AEW will be holding a double taping of Collision and Rampage on Friday, November 17 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California.
The special episode of Collision will air live first followed by Rampage because the AEW pay-per-view Full Gear will be held on Saturday, November 18 also from the Kia Forum.
This means that Collision will air head-to-head with Smackdown on FOX on that night. This is the first time that Smackdown and Collision will collide in the same time slot.
Tickets for these tapings go on sale on Friday, September 8 at 10AM PT at AEWTix.com.
With Jey Uso officially moving to Monday Night Raw, it was announced last night that Smackdown will get a “trade compensation” in return.
It was not revealed who will be moving to the blue brand but a big name is expected to jump over.
Jey, who for the first time since he started with WWE will not be teaming up with his brother, was announced as the newest member of the Raw brand on Saturday night by Cody Rhodes during the Grayson Waller Effect.
On commentary last night on Raw, Michael Cole said that as a former EVP, Cody knows how to get things done. Cody was an EVP at All Elite Wrestling before he moved to WWE.
It is expected that whoever will be joining Smackdown will be revealed this Friday.
Interesting to note is that Cody Rhodes is scheduled for this Friday’s Smackdown as he is not traveling to India with the rest of the Raw brand for the non-televised event in Hyderabad.
WWE today announced that Payback, which emanated from PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, became the most-watched and highest-grossing Payback in company history. The premium live event set new records for viewership, gate and merchandise.
Viewership of Payback was up 36% versus the previous record set in 2016. With 12,468 in attendance, it marked the largest gate ever for any Payback, up 13% versus the prior record set in Chicago in 2016. Payback also became the highest-grossing WWE event ever held in Pittsburgh.
In addition, Payback broke the all-time event merchandise record. In partnership with special event retail partner Fanatics, merchandise sales were up 182% versus the previous record set in 2017.
2023 Payback was also the most-viewed social Payback of all time with a combined 146 million social views, up 44% from the previous record set in 2020. The most-viewed moment across social platforms was Cody Rhodes announcing Jey Uso would be joining the Monday Night Raw roster which generated more than seven million social views across all platforms in one day.
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Raw opens with a recap of what happened at Payback.
Jey Uso is introduced to come to the ring first. As Jey is talking, Sami Zayn comes out. Sami tells him he is happy to see him there and this is the time for him to truly become the Main Event Jey Uso and he wanted to tell him he is very proud of him and offers Jey his hand to shake. Jey doesn’t take the handshake. Sami says it’s OK, when you’re ready to talk I am here. As Sami goes to leave Jey stops him and says now that wasn’t very Ucey of me was it and Sami drops his microphone and gives Jey a hug.
Drew McIntyre comes to the ring and has a stare down with Jey and Sami says give it some time this is his first night back. Matt Riddle comes out and stares down Jey and Sami says give him a chance.
In the back Adam Pearce meets up with Seth Rollins and asks Seth what he is doing there and Seth says well I am still the champ, and this is where I am supposed to be. Pearce then tells him medical said he did not have to be there tonight, and Seth says he needed to be there as the champ. Ricochet walked in and said after what you and Shin did at Payback and for you to be here, now that is a champion I can get behind, but you don’t need to carry the whole show by yourself.
Drew McIntrye & Matt Riddle VS. The Viking Raiders in a Tornado Tag Team match
Kofi Kingston comes out in this no disqualification match, Kingston went for trouble in paradise on Ivar, but Ivar moves and Kofi hits Riddle. The Raiders then use Kofi as a javelin and throw him at Drew knocking Drew back out of the ring and hitting Riddle with a double powerbomb through the table to get the win.
Winners: The Viking Raiders
The World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins is out to the ring. Seth said even though he won at Payback, Shinsuke got to walk out of the arena, and he had to be pushed out of the arena in a wheelchair by his wife. So tonight, we are going to right some wrongs, so Shinsuke get out here and we are going to make all your dreams come true.
Shinsuke came to the stage and stopped. Seth said come on down to the ring, you didn’t have a problem Saturday so come on down I have a proposition for you. Seth says to get you in this ring, how about we have a world championship rematch right here, right now. Shinsuke says some stuff in Japanese. Seth said he didn’t understand him and says get down here and ring the bell and Shinsuke says no. Seth says are we going to have a rematch yes or no and Shinsuke says no. Seth says its Monday Night Raw and I am clocked in so you’re getting this if you want it or not and Seth ran out and jumped Shinsuke. Adam Pearce and officials come down to break up the fight and Ricochet comes out to get Shinsuke off Seth.
Seth and Adam Pearce are arguing backstage, and Adam says he is running at a pace no other champion has ever run and he is trying to help him not destroy his body.
Ricochet VS. Shinsuke Nakamura
The action spilled outside, and Nakamura grabbed a chair and started hitting Ricochet causing a disqualification.
Winner by DQ: Ricochet
Seth Rollins comes running out to save Ricochet and take out Nakamura. Nakamura then slammed Seth into the ring steps and Ricochet grabbed the chair and chased off Nakamura.
Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest are shown watching what was going on and Rhea tells Damian not tonight.
Zoey Stark was being interviewed and Shayna Baszler comes in and says I got rid of Ronda, you got rid of Trish, why don’t we see who the toughest tonight is.
