Alt Elite Wrestling (2024)

[AltEliteWrestling]

 

Episode 222

Week 1, January, 2024

Venue: Prudential Center - Newark, NJ

Attendance: 2,735

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

The initial episode of Dynamite for 2024-- and first following the inaugural Worlds End pay-per-view-- began with the new AEW World Champion, Samoa Joe, parading proudly to the ring with his newly earned belt. The champion bragged that, unlike his victim MJF, he was not just a scumbag, he was a heartless son of a bitch. And just like he helped take everything from MJF, he would take everything from anyone that tried to take the title from him.

Before Samoa Joe could cap off his self-coronation, however, the sludge-like opening notes of Swerve Strickland's entrance music cut him off, announcing the arrival of the rising star and his partner/hype man, Prince Nana. Strickland entered the ring as the champ eyeballed him with undisguised contempt, before Nana demanded the microphone to announce that Strickland, coming off of his destruction of Keith Lee's stand-in Dustin Rhodes at Worlds End, deserved to be the next challenger to Joe's title.

Nana was quickly interrupted in turn, however, by the appearance of Hangman Adam Page on the stage. Dragging a suitcase with one hand and carrying a microphone in the other, the clearly agitated cowboy declared that he had come to kick someone's ass for the Undisputed Kingdom's parking lot attack on him. And while Joe would certainly do the trick, he'd be happy to kick his blood rival Swerve's ass, too. 

Strickland met the Hangman first as he dove under the ring ropes, but Page was quickly on his feet kicking off a brawl that soon brought the full force of AEW Security to the ring to break them up. After he and Swerve had managed to fight through the interlocutors multiple times to exchange blows, Page finally calmed down, begging off as security continued to fight against Strickland while Joe watched, amused, in the far corner of the ring.

Page had been playing possum, though. Once allowed daylight, he sprinted across the ring to attack the champ. Swerve joined the assault as security was forced to split their numbers once again, drawing out a collection of wrestlers from the back to break up what was now a three-way brawl involving the tank-like champion as the show went to its first ad break. (79)

vs. 

The segment after the break brought the first match of the episode, a matchup between two competitors from opposite sides of the Continental Classic, the suddenly hot Daniel Garcia, and the still-reeling Jay Lethal. Carrying on from the quality of the tournament, the two skilled competitors had a comendable match, keeping the crowd up as Garcia carried on his winning ways (and Lethal's losing) by blocking a Lethal Injection, and turning it into a backdrop driver for the three count. (59)

Following the match, the broadcast moved backstage, where Renee Paquette was standing by to interview AEW Women's Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm. Though she had congratulated the champion on successfully defending her title against Riho at World's End, Storm immediately dismissed Renee, citing the interviewer's overwhelming fragrance. Suffering from the twin offenses of the perfume and being in New Jersey, the champion announced that she was headed to Broadway for the evening, and thus would miss her would-be protege Mariah May's debut match just minutes later. (50)

vs. 

Though arriving to her first match with a groundswell of interest from a long tease at the end of 2023, May and her first opponent Diamante struggled to maintain the show's momentum, even in a relatively short match. Though the debuting wrestler showed some potential, coming away with the win with a sit-out fireman's carry slam called the May Day, the pairing did her little favors. Two lesser-known heels ultimately were unable to maintain the crowd's interest for the full match. (25)

The crowd's spirits quickly rebounded, though, when May's complaints about New Jersey (following in the footsteps of her idol Toni Storm) were met by an unfamiliar theme, and new name on the scene: New Jersey native and fresh AEW signee Deonna Purazzo. The hometown Virtuosa came to the ring with a message: If Toni Storm doesn't want New Jersey, they don't want her-- punctuated with a slap to May's face. Purazzo happily soaked in the resulting cheers as May slinked out of the ring in response. (43)

After another break, the Devil of the moment, Adam Cole, led his freshly revealed partners-in-crime to the ring to formally announce their alliance, the Undisputed Kingdom. Cole, still limping in a walking boot, sat down in the middle of the ring to ask why there wasn't more sympathy for him than his deserved victim and alleged friend MJF. Despite the audience's protests, he attempted to explain that after making more enemies than any three other people in the company, everyone in the back, including Tony Khan, should be thanking them for getting rid of MJF forever. Now the entire Undisputed Kingdom would be going for gold. That included Wardlow, who Cole promised would go and win the AEW World Title to hand to him once he was able to compete in the ring again. Though Cole couldn't see it, there was some question whether Wardlow was fully on board with that plan.

Jay White then interrupted from the stage, explaining that, while he admired Cole's plot and appreciated that the old Panama Playboy had not lost his edge, he didn't appreciate being used to kick off their scheme. They had caught him alone then, but not this time. Charging the ring with Austin and Colton Gunn, they were quickly subdued by the Undisputed Kingdom's superior numbers.

That surprisingly brought out another set of the Devil's victims, the Acclaimed, to come to Bullet Club Gold's aid and tilt the odds. As the Undisputed Kingdom evacuated the ring, Jay White and crew gradually gained their feet, finding themselves in a standoff against their old rivals. Though the Acclaimed, including Austin and Colton's father, appeared ready to bury the scissors, White led the Bang Bang Gang from the ring without reciprocating. (75)

International Championship Match

vs. 

As promised by the champion during a segment on Worlds End, the International Title was then defended by Orange Cassidy against the latest of his (semi-) accidental challengers in Dante Martin. Capitalizing on the prior hot segment, the competitors had a quality match before the incumbent bested his game challenger with an Orange Punch for the successful title defense. (68)

vs. 
Returning to singles action, Thunder Rosa made her re-debut on Dynamite in 2024 against the Outcasts' Ruby Soho. The latter had been on the receiving end recently of persistent advances of Angelo Parker, a situation that was now complicated by Saraya's recruitment of Harley as an accomplice. The external distractions may not have served Soho well in this case, as Rosa displayed little rust in returning to action, looking strong in taking the match and handing the Outcasts another setback. (58)

Following a commercial break, CJ Perry hit the stage to make an announcement: With the defeat of Andrade El Idolo, her new client would be... her husband, Miro. (64)

vs. 

Miro's emergence led straight into a match against fellow monster Lance Archer (accompanied by Jake Roberts) after the Redeemer's explosive entrance led him to the ring. Despite an expectedly hard-hitting brawl, seeing Archer try to neutralize Miro's superior wrestling skill by keeping him outside the ring, it appeared that the competitors were limited to some extent, leading to a satisfying (though not much more than that) win for the Bulgarian. (68)

The final interview segment of the night saw Christian Cage lead the rest of the Patriarchy to the ring to address his recent victory, catching in Killswitch's TNT Title contract on the dinosaur's behalf, to reclaim his crown versus Adam Copeland. The newly-minted champion thanked his adopted son Nick Wayne for taking a powerbomb through a flaming table on his behalf, before also thanking... himself for fighting out the victory. (Killswitch did not appear to appreciate the patriarch's lack of appreciation for his sacrifice.)

Ignoring Adam Copeland's victory moments before his own, Cage declared himself 2-0 against his old best friend, who would have to go to the back of the line of challengers, while he didn't plan on giving up the title until he was ready to hand it to his son Nick. (55)

vs. 

The episode's main event saw a cold matchup that was nonetheless sure to deliver fireworks, featuring one of AEW's so-called Four Pillars, Darby Allin, against one of its newest hopes for glory, Callis Family member Kenosuke Takeshita. Arriving on the heels of a surprisingly muted response to Cage's promo, the pair were able to revive the crowd somewhat, with Takeshita inflicting innovative and brutal offense against Allin. There would likely be better days for the young duo, however, despite the excitement of the upstart Takeshita finally doing the daredevil in with a knee to the head for the win. (66)

Overall Show Rating: 66

Edited January 11 by AltEliteWrestling

[AltEliteWrestling]

To any person that might be reading this, apologies for any typos or errors in grammar as I am posting late night.

I am a first-time diarist, and coming off of a long break with TEW (last played 2008, I think!) looking to try this on the record. It is what it appears: I am not a dissatisfied AEW fan, just looking to plot out my own spin on Tony Khan's goings-on. As you can see, I have stolen some of last week's action wholesale, though that of course will decline as time goes on and storylines deviate.

Thanks to the creators of the Real World Chronicles 2023 mod and Super Awesome Modern Picture Pack for the foundational inputs, and any and all members of the community here who I've copied with the style and content of my initial post. Hopefully will catch up with Rampage and Collision here in the next few days.

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 126

Week 1, January, 2024

Venue: Prudential Center - Newark, NJ

Attendance: 2,735

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

vs. 

In an opening match between a pair of wrestlers that had experienced varying degrees of bad fortune of late-- with Jay suffering an extended string of defeats following the collapse of the Jericho Appreciation Society, while Shida was recovering from the more severe loss of her AEW World Title to Toni Storm at Full Gear-- Jay continued to endure the growing pains that came with her relative lack of experience. Though the match was competitive, with Jay dominating much of the early going, Shida came away with a decisive pinfall victory following a Katana. (48)

A backstage segment following Jay Lethal's loss to Daniel Garcia on Dynamite saw the veteran, Jeff Jarrett, and their oddball colleagues brainstorming ideas on how to regain momentum after Lethal's winless Continental Classic. Though tensions among the group were on the rise, Jarrett suggested that they needed to do something big... and he had just the idea in mind. (45)

 vs.  

In another cold women's matchup, Kris Statlander and Willow Nightengale made quick work of their opponents Lady Frost and Megan Bayne, with Nightengale pinning Bayne after hitting a spinebuster. Of note, Stokely Hathaway, who had recently been courting Statlander as a potential client, was nowhere to be found during the segment. (34)

The House of Black then appeared in a video promo reminding Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews' opponents on Collision, FTR, what would be at stake in their match on Collision. Continuing to insist that Dax Harwood must leave his family behind if his team loses, Black maintained that the House of Black were the only faction in AEW that were willing to stand with FTR. (45)

 vs. 

In a return to ring action, noted troublemakers Kip Sabian, the Butcher, and the Blade took on a trio of tag team legends in the combination of the Hardy Boys and Mark Briscoe. In a fun match, Briscoe was able to hit the Froggie Bow on Sabian after the Englishman inadvertently dropkicked both of his teammates out of the ring, leaving him alone to take the finishers of all three of his opponents and the fall. (52)

In a final (some might say strategically-placed) backstage interview segment, Chris Jericho joined Sammy Guevara as the high-flyer hyped his upcoming match against Ricky Starks on Wednesday. Jericho warned Big Bill not to interfere, otherwise he was going to knock Bill's teeth out and "Uncle Joe's gonna cry!" Even keeping the recently controversial Jericho away from the crowd, the performance met a relatively cool reception. (48)

FTW Championship Match

 vs. 

The episode's main event was a title match, with HOOK defending his FTW Title against a recent antagonist of HOOK's friend Danhausen, Jake Hager. Despite Hager's superior size and mixed martial arts credentials, the younger wrestler was able to overwhelm his more experienced opponent, choking him out with the Redrum to successfully defend his championship. Despite potentially complementary styles, the two competitors never quite jibed, leading to a down note to end the night. (39)

Overall Show Rating: 43

Edited January 11 by AltEliteWrestling

[Original_Broski]

Really enjoy the format here. Short, simple, and to the point. I'm a huge AEW fan, so I'll be following along. I like the slight tweaks to what we've seen so far (Jarrett teasing something big, Hangman and Swerve coming right for Joe, Perry joining up with Miro, etc).

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 29

Week 1, January, 2024

Venue: Bojangles Coliseum - Charlotte, NC

Attendance: 2,646

Your Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuiness

 vs. 

Kicking off the first New Year episode in Collision history, the Bojangles Coliseum hosted its final appearance by Sting as an active wrestler, competing in a tag match with partner Darby Allin against 2.0. Adding to the Charlotte throwback theme, local legend Ric Flair was also along for the ride. The match offered an opportunity for Darby to get back into the win column following his hard-fought defeat against Kenosuke Takeshita in the main event on Dynamite earlier that week, while extending Sting's undefeated streak as he neared his Revolution farewell. Neither wrestler disappointed, fighting their way to a decisive victory-- while not quite dominant, the outcome was seldom in doubt. In fact, the most notable action took place outside the ring, as Flair made an exaggerated show of staying out of trouble when Harley Cameron made an appearance at ringside to try to get Angelo Parker's attention. (63)

Immediately following the match, Don Callis and family appeared to gloat over Takeshita's win over Allin, while challenging he and Sting to a match on Dynamite where he promised Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs would end Sting's undefeated record in AEW. (51)

vs. 

Coming back from an ad break, Rey Fenix made a surprise appearance, returning from injury to reunite the Lucha Brothers in action against Ring of Honor regulars and up-and-comers Gates of Agony. The newcomers made a good showing, using their superior brawn to take the early advantage before the match became a showcase for Fenix, showing off his signature flash on the way to teaming up with Penta on a diving stomp piledriver to put away his opponents and remind the fans of what they'd been missing during his absence. (61)

 vs. 

In the next match, Skye Blue came to the ring in her new black ring garb to face another Ring of Honor regular, Billie Starks, making a cameo appearance in AEW following an admirable showing against her mentor Athena at ROH's Final Battle. Seldom in the position of being the more veteran competitor in a match, Skye saw her old boisterousness reflected back at her by Starks, and went about smothering it with a surprisingly physical assault. That did not prevent a valiant rally from Starks, though the toll of her recent battles against Athena may have played their part in allowing Skye Blue to overcome her to hit her new finisher, a Dragon Sleeper transition from a TKO, to take the match. (51) 

In a backstage interview with Lexy Nair, Ricky Starks (no relation to Billie) celebrated his return to Daily's Place the following Wednesday for Dynamite Homecoming, helpfully pointing out for the audience that he was returning with tag team gold to the venue where he made his AEW debut against Cody Rhodes. Turning to the business at hand, he downplayed Sammy Guevara's recent pinfall over him while promising to erase that memory with an easy win in their upcoming singles match. Sharing his partner's confidence, Big Bill took matters with Le Sex Gods a step further, confirming their World Tag Team Championship match for next week's Collision, and declaring it a Street Fight in the process. (52)

Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship Proving Ground Match

 vs. 

