Pat McAfee describe his whirlwind Friday afternoon where he showed up on Smackdown with The Rock as a surprise, just hours after finishing his show on ESPN.
“Got their 5:34 local time, traffic from Boulder to Denver was not great. Show starts 6 local time,” McAfee explained, saying that for those who ask how quick do things come together in WWE, it’s “real quick!”
McAfee praised the Denver crowd who were super loud and were even louder when “If ya smell…” hit the speakers.
“What a night dude, I’m so thankful that I was even asked to be there,” McAfee continued.
He said that they even made him do another scene with The Rock and John Cena backstage and said he didn’t need to be there as there was no reason for him to be in that scene, but WWE wanted him there.
“I don’t know how you’re supposed to say no to all this stuff,” McAfee said, adding that he keeps getting all these dream scenarios for him that he can’t refuse.
“The WWE has seemingly done that for me more than other group of humans on earth so I appreciate the hell out of all of them over there,” McAfee said.
He also noted that he was told to stay in the ring the whole time when The Rock was there and again he said he shouldn’t be there, but the powers that be still wanted him there and then told him he’ll get on the action too by dropping the People’s Elbow on Theory.
Friday’s Smackdown with the surprise return of The Rock drew a total of 2,569,000 viewers, up 475,000 viewers from the prior week. This was the second most-watched episode of Smackdown of 2023 so far. In the 18-49 demo, the show did a 0.70 rating, up 0.17 from last week. Smackdown destroyed everything else on television that night both on cable and network with the closest competition being a 0.26 rating. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)
WWE is currently holding tryouts at the WWE Performance Center where this time, several independent wrestlers have been invited. Past tryouts mainly featured college athletes with little to no wrestling experience.
Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net is reporting that in total, 12 individuals are going through several training exercises and showcases with the hopes of scoring a WWE developmental contract.
Those at the tryouts include Brogan Finlay, Copeland Barbee, David Goldy, Jay Malachi, Richard Holliday, Jamie Stanley, Ray Jaz, Damaris Largo, Hollyhood Haley J, Kelsey Heather, Valentina Rossi, and Madi Wrenkowski.
The most notable name is Richard Holliday, the former MLW Tag Team champion with MJF. Holliday had stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma and recently returned to the ring.
Several of the names listed also wrestled on AEW Dark in the past.
The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes VS. Dominik Mysterio
After exchanging words for a few minutes, the match started and a quick match with Cody hitting Cross Rhodes for the win.
Winner: The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes
After the match, the Judgment Day started getting into the ring to go after Rhodes, but Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn came out and the Judgment Day back off the ring apron.
Kevin Owens gets a microphone and tells Cody before he goes they need to talk about something. Kevin wants to know why Cody thought it would be such a great idea to bring Jey Uso to the Raw locker room. Cody says his job is to make these people happy and he asked the crowd if they like Jey Uso. Cody said you are looking at someone that has had many second chances and he believes Jey deserves a second chance and now the Bloodline is down a member. Sami says Kevin takes a while to trust people and Sami trusts too quickly. Sami tells Kevin he doesn’t have to give Jey a second chance, but he thinks he should.
Kevin said he can’t trust Jey Uso, but he trusts both of them and he hopes they are right.
Kofi Kingston VS. Ivar
Kofi wins after Trouble in Paradise. Great match with Ivar even hitting a moonsault on Kofi off the top rope.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Jackie Redmond interviews Ricochet who faces Shinsuke Nakamura tonight. Ricochet said the only reason he is involved is because Shinsuke attacked him last week and if he wants to play games go ahead because I am a cheat code and tonight it’s game over.
Shinsuke Nakamura VS. Ricochet
Before Ricochet could come to the ring, Seth Rollins came out and Adam Pearce could not hold him back and more security and officials came out and held Seth back as Nakamura ran from him and got in the ring and taunted Seth.
After the break, Ricochet came to the ring and the match was able to start.
As the action spilled outside the ring, Nakamura grabbed a chair and swung but missed Ricochet. Ricochet fought back and took the chair from Nakamura and hit Nakamura with the chair and Ricochet got disqualified.
Winner by DQ: Shinsuke Nakamura
As Ricochet argued with the referee, Nakamura attacked Ricochet, ending up with Ricochet in the corner and hitting Ricochet’s leg with a chair. Seth Rollins comes out and Nakamura was able to back flip him onto the chair lying in the ring and Nakamura slammed Seth on the announcer’s table.
Chelsea Green & Piper Niven VS. Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark
Niven gets dumped out of the ring, Nia Jax comes in and attacks Niven. Nia continued with attacking all the other women that were in this match and leaving everyone lying.
