Darren Drozdov, better known to wrestling fans as Droz, passed away at age 54. The news was revealed by WWE after they ran an “In Memory” graphic at the start of Smackdown in London. No cause of death or other information is known at this point.
The New Jersey native entered the world of professional wrestling in 1997 and a year later he was signed to a WWE deal, where he was given the name of Puke simply because he could vomit on command. His interview with Vince McMahon was part of the Beyond The Mat documentary where McMahon famously requested Drozdov to vomit in his trashcan.
He was part of the Legion of Doom when Hawk was having health issues and after the angle ran its course, he was renamed Droz. Unfortunately for him though, his career was cut short when during an episode of Smackdown tapings in October 1999, he was on the receiving end of a running powerbomb by D’Lo Brown which ended badly.
He landed on his head and fractured two vertebrae in his neck and after several hours of surgeries, he was left a quadriplegic with no movement below his neck. He later regained movement in his upper body and arms but remained confined in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
After his injury, WWE kept him on the payroll, with Droz doing different work such as writing content for the website and magazines as well as being a guest on the Byte This show.
Episode five of Dark Side of the Ring, featuring Junkyard Dog, drew 229,000 viewers, up 28,000 viewers from episode four. The show did a 0.06 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 0.01 from the prior week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The June 29 episode of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV drew 149,000 viewers, up 39,000 viewers from the prior week. This was the best number of 2023 for the show so far. It did a 0.02 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 0.01 from the prior week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Friday Night Smackdown on FOX tonight will not be live as it will air on a few hours tape delay from London’s O2 Arena. The show, for the first time ever, will air live in the UK on BT Sport 1 starting at 8PM local time.
It’s a loaded show – if everything remains the same – with four matches announced. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens defend their tag team titles against Britain’s own Pretty Deadly, Bayley puts up her MITB spot on the line against Shotzi, there’s a triple threat match featuring Santos Escobar, Butch, and LA Knight, and Asuka defends her WWE Women’s title against Charlotte Flair.
Plus, Logan Paul will be the special guest on The Grayson Waller Effect and Undisputed WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns returns ahead of The Bloodline Civil War.
In anticipation of the second season, STARZ has made Heels season one available for free to watch on the STARZ.com website and app. The only restriction is that each episode is geo-restricted so only those in the United States can watch it.
Heels, starring Arrow’s Stephen Amell and Vikings’ Alexander Ludwig in the leading roles, is a story about two brothers trying to live up to their father’s legacy in an independent promotion called Duffy Wrestling League set in a small Georgia community.
Joining Amell and Ludwig are Mary McCormack as Willie Day, Alison Luff as Staci Spade, Kelli Berglund as Crystal Tyler, Allen Maldonado as Rooster Robbins, James Harrison as Apocalypse, Robby Ramos as Diego Cottonmouth, Trey Tucker as Bobby Pin, and Chris Bauer as Wild Bill Hancock. CM Punk is also featured in the first season.
The eight, one-hour episodes can be watched at STARZ.com.
As part of his new album Pink Tape, rapper Lil Uzi Vert has included a song called Nakamura which features a remix of Shinsuke Nakamura’s WWE theme titled The Rising Sun.
The whole 3 minute 17 second song was also uploaded in full on his YouTube channel which boasts 9.32 million subscribers. The song also features Travis Scott.
The 27-year-old from Philadelphia is a wrestling fan and performed his song Just Wanna Rock at WrestleMania 39 as part of The Usos’ entrance in the main event of night one.
The fallout from Forbidden Door Dynamite drew 809,000 viewers, down 93,000 viewers from the previous week. It was the least-watched Dynamite since May 3. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite drew just a 0.24, down 0.09 from last week, and its lowest demo number in a regular time slot since 2020. The show placed #3 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Former champion Mercedes Varnado is featured in the trailer of the upcoming movie The Collective, where she stars along with Lucas Till, Ruby Rose, Paul Ben-Victor, Tyrese Gibson, and Don Johnson.
Varnado plays the character of Nikita.
The movie is about a group of assassins called The Collective, who come together to take down a trafficking ring backed by a group of billionaires.
The official synopsis for the movie reads, “A group of righteous assassins called The Collective take aim at a highly sophisticated human trafficking ring backed by a network of untouchable billionaires. With their backs against the wall, The Collective has no choice but to put their most important mission in the hands of rookie assassin Sam Alexander.”
It’s set to be released in select theaters and on digital and on-demand on August 4.
Ticket scalpers are holding on to their Money In The Bank tickets till the very last day with prices on the secondary market being the most expensive for any recent WWE show in memory.
