AEW Collision and Rampage 11-17-23

Collision begins with Tony Schiavone bringing out the FATHER OF THE YEAR CHRISTIAN CAGE! Christian says he'll send Ric Flair to meet Jesus officially tomorrow night and retire Sting! Backstage, Lexy chats with Bill and Starks say they're the best tag team in history without question. HOWEVER, they aren't a fan of the stip making it so they can lose the belts without losing and they've selected a ladder match to help with things since Bill's a big guy. 

MIRO'S OUT TO MASSACRE DANIEL GARCIA! Miro is such a great bully in there with Garcia as a fantastic babyface in peril. Back and forth overhand chops lead to a GIANT SAITO SUPLEX BY GARCIA! GARGANO ESCAPE BY GARCIA! DRAGON TAMER! Miro grabs the head and just slams it down on the mat! Machka kick and GAME OVER ENDS IT! Miro and CJ are interviewed and she's put him in the continental classic for a bonus. The Kings of the Black Throne demolish The Boys. King tosses one on the other on the floor. Dante's Inferno ends it. TBS Title three-way hype video.

Trent, Cage, and Komander are out with Penta for a 4-way. What a random assortment of people - is Lifeblood reforming!? Nope - title contention match for...something. Rising knee by Trent and a half and half to Penta. Cage deadlift superplexes Komander to the pile on the floor! Trent and Cage do some crazy strikes before Cage sends him down with a discus lariat. Made in Japan on Trent gets 2.9! GIANT DIVE OFF TRENT'S BACK ONTO CAGE ON THE FLOOR! Trent avoids the ropewalk SSP and gets the Crunchy Waffle or whatever it is to win. Trent faces Christian tonight for the TNT Title as a reward. Callis and Hobbs gloat about taking Paul Wight out and tossing him through a hood and windshield and breaking his body - IT'S BRUTALITY! "I TOOK OUT THE GIANT - I'm big, black and jacked!" 

Wardlow squashes a dude and hits a swanton. Ref stoppage after ONE POWERBOMB and Wardlow isn't a fan of that. But leaves satisfied after a bit. Starks and Bill are out for Dax vs. Rush! They just beat the shit out of each other with chops and it's beautiful violence! Tons of suplexes by Rush get 2! a billion chops back and forth! TEARDROP SUPLEX HITS DAX! Dax pieldriver gets 2! Starks spears RUSH during the corner charge for a big brawl. AND THEN EVERYONE ELSE COMES OUT FOR ABRAWL! 

Andretti chats with the OGK and Roddy for a second. Buddy Matthews is out to face Yuta, which should be good but everything feels like Test Pattern Wrestling. Helluve kick on the railing! Yuta avoids a PK Yuta gets a German for 2 and a suicide dive. Angle slam gets 2 for Yuta! Tons of stomps to Buddy lead to a big double stomp for 2. Corner head trap superplex into a Liger bomb INTO A CURB STOMP FOR BUDDY! Buddy wants to take out Yuta with a chair but Claudio saves! Claudio wants a match with Buddy on Full Gear!

Mox vs. Orange is hyped up with a cool mirror elevator promo from Mox. Buddy vs. Claudio is set up for Zero Hour and the Outscasts are out for the tag with Kris Stat and Shida! Shida takes Ruby down with a torture rack drop. Kris throws Saraya down with a tackle for 2. Saraya gets the apron knees but eats a Shida enzuiguri. Kris discus lariat to Ruby! Spinning fire driver gets 2 for Kris! Shida and Saraya meet in the middle with a crossbody. Sling went wonky but the faces won. MJF chats with Tony about Jay and he says the man makes the title and he'll beat Jay on November 18. He talks about likelihood and him not being likely being born after his mother bought a new diaphragm, and having mental issues and being a Jew athlete let alone the longest-reigning AEW World Champ! Well that was a long show.

AEW Rampage starts off with Jericho getting the show a few minutes closer to the grave by getting a full intro. Trent's out for the opener to face Christian for the TNT Title. Cage slaps him around and then slaps his face. Mushroom stomp knees to Cage! GUN SHOW BY CHRISTIAN - not just for Florida anymore! Big chinlock! 