Continuing the heavy Ring of Honor influence on the episode, newly revealed members of Adam Cole's Undisputed Kingdom Mike Bennett and Matt Taven defended their ROH Tag Team Titles against high-flying luchador duo Komander and Gravity. Though it should have been an even easier task than usual to win over the crowd while facing the newly minted eradicators of MJF, the AAA stars struggled even with an early flurry of high-flying offense. The long-time team of Bennett and Taven were eventually able to take control, cutting off the ring to isolate and manhandle Gravity. Despite a near comeback by Komander after being tagged in, the Kingdom were finally able to catch Gravity again as the legal man, taking him out with Rockstar Supernova for the win.  (41) 

Backstage once again, Lexy Nair had corralled Sting, Darby Allin, and Ric Flair following the former duo's victory against 2.0 to open the show. Flair celebrated Sting's retirement tour stop in Charlotte, while Sting promised Showtime on Dynamite against Kenosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs. accepting Don Callis' challenge to put Sting's win streak on the line. (63)

Continental Triple Crown Championship Match

 vs. 

Making his in-ring return following his victory at Worlds End to reclaim the ROH and New Japan Strong titles he had boldly put on the line in the Continental Classic, as well as the Continental Championship itself, fighting champion Eddie Kingston took on perennially underrated challenger Trent Baretta in his first title defense. The recent allies during Stadium Stampede at All In: London did not pull any punches, holding a gritty, brutal title fight, highlighted by Kingston possibly breaking Baretta's nose with a chop across the face. The Best Friend gave as good as he received, however, threatening to steal the Triple Crown with a powerbomb off the top turnbuckle and a series of suplexes before ultimately making the mistake of exchanging strikes with Kingston to cost him the match.  (57)

In the final promo segment of the night, Adam Copeland appeared in front of the audience to deny Christian Cage's assertion that he would move to the back of the line of challengers for the TNT Title following Cage's borderline robbery of both Copeland and Killswitch to retake his championship at World's End. Copeland insisted instead that he would be claiming his automatic rematch-- a prospect that he advised his former tag team partner accept sooner rather than later, because he would be making the Patriarch's life a living hell until he did. (60)

 vs. 

In the main event, House of Black members Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews took on FTR in a match that would putatively put Dax Harwood's family on the line. Indeed, the old school competitor's wife and daughter were seated at ringside, lending some credence to the stipulation despite FTR never verbally agreeing to it. Whatever the stakes, the two teams threw all that they had at each other in the highlight of the night. In a match mixing fast-paced twists and turns with Malakai Black's attempts to menace the Harwood family at every opportunity, the match turned when steel chairs were introduced in the ring, and Brody King arrived outside to claim the numbers advantage for his faction. But Daniel Garcia quickly appeared to take revenge on King' for his bullying in the Continental  Classic, taking a chair of his own to the big man, and opening the door for a Harwood pinfall reversal on Matthews for the win.

After the match, the House of Black regrouped with their steel chairs, standing across the ring from FTR and Garcia. After a tense staredown, Black smirked at their opponents, the lights went out, and Collision went off the air with the House having disappeared from the ring, leaving FTR to offer a handshake to Garcia before reuniting the Harwood family outside the ring. (66)

Overall Show Rating: 60

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 223

Week 2, January, 2024

Daily's Place - Jacksonville, FL

Attendance: 2,002

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

 vs. 

AEW kicked off a return to its pandemic-era home on a hot note, with a battle of Dynamite originals that were with the company during that formative period of lockdowns and social distancing. With both sides ably engaging the crowd with some vintage All Elite action, Orange Cassidy and the Lucha Brothers stood out with their athletic styles, securing a pin of Alex Reynolds in the process to start the show off on a strong note. (65)

Following the conclusion of the match, Samoa Joe entered in a suit, now fully looking the part of company standard bearer in front of its most loyal fans. Joe announced that there would be a change in championship protocol going forward: rather than whining for a match on social media, he insisted that anyone consistently winning matches come to challenge him to his face, and they would get beaten in the middle of the ring for their troubles.

Wasting no time in answering, rising star Swerve Strickland came to the ring, surrounded by the Mogul Embassy. Swerve reminded Joe of what he had told Hangman Page months before: it was nothing personal, but he was coming to take his spot. Only this time, it would be the spot that he deserved most of all, that of the AEW champion.

The reminder quickly brought out the Hangman himself, eager to stake his own claim to Joe's title. With microphone in hand, Page called back to his successes in 2023, like beating Jon Moxley in a Texas Death Match and reuniting with the Elite. Still, he had to concede that he had taken his eyes off of the real prize, the AEW World Championship. Page's interruption brought him and Swerve nose-to-nose, until Prince Nana and the rest of the Mogul Embassy pulled their leader to the back. That left Page alone in the ring with Joe to promise the champion that he would take his title in 2024.

After Page's exit, Samoa Joe's music was suddenly cut off by the emergence of one more challenger. It was Hook, who strode straight into the ring, got in the champ's face, and challenged him to a title match one week later at the next Dynamite. Judging from Joe's enthusiastic nod, he had accepted the challenge, and the late-arriving up-and-comer had suddenly jumped both Swerve and Page in line. (63)

The end of the ensuing ad break brought new singles competitor Mike Santana to the ring to face an unannounced opponent. That turned out to be Miro, making his second in-ring appearance on Dynamite in as many weeks after reuniting with his wife and manager CJ Perry. It was no surprise that Santana put up a fight against his significantly larger opponent, but he could not withstand the growing momentum of the Bulgarian Redeemer, now made whole, with Santana eventually succumbing to Game Over to surrender the match. (60)

With time left in the segment following Miro's decisive win, the broadcast moved backstage, where Jay White and the Gunns were starting an interview with Renee Paquette. Before the Bullet Gold Club leader could address either the Undisputed Kingdom or the Acclained, however, the latter team and Billy Gunn arrived in the flesh. Once again, the Acclaimed appealed to the Bang Bang Gang to join forces against Adam Cole's devils. Though Austin Gunn-- sporting a sling on his right arm, which had been broken that night during a preshow match-- was sympathetic to the idea, White once again declined, though he did grant that they would consider the proposal. (65)

TBS Championship Match

 vs. 

Action returned to the ring following another break, this time for Julia Hart to defend her TBS title against Riho, just two weeks after the challenger had earned a title shot against Toni Storm at Worlds End. Though Storm had proven up to the task of handling the original AEW Women's Champion, the still-inexperienced Hart appeared to be less well equipped. Having seldom (if ever) encountered a competitor with Riho's speed, the champ was on her heels throughout the match, struggling to keep up with the Japanese wrestler's aerial offense.

Hart's struggles brought Skye Blue down the entrance ramp, and with the champion resting chest first on the middle rope, fellow House of Black member Brody King saw an opportunity to distract the referee on the other side of the ring. When Riho sprinted in the opposite direction, jumping between the ropes to start a 619, she was beaten to the punch by a spray of black mist to the face from Skye Blue. As Riho writhed in agony on the mat, Hart used the opportunity to steal the pin and keep her championship. After the match, Hart and Skye faced off in their now customary fashion, before the victor left with King and without Blue. (52)

Calling back to Toni Storm, cameras then found her backstage, along with Mariah May, Lutha, and Renee Paquette, who was looking for the Timeless one's response to Deonna Purazzo's surprise appearance the week before. After guessing that the debuting star had been Wendi Richter, Storm acted as is she was unaware of Purazzo, and demanded that Lutha arrange for a meeting between the two. (52)

 vs. 

In the second Homecoming match of the night, a quartet of AEW women's favorites squared off against the Outcasts, Saraya and Ruby Soho, along with another pair of Daily's Place veterans, Nyla Rose and Penelope Ford. The contest was another crowd-pleaser for the hometown fans, seeing all of the babyface side reeling off signature moves and the Outcasts taking a powder, leaving Penelope Ford in the ring to eat the Babe With the Bomb and pin from Nightengale (55)

Effectively announcing a title match for the upcoming Collision, the House of Black appeared in a video segment to discuss a Triple Crown opportunity earned by Brody King's victory over Eddie Kingston in the Continental Classic. Malakai Black warned Eddie that, while others might believe that he had overcome his demons and regained his confidence by winning the tournament, Brody and the House of Black knew better. After all of the years the fan favorite had spent building himself up, it would take the House far less time to tear him back down. (49)

Texas Tornado Tag Match

 vs. 

In the night's semi-main event, and perhaps highest profile match on the card, Sting and partner Darby Allin met Kenosuke Takeshita and Powehouse Hobbs in the Callis Family's bid to end the retiring legend's AEW undefeated streak. The main body of the Texas Tornado match was a predictably wild brawl, seeing Allin and Sting both receiving and doling out their customary abuse, including Darby being tossed across the ring like a sack of potatoes by his opponents. Following a Scorpion Death Drop by Sting on Takeshita, though, the babyfaces appeared to be on the verge of gaining control of the wild match.

Ultimately, the finish arrived in highly unexpected fashion with the appearance of Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, and their gang of oddballs at ringside. With his companions in tow, Jarrett approached Ric Flair on the floor while the match continued both inside and outside of the ring. The Nature Boy was both distracted and confused as Jarrett appeared to be making some sort of pitch to the legend he had so frequently emulated during his career. During the mayhem, Darby Allin was able to knock Powerhouse Hobbs out of the ring with a shotgun dropkick. As Darby climbed to the top turnbuckle, lining up a Coffin Drop, Hobbs came to his feet on the outside. With his back turned, Allin did not see Hobbs take the opportunity to pull the wandering Satnam Singh between himself and the incoming daredevil. Unexpectedly reacting in time to catch Allin, the monstrous Indian turned over the much smaller wrestler and spiked him into the mat with a chokeslam. As Takeshita coccupied Sting on the other side of the ring, Hobbs took the opportunity to roll Darby into the ring for the pin. The Callis Family left triumphant as Sting and Flair shouted down Jarrett and Lethal, stunned by the end of Sting's streak. (55)

Following that disappointment, the fans were forced to greet the Patriarch, Christian Cage, standing in the ring to deliver the latest response in his exchange with former partner and blood brother Adam Copeland. On the previous Saturday's Collision, the Rated R Superstar had insisted that, rather than moving to the back of the line, he would be executing his automatic rematch clause, and promised to continue tormenting Cage until he granted it. Blowing off the idea in spiteful fashion, Cage instead informed viewers that he would be taking on a hand-picked "font of the line" challenger in a TNT Championship Eliminator Match on Saturday's Collision.  (54)

 vs. 

The night's main event saw a continuation of hostilities between Tag Team Champion Ricky Starks and Sammy Guevara. With Starks promising to avenge his Worlds End eight-man pinfall loss to Guevara, both competitors went all out to top the mayhem of the prior match. Though they were able to deliver on that, with Guevara surprisingly earning another clean win on a 630 splash, the action didn't truly peak until a post-match attack by Big Bill drew Chris Jericho from backstage. With Judas blaring across the company's signature venue, the show closed with the four wrestlers brawling their way toward their championship contest on Saturday night.  (54)

Overall Show Rating: 60

Edited January 15 by AltEliteWrestling

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 127

Week 2, January, 2024

Daily's Place - Jacksonville, FL

Attendance: 2,002

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

 vs. 

Leading off Rampage against a more seasoned opponent for the second week in a row, former Daily's Place debutante Anna Jay faced Mercedes Martinez to kick off the Homecoming episode of the program. This week's match saw the continuation of a recent theme, as Jay once displayed admirable tenacity in taking the fight to an opponent who was superior, in this case, both physically and technically. The change this week was that, after managing to evade being pinned by Martinez throughout the match, Jay managed to lock in her Queen Slayer choke to earn the surprise submission win. (56)

Moving on from Jay's humble celebration in the ring, the camera found FTR backstage where they had encountered Daniel Garcia, who had come to their aid during their match against House of Black the week prior. After thanking the up-and-comer for the help last week, the old-school team let him know that they had nothing but respect for him, and that they were ready to help him out however he needs. (51)

Elsewhere backstage, Lexi Nair was joined by new signee Deonna Purazzo for her first interview since joining the company on the prior week's Dynamite. Purazzo was still fired up to be in AEW, and said that she was well aware of Toni Storm's claims not to know who she was on Wednesday. She did not believe that even Toni could be that out of it, but if she was, Purazzo was eager to smarten her up.

As Purazzo and Nair's interview wrapped, Red Velvet entered the frame, offering to stir things up against Purazzo with a challenge for her first match back in the promotion. The Virtuosa wasted no time in accepting, offering an implied threat to wreck Velvet's stirring arm in the process. (47)

 vs. 

Another repeat act on Rampage from last week, the Hardy Boys, were in action again against the Righteous following their trios win with Mark Briscoe the prior Friday over Kip Sabian, the Butcher, and the Blade. Despite being vocal recently about their desire to appear on Dynamite, the legendary brothers were in good form in their effort to avenge a loss to Vincent and Dutch in 2023, seeing Jeff take the match with a classic Swanton Bomb for the pin. (51)

In the final promo of the night, Eddie Kingston appeared in a recorded segment providing a predictably heartfelt response to House of Black's statements about him on Dynamite headed into the Continental Champ's title defense versus Brody King on Saturday. Eddie promised that he had enough demons on his own, and he wasn't worried about a bunch of wannabes playing dress up wrecking his confidence. He would be the one turning the lights out on Brody on Collision. (71)

Ring of Honor Trios Championship Match

 vs. 