Ringside seats are being sold for over £4,000 ($5,050) each on Stubhub while row U seats in the 400 Level are at a minimum of £215 ($275). 100 Level seats are around £700 ($890) and most are sold in pairs, so you have to double the price.
With a mad rush for last-minute tickets, there are several scams going around on Twitter as well, with some offering “cheap” tickets and only accepting bank transfers, with no protection to the buyer. If you are dealing with such people, make sure they accept PayPal or any other service where you will be protected for your purchase in case they are scammers.
Money In The Bank is completely sold out, and so is tonight’s Smackdown from the same location – the O2 Arena. A few tickets released yesterday by AXS after production changes were also immediately sold, with prices starting at £300.
NXT favorite Lyra Valkyria made a surprise appearance at the non-televised live event in Dublin, Ireland, yesterday for her main roster debut.
After Sheamus wrestled Karrion Kross, the former champion then introduced Valkyria who received a big ovation from her hometown crowd. She had a quick match with Scarlett and won.
The 26-year-old has been working for WWE since January 2020 and was part of the NXT UK roster under the name of Aoife Valkyrie before moving to NXT after NXT UK closed its doors.
She recently wrestled Tiffany Stratton for the vacant NXT Women’s title at Battleground.
In an interview with Bill Apter, WWE Hall of Famer Sgt Slaughter voiced his displeasure about Lacey Evans using his Cobra Clutch finisher without asking for permission first.
Slaughter said that he doesn’t watch much WWE anymore, although when he does, he watches Raw and not Smackdown due to Lacey being on Smackdown.
“I’m a little upset,” Slaughter said. “It doesn’t upset me because I know she can’t put a Cobra Clutch on like I do, but it’s just the thought that she’s using a move without, at least I would think the writer or somebody would call me up and say, ‘Hey, you mind if we use the Cobra Clutch?'”
Slaughter said WWE should have at least called her finisher something else rather than Cobra Clutch, just like when Ted DiBiase started using the Million Dollar Dream when he was gone for G.I. Joe.
“I had to end up using the Camel Clutch when I came back because DiBiase was using my hold. So I asked Khosrow (Iron Sheik), ‘Is it okay if I use your move?’ And he said, ‘Yes, Sergeant, it would be an honor for you to use that.'”
Evans recently got in a Twitter argument with Slaughter’s daughter as well over the move.
“You’ve got my respect for serving our country. I’m talking about the gimmick. Cobra clutch & now the hat. You look ridiculous,” Slaughter’s daughter told Evans in a tweet.
Lacey then sent a tweet to Slaughter writing, “When you birth someone who can carry your legacy or take me out, call me. Until then, salute me. Like the real Marine I am. Rah.”
AEW announced last night they are returning to Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, on September 20 for Dynamite: Grand Slam. A taping of Rampage will also take place in the same location following the live Dynamite.
Tickets go on sale on Friday, July 28 via AEWTIX.COM.
This will be the third Grand Slam Dynamite to be held at the home of the U.S. Open. The first edition there in 2021 drew over 20,000 fans while last year’s edition drew just under 14,000 fans. Despite drawing less fans last year, the show grossed over $1 million because of higher ticket prices.
Last year’s show was headlined by Jon Moxley vs Bryan Danielson in the tournament final for the vacant AEW World title, a match which was won by Moxley.
STARZ released today the trailer and key art for season two of the critically-acclaimed drama “Heels,” which returns to the ring for season two on Friday, July 28 at midnight (ET) on the STARZ app. Starring Stephen Amell (“Arrow”) and Alexander Ludwig (“Vikings”), the small-town sports drama series based on a wrestling league in rural Georgia will also debut via linear tv on STARZ at 10:00 PM ET/PT in the U.S. and Canada on Friday, July 28, 2023.
“Heels” is aptly named after the wrestling term for a villain or antagonist. Most stories center around heroes vs. villains, but in wrestling, it’s faces vs. heels. Season two brings fans back to the family-owned wrestling organization, Duffy Wrestling League (DWL), where brothers and rivals, Jack (Amell) and Ace Spade (Ludwig), continue to fight over their late father’s legacy and their individual versions of success, while also working to find their own identity as a “face” or a “heel.” The show invokes feelings of nostalgia akin to “Friday Night Lights,” while covering topics like the effects of trauma on communities, finding personal identity, and women taking the lead in every facet. It is centered around a small-town community where everyone knows each other and everyone in town follows the saga of the Heels and Faces in the DWL.