The Judgment Day comes to the ring next. Finn thanked JD and himself for becoming a grand slam champion and Rhea says they are a family and is mad because their accomplishments are not being talked about since the return of Jey Uso. Right as Damian started to talk, JD McDonagh came out.
JD brings something in the ring with him and tells Damian he doesn’t need that Money in the Bank briefcase anymore, he needs this one and gives Damian a purple Money in the Bank briefcase with senor on it.
Sami comes out and tells them it took 5 of them to beat them Saturday night and they are championship stealing turds. Sami then challenges Dom to a match. JD then tells Sami he will face him because Dom doesn’t need to fight tonight.
Gunther says he will go down in history as the greatest Intercontinental Champion in history.
Raquel Rodrguez was talking to Adam Pearce, and he said he agreed and will make it official and Raquel thanks him and as she goes to leave Chelsea Green comes in and says some people are so rude and Pearce said don’t I know it. Pearce said Piper Niven isn’t medically cleared to wrestle and they need to talk about the tag team championships and Chelsea calls Raquel a loser and Raquel surprised her and was still there and Pearce said oh and by the way you two tonight is official.
Zoey Stark VS. Shayna Baszler
Baszler locked in the Kirifuda clutch and kept fighting out of it, but Baszler held on to finally put Stark out with the clutch.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
After the match the two-women fist bump.
In the back Finn asked the Judgment Day to bring JD into the group officially. Damian says he needs to further prove himself. Dominik says he is cool with whatever they decide. Rhea says see how he does tonight.
Raquel Rodriguez VS. Chelsea Green
Raquel hits Chelsea with her Chingona bomb and gets the win.
Winner: Raquel Rodriguez
After the match Raquel got a microphone and says she spoke to Adam Pearce about having a rematch with Rhea Ripley and it was granted for next week with Dominik Mysterio banned from ringside.
Chad Gable tells Gunther he is already in the record books by being an Olympian and the world is going to see Gunther’s desire to hold on to that championship will be no match for his desire to take it from him.
In the back Drew yelled at Kofi. Riddle tells Drew to calm down and Drew says he doesn’t need to calm down. Kofi comes in and apologizes for what happened. Riddle says it’s cool and Drew says is it really cool? Drew tells him he is going to keep his eyes open for any more accidents, Kofi then tells Riddle to talk to your boy and Riddle says he will talk to him.
The Miz is next out to the ring for MizTV. Miz said he did not lose. The Miz introduces John Cena as his guest. But as Cena’s music plays there is no John Cena. The Miz goes on with the interview as if Cena was there. Says Cena screwed him over and The Miz continues his “questioning of John Cena”. The Miz then takes off his jacket and acts like he gives Cena a Skull Crushing Finale’. The Miz then challenges LA Knight to another one-on-one match with no special referee.
Jey Uso is walking in the back and Adam Pearce stops him and tells him being here might get worse before it gets better because Smackdown is getting someone from Raw as compensation for you being here and depending on who that is, it might make more people mad. Jey thanked him for the heads up.
Tommaso Ciampa catches up with Pearce and asked if this was a good time to talk and Pearce said as good as any, let’s go finish that conversation.
Sami Zayn VS. JD McDonagh
As Sami goes for the Helluva Kick, Dominik Mysterio sneaks in and pulls JD out of the way and Sami went after Dominik and gets back in the ring and Dominik further distracts Sami as JD rolled Sami up and held the tights for the win.
Winner: JD McDonagh
After the match, Sami again goes after Dominik and JD does come to Dominik’s aid as he pulled Sami out of the ring and hits Sami off the corner post and JD gets Dominik out of the ring, but Sami recovered and gets JD with the Helluva Kick as Dominik runs away.
Dominik and JD are walking in the back and Finn says impressive win and Damian says you did alright. Dominik then walks over to Jey Uso and says they both come from messed up families and Hall of Fame fathers and he knows how he feels. Jey laughed at him. Dominik says he will talk to the Judgment Day because they will have open arms for Jey.
Chad Gable VS. Gunther for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
After a great outing by Gable, it was Gunther who locked Gable in a sleeper hold and dropped Gable on his head then into a powerbomb which set him up with a huge clothesline and folded Gable up for the pin.
Winner and Still WWE Intercontinental Champion: Gunther
With Gable’s family in tears in the first row, Gunther now moves into first place as the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion.
Currently at 450 days as Intercontinental champion, Guther has one more obstacle before taking down The Honky Tonk Man’s all-time record: Chad Gable.
Alpha Academy’s Gable, the only man to win against Gunther, albeit via a countout, since his main roster call up, has the chance to get the Intercontinental title tonight live on Raw. But the Austrian Superstar is eyeing the record of the longest Intercontinental title reign ever which stands at 454 days.
That reign, broken at SummerSlam 1988 by the Ultimate Warrior, sees The Honky Tonk Man as part of the WWE record books but if Gunther gets one over Gable, then he will break the record later this week.
Gunther is currently #5 on the list of combined reigns with the IC title. HTM is in fourth, Don Muraco is third with 541 days over two reigns, The Miz with 597 days over eight reigns, and Pedro Morales with 619 days over two reigns.
Bryan Danielson says his strap match against Ricky Starks was filled with “smokes and mirrors” to protect his arm which he broke at Forbidden Door back in June.