In the main event, the Ring of Honor Trios Champions Brian Cage and Gates of Agony took on the rising team of Action Andretti and Top Flight. The fast-paced match seemed to be playing to the challengers' strengths, as they struck and moved against the Mogul Embassy team, evading their attempts to ground their high-flying offense. Unfortunately, the upstarts had run into an increasingly well-oiled and patient unit, who bided their time long enough to catch Darius Martin with a Toss Liger Bomb out of nowhere, allowing Brian Cage to score the pin as a result to close out the show. (62)

Overall Show Rating: 61

Edited January 15 by AltEliteWrestling

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 30

Week 2, January, 2024

Venue: Chartway Arena - Norfolk, VA

Attendance: 2,675

Your Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuiness

Collision returned to the Mid-Atlantic region with the electric hum and garage rock power chords of 'Wild Thing' playing Jon Moxley and the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club, including Bryan Danielson, onto the arena floor. After each member of the faction took to their respective ringposts to play to the crowd, the tighly-wound Moxley acquired a microphone from the floor. Anxiously pacing the ring between his fellow Combatants, the brawler growled angrily, noting that 2023 had ended badly for the BCC in the Continental Classic, and then 2024 had started badly for them in Japan. That meant that they were plenty pissed off and looking for a fight, which was going to be bad for somebody in AEW.

Taking the microphone next, Danielson admitted that, while he didn't think that he could get as pissed as Mox, he was always just as ready to kick someone's head in.  But he was also thinking about his career, and one goal that he had was to end his full-time career as the AEW World Champion. Even if he didn't know how he was going to get there, he warned Samoa Joe, or anyone else that might be holding the belt, that he was coming for them. (59)

 vs. 

The opening match of the show featured an issue that had spilled over from prior episodes of Rampage, where Mark Briscoe, who had recently aligned with the Hardy Boys, faced Lance Archer, a stablemate of the Righteous, who had lost to the brothers the night before. It was no surprise to see Briscoe and Archer spend almost as much time outside of the ring as inside it, as the tag team veteran predictably sacrificed his body to use as a weapon against his much larger opponent. But before Briscoe could move Archer back to the ring to try to close out the win, Jake Roberts distracted the official and the Righteous closed in, hitting Autumn Sunshine on the floor, allowing Archer to drag the outnumbered Briscoe onto the mat for the pin. (53)

Backstage with Lexy Nair, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara touted the latter's two recent pins of tag team champion Ricky Starks, and promised to complete their domination of Starks and Big Bill by taking their titles in the main event that night. (50)

 vs. 

Returning to the ring, Roderick Strong faced off with the recently scarce Scorpio Sky.  Though the former tag team specialist displayed little sign of ring rust, wrestling a back-and-forth match, Strong was ultimately able hit the End of Heartache to prevail in decisive fashion. (57)

Immediately after the match, Sky was unceremoniously dumped from the ring by Strong to clear the way for the entrance of Adam Cole. Taking the microphone, Cole declared the win further notice that Roddy was coming for Orange Cassidy's International Title, and that, indeed, the Undisputed Kingdom would soon be carrying all of the belts.  (54)

 vs.

The crowd continued to buzz as Deonna Purazzo made her way to the ring for her post-signing debut against Red Velvet. In another match whose outcome was, despite being competitive, never much in doubt, the Virtuosa looked particularly crisp in dispatching the one-time Baddie, clearing the first obstacle in her pursuit of Toni Storm. (56)

Backstage, cameras observed an encounter between the Blackpool Combat Club and Daniel Garcia where the senior members of the BCC-- Moxley, Castagnoli, and Danielson-- complimented Garcia on his work at World's End, and extended an invitation to the rising star to train, even though Wheeler Yuta did not look too excited about the idea. (61)

TNT Championship 'Front of the Line' Eliminator Match

 vs. 

The remainder of the program would be wrestling-heavy, starting with the reveal of Griff Garrison as Christian Cage's hand-picked 'Front of the Line' opponent in his Eliminator Match for a shot at the TNT Championship. The match was, unsurprisingly, significantly more one-sided than the two that had come before it, with Nick Wayne and a visibly unenthusiastic Killswitch looming at ringside to possibly tilt the odds even further, though it hardly seemed necessary.

The match quickly got far more interesting, though, when Adam Copeland jumped the ring barrier, expertly timing the referee's distraction dealing with Wayne and Killswitch to hit Cage with a spear on the floor. With the champ being herded back into the ring by Garrison, he did not see Killswitch in a brief staredown with Copeland before allowing the Rated R Superstar to escape over the barrier again. That left Garrison alone to collect as the crowd chanted along on to the 1, 2... No! The champion found the strength to kick out of the pinfall, hurriedly collecting the would-be challenger for a Killswitch and a desperate win. (56)

Continental Triple Crown Championship Match

vs. 

The following match offered Eddie Kingston an opportunity to avenge one of his early Continental Classic losses against Brody King, though, with the rest of the House of Black outside the ring in the wake of threats toward Eddie, the dynamic felt much more like a trap for the champion. The House was not without its own unusual sense of honor, however, and the match unfolded without interference. Allowed to compete on their own terms, Kingston and King had an excellent bout, unloading everything in their considerable arsenals to knock one another from one corner of the ring to the other. The champ eventually won the war of attrition using his spinning backfist finisher. (70)

The ringbell immediately called an end to the House's ceasefire, as the remaining members burst into the ring to attack Kingston after his win. Laying into Eddie before even the first of his three belts could be returned, King was able to join the three-way beatdown, culminating in a Black Mass by Malakai Black on a prone Kingston. In customary fashion, the lights went out immediately afterwards, returning to just the House of Black's victim lying alone, face-down in the ring. (58)

 vs. 

After that hotly contested match and its aftermath, the pendulum swung back to the last of the night's showcase matches as junior Callis Family member Kyle Fletcher took on high-flying underdog AR Fox. Much like the Purazzo and Strong wins that had come before, the contest was competitive, and quite exciting at times. But in the end, the combatant with the most momentum coming into the match, Fletcher, would walk away with the pin. (59)

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match

 vs. 

The crowd was hot for the main event, even if the reaction to the challengers-- particularly Chris Jericho-- continued to be mixed. Nevertheless, the competitors managed to capitalize on the atmosphere to deliver a highly satisfying main event. The two duos went all-out in an effort to engage the crowd, with Sammy Guevara's aerial maneuvers highlighted as he continued to get the better of Ricky Starks. A boot from Big Bill eventually turned the tables, however, allowing the champions to take out their frustrations on the new father.

Eventually Guevara was able to tag in Jericho, though, who cleaned house, sending the title holders out of the ring to recover. Though catching a tag by Guevara before the Sex Gods pursued the champs to opposite corners of the ringside area, the referee followed Jericho and Big Bill, missing Powerhouse Hobbs appearing in the crowd to crack a diving Guevara out of the air with a kendo stick to the head. With that, Starks wasted no time capitalizing on the assistance, rolling Sammy into the ring to finish the match.  (71)

Overall Show Rating: 67

 

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 224

Week 3, January, 2024

North Charleston Coliseum - North Charleston, SC

Attendance: 2,892

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

 vs. 

Though Bullet Club Gold's recent issues with both the Undisputed Kingdom and the Acclaimed might have ordinarily led to a trios match as a warmup for eventually facing those teams, injuries to both Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn led to the somewhat unusual pairing of Jay White and Colton Gunn to start off this week's Dynamite. Despite that, both members performed well in getting the show off to a fun start against AEW originals John Silver and Alex Reynolds, coming away with a clear win before once again blowing off an offer by the Acclaimed for a scissoring on their way backstage. (65)

The match was followed by an in-ring appearance by the Rated R Superstar, Adam Copeland. Noting his failed attempt to assist Griff Garrison during his Eliminator match versus TNT Champion Christian Cage on Collision, the legend apologized to Garrison, before commenting that his encounter with Luchasaurus (an intentional deviation from the Patriarchy member's new Killswitch moniker) made him realize that he was not the only wrestler that was robbed at Worlds End. In fact, he added, maybe Luchasaurus deserved a title shot even more than him, so he was making an offer: he would leave Christian alone, for now, if Christian granted Luchasaurus a TNT Championship match. (51)

 vs. 

Moving back to in-ring action, popular babyface duo Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale faced off against the Outcasts, Saraya and Ruby Soho. It was a fairly rare appearance by Saraya in a TV match, and her performance perhaps hinted at why, as she seemed neither physically or mentally at her best during her time in the ring. The contest was embellished by an appearance by Angelo Parker at ringside, who appeared to be attempting to deliver a gift of some sort to Soho, before being deterred by the advances of Outcast associate Harley. Though it did not lead directly to the finish, the distraction likely did not help the Outcasts' performance, leading to Nightingale scoring the pin with her Doctor Bomb variant finisher on Soho. (54)

Coming back from an ad break, Sting, Darby Allin, and Ric Flair made their way to the ring, with Sting taking a microphone upon their arrival. Pacing the squared circle, the icon thought aloud, trying to figure out why Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, and their cohorts had come to ringside during his and Darby's match against the Callis Family the prior week. Unable to come to a concclusion, he asked the Nature Boy, who also was at a loss, before calling out Jarrett and team to explain for themselves.

Joining them in the ring, Jarrett answered that they didn't have any plans to get involved in the match, and were just there because he had a proposal to make to Flair. In fact, none of them had had anything to do with the action until Darby was flying through the air at Satnam, who, as a world-class athlete with razor's edge instincts, just responded to protect himself. Flair cut Jarrett off, telling him and Lethal, the Nature Boy's retirement match opponent, that he didn't want anything to do with them. Flair then demanded that Satnam face Darby next week on Dynamite, and the challenge was accepted. (57)

 vs. 

Keeping the product in front of the live audience, a match between two of AEW's original big men, Wardlow and Jake Hager, followed. Though Wardlow had begun from a similar spot in the promotion, acting as an enforcer for a faction figurehead, he had long surpassed the WWE veteran in the pecking order, a status he reinforced here as his more athletic style dominated his technically-oriented opponent in a double powerbomb victory. (47)

With another win in the books, Adam Cole took to the ring to tout his stable's continuing hot streak. Closing his promo with a focus on Wardlow's quest to bring the World Title in house, he referenced a similar mission that had been declared by Bryan Danielson on Saturday night, warning the American Dragon to stay out of Warldow's way, or get run over. (57)

 vs. 

After the warning to one of their members, the Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta) made their in-ring debut for 2024 against Kip Sabian and his frequent allies the Butcher and the Blade. Moxley had asked for a fight during the BCC's appearance on Collision the week before, and got one from their opponents, particularly Butcher and Blade, who were always up for a brawl. Despite plenty of resistance in a physical. back-and-forth match, Castagnoli was eventually able to catch the least combat-inclined member of the opposing trio Sabian, hitting him with a Neutralizer to get the Club back into the win column to start the year. (67)

 vs. 

The final match leading up to the night's main event was similar to the last, with a top star itching for a fight meeting an opponent that was always ready to provide one, this time matching up 'Hangman' Adam Page against Stu Grayson. The battle turned out to be the highlight of the night, with the arguably underutilized Grayson matching Page step-by-step in a match that was just as hard-hitting as the last, and even more fast=paced. Despite those efforts, Page was not to be denied. as he worked to position himself for a World Title opportunity, taking out Grayson with a Buckshot Lariat for the win.  (71)

Retreating backstage for the first (and last) time of the night, Renee Paquette had been enlisted by Lutha to host a sitdown between his patron Timeless Toni Storm and emerging challenger Deonna Purazzo. Filmed in black-and-white with Mariah May, as usual, shadowing her idol Storm, Purazzo revealed that she and Toni had once been close, leaving her at a loss for what was happening with Storm. But while Storm had changed, so had she, evolving into the Virtuosa that was ready to challenge for the champ's AEW Title. Storm continued to act obliviously toward Purazzo, demanding to be removed by Lutha and prompting a shoe-tossing attack by her understudy May on Purazzo. (48)

AEW World Championship Match

 vs. 

In the main event, Samoa proved himself to be both a man of his word and a fighting champion, answering Hook's challenge for the World Title. Despite being outmanned by almost any traditional measure, the upstart lived up to his challenge, hitting the much larger champion with a T-Bone Suplex and managing to apply the Redrum before eventually succumbing to a chokehold himself. Despite an initial show of respect from Joe in leaving him alone following the match, Hook asked for more, putting him on the receiving end of a Muscle Buster before Hangman Page sprinted down to make the save, in turn summoning Swerve Strickland to ringside for a three-way staredown to close the show. (63)

Overall Show Rating: 62

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 128

Week 3, January, 2024

North Charleston Coliseum - North Charleston, SC

Attendance: 2,892

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

 vs. 

Rampage kicked off with Riho fighting to get revenge for being sprayed with mist by the newly christened Skye Black, costing her her TBS Championship challenge against Julia Hart on the previous week's Dynamite. The fan favorite came out with heightened intensity, quickly overwhelming Black with a barrage of offense leading to a series of near-falls. Her momentum was only slowed by an appearance by Hart at ringside. The TBS title holder made no attempt to interfere, but was run off by a charging Hikaru Shida all the same, evening the numbers and getting Riho back on track to earn the pin. (54)

Leaning into their recent status as Rampage staples, as well as their budding partnership with fellow tag team veteran Mark Briscoe, Matt and Jeff Hardy appeared backstage with Renee Paquette. Noting Briscoe's loss to Lance Archer on Collision due to the Righteous' interference, the Hardys challenged Jake Roberts' trio to a match on the next Ramage. (58)

 vs. 

Another Rampage regular, Anna Jay, took the ring for the next match, this time facing ring general Emi Sakura. Once again, a week after her victory over Mercedes Martinez, Jay was bullied for much of the match by her more experienced opponent. She appeared to be showing increased ring presence, however, biding her time deflecting damage until she caught Sakura with a schoolboy pinfall that felt more opportunistic than desperate. Though it did not make for great entertainment, the up-and-comer was starting to look stronger than she had since before her prolonged injury absences. (37)

In another backstage segment, Matt Menard was found fretting to his former Jericho Appreciation Society mates Jake Hager and Angelo Parker. Menard was concerned that with Daniel Garcia drawing attention from both FTR and the Blackpool Combat Club and Anna Jay increasingly going it alone, they were on the verge of losing both of their junior members. Unfortunately, his 2.0 partner Parker seemed far more preoccupied by his efforts to delivery Ruby Soho a birthday gift. (57)

 vs. 

