PAC Passes Away

All Elite Wrestling has announced the passing of Benjamin Satterley, known to wrestling fans in AEW as PAC and in WWE as Adrian Neville.

“All Elite Wrestling is saddened to announce the passing of Benjamin Satterley, aka Pac,” the company said in a statement. “A native of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Satterley began his wrestling career in 2004 and went on to perform for wrestling organizations all over the world, captivating fans with innovative high-flying moves and incredible in-ring ability. Pac signed with All Elite Wrestling in 2019 and held multiple AEW Championships and competed in some of the most memorable matches in AEW history. Our condolences go out to Satterley’s family, friends and fans.”

Satterely first made a major name for himself on American television in NXT where his incredible athletic ability garnered him the name ‘The Man That Gravity Forgot,’ winning the NXT Championship and carrying the brand through the early stages of its television, culminating in an absolute classic with Sami Zayn. From there, his WWE run peaked as ‘The King of the Cruiserweights,’ becoming the most beloved Cruiserweight Champion of the second iteration of the belt, even as the top heel on 205 Live.

Satterley became an original member of All Elite Wrestling in 2019 under the name PAC, which was his ring name before signing with WWE in which he made his name under in promotions such as Dragon Gate. The run, which started with an early feud with Kenny Omega that helped AEW form its reputation as ‘where the best wrestle,’ saw him as the leader of Death Triangle and a member of the Death Riders, two of its most iconic groups, the latter of which he had been doing the last few years. But his AEW run goes beyond that, seeing as he had been the first All-Atlantic Champion, later becoming part of the International Championship lineage.

‘The Bastard’ gave professional wrestling fans memories for over 20 years of his life, and completely changed the hybrid style that professional wrestling fans had seen up to that point.

The details surrounding PAC’s untimely passing are currently unknown, especially seeing as he was just on television as recently as last night challenging Andrade for the National Championship. PAC had turned 40 last month.

DSR/CBC will keep you as up-to-date as possible.

The Mystery Wrestling Talent Initiative: What Is It and Why You Should Care

On September 25th, Mystery Wrestling might have launched a program that likely will change the game for Canadian wrestlers trying to break through on an international level. In a video posted to Mystery Wrestling’s YouTube channel, Evil Uno announced the Mystery Wrestling Talent Initiative in addition to several of the talents the promotion has signed to the company. 

Now, companies sign talent all the time. You may even be thinking why something like this matters? I’m here to break it all down and give you my thoughts as an avid Mystery Wrestling viewer as well as highlight some of the talent recently signed under this incentive to keep an eye out for a local independent promotion near you.

The Mystery Wrestling Talent Initiative

As announced across Mystery Wrestling socials, over two dozen of Canada’s top independent stars have signed to Mystery Wrestling through their new talent initiative. Through this, these talents are now available to not only be booked in Canada, but the United States and abroad. Headlining the group are the likes of Stu Grayson and Psycho Mike, both of whom are also signed with Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling. 

In the video debuting the program, Uno describes it as “a monumental day for a lot of Canadians who never could be able to enter America to wrestle” and I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. Time after time, the visa approval process hinders talent's ability to perform in the US. This impact can be felt on both the independents and in major US companies. Heck, very famously, Mike Bailey got banned from the US for 5 years for trying to cross into the US without a work visa for wrestling – and that was nearly a decade ago before border restrictions have somehow gotten even tighter. 

As a result of this initiative, we now have the chance to see so much amazing Canadian talent on local independent shows. Vets who have spent years working towards a moment like this to finally break onto a larger stage. A bevy of young talent whose ascension to that next level will likely be expedited as a result of this program. I believe that The Mystery Wrestling Initiative will play a massive part in shaping the next generation of Canadian stars for the better.

Although I am excited to hopefully see all of these talents soon at my local independent show, there are five specific acts that I think people should keep an eye out for.

Standout Talent

Psycho Mike

As mentioned early, I think Psycho Mike is one of the main talents that headlines this talent announcement. Not only is Mike signed to MLP, he also has wrestled several current AEW stars, most recently RJ City (yes, you read that correctly). Every time an international independent show comes to Canada, it feels like you will likely find Psycho Mike somewhere on that card. He is someone that matches up so well against any opponent and knows how to get a great laugh.

One might think that Mike easily could have chosen not to sign with Mystery because of all of this. However, signing one of the country’s top independent stars quickly legitimizes the program. I think this is an excellent opportunity to introduce Mike to the larger American wrestling audience because his style of wrestling translates fantastic across the border. I am still devastated that I didn’t get to see him live in Montreal, but who knows, maybe I’ll get to hear “Who wants to see a body slam?” live sooner than expected. 