During the post-show press conference, Danielson said he got cleared by AEW medical personnel as well as a surgeon but he didn’t really use the injured arm much, in fact, he never even threw a punch with it.
Danielson was full of praise for Starks who he said carried him throughout the match. He noted that he heard people rave about him before and can confirm that he’s a great worker. The two had never crossed paths in the ring before Sunday.
It’s unclear if Danielson is back in the ring full time now or this was just a one-time thing to fill in for CM Punk until he’s fully healed.
During the same press conference, AEW President Tony Khan hinted that we might see more of Danielson on Saturdays at Collision because it fits his work/family life balance better. Danielson pulls double duty and also helps with creative for shows and recently Khan said that if something happens to him and has to leave the show in someone else’s hands, he would pick Danielson.
During the post-All Out press conference last night, AEW President Tony Khan confirmed that Jack Perry remains suspended “indefinitely” for the time being for his actions at All In.
Perry was the one who started the incident with CM Punk, taunting Punk live on camera, resulting in the two having a physical altercation at Gorilla position following his match.
Khan said that the suspension is all he can talk about when it comes to Perry and he has not been backstage since All In.
When The Elite were suspended for their own brawl with CM Punk at last year’s All Out, the trio were out for two whole months. Khan did not specify how long Perry’s suspension will be for.
The logo for AEW’s newest pay-per-view, WrestleDream, was published yesterday and it has that WrestleMania vibe going.
The logo uses the red velvet and gold color scheme and at first glance it is very easy to closely associate it with the WrestleMania logo due the signature lines that the Mania logo uses to combine the two words together.
Tickets for the WrestleDream pay-per-view go on sale this Friday at 10AM PT at AEWTix.com. The show takes place on October 1 live from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.
It will coincide the with one-year anniversary of the death of Antonio Inoki and this will also feature the involvement of stars from NJPW.
CJ Perry, the artist formerly known as Lana, and now referred to as the “hot & flexible” wife of Miro, made her AEW debut last night at All Out.
“Mrs Meat,” screamed Nigel McGuiness on commentary as fans popped big for her appearance.
Perry came out after the match between Hobbs and her husband Miro. As Powerhouse Hobbs was on top of Miro, she smashed him with a chair in the back. That didn’t do much damage and as Hobbs went to confront her, Miro recovered and then delivered his chair shot, which had a bit more effect.
The on-screen reunion between the husband and wife went sideways though as Miro then told her that she’s not real and walked off, leaving her alone in the ring.
In the post-show press conference, AEW President Tony Khan said that CJ Perry is not on a long-term contract with AEW but it was great to have her there nonetheless.
Perry has not appeared on any wrestling TV show since she was released from WWE in June 2021.
Here are the results from last night’s All Out 2023 pay-per-view which took place from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
ZERO HOUR: “Hangman” Adam Page won the Over Budget Charity Battle Royale; Hikaru Shida, Willow Nightingale, and Skye Blue defeated Athena, Mercedes Martinez, and Diamante in a six-woman tag team match; The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn defeated Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh, and Jay Lethal in a six-man tag team match to retain the AEW World Trios titles.
PPV: Adam Cole and MJF defeated Alex Reynolds and John Silver to retain the ROH World Tag Team titles; Samoa Joe defeated Shane Taylor to retain the ROH World Television title; Luchasaurus defeated Darby Allin to retain the AEW TNT title; Miro defeated Powerhouse Hobbs; Kris Statlander defeated Ruby Soho to retain the TBS title; Bryan Danielson defeated Ricky Starks in a strap match; Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta defeated Eddie Kingston and Katsuyori Shibata; Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kenny Omega; The Gunns, Jay White, and Juice Robinson defeated FTR and The Young Bucks in an eight-man tag team match; Jon Moxley defeated Orange Cassidy to become the new AEW International champion.
AEW could be in for a hostile Chicago crowd tonight but with or without CM Punk, All Out will still take place tonight.
We are presenting the latest betting numbers for the card but keep in mind things could still change in the next few hours so be careful when betting with real money. For a review of the best wrestling sports betting sites, check out this guide by Knockout News!
Jon Moxley remains the favorite to walk out of Chicago as the new AEW International champion with his odds at 4/11 while those of champ Orange Cassidy at 2/1.
MJF and Adam Cole defend their newly-won ROH Tag Team titles against The Dark Order. Better Than You Bay Bay are 1/20 overwhelming favorites to win this match while Dark Order are 15/2 for the big upset.
The TBS title will be on the line as Kris Statlander defends against Ruby Soho. Statlander is 1/5 favorite to retain while Soho is 10/3.
Will Darby Allin regain the TNT title tonight? Bookmakers certainly think so as they have him 4/7 favorite to beat champ Luchasaurus who has 6/5 odds.
Samoa Joe’s ROH TV title is also up for grabs against Shane Taylor. Taylor has no chance with 15/2 odds while Joe is 1/20 and a lock to keep the title tonight.
Bryan Danielson, after being said he wasn’t medically cleared for All In, miraculously is medically cleared for All Out and the American Dragon is 1/2 favorite to beat Ricky Starks who is at 6/4 in a strap match.
Kenny Omega takes on Konosuke Takeshita in a singles match and The Cleaner is 4/9 favorite while the Japanese star is 13/8.
An eight-man tag match will feature Bullet Club Gold against FTR and Young Bucks. BCG are 2/5 favorites while FTR/YB combo are 7/4.