The final match of the night was a theoretical showcase for Roderick Strong as he built his case for his International Title challenge of Orange Cassidy, this time against Ethan Page. Page was far from a pushover, however, showing off the form he had demonstrated in his recent battles with Tony Nese on Ring of Honor. With Page threatening to steal the win, it would take a distraction of the referee by Matt Taven and an attack from outside the ring by Mike Bennett to seal the victory for Strong. (57)

Punishing Page for the insult of threatening Strong's title run, the Undisputed Kingdom began a three-way beatdown of the Canadian in the ring following of the match. Their attack was quickly interrupted by a charging Scorpio Sky, however. Page's former tag team partner, Sky had been on the receiving end of similar treatment by the Kingdom on Collision, and wasted no time in running the attackers out of the ring. Apparently disinterested in even a 3-on-2 advantage, the heels slunk away while Sky helped Page to his feet to end the show. (41)

Overall Show Rating: 55

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 31

Week 3, January, 2024

Venue: Chaifetz Arena - St. Louis, MO

Attendance: 2,467

Your Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuiness

Eddie Kingston's entrance music announced his presence on the stage as he made his way to the ring to open up Collision. The Continental Triple Crown™ Champion was in typical form, looking wound up and irritated despite his successful title defense against Brody King one week before. That was because immediately following his win, he was attacked and left lying by King's House of Black mates as a reward for his win. Kingston figured that meant that the House was not done with him, but just in case they thought they were, he wants whichever one wants to get beat next to come face him next week on Collision. (69)

 vs. 

Though FTR had toned down their 'Fists Not Flips' rhetoric in recent years, they and their partner that night, Daniel Garcia, still posed quite a contrast in styles with their opponents, Top Flight and Action Andretti. Despite predictable growing pains as a new unit, and with Dante Martin still working his way back from an injury, the latter trio's high-flying offense reliably promised entertaining matches with any opponent. That was true again here, though tempered somewhat when a dropkick by Darius Martin broke Cash Wheeler's orbital bone. Despite one member of their team being compromised, Daniel Garcia stepped up capably, filling in for Wheeler's customary Lung Blower position in FTR's Shatter Machine on Andretti to win the match. (62)

 vs. 

Another recently returned competitor, Thunder Rosa, faced off next with Nyla Rose. Neither had been regular presences on AEW TV in 2023, but had renewed acquaintances during an eight-person tag at Dynamite Homecoming. Despite her prolonged absence, Rosa had looked in top form when in action, and that continued here as she cut her larger opponent down to size for the victory.  (60)

Christian Cage and the Patriarchy were the next to appear in the ring, this time in a promo segment to address Adam Copeland's suggestion on Dynamite that he would call off his open harassment of the TNT Champion if Killswitch were granted the title shot he had handed over at Worlds End. Christian rejected Copeland's idea out of hand, stating that Killswitch already had his chance, and if he thought there was someone that deserved it more. that was up to him. The champion then added that it would be unfair for Killswitch to get another chance anyway before his son Nick Wayne had ever gotten one, and that might have been robbed from him when Copeland powerbombed him through a flaming table. Killswitch, though mute, was clearly not satisfied by any of this reasoning. (56)

Ring of Honor Trios Championship Match

 vs. 

The next bout, bringing together two sets of Ring of Honor mainstays, was a circuitous rematch, with Dalton Castle and the Boys challenging the Mogul Embassy for the Ring of Honor Six-Man Championships they had lost to them to launch the champs' prior reign. Though Dalton Castle had been struggling ever since losing at Final Battle the month before, he held up his usual end of the bargain here, doing the heavy lifting against the physicality of Brian Cage and the Gates of Agony. Eventually the champions were able to catch both of the Boys in a combo Double Powerbomb Splash, though, earning an impressive victory, even if the AEW crowd was not completely invested in the contest.  (40) 

As if sensing the audience's disengagement, Prince Nana took the microphone following the match and made another bid to catch their attention, challenging the Acclaimed to a unification match of the Ring of Honor and AEW Trios Championships at next week's Dynamite. (39)

 vs. 

In the second of a matched pair of showcase matches to complete a set with 'Hangman' Page's defeat of Stu Grayson on Dynamite, Swerve Strickland took on a similarly underrated talent to Grayson in Matt Sydal. The veteran was ready for his chance at the spotlight, and his lighting quick offense was an exciting fit with Strickland's more muscular acrobatics. Unfortunately he had run into a man on a mission in Swerve, who punctuated a decisive victory with the Swerve Stomp. (71)

Heading backstage, Don Callis had corralled a production crew to tout Kenosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs' twin successes in ending Sting's historic AEW undefeated streak, and preventing Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara from taking the Tag Team Titles from Ricky Starks and Big Bill. By Callis' math. the combination of the two put them in line for a championship opportunity themselves, putting out the challenge to Starks and Big Bill.  (53)

 vs. 

In the night's main event, and Bryan Danielson's first match since declaring his own championship ambitions, the American Dragon faced off against Penta El Zero M in a first-ever contest. The bout lived up to its billing, with Penta working over Danielson's neck, and Danielson escalating with a pair of Avalanche Suplexes to even the score. A brutal exchange of chops and palm slaps fed into a closing sequence punctuated by a Danielson Busaiku Knee for the pin.  (80)

As Danielson played to the crowd on his way back up the entrance map, he was met on the stage by two members of the Undisputed Kingdom, Adam Cole and Wardlow. Though no words or blows were exchanged, it was clear that a message was being sent-- or rather, underlined-- that Danielson not get in the way of Wardlow's pursuit of the AEW World Championship. (46) 

Overall Show Rating: 72

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 225

Week 4, January, 2024

Enmarket Arena - Savannah, GA

Attendance: 2,459

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

Dynamite opened with a match announcement-- Christian Cage and Killswitch facing the Luch Bros., Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix in the night's main event-- as AEW World Champion Samoa Joe made his way to the ring. Joe announced there that, even though Hook was not in the arena tonight due to injuries suffered during their title match last week, he respected the challenger, not just for his effort in the match, but because he didn't let anything stand between him and the Champ... unlike Swerve Strickland and Adam Page, who couldn't seem to get out of each other's way. Saying he had grown tired of their back-and-forth, Joe announced that he would face whichever one of them could win another match between them to face him. (77)

 vs. 

The opening bout of the episode featured a matchup between Darby Allin and the seldom-seen-in-the-ring Satnam Singh, as Darby sought revenge for the Indian monster costing Sting his AEW undefeated streak in a tag match with the Callis Family. With all of their usual associates surrounding the ring-- Sting and Ric Flair for Allin, Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Karen Jarrett, and Sonjay Dutt for Singh-- the match was short, but chaotic, with as much action outside the ring as inside. Though Jarrett continued to leave Flair untouched, their verbal interactions had grown more heated over the past few weeks, leading to a confrontation between Sting and Jarrett, Lethal, and Dutt, which was broken up by a Coffin Drop to the outside by Darby. Rushing back in the ring, after bouncing off of the giant for most of the match, the daredevil was able to bring the behemoth's shoulders to the mat with a Crucifix Bomb for the win. (55)

Following Deonna Purazzo's revelations last week of her past friendship with AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm, the would-be challenger and champion were joined on the stage by Renee Paquette to reveal more. Granting that they had, in fact, been acquaintances, Storm immediately tried to minimize their history by mocking the Virtuosa with a series of insults, leading Purazzo to reveal a tattoo that she shared with the Timeless icon. Put on the spot, Storm was embarrassingly forced to display the very same tattoo in the identical location on her body.

Just as the tensions had simmered to the point that a shoe-tossing seemed inevitable, the two competitors and Storm's entourage were interrupted by Thunder Rosa's emergence from backstage. Taking Storm's microphone, Rosa accused Purazzo of line-jumping... and also Toni Storm, and anyone else who had gotten a shot since she lost her title to injury. Stating she didn't care who won between them, she promised that she'd be coming for her title soon enough. (47)

 vs. 

Back in the ring, the third active member of the Callis Family, Kyle Fletcher, prepared to take on veteran freelancer Willie Mack. Though not a constant presence in AEW, Mack always delivered in the ring, and this match was no exception, providing the crowd with the most entertaining action of the night so far. He would eventually succumb to Fletcher's spinning Grimstone piledriver, though, as Don Callis celebrated another win for his charges outside.  (64)

Moving backstage, the BCC once again found Daniel Garcia. where they told the rising star that he would be better off without FTR and Cash's broken face, inviting Garcia to tag with them that Saturday on Collision. Though he stood up for the absent FTR, Garcia quickly agreed. (63)

 vs. 

Seeking to extend his and the Undisputed Kingdom's winning ways since revealing themselves as MJF's tormentors at Worlds End, Roderick Strong faced AR Fox as the show returned to the ring. Though some would say that Strong's long history of matches appeared to be catching up to him, he did well enough keeping up in a fast-paced match with the acrobatic Fox, ultimately taking the pinfall with the End of Heartache. (61)

Following the match, Adam Cole limped into the ring in his soft boot to take the microphone. Though he began by repeating his recent habit of running down the long list of plans that the Undisputed Kingdom had for pursuing AEW gold, this time the faction's leader escalated his rhetoric, following through on threats against Orange Cassidy with an explicit challenge by Strong for Cassidy's International Title.  (36)

In the backstage interview area, Renee Paquette had gathered Ricky Starks and Big Bill to respond to Don Callis' claims to a stake in their AEW Tag Team Championships following assistance in a match against Le Sex Gods, and resulting challenge for the titleholders. Though Starks and Big Bill angrily dismissed the idea that they needed help from Kenosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs, they would still be happy to beat their asses for Callis suggesting they did in the first place.  (54)

AEW and Ring of Honor Trios Title Unification Match

 vs. 

In the night's semi-main event, the AEW Trios champs the Acclaimed faced off with Ring of Honor champions the Mogul Embassy to pay off Prince Nana's unification challenge from Collision. Despite the latter team's ambitions and a decided physical advantage, they were no match for the fan favorite champs from the AEW side.

The climax of the match in the ring was accompanied by a confrontation on the outside between Bullet Club Gold and the Undisputed Kingdom. Though the Kingdom had not threatened to intervene in the match, their appearance brought the Bang Bang Gang out to face them, cutting off any opportunity to disrupt a decisive Max Caster Mic Drop for the victory. Though the Undisputed had outnumbered the Bullet Club alone, especially with Austin Gunn's current injury, the tables turned once the Acclaimed were free to stand aside Jay White and the Gunns. Taunting their rivals as they made their way to the back, the Undisputed Kingdom were forced to watch as the Bullet Club finally relented to the Acclaimed's appeals, scissoring their former rivals to form the Bang Bang Scissor Gang to a warm response from the crowd.  (47)

 vs. 

And in the night's main event, Christian Cage was forced to team with increasingly disgruntled black sheep Killswitch against former AEW Tag Team Champions the Lucha Bros. Though Rey Fenix was still working his way into form following a long injury absence and Penta was coming off of a hard-fought loss to Bryan Danielson on Collision, their tag team chemistry and ingenuity overwhelmed their less cohesive opponents, who were struggling under the weight of Cage's continued refusals to allow Killswitch to compete for his TNT Championship. Forced to take out referee Bryce Remsburg with a low blow in an effort to save the match, and with Nick Wayne holding Remsburg's attention as he recovered, Cage was able to gather a steel chair that Wayne had just thrown into the ring to blindside Fenix.

The elimination of the referee would backfire on the Patriarch, however. Adam Copeland once again appeared from the crowd, seizing on the opportunity to meddle with his nemesis. More notably, however, was a brief face-off between the Rated R Superstar and Killswitch, whom he had recently (whether sincerely or not) campaigned to get the first shot at Cage's title. With a chance to stop Copeland's attack, Killswitch instead stepped aside, allowing the legend to hit his former best friend with a Spear and position Fenix on top of Cage to secure a three count from a rallying Remsburg.

As the Lucha Bros. and Copeland stood triumphant outside the ring, the episode closed with Cage turned sideways on the mat to face Killswitch, seething in anger. (71)

Overall Show Rating: 70
 

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 128

Week 4, January, 2024

Enmarket Arena - Savannah, GA

Attendance: 2,459

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

 vs. 

Rampage kicked off on Friday night with a once (and possibly future) team facing off against a current one that had not been seen on TV in some time, with the former Men of the Year, Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky, reuniting to face La Faccion Igobernables members Dralistico and Preston Vance. Though together for months, the latter two wrestlers had either languished on the sidelines (in Dralistico's case) or floundered (in Vance's) when given the chance to be in action, taking a backseat to Rush's pre-injury rise in the AEW's singles ranks. The match against Sky and Page did not improve that trend, with Vance in particular struggling, taking the brunt of the offense and the pin from Sky. For the victors' part, with no commitment to continue as a team, the victory at least served as an enjoyable throwback to earlier days. (54)

Backstage, Saraya pulled Ruby Soho away from an intended interview with Renee Paquette, taking her to a nearby video screen to show her footage that, while apologizing, she insisted Ruby must see. In security-style video taken in a garage, Harley Cameron was seen kissing an apparently surprised Angelo Parker. The video cut off before any further response was shown, but that may not have mattered, as Soho had immediately bolted at the sight of the kiss. (49)

In a pre-taped backstage segment, Swerve Strickland stood alone to address the possibility of another match against Hangman Adam Page, this time for the right to face Samoa Joe for the AEW World Title. Pointing out that he had already beaten Page twice, including in the cowboy's signature match, he didn't understand why he had to beat him again... but he would. (67)

 vs. 