Cage bets off and sends him out but a Trent crossbody misses and a spear meets a rising knee. Trent lands the Strong Zero for 2.9! Killswitch engaged for the win! Jericho cuts a promo on the Bucks ahead of Full Gear. Timeless Toni comes out and gives Emi a script that gets torn up and Sakura kicks her! HIP ATTACK ON THE ROPES and Lutha brings her down carefully. Jericho and Nigel talka bout Lutha's butler training - Nigel says it was a Butlerton! LUTHA gives her a victory lap on his shoulders but EMI ATTACKS HER! Jericho calls it a kamikaze attack which...seems unwise.

Toni gets her chest beaten red with chops and then gets a WINDUP PUNCH and a Tiger driver gets 2 for Sakura. Delayed butterfly backbreaker gets 2 for Sakura! Toni gets the big hip attack in the corner and the Storm Zero piledriver ends it! THIS RULED! Backstage, Kingston and the Lethal crew chat and it will be Lethal vs. Kingston for the title at Zero Hour. 

Roderick Strong becoming a middle-aged fountain of charisma is incredible. He's facing Action Andretti, who really needs to be on ROH for a few months and never jobbing on AEW TV. Strong hits a pendulum backbreaker and engages in chop warfare before a knockdown off an elbow strike. Roddy turns a pendulum position into a cradle for 2 before eating a deadlift falcon arrow for 2. Roddy should be ROH TV Champ with this gimmick. Roddy chops the hell out of him in the corner during the break. Roddy is working his ass off here - dude is just caked in sweat!  Andretti baseball slides the OGK!

They tease an actual neck injury off a Spanish Fly, which I'm not a fan of. Strong knee hits and the end of heartache ends it. Jay chats with Renee before MJF jumps him and Jay begs for mercy until the goons attack. MJF beats up Juice off-screen and we get "JUICE HAS GOT JUICE!" from Jericho. MJF whips ass and GETS HIS BELT BACK! BUT THE GUNNS JUMP HIM leading to a giant Joe chant. JAY STEALS IT AGAIN! 

Joe runs down and cleans house and WANTS AN ANSWER! THEY SHAKE and it's official - Joe teams with him at Full Gear and gets a title shot in the future. I can see MJF retaining and then Joe demanding the shot then and winning it.

AEW Dynamite 11-15-23 - Like a Dragon Street Fight

 

A recap of the Devil's team attacking MJF's allies leads to Hook and OC facing Mox and Yuta. OC and Hook jump the BCC in the crowd to start things off strong. El Camino throw to Yuta! Mox and Hook go at it before Hook gets Redrum briefly before Yuta pulls him out. OC HITS A DIVING DDT TO MOX! Low to high heat on the kneeling kicks for OC! Big dropkick sends Mox down! MOX ABSORBS THE ORANGE PUNCH! Mox jumps Hook and hits the Death Rider on him before Yuta gets the seatbelt and wins it!

THE GOLDEN DRAGONS OF DOJIMA ARRIVE! Swerve and Hangman are out for a contract signing. Hangman is money here. "YOU ARE A DUMBASS, YOU ARE DUMBER NOW THAN YOU WERE WHEN YOU GOT SIGNED. YOUR FIANCEE LEFT YOU AND YOUR KIDS DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU. PRINCE NANA DOES HIS DANCE AND MAKES HIS LIVING  OFF YOUR BACK. THEN HE SPENDS THAT LIVING ON BUYING WEED FROM HIGH SCHOOL KIDS!  "  They needed a money promo and they got it here.

The Kingdom calls ADAM for Roddy and Roddy says Max is the devil. Red Velvet vs. Skye Blue leads to DEAD SILENCE after Velvet's out with her apron entrance gear. Back and forth cradles until Skye catches her in the dragon suplex position for Skyfall for 2.5! SUPER VICTORY ROLL BY VELVET GETS 2! Back and forth superkicks before Code Blue ends it - this got cooking at the end. Julia Hart looks on from the spooky room before we get WORDS FROM MIRO! He will make Daniel Garcia pay - SO SAYS THE REDEEMER!