TDT

Well, I said in my Mystery Wrestling 27 review that I would cross the border in a heartbeat to see these guys wrestle again live – looks like I might not need to. As both a trio and singles talent, Thomas DuBois, Mathieu St Jacques, and Benjamin Tull, known collectively as TDT are such a fun signing as a part of this initiative. I’ve caught up on a couple more of their matches post-Montreal and these guys still impress. Something about their hard-hitting style just connects with me and I think will impress crowds at a show anywhere across the US. I can’t wait to see these three represent Quebec proudly on an international stage. 

Fresh Air

Arguably one of the best young tag teams in Canada now gets to prove themselves on a larger stage. Junior Benito and Macrae Martin are staples of Mystery Wrestling so their signing isn’t a shock, but is vital to their growth together. Their chemistry is up there with some of the best teams, even holding their own against Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta in Montreal. I’m convinced that they would get any independent crowd on their feet in a match of the night worthy contest. Even if a split may be in their cards in the future, both Benito and Martin I think are going to be faces of this initiative so be on the lookout for them soon.

Layla Wilde

Learn the name Layla Wilde now because when she eventually breaks out to a larger audience, you can say you bought in early. From the moment I saw her in a Mystery Wrestling ring, there was just something about her that screamed future star. “The Ultimate Woman”, despite being so new to wrestling, seems to understand wrestling so well. She can really do it all, comedy, brawl, tag, singles, you name it. I think her being able to work in the US and abroad will be a great opportunity to home in on her natural instincts as a wrestler and take a massive next step forward in her career.

London Lightning

I’m going to make a massive prediction right now: London Lighting is going to be signed to a major company by the end of the decade – and this incentive is going to be why. I think he is such a great talent, from his look to his gimmick to how he works in the ring. Bringing him in front of a larger audience will be a massive step forward for him in the next phase of his career. Him vs the likes of Jordan Oliver or Alec Price? Sign me up now! 

I said it before, I’ll say it again. London Lightning is the future of Canadian professional wrestling. I don’t know what it is, but something about him almost reminds me of watching young MJF clips. That’s high praise but I seriously think this guy has the potential to be that big. Now, because of the Mystery Wrestling Talent Initiative, he’ll be able to enter that phase of his career sooner rather than later.

To learn more or book any of the talent signed to the Mystery Wrestling Talent Initiative, you can visit their website or contact talent@mysterywrestling.com.  

Amanda Woods is an independent filmmaker and writer residing in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. She loves any medium that is able to tell a good story. Recently, she’s fallen in love with international pro-wrestling, having watched matches in three different countries and hopes to travel for more shows soon! Amanda really should have a website to view all of her work, but for now, her Instagram page will do. 

A Handy Guide To: AEW All Out 2026

Need to know when and where to watch an upcoming PPV? Need to know who’s fighting who? Need to know why you should care? Then, you’ve come to the right place!

“A Handy Guide” is a series on Dirt Sheet Radio where I run down an upcoming pay-per-view, and discuss the competitors and stories going into each match. For now, the focus is going to be on WWE and AEW, but if there’s interest, we may expand to companies like TNA, NJPW, and more. Additionally, I also give my picks for the sleeper hit, the match that I think will over-deliver or be under-appreciated, and my fairly self-explanatory match of the night.

Today’s edition is all about AEW All Out 2026— the company’s longest-running pay-per-view— taking place on Saturday, September 26th, at Now Arena in Chicago, Illinois. This will mark AEW’s first appearance in Chicago this year, and All Out’s return to the Windy City. All Out is to AEW what Backlash is to WWE, it’s a display of consequences from the company’s biggest show of the year. It marks a reset for some wrestlers and a new chapter for others. Over the years, it has been home to some of AEW’s most memorable such as the Chicago Street Fight between Willow and Statlander, the Lights Out Steel Cage Match between Swerve and Hangman (yikes), the debut of CJ Perry (yikes but in a different font), and of course the crowning of the inaugural AEW World Champion. 

The PPV will air at 4pm PT/7pm ET on major cable and satellite providers in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. and Canadian viewers can stream the event on YouTube, Prime Video, and DAZN. Additionally, U.S. fans can also stream it on HBO Max or catch it at select Dave & Buster locations nationwide. International viewers can view the event on PPV.com or MyAEW.com. 

This article does not cover any of the Buy-In (pre-show) matches, and as always the card is subject to change. But for now, these are the matches, and these are the stories: 

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tommaso Ciampa— International Championship Match

Given their career trajectories, you’d be forgiven for thinking this match could never happen. While Okada was the poster boy for New Japan and having seven-star matches with Kenny Omega, Ciampa was becoming the most despicable heel in NXT and putting on one of the brand’s first five-star matches with Johnny Gargano. During COVID, Okada was dealing with Ospreay’s defection from CHAOS, and Ciampa was teaming with Timothy Thatcher and trying to wrestle the UK Championship from WALTER (now Gunther). When Okada signed with AEW in 2024, it seemed like this match would definitely never happen because Ciampa was busy reforming #DIY with Gargano and winning the WWE Tag Team Championship. 