Though there was not a women's tag team division in AEW, Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale had steado;u been building a case for themselves as the best female team in the company since the days of Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter. Together again against Taya Valkyrie and Diamante, they kept up their momentum for another week when Statlander hit Diamante with Friday Night Fever for the victory. (60)

Whether or not it had expressly been recorded for the purpose of replying to Swerve Strickland's promo from earlier in the show, Page's own backstage interview addressing the possibility of Swerve-Hangman 3 certainly came off like as a response. Though he did not refer to his winless record against his rival, he did note his earlier promise to keep the AEW Title out of his hands, so if they were to fight with a shot at the title on the line, that would be as good a time as any. (61)

 vs. 

In a main event resulting from a challenge made by the Hardy Boys and Mark Briscoe last week, that trio faced off against the Jake Roberts-led  team of Lance Archer and the Righteous. Tensions between the groups had escalated quickly through matches in various combinations, including a matchup between Briscoe and Archer in which intervention by the Righteous had led to a win for the Murderhawk Monster. That issue led to an energetic and promising start to the contest, but the match eventually lost steam based on injuries suffered by both Jeff Hardy (a bruised kidney) and Briscoe (a concussion). Despite the injuries, the babyface trio was able to hold things together long enough for Matt Hardy to score a pin on Dutch following a Twist of Fate. It did not seem that all was resolved between the two teams, but if they were going to fight again, it would be a matter of weeks waiting for Jeff and Briscoe's recoveries. (57)

Overall Show Rating: 59

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 32

Week 4, January, 2024

Brookshire Grocery Arena, - Bossier City, LA

Attendance: 3,547

Your Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuiness

 vs. 

A  familiar horn blare heralded the opening of this week's Collision as Miro stomped to the ring with his "hot, flexible" wife and manager CJ Perry. In what likely would not have been a coincidence following his most recent victory against Mike Santana, the Redeemer was scheduled to face Santana's former tag team partner Ortiz. Similar to the prior matchup, the smaller wrestler Ortiz put up an inspiring and entertaining fight, but in the end, the momentum of the rampaging Bulgarian was too much to overcome, with Miro taking the match with Game Over. (60)

Introducing the rest of the show, Tony Schiavone also ran down the next few weeks' schedule of matches for Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland leading up to their rematch over a shot at Samoa Joe's AEW World Title. Setting up a gauntlet of events for the bitter rivals, Schiavone informed viewers that on the next Dynamite, the competitors would fight with current and former allies in an eight-man tag, with Swerve leading the Mogul Embassy against Hangman and his former friends the Dark Order. The following week would see them choose one another's opponents in two Dealer's Choice matches. And finally, another week later, the two challengers would face off in an eliminator match to decide who would face Samoa Joe at Revolution.

Eddie Kingston arrived in the ring next ready for battle, and to find out which member of the House of Black would answer his challenge to fight for the AEW Continental Triple Crown. The arena went dark before Buddy Matthews appeared on stage to answer the call. Kingston barked at his opponent until he reached ringside, at which point the lights went dark again, and, seconds later, all three members of the House of Black now surrounded Eddie in the ring. The three villains brutally attacked Eddie before the match could begin, leaving him lying after each hitting their finishers on the ultimately defenseless champ. (55)

 vs. 

The next match to actually take place, then, pitted Hikaru Shida and Riho, who had recently been aligned together based on shared issues with Julia Hart and Skye Black, against a newly formed unit that had been working in dark matches in the new year, Layla Hirsch and recent signing Ashley D'amboise. The latter pair made an odd couple, with vastly disparate sizes between them, but also a promisingly physical one. Nevertheless, they were not yet seasoned enough to best their more veteran Japanese opponents, and Riho eventually chopped down D'amboise with her running double knee for the pin as Hart and Skye watched from the entrance ramp. (54)

In a bit of backstage drama that was spilling over from recent episodes of Rampage, Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, Jake Hager, Ruby Soho, Saraya, and Harley Cameron were arguing over a recent bit of video that implied that Parker was matching his courtship of Soho with a clandestine pursuit of Cameron. The messy dispute went quiet when a furious Anna Jay appeared, however, simply slapping Harley Cameron in the face before walking away.  (48)

 vs. 

Back to the ring, Deonna Purazzo received another chance to demonstrate through action, rather than words, what a significant threat she posed to AEW Women's World Champion Timeless Toni Storm, completely dismantling Nyle Rose in a short match. (47)

vs. 

Following up on their recent tug-of-war with FTR over mentorship of Daniel Garcia, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta joined Garcia in a rematch of sorts of a battle Garcia had recently fought alongside FTR, taking on the trio of Top Flight and Action Andretti, along with fellow high flyer Isiah Kassidy. Injuries hovered over the proceedings, as the FTR-Top Flight match had seen Darius Martin break Cash Wheeler's orbital bone, while add-on Kassidy was battling rust throughout the match as he remained without his Private Party tag team partner Marq Quen. Though the aerial assault of Top Flight and their teammates posed their usual problems, speeding up the action to an uncomfortable degree for their brawling opponents, the superior acumen of the BCC was too much in the end, seeing Garcia tap out Kassidy with an Ankle Lock as Moxley and crew held Top Flight and Andretti at bay outside the ring. (74)

In an awkward backstage meeting, following the night's announcement of their eight-man tag match on Dynamite, Hangman Adam Page reunited with the Dark Order to agree that the only thing they had in common anymore as that they didn't want to have anything to do with each other.  (50)

Elsewhere backstage, the Blackpool Combat Club basked in the afterglow of their victory against Andretti, Top Flight, and Kassidy, with Moxley wryly bragging that no one had even gotten their faces broken. (66)

vs. 

The other, more freewheeling member of the Blackpool Combat Club appeared next in a match against Trent Baretta. Similar to last week's matchup between Danielson and Penta Zero M, the American Dragon and the always game Baretta had a terrific, physical match going toe-to-toe in a straight-up fight as Trent's Best Friends companions Chuck Taylor, Danhausen, and Orange Cassidy offered support at ringside. Baretta seemed on the verge of a breakout upset after hitting Crunchy on Danielson, but Danielson was able to kick out, ultimately turning the tides with a Leball Lock submission. (74)

The action had not concluded following the match, however, as Danielson and Cassidy, separately making their way backstage after the match, were both current targets of title contenders from the Undisputed Kingdom. Adam Cole's devilish faction seized on the opportunity to catch both at once, arriving from the crowd to attack the Dragon and Best Friends. Strong fired the opening shot with a blindside jumping knee to the back of Cassidy's head, before Cole, arriving more slowly on the scene, eventually broke a crutch across Danhausen's back. Most brutally, Wardlow punctuated the beating by dragging Danielson into the ring for Powerbomb Symphony as the Kingdom stood triumphantly over their foes. (49)

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match

 vs. 

The main event saw the latest tag team title defense in what was now a many-sided issue involving Ricky Starks and Big Bill that began when the now-injured Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho won the Young Bucks' shot at their titles. Omega and Jericho's involvement had, perhaps inevitably, led to the Callis Family's, prompting that group's manager's demand for a championship match to repay for their interference with Jericho's opportunity alongside his replacement partner Sammy Guevarra. The resulting contest was heated, though somewhat lacking, with challengers Kenosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs repeating their apparent difficulty in getting on the same page as a team. Even with the presence of Big Bill, Takeshita and Hobbs were the more imposing physical team, but their struggles opened the door for Jericho to run out to hit Hobbs with a baseball bat behind the referee's back, leading to a Starks pin on Hobbs to retain his team's titles. With Hobbs down, Jericho and Guevarra came to ringside to stare down Starks and Big Bill, rather than blood rival Don Callis to close the show. (60)

Overall Show Rating: 62

 

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 226

Week 1, February, 2024

UNO Lakefront Arena - New Orleans, LA

Attendance: 2,935

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

The first Dynamite of February launched with a match announcement: In the night's main event, Le Sex Gods Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevarra, fresh off of getting revenge against the Callis Family for spoiling their last title opportunity against Ricky Starks and Big Bill, would face the Lucha Bros. Penta Zero M and Rey Fenix in a number one contenders match for Starks' and Bill's World Tag Team titles.

vs.

Diving straight into the action from there, the newly formed Bang Bang Scissor Gang consisting of Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and the Gunns) and the Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens, Max Caster, and Billy Gunn) debuted in the ring against a selection of Ring of Honor stalwarts (Dalton Castle, the Boys, Tony Nese, and Johnny TV). Given the new unit's momentum and relative home field advantage, the match would have been challenging enough aside from the fact that Castle was working through injury to make the date.  That made the match an almost celebratory affair, and it was never much in doubt as Jay White magnanimously gave way to Caster to make the pin on Brandon to secure the win. (43)

Moving to the backstage area, a video clip was shown from earlier that afternoon when Renee Paquette caught up with Mariah May on her latest attempt to convince Toni Storm to watch one of her matches. After initially feigning interest, Storm claimed that she did not want to risk being attacked by Deonna Perazzo or Thunder Rosa, so she would instead be going to visit a Mississippi River showboat for a night of entertainment, leaving May disappointed once again. (50)

vs. 

Immediately following that segment, May was in the ring to face her opponent, veteran grappler Mercedes Martinez. Though Storm's aspiring understudy still had relatively little ring time in AEW, she was quickly gaining her footing, looking impressive in outlasting Martinez in an entertaining back-and-forth match, punctuated by the Mayday.  (54)

 vs. 

Staying in the ring saw a reunion of sorts, as the core tag team of Best Friends, Trent Baretta and Chuck Taylor, had their first traditional tag match since Taylor's recent return from injury, facing the Workhorsemen Anthony Bennett and JD Drake. As another team that had seen more time of late in Ring of Honor, Bennett and Drake put in a strong performance, reminding viewers-- as they always seemed to do-- that they were a top-level tandem. They had not been swimming in the same waters as Baretta of late, however, and after having recently faced off against Eddie Kingston and Bryan Danielson, Trent looked comfortable enough to make up for any ring rust being shaken off by his partner, including clearing the way for Taylor to end the match with his Awful Waffle.  (64)

Backstage again, the other Stateside male members of Best Friends, Orange Cassidy and Danhausen, had joined Bryan Danielson for an interview with Renee Paquette. Following their attack by the Undisputed Kingdom on Saturday night, the American Dragon delivered a fired-up promo, yelling that the Kingdom had just made him angry enough to kick their heads in. With Danhausen anxiously hanging on Danielson's every word, Orange said okay. (51)

 vs. 

The next match saw Daniel Garcia try to continue his recent hot streak in both singles and tag competition, facing off against burgeoning crowd favorite Komander. In a fast-paced style clash, Komander almost scored a countout upset after a rope-walking dive to the outside left Garcia struggling to answer the referee's ten count. Once the action was back in between the ropes, however, Garcia was able to ground Komander's high-flying offense, eventually meeting a last-ditch dive by Komander in mid-air with a modified version of the his Lungblower finisher to win. (62)

FTW Championship Match

 vs. 

Making a surprise return following his violent loss against Samoa Joe two weeks before, Hook was ready to resume his push up the mountain, once again taking on a monster opponent in Lance Archer. As he often did, Archer sprinted out to dominate the early portions of the match, quickly extinguishing multiple rallies from his young opponent. Just as it looked as if there were no more rallies left in Hook's tank, he managed to get under the far larger Archer for a T-Bone Suplex. The stunned challenger was never able to recover, cut down to size by enough suplexes for Hook to catch him on the mat for a Redrum and pass out finish. (58)

Staying in front of the audience, Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, and their gang appeared in the ring to call out Sting and Darby Allin to have words. The retiring legend and his tag team partner Allin soon emerged with Sting's old friend Ric Flair in tow, and made their way to the ring. Once there, Lethal gave credit to Allin for taking out Satnam Singh, but told him it was time to step up a level, challenging him to a match. With their more veteran peers leaving themselves out of the discussion, and Jarrett apparently having given up on whatever request he wanted to make of Flair, Darby gave Lethal his due for a fine career, before telling him that he, too, could pay for helping to end his and Sting's undefeated streak. (63)

vs. 

In the night's semi-main event, world champ Samoa Joe was at the announce table to watch the first bout in a renewed round of hostilities between top AEW Title contenders Swerve Strickland and Hangman Adam Page. Leading up to their number one contender's match in two weeks, Strickland and his stable of powerhouses the Mogul Embassy would take on Page and former friends the Dark Order. Page's earlier reunion with his partners in the Elite had led Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds, and John Silver to turn their backs on both him and their good-guy ways in 2023. Now, with both the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega out of action, neither the Cowboy or the Order appeared to be interested in mending fences, leaving them at a significant disadvantage against Swerve's more cohesive squad. Though Page was a whirlwind, almost winning the match on his own, he couldn't be everywhere at once, allowing Strickland to victimize Silver with an IML Driver for the pinfall. After the match,  a frustrated Page would turn his back on his teammates and head to the back alone, not acknowledging them or the crowd.. (60)

The Patriarchy followed, with Christian Cage leading his adopted son Nick Wayne as well as black sheep Killswitch to the ring to address recent challenges for his cherished TNT Title. This predictably prompted an appearance by Adam Copeland, keeping his distance on the stage to demand that Christian make up his mind between him and Killswitch as his next challenger. Once again, Christian dismissed both contenders, insisting that both were strictly back-of-the-line guys.

Having heard enough, Copeland was on his way to the ring when Tony Schiavone spoke up from the announcer's desk: a TNT Championship match had just been made for next week's Dynamite... and it would be a three-way match, pitting Cage against both Copeland and Killswitch. Neither the Rater R Superstar or former Luchasaurus looked as displeased as Cage did from the news. (57)

AEW World Tag Team Tile Number One Contenders Match

 vs. 