Miro goes head-to-head with Powerhouse Hobbs and the Bulgarian has the upper hand with 4/6 odds while Hobbs is 11/10 to win.
The tag match between Eddie Kingston and Katsuyori Shibata versus Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta remains unchanged from yesterday, with Eddie and Shibata 3/10 favorites while BCC are 11/5.
For the second time in seven days it’s time to forensically analyze guys – and girls – fighting in tight shorts.
Quick reminder, there are three categories: star quality, match quality, build. For each we’ll assign a score out of 10. To get a total score with which to rank the matches.
Star quality is within the company/to the company’s fans. If scores are even, matches’ll be ranked according to personal preference.
We’ll then predict the winner(s) of each contest.
Without further ado.
Jon Moxley vs Orange Cassidy (International Title)
Star quality: 8 – Two of the most popular babyfaces on the show. Even if one possibly, maybe, isn’t supposed to be?
Match quality: 8 – The champ’s been having good defenses all year. It’s easy to forget how good Moxley is at normal wrestling matches without stips, steel or blood. It could even be downright refreshing.
How they go about it should be interesting too. Does Mox put up with any of the silliness? Does he play along? It’s hard to think of characters with different approaches to wrestling.
Build: 7 – So there’s the long-term story that Cassidy’s tired and beat-up after a hectic schedule of defenses. Which has been told and shown well. Nicely abetted by a strong main event against a worthy challenger Wednesday.
It’s a story best ended by a despicable heel picking the bones. And depending on the night, Mox might be a bad guy. All I know for sure is he made a point of stopping to wish a little girl happy birthday after his match Wednesday.
Then there’s the short-term of Mox vs Cassidy.
Part of my picking the BCC to win last week was figuring this match was coming. So Mox would either defeat Cassidy or at least pin a Best Friend. Instead, Cassidy won. And there’s no real explanation for why Moxley’s in this match.
Though this was capped off by a nice focus on the two Wednesday. They ended the show. And Orange cut a serious promo about how he won’t give in, has pride in his belt, will defend it whenever he can. In fact it sounded very similar to the promos Mox used to cut as AEW champ.
And was followed by more excellent interview work from both on last night’s Collision. In particular a superb promo from Moxley who is exceptional at using his words to put over the guys he’s working with. Both added gravity to the match.
Overall Score: 23
Toss a coin in the air. It seems this’ll finally be one defense too many for the champ. But how many times have we thought that over the last few months? And Moxley doesn’t lose often. But the best ending here is for a weasel heel to take advantage of the downtrodden champ. While AEW have gone out of their way to push Cassidy as Mr. AEW this week. I say his push continues.
WINNER: Orange Cassidy
Darby Allin (w Nick Wayne) vs Luchasaurus (w Christian Cage) (TNT Title)
Star quality: 6 – I’m factoring Cage in here since he’s definitely part of the match.Darby’s basically a ‘top guy’; Luchasaurus most assuredly is not. He’s Christian’s fodder. Outside of beating Wardlow for the belt, it’s hard to think of anything he’s done all year that wasn’t standing and sneering.
Match quality: 6 – I’m not a fan of the dinosaur. Firstly because he’s a dinosaur and I’m an asshole who finds it hard to suspend disbelief. Secondly because the big fella’s kicks take a long time to wind-up while his opponents politely stand and wait. And I’m an asshole who finds it hard to suspend disbelief.
Presumably Darby will produce enough movement for about six people and make this at least decent. There’s the classic big man vs little man thing and the backdrop/atmos should be fun because Allin’s popular and heat is what Christian Cage does.
Build: 8 – The build for Darby Allin vs Christian Cage has been excellent. Allin won the opportunity a long time ago, allowing anticipation to build. Along the way he’s appeared consistently on tv with and against other top acts, usually winning. He feels a totally worthy challenger.
On the heels’ side, Cage’s parading around with the belt while occasionally remembering he isn’t really the champ has been great fun. In particular, the segment with his daughter was gold: ‘Did you win this?’. And they’ve attacked Allin enough verbally and physically that this feels personal.
Slight problem is that this isn’t Darby Allin vs Christian Cage. If it were, this’d be a strong contender to climax the show.
AEW should look at the way they’ve built this as a blueprint for future feuds. Announced early, clear heel and babyface, plenty of tv time for either side.
Overall Score: 20
The late addition of Nick Wayne in Darby’s corner was a nice touch. Since Wayne’s upset with Allin. They even slipped-in that Allin and Wayne’s late father ended on bad terms. And Cage openly talked about him throwing in the towel. All of which makes the outcome harder to predict. It’ll probably be Darby, but there’s definitely a chance Wayne costs him the title.
WINNER: Darby Allin
Kenny Omega vs Konosuke Takeshita
Star quality: 6 – If Kenny Omega were where he should be, where people saw him at the company’s outset, there wouldn’t be a debate over what’ll main event. Takeshita never wins on tv. Like ever. But at least that leaves time for ribbon cutting ceremonies.
Match quality: 9 – In a night full of good matches at All In, two performers stood out above the rest: Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay. They did things no-one else could and made them look easy. There’s a level of acceleration, a level of quick-twitch athleticism others can’t match.
