AEW announced that the second Forbidden Door pay-per-view will take place on Sunday, June 25, live from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.
The pay-per-view will be in conjunction with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and tickets go on sale on Friday, March 24 at 10AM ET on Ticketmaster.ca.
Last time in Toronto, AEW used the smaller Coca-Cola Coliseum but obviously a larger crowd is expected for this show which is why the Scotiabank Arena, holding around 19,000 fans, was selected for this event.
AEW will host several shows throughout Canada during that period, with television shows in Hamilton, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, and a house show in Calgary.
The first Forbidden pay-per-view held last year welcomed over 16,000 fans in Chicago.
Taya Valkyrie made her AEW debut last night on Dynamite, and while she did not answer Jade Cargill’s TBS title open challenge, she did make her presence felt after the match.
After Cargill defeated Nicole Matthews, she taunted another Canadian – Renee Paquette – and wondered if there was any other Canadian she could face.
Out came Valkyrie who stood face-to-face with the TBS champion but after some exchange of words, Cargill backed off. Leila Gray attempted to attack Valkyrie from behind but Taya was ready for her, taking her out with Cargill’s own finisher, the Jaded.
“Welcome to AEW, @thetayavalkyrie,” tweeted AEW President Tony Khan after her segment aired. “Great to see a Canadian star arrive TONIGHT on TBS on Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite in Winnipeg!” The tweet was accompanied by the usual “All Elite” welcome graphic.
WWE is firmly on the road to WrestleMania, and there are just three episodes of Monday Night Raw and four episodes of Friday Night SmackDown remaining before the Granddaddy of them All gets underway. The main event of Night Two is already set. Cody Rhodes was made the favorite by OddsChecker for the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble match and he lived up to the billing. His victory secured the spot in the main event of WrestleMania Night Two, the show’s true main event.
There, he will face off against the reigning and defending Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. He will put his championships on the line against the American Nightmare in the hopes of extending his already impressive title reign. Here, we will predict the matches of this tussle, as well as the main event of Night One, which has not yet been announced.
Night Two – Roman Reigns (c) vs Cody Rhodes
The reign of the Tribal Chief already spans over 900 days, and he has not been pinned or submitted since December 2019. He has decimated a who’s who of opponents to maintain his tenure at the summit of WWE, defeating the likes of Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Edge, Daniel Bryan, and Kevin Owens. But heading into WrestleMania 39, many feel that his time as champ could be coming to an end.
Unfortunately for Cody Rhodes, we aren’t a part of that group. WWE simply love Roman Reigns and they have done so ever since The Shield was destroyed by Seth Rollins nine years ago. This year will mark the Head of the Table’s seventh ‘Mania main event. One more and he will tie Hulk Hogan’s all-time record. And we can see him still being the Universal champion then, perhaps even the unified champion as he currently is.
Winner – Roman Reigns
Night One – The Usos vs Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
The main event of WrestleMania night one has not yet been announced. In actual fact, this match hasn’t even been confirmed, with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn still needing to sort out a number of personal issues that developed from the latter’s run in the Bloodline throughout 2022. But we think that it’s quite obvious that this is the match Triple H and WWE will book. The only question that remains is will it headline Night One at the Show of Shows.
After the year that Sami Zayn has had, he simply deserves to close out a night of WrestleMania. The same can be said of Jey Uso, who has been the highlight of the Bloodline since the story began back in the summer of 2020. Unfortunately for him, however, we can see him and his brother losing their Unified WWE Tag Team Championships.
WWE will give Sami Zayn the victory he deserves, and they will also send fans home on the Friday night believing that there is a chance Roman Reigns can be defeated the following evening.
Last Week’s Rating: 858,000 overall; 0.29 in 18-49 demo
There was so much still to do with it.
Introduce All-Pacific & All-Indian titles for a King of the Sea unification match aboard the Jericho Cruise, only for the debuting Poseidon to capsize the ship for a no-contest; and that’s before we even get to Shark Boy.
RIP the All-Atlantic Title.
*Montage with ‘highlights’, sad music & a wistful Cassidy staring into his backpack*
It’s Wednesday night, it’s Dynamite. Let’s go.
…..
Justin introduced MJF to a parade of boos. Overcompensating brilliantly for being dumped, Max was accompanied by four ladies, the last of whom he made out with. Streamers and balloons filled the ring as fairly loud ‘MJF’ chants dueled with the boos. Straight to the cheap heat, he noted that ‘Shawn was much better’ than Bret.
He then reminded fans of how he’d beaten Danielson to retain his belt. And now he’s not just a man, he’s ‘Iron Man’. ‘What a rush!’ noted Taz.
The ‘dancing-chair’ music played as several people streamed down to hoist MJF up on a chair. Not for long though. Jack Perry’s music quickly cut through as Max looked aghast.
A ‘Jungle Boy’ chant played. Before he could get a word out, Sammy Guevara’s music hit too. Guess we’re getting a meeting of the Four Pillars. Sammy stole some icing off the cake; Max wasn’t happy. And now had a ridiculous Burberry bucket on. Great stuff.
Of course, Darby Allin quickly followed. A loud ‘Darby’ chant accompanying him.
Max said they were ruining his moment and asked what they wanted. As all three simultaneously yelled ‘I want a title match’.