Having earned their way back into the title picture with a main event win against the Patriarchy just a week before, tag division mainstays Penta and Fenix faced off against Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevarra in the night's main event. Though they were likely the superior unit at their peak, the Lucha Bros. were facing a duo that were in the midst of a heated back-and-forth between themselves, Ricky Starks and Big Bill, and the Callis Family over the tag championships, coming in hot and highly motivated as a result. The combination led to a hard-fought contest which was blessedly free of the outside interference that had marred recent tag title defenses, ultimately ending after Guevarra hit Fenix with a GTH for the win, as Jericho captured Penta on the ring apron. Despite a contentious match, the two teams shook hands after the bell, with the Lucha Bros. signaling a desire for a championship rematch if the celebrating Sex Gods took the titles. (78)

Overall Show Rating: 70

Edited February 2 by AltEliteWrestling

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 129

Week 1, February, 2024

UNO Lakefront Arena - New Orleans, LA

Attendance: 2,935

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

 vs. 

This week's edition of Rampage began in the ring, where Action Andretti and Top Flight prepared to take on the trio of Jake Hager and 2.0. While Andretti and the Martin brothers were coming off of a loss against FTR and Daniel Garcia, the former Jericho Appreciation Society members were hoping to overcome a more sustained string of tough luck coming into the match. The veterans looked sharper than they had in weeks to start the contest, controlling their high-flying opponents with a mixture of smarts and brawn.

An unfortunate trend continued, however, when Saraya and Harley Cameron made their way to ringside, trailed by a concerned-looking Ruby Soho. Heading straight for Anna Jay, who had recently slapped Harley over her involvement in the budding relationship between Soho and Angelo Parker, the distraction outside the ring quickly disrupted Parker's focus inside it. And when Soho was caught by an errant shot between Saraya and Jay, his focus broke down entirely, prompting him to leave the ring. Suddenly in a handicap match, it did not take long for Menard to fall prey to a Nose Dive from the Martin brothers before succumbing to the pin. (60/47)

In a typically shadowy taped segment, Malakai Black addressed Eddie Kingston on behalf of fellow House of Black member and upcoming Continental Triple Crown challenger Buddy Matthews. Noting the House's decision to attack Kingston rather than follow through with Matthews' potential match with the champ on Collision, Black explained that there was no downside in taking the opportunity to punish the Mad King instead. He contended that it would never be hard to get in Kingston's head, and they knew that he wouldn't be able to help himself-- no matter how many times he gets beaten, no matter how many times he gets screwed over, he's still going to want to fight. And eventually the House would win. (51)

 vs. 

In a somewhat awkward bit of timing, Hart appeared next in the ring with unofficial tag partner Skye Black in a match pitting them against veteran babyface Madison Rayne and newcomer Queen Aminata. Though Aminata showed promise in the effort, the growing synergy between Hart and Black would earn a decisive victory with a pin on Rayne. (51)

Appearing in the backstage interview area, Renee Paquette had pigeonholed Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky, who had appeared together on the past two Rampages, including a reunion of their Men of the Year team the prior week. Asking if they were going to be a permanent unit, after agreeing that they would be unstoppable if they did, both Page and Scorpio added that, while it felt good to get the win last week, they were playing it by ear for now. (53)

 vs. 

And in the night's main event, Matt Hardy was forced into a reunion of his own by the absences of his brother Jeff and Mark Briscoe for a return match against the Righteous. Though there had never been a true falling out between Matt and the moonlighting Private Party member Kassidy, the difference between their chemistry and the well-honed rapport between the Hardy boys was evident. After dominating most of the match, Vincent and Dutch weathered a hot tag barrage by Matt long enough to see Kassidy return as the legal man, catching him with Autumn Sunshine to get back a win against at least one of their rivals from the previous week. (53)

Overall Show Rating: 53

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 33

Week 1, February, 2024

Bert Ogden Arena, - Edinburg, TX

Attendance: 3,395

Your Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuiness

 vs. 

Collision opened to the Rio Grande Valley crowd singling along to Wild Thing as Jon Moxley led the Blackpool Combat Club-- in this case, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta-- to the ring for six-man action. On this night, Moxley's call to all corners for fights had been answered by a trio of Ring of Honor regulars in Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, and Tony Nese. Though Nese was not necessarily a natural match for the BCC's brawling/technical style, Taylor and Moriarty certainly were, leading to an exciting battle, and the challengers standing surprisingly tall before Nese ultimately was caught in a Seatbelt by Yuta to end the contest. (69)

 

In the first backstage interlude of the evening, Lexy Nair caught up with the Patriarchy, where Christian Cage wanted to make his expectation clear that his Dynamite three-way match against Adam Copeland and Killswitch would be the last he had to hear from the Rated R Superstar. And assuming that it was, he was actually happy that the former Luchasaurus would also get to be in the match, as he stated in no uncertain terms that he expected the dinosaur to work on his behalf to take out Copeland and protect the TNT Championship. (52)

 vs. 

Continuing their recent teaming based on their mutual conflict with TBS Champion Julia Hart and her apparent sidekick Skye Black, Riho and Hikaru Shida took on AEW veteran Nyla Rose and rising prospect Lady Frost. Frost's acrobatic flourishes made for multiple entertaining exchanges with Riho in particular, while Rose's size was a powerful advantage against the Japanese stars, but ultmately the latter team superior skill and growing cohesion led to a decisive win. (56)

 vs. 

With Eddie Kingston out of action following a beating at the hands (and feet) of the House of Black, Buddy Matthews faced promising newcomer Bryan Keith in what what was expected to be a tune-up match ahead of an upcoming Continental Triple Crown challenge against the Mad King. In an engaging bout, Keith proved himself up for both the speed and physicality of the Australian acolyte, managing to deliver plenty of punishment of his own, but in the end, could not avoid Matthews' twisting Angle Slam finisher Matthews' Law to cost him his debut. (60)

In their first appearance (backstage, in this case) since Cash Wheeler had his orbital bone broken by Dante Martin-- a source of some mockery by Jon Moxley in recent days-- an angry FTR found the Blackpool Combat Club following the latter group's win to open the show. With Wheeler wearing a transparent mask to protect his damaged cheekbone, it was clear that he and Dax Harwood were ready to come to blows at the drop of a hat as they warned Moxley, Castagnoli, and Yuta to watch what they say about them, especially to Daniel Garcia. (62)

 vs. 

After putting the feuding Toni Storm and Deonna Purazzo on notice over the AEW Women's World Title that she had never lost in the ring, Thunder Rosa was back between the ropes to face Taya Valkyrie. Though Valkyrie had not yet risen above the level of TBS Championship contention in AEW, she used her superior size and a healthy bag of tricks to remind why she had reached that status. Nevertheless, Rosa's determination proved too much to contend with, as the former champion fought through multiple failed attempts to heft Valkyrie into her Thunder Fire Driver finished, eventually climbing to the top rope for a Diving Shotgun Dropkick to secure the pin.  (55)

Once again backstage, Don Callis was found catching up to Hook. Fresh off of the Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil's triumphant return against Lance Archer, Callis complimented the rising star on his "gumption" in challenging AEW World Champion Samoa Joe, though that was seemingly only an excuse to also mention that there he knew a wrestler in the company that was both younger, and had far more potential than him. (50)

 vs. 

In a pairing tailored for the night's audience along the U.S.-Mexico border, El Hijo del Vikingo made his 2024 debut on AEW television in a match against AAA veteran Johnny TV. Along with his wife Taya Valkyrie, TV was becoming a more regular presence on AEW programming of late, cashing in on frequently entertaining appearances on Ring of Honor TV. He continued that trend in the ring here, putting on a fun match with the AAA champion before succumbing to a pinfall loss. (64)

The final promo segment of the night was another one backstage as Le Sex Gods Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevarra were congratulated by Lexy Nair for reclaiming their number one Tag Title contendership, and the duo sent a message to champs Ricky Starks and Big Bill that they didn't think they could beat them in a straight fight. (45)

 vs. 

With Matt Taven sidelined by an injured knee, a planned four-way between the Undisputed Kingdom and newfound allies Bryan Danielson and Best Friends was reduced to a three-way battle, as Wardlow, Roderick Strong, and Taven's tag team partner Mike Bennett took on Danielson, Orange Cassidy, and Trent Beretta. After promising on Dynamite to kick someone's head in, the American Dragon delivered, stomping Mike Bennett into near-unconsciousness as Cassidy and Baretta hit stereo dives on Wardlow and Strong, and Baretta returned to the ring to hit Bennett with Crunchy for the win.

Even with two injured members and without a clear numbers advantage, Adam Cole and Taven appeared prepared to join Wardlow and Roderick Strong in a return to the ring to carry on hostilities with Danielson and Best Friends. Any notion of that was quickly cut off, though, by the Bang Bang Scissor Gang's rush from the entrance ramp. Staring down the Undisputed Kingdom as they retreated from ringside, the combined forces of Bullet Club Gold and the Acclaimed then turned to face the Best Friends inside the squared circle to close out the show. (73)

Overall Show Rating: 68

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good shows.

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 227

Week 2, February, 2024

Footprint Center - Phoenix, AZ

Attendance: 3.596

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

This week's Dynamite opened on a somber note, as a graphic paid tribute to wrestling legend Ricky Steamboat, who passed away on Monday.

The show proper began with Ricky Starks and Big Bill headed to the ring for a promo segment. It was not lost on some that Starks would be the first to appear following the Steamboat tribute, and the tag team title holder did not shy away from the connection, immediately acknowledging the Dragon's passing, and noting that, while they had not seen eye-to-eye over the summer, Steamboat was one of the greatest to ever get in the ring, and everything Starks had done was with that in mind.

The Absolute One quickly pivoted to the other topic on his mind, the recent words directed at him and Bill by Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevarra. Starks said that he knew that some didn't consider them a "true" tag team, and said that while that might have been true at the start, they were now bound by two things: winning, and disrespect. Big Bill interjected to ask if they needed to break up and get back together six times to be a real team like Jericho and Sammy, before Starks closed out by saying that they while they were getting tired of the disrespect, they weren't tired of the winning, so they'd keep doing that against Le Sex Gods at Revolution. (65)

Dealer's Choice Match

 vs. 

In the first of two Dealer's Choice matches leading into their number one contender's match next week, Swerve Strickland arrived in the ring to find out that Hangman Adam Page's hand-picked opponent for him was none other than New Japan Pro Wrestling's Tomohiro Ishii. No doubt Page had selected the tenacious bruiser as much to wear his rival down as to beat him, and the Stone Pitbull held up his end of the bargain, ramming and bashing AEW's mogul for as long as the two could stand. Hardened by his battles with Page and with the ultimate prize of the AEW World Championship in reach, however, Strickland had both the stubbornness and incentive to withstand the battering. Eventually outlasting Ishii, he took to the top rope to finish off his opponent with a Swerve Stomp for the victory. (72)

Backstage with Renee Paquette, Jay White led the Bang Bang Scissor Gang in a message for the Best Friends. The Switchblade let the BFFs know that just because they ran off the Undisputed Kingdom after the main event of Collision last week, it was not because they wanted anything to do with Orange Cassidy and his pals. He then warned them not to get between the BBSG and their ultimate targets, or they'd become targets themselves. While the Gunn brothers were in their usual bratty form echoing White's message, it should be noted that the Acclaimed were notably more subdued. (52)

 vs. 

Continuing their recent tag team run to start the year, Kris Statlander and and Willow Nightingale faced off against the fresh new team of Layla Hirsch and Ashley D'Amboise. In their second match on the AEW roster, Hirsch possessed the superior technical acumen in the match, and D'Amboise was a match for their competitors' size, but with the latter in particular still battling inexperience, they were no match for the energetic victors of the match, as Statlander hit Wednesday Night Fever on Hirsch for the pin. (48)

 Backstage again with Renee, an impassioned Ric Flair took the lead in an interview on behalf of Sting and Darby Allin, addressing their recent issues with Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, and their band of misfits. Declaring that ever since he had tried to do business with Jarrett back in their WCW days, everything that Double J had touched turned to trash, and now they were trashing Sting's final days in the business. The Nature Boy declared that it would stop with Darby's match against Lethal next week, and everything would get set right. (57)

 vs. 

The next match saw the long-awaited return of the Professor of Professional Wrestling Serena Deeb, taking on Ring of Honor favorite Billie Starks. Despite a grateful response from the crowd to see her, Deeb was all business, teaching Starks, who was increasingly accomplished in her own right, a lesson in textbook technical wrestling. The Professor announced her return and finished her lesson by submitting Starks to a Serenity Lock and taking the win. (57)

Between matches, Excalibur was interrupted during a rundown of upcoming events by word of an altercation backstage. Cameras on the scene found a brawl in progress between upcoming AEW Women's World Title challenger Deonna Purazzo and company mainstay Thunder Rosa. Though whatever the inciting incident was for the fight was unexplained, it took multiple minutes of mayhem before producers could break up the scene, which was bizarrely punctuated by a bemused Toni Storm drifting past in Lutha's arms with Mariah May in tow. (46)

Dealer's Choice Match

 vs. 

In the second of two Dealer's Choice matches on the night, Swerve Strickland seemed to take a different tack than his rival Hangman Page had, assigning Page a match against technical virtuoso Zach Sabre Jr. Though the TMDK member was from New Japan Pro Wrestling like Tomohiro Ishii, that's where the similarity between opponents ended, suggesting that Strickland continued to take a more cerebral approach than his hot-tempered rival. Instead of a full-frontal assault, Swerve appeared to be throwing Page a curveball, potentially upsetting his rhythm headed into what was certain to be another physical confrontation next week.

With his endless bag of tricks, traps, and reversals, Sabre promised to frustrate any opponent on even their best night. That turned out to be true of Page, and was not helped by the fact that the cowboy appeared to be irritated by the unexpected choice of opponent. Fortunately for him, Hangman was able to gut his way through multiple submission attempts, eventually speeding up the match inside and outside the ring enough to land a Buckshot Lariat to squeak out a narrow victory. (75)

TNT Championship Match

 vs.  vs. 

Entrances for the main event followed close behind, with two of the three competitors in the scheduled three-way TNT Championship match, Christian Cage and Killswitch, entering together with Nick Wayne, promising a continued alliance against their common opponent Adam Copeland. When the Rated R Superstar made it to the ring, that cooperation immediately played out with both Cage and the one-time Luchasaurus jumping Copeland before the bell could ring. The double-team beating continued for much of the match, with Cage commanding Killswitch to take on the bulk of the work in punishing Copeland through a series of near falls. 