Season two also stars Alison Luff (“New Amsterdam”) as Staci Spade, Mary McCormack (“Deep Impact,” “The L Word”) as Willie Day, Kelli Berglund (“The Goldbergs,” “The Animal Kingdom”) as Crystal Tyler, Allen Maldonado (House Party, “The Wonder Years,” “The Last O.G.”) as Rooster Robbins, Chris Bauer (“Gaslit,” “Survivor’s Remorse,” “True Blood”) as Wild Bill Hancock, Trey Tucker (“The Outpost”) as Bobby Pin, Robby Ramos (“Chicago P.D.”) as Diego Cottonmouth, Alice Barrett Mitchell (“The Thing About Pam,” “Billions”) as Carol Spade, Roxton Garcia (“Reminensce”) as Thomas Spade, David James Elliott (Trumbo, “JAG”) as Tom Spade, Joel Murray (“Mad Men,” “Shameless”) as Eddie Earl, CM Punk (“Mayans,” “AEW Dynamite”) as Ricky Rabies, AJ Mendez (“Women of Wrestling,” “WWE”) as Elle Dorado, Josh Segarra (Scream VI, “Arrow,” “The Other Two”) as Brooks Rizzo, and Emmy Raver-Lampman as Jen Lussier.
“Heels” showrunner and executive producer Mike O’Malley (“Survivor’s Remorse,” “Shameless”) also portrays Charlie Gully on the series. Michael Waldron (“Loki,” Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, “Rick and Morty”) is the show creator. Christopher Donnelly (By Sidney Lumet), Pete Segal (Get Smart, 50 First Dates, Tommy Boy, “Shameless”), Patrick Walmsley (JT LeRoy), and Julie Yorn (Hell or High Water, White Boy Rick) also serve as executive producers on the series. “Heels” is produced through O’Malley Ink and LBI Entertainment in association with Lionsgate Television for STARZ.
Blood & Guts has been officially announced for the July 19 episode of Dynamite in Boston as the Blackpool Combat Club battles The Elite in the double cage match which will guaranteed be full of blood and violence.
The feud between the two escalated on Dynamite last night and it was Jon Moxley who challenged The Elite for the gimmick match. Earlier, Moxley opened up Page’s head with a screwdriver.
Bryan Danielson, who’s out with a fractured arm, did not appear and is unlikely to be part of the match next month. AEW did not specify which wrestlers will be in the match yet or how many participants there will be.
Moxley, Yuta, and Castagnoli were in the Blood & Guts match last year and so was Eddie Kingston.
Night two of NXT Gold Rush drew 622,000 viewers, down 151,000 viewers from the previous episode headlined by Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker for the World Heavyweight title. The show drew a 0.17 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 0.06 and placed #2 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. This episode had a main event of Carmelo Hayes vs Baron Corbin for the NXT title. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Britt Baker had to miss last night’s Dynamite due to an illness and her Owen Hart Cup tournament match against Ruby Soho was rescheduled for next week’s Dynamite.
AEW President Tony Khan announced Baker’s absence on Twitter before the show went on the air, saying she is not cleared to compete.
Baker’s boyfriend, Adam Cole, also got pulled from the Forbidden Door pay-per-view on Saturday after he showed up to the arena sick and was sent back home.
The AEW Fight Forever video game launched today and it’s now available for purchase. The game is compatible with Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox Series S, X and One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.
The highly anticipated game, developed by YUKE’S and published by THQ Nordic, has cost over $1 million to produce and is over budget and delayed several times. It took two-and-a-half years from the original game announcement to release date.
There are 51 AEW stars available on the roster on release day. In alphabetical order, these are: Abadon, Adam Cole, Andrade el Idolo, Anna Jay, Aubrey Edwards, Brian Cage, Britt Baker, Mr. Brodie Lee, Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho, Christian Cage, Chuck Taylor, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Darby Allin, Dustin Rhodes, Eddie Kingston, Hikaru Shida, Jade Cargill, Jeff Hardy, John Silver, Jon Moxley, Jungle Boy, Kenny Omega, Kris Statlander, Lance Archer, Luchasaurus, Malakai Black, Matt Jackson, Miro, MJF, Nick Jackson, Nyla Rose, Orange Cassidy, Owen Hart, Pac, Paul Wight, Penta el Zero Miedo, Powerhouse Hobbs, Rey Fenix, Ricky Starks, Riho, Ruby Soho, Sammy Guevara, Scorpio Sky, Sting, Tay Melo, Thunder Rosa, Trent Beretta, Wardlow, and Yuka Sakazaki.