Perry noted that last time they met was three years ago and Max cheated to win. Going on to get all the opportunities he wanted while he had to wrestle on Dark (kinda remember his title match with Omega being on Dynamite). Perry noted that MJF had never even appeared on Rampage while the other three had all wrestled on Dark
(So Dark sucks and Rampage isn’t much better. Got it).
All the hard-working people back there had to watch while Max took twenty minutes to ‘do the same hokey bulls***’ every week.
Max started countering until Sammy shut him by threatening to turn a re-Bar Mitzvah into a ‘re-circumcision’. Guevara passionately talked about how hard he had to work to get here. The most cheers he’s drawn in years.
He was brought in to be the Inner Circle’s ‘job guy’ and ‘take the bumps for Jericho’ (almost silence for these statements because who the hell wants to hear that?), but he’d overcome that. He got himself to where he’s at, and now he’s gonna ‘get there’ (pointing to the title).
Max again tried to argue back, thanking Sammy for taking time out of his busy schedule getting into brawls in the back. This time Darby cut him off.
He talked about how he’d dropped out of film school rather than change who he was. And maybe he was the worst businessman in the world but AEW gave him something he couldn’t get anywhere else, something you couldn’t put a price on, ‘they let me be me’.
He’s sick of wrestlers whining on Twitter about their contract situations and etc. Including MJF. AEW means a whole lot more to him than it does to any of those wrestlers. And if Max won’t give him a shot, ‘I’m just gonna go complain about it on Twitter’. Before noting that what he’ll actually do is beat MJF’s face in with a skateboard then give him a headlock takeover (a shoutout to their match in at Full Gear ’21).
Max snapped that he’d had it with all of them. Darby said he looked ‘like s***’. Max threw insults at all of them, including ‘Sammy In about seven months I’m gonna propose to a new girl Guevara’. Drawing ooooooohs from the crowd. Sammy fired back that his fiancée had just left him.
After starting well, this was now descending toward comedy and more like a bad reality-show.
Max then made the point that the other three all had vets look out for them while he was ‘ready since day one’. A few weak ‘Wardlow’ chants (poor Wardlow).
‘I’m the only pillar who can actually keep this place up’. He’s beaten all of them one-on-one, so none of them will get a shot. He demanded they all leave and let him eat his cake, pie-facing Perry who took him down, Sammy took out Perry, Darby and Guevara went at it, resulting in MJF landing in the cake.
Maybe I’m just a miserable b****** but this felt too goofy for the world title picture. Darby and Sammy cut good promos (Perry honestly came off like a whiner) but all three were a little too insider (or a lot in Sammy’s case).
Started really well, didn’t end the same way. But I like that they’re involving these guys in the title picture. Despite the up-and-down booking, they all feel like they belong there due to the four pillars thing which we’ve been told now for years.
…..
Footage of Jericho being honored by the city as they pushed the trios main event.
Hangman Adam Page, Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs the Blackpool Combat Club
Backstory: Caught-up in the Page/Moxley feud, Uno was beaten bloody by Mox a few weeks back and what’s left of the Dark Order were left laying by the BCC last week
The crowd certainly didn’t see the BCC as heels despite their recent behavior. Also, Wild Thing doesn’t exactly scream bad guys.
Big pop for Page, Grayson got a pretty good response in his home country. Uno continues to wrestle without a shirt.
Uno blasted Yuta with a boot right away, the two exchanged chops in the corner, the vet getting the better of it until being driven back into the BCC corner. Mox threw forearms then choked the masked-man with his jacket before tagging Claudio for a double-team dropkick to the face.
Back in, Yuta took a cheap shot at Hangman, ate a back body drop and allowed the tag to Grayson who hit a crazy springboard ddt from in-to-out, over Moxley, driving Claudio headfirst into the apron (one of the coolest moves I’ve seen in a long time).
A meteora back inside continuing the attack until being blindsided by Mox but coming back with a uranage. Then a swinging ddt off the ropes onto CC, springboard moonsault with a twist, crowd going wild here. More like Graytson than Grayson, amiright?
A backslide was blocked by Claudio, who then flung Grayson outside as an all-BCC spike-piledriver on the outside brought the break.
Struggling as we returned, Grayson was in the wrong corner, Claudio aiming mocking kicks and blasting the Canadian with an uppercut. Mox back in, another piledriver for two and the first pin attempt of the match.
Taking him to the corner, Moxley flung chops, blasted him with a clothesline but ate a jumping knee-strike, allowing the very hot tag to Hangman, who offered lariats for all, a springboard one sending Claudio outside as he caught Yuta into a fallaway before launching himself onto Castagnoli and drilling Yuta with an off-hand lariat after the strong-arm was blocked.
Great sequence. Crowd hot.
Yuta slipped out of a powerbomb but was caught in another as Uno came off the top with a senton, Claudio wiped him out with an uppercut but ate a discus from Page, Grayson polished things off with a Cactus Clothesline to the outside.
Yuta avoided a Dead Eye and tagged Mox as the two big rivals went head-to-head. Shockingly, a fistfight broke out, Page getting the better, readying a Buckshot until Yuta drilled him with the ring-bell.