Finally the badgering became too much. After their target kicked out of yet another pinfall attempt earned by Killswitch but taken by Cage, the dinosaur caught his rising mentor by the neck and spiked him to the mat with a chokeslam. Now Cage was forced to escape a near three count, and, making his escape, realized he would need to pivot to more extreme tactics to defend himself against two opponents. Copeland recovered in the ring as Killswitch stalked Cage outside, forced to negotiate obstruction from Wayne seemingly every step along the way.

With all three opponents on their feet and various pieces of plunder thrown in the ring the match resumed in earnest. Copeland ran wild, mostly at Cage's expense, looking to be on the verge of pinning the champ to regain the title that had switched hands for a precious few moments at World's End. Sensing his championship opportunity escaping, Killswitch attacked Copeland with a flurry of kicks, buying Cage enough breathing room to gather a chair and blindside his so-called family member with a shot to the head.

Basking in the accomplishment of knocking out Killswitch, Cage was caught by surprise himself by a spear from Copeland, leaving the Rated R Superstar with a choice of two fallen opponents to pin for the victory. Wayne scrambled into the ring in a last-ditch attempt to slow Copeland down, but had no battle plan upon entering, allowing the legend to quickly gather him in a front chancery in preparation for an Impaler.

But before Copeland could land the move, he became the next to fall to a surprise blow, this time from an unknown, masked figure in black who had just entered the ring. Striking Copeland in the back with another chair, the attacker dramatically executed a Killswitch on his stunned victim, placing a groggy Christian Cage's arm across his former best friend's chest for the 1, 2, 3 count. As the bell rang and Cage's hand was once again raised in triumph, his unknown ally removed his mask to reveal himself as Jack Perry, who joined Cage and Wayne in a group hug to close the show. (67)

 

Overall Show Rating: 66

Edited February 9 by AltEliteWrestling

[mattu29]

This is great! Tried my hand at a AEW dynasty a few months back but my computer went to shit so lost it all 😕 Really enjoying reading yours and its making me interested in starting up another dynasty!

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 130

Week 2, February, 2024

Footprint Center - Phoenix, AZ

Attendance: 3.596

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

 vs. 

Rampage began with Wardlow, accompanied by the rest of the Undisputed Kingdom, preparing to face off against Matt Sydal. Though never one to back down from a challenge, the veteran high-flyer Sydal faced more than perhaps any one wrestler could handle pitted against both the juggernaut Wardlow and his Undisputed Kingdom colleagues, who seemed to be running through their bag of tricks and nonsense at ringside as a sort of scrimmage to stay sharp for a future match. Perhaps that postponed the inevitable for Sydal, but not for long, as he was soon subject to Wardlow's latest Powerbomb Symphony. (61)

Backstage cameras found Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page together again as they entered the arena, where they were met by Johnny TV and his wife Taya Valkyrie. In typically over-the-top fashion, TV told them that he had been tracking their Rampage ratings lately, and they were getting hot. Wasting no time beating the round the bush, he asked them both if they'd like to join him and his wife... in a team. In an effort to evade an awkward moment, Sky and Page told the TVs they'd think it over. (51)

TBS Championship Match

 vs. 

In a mid-show championship match, Julia Hart faced what may have been a hand-picked contender for her TBS Championship in Emi Sakura. Sakura was the trainer of Hart's recent rival Riho, and after the champion used the presence of Brody King outside the ring to her advantage in order to interrupt Sakura's early offense, the corrupted youngster seemed to take pleasure in dismantling the veteran on her way to a successful title defense. (44)

At the backstage interview set with Renee Paquette, Matt Hardy stood alone to acknowledge his loss with Isaiah Kassidy against the Righteous last week. Though taking responsibility for the loss, and not blaming Kassidy, he promised that things would turn out differently once his brother Jeff and Mark Briscoe returned from injury. (62)

 vs. 

In the in-ring continuation of a one-sided physical issue that had taken place on a recent Rampage, rising competitor Anna Jay faced non-wrestler Harley Cameron in the latter's chance at revenge for a slap by Jay over Cameron's involvement with Angelo Parker. A wrestling match was likely not the ideal opportunity to get even for Harley, unfortunately, and she quickly fell to Jay in a match that was brutal in more ways than one. (26)

Appearing backstage with Renee Paquette, FTR-- once again with Cash Wheeler wearing his clear protective mask-- challenged Top Flight to a match on Collision the next night in an effort for Cash to get revenge on Darius Martin for breaking his orbital bone earlier in January. Though the tag team was never less than salty, there seemed to be an extra edge to Wheeler's message to the flashy Martin brothers. (54)

 vs. 

And in the final match of the night, the Lucha Bros. got their first shot to earn their way back into the win column following their number one contenders' loss to Le Sex Gods the prior week on Dynamite. This time they would be facing the WorkHorsemen in what would be far from a walkover. JD Drake baited Penta Zero M into a striking battle early that played to the upstarts' advantage, allowing them to isolate the elder Lucha in their corner for the main portion of the match before a hot tag to Rey Fenix unleashed the junior Lucha's trademark ropework to swing the momentum in the contest. Once the match sped up to a more friendly pace for the former tag team champs, it was only a matter of time before they would catch Anthony Henry with the Double Stomp Package Piledriver for the win.  (74)

Overall Show Rating: 65

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 34

Week 2, February, 2024

The Dollar Loan Center - Henderson, NV

Attendance: 3,175

Your Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuiness

Collision kicked off on a hot note as the trio that had closed the last episode of AEW TV-- the suddenly reconstituted Patriarchy, featuring Christian Cage, the Prodigy Nick Wayne, and Prodigal Son Jack Perry-- made their way to the ring to a hostile reception from the crowd. Taking the microphone first, Christian Cage congratulated himself on another successful TNT title defense. While stating that he was happy that Adam Copeland had surely learned his lesson, he did express his sadness over having to put down the family pet, Killswitch. After offering his two 'sons' a hug in consolation, he handed the microphone over to Perry.

Dressed in his now-customary all-black outfit, the former Jungle Boy soaked in boos from the audience before explaining his actions. After complaining that he had been made a scapegoat for an act that he was totally in the right to do, and against someone that wasn't even around anymore, he said that he had had a lot of time to think about the way the last year had gone for him. And once he thought about it, he could see clearly that AEW didn't care about him. The fans never chanted his name while he was away. The only person he could think of that had actually cared about him that whole time was Christian Cage. He apologized to Cage, thanked him for the tough love, and gave him another hug. Cage told him it was okay-- they all had their own journeys, and he was just happy that Jack was back home for good. (58)

 vs. 

A horn played the show back from break as Miro and his hot, flexible manager CJ Perry arrived from backstage for a match with Los Faccion Ingobernables' Preston Vance. With Rush still on the shelf with injury, Vance had recently seemed rudderless, and appeared here without healthy running mates Dralistico or Jose the Assistant. A date with Miro would not help undo the idea that Vance was in over his head, as the Bulgarian made quick work of one of the few opponents in AEW that was a decent match for him physically, making him tap to Game Over in a short, one-sided affair. (51)

In a pre-recorded segment, cameras found Jay Lethal in a remote location, training for his match against Darby Allin on next Wednesday's Dynamite. He did not seem excited to see his partner Jeff Jarrett or faction mates Karen Jarrett, Satnam Singh, or Sonjay Dutt interrupt his workout, but took a break to hear Double J's pep talk, ultimately agreeing that a win against Darby should be just what they need to get back on top. (51)

 vs. 

In another tune-up for Deonna Purazzo ahead of her anticipated championship match against former friend Toni Storm, the upcoming challenger got the better of a decent back-and-forth match with sizeable newcomer Megan Bayne. (49)

Following the match, the Virtuosa was questioned by Lexy Nair about the cause of her wild brawl with Thunder Rosa at Dynamite. Claiming that Rosa had provoked her by telling her she did not deserve a title shot against Storm, Purazzo said she proved to Rosa that she would not back down to any attempts to gatekeep, while promising that her focus would not be distracted from the task at hand, taking Toni Storm's title.  (40)

Back from commercial, Don Callis made a rare solo appearance, coming to the ring and calling Le Sex Gods, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevarra, out to the stage-- but no closer-- for a message. Stating that they could go back and forth forever costing one other championship opportunities like Jericho and Guevarra's upcoming tag title challenge against Ricky Starks and Big Bill, Callis proposed a deal to Jericho: the Callis Family would stay away from his and Guevarra match in exchange for a promise of a shot for Kenosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs if Le Sex Gods somehow pulled off a win. After mocking Callis and suggesting that he and Sammy should take advantage of him being unprotected in the ring, Jericho agreed to the deal, saying they'll be happy to beat Takeshita and Hobbs next. (72)

 vs. 

Though tensions had continued to simmer between FTR and the Blackpool Combat Club over Daniel Garcia, a more urgent grudge between FTR and Top Flight had emerged in the meantime, stemming from a broken orbital bone suffered by Cash Wheeler at the hands of Darius Martin in a recent six-man match. Wasting no time in challenging the Martin brothers in Wheeler's return match, FTR came out hot to start the contest. Despite starting without the same motivation as the disgruntled veterans, Top Flight got all of the incentive they needed from the onslaught, fighting back with their trademark mix of creative high-impact offense, including Darius spiking Cash's masked face into the mat with a tornado DDT off of his brother's chest. After a scary moment where Wheeler was slow to recover from the impact, he rallied back to make the hot tag to Harwood, and after a lightning-quick closing sequence, Wheeler was legal again to pin Darius for the victory following a Shatter Machine. (73)

Next to appear in the ring for a promo segment was the American Dragon, Bryan Danielson. Calling out Wardlow, who in turn brought Adam Cole in tow, Danielson informed the big man that instead of sneaking around to attack and harass him and the Best Friends, if he wanted a fight, all he had to do was ask. Eagerly accepting the invitation, Cole stepped in to propose that Danielson and Wardlow take each other on at Revolution, to which the two competitors agreed. Seemingly pleased for now, the Undisputed Kingdom left Danielson in the ring without further incident. (63)

AEW International Championship Match

 vs. 

 

In the first half of the night's double main event, Orange Cassidy defended his treasured International Title against Roderick Strong. Conflict between the two wrestlers and their respective stablemates had been percolating for several weeks, and that dynamic would spill over into their championship match here. Though Strong struggled at times to keep up with Orange's mobility, his teammates were well-versed in mucking up opponents' gears, and would keep him in the match.

After losing patience with their frequent distractions, Chuck Taylor stripped away one of Adam Cole's crutches, throwing it across ringside and forcing the leader of the Undisputed Kingdom to balance on one leg for the remainder of the contest as he orchestrated action at ringside. When it appeared that the match was slipping away from Strong in the ring, Matt Taven escalated the Kingdom's interference, grabbing Cassidy's foot to cut off an Orange Punch. While referee Aubrey Edwards was distracted ejecting both factions from ringside, the one stray member of the Undisputed Kingdom, Mike Bennett, intervened again in the match, smacking Cassidy with Cole's missing crutch as the champ hit the ropes again, stunning him long enough to fall into the End of Heartache from Strong to steal the Best Friend's championship. (66)

Heading backstage for the evening's final promo segment, Lexy Nair caught up with Samoa Joe for the AEW World Champion's thoughts on Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland's upcoming number one contenders' match on Dynamite. Stating that he could not have been more pleased to see them fighting the past two weeks, Joe said he was most excited of all to see them tear each other apart next week before he fought whichever one survived at Revoluion. (59)

AEW Continental Triple Crown Match

 vs. 

Despite the presence of the full House of Black at ringside for the second of the night's main events, the Continental Triple Crown championship bout between Eddie Kingston and Buddy Matthews was refreshingly free from the interference that had marked the prior match. Instead, the fans would see two competitors that were highly committed to their respective brands of violence dishing out generous portions of punishment to one another as Malakai Black monitored stoically nearby. After each competitor had controlled alternating sequences of the match, the finish came as Kingston fought back from a series of kicks, knees, and a curb stomp from Matthews with his own volley of chops, suplexes, and finally, a spinning backfist to to rally for the win. Though wobbly, Kingston immediately popped up from his pinning position to prepare for an attack from the outside, only to see Brody King drag Matthews from the ring and sling him over his shoulder as the lights went dark and the House disappeared. to end the show (76)

Overall Show Rating: 71

 

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 228

Week 3, February, 2024

HEB Center - Cedar Park, TX

Attendance: 3.268

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

 vs. 

 

Dynamite opened this week in familiar fashion with the sounds of Wild Thing playing throughout the arena as members of the Blackpool Combat Club-- in this case, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta-- made their way through the crowd toward the ring. This week was different than others, though, because the BCC arrived with the competitors in the match, Daniel Garcia and Bryan Keith, already in the ring, leaving them to park themselves outside the squared circle. Quickly after, they were joined at ringside by FTR, and with both teams present to start the match, it was unclear if they were there to root for Daniel Garcia, confront one another, or both.

Tensions were high throughout the match. Though blows were not exchanged, words were, as the two teams devoted more attention to one another than to their recent recruit Daniel Garcia, who was putting on his usual polished performance against the newcomer Keith. That dynamic only intensified as Garcia gained greater control of the match, and just as the rising star hit his Lungblower finisher for the win, violence finally erupted as FTR went after the BCC . Though Harwood and Cash Wheeler put up a good fight, they were just about to succumb to the BCC's numbers advantage when Garcia scrambled from the ring to break up the brawl, trying to make peace between the factions. (59, 57)

 vs. 