Winner: No Contest
Adam Pearce was on the phone and Chad Gable came in and wanted another Intercontinental championship match and Bronson Reed comes in and they start arguing and Pearce said I had enough tonight so if you two want to fight take it to the ring.
Jey Uso was interviewed by Jackie Redmond and was interrupted by Damian Priest. Priest says he is there to ask for a favor and the Judgment Day is pushing for Jimmy Uso and he wants Main Event Jey in the Judgment Day. Priest says the Judgment Day could be the family he was looking for his whole life and he wants an answer tonight.
Chad Gable VS. Bronson Reed
Gable went for the back suplex, but his knee gave out and gave Reed the opportunity to go to the top rope and hit the Tsunami and get the win.
Winner: Bronson Reed
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were in the back talking about Jey Uso and Jey walked up and said if you have something to say, say it to my face and Kevin started yelling and accused Jey of being with the Judgment Day. Kevin says he doesn’t care if he joins the Judgment Day because he doesn’t trust him either way and they don’t have a match, so he is out of here. Sami tells Jey he has a decision to make to tonight a big one so good luck with that.
Becky Lynch VS. Natalya for the NXT Women’s Championship
After a few reversals in pin attempts, it was Becky who was able to hold Natalya down for the three count.
Winner and Still NXT Women’s Champion: Becky Lynch
Adam Pearce is talking to Dragon Lee and Dominik comes in and tells Pearce it is his fault Mami is not here because he wasn’t doing his job to keep her safe. Dominik then says he doesn’t like guys in masks because they remind him of his dad.
Giovanni Vinci VS. Tomasso Ciampa
Ciampa locked Vinci in the Sicilian Stretch and Vinci had to tap out.
Winner: Tomasso Ciampa
After the match Ludwig Kaiser yelled at Vinci for losing.
Byron Saxton interviews Seth Rollins and he said he is trying to keep it together, but he wants to get Nakamura in the ring.
Drew McIntyre VS. Main Event Jey Uso
As the match is going on the Judgment Day make their way to ringside. The Judgment Day got on the apron and told Jey to go get Drew, Jey then hits superkicks on Judgment Day but as he turned around, Drew hit Jey with the Claymore.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
After the match, the Judgment Day attack Jey. Drew stands in the aisle and looks on. Drew begins to walk to the back and stops and turns but Cody Rhodes comes out to help Jey and clears the ring of Judgment Day.
AEW has removed Jade Cargill from the roster page on AllEliteWrestling.com, confirming that the former TBS champion has left the company.
According to multiple insiders, Cargill’s contract was up Friday and the two did not agree on a new one. Cargill is free to show up to work anywhere immediately and since her contract expired, there is no limitations of no-compete clauses.
PWInsider.com added that Cargill was in Orlando at the WWE Performance Center earlier today but is already on the way back to her home in Atlanta, Georgia. It remains unclear if Cargill has signed with the company already or if this was just a courtesy visit ahead of something bigger.
Cargill recently stated in an interview that Tony Khan is a phenomenal boss and put over his passion for wrestling.
“He loves our company, you know, there’s no other place I would want to be. He doesn’t look at me as a number. He looks at me like a human being,” he said when talking on the Women’s Wrestling Talk podcast.
WWE is already promoting four big matches for tonight’s Monday Night Raw following last week’s broadcast which broke the record for the least-watched episode of Raw ever.
Headlining will be a match between Drew McIntyre and Raw’s newest member, Jey Uso. The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes also returns to TV action as he takes on NXT North American champion Dominik Mysterio in a MITB rematch. The New Day and The Viking Raiders battle in a two-out-of-three falls match while Shinsuke Nakamura takes on Ricochet.
Plus, we will also likely find out what’s next for Nia Jax after last week’s return where she took out both Raquel Rodriguez and WWE Women’s World champion Rhea Ripley.
QT Marshall confirmed in a video interview on YouTube with Frank Jofo that he signed a short extension with AEW which will keep him there until the end of 2023 while they negotiate on a longer deal.
Marshall was promoted to Vice President of Show and Creative Coordination last year so he has two contracts with the company, one for his office job and one as a talent.
“Yes, we’ve made another agreement and we’ll see what happens. I think until the end of the year,” he said, noting that somehow the dirt sheets know more than he does. “I won’t be going anywhere else except AAA and as many independent shows as I possibly can.”
Marshall, who also runs the Nightmare Factory pro-wrestling school facility with Cody Rhodes, has been signed to AEW since its inception in 2019.
In what could be more bad news for Monday Night Raw ratings moving forward, ABC announced that it is adding more Monday Night Football this season as networks struggle with the writers strike that left new seasons of television shows up in the air.