The Dark Order checked on Page then fired up and continued the fight against the odds. Faring well until Yuta clipped Uno with a chopblock. Grayson avoided a splash in the corner, launching a diving senton over the buckle to Claudio on the outside as Uno countered a Death Rider into a ddt of his own in-ring. Grayson hopped up-top, Moxley prone, he and Uno hit their combo 450/senton splash in the corner for the closest of twos on Mox.
Then hit the Fatality, Yuta made the save at 2.9. Grayson knocked Mox loopy with a Pele kick, hit a hurracanrana on Claudio for another two (very much Lucha rules here, whoever’s in is legal) until Yuta dragged Uno off the apron. Leaving Grayson alone to eat a pop-up uppercut and a rear-naked from Mox as the BCC bagged the win.
Moxley again refused to release the hold, transitioning into the Bulldog, continuing the assault as Uno tried to make the save, until Silver and Reynolds ran them off.
This was six guys determined not to be outshone by the main event. Very good match interrupted by ads.
And the fact that Grayson is no longer employed while the likes of Jarrett, Lethal and Parker Boudreaux take up tv time, is a crime. And a clear example of why some fans long for the ‘old’ AEW.
Also like the fact that the trios division now seems to actually have teams.
WINNER: BCC
Juice Robinson promo. He asked what Starks was going to do about him planting Ricky’s surgically repaired neck into the mat. Rhetorically. Because ‘you ain’t gonna do jack-diddly-squat’.
Remain unimpressed. Robinson’s promo style is over the top.
…..
They again pushed the main event and the International title match.
Jade Cargill vs Nicole Matthews, Canadian Open Challenge for TBS Title
Backstory: Cargill feels there are no tests left for her, challenged any Canadian
Jaded very quickly. Excalibur noted that it’s just about her two-year anniversary. Question is, how many years until she’s capable of having a solid match?
Renee got in the ring to ask the same question as last week about competition. Jade gave the same answer – ‘Aren’t you from Canada?’ Backing Renee to the corner then asking if that was all Canada had to offer.
Taya Valkyrie’s music hit to a nice pop. Despite insisting she’d be in Cali today, she was indeed in her home country.
Taya drilled Leila Gray with Jaded as Cargill posed on the ramp and Taya laughed.
Valkyrie’s a physical match for Cargill. Which makes a nice change.
WINNER: Jade Cargill
Schiavone backstage with Ricky Starks. Who noted Juice hadn’t done anything in AEW and was part of a group which hadn’t been relevant since 2015. If he wants some, if he wants to bring Bullet Club with him, he can come get some (to be clear, it seemed like a throwaway line, not as if Bullet Club were actually coming in).
…..
QTV with Marshall, Hobbs, some of the Nightmare Factory and a blond Australian lady who mockingly reported that no-one knew who stole Wardlow’s stuff. They then played footage of Bayley’s Ex (legit can’t remember his name & they never told us) breaking into the car and stealing the belt.
And all laughed afterwards (except Hobbs, who only knows mean mug) as QT joked about MJF ‘stealing all his (Wardlow’s) momentum’ last year as the insider hits kept playing. Marshall said ‘Ruthless Aggression’ like Vince McMahon, no idea why. The blonde asked what was next for Wardlow as Bayley’s Ex said ‘Batista but not as good’. QT revealed that he’d stolen Wardlow’s passport. Hobbs finished by saying ‘Welcome to Will’s Word, b****’.
Between he and Wardlow, not sure who I feel more sorry for. This would’ve made the word cringe grimace.
One of the worst segments yet known to 2023.
Jeff Jarrett vs Orange Cassidy, International Title
Backstory: Jarrett attacked Cassidy (with a guitar!!!) after he beat Jay Lethal last week; the All-Atlantic Title now becomes the International Title
Excalibur tried to back-explain the Hobbs/QT relationship (since the previous segment didn’t begin to bother) as Jarrett made his entrance to tepid boos. Cassidy placed the new belt in his backpack only to bring it out again a few steps later as he reached the ring.
There was also a fan dressed as the Shockmaster.
A freshly squeezed chant kicked up as we kicked off, Jarrett landing a hip-toss then strutting. He then strutted again. This man is Jericho-like in his ability to mix up his act.
Cassidy missed the Punch but got the pockets, Jarrett thought figure four, Cassidy kicked him away but came down on his already injured knee (from last week’s guitar shot) after a leapfrog. Jarrett then mimicked Cassidy’s kicks, firing Orange up as he unloaded then introduced Jeff’s head to the buckle for a count of ten.
They were really pushing the whole Shazam thing as Jarrett barged Cassidy off the apron to bring the break.
Not exactly classic AEW so far.
Orange was down clutching his knee as we came back. Satnam Singh flung him back inside as the announcers acted like fire had been discovered. JJ continued to work the knee, the crowd sounded bored. Until he hooked the sharpshooter instead. Bringing a rain of boos.
Orange slipped out into one of his own; Jarrett was right at the ropes.
A sleeper was next as 1998 looked on approvingly. After fading briefly, Orange got the pockets, jawbreaker, sleeper of his own, Singh again interfered, draping Orange across the ropes. Leaving Jarrett to apply the figure four.
