza premium live event went on public sale yesterday on Ticketmaster.com.

Prices range from $130.15 with limited view all the way to $5,988 for ringside, with other seats in the first risers also not being cheap starting from $408.

While thousands of tickets were sold, obviously there are equally thousands of tickets left unsold and while the demand is there, it seems that people are waiting for prices to go down. @Wrestletix reported that over 8,000 tickets were sold but the arena is configured for just over 10,000, even though there are over 15,000 seats in the arena.

Not the whole Gainbridge Fieldhouse is open for Wrestlepalooza as all the seats behind the stage and to one side of it are completely closed off and so are some of the Level 200 seats.

WWE has less than a month to move these tickets after a late announcement of the show which only came this week.

Wrestlepalooza – rumored to be headlined by John Cena vs Brock Lesnar – will be the first premium live event airing on ESPN for U.S. viewers.

Brooke Hogan urged to fight for body cam footage and 911 calls about father’s death

By
Colin Vassallo
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Hulk Hogan death

In a post on social media, Brooke Hogan said that she was advised by police and nurses who were supposedly with her dad the day of his death telling her that she needs to see the body cam footage and listen to the 911 tapes because they contain information that “could potentially shed enough light to change the narrative” about her father’s death.

“Those same professionals feel so passionately about what they witnessed, they have continued to contact me and push me to find specific answers to this very day,” Brooke wrote. “They are quite literally putting their careers at risk because they feel so compelled to do the right thing.”

She said she has informed her brother Nick about all of this and Nick is the one who is “boots on the ground” but at the end of the day, it’s all up to her dad’s wife, Sky.

“I have zero control. I cannot do anything, my hands are tied, and I have no say in anything regarding my dad even as his daughter,” Brooke continued. “Those are the rules as I’ve been told.”

She added that if she receives any information from the autopsy, whether she believe it or not, she will be keeping it private out of respect for her father.

“All body cam footage and 911 dispatch calls are not available via the Freedom of Information act. It’s all on lockdown. I do not know why,” Brooke said, with the Clearwater Police Department confirming that everything is locked away as long as there’s an investigation ongoing.

She said she has to trust her brother that he is doing his best to get all the answers but while getting answers would be great, nothing will bring back her father.

TEG Sport announces return of AEW in Australia for 2026

By
Colin Vassallo
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TEG Sport announced the return of AEW to Australia for 2026 but did not mention a specific date or location.

In a graphic featuring Toni Storm and the AEW logo, the company posted that something big is coming to Australia.

“AEW returns in 2026… and it’s going to be EPIC. The energy. The chaos. The spectacle. It all goes down right here,” the website says.

Registration for the waitlist for pre-sale tickets is already live and you can drop your contact details at https://tegsport.com.au/event/aew/.

AEW visited Brisbane in February of this year for AEW Grand Slam: Australia. The show was originally set to take place at the 50,000+ seater SunCorp Stadium but it was moved to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre following slow ticket sales.

Two title matches announced for next week’s Smackdown from Lyon

By
Colin Vassallo
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Two title matches have been announced for next week’s Smackdown in Lyon, France.

The Secret Hervice, the team of Piper Niven and Alba Fyre, will take on Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. Niven beat Flair last night on the show setting up the title match.

Also, Sami Zayn will get a crack at the United States title which is currently held by Solo Sikoa. Zayn appeared on the show and helped Jimmy Uso take out the MFTs during their tag match against The Street Profits.

Lyon had, arguably, the greatest wrestling crowd ever at an event last year for Backlash and were rewarded with another televised show. The city also hosted Smackdown before Backlash in 2024.

Smackdown ends on a Brock Lesnar cliffhanger

By
Colin Vassallo
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Smackdown ended on a Brock Lesnar cliffhanger last night but before we found out what was going on, Logan Paul had other things on his mind and spoiled the ending.

The interesting thing is that there were two endings shot, one which aired live on Netflix, and then one which aired on USA Network. While the final result was the same, the approach was different.

During the live broadcast, with the show going off the air, a shot of John Cena walking out of the building was shown. Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis came running out and told him he had just heard from Brock Lesnar.

But before he told Cena what Lensar said, Logan Paul came in the frame and knocked Cena out with a right hand and ran away, leaving Aldis in a bad mood.

In the version that aired on USA Network, the camera angle was different and the angle was shot from behind John Cena. It shows Logan Paul coming out, shoving Aldis away, and then hitting the right hand and leveling Cena.

Perhaps it was re-shot to mask the punch, which did not hit Cena in the face during the live broadcast. In any case, the end result was indeed the same.

Brock Lesnar returned at SummerSlam and took out John Cena following the main event in his first appearance on WWE television in two years. The two are rumored to be headlining the Wrestlepalooza premium live event next month, the first one on ESPN.

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