However, on January 28th, 2026, Ciampa made his AEW debut— a week after announcing his departure from WWE— and that forbidden door was busted wide open once again. 

Fast forward eight months later. Okada has allied himself with The Don Callis Family, sowed seeds of discord with Fletcher and Takeshita, and won the International Championship from the former. Ciampa already has one TNT Championship reign to his name and recently settled a blood feud with Chris Jericho. Hungry for gold and hungrier for competition, Ciampa calls out the new International Champion. Okada, of course, calls him a “bitch”, and Ciampa responds in kind. No more jokes and no more smiling. The Psycho Killer wants The Rainmaker at All Out, and he just might get him. Given all that, I’m calling this match the sleeper hit of the pay-per-view. The match to really look out for to steal the show.  

Andrade El Idolo vs. PAC— National Championship Match

To maybe no one’s surprise, Andrade El Idolo defeated Mark Davis at All In, winning the AEW National Championship and a cathartic ridding of The Don Callis Family from his life. Now, he finds himself in the crosshairs of a different, much more violent faction. The Death Riders have not taken kindly to Andrade’s arrogance and in-ring antics. Taking selfies with beautiful women, removing your pants, and posing in between the ropes are behaviors unbecoming of a professional wrestler. The Death Riders need to teach him a lesson, and The Bastard looks to be the guy who will do just that.

PAC has been a mainstay of the Death Riders since they were still known as the Blackpool Combat Club. The grumpy Englishman terrorizes opponents with his hard kicks and deceptive strength. Though he’s a smooth and graceful high-flyer, he often finishes matches with a tight double underhook crossface aptly called “The Brutalizer”. In Moxley’s gang, he plays the enforcer role well, often ending fights rather than starting them. That isn’t to say, however, that he doesn’t pick fights of his own. 

After successfully defending his championship against Daniel Garcia, Andrade was jumped by the rest of the riders (sans Mox and, technically, Kemalito) An irate PAC touted his former victory against the National Champion and vowed to do it again in Chicago. Before Andrade could respond, PAC kicked him in the head and left him laying in the ring. This will be a brutal exhibition. How I know?? Because Andrade and PAC are technically sound wrestlers, and their styles mesh well with each other. Expect to be entertained and wowed way before Andrade even takes his pants off.

Swerve Strickland and The New Level (Kofi/Austin Creed) vs. The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (Hangman Page/Brody King/Bandido) — Trios Championship Match

Last month at All In, Austin Creed (formerly Xavier Woods) and Kofi (formerly Kingston) made their not-so-surprise AEW debut as The New Level. They became the new Trios champions with Swerve Strickland, and also secured the second catchiest theme music in AEW. First place is Orange Cassidy’s theme no I will not be taking any questions. The New Level have quickly ingratiated themselves to the AEW fans, showing off how they haven’t lost a step and why they were two-thirds of the subjectively greatest trio in WWE history. After being criminally underutilized in the latter days of their WWE tenure and then reportedly being asked to take a 50% pay cut, it was refreshing to see them win gold on their first day in AEW. 

Unfortunately, they had to step on many toes on the way to doing so. Even more unfortunate, those toes belonged to the last three Trios champions. The Conglomeration held the Trios championships for a substantial amount of time until a timely intervention by The Lethal Twist (Jay Lethal/Blake Christian/Lee Moriarty) caused them to lose the titles to The Demand. Ricochet and his guys could only celebrate being champions for a week before they also lost the titles to the makeshift team of Hangman and Brodido. Less than a month later, they, too, would lose the titles in that tumultuous Roulette Royale at All In. With so many teams holding valid claims for the championship, Tony Khan pitted them against each other. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly defeated The Conglomeration, and Swerve and The New Level defeated The Demand, setting us up with this great Trios Championship match at All Out.

Who knows how long Swerve will stay allied to Kofi and Creed, and the same can be said for Page and Brodido. Regardless, both teams have great chemistry with each other and against their All Out opponents. Expect another stand-out performance by The New Level, fun shenanigans by Brodido, and palpable tension between Swerve and Hangman. 

TBS Championship Open Challenge

They don’t ask how you won, they only ask who won. At All In, Persephone defeated Maya World for the TBS Championship, but her victory comes with a big asterisk. An asterisk named Britt Baker. The Doctor returned in London and interfered in the TBS Championship match, securing the victory for and allying with Persephone. That isn’t to say that Persephone wouldn’t have won without Britt’s help, because she absolutely could have.

At just fifteen years old, Persephone started her wrestling journey