Cassidy fought his way free, the two exchanged shots in the middle until Orange missed the Punch again. You’ll be shocked but there was a ref bump and the guitar was introduced. Thankfully, Aubrey marched her way down to disrupt the guitar shot.
Cassidy grabbed the gee-tar, Singh snatched it back, Orange went full Eddie Guerrero, collapsing as if he’d been struck: Singh & Dutt were ejected. Cassidy pulled off a tornado ddt, Jarrett again took the ref, Jay Lethal struck with the Golden Globe after faking an injured shoulder.
Cassidy kicked out.
Trent took out Lethal, Orange went for the Punch, his knee buckled, he fought off the Stroke, hit the Punch, his reign continues/begins, depending on your pov.
What a way to introduce a new title. A hearty brew of mid-90s style and mid-00s booking.
WINNER: Orange Cassidy
Promo video for the trios match. Jericho again put over he and Omega being in the ring for the first time in company history. Malakai again blathered about removing disease from the company. He was right there in the previous match! Where were you?
…..
The Acclaimed music video. Basically just showing them with fans. This is not close to good enough follow-up for the ex-champs and one of the company’s most popular acts.
…..
The Outcasts came out with their own music and entrance vid. Not content with copying the nWo, their colors are black and green. Ruby started telling a ‘story’ about how the ‘grass used to be greener’ in AEW. Until a couple of ‘bitches’ turned up to help ‘house-train’ the other dogs (I think).
Saraya ranted that without them, there wouldn’t be a division. ‘I’m a miracle!’ More ‘neck-beard’ stuff, followed up by ‘stinky tw**s’. (Is that not as bad a word over there as it is here? Because that’s like the worst word you can say in the UK.)
Saraya sounded like she’d run out of stuff to say. So Toni talked about being interim champ. Not the true champ. They’re going after one entitled rookie after the next. The crowd was dying until Toni named Britt & Jamie. Hayter’s music hit and the the duo took down the trio until they stood still for a bit so the heels could take over.
Britt was drilled with Destination Unknown; Jamie a Storm Zero. Riho came down with a bat to chase them off.
Incoherent with little presence or charisma, the heels sounded like even they didn’t believe what they were saying.
…..
The audio wasn’t yet ready as we came back and couldn’t hear the start of a 2.0 promo. Talking sarcastically about the Acclaimed’s music video. Twice the ex-champs have turned them down. They need a reminder of why they should join the JAS, so they should tune in Friday when they’ll be facing the Bollywood Boyz.
Now if that doesn’t do it, they’ll never join up with Jericho.
…..
Rey Fenix humbly accepted Hobbs’ open challenge, talking about how he used to wrestle for free, has won tag and trios titles so now fancies a shot at singles gold.
The House of Black vs the Elite vs the JAS, Trios Titles
Backstory: JAS won last week and declared selves #1 contenders, the Elite disagreed, the HOB said they’d be happy to embarrass both hometown wrestlers (Omega & Jericho)
Should be a belter of a match. But feels a bit hot-shotty throwing Omega & Jericho out there when they’ve never met before (in AEW). Especially with only a week’s notice.
The champs came out first. Understandable given the home-town situation. The Bucks were rocking ‘the Elite’ tees with the logo in the form of the Canadian flag as the crowd chanted ‘Kenny’ relentlessly. Omega went around ringside shaking hands with a huge smile on his face.
Don Callis joined on comms as the crowd chanted ‘Holy S’ before the fight had even begun. Which it did with Guevara facing off against Brody King. Sammy threw a big dropkick which didn’t budge the big man a bit, before posing and being dropped with a chop.
Tag to Garcia as a TiA chant began. The youngster too a victim of a Brody chop as he dived for a tag to the Elite who wanted no part of King. Garcia ate another chop before tagging Jericho to a huge cheer. Malakai joined him, the two circling each other until Omega tagged his way in off Malakai’s back to possibly an even louder cheer.
But the House swarmed the ring before the hometown boys could go at it. Nice tease. Break time.
Jericho was being beaten down by Malakai as we came back but responded with stiff chops and a whip to the corner, both ducked the other’s finish until Jericho went vintage with an underhook backbreaker.
Then tagged Sammy as the JAS launched their pose. Sammy and Garcia worked over Black until the Dutchman fired knees and boots but was cracked by a Sammy enziguri. Nick tagged himself in to run the ropes into his armdrag/tejeiras combo on the JAS, running through the rest of his ‘comeback’ in the HOB corner, knocking Buddy & Brody off the apron, hitting Malakai with a facebuster but being caught on the subsequent moonsault by Matthews and crucifix’d up into a Black knee-strike through the ropes.
Dragging him back in, Black tagged Matthews who cut-off a Jackson tag until eating an enziguri as Omega returned to the ring with a flurry: cross body from the top, Polish hammers, ducking kicks from Malakai, snap-dragon, one for Brody too, Matthews up on the shoulders into you can’t escape. Smooth as hell.
The crowd chanted his name once more.
Matthews freed himself with an elbow, Omega avoided him running in, popping up to hit a hurracanrana and leaving he and Jericho alone in the ring. The HOB again tried to interrupt, forcing the Canadians to work together to eliminate them so they could get to fighting.