But perhaps Takeshita can? Certainly the way that Takeshita Line apparates suggests so. He’s never really been given the time and opportunity – ie a long singles match on pay-per-view – to show it. Meaning he also has something to prove. And Omega’s a very giving opponent, just ask Alan Angels.
There’s also a nice, simple story for the match: Takeshita targeting Omega’s various weaknesses as pointed out by Callis. The only possible damper is crowd participation. Takeshita’s not a star yet. And Omega might be the heel to fans in deep dish land.
Build: 4 – I made my feelings on this build quite clear during the All In preview. Takeshita’s rolling-up Omega into a flash pin didn’t improve that.
What did – slightly – was the Strategy Session conducted by Don Callis on Dynamite. A very serious segment highlighting Omega’s many injuries and how the younger Takeshita can take advantage of the vet.
Notably, there was no response from Omega. Who was stuck in Florida Wednesday owing to the storms. And I don’t know how he was fixed for cell service and internet, but couldn’t he have at least sent a promo in on his phone? A story could even be made out of that – ‘Kenny Omega’s stuck in a storm but so badly wanted to address Takeshita and Callis that he sent us this’.
It’s yet another feud where all the ingredients were present and AEW didn’t know how to cook.
Overall Score: 19
Another very tough one. Takeshita could be established with a big win. They could achieve much the same if he comes close in a classic. They could even tell a New Japan-style tale of the youngster getting progressively closer to knocking the vet off.
It basically comes down to future plans. And it’s hard to predict where Kenny goes from here. MJF’s certainly short of opponents all of a sudden. Omega and Hangman looked damn good as a tag again last Sunday. That’d certainly be a nice tag/singles feud involving Cole.
I’ll go with Omega in a close one, building to Takeshita beating him next time. If you ask again in five minutes, you might get a different answer.
WINNER: Kenny Omega
FTR & the Young Bucks vs Bullet Club Gold
Star quality: 6 – Again, I went over much of this last week. Jay White & FTR are presented as serious, credible performers who appear every week. None of which can be said about the Bucks. Juice comes along for the ride. The Gunns are a comedy duo, who just happen to have held the tag titles for some reason.
Match quality: 8 – Four of the eight were in a match of the year candidate. The crowd’s a factor. FTR will definitely be cheered but the Bucks in Chicago… Not that it’d spoil the match but a big part of what made the above tag so good was the crowd being solidly behind FTR.
Build: 4 – It hasn’t exactly been Hogan/Savage but it’s believable storytelling in that both babyface teams have had issues with BCG.
Then there’s the intrigue around the Bucks and FTR. Do the former really regret not shaking hands? Are they jealous? Is this a heel turn? (It shouldn’t be btw, they only properly went babyface in March). They continued this last night by having FTR pointedly refuse to shake with the Bucks.
Overall Score: 18
Best guess is the babyfaces lose after some squabbling. Probably leading to Bucks FTR IV at WrestleDream or whatever it’s called.
WINNER: Bullet Club Gold
Eddie Kingston & Katsuyuori Shibata vs Wheeler Yuta & Claudio Castagnoli
Star quality: 6 – Eddie’s popular everywhere he goes. Shibata got a huge pop in Chicago last year as part of his surprise return. It’s hard to know exactly how popular the BCC boys are sans Mox and Danielson since they’re usually a unit. But they’re at least featured on tv and have good matches.
Match quality: 7 – All four can ‘go’. All four hit hard. There’s a nice mix of styles – brawling, wrestling, power etc. And there’s the easy story of building to Kingston getting his hands on Mr. Castagnoli.
Build: 5 – This is all Kingston and Claudio. Between whom there’s a well-established feud, enough of which has been shown on AEW tv. And it was continued Wednesday as Eddie beat Yuta and Claudio dismissively wouldn’t even look at Kingston.
The announcers emphasizing that the root of this feud is Kingston feels Claudio doesn’t respect him and respect means everything to Kingston. Which continued last night, Claudio noting that he’s lost even more respect for Eddie after expecting Japan to change him.
Overall Score: 18
It makes sense that Kingston wins, setting up another ROH title shot where he finally takes gold and earns the Swiss’ respect.
WINNER: Eddie Kingston & Katsuyuori Shibata
Ricky Starks vs Bryan Danielson (Strap Match, no DQ)
Star quality: 7 – I’m not the biggest Starks fan. But he’s charismatic and has been hanging with the big boys on Collision since the show started. Danielson’s a ‘top guy’.
Match quality: 6 – Ricky Steamboat summed it up best when he intimated Starks is inconsistent between the ropes. How good this match is will depend partly on that, but largely on the shape of Danielson’s arm. As best I’m aware, this is on the short-end of his return window.
Build: 4 – After whipping him with a belt last month, Starks challenged Steamboat to a strap match; the veteran had another ‘Dragon’ stand-in for him. Of course, this was originally supposed to be Starks vs Punk, so I’m granting them a little slack, but they did a good job transitioning in one night.
Overall Score: 17
Danielson’s almost too willing to lose. And the no DQ stip would give him an out. But it’s very hard to see AEW not re-starting Danielson hot after losing another of their top stars. In fact, if they decide to replace Punk on Saturdays with one person, rather than by committee, the Dragon would be a good shout.