Cody Rhodes, who left AEW for WWE in February of last year, remains in the game.
An Elite edition of the video game is also available. Included in the Elite Edition are Matt Hardy and Broken Matt Hardy attire, and season 1 pass containing Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, The Bunny, Keith Lee, HOOK, and Danhausen, plus four mini-games.
The Elite Edition will carry a slightly higher price tag of $72 versus the $60 for the regular version.
AEW Dynamite tonight comes to us from the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. After last week drawing 902,000 & 0.33 in the 18-49 demo.
Can we get Forbidden Door back to Chicago next year please? Those folks like… bang their hands together and expel sound from their mouths. At first I thought it was just the flat opener.
Four-way was great fun, ten-man too. Guess Omega/Ospreay was decent. Though Callis coming back out ruined it for me since it made no sense and I’m an asshole who finds it hard to suspend disbelief.
And now…
Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii
Backstory: Ishii bagged the win in the ten-man Sunday
Well, I was about to praise Mox for dumping Wild Thing and utilizing a more ‘heelish’ theme. But seems that was a one-off. He was accompanied by Yuta and Claudio (Danielson broke his arm Sunday).
Ishii got almost no reaction.
The two went head-to-head before the bell, needing to be separated. Before a chop fest struck – pun intended. For a good two minutes they belted each other before a battle of shoulder tackles, Ishii missed an enziguri; Mox a punt.
Back to it – forearms in the middle. As Excalibur said both guys were a step ahead of the other. How that’s possible aside, there was no separating the two until Ishii rebounded out of the corner to bash Mox across the ring with his shoulder.
Before Moxley went the low route by biting the import. Who responded in kind. Until Mox smashed him down via shoulder block. Before stomping away with the wrists captured and bagging a two.
Then flinging Ishii outside. Where the former champ struck him via tope then stalked into the crowd to applause and for once a competent ref kept a watchful eye on the other BCC members.
Crowd into it so far. Pretty good atmosphere.
Eddie Kingston’s music struck and he stormed to ringside, grabbing a chair and staring a hole through Castagnoli.
As we went to break.
Coming back to Ishii placing Moxley up top then delaying a superplex off the buckle and into a pin for two.
Brushing off a couple shots as they got back to fighting – yay/boo elbow strikes – getting slower and slower, the crowd roaring as the shots continued to slow but hit harder and harder (you could hear a good few of them), Ishii gaining the advantage until Moxley mashed him with a discus blow to drop him.
Following up via Gotch-style piledriver for two, Mox bleeding above the eye after that slugfest, firing H&A elbows, Ishii flipping him off, the former champ transitioning to a Bulldog choke.
With Kingston and Claudio staring each other down across the ring.
Ishii still in the hold until dumping Mox via suplex, Mox replied via German and KKL, Ishii kicked out at one, as did Mox after a lariat, the pair exchanging running knee strikes and kickouts at one – Mox’s knee was absolutely brutal.
Until hitting synchronized lariats and simultaneously dropping to the mat, dead center. To their knees, butting heads, up to their feet, still butting one another, Ishii now bleeding too from the forehead, being blasted via ddt but kicking out before three.
Death Rider setup: Ishii slipped out, hit a ddt, rebound lariat, another two count.
Then looked for the brainbuster, Mox hit a cutter, Ishii popped back up to hit a sliding lariat, both down. Ishii looked for the brainbuster again, Mox hit the Death Rider but was too tired to cover at first, allowing Ishii to kick out just before three.
Mox missed a curb stomp, didn’t the second time, Death Rider, cover, win.
Super opener. Very physical, maybe a little too much blood but that’s like complaining about the sky being blue at this point.
Taz tried to explain that Eddie and Claudio had enough respect for Mox and Ishii that they didn’t start fighting. Which might’ve been fine if they’d started scrapping after the bell.
Instead, Mox bumped Kingston on his way up the ramp. As Eddie insisted the win proved Moxley didn’t need the BCC. Those two left squabbling up the ramp.
Winner: Jon Moxley
Renee to announce teams for the Blind Tournament. Or not, just repeating the one we already knew. The uncanny coincidences following this new team around as Cole and MJF just happened to arrive at the exact same time while Renee was out there.
MJF questioned how sick Cole really was Sunday. But that they got off on the wrong foot. ‘No-one’s on the level of the Devil but I’m not ashamed to admit’ that ‘you’re close,’ said MJF. Great line.
He said the two could run AEW and offered to spend the weekend with Cole so they could get to know each other. Cole agreed while insisting Max not touch him. MJF also had a gift for Cole – a new tee for their team with ‘Better than you bay bay’ on it.