Which they did as fists flew until Omega caught a rebounding Jericho with a V-Trigger. But was quickly taken out by Garcia, triggering everyone taking everyone out in a breathtaking sequence until Omega saved Matt from a Matthews reverse-ddt via snap-dragon.
But was swept into the Walls until a superkick party saved him. The Bucks throwing kicks at everyone who entered, but only staggering Brody who rebounded into a double clothesline, leaving everyone down as the final break came.
The Canadians were at it once again, Omega forced to the apron, avoiding Jericho’s springboard dropkick, coming back with a terminator dive, flinging Jericho back in but being grabbed by the HOB, the Bucks about to take to the sky once more until being cut off by Garcia and Guevara, who hit a superplex and Spanish fly respectively.
King then climbed up top, cut-off by Omega who readied a superplex of his own but was fought off. Jericho in to try his luck but faring no better until a step-up V-trigger blasted Brody and the Canadians went to work via double team superplex.
A Code Breaker broke up the bromance for a count of two (and I think the first pin attempt a good ten minutes in) as we cut to the back where the Silver, Reynolds, Hangman and the BCC were brawling (Excalibur said Uno had been taken to the hospital).
Omega and Jericho continued to duke it out, Omega blocked a Lionsault with his knees, Matt Jackson came in to hit locomotion northern lights on Garcia then both he and Guevara. Meltzer Driver ready, Jericho caught Nick into a Code Breaker, Garcia hit a uranage on Matt, Sammy came off the top with a beautiful shooting star.
Brody broke up the pin then tagged himself in to crush Guevara in the corner. Garcia jumped on his back but was shaken off as King launched sentons in the corner on both JAS boys. Then flung a limp Sammy to tag Jericho. The vet facing off against the whole House by himself.
Dante’s Inferno the result, Omega making the save.
Jericho caught Brody with Floyd, Sammy took out the Elite via shooting star to the floor, King just kicked out. Malakai then wiped-out Jericho via heel kick, leaving Garcia to be drilled with Dante’s Inferno, the other HOB members cutting off the ring to ensure the pin and the win.
A crazy match which focused almost entirely on the hometown boys with a smattering of Brody King. Fine for this week. But the HOB need to be kept the focus of the division while they remain champs.
Jake Hager attacked the House as the BCC & Dark Order brawl reached the ring. Hangman was left standing alone against the BCC with the Dark Order taken out. Until the Elite stepped in (slightly behind him) to back him up to a huge pop, honestly maybe the loudest all night. Which makes sense since it’s the longest and best-told story in the company (even if the company themselves aren’t the ones telling most of it).
The BCC thought better of it, bailing as the show ended with Hangman just starting to realize exactly who was backing him up.
Topping off a very good match with some very good booking which highlighted a bunch of different trios involving top stars and a reunion years in the making.
WINNER: The House of Black
…..
Next Rampage:
Powerhouse Hobbs vs Rey Fenix, TNT Title open challenge
2.0 vs Bollywood Boys
Taya Valkyrie debut
Next Dynamite:
Hook vs Stokely Hathaway, no DQ
More announced on Rampage which has a later start time
…..
Overall impressions
A largely good opening segment and two very good matches culminating in a very rare (for AEW) cliffhanger ending. Overcoming a remainder which varied from forgettable to awful.
AEW will make its debut from Winnipeg, Canada tonight as Dynamite rolls into the house of Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho for the first time ever with over 8,500 fans in attendance.
And Omega and Jericho happen to also be in the main event as House of Black will defend the AEW World Trios titles against The Elite and Jericho Appreciation Society in a triple threat match.
The All-Atlantic title is no more as it’s rebranded as the AEW International title and Orange Cassidy will defend against Jeff Jarrett while TBS champion Jade Cargill has a Canadian open challenge for her title as well.
A six-man tag match featuring Adam Page and The Dark Order vs The Blackpool Combat Club is also on the cards as well as the debut of QTV with new TNT champion Powerhouse Hobbs and QT Marshall.
We’ll also hear from The Outcasts – the trio of Saraya, Toni Storm, and Ruby Soho – plus AEW World champion MJF will have his re-Bar Mitzvah celebration!
Apart from the NXT Women’s title ladder match, two other title matches were announced for Stand & Deliver.
The NXT Women’s Tag Team champions Kiana James and Fallon Henley will be defending their gold against the team of Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, both formerly of NXT UK. Fyre and Dawn defeated Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley and former champs Katana Chance and Kayden Carter to become the new number one contenders.
Meanwhile, the NXT North American title is taking a break from being defended in a ladder match on the show and instead it will be a fatal five-way match. Lee was involved in an open challenge which led to a massive brawl featuring several NXT stars and HBK made the match for WrestleMania weekend with the four opponents still to be determined.
This week’s WWE block on A&E featured the Biography of Kane and Rivals had the feud of Triple H and Batista, with the shows going against the Oscars on ABC.
Biography: Kane did 383,000 viewers, down 98,000 viewers from the prior week which had Chyna. It did a 0.13 rating in the 18-49, down 0.01 from last week, and placed #33 on the chart.
Rivals: Triple H vs Batista did worse, with just 287,000 viewers, down a full 100,000 viewers from the prior week of Cena vs The Rock. It did a 0.09 rating in 18-49, down 0.03 from last week and placed #53 on the chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE today announced details of the WrestleMania Superstore which will open on Thursday, March 30 through Monday, April 3.