WINNER: Bryan Danielson
Miro vs Powerhouse Hobbs
Star quality: 5 – This is all Miro. And should be much higher. Two big guys with presence and charisma who’re decent or better between the ropes. Unfortunately they’ve been complete afterthoughts despite being highlighted at the outset as reasons to tune-in to the new Saturday show.
Will Hobbs come and goes, occasionally remembering to blather about a book and hanging out with the QTV crew.
In Miro’s case, wrestling companies can’t often afford to shunt performers this popular to the side. Yet that’s what happens time and again with the Bulgarian. After disappearing for a year – with no explanation – he returned with pomp on the first Collision and did… nothing.
Match quality: 5 – Should be solid. Unlikely the crowd will care about Hobbs who’s been generating minimal reactions after being badly booked. Suggesting this shouldn’t go too long.
Build: 3 – After Hobbs’ affiliation with QTV both bombed and went nowhere, they dragged his Book out of the catacombs and mentioned the next chapter was about redemption. So he needs to face the Redeemer. Yep, this feud’s about a play on words.
Miro did at least cut a good promo on the 19th, with a killer closing line: ‘I am godless, but I know you are not, because you pray to me now.’
They also had a bit of a scrap last night but nothing to drag the booking here to average.
Overall Score: 13
The problem is neither can afford to lose. They each need momentum. Based on pure popularity, the victor seems obvious. But then almost nothing AEW has done with Miro has made sense.
Guessing QT and the boys try to interfere and it backfires, causing Hobbs to finally break away from the worst group in wrestling (see, I can praise Jeff Jarrett).
WINNER: Miro
Better than You Bay Bay vs John Silver & Alex Reynolds (ROH Tag Titles)
Star quality: 5 – Don’t know what to do with this. Yes the fans’ll be pleased to see the champs. But the match has no intrigue. So average seems fair.
Match quality: 7 – Whatever else, the Dark Order boys are a damn good team, possessing slick double-team sequences. And Silver’s ‘hot tag/comeback’ where he smashes everyone in a three-mile radius with kicks is always fun. They will likely lean into some comedy – I’m calling Silver trying a Kangaroo Kick – but most crowds have been loving that anyway.
Build: 0 – The ‘challengers’ won a battle royal on Rampage. Cole and Silver cut ‘comedy’ promos on Collision, drowning out Reynolds’ serious one which told a nice story. Even so, it was a story that at best should’ve built to a match on Dynamite.
Overall Score: 12
It’d be malpractice to have this act lose to the Dark Order even if the entire heel roster interferes. Then again, I thought the same about the women’s belt & Saraya.
WINNER: Better than You Bay Bay
Samoa Joe vs Shane Taylor (ROH TV Title)
Star quality: 4 – Even the Dark Order at least appear on AEW tv; Joe’s mega over.
Match quality: 6 – By all accounts Taylor’s decent in-ring (I’m not going to lie, I’ve never seen him wrestle). What I will say is this better be a squash. Joe’s squashes are fun. And no-one in Chicago wants to see the guy who dominated CM Punk last week go back-and-forth with a guy they’ve never heard of.
Build: 0 – Apparently Taylor’s won a #1 contender’s tournament on ROH tv. I learned this from Bryan Alvarez since AEW didn’t bother communicating it.
Overall Score: 10
Joe’s gonna kill you.
WINNER: Samoa Joe
Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander (TBS Title)
Star quality: 3 – This’d be a weak tv match. Soho’s very clearly third among her own stable and rarely does anything of consequence not involving the apron or a spray can. Statlander’s popular but hasn’t exactly been on a Cassidy-like run since bagging the title under less-than-optimal circumstances.
Match quality: 4 – If this isn’t clearly the worst match on the show, its overperformed.
Build: 1 – Statlander was feuding with Mercedes Martinez but Ruby Soho won one match on Dynamite so they went with that instead. (Martinez basically played AR Fox here, apart from turning back ‘babyface’ ten minutes after beating up a teenager right in front of his mum).
Anyway, Soho then ‘stole’ the TBS title for ten seconds only to nicely give it back. The champion didn’t even appear mildly inconvenienced by this. Nor was she when Saraya called her a ‘bitch’ right to her face.
Overall Score: 8
‘Contenders’ like this are not really contenders.
WINNER: Kris Statlander
Overall Thoughts
I gave AEW the benefit of the doubt last week because All In at least looked a fun show on paper and a great spectacle. Now it’s time to look at the company from a different perspective.
It’s two years since AEW’s zenith – Punk had just signed, Malakai was the new killer heel, Danielson & Cole jumped ship, Cody was still around, the TNT title still meant something, a match for the tag titles was the highlight of the show and the following Dynamite did about 1.5m viewers (feel free to bring that number up next time someone tells you there’s no such thing as casual fans).
Yet this show doesn’t have a world title match, or a tag title match, or a women’s title match. It’s as if this show was a surprise to Tony Khan. As though Warner rang him Monday demanding another pay-per-view. It’s very hard to call a show ‘All Out’ when you’re doing anything of the sort.
AEW’s owner recently attributed the decline to luck and injuries. If he truly believes that it’s a problem. Because the downturn in interest has gone hand-in-hand with a downturn in the booking, stretching back to early 2022.
The bright side is that with Punk gone perhaps that’ll end any backstage drama (at least among the men) and lead to better planning and creative. Though it’s equally likely Khan’s simply worn too thin with all the hats he’s wearing.