Cole walked off, unimpressed.
*****
Renee with the BCC – not as a reporter but to try to reason with her husband re: Eddie. Kingston insisted he had Moxley’s back, even sacrificing himself Sunday (he took a superkick party so Mox wouldn’t have to), as the two ranted at one-another. Until Renee told Eddie:
‘You better fix this, I’m done’.
Erm, is she going heel? Cause Eddie’s done nothing wrong. Quite the opposite.
*****
Short video package recapping Ospreay/Omega. Hopefully Kenny’s ok after that brutal tiger driver.
*****
Excalibur explained that Britt vs Ruby is moving to next week since Baker’s sick. Explaining that she must’ve caught it off Cole.
Orange Cassidy, Vikingo & Keith Lee vs Daniel Garcia & 2.0
Backstory: None
Did they announce this? Cause I knew nothing of it. Bit strange to just throw the AAA champ out there.
They tried to show footage from earlier explaining the match, most of which Excalibur talked over in the weekly production snafu. The ‘story’ re: the face team was Orange basically finding whoever was close by cause he’s lazy. A bit like AEW’s storytelling. Maybe he’s booking? Would explain a lot.
Garcia and Vikingo got things going, the latter striking with a heel kick then avoiding Garcia by ducking, dodging and using his insane athleticism. Until landing a springboard armdrag then a hurracanrana or headscissors (he’s very hard to keep up with), forcing a retreating Garcia to tag Parker.
Who had a new comb courtesy of Jericho, which Cassidy immediately stole. Now that’s character building – the guy has a comb.
Cassidy in, ducking and dodging then combing his hair. Until Garcia came in to start working the arm, Cassidy quickly countered until holding Garcia in a bow and arrow for Vikingo to hit him with a stomp off the top.
Count of two, Vikingo running wild until being tripped on the apron by 2.0 and thrown back in to Garcia. The heels worked him over for a while.
Break. Nothing wrong with it but already gone too long. 2.0 are not a serious team and there’s no storyline reason to be interested in the match.
2.0 still working over Vikingo; the Mexican powerbombed by Matt Menard. Garcia in to crush him via clothesline; triple teaming from the heels. Count of two for Parker.
Lee, who’s dyed his hair again and looks better for it, finally in to run through the JAS until being mesmerized by Garcia’s dancing and beaten down. That is seriously what happened.
With Garcia stood on his back, Lee muscled him up then smacked him with a double chop in the corner. Vikingo hit a gamengiri, the crowd clapping as he readied something which ended up being a plancha onto Keith Lee.
Presumably Lee was supposed to catch him and use him as a battering ram but they were out of sync and Vikingo smacked Lee in the head with his boot instead and crashed to the floor.
After awkwardly waiting around, they persisted in doing the spot – Lee ‘catching’ him to use him as a battering ram. Even if that spot had gone well it’d have been too elaborate. Surely a bloody plancha at full speed is more damaging than being slowly swung into somebody?
Bryan Danielson should’ve been on comms cause this looked totally ‘amateur’.
Vikingo then hit a moonsault from the top onto 2.0. Orange and Garcia went at it in the ring, the latter bagging two via piledriver. Cassidy the same via rollup. Orange looked for Beach Break, was clasped in the Dragon Tamer, Vikingo made the save.
Cassidy took out one of the heels via Punch, Menard went to work chopping Lee, barely bugging the big man until being snatched up onto Lee’s shoulders – awkwardly elbowing away at him for ages, don’t know if Lee couldn’t get his balance or what – until being planted with the DVD as Lee got the win despite having not much to do and making it look awkward anyway.
While the AAA champ spent much of it selling for a lower card ‘comedy’ team. AAA must be thrilled.
Winner: Orange Cassidy, Vikingo & Keith Lee
Hangman started cutting a promo alongside the Bucks, issuing an open challenge. The Dark Order interrupted, Matt tried to do a re-take as if the Order had interrupted by mistake. Silver said they wanted a match. Page said they could do a twelve-man if they wanted.
Missing the point that the Order wanted to fight them since Hangman stopped calling them. Honestly, neither side came off well here, the DO seeming like whiny geeks and Page like a guy who’d abandoned his friends.
Hated the re-take thing too. We know it’s not real; don’t remind us while the damn show’s on.
*****
Renee with Sammy and Chris Jericho – sorry, the Painmaker; they’re different according to Excalibur and the man himself, despite no differences in his look, demeanour or promo style.