Wacky skit with Timeless Tomi and Mariah May leads to Toni making a Rampage tuneup match before JOE KILLS JON CRUZ aka Serpentico with no mask. HE IS JOE AND HE IS INEVITABLE. Bucks vs. Penta and Komander is up in the Bucks' home turf. Komander does a ropewalk rana off the apron from one Buck to another BUT EATS A ROPEWALK INTO A NORTHERN LIGHTS CHAIN! APRON FEAR FACTOR HITS MATT and Komander gets a rana for 2! OFF THE BACK DESTROYER GETS 2 FOR PENTA! Nick lands a series of ballshots, a Judas Effect and THE BTE TRIGGER ENDS IT. This ruled! 

The Bucks are asked WHY THEY CHEATED and they say they don't give a damn about the rules. Kenny shames them. Gunns are out with Juicy Juice and beat Pretty Peter and his partner rapidly with 3:10 to Yuma. Wardlow hype video airs with him really being a character babyface against the Devil and he's going to make the Devil his bitch. THE DON CALLIS FAMILY benefits a lot from the LAD branding. They actually bring up Jericho vs. Takeshita in DDT with that being a Jericho win. Paul Wight can barely move just walking to the ramp. Golden Lovers hit the triangle moonsault!

Hobbs and Tall Paul fight near a car and Hobbs eats an overhand chop. Kota rides down ON A BICYCLE as a nice Dusty callback before Takeshita hits him with the bike! Backstage, HOBBS SLAMS WIGHT OFF SOMETHING ONTO A CAR HOOD AND WINDWHIELD! DEADLIFT SUPERPLEX TO THE FLOOR FROM CAGE TO OMEGA! FLETCHER TOMBSTONE OFF THE APRON THROUGH A SIGN AND ONTO A GIANT CHAIR STACK!

Hobbs is tied to the ropes and taped with his mouth and nose covered. V TRIGGERS FOR CAGE AND HOBBS BEFORE THE ONE WINGED ANGEL ON CAGE ENDS IT! WOW this was completely insane! MJF says his past keeps coming back to haunt him and the more people he lets in, the more people get hurt. He's afraid - YEAH but he's not gonna run. He's not scared! BCG jumps him and Joe looks on from the TV backstage. Good stuff!

AEW Dynamite 11-8-23

 

Tony Schiavone hypes up MJF vs. Garcia for the World Title and Max calls him a fat old prick. Cole facetimes him and MJF screencasts it and Max declines a partner. Max wants DANIEL GARCIA THE PRO WRESTLER and not the SPORTS ENTERTAINA! MJF vs. Garcia is starting the show off!? Max outwrestles Garcia an DOES DANNY'S DANCE! Max wants a handshake and gets slapped away before Garcia TEASES THE DANCE and gets a poke to the eye. Hammerlock waterwheel takedown by MJF gets 2. 

Tiger shoulder breaker into a basement superkick by MJF! 187 hits for 2 for MJF. MJF calls for the sunrise, but hurts the knee on the way down and Garcia kicks the leg out. Garcia gets 2.9 off the piledriver! DANCING DURING THE DRAGON TAMER! Max turns it into the Fujiawara for the win! Very good match that elevated Garcia. MJF wants a shake from Garcia and Garcia goes for it before Ang and Daddy Magic pull him away.

Killer Mark Briscoe promo before Tony hypes up that Jim Valley told him that this is Sting's second match in Portland! Sting and Darby demolish THE OUTRUNNERS is the greatest goofball squash in the universe. Toni does a wacky black and white promo with Shida and she blames Shida for being the cause of her downfall. SHE COULDN'T MAKE HISTORY SO SHE BECAME HISTORY! Swerve's out to face Penta in a match that can't help but be at least really good. 

Chops aplenty to start things off. Swerve hoists Penta up and slams his face on the steps. More back and forth shots after a tope con hiro by Penta leads to a Made in Japan attempt leading to an armdrag counter. Penta lands a huge destroyer on the apron, but he can't follow up because he's so winded. TOP ROPE DOUBLESTOMP BY PENTA GETS 2! Crazy head drop out of the corner by Penta before a big dive by Swerve. Penta turns a 450 into the arm snapper! MADE IN JAPAN HITS FOR 2.9! Powerbomb into the DVD BY SWERVE! WRIST STOMP BY SWERVE before the Swerve Stomp ends it and Hangman brawls. 