The following match saw Riho get a chance for revenge at Skye Black for breaking up a challenge for Julia Hart's TBS Championship in January. when the former Skye Blue sprayed black mist in the face of the original AEW Women's Champion. Black arrived for the match without Julia Hart, not unusual since there was no indication that she could be a full-fledged House of Black member at that point. Similarly, Hikaru Shida was also missing, allowing the two competitors to have an entertaining back-and-forth match, showing off Black's improvement in the ring following her turn to the darkside. Despite the strides she had made, she had not yet closed the gap on Riho, allowing the fan favorite to wrap up the match with her trademark spin on the 619 and the running double knee.  (61)

Unfortunately, Riho was robbed of her opportunity to celebrate her long-awaited win over Black. Moments after the referee counted three, the lights went out. A few seconds later, the lights came back up, and Julia Hart had suddenly appeared in the ring, misting the victorious Riho in the face. Hikaru Shida would soon sprint to her ally's aid to run off Hart and Black, but it was too late to spare Riho the agony of the attack.  (47)

In a sarcasm-laden backstage promo, Ricky Starks and Big Bill joined Renee Paquette to bemoan their lack of respect as champions, offering, since everyone seemed to think they did not deserve their titles, to face any team that thought they had better credentials for the spot to take them on at Collision. (63)

 vs. 

In the next match, Hook faced Dralistico, who like Preston Vance was seemingly on break from Los Faccion Ingobernables during his brother Rush's absence. Hook's presence in the ring prompted a visit by Don Callis and Kyle Fletcher to the announcer's table as guest commentators, where Callis made his allusion to a superior young wrestler to the cold-hearted handsome devil explicit, referring to the cocksure Australian Fletcher. It was a compelling argument, but Hook was in progress of making a case for himself against Dralistico, who, despite looking far more capable than Vance had in recent matches, was not able to get over the hump against the junior suplex machine. After a flurry of punches and throws, Hook eventually caught Dralistico in the Redrum, choking him out for the victory before defiantly staring down Callis and Fletcher from the ring. (55)

The next segment began with three members of the Undisputed Kingdom, Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett in the ring with a microphone, where they called for Acclaimed to join them. That request was fulfilled not only by the AEW Trios Champs, but also by their cohorts in the Bang Bang Scissor Gang Bullet Club Gold. Showing no hints of intimidation by the combined forces lined up against them, the newly crowned AEW International title holder Strong issued a challenge to the Acclaimed for the trios title. But before a similarly confident Max Caster could accept, Jay White stepped in and asked for the BCG to get the shot, a conflict that was not resolved before Dynamite went to commercial. (52)

 vs.

Though Darby Allin had gotten his revenge on Satnam Singh for somewhat inadvertently helping cost Allin and Sting their perfect AEW tag team record, the night's penultimate match against Jay Lethal promised the opportunity for a far more satisfying in-ring culmination of the feud. The match started in a sprint, with the always aggressive Lethal outdone early on as Allin ping-ponged his body recklessly inside and outside the ring. The daredevil's usual reckless disregard for his own safety led to a Coffin Drop from the top rope onto Satnam Singh on the floor. Wiping out the giant Indian and the rest of Lethal's companions, Allin was helped to his feet by Ric Flair. But just as the Nature Boy nudged his charge toward the ring, he dropped down behind Allin to deliver an uppercut low blow between the legs. Shoving the stunned Allin more urgently toward the ring, Lethal capitalized on the double-cross as if he had been waiting for it, greeting Darby with a Lethal Injection and an upset pin. Flair issued a delighted 'WOO!' in the face of a stunned Sting before he, Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, and the rest escaped to safety backstage. (67)

Following on the heels of her apparent backstage attack of Deonna Purazzo a week before, Thunder Rosa was caught by cameras making a similar attempt at Women's World Champion Toni Storm. Storm was much better protected, though, with Mariah May summoning the courage to shove away Rosa before she could reach her would-be mentor. Rosa was clearly none-too-pleased by the setback, shouting at both May and Storm to face her in the ring as security arrived to haul her away. (49)

 vs. 

The night's main event brought about the hotly-anticipated Hangman-Swerve III in the number one contender's match for the AEW World Championship at Revolution. With the incumbent Samoa Joe at ringside as a guest commentator, Page and Strickland had the latest in their string of heated affairs. This time the wrestlers started off slowly, trading in high-impact strikes for the more dynamic offense they each were more known for. Despite the stakes and early punishment delivered by each, while the match escalated in intensity, the violence on display was less extreme, and there was little hint of the outside interference that had been leveraged in the previous two matches by the Mogul Embassy. That did not mean that the contest remained strictly inside the lines however, as a ringside table was teased with destruction for an extended portion of the match until Page finally put Strickland through it head first with a Dead Eye.

Unable to be pinned outside the ring, Strickland was able to recover long enough to hit a stolen Buckshot Lariat on Page, followed by a Swerve Stomp. Though the combo seemed certain to decide the match, it only resulted in a near fall as Page somehow summoned the will to get his right shoulder off of the mat. Narrowly avoiding defeat, Page would quickly follow with a desperation Buckshot Lariat of his own. But just as he had made his way back from where the momentum of the move had carried him to pin Strickland, the ring bell signaled the end of the match. Though the crowd demanded five more minutes, the match was called a draw and the show closed with Samoa Joe crowing about the lack of a winner as the show went off the air.  (79)

Overall Show Rating: 70
 

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 131

Week 3, February, 2024

HEB Center - Cedar Park, TX

Attendance: 3.268

Your Hosts: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

 vs. 

After a short hiatus when their rivalry against Skye Black and Julia Hart had seemingly been usurped by Riho and Hikaru Shida, Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale were back in action to kick off Rampage against Lady Frost and Penelope Ford. Statlander had consistently been the most dominant unit in AEW's Women's Division when in action this year, and though Frost and Ford gelled together well with their combined gymnastics backgrounds, the more established team's momentum continued here, seeing Statlander hit Frost with Friday Night Fever to score the pin. (56)

Backstage, Renee Paquette's latest attempt to interview the Outcasts quickly went off the rails as it was clear that the core members, Saraya and Ruby Soho, had brought plenty of baggage to the set. In what appeared to be an ongoing conversation, Saraya urged Soho that she needed to fight Anna Jay to pay her back for "taking liberties" with Harley Cameron. It was clear that Ruby had been reluctant, and this latest, public attempt to sway her was the last straw. Snapping at Saraya that Harley got what she deserved, Ruby angrily left the set. (49)

 vs. 

With a three-way challenge for the Trios titles against their friends in the Acclaimed and the Undisputed Kingdom hanging in the air, the healthy members of Bullet Club Gold Jay White and Colton Gunn faced a stiff challenge against Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty. Though the Bang Bang Gang traditionally took on the role of aggressors in multi-man matches, that was not the case here, as Taylor and Moriarty were able to exploit Colton Gunn and keep White on the outside for the majority of the match. Eventually Gunn was able to tag in his more seasoned partner, though, and White divided and conquered his opponents with Switchblade precision, ultimately taking out Moriarty with a Blade Runner to notch the win. (60)

Returning to the back, Renee Paquette's latest attempt to catch up with Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page was interrupted by another suitor for the reunited team's allegiance, Mark Sterling. While acknowledging that he and Page had not always seen eye-to-eye, Sterling nevertheless promised to offer the same quality of representation that he provided for Tony Nese if they paid him his usual healthy fee. An irritated Page ran Sterling and Nese off in a stiff rebuke of the proposal while a bemused Scorpio Sky looked on.  (48)

AEW Trios Championship Eliminator Match

 vs. 

In the show's main event, as if being tested while they seemingly decided between challenges from the Undisputed Kingdom and Bullet Club Gold for their AEW Trios Championships, the Acclaimed faced Rampage six-man mainstays Lance Archer and the Righteous. Similar to their colleagues in BCG earlier on the card, the Acclaimed had their hands full with their challengers, perhaps even more so, as their fun-loving style seemed a poor match for the intensity of Jake Roberts' team. They were able to find some daylight once Max Caster managed to tag in Billy Gunn following an extended beating in his opponents' corner, but that was quickly snuffed out by a marauding Archer. As the Murderhawk Monster left a faltering Anthony Bowens in the ring to be finished off by the Righteous, just as Dutch tagged Vincent to set up a double-team on Bowens, Matt Hardy appeared from out of nowhere, sweeping Vincent's feet out from underneath him and banging his head on the apron. Taking advantage of the confusion to hit a desperation Olympic Slam on Dutch, Bowens was able to meet Vincent halfway as Hardy pushed him into the ring to sneak a three count for the victory. (70)

 

Overall Show Rating: 63

[AltEliteWrestling]

Episode 35

Week 3, February, 2024

Amarillo Civic Center - Amarillo, TX

Attendance: 3,557

Your Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuiness

This week's Collision started at the top of AEW with chants of 'JOE! JOE! JOE!' as World Champion Samoa Joe made his way to the ring. Looking quite pleased with himself, he took a microphone to address the crowd, and gloated about the lack of a winner in the number one contender's match between Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. Just as he suspected, the two of them could not get out of one another's way, and now it looked like he'd have Revolution off.

Unfortunately for Joe, even as champion, he would not have the last word. Breaking up Joe's celebration, Tony Schiavone stood up from the announcer's table to inform the champ and the crowd that contrary to Joe's assumption, rather than being off for Revolution, he'd be doing double duty, facing both Page and Strickland in a three-way title match. An outraged Joe lashed out in the ring, complaining that he shouldn't have to face two men with no rules just because neither of those two could get the job done before storming his way to the back (50)

 vs. 

The first match of the night highlighted two of AEW's stable of young stars, Kyle Fletcher and Action Andretti in singles action. Fletcher's presence seemed pointed toward one rising star in particular. Hook, whom had been a focus of his and his manager Don Callis. Andretti had little in common with Hook other than their relative ages, but put on an entertaining show with Fletcher nonetheless, showing off the form that had led him to his famous upset of Chris Jericho, but ultimately falling to Fletcher's spinning Grimstone piledriver and the pin. (63)

Next up, CJ Perry and her husband Miro were backstage with Lexy Nair. Running down Miro's undefeated streak to start the year, Perry issued an open challenge to any opponent brave enough to face the Redeemer at Revolution.  (49)

 vs. 

With Thunder Rosa turning her attention to Toni Storm for the week, upcoming Women's World Title contender Deonna Purazzo had an opportunity to focus on her ring work in a match against Taya Valkyrie. Though not a technician in the Virtuosa's mold, Valkyrie was well-seasoned, posing perhaps the most significant obstacle in Purazzo's path since her arrival in AEW. Fortunately for her, there was still something missing with Valkyrie's recent performances (rumors had spread that she was currently dissatisfied with AEW management), and her lack of urgency prevented her from exploiting her power advantage, and she was eventually forced to submit to Purazzo's Venus de Milo armbar for the loss. (42)

Coming back from commercial, the psychotic organ notes of Eddie Kingston's entrance theme played the Continental Triple Crown winner to the ring. Furious as ever and in his ring gear, the Mad King called out Malakai Black, demanding that he switch out the lights and teleport in there so that he could kick his ass. Though the crowd cheered eagerly for Black to answer his challenge, the champ would not get satisfaction, calling Black a punk and forced to leave the ring in frustration.  (87)

 vs. 

The latest dream matchup in Bryan Danielson's semi-retirement tour pitted Dragon vs. Dragon, as the American Dragon took on global icon Ultimo Dragon. In a slow-building contest, the two Dragons put on a technical clinic, before Danielson's initial pleasure for the opportunity eventually morphed into determination to finish off his legendary foe when the match stretched past the 15-minute mark. A standing exchange of stiff kicks marked the climax of the match, before Danielson's strikes brought Ultimo to his knees, where he was struck with the running Busaiku knee to finally finish him off.

In a repeat of a recent scene at the top of the entrance ramp, Danielson was greeted by Adam Cole and Wardlow on his way to the back. After teasing a rare 'Yes!' chant in his Revolution opponent's face, Danielson instead pretended to reach for Wardlow's wrist. When the big man flinched, taking a half-step back in response, Danielson stalked the rest of the way backstage with a satisfied smirk on his face.  (74)

Making his first appearance since once again failing to walk away with Christian Cage's TNT Championship in their three-way match with Luchasaurus, Adam Copeland opened his remarks by calling on the crowd to offer another ovation for the match before. Taking a more grave tone from there, in a reference to Cage's remarks on Dynamite earlier that week, the Rated R Superstar remarked that he had not, in fact, 'learned his lesson' about going after his former partner. For now, however, he had a new focus: Jack Perry, a man he had never met in his life, but had nonetheless cost him the aforementioned title match. He promised to come after the former Jungle Boy next.  (80)

 vs. 

In a quick return after losing his International Title to Roderick Strong, Orange Cassidy got a chance to get some measure of revenge against Strong and his Undisputed Kingdom mates in a trios match with Best Friends. Similar to Bullet Club Gold the night before on Rampage, the Undisputed Kingdom were awaiting a response to their challenge of the Acclaimed for the AEW Trios Championships. Perhaps it would have been wise not to direct their attention that far ahead of themselves, or away from the Best Friends in general, as the highly-motivated Cassidy ran wild on his Undisputed rivals. His teammates seemed energized in turn, pulling off a decisive win when Chuck Taylor hit Matt Taven with the Awful Waffle to pull off the victory. (70)

AEW Tag Team Championship Match

 vs. 

The night's main event saw Ricky Starks and Big Bill's sarcastic request for a credentialed tag team to challenge them met in very literal fashion, as Jeff Hardy returned from injury to join his brother Matt in a challenge of the tag team title holders. Though the surprise might have offered the Hardys an initial advantage, the legendary duo were characteristically slow to get going, seeing the incumbents threaten to walk over to a successful defense of their belts as their next challengers Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevarra scouted from the announcer's table. Eventually the brothers would get warmed up, though, taking action outside the ring, through tables, and off the top rope to threaten to insert themselves into the champions' place against Le Sex Gods. Starks and Big Bill's stamina and size would be too much in the end, however, as the tide turned with a spinning Bossman slam by Big Bill off of a dive by Jeff from the top rope. Bouncing the enigmatic former champion's head off of the mat, it was all over from there, leaving the champs to greet Jericho and Guevarra in the ring for a face-off over the belts as the show went off the air. (68)

Overall Show Rating: 73