The Painmaker said last week Sting asked for ‘more time’ with him, this week he’ll get the ‘primordial ooze’ of Chris Jericho. He’s going to turn Sting’s white paint a bloody mess.
‘Isn’t that right Sammy?’
Guevara smiled and nodded, saying nothing.
Must be handy when you can just decide you’re going to be a different character with no particular provocation i.e. storyline reason for doing so.
Young Bucks & Hangman Page vs Dark Order
Backstory: Promo five minutes ago
Dark Order got absolutely zero reaction, despite Uno being announced as ‘Canada’s own’. And why would they? They’re never on tv.
Crowd quiet as this started, with Page trying to talk DO out of the match; Nick and Reynolds got things started anyway, a brief ‘Young Bucks’ chant giving way to more quiet.
The pair wrestling well, Nick getting the better via a series of armdrags. Culminating in one from the top, sending Reynolds to the opposite corner, sparking a tag to Silver. Who wanted Page.
And got him. The pair arguing rather than fighting. Until finally locking up, side headlock into a headscissors, back to the headlock, battle of shoulder tackles, neither budging as Silver yelled that he was ‘jacked’ while flexing. Isn’t he furious at his friend?
Hammerlock, waistlock, Silver blasted Page with a back elbow, causing him to bail and tag Matt. Bringing Uno in too. Headlock, whip, Uno running through Matt and cheap-shotting Page off the apron to the floor.
Tag to Reynolds, the Bucks both in to run through the heels with dropkicks and a gutbuster into neckbreaker combo. Until being mowed down by Uno. Who demanded Page once more, the only two left standing.
Page dropped to the floor instead, the Bucks hit Uno with superkicks: Matt to the top, Nick too, simultaneous dives onto the heels. A brief ‘CM Punk’ chant tried to get going and was booed. Also pretty flatly.
Hangman tagged in but immediately tagged back out, still not wanting to fight his friends.
Break.
Strange so far – flat crowd and a slow pace with very few high-spots.
Not been the greatest show so far honestly. Opener aside. A lot of matches for the sake of matches with either no or very thin reasons for taking place. Against guys the crowd don’t see as stars too.
Reynolds countered a powerbomb then hit Matt with a knee, crawling to make the tag: Uno in, nice flurry – smashing Matt via big boot then hitting Nick with a neckbreaker and piledriver, Page breaking the cover at two.
Uno shoving him, demanding he fight, paintbrushing the Cowboy. Who started scrapping away with Uno, who dumped both Bucks outside, took a boot from Page, the latter looking for a fallaway, Silver late on a dropkick so Page had to just stand there until taking it.
Dark Order took out the Bucks again outside, Silver and Reynolds ran through their double-team combo – enziguri, German etc., ending in a flip-over pin – always looks great. Two only.
Nick got Uno with his out-to-in facebuster then took out Reynolds via moonsault, Page knocked Silver down, readying a Buckshot. He hesitated and got hooked in a hurracanrana for very nearly three.
Silver hit a bunch of kicks but was dumped via deadeye. The Bucks smacked Silver with the BTE Trigger then Page – who hadn’t wanted to fight his friends – decided a Buckshot was still needed on top of that finisher.
Immediately checking on Silver afterward. As the BCC hit the ring, Mox taking a screwdriver to Page yet again. The Dark Order left the Elite to be beaten – one of the Bucks suplexed on a chair. Callis and Takeshita joining the fray.
Kingston too, immediately and easily taken out with the Elite already down. A bloody Page staring through the ropes at his friends who simply watched from the ramp. Somewhat similarly, Moxley wouldn’t watch Kingston being beaten.
Then took the mic to say it was time to finish things. Challenging the Elite to Blood and Guts on July 19th in Boston.
Amazingly, they had the graphic ready to go! Now that’s quick work.
Hated this in every way.
The action wasn’t anything special because it was confusing as to who the heels were.
They announced Uno as from Canada and we came back from break to Reynolds fighting off the odds and making the crawl for the hot tag to said Canadian. Who also took cheap shots at Page – clearly a babyface who didn’t want to fight his friends – throughout and the match ended with the Order as clear heels.
It got the Elite lightly booed a couple times when things are already grey enough given the Punk situation. Right before they were jumped post-match by the heels but not really heels who are cheered more often than not.
For yet another excessively bloody screwdriver attack. Ending with the heels challenging the babyfaces to a final showdown in the cage.
Nothing here fit.
Winner: Young Bucks & Hangman Page
Promo package for Owen Cup.
*****
Waiting for Max, Adam Cole bumped into Roderick Strong who asked why the hell he was trusting MJF. Good question. Cole’s response of ‘I’m just playing along’ not so satisfactory.
‘What’s up Generic White Guy’ Max’s greeting for Roddy – too honest Max, I laughed.
He then wondered why the hell they were spending time at a pro wrestling show. Saying they should hit the road, as Cole said bye to Strong and wished him good luck against Joe.
Cole was warned so better not come out of this looking stupid.
‘This tournament is so wild!’ exclaimed Excalibur as we returned to ringside. Which f****** tournament would that be? The one with one odd-couple team and a stupid name?
*****
They replayed Jack Perry’s attack on Hook at Forbidden Door. ‘Just tearing JungleHook apart’ said Excalibur. Making me picture Hook singing Backstreet Boys. Or was that N Sync? Either way, fun image.
Perry came out to his usual music but cut it off immediately, saying the crowd had ruined the song for him and we’d ‘never hear it again’. Perry said he had a car waiting to take him to the airport ‘while all of you are stuck here with the wildfires’.
Really funny. People might die – let’s get some heel heat! Christian’s clearly rubbed off on him. This drew a genuine boo like ‘that’s too far’. Not like the crowd appreciating good heel work.
Clad in sunglasses, he said he was still cashing fat checks and ‘banging the hottest bitch in this entire place’. He winked at the camera.
Then asked if he turned on Hook or if everyone turned on him. After everything he’s given and being robbed of two championships he was expected to suffer through Hook shoving his title in his face.
The FTW title isn’t recognized and Perry doesn’t recognize him either – ‘you’re a fraud.’ Then said JungleHook was special ‘cause of me’.
Hook was lucky to ever stand next to him. Then told the crowd to shutup. They chanted ‘asshole’. He said they were talking to Taz.
Then was in the middle of saying he’d ‘beat the sh..’ out of Hook when his music hit. The youngster pursued Perry as he fled through the crowd.
This sounded very forced. I didn’t believe a word of what he said.
After plugging Grand Slam, they showed Perry fleeing in a car. Hook left angry.
*****
Sammy Guevara came out to hold up his signs during the picture in picture.
Alexia Nicole vs Ruby Soho
Backstory: None
As mentioned previously, Britt’s sick so this is taking the place of that. Which’ll now happen next week.
The ref stopped watching so the Outcasts could beat up Nicole outside, then Ruby won quickly.
Then spray-painted her.
Ruby took the mic to thank the fans for her missing her match with Britt since Canada is full of disease. She then complained about Britt and Cole getting opportunities they hadn’t earned.
Ruby loves who she is now but Britt’s a shadow of her former self. ‘You are one of the hardest working people in this building’, she said of Britt after criticizing her for not earning opportunities and making it clear Baker was certainly not on the premises. Unless she was talking in the second person? Confusing.
Fans began to ‘What?’.
As Ruby said ‘You don’t have fans to show for (your hard work)’. ‘They sh** on you if you sneeze in the wrong direction, don’tcha’. Last year Baker barely beat her and since then the Outcasts have taken everything from her.
The women’s title and her opportunity to repeat in the Owen Cup. Leaving her as what she is, ‘nothing’.
At least the final line was good.
Winner: Ruby Soho
They showed a very heavily edited clip from Rampage of Anthony Bowens turning down Harley Cameron because ‘I’m gay’. (In the arena, this actually took ages to film since what the QTV crew did was so awful and un-entertaining that fans booed them down for ten minutes so they couldn’t continue.)
Basically to emphasize that a crowd cheered when someone announced they were homosexual. Which shouldn’t be a big deal, but unfortunately is.
Before cutting to QT, Cameron and the latest ex-WWE guy from the 00s or 90s to take tv time away from the Lucha Bros and a host of other talented people. The creatively monikered ‘Johny TV’ (John Hennigan, Johny Nitro etc. etc. etc.).
For Rampage, they challenged Matt Hardy and Brother Zay to a match. Thank God I don’t have to watch that.
Sting & Darby Allin vs Sammy Guevara & ‘the Painmaker’ Chris Jericho (Tornado Tag)
Backstory: Sting’s team got the win Sunday after Jericho forced Sammy to do a dive which took him out the match
Jericho even came out to Judas. They best they could do to explain the Painmaker thing was to have Excalibur say he comes out when Jericho’s ‘pushed’. By what? By who?
Immediately, Darby took Guevara outside as some fans tried to get a ‘Holy S’ chant going before the vets got into a bat fight (Will Ferrell must’ve loved it). Allin returned to attack Jericho but ate a cutter off the top from Sammy, the heels stomping away and sending Sting outside.