As ever, there are good matches to look forward to, many of which are hard to predict (at least among the top ones). In the case of Moxley/Cassidy, it’s actually a shame if this is where their feud ends, so good were the promos this week.
August 20, 2021. A very important date in the history of AEW.
For weeks and weeks we had been hearing that CM Punk was on his way to the young promotion. AEW didn’t even have to announce Punk’s signing. The event, titled First Dance, promoted and sold itself and up until it started, AEW never mentioned that CM Punk would be there.
But everyone knew. It was the world’s worst kept secret. 15,316 fans packed the United Center for this second episode of Rampage. Chants of “CM Punk” rang around the arena before the first notes of Cult of Personality hit the speakers.
When it did start playing, the fans blew the roof off the arena. Chicago’s favorite son has finally arrived. CM Punk signs covered the stands. Fans were crying. Literally.
It had been seven long years of “CM Punk” chants across wrestling arenas. He was finally here on a mission to help elevate AEW and hopefully have a better experience than his previous employer – WWE.
His first in-ring promo on that episode of Rampage contained a lot of zingers against WWE. The crowd ate it all up. People backstage popped. Punk was the adrenaline shot that AEW needed to expand their business.
Just a few weeks later, the company got two more shots of that adrenaline – the arrival of Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson at All Out. To this day, All Out 2021 remains the most-watched AEW pay-per-view with 205,000 buys. Punk also had his first match there against Darby Allin, a match which he obviously won.
Punk’s arrival in AEW was a very successful one. Merchandise flew off the shelves, fans packed arenas, bought pay-per-views, TV ratings increased, and AEW hit their first million dollar gate, something which they now do more often.
His involvement to bring success to AEW cannot be denied, not even by the Punk haters. He moved the needle for the company and put asses into seats. He brought that extra star power to a company which was still up and coming and needed all the help it could get.
But Tony Khan knew one thing: with CM Punk comes controversy. And controversy is Punk’s middle name. For whatever reason, he cannot escape it.
One of Tony Khan’s biggest disadvantages is that he’s a young, inexperienced leader. I wouldn’t even call him a leader to be quite honest. He’s a young man living his dream at the moment, going from booking fantasy shows to heading a multi-million dollar company with the likes of Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Sting, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and many other top stars in the business.
In the first few press conferences, you could see how Khan looked at Punk. It was love. Seriously, puppy eyes admiring his greatest acquisition. Punk couldn’t do anything wrong. Tony was full of praise and often said that Punk would help take AEW to the promise land.
At All Out last year all hell broke loose. The post-show press conference, now aptly referred to as Brawl Out, will live in the history of professional wrestling forever. CM Punk had just defeated Jon Moxley for the AEW World title and then showed up at the press conference, tore the script, and went to town on the members of The Elite.
Showing his inexperience, Tony Khan sat there like a little puppy nodding, with his eyes wide open and not even blinking. Rather than stopping Punk, he let him rant. And rant, and rant, and rant. The damage was done.
Backstage, Punk, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega all got into a fight. They were all suspended and stripped off their respective titles. Punk was the AEW World champion. The Elite had just won the AEW World Trios titles. Punk was also injured in the match so he would have been stripped off the title anyway. The Elite were suspended for two months and Punk rode off into the sunset, nursing his surgically repaired left tricep.
Fast forward nine months, and AEW was about to debut a new show titled Collision. Punk was set to be part of the WBD Upfronts event to hype the show but problems came up and there were rumors that he was going to pull out. AEW even booked a secondary location for the inaugural episode of Collision as they wouldn’t dare do it at the United Center if he wasn’t there.
But a day or so before, everything was settled again, and Punk was ready for his second coming. Same place as the first one, just a different day of the week, and a few less people in the stands.
On June 17, 2023, CM Punk successfully returned to AEW. The pop was there, the merchandise flew off the shelves again, but there was no crying this time around. He wrestled on the first episode with his close friends FTR, his first time in the ring since All Out.
But unsurprisingly, things quickly went down the drain, again.
Collision was largely a CM Punk show. He “ran” the show, had a say on who comes in and more. As history suggests, giving any active wrestler that kind of power often leads to disastrous situations. But Tony Khan didn’t care, he had his prized possession.
On the first episode of Collision, Tony Khan allegedly was backstage in Gorilla with the headset on, standing and chanting CM Punk with his hands up when Punk came out for his return.
At All In, the curse of CM Punk struck again. Maybe this time he was provoked. Jack Perry, who had an altercation with Punk weeks earlier over the use of real glass during an episode of Collision, was wrestling Hook in the pre-show and used real glass in a spot. He looked at the camera and said, “Real glass. Go cry me a river!”
Punk, in Gorilla waiting for his cue, took note, and when Perry walked to the back, all hell broke loose, again. By now you have read what happened and the different accounts, but one thing was for sure, it got nasty and physical. Things apparently flew, and this time it wasn’t merchandise.
Gorilla position is open and not like a locker room so unlike Brawl Out, there were many witnesses including AEW President Tony Khan. Khan launched an investigation into the incident, an investigation which wrapped up on Saturday.
This time, Punk drew the short end of the stick and was fired with cause. Khan, standing in front of fans at the United Center, again, explained his decision and said that last week in London, he felt his security, his safety, and his life were in danger.