Like a Dragon: Gaiden hype for the LIKE A DRAGON STREET FIGHT between Omega's team and the Don Callis Family. Bucks complain to Kenny about him teaming up with Jericho instead of them. Teasing the Golden Jets vs. the Bucks for Full Gear is a bold move. And Jericho wants the Bucks' title shot on the line and if the Bucks win, the Golden Jets have to break up. Kenny talks about how he's beaten the Bucks before and they can do it again and he wants them to stop acting like bitchy children. 

Keith Lee vs. Samoa Joe is up for the ROH World TV Title. Nice tieup before Joe gets tackled down and then steamrolls Lee before corner jabs and chops send Lee down! MEAT FOREVER CHANT! Big body shots by Lee in the corner! Waterwheel kneebreaker by Joe and Taz hypes him up as the ROH TV CHAM-PEEN! LEE HITS A GERMAN SUPLEX! JOE CHOKES HIM OUT! What a great big boy battel! Joe says that hunger is what defines the greats and he's vacating this title to go for Max's gold.

Orange cuts a promo on Mox and he doesn't apologize for beating Fenix and he needs to beat Moxley to be whole. Gunns defeat the Bollywood Boyz in near-record time with the 3:10 to Yuma right away. Joe looks on amused with MJF. The story is a good one to go with if you absolutely want to end MJF's reign "early" to play into the Bidding War of 2024 storyline. Mox tells Hook to take notes. Wardlow hype video swearing vengeance on MJF. Julia Hart vs. Red Velvet is up with them going back and forth on a tie-up and then going back and forth with a split after Julia does the Indian style sit to counter the split before. Iconoclasm out of the corner by Red Velvet gets 2! Giant moonsault wins it for Julia Hart! Hartless on Red before Skye Blue comes out in black! Willow, Kris, and Skye surround her and Willow brings out Velvet.

Mariah May debuts with RJ City and she wants to meet Toni Storm! Cool - a stalker angle. Mark Briscoe vs. Jay White is up and Mark chucks him around to start. CACTUS ELBOW BY MARK! MASSIVE CHOP BATTLE sends Jay down and using Mark's shorts to hold himself up. Mark hits God's Last Gift for 2! Snap DVD hits for Mark AND THEY ALMOST MISS THE FROGGY BOW TO LOOK AT AN ASS BOY! Jay gets the swinging uranage and the kiwi crusher for 2.5. Jay avoids more chops by chop-blocking the knee before MARK THROWS HIM ON HIS MELON WITH A URANAGE! SHOTGUN LARIAT BY MARK! Mark goes for a kick out of the corner before eating a kneebreaker and sleeper suplex. TONS OF BIG SHOTS ON THE MAT FOR JAY! REDNECK KUNG FU AVOIDS THE BLADERUNNER! CROSS ARM BRAINBUSTER AND THE BLADERUNNER END IT. THIS RULED! This one of Mark's best singles matches ever and an AEW highlight for Jay White!

Max says he's not just fighting for himself - he's fighting for Cole, everyone there in the building and everyone watching at home. He's not just a scumbag - HE'S THEIR SCUMBAG! Backstage, the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn get beaten up and Bowens gets tossed through glass before the Devil shows up on screen. Joe tells him he's running out of friends and cackles. 

 

WWE Crown Jewel 2023

 

Well, I wasn't expecting to be able to cover this show - but since it's on a Saturday and I'm off, okay. Pre-show is a bunch of nothing beyond a killer Lashley group video and SAMI VS. JD. Sami is such a remarkable babyface and so over in SA, while JD getting Generic Superstar 42 theme music is perfect for him. The crowd is PR-level rabid for Sami here and JD takes a wonky bump off a monkey flip, landing on his necks on the rope. Helluva kick and the blue thunder bomb win it! 

World Title match opens the show - NOW it feels like the Alberto/Sheamus era of the World Title. Killer shot of Drew and Seth on-screen with the gold. Barrett brings up Ronaldo when Drew does his pose. Seth his the Cena nose-breaking knee before a Lionsault gets 2. Roaring elbow hits and stuns Drew before the superplex>Falcon arrow is countered into a Drew brainbuster before the Falcon arrow!  Drew transforms into Roderick Strong for a very slow pendulum backbreaker on the apron.