Crowd still mostly quiet.
Sammy setup a ladder as Jericho hit Allin with a chair and Sammy flung him into the steps with Sting down on the other side of the ring. They then flung Darby over the steps and slapped hands as the ads arrived.
The fight was in the crowd as we returned, Sammy leapt off the barricade to hit a cutter on Allin. Darby sort-of hit a springboard Coffin Drop down to ringside, mostly missing Sammy and landing hard on his elbow.
He and Sting both set up tables at ringside after Sting took our Jericho with a splash. Allin set the ladder up at the edge of the ring, overlooking the tables. Sting placed Sammy on the tables, then Darby climbed down all held the ladder in place for Sting to leap off.
Just about but not really landing on Sammy (I’d even wondered if Darby would make it the tables were so far away.) And was clearly in pain afterward.
Darby flung Jericho back inside, jumping off the top rope onto him along with his skateboard. For two. Jericho then smacked him repeatedly with the ladder until Allin reversed a whip into it, Jericho hitting face-first but nailing Allin with his own skateboard in mid-air attempting a Coffin Drop.
Then blasting him with the Judas Effect only for Allin to end up outside.
As Sting grabbed Jericho from behind in the Death Drop; Jericho slipped out to clamp in the Walls. Sting crawled to grab a bat and broke the hold. Then hit Jericho with a Splash but was caught in a Codebreaker attempting a second, kicking out just before three.
Jericho missed a Judas Effect, Sting hit a Death Drop. Jericho kicked out. And attempted another Codebreaker; Sting turned it into the Scorpion Death lock for the tap and the win.
The worst Dynamite in a long, long time. Back to the dark days of earlier this year when the company seemed creatively empty.
Kris Statlander vs Lady Frost (TBS Title Open Challenge)
Next Dynamite:
Britt Baker vs Ruby Soho (Owen Cup)
Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland (Please no) vs Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy (Blind Tag Tournament)
July 19thDynamite:
Blood & Guts – Elite vs BCC & Takeshita
Thumbs Up/Down
Moxley vs Ishii
The Kingston/Moxley storyline – Kingston wants his friend back and in particular wants him away from Claudio who he hates. And we’ve been told and shown it over the last few weeks. It’s simple, it’s effective and it makes sense. In contrast with the rest of the show, which had…
*****
A continuing lack of continuity/storytelling – a lot of little things make up stories and tie them together, AEW basically don’t bother with them and they matter in getting fans interested:
Who were supposed to be the heels in the trios match? Who was in the right? Should Page have been in contact with the Dark Order? Or are they just jealous?
Why is Jericho suddenly the Painmaker? What is the Painmaker? What’s different? What brings him out?
No explanation of where Omega or Danielson were – if it’s not important they’re missing, then they’re not important
A lot of matches with no storyline reason to exist (which included talent who never appear on tv – a crowd hot for the opener got flat, not surprisingly)
Cole/Max – Why did Cole agree to spend time with him? It’s been firmly established he’s a snake
Tony Khan needs to say ‘no’ more often, starting with Sting doing crazy dives, then to hiring every ex-WWE guy and moving swiftly on to Jon Moxley and bleeding ahead of an angle where someone’s supposed to bleed
The Forbidden Door fallout will take place live tonight on Dynamite from the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Not much has been announced as far as matches-wise for the show yet, with only three bouts being promoted as of now.
Sting and Darby Allin will team up to take on “Painmaker” Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara in a tornado tag match, Britt Baker battles Ruby Soho in an Owen Hart Cup tournament first round match, and Jon Moxley takes on Tomohiro Ishii.
Plus, the brackets for the blind eliminator tournament to determine the #1 contenders for the AEW World Tag Team titles will be revealed and Jack Perry will take the mic to explain turning heel.
WWE Superstars are currently in the United Kingdom for a few shows which will culminate with Money In The Bank live from London’s O2 Arena.
The tour started today in Liverpool, England. Two shows are on Thursday, one in Dublin, Ireland, and one in Newcastle, England. Smackdown is held on Friday from London, followed by Money In The Bank on Saturday. A final show will be held on Sunday in Cardiff, Wales.
In addition, four Undertaker 1 deadMAN Shows will be held, starting Saturday in London, Sunday in Wolverhampton, Monday in Manchester, and Tuesday in Glasgow.
The Raw brand departs back to the United States after the Money In The Bank show while the Smackdown brand stays over for an extra day and departs to the U.S. on Sunday night following the last show in Wales.