Khan, until now, had a god-like status with the AEW faithful. No matter how goofy or stupid a decision was, he was always cheered and everyone jumped to his defense.
Chicago did not agree.
He got his first taste of boos. He acknowledged the reaction and took a seat at the top of the stage looking rather uncomfortable.
In the press release issued announcing the termination of Punk’s employment, Khan said, “Phil played an important role within AEW and I thank him for his contributions. The termination of his AEW contracts with cause was ultimately my decision, and mine alone.”
It was rather inevitable. Part of the problem is that Khan let the inmates run the asylum for far too long. In WWE, everyone knows who’s the boss. In WWE there are no active wrestlers with EVP statuses. That is asking for trouble. Just ask Cody Rhodes.
For now, CM Punk’s love story with AEW has come to an end in a nasty breakup.
With CM Punk gone from AEW, the belief is that the soft roster split between Dynamite and Collision will no longer remain in place with stars being allowed to participate in both shows moving forward.
Punk’s control over Collision meant that certain individuals were not allowed on “his show,” including members of The Elite. That quickly changed last night with Matt and Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks appearing towards the end of the broadcast to save FTR.
Over the past several weeks, different individuals showed up for tapings and were not allowed in the arena at all and sent back home with Punk claiming that he wants to avoid drama backstage at Collision.
The launch of Collision was largely built around CM Punk and the former champion returned for the inaugural episode, also taped at the United Center in Chicago, in June.
Live from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, AEW presents All Out 2023 on pay-per-view and Bleacher Report. The full card is as follows:
PPV: Orange Cassidy vs Jon Moxley for the AEW International title; Luchasaurus vs Darby Allin for the AEW TNT title; Kris Statlander vs Ruby Soho for the AEW TBS title; Adam Cole and MJF vs Alex Reynolds and John Silver for the ROH World Tag Team titles; Samoa Joe vs Shane Taylor for the ROH World Television title; Bryan Danielson vs Ricky Starks in a strap match; Miro vs Powerhouse Hobbs; Kenny Omega vs Konosuke Takeshita; The Gunns, Jay White, and Juice Robinson vs FTR and The Young Bucks in an eight-man tag team match; Eddie Kingston and Katsuyori Shibata vs Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta.
ZERO HOUR: Athena, Mercedes Martinez, and Diamante vs Hikaru Shida, Willow Nightingale, and Skye Blue in a six-woman tag team match; The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn vs Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh, and Jay Lethal in a six-man tag team match for the AEW World Trios titles; and the All Over Budget battle royale.
The Zero Hour show will start at 7PM ET on AEW’s YouTube channel while All Out kicks off at 8PM ET on traditional PPV, B/R, and FITE TV for international viewers.
Following rumors that he was being brought in for All Out, WWE Hall of Famer and Japanese legend The Great Muta actually was in Pittsburgh and was ringside for the Payback main event.
Muta, who retired earlier this year, was shown on camera but never got involved in the match between Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura. The news that Muta landed in Pittsburgh from Japan was originally broken by PWInsider.com.
Nakamura had one of the final matches with Muta on January 1 at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s The New Year show, a match which Nakamura won.
Muta was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Los Angeles earlier this year as part of the WrestleMania 39 weekend.
AEW President Tony Khan kicked off Collision last night backstage telling viewers that he had fired CM Punk earlier in the day.
“The incident was regrettable and it endangered people backstage. That includes the production staff who put the show on every week, innocent people who had nothing to do with it,” Khan said of the incident which happened at Gorilla position last Sunday.
“I’ve been going to wrestling shows for over 30 years. I’ve been producing them on this network for four years. Never in all that time have I ever felt until last Sunday that my security, my safety, my life was in danger at a wrestling show,” Khan explained.
He added that no one should feel that way at work especially those who he works with every week.
“I had to make a very difficult choice today,” he concluded.
Prior to Collision going on the air, Khan came out to address the crowd and received some cheers and quite a bit of boos. Khan took a seat at the top of the stage and explained how he grew up in Chicago and then talked about CM Punk. It was certainly not easy for Khan to appear in front of the crowd, in Chicago no less, as he’s never received a hostile reception before.
After appearing on Collision last night, Dennis Rodman will also be live at the United Center tonight for All Out.
As Rodman was being interviewed, Jeff Jarrett and his gang came out and Jarrett asked him to join them. The former NWO member did not like the proposal and he shoved Sonjay Dutt. At that point, the NBA Hall of Famer got surrounded but it was The Acclaimed who made the save.
The Acclaimed then challenged Jarrett for a trios match during the Zero Hour pre-show and said that Rodman would be in their corner.
This was Rodman’s first time at the United Center in 13 years!
The Raw roster has gained a Bloodline member in the form of Jey Uso as it looks like the company is putting some kind of a pause on the Bloodline drama on Smackdown.
Uso was introduced by Cody Rhodes last night on Payback as the newest member of the Raw team when he was appearing on the Grayson Waller Effect. Of course, Waller tried to spoil the party but got a superkick for his trouble.
Jey “quit” WWE on the August 11 episode of Smackdown and has not appeared since. He lost his SummerSlam title shot against Roman Reigns after his brother Jimmy prevented him from pinning Reigns.
It was a rare quasi night off for Cody last night who was not involved in any match on the show and was just used for this segment to introduce Uso.
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