Monday Night Raw got crushed in the ratings last week with over 22.6 million viewers tuning in to both ESPN and ABC to watch NFL. Raw got the lowest rating ever for a first-run show in its 31 year history with an average of 1,353,000 viewers.
Now, MNF games will air every week on both ESPN and ABC starting from tonight until December 30. There will be simulcast games as well as two different games on both ABC and ESPN. In January, ABC will also add more misery by showing four extra games, including the Super Wild Card and Divisional Playoff game.
With cable homes decreasing and football more popular then ever, Raw could be in for a tough few months where their records for least-watched episode could be broken several times.
AEW invited Memphis Wrestling commentator Dave Brown to be a guest announcer when the company makes its debut in Memphis on Saturday, October 21 for Collision.
Brown co-hosted the television show Memphis Wrestling and Championship Wrestling for 25 years with Lance Russell and Corey Maclin. He is also famous in the city for being the chief meteorologist from 1977 to 2015 for WMC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Memphis.
This will be Brown’s second appearance on AEW television as he was part of the January 8, 2020 broadcast of Dynamite when the company held a tribute to Memphis Wrestling while in Southaven, Mississippi. He called the opening match of the show and then joined Excalibur for AEW Dark commentary as well.
Tickets for Collision at the FedEx Forum are available now at Ticketmaster.com. Tickets start from $34.20.
The Rock wrote a touching post on social media about his surprise return on Smackdown this past Friday, his first appearance in a WWE ring since 2019.
“I was – I’m still – completely blown away by this crowd reaction in Denver this past Friday night on SMACKDOWN,” he wrote. “My appearance was a surprise to everyone and this crowd of 14,000 erupted with the roar of 100,000 strong.”
He said that was easily top five loudest crowd reaction of his career and uttered “holy shit” when he walked out.
“I’m so grateful and humbled by this. I never take it for granted and ‘coming home’ will always be sacred to me,” he continued, before thanking Pat McAfee, “the talented Austin Theory,” his WWE family backstage, Team Rock, and everyone who joined.
“But most importantly, thank you with all my love, gratitude and respect, to THE PEOPLE. Our connection is real. Electrifying,” he concluded, signing off with “People’s champ.”
PWInsider.com is reporting that they have gotten confirmation that Jade Cargill will be traveling to Orlando in the coming days to visit the WWE Performance Center.
The WWE Performance Center has been used in the past to film vignettes and promos for new arrivals and Cargill is expected to be starting with WWE very, very soon.
Meanwhile, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful adds to the story that it’s believed that Cargill’s contract with AEW expired two days ago on Friday, the same night that her match against Kris Statlander aired on Rampage. Cargill lost that match clean and waved goodbye to fans after.
The 31-year-old made her AEW debut in November 2020 in a high-profile angle with Shaquille O’Neal and Cody Rhodes. In 2021, Sonjay Dutt and Bryan Danielson took her under their wings to coach and train her in the ring.
With her contract expiring, there will be no no-compete clauses and she’s free to start working somewhere else at any time now.
The Tiffany Stratton vs Becky Lynch NXT Women’s title match this past Tuesday on NXT drew big viewers for the show and the highest in years.
The 9:45PM to 10PM quarter which had the match on drew 927,000 viewers according to Wrestlenomics and the audience stayed consistent over 800,000 during the previous quarter hours except for the first quarter of the show which had 792,000 viewers.
The quarter before the main event had 810,000 viewers so it was a good jump of viewership for the Stratton/Lynch match.
The match also had an eight-minute overrun on USA Network and the audience grew to 1,061,000 viewers for the ending.
Becky Lynch defeated Tiffany Stratton to win her first NXT Women’s title.
A new video uploaded by the the official account of Riyadh Season to promote the upcoming events in Saudi Arabia features the next WWE Crown Jewel premium live event.
What’s interesting is that the video says that this year’s show will feature the participation of John Cena, and a short clip of Cena was used in the edit.
Cena had declined to travel to Saudi Arabia following the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 and never participated in another WWE event in Saudi apart from the first one, titled the Greatest Royal Rumble.
The Rock’s surprise return on Friday Night Smackdown racked up millions of views across WWE’s social media channels.
Nearly 20 million views on TikTok have been recorded on the video which shows the fans losing their mind when his theme song kicked in. His People’s Elbow on Theory has over 3 million views and two other videos from the in-ring segment have nearly 4 million other views. Rock’s backstage hand shake and hug with John Cena racked up another 5.5 million views.
Other impressive stats show YouTube at 3.3 million views, 7.2 million views on X, and an additional 3 million views on Instagram.
It’s safe to say that The Rock is still as popular as ever and WWE made full use of his surprise to get that engagement on social media.