Seth gets the stomp for 2.5 and Drew's claymore hits for a genuinely-great 2.9 count! Seth hits a shitty pedigree and gets the stomp again for a very anti-climactic win. Priest teases a cash-in before Sami jumps him - so no one really gains anything here. Rhea looks at Drew backstage in an amusing manner before the fatal five-way gets hyped up. I love that THE HEEL RHEA RIPLEY'S logic is that this match lets her show she's the best champion in the world beating the four best challengers in one match.

Raquel's whole act is her back pose and she can't do that here. I like Shayna going with the gi while Zoey Stark goes for a badass VF 4 Evo Vanessa Lewis getup. A large group of men come out to music before RHEA COMES OUT AND JUST STEALS THE SPOTLIGHT SHE IS HIM! What a megastar - holy shit. Ripley and Rodriguez hit each other with a dropkick before Stark comes in and double-jump dives onto the pile on the floor! Between the gear and her moves, Zoey is making sure you remember her today. Good - more people need to recognize that any match CAN make them stand out on a big stage. Tahara bomb out of the corner to Jax gets 2. Super Riptide to Zoey onto a Shayna and Raquel pile leads to her pinning Shayna. 

Cena vs. Solo gets a nice hype video and even just playing the hits with a Cena vs. Umaga template should be good. Cena's doing a lot more, slower, matwork to start and working on the arm. Nice babyface in peril off a banzai drop before a superkick after Solo escapes an AA. Cena avoids a spike and turns it into a crossface...that looks like a headlock. ASSALANCHE IN THE CORNER BY SOLO! Solo avoids another AA and gets 2 off a Samoan drop. Another AA is avoided and an elevated Spike is turned into a KNEE-FALLING CHOKESLAM FOR 2!? Spinning Solo gets 2 befoer Cena gets the STF and a break in the rope. SPIKE HITS but the damage to the hand prevents a pin! A SECOND ONE HITS! A third one hits before he chats to the ref for a bit. A FOURTH SPIKE! Then he hits a billion of them in a seated position - well good because that would have killed the move without a win. Cena looks sad after the loss - good. They're playing up the heartbreak here - it isn't just Cena doing "hey, titles come and go!"

Miz brings out an SA comedian for Miz TV. Okay, Buncha nothing. WALLER'S OUT oh joy. They beat up Waller and Ibrihim does a people's elbow - honestly, he looked okay in the physical stuff. Logan Paul vs. Rey is hyped up with a desert video package of Paul training and doing cool shit in a car. Logan Paul drives into the building with his cool car and he looks like a megastar. BOY I LOVE REY'S ODDS HERE! Rey eats a lionsault for 2. Tilt a whirl backbreaker gets 2.5. 

ULTIMATE WARRIOR PRESS SLAM AND SPLASH GET 2! Paul gets a bodybreaker and a bearhug before strolling around. BUCKSHOT LARIAT HITS FOR 2! LA MISTICA CROSSFACE BY REY! Logan saves Rey with a Davey Boy powerslam off a moonsault that would have been a headplant gets 2. Moonsault fallaway slam off the top by Paul gets 2. SUNSET BOMB OFF THE TOP BY REY! Code Red gets 2! Logan uses knucks during the senton and gets the win and the title. Logan Paul is unreal! 

Bianca cuts a promo on Iyo and Damage CTRL before IYO'S KILLER THEME HITS! Some impressive dives here between Iyo's springboard dropkicks and moonsault to the floor. Nice glam slam by Belair before she divs onto Bayley. KAIRI COMES BACK and somehow the ref doesn't see her, the flying forearm into the post or anything and now she'll be with Iyo. Nice finish with Bianca rushing into beat the count right into the moonsault - that's a new one.

Cody vs. Priest time with Priest jumping him, but then eating a side effect. Disaster kick gets 2. Dom comes out and MAIN EVENT JEY runs wild with superkicks. Cody cutter and a bionic elbow gets 2. SUPER CODY CUTTER OFF THE TOP gets 2. Cross Rhodes ends after seemingly 25 years. More Saudi propaganda about team stuff with gaming before the hype for Knight vs. Reigns. 