The Superstore will be located inside the Los Angeles Convention Center West Hall where the largest collection of WrestleMania and WWE merchandise, including replica titles, exclusive WrestleMania apparel, and other memorabilia will be for sale.
In addition, fans will be able to view WWE memorabilia displays highlighting iconic WWE moments, memories and matches from past and present. They can also play WWE 2K23 at the 2K Gaming Lounge, see the latest WWE action figures at the Mattel Elite 100 Activation and be a part of Superstar appearances throughout the weekend.
Admission for the WrestleMania Superstore is free and no ticket is required. Superstars meet and greets which will happen inside the store will require a ticket from Fiterman Sports.
The Superstore hours of operations are March 30 from Noon to all other days until April 3 from 9AM to Midnight.
After wrestling on and off for AEW for two years, KiLynn King has decided to sign an exclusive deal with Impact Wrestling. King announced her signing in an interview with WrestlingNews.co.
King said she finally had the opportunity to do some work for Impact in December and listed Tommy Dreamer and Gail Kim as big advocates for her.
“And about a week or two…I got a call saying like, ‘Hey, we want to offer you something,’ and I was like, ‘Yes,'” King said.
The 31-year-old from Florida said that the backstage atmosphere was amazing and everyone was uplifting and encouraging.
“So as soon as I got the phone call, my gut immediately was like, ‘Yep, you’re gonna do this. This is the next step,'” she continued.
Apart from her matches on AEW, King also worked for the NWA and NJPW over the past year.
Monday Night Raw had its lowest viewership since January 16 this week as it faced competition from the NBA on ESPN, with Raw getting an average of 1,705,000 viewers, down 122,000 viewers from the previous week.
The first hour started with 1,779,000 viewers, then dipped to 1,760,000 viewers in the second, before ending with just 1,575,000 viewers in the third.
Raw was #2, #3, and #4 in the top 50 cable chart for the night with 0.58, 0.52, and 0.50 ratings respectively for an average of 0.53, up 0.01 from last week with John Cena. It was overall #2 for the night behind the NBA game. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The Great Muta will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2023 and the announcement will be made by Ric Flair on The Bump today.
Muta, real name Keiji Muto, never worked for the WWE but had runs in WCW with memorable feuds against Sting and Ric Flair himself.
The 60-year-old Japanese legend recently retired and one of his final matches was teaming with Sting and Darby Allin in a six-man tag match. He also wrestled Shinsuke Nakamura in a one-on-one match for Pro Wrestling NOAH on January 1.
Muta’s title wins throughout his career rival any star who had the same longevity, winning the NWA World title, the IWGP Heavyweight title, the GHC Heavyweight title, and countless of other titles and honors in his 39-year career.
A ladder match for the NXT Women’s title has been announced for Stand & Deliver as the status of champion Roxanne Perez remains in question.
During the broadcast, Shawn Michaels said that after collapsing at the Roadblock show following her successful title defense against Meiko Satomura, questions still linger over Perez’s health and they might possibly have to crown a new NXT Women’s champion at the premium live event.
Zoey Stark and Gigi Dolin advanced to the ladder match after they defeated Sol Luca and Kiana James respectively in qualifying matches. Another contender will be added to the match.
Rampage on TNT drew 447,000 viewers, up 53,000 viewers from the prior week and the best number since January 27. Rampage also did a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 0.05 from the previous week and the best since January 6. It placed #19 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Nikki and Brie Garcia have announced that they have officially departed WWE.
It’s the first time in 16 years that the twins find themselves without a WWE contract, but the decision, despite being difficult, was needed. On their Nikki & Brie Show on Sirius XM, Nikki said that when it was time to talk about a new WWE deal, they knew it was time to pack their bags.
“Today we are officially from here on out, the Garcia Twins, Brie and Nikki Garcia,” Nikki said.
The twins signed WWE developmental deals in 2007 and had been part of the promotion ever since. Nikki won the Divas title twice and Brie once, and both were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2020.
There were hints that the two would return from retirement and go for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles but that never transpired and their RAW XXX appearance was nixed as they were sent to do other media for WWE.
The twins enjoyed a rather successful career in WWE and even had their own Total Bellas show on E! They were also an integral part of the Total Divas show and lately Nikki had a four-part series titled Nikki Bella Says I Do which also aired on E! All shows were co-produced by WWE.
WWE owns the trademarks for the names Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, and The Bella Twins, which is why they are reverting to their real names.
It looks like Taya Valkyrie is heading to All Elite Wrestling as rumors are running rampant that she will be the mystery opponent for Jade Cargill tomorrow night on Dynamite.
Cargill, who is still the undefeated TBS champion, issued a Canadian open challenge for her title on Dynamite. The only female Canadian talent on the AEW roster is The Bunny, who is injured, and Valkyrie is Canadian and just happened to be free to show up.
Valkyrie wrapped up her duties with Impact Wrestling already with the latest television tapings from Las Vegas. A WWE return seemed unlikely considering how badly she was used in NXT and was released less than a year after she was hired. But you know in this business there’s always the saying of never say never.
Tomorrow’s Dynamite will be live from Winnipeg, the home of Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega.
In an interview with the Associated Press mainly to promote the launch of WWE 2K23, 16-time world champ John Cena also discussed his upcoming match at WrestleMania and his relationship with WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon.
Asked why he came back to feud with Austin Theory, Cena was pretty blunt in his answer.
“Because that’s what I was told would happen,” he said, noting that he doesn’t have much say in what goes on and he’s not the person who requests to work with this or that person.
“I don’t ever do that. I’ve never done that. I just try and do what I’m told to do and do it to the best of my abilities. Instead of dictating my terms, I often just try to make the performance the best it can be,” Cena continued.
When the topic of Vince McMahon came up and the several sexual misconducts against him, Cena said that while everyone has a right to have their perspective, he has the right to do the same, and when you love somebody, you take them as imperfectly perfect as they are.
“We all make mistakes, we all have poor decisions. Lord knows I’ve made my collection of poor choices,” Cena said. “That doesn’t mean I’m not going to love somebody. There’s no way I can go on record and say I don’t love Vince McMahon.”
Cena added that Vince is everything you could want in a great friend, business partner, father, and mentor.
Friday Night Smackdown on FOX drew 2,320,000 viewers, down 131,000 viewers from the prior week and the lowest since January 20. Smackdown pulled a 0.63 in the 18-49 demo, up 0.04 from the previous week and was #1 across all network and cable television for the night, beating everything else by a wide margin. In the overnight numbers, Smackdown had 2,149,000 viewers in the first hour and 2,123,000 viewers in the second. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Nikki and Brie have both dropped their WWE names and are now going by Garcia Twins rather than the Bella Twins.
Nikki’s Instagram has changed from @thenikkibella to @nikkigarcia while Brie’s changed from @thebriebella to simply @brie. They also both changed their name to Nikki Garcia and Brie Garcia on social media and there’s no other mention of Bella anywhere.
Their combined Twitter account went from @bellatwins to @NikkiAndBrie. Their YouTube channel @thebellatwins is unavailable at the moment, saying the channel does not exist.
The Hall of Fame duo were not so happy with WWE this year after being left out of the 30th anniversary episode of Monday Night Raw and both were backstage at the AEW pay-per-view Revolution.
In a tweet, the twins wrote, “Hi I’m Nikki Garcia, Hi I’m Brie Garcia. And we’re the Garcia Twins. Welcome to our next chapter!”
AEW star Saraya welcomed Nikki and Brie to “freedom” and said that she knows their next chapter is going to be even bigger.
The Hell In A Cell match is returning at WrestleMania as Edge vs Finn Balor is now officially taking place inside the steel structure.
On Raw last night, Edge told Judgment Day that he wasted a year of his life fighting them and it was time for it to end – inside Hell In A Cell. Balor said that he’s been to hell before and his demon was too much to handle, hinting maybe at a Demon Balor return.
This will be the first HIAC match at WrestleMania since 2016 when The Undertaker faced Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 32. It will be the fourth overall HIAC match at Mania, following Undertaker vs Big Boss Man at WrestleMania XV, The Undertaker vs Triple H at WrestleMania XXVIII, and the one at 32.
Edge is out first and calls out Finn Balor. Edge told Finn he challenged him to WrestleMania, and he got it. Edge says there is only one way for this to end Edge VS. Finn Balor at WrestleMania inside Hell in a Cell. Finn tells Edge he will see him at WrestleMania but until then Priest, Ripley and Dominik Mysterio attack Edge. Johnny Gargano, Dexter Lumis and Candace LeRae come out to help Edge.
Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio VS. Dexter Lumis & Johnny Gargano
Dexter had his submission hold locked on Dominik but Dominik was able to maneuver before going to the mat and tagged in Priest who hit Dexter with a round house kick to the head then his finish South of Heaven and got the pinfall.
Winners: Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio
Cathy Kelly stops The Miz as he enters the building and before she was able to get the interview started, Chad Gable ran over and asked if they had seen Otis and Miz told him to go put up flyers as he just got here.
Cathy continued by asking if he would consider having a cohost for WrestleMania. The Miz laughed and said there is only one Superstar big enough to host a show of such magnitude.
Before the Miz could continue the camera pans and we see a fight taking place where the Damage Control attacked Trish Stratus. They slammed Trish’s face into the floor, then a box, and then gave Trish a triple superkick and left her laying.
Omos face to face with Brock Lesnar
As MVP starts saying Brock made the biggest mistake of his career, Brocks’s music cuts him off. Brock gets in the ring and looks over Omos. Omos clinches his fist and moves it toward Brock’s face then opened his hand and moved it down for a handshake. Lesnar shakes Omos’ hand but then Omos would not let go so Lesnar stomped on Omos’ foot and goes behind him for a belly to back suplex but Omos elbows Brock.
Omos then grabbed Lesnar by the face and shoved him over the top rope. Lesnar did not go completely over the rope so Omos picks him up and dumps him out. Omos stands in the ring and says this is my house. Officials come out to keep the peace and Lesnar just put his hands up and told one of them to give him his hat. Lesnar smiles, puts his hat on and walks to the back.
Cody Rhodes VS. L.A. Knight
Cody catches Knight with a Cody Cutter off the top rope and Knight gets up and stumbles right into Cross Rhodes for the win for Cody.
Winner: Cody Rhodes
After the match, Cody gets a microphone and says he keeps hearing warnings from Paul Heyman to stay out of the Bloodline’s business. Cody says he does not work for the Bloodline or Heyman so if he wants to stand side by side with Sami Zayn or Kevin Owens he will do that. Cody says Heyman says don’t make this personal and Cody says it is personal since he made his debut at 21 years old in front of these same cameramen.
Mr. Heyman says Cody needs to acknowledge Roman Reigns and Cody says I acknowledge Roman Reigns and now you need to acknowledge me. Cody says he is undefeated since returning to WWE and he thought he was a prince in this industry but he has no crown or undisputed championship but on April 2nd he ends Reigns generational run and he will become the first Rhodes to ever say he is the Undisputed Universal champion.
Byron Saxton interviews Seth “Freakin” Rollins in the back and asked what his reaction to Logan Paul knocking him out with a sucker punch last week. As Rollins talks about Paul, The Miz comes up and says he is jealous that Logan Paul knocked him out last week and next week Logan Paul will be here for a live edition of his show.
Baron Corbin comes in and says his schedule just opened up. Then asked Miz to be his cohost. Corbin offered to give Rollins boxing lessons and Rollins tells him he would rather take boxing lessons from his daughter. Corbin then challenges Rollins and Rollins agrees. The Miz tells Corbin to handle Rollins and he will put in a good word with Logan.
Elias VS. Bronson Reed
Elias did not have too much offense in this match, Reed hit the Tsunami splash off the top rope for the win.
Winner: Bronson Reed
Cathy Kelly trying to get an update on Trish Stratus, but Chad Gable came in looking for Otis and tells her to call him if she sees Otis. Lita and Becky Lynch come to the door and Cathy asked if she could have a word with them but they walked past her and went into the room where Trish was.
Cathy then interviews Kevin Owens and says he doesn’t need Sami or Cody Rhodes. Kevin will fight Solo Sikoa tonight on his own.
The Street Profits are talking with Austin Theory, joking about him taking on John Cena. Theory then started trying to cause a problem with the Street Profits, Dawkins told him he would take him on tonight and Theory said wait what are you two doing for WrestleMania oh that’s right nothing and laughs and walks away.
Austin Theory VS. Angelo Dawkins
Good match, ending saw Dawkins for a spinning splash but Theory hits him with a forearm, then hits A-Town Down for the win.
Winner: Austin Theory
After the match, Theory locks Dawkins in the STF to taunt John Cena but Montez Ford came out to assist Dawkins.
Cathy Kelly was about to introduce her next interviewee until Paul Heyman comes in and starts by saying they have a problem and the problem is Kevin Owens and they are going to solve that problem by Solo Sikoa. Next Cody Rhodes is making things personal. Cody Rhodes is going to get a chance to acknowledge the Tribal Chief next week on Monday Night Raw.
Ric Flair will announce the next Hall of Fame inductee on the Bump at 1PM on Peacock.
Rey Mysterio comes out and says this award is for all of us. And he is interrupted by Dominik again. Dominik said Rey deserves it, because he put his entire life into this business and he earned that award at the expense of him. Dominik says he is going to let Rey enjoy his Hall of Fame weekend but he is going to make it better and challenge him to a match at WrestleMania and Rey says I don’t know how many times I have to tell you I am not going to fight my own son and I know you don’t believe it but I love you son and I always will. Dominik tells Rey to keep walking because the only thing you ever taught me is what not to be.
Cathy Kelly catches up to Becky Lynch and Lita and they are going to after Damage Control.
The Miz is out to the ringside to be on commentary for the next match.
Seth “Freakin” Rollins VS. Baron Corbin
The action spills outside the ring and Rollins throws Corbin onto the Miz and when he gets both Cobin and the Miz inside the ring, Rollins hits Corbin with a stomp and gets the win.
Winner: Seth “Freakin” Rollins
In the back, Chad Gable is still looking for Otis and gets stopped by Mustafa Ali and says the thing you’re looking for might be around the corner. Otis is taking pictures and Gable says weren’t you supposed to have a match tonight? Gable tells Otis they don’t have to lift weights all the time they can do this. Maxine comes in and Otis goes with them.
Bianca Belair VS. Chelsea Green
Camella at ringside with Chelsea kicks Bianca while Chelsea had the referee distracted and Kevin says cheap shot by Carmella which in turn Cory Graves says nothing cheap about her trust me, I got the receipts. In the end it was Belair with the KOD for the win.
Winner: Bianca Belair
After the match, Chelsea and Carmella attack Belair and Asuka comes out and makes the save. Asuka then parades around the ring with the Raw Women’s Championship and pretends to spit mist at Bianca and then drops the title at Bianca’s feet and starts laughing.
Solo Sikoa VS. Kevin Owens in a Street Fight
Owens gets caught going to the top rope and Solo tosses Owens into six chairs that were set up in the ring. After only a two count the action spills out of the ring where the Usos jump Owens with double superkicks. Now back in the ring another double superkick to Owens and Solo picks him up and hits him with the Samoan Spike for the win.