The West Australian newspaper is reporting that WWE and the Cook Government are days away from announcing a show at Optus Stadium for early next year.
The relatively new Optus Stadium is located in Perth and holds around 65,000 fans.
The event is targeted for early 2024 before the start of the Australian Football League.
This would be the second stadium show in Australia following WWE Super Show-Down in Melbourne, held in 2018. That show was held at Melbourne Cricket Ground with WWE announcing an audience of over 70,000. It was headlined by Triple H vs The Undertaker.
AEW Collision tonight comes to us from Penn State University in Pittsburgh, PA. After last week drawing 476,000 & 0.15 in the 18-49 demo.
*****
Claudio & Danielson wondered how hungry and greedy Ricky Starks would be with their fists down his throat
Big Bill said the BCC’s blood was still on his boots, Starks that they’re the face of Collision
Kris Statlander said she’s the fighting champion
Britt Baker that she and Statlander are the first women to main event Collision and said TBS would be ‘The Britt Show’ (they also made sure Statlander mentioned she’d main evented Rampage, guess they got some blowback from Weds)
John Silver said the Acclaimed hadn’t read the contract properly, they’re facing him not Uno
The Acclaimed said generic Acclaimed stuff – Bowens’ delivery was very good, that guy’s becoming an all-rounder
Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs Big Bill & Ricky Starks
Backstory: Danielson challenged the heels after they attacked the BCC following Moxley beating Bill Wednesday
Starks and Bill out to Starks’ music; the BCC to Danielson’s. The ex-ROH guy (Bobby Cruise?) is ring announcing. They played a video of Claudio’s stand-off with Eddie Kingston Weds. And showed Bill’s boots which did indeed have blood on them.
Starks tagged out immediately to boos, Bill and Danielson squaring off, the Dragon firing kicks at Bill’s legs, shaken off, taken to the corner and beaten down. Danielson hit a shotgun to the knee then hit more kicks to the thigh until being flung back towards Claudio. Tag.
Bill called for a test of strength, Claudio obliged, crowd chanting for him, taken down to his knees, powering up, exchange of rights, Claudio ducked but couldn’t get Bill on his shoulders. Bill smacked him with a lariat in the corner but took an uppercut, another, tag to Danielson, Bill ran both over via lariat.
At which point Starks flew in to pound on a downed BD in the corner. Some kids were chanting for him so Starks yelled ‘This is for the kids’ before ten punches in the corner. The kids cheered. Starks then slapped Danielson. Big mistake. The vet was pissed: stiff kicks in the corner, chops to the chest, Starks taken upstairs for an avalanche hurracanrana for two.
Then took Starks to the opposite corner for more of the same until Starks landed a flying lariat and tagged out. Bill absolutely crushed BD in the corner, tried again, Danielson got the boot up but was distracted by Starks and booted up and over by Bill. Starks took cheap shots then flung him back in.
Ads.
Back to Starks beating down Danielson in the corner, Danielson flipped clear, busaiku knee, both on their backs, looking for tags. Both found them, big uppercuts from Claudio, running lariats too, Bill didn’t budge. An endless stream of crushing lariats in the corner – crowd counted to twenty – Claudio finally took Bill off his feet with a running lariat, finally got the big man on his shoulders for a TKO, very nearly three.
Not a ton of folks here but they’re enthusiastic. They booed as Bill blocked the Swing, landed a chokeslam, the ROH champ kicked out (worth noting – Nigel McGuinness was really heeling on Danielson all match). Starks in, right into the Swing, crowd alive. Count of two. Right into the Sharpshooter, Bill instantly broke it up, took a shotgun and a tope from Danielson, leaving Starks to counter a powerbomb into a ddt for a close count.
Starks up first, Claudio in the opposite corner, the former ran right into an uppercut for two. Dragon back in, Yes! kicks, Starks on his knees, he ducked the last for a rollup, Danielson transitioned smoothly into the LeBell Lock but couldn’t hook it, Starks propelled him into the ropes, Bill met him with a big right, Ricky followed with a Spear, Claudio made the save at 2 ¾.
Starks looking for Roshambeaux, Danielson slipped behind, shotgun to Bill, Starks down, BD to the top, Bill crotched him, dropped Claudio into the crowd, Starks countered an avalanche belly to back into a cross body for two. Then literally grabbed the ref – the camera cut away for no reason – we came back to the ref looking outside so Starks could hit a low blow, Roshambeaux, win.
Claudio came in with a chair to chase off the heels, I’m assuming he and Eddie shake after the upcoming Dynamite and he goes properly babyface.
Can AEW please hire a finish guy not named Jeff Jarrett? Good match, crappy finish. I’d be fine with the low blow if it was done well. Big win for Starks regardless. He certainly can’t complain about being overlooked anymore.