Long restholds and a uranage hit to get 2. Superman punch hits for 2. Corner spear misses after a leapfrog and Knight gets corner punches for some YEAHs. Leapfrog superplex hits and then the YEAH elbow gets 2. Spear hits for a 2.9! BFT and Jimmy puts the foot on the rope for 2.9. Spear ends it - well, the second half of the show was just a show, but the first half was great.

AEW Collision 10-21-23 and Battle of the Belts

We're starting off with the dream match of Danielson vs. Andrade and his new mask is a killer. Bryan outworks him on the mat and Andrade gives him his props. Gorgeous long collar and elbow tieup too. God, this is such a great technical battle. Danielson's backflip counter works until he eats a big flying forearm. Split-legged moonsault gets 2 for Idolo!

Danielson goes for the kneeling kicks, but eats a pair of dragon screw legwhips! Figure 4/8 attempt into the LeBell Lock leads to the ropes for Idolo. Corner backstabber into the basement knees by Andrade! They go back and forth on cradles and Danielson wins in 20 minutes. Fantastic match! The lights go out and MALAKAI TAKES OUT DANIELSON WITH THE END!

They hype up Sting's gift from TK and Nigel hopes it isn't Robocop again before Skye Blue beats the shit out of Hollyhood Haley and beats her quickly. Hollyhood would be getting "she's a crack whore" chants in ECW with her look.

The Gunn Clubb faces THE OUTRUNNERS! Gunns win quickly with 3:10 to Yuma. THE LIGHTS GO OUT AND IT'S THE DEVIL MASK! Lexy interviews OC and Kris does reps with her. Jarrett vs. Kingston with DAVE BROWN ON COMMENTARY IS HERE! Tons of brawling here before a WHOOP THAT TRICK chant. Lethal sends Kingston through a table near the ramp. Every TNA hardcore match ever breaks out until Singh hits a chokeslam, JJ hits a stroke and the Lethal Injection hits for the win.

CJ's out for the Miro-Andretti match with a big intro. Miro tosses him around ringside and CJ claps for Andretti in theory. Brief hope spot off a DDT, but Game Over ends it. Ruby faces Shida on Dynamite. Kingston cuts a shockingly great promo even by his standards on loving Jay Lethal and his family, but being disappointed because he's gonna have to beat Jay's ass in front of his mother and his mother will cry knowing he deserves the beating.

FTR squash but the HOB beats them up. Battle of the Belts is hyped up. Starks and Bill face Claudio and Yuta next. Claudio runs a-fuckin-muck with lariats, uppercuts Old School and MORE UPPERCUTS! Big powerbomb gets 2 on Yuta before the SWING TIME AND DROPKICK HITS! HOB runs in and a spear and roshambo ends it for Starks! Danielson gets beaten down and FTR does too before MOX RETURNS! And another WHOOP THAT TRICK chant! Strarks comes in and eats a parade of finishers when the HOB leaves him high and dry. Claudio swinging Starks to "Wild Thing" is surreal - this was a great night for him.

A brief break has the BCC leave before OC comes out and gets slapped around by Mox. Recap of OC vs Silver in the past, which is good because I have zero memory of that. Silver dominates on the floor for a bit. OC recovers and runs wild with kneeling kicks to the thick pecs! Silver gets the airplane spin drop, but it only gets 2 and the Orange Punch ends it! Lexy chats with Andrade and says nothing until CJ interrupts him. Mark Sterling chats about how stupid Memphians are before hyping up Tony Nese. Nese calls for some GROUP TRAINING and Joe is like nah dude. Joe massacres him in a minute and wins with a muscle buster. Joe tells MJF is that he's giving him the gift of foresight because he's coming for the gold.

Kris and Willow have a fun match for the TBS Title - a bit of a babyface vs. babyface, but with Kris working character heel. Kris eats a corner charge, but rebounds with a somersault senton. AVALANCHE AA BY WILLOW GETS 2.9! CHOKE BY WILLOW!? Corner bomb by Kris and the 450 HITS FOR THE WIN! Kris wants a handshake and Skye runs out and says no. Willow shakes and Skye is out with a BITE ME shirt.

OC AND OKADA FACE DANIELSON AND CLAUDIO ON DYNAMITE! Trios tag title match sees the faces scissor Grizz. Garcia dances and undoes their good luck and loses.