Recapping American wrestling since 2013. Not only following the current stuff in WWE, Impact and ROH but also going back in time and doing stuff from back then as well.
"Hangman" Adam Page heads to the ring to start tonight's show. He addresses the fans in Spanish regarding how six hard-working men from Mexico who cared deeply for their families would show up for work every summer and how he would learn all about Mexico from them, and how he learned from them that things become better when everyone works together. Hangman thanks the fans for letting AEW into their house tonight. He then says that he is not cleared to compete tonight, but promise to kick Jon Moxley's ass after his match. He then thanks the fans.
Before the next match, Stokely Hathaway states that due to circumstances beyond his control, Cash Wheeler will not be here tonight. He then says that Dax Harwood will be wrestling tonight and that they have found some reinforcements, then pronounces "Gracias" as "Grassy ass."
Bandido, Adam Cole, Brody King, Daniel Garcia, Templario, Atlantis Jr. and Atlantis Sr. beat Dax Harwood, "The Walking Weapon" Josh Alexander, "The Alpha" Konosuke Takeshita, "The Protostar" Kyle Fletcher, Lance Archer, Hechicero and Volador Jr. in a 14-man tag match.
Don Callis guests on commentary for the next match.
"The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada beats Mark Briscoe with a Tombstone Piledriver following a series of erevesals followed by the Rainmaker. After the match, Okada hits Briscoe in the face with the AEW Continental Championship before he and Don Callis stomp on him.
Mistico beats MJF by disqualification after MJF kicks him in the groin in full view of the referee when Mistico kicks out following a low blow when MJF distracts the ref, which keeps the ref from seeing MJF tap out. After the match, MJF and The Hurt Syndicate (MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley) go on the attack, then MJF unmasks Mistico. MJF dons the mask and flips the fans off, then Bandido, Templario, Titan, "Speedball" Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight surround The Hurt Syndicate, who retreat after Speedball and Knight attack MJF from behind.
Hologram beats Lio Rush, Mascara Dorada and Ricochet in a 4 Million Peso Fatal 4-Way Match.
Mercedes Moné beats Zeuxis to become the CMLL World Women's Champion! After the match, "Timeless" Toni Storm hows up on the video screen, then Mina Shirakawa shows up on the top of the ramp. Toni shows up from behind Mercedes and suplexes her, but the referees stop her from hitting Storm Zero. Toni then grabs a microphone and says "Let the games begin!"
The Beast Mortos, The Death Riders (Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta) and The Young Bucks (Matthews and Nicholas Jackson) beat Will Ospreay, The Opps (Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, "The Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata) and Swerve Strickland in a ten-man match after Marina Shafir distracts the referee. After the match, "Hangman" Adam Page shows up and has a staredown with Moxley, and both men brawl. Wheeler Yuta gets involved but gets knocked out, and Matthew Jackson ends up eating the Buckshot Lariat when Moxley avoids it. Moxley goes for a cheap shot with the briefcase, but when Will Ospreay's team gets back in the ring, Moxley thinks better of it and retreats. Hangman ends up chasing the winning team to the back, then has an awkward staredown with The Young Bucks.
Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana head to the ring to start tonight's show. Swerve talks about his AEW World Championship match against Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door, and that Ospreay has been an assassin in the ring as of late until Double or Nothing, and that he is not a target to hesitate on. As he gives Ospreay credit for defending his title tonight while saying The Elite (Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada, "Scapegoat" Jack Perry) has yet to defend theirs, then The Elite show up, with Okada taking offense to Swerve's comments before Nicholas Jackson talks about The Elite's dominance as of late. He also says that half of the roster is gone and that there are those who still doubt how violent they are, then challenges AEW's best to a Blood and Guts Match. Matthew Jackson says they and Swerve may not see eye-to-eye, but they do like his style. He then asks Swerve if he wants to stand side-by-side with winners and champions and change the world, then asks Swerve if he wants to join them, and even throws in their own sneakers. Swerve says he is a businessman and a philantrophist and does his own thing, then has Prince Nana throw the sneakers into the front row. The Elite then decide to pick a fight with Swerve, and that leads to The Acclaimed ("Platinum" Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn) showing up and joining Swerve in the ring. Interim EVP Christopher Daniels shows up before a brawl can happen, and says he needs everyone backstage except for Jack Perry, as Perry will be wrestling Dustin Rhodes in a TNT Championship Ladder Match qualifier right now.
"Scapegoat" Jack Perry beats "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes to qualify for the TNT Championship Ladder Match at Forbidden Door. All seconds are banned from ringside during this match.
Backstage, Renee Paquette interviews Mark Briscoe, Kyle O'Reilly and Orange Cassidy. O'Reilly says they are professionals and that they can team up as well as they can compete with each other, and Orange says he has a few people who have his back as well as one who really does: Willow Nightingale, who suddenly shows up. Mark Briscoe says last week is the past and that today is today, and says the word of the day is "conglomeration," and that their opponents are in trouble tonight after what O'Reilly and Orange will do to them.
Rush beats Deonn Rusman. After the match, Rush takes the microphone from ring announcer Justin Roberts, then mocks Deonn Rusman for being weak like the fans and attacks him again. Suddenly, MJF shows up and brawls with Rush, and when security shows up, they get levelled, then Rush and MJF brawl again, this time taking the brawl to the crowd as Interim EVP Christopher Daniels and referees try to restore order. The brawl then spills backstage, and MJF puts Rush through a table before both men are finally pulled apart, with even the locker room getting involved in the pull-apart. It is then made official that next week, MJF will face off with Rush at the beginning of next week's show with no commercial interruptions.
Don Callis guests on commentary for the next match.
Roderick Strong and The Don Callis Family (Kyle Fletcher and "The Alpha" Konosuke Takeshita) beat Orange Cassidy, Kyle O'Reilly and Mark Briscoe in a trios match. After the match, Trent Beretta attacks Orange Cassidy on the outside, and The Don Callis Family attacks Mark Briscoe before Willow Nightingale's music hits. Suddenly, Willow is thrown onto the stage by Kris Statlander, who attacks Willow as Stokely Hathaway arrives. Stokely Hathaway warns Willow that if she gets in their business again, they will drag her to the emergency room instead of the stage.
We see Renee Paquette in the locker room with Rey Fenix prior to his AEW International Championship match against Will Ospreay later tonight.
We see a vignette for Shingo Takagi, who will be in the men's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
Backstage, Interim EVP Christopher Daniels announces that The Elite (Nicholas Jackson, Matthew Jackson, "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada) will wrestle in Eliminator Matches for the tag team and Continental Championships, and that all seconds will be barred from ringside during these matches to see how elite The Elite is.
Before the next match, "The Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata is commandering a camera as Samoa Joe questions why Tazz wears orange and Hook mentions that Tazz hates Syrcause before they ambush The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari).
Samoa Joe and Hook beat The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari) with Redrum to Daivari as Joe has Nese in a sleeper from the apron. During the match, "Smart" Mark Sterling gets involved, but "The Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata beats him up and also chokes him out.
We hear from Stephanie Vaquer, who gives Mercedes Moné props for being one of the best. She then says that her arrogance is just plain offensive, as she works hard instead of sitting around and being on the red carpet, and that her title is not going anywhere as she becomes a double champion.
Mercedes Moné retains the TBS Championship against Zeuxis.
We see a vignette for Mina Shirakawa, which is also partly narrated by Mariah May, who also talks about her history with Mina as well as Mina's accomplishments.
Backstage, Renee Paquette interviews Luther, "Timeless" Toni Storm and Mariah May. Mariah thanks Toni for entering her in the women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, then says she will host the contract signing between Mina and Toni next week. Toni says that she has high hopes for Mariah May in the tournament, and that she is confident she will walk out of Forbidden Door as Women's World Champion.
"The Redwood" Big Bill welcomes everyone to TV Time With The Learning Tree, and says that if "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho has taught him anything, it is never too late to start learning and never too early to start winning. He then introduces Jericho, who arrives with "The Bad Apple" Bryan Keith. Jericho thanks the fans for making his new shirt, which just came out on AEW Shop fifteen minutes ago, the fastest selling shirt on the shop, then says he had some corn and that it was too ripe, as the soil had a pH level of 7 instead of 6 to 6.8. Bryan Keith tells everyone to respect Jericho in order to grow good corn, then Jericho brings out tonight's guests - Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy) - saying they could learn something from him. Jericho reminds Private Party to have some designated drivers if they plan to do some shots, then says that while they have done some good work in AEW, they have not won matches, as their basics are not up to snuff. Jericho says he knows the basics after learning from Stu Hart 33 years ago, and says that some of the stuff they do is unsound. Zay tells Jericho to teach them something, as everyone wants to see it, as Jericho is "the Caitlin Clark of AEW." Jericho teaches the proper way of climbing to the top rope, then Zay trips Jericho off the top before brawling with Big Bill and Bryan Keith, sending them over the top rope and taking them down before Jericho eats some aerial offense.
We see a video package of Jon Moxley as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion ahead of his title defense against Tetsuya Naito at Forbidden Door.
Backstage, we hear from The Bang Bang Gang (Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Juice Robinson). Austin and Colten Gunn make fun of The House of Black's (Malakai Black, Brody King, Buddy Matthews) entrance and wonder what they are doing before bragging about being Unified Trios Champions, then Juice Robinson challenges The House of Black to a match on Collision.
Daniel Garcia beats Nick Comoroto. During the match, MJF and Will Ospreay are both seen watching the match from backstage. After the match, Renee Paquette interviews Will Ospreay. Ospreay says his body is feeling fine, and while he would like to praise Daniel Garcia, his mind is elsewhere with Forbidden Door and he has a title to defend and a contract to sign.
Backstage, we hear from PAC, who says that he has been extorted by everyone as of late and that it is humiliating. He says he should be a bastard, but he feels like a bitch. PAC says this ends now, as he is done with apathy and he is angry again, and he is at his best when he is angry. PAC then announces that he will be entering the men's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament and getting his opportunity at the world championship at All In. He says he will be damned if this does not happen, then warns The Bang Bang Gang ("Switchblade" Jay White, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Juice Robinson) that Death Triangle (PAC, Penta el Zero Miedo, Rey Fenix) have not forgotten what they did to them.
Will Ospreay retains the AEW International Championship against Rey Fenix after telling Swerve Strickland, who is watching from the front row, that this is his house. After the match, Swerve and Ospreay meet in the ring, and while Ospreay wants to shake Swerve's hand, Swerve is not enthused as he says this is not a game and that he cannot hold both titles. As soon as Trick turns around, Ospreay snatches the AEW World Championship from Swerve's shoulder and holds them both before Swerve takes the world title and tells him he is lucky they are still friends, as he would have put anyone else in the grave for that.
We get a closer look at Priscilla Kelly, who likes to play mind games on opponents and strike while their guard is down. She claims she can match the rest of the women in style as she brings something special and unique to the tournament. We also get a look at Deonna Purrazzo, who loves to target the arm and break it. She says she was an alternate last year, but now she is in the tournament, which she has worked hard to return to.
Samoa Joe is seen in the front row before the next match.
Deonna Purrazzo beats Priscilla Kelly with the Fujiwara Arm Bar to advance to the second round of the Mae Young Classic.
We get a closer look at "Big Swole" Aerial Monroe, who plans to walk the walk and talk the talk with a swag that WWE has not seen before and deliver a lot of charisma as well as a beating to her opponent. We also get a look at Zeuxis, who says that she plan to make a mark for lucha libre in this tournament.
Natalya is seen in the crowd, and Cedric Alexander is seen in the front row during "Big Swole" Aerial Monroe's (to whom he is married) entrance.
Zeuxis beats "Big Swole" Aerial Monroe with a top rope Spanish Fly to advance to the second round of the Mae Young Classic.
We get a closer look at Reina Gonzalez, who says she fell short last year because she was "too nice." She has a one-track attitude now, and she is here to win, not to touch people's hearts. We also get a look at Kacy Catanzaro, who is the first woman to complete the course on American Ninja Warrior, and while she does not have much wrestling experience, she plans to go all the way.
Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan are seen in the front row.
Kacy Catanzaro beats Reina Gonzalez with a surprise roll-up to advance to the second round of the Mae Young Classic. After the match, Reina Gonzalez gets back in the ring, picks her up and lifts her up in a sign of respect.
We hear from Mercedes Martinez, who was excited to be in last year's tournament but lost to "The Queen of Spades" Shayna Baszler. Now, she is back, and she does not plan to lose as her goals have not been met and she plans to show who she really is. We also hear from Ashley Rayne - also known as Madison Rayne - who has been wrestling for thirteen years and is now living her dream by making it into the WWE. She plans to use her agility to wear her opponents down in this tournament.
The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong) is seen in the front row before the next match.
Mercees Martinez beats Ashley Rayne to advance to the second round of the Mae Young Classic.