Winner: Ricky Starks & Big Bill
Recap of Hangman/Brian Cage match and angle from Dynamite. And Swerve presumably ( the audio sucked even though it’d already been filmed) challenging Page and the Bucks on Rampage. For Grand Slam.
Cut to the Bucks & Page asking Brandon if they were live. The Bucks were all jokes as usual, Page very serious: Swerve has the Embassy working hard for him, if they want a trios match so bad they can put their ROH Trios titles on the line. The Bucks then acted like totally heelish pricks and made more ‘jokes’ as they said they’d take those belts for the second time.
That’ll be on Rampage.
Speaking of pointless tags, it’s FTR vs Bear Country coming up.
*****
Will Hobbs talked generically about the Book of Hobbs again. About ripping peoples’ arms off and beating them with it. ‘No one is safe’.
*****
Miro called him an SOB since he’d beaten Hobbs but it didn’t make him humble. Meaning they’ll have to finish that sometime. He then talked about god tempting him with ‘my hot and flexible wife’ (so he does know her! That ‘mysterious woman from his past’ is actually his longtime wife. Did you guys know?)
He asked ‘why, why, why’ every time he tries to step away he gets tempted again. He said anyone who doesn’t want to be redeemed will be packaged in a palm box and ‘sent your (god’s) way’.
FTR vs Iron Savages (Tag Titles)
Backstory: FTR came up with this new idea, it’s called an open challenge, basically…
The Iron Savages look like people who should’ve lost to the Steiners in 1996. Jacked Jameson – their manager I guess? – shouted who they all were and talked about sippin’ sauce and being hoarse or something.
And are on a ‘win streak’ apparently. Jameson was taken out with a Shatter Machine after making fun of Harwood’s gut. The Savages then hit moves to Cash to the most silent silence there’s ever been. They hit splashes off the top, flung Dax out and hit a powerbomb to Cash for two.
More very silent silence.
One of the Savages missed a charge in the corner, crashing into the ringpost (it’s quite unbelievable that they’ve thrown them out there without properly saying which is which – the commentators aren’t even naming them, is it any wonder the crowd is so quiet?)
Allowing the tag to Dax, crowd waking a bit, Boulder immediately knocked him down, more silence. Dax ducked a lariat, slid through the legs, fired jabs, running shotgun, avoided an elbow but caught into a tree slam. Boulder missed a moonsault, FTR set him atop the buckle, hit Shatter Machine to the other guy, then a Powerplex to Boulder for the win.
Solomonster (silly name, great pod – check it out) said he’d like to see them win with that move, he’s got his wish.
If ever you wanted a definition of silence or wasting time, this has you covered. To make it more fun, the Workhorsemen were out next, FTR offered a handshake, the four got in each other’s faces and the crowd, very understandably, chanted ‘Who are you!?’.
Aussie Open were shown watching backstage.
Winner: FTR
Lexi Nair with Keith Lee. (Wow! Kevin Kelly was hesitant in sending to it and we saw why, they weren’t ready: director’s hands in the shot, ‘Collision take 22’ *clap*. They even counted them in. Dude did this even ever happen in TNA?)
Lee was immediately interrupted by Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty. Taylor said Lee had said prospective opponents should run but he won’t. Lee said Taylor had made mistakes and ‘not running would soon be one’.
Glad Taylor’s getting tv time, he can talk and had a decent match with Joe at All Out.
John Silver vs Anthony Bowens
Backstory: DO want a Trios title shot
Caster kissed-up to the crowd and made masturbation jokes about Silver. Silver came out by himself and took the mic – ‘First of all, I Google’d scissoring and you guys are doin it wrong’ – crowd laughed, as did I. Then said the contract they’d signed meant Gunn and Caster were banned from ringside. Which might’ve been slightly more heelish if it didn’t mean they were now facing one-on-one and the faces hadn’t had a three-on-one advantage.
Silver attacked from behind, Bowens quickly turned the tables, chops and shots in the corner, Silver covering up. Scoop slam, Bowens posed for the second time in two minutes and Silver got pissed. But bailed after taking a dropkick.
Then used a rope break to take a cheap shot, hit an enziguri in the corner, Bowens tumbled outside.
Break.
Back to a headlock, Bowens punching at Silver’s gut, Silver hit a kick and knocked him down. Bowens up firing rights, thrust kick, stopped to pose again, more kicks, over the shoulder facebuster for two. Silver fought off a uranage with elbows, they exchanged yay/boo shots, Silver hit a kick to the thigh, ran into a discus shot, came back with a pump kick & thrust kick but ran into a lariat and hit the deck. Nice sequence.
Bowens missed a charge in the corner, took a German, kick to the face, brainbuster, two. Crowd chanting for Bowens as Nigel casually said the crowd were ‘fairly even’ – tremendous. Silver missed a punt, took an off the shoulder backbreaker and knee strike and rolled outside. Bowens followed, another discus strike dropping Silver at ringside.
Bowens stopped to fire up the crowd, Uno appeared out of nowhere and flung him into the buckle (the announcers said he came from under the ring, we didn’t see it). Silver hit a punt and won. Wow, was waiting for the kickout.
Was actually thinking this could be a sleeper but outside of a few flurries it didn’t have time to get going.
Winner: John Silver
Eddie Kingston promo. He talked about him and Claudio going back to 2001 – they were friends, lived together, then Claudio started judging him. Despite what he goes through physically and mentally. But he’s still here standing tall. Then talked again about Castagnoli ‘not doing business’, leaving pot holes in the road that the rest of them had to clean up.
Renee told him to fix it with Moxley and he’s been trying but nothing’s worked. But this will be the end of it Wednesday. Claudio once told him he doesn’t know how to have friends and he’s right – Eddie blames them and pushes them away, it’s his ‘curse’. But what he does have is hope.
New York’s always been with him. It’s his home. And if Claudio thinks he’s losing in front of those people –‘you are outta your f****** (bleeped) mind’. ‘Try to beat me there, try to beat me in New York, we’re different there, we’re built different’. They live with the cold and the misery, can Claudio deal with that?
He then called Claudio an ‘amazing’ wrestler who has ‘everything’ ‘but you ain’t ready for the misery, you ain’t ready for home, I’m gonna f*** you up in New York’.
Damn this was great. Again could do without the ‘doing business’ part but Eddie’s so raw and believable. This was a rah rah hometown babyface promo perfectly pitched for New York.
*****
From that to Renee with Hook and Orange Cassidy, who were sharing a bag of Doritos. Cassidy said they should do a tag match or something. ‘Grand Slam?’ ‘Let’s do it’. Would’ve been better if they’d just happened across them on a couch or something rather than this being a ‘promo’.
Aussie Open vs A Small White Guy and Big Black Guy
Backstory: None
They seem to be back to trying to talk up records for wins we haven’t seen on tv – Aussie Open are apparently seven for nine.
They started against the small white guy and took him down, the big black guy came in and was crushed with a lariat in the corner. The Aussies tried to fire up the crowd who weren’t the least bit interested in their second tag squash in twenty minutes.
They hit their finish and won.
Davis took the mic – ‘F…T… are you paying attention?’. Fletcher said they’d beaten their jobbers quicker than FTR had. And both teams have won tag titles everywhere they’ve been. They ‘call(ed) our shot’ for WrestleDream, a year after they last met. Titles or not.
So we’re just done with Bucks/FTR then? Boy what a feud.
Winner: Aussie Open
We then cut to an old fashioned black-and-white ‘motion picture’ with old-fashioned music and everything – Toni Storm: Portrait of a Star. Then strangely went to a brightly lit modern-day room where Toni was sitting with RJ City. Storm complained about the lighting which was ‘blinding’.
RJ asked about her facing Saraya for the title. And about her changing. She objected – she hasn’t changed, the business has. Every little girl with a sob story gets hired now – ‘these people wouldn’t know talent if it slapped their tits off’. If that makes her different, then so be it.
She complained about the lamp. Then it ended. To be continued…
I stand corrected about the definition of wasting time.
*****
Scorpio Sky promo talking about his back-to-back injuries and being dropped back in the deep water, which is where he belongs and wants to be. He put over Andrade.
Andrade El Idolo vs Scorpio Sky
Backstory: Are they going to tell us why Andrade disappeared for a month?
Then came out to almost no reaction. Andrade’s wasn’t much better tbh. One of the best pairs of entrance themes in AEW at least. You could hear individual voices as Andrade offered a handshake. Sky shook with the ref instead and was booed.
Headlock from Andrade, to a hammerlock, Sky got free, leapfrog smoothly down into an ankle lock, Andrade got a front facelock, into a headlock, Sly hit a kick to the face, ducked a lariat then bagged a headscissor takedown. Was sent to the apron, Andrade hit a dragon screw against the middle rope.
Sky then shoved Andrade off the top, he smacked his back on the apron on his way to ringside. Nasty spill. Guess that means Sky’s the heel but have no real idea. Break.
Back to Andrade fighting up from the mat, he countered a belly to back into a cross body, Sky up first, firing rights with Andrade on his knees, a trio of kicks finally knocked him back down. He fired-up, beckoning Sky to bring it and caught him into a pair of dragon screws, flying lariat (he even kinda spills under the ropes like Shawn on that), kip-up, Sky caught him with an elbow, got a sunset flip from the middle rope, Andrade got the ropes.
Sky then hit a flip dive but came up holding his knee (I guess he was out with a knee injury?)
Back inside – duelling chants – Andrade blasted him with a spinning back elbow, Sky countered a suplex into a cradle for two, Andrade went back after the knees with a low dropkick then applied the figure four, bridging into the Figure Eight to cheers and the tap.
It should bother the folks in the back that easily the biggest pop all match was copying a WWE move but doesn’t seem to. The announcers even joked about ‘royalties’. Like Silver and Bowens, I expected more. Dead crowd didn’t help.
El Idolo offered a hand to help Sky up; Jay White’s music interrupted. He came heavy. ‘I’ll get to you in a second’, he said to Andrade, before starting to address the crowd but having to ask Colten ‘where are we?’. Stellar heel work.
Then addressed Andrade. He was watching Andrade watch the rest of BCG last week. It looked like Andrade was having fun watching… (he put over each of his boys in turn with special nicknames, including the cardboard cutout, until simply saying ‘Austin Gunn’ – Austin looked all sad).
And wonders if Andrade wants ‘that Switchblade Spotlight’. And asked if he wanted to find out next week that it’s too bright. Andrade sarcastically applauded. The Gunns then did the ‘Two Words… Gunns Up’ thing.
White took the mic back to say they could also do it right now. Andrade headed up the ramp, a bunch of refs came and got in between them.
Jay White looks, talks and acts like a star. In fact he’s the only guy all show long who’s come off like that.
Winner: Andrade
Video package of Takeshita beating Omega and Callis talking about Ibushi being their next target. Then a Riccaboni-voiced package explained the friendship between Omega and Ibushi, including highlights from DDT. Then finished with Callis plunging the screwdriver into the painting. More things like this are needed to explain backstories.
*****
Cut to Schiavone with Katsuyuori Shibata. Who played a promo through the voice translator on his phone – he’ll be performing at WrestleDream but we don’t yet know who against.
The Righteous vs the Hardys
Backstory: the Righteous have been feuding with the Hardys on Rampege, per some video clips
Kelly said you could feel the momentum building for Matt and Jeff. Certainly not something one could ascribe to the Righteous, who came out to more indifference.
Vincent shook off a Side Effect, fired shots from the mount, crowd almost silent once more. They woke for ‘delete’ heads to the buckle, Dutch was bridged outside after coming in illegally. Jeff tagged in, the Hardys hit a double team combo ending with a Jeff splash for two.
Snapmare and dropkick to the back, Matt back in, Poetry in Motion, Vincent grabbed a headlock and tagged Dutch who came in to hit a blackout for two.
Break.
Matt hit a Side Effect to Vincent, Jeff back in, series of lariats, Manhattan Drop and legdrop to the nads as Dutch came in, crowd chanting for the vet, Dutch broke up a pin, all four in now, the Hardys sent Dutch back out, Vincent blocked Side Effect the first time but not the second, Dutch crotched Jeff about to hit a Swanton, Vincent hit a sloppy sliced bread off Dutch’s chest to win.
The crowd booed in a ‘we genuinely don’t like this’ way. More 50/50 booking from AEW – the Hardys dominated the match, the Righteous cheated to sneak a win.
Dutch took the mic to more boos. He said their names, said they were the Righteous, ‘two believers who seek truth in the liar’s eyes’. Vincent said they just beat one of the best teams in the world. And everyone in the world is a prisoner to false icons, fooled by the conman, listening to the devil on their shoulder. But they’re here to tell us the truth and kill our egos that lead to false love and fake friendships, like the one between MJF & Adam Cole. Who are the ROH tag champs, ‘dig what I’m sayin?’.
The crowd did not. There were ‘what!’s and such.
If you’re going to introduce a brand new team and push them, you have to actually introduce them. One generic video and a cheap win does not make a team ready to face the hottest act in the company. This needed weeks of work.
Winner: the Righteous
Claudio/Eddie package pushing their match again.
*****
FTR interview with Tony. They briefly put over the Workhorsemen then accepted Aussie Open’s challenge.
*****
Package of Danielson talking about promising his daughter he’d quit when she turned seven. Contrasted with Zack Sabre saying it’s about time they faced and found out who the best really is – ‘I surpassed you yonks (ages) ago’. Danielson’s one of the best ever but Sabre will end his career.
*****
I guess they tried to make a joke out of what happened earlier by having the director be in the shot again as Schiavone interviewed Ricky Starks and Big Bill. Bill told the director to get out of the shot and shook his head.
Starks is still angry and Tony doesn’t understand why. Ricky said it’s because Danielson lost to him but gets a video package, as does a guy who doesn’t even work there. While Starks isn’t even on WrestleDream as yet. He beat Danielson tonight, and while it might be some peoples dream to beat the Dragon, ‘I’m gonna be your nightmare – shoutout Cody’ (okay he didn’t say that last bit).
So next week he’s challenging Danielson to a Texas Death Match. And will put an end to Danielson.
Really liked this, more focused than Starks’ usual work. It made sense coming out of the video package and continued the feud. Also continue to like the pairing with Bill, he gives Ricky a little more believability with his size.
Kris Statlander vs Britt Baker (TBS Title)
Backstory: So what they didn’t tell us about that 4-way Weds is that whoever took the pin won a TBS title shot!
They showed Statlander beating Jade on Rampage and Jade raising Stat’s arm (she’s seemingly off to WWE). Britt very popular in her home state.
Lockup, stalemate, reset. Nother lockup, Statlander ran through Baker to boos. Then landed a body slam. Baker rolled outside to regroup.
Got back in pissed off and fired a forearm, an exchange followed – yay/boo – Statlander getting the better until leapfrogging Baker in the corner and landing badly on her surgically repaired knee. Britt took advantage with a running neckbreaker, Stat avoided a slingblade and hit a powerslam for two.
Ads.
Back to them battling up top, Stat threw her off then readied a moonsault, missing by miles after Baker moved. Britt snapped the champ across the ropes then worked over Statlander’s knees against the ringpost. The announcers compared it to Bret working over Steve Austin.
Baker hit a pair of slingblades back inside, Statlander ducked a lariat and hit a blue thunder bomb for two. Fisherman buster for another close count. Britt avoided a running knee, hit a curb stomp to a big pop for two. Then the gloves came on.
While doing her ‘DMD’ pose, Statlander rolled her up for two, missed a lariat, Baker tilt-a-whirled into Lockjaw in a very smooth spot, Statlander blocked the hold, fighting up to her feet to heavy boos, the two exchanging forearms once more – crowd into it like nothing since the opener – until Britt got a flurry, took a big roundhouse, came back with a thrust kick, missed a lariat, landed a thrust kick with Statlander looking for a discus punch, the champ toppling but managing to land a lariat before crashing to the mat. Both down.
Crowd chanting ‘DMD’ as the ref’s count reached seven. Britt sent to the corner, Statlander missed a running knee, further injuring it, but countered Pittsburgh Sunrise, Baker countered back into a rollup for two. Statlander back up with another roundhouse, looking for a powerbomb, Baker slipped free to hit a destroyer, Angel’s Wings, Curb Stomp, the champ kicked out at 2.999999. To an avalanche of boos.
Britt back to the middle rope but snatched onto Stat’s shoulders. Fighting free, she countered back into Lockjaw, Statlander trying to block it, Baker finally getting her hand in Statlander’s mouth, the champ rolled her weight to pin Britt’s shoulders while still in the hold.
Very nice match. Enjoyed this. Actually bought some of the false finishes. Helped by a crowd who wanted to be part of the show all night but weren’t given much to work with. More matches like this, between wrestlers the fans care about, whose outcome is in doubt, would really help this division. Though the same could be said about the whole of AEW atm.
Julia Hart was shown watching from the crowd. Statlander offered Baker a hand up, Britt accepted, the two posed as the show ended.
Former WWE Superstar Barbie Blank, better known to fans as Kelly Kelly, gave birth to twins on September 10.
“Our twins have arrived!! I can’t wait to share all the pics and videos so soon,” Blank wrote on social media. “We’ve been in our baby bubble taking in every minute of our babies, words can’t describe how I feel now that I am a mom to the most perfect angel babies, just wait till you see their faces.”
The message, however, was deleted from social media website X a few after it was posted.
Yesterday, Blank posted a photo of her hand and her husband’s holding the tiny fingers of their newborns.
Blank announced that she was pregnant in March and a month later dropped the news that she’s expecting twins.
The 36-year-old married bodybuilder Joe Coba in April 2021 and last appeared on WWE television during the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble match.
The Dynamite: Grand Slam tickets at Arthur Ashe Stadium picked up some pace over the past week after AEW decreased some of the prices for the show and added a buy one get one offer.
A BOGO offer in six sections of the 300 Level has a $20.95 price for two tickets if you use the code BTSNYC to unlock it on Ticketmaster.
According to @WrestleTix on X, AEW sold over 1,000 tickets during the week, sending the total to just over 7,000 now with the stadium set up for 11,600 seats. The home of the US Open holds over 20,000.
Last year’s event had 13,800 fans in attendance while the 2021 show had 20,177.
The show will be headlined by MJF vs Samoa Joe for the AEW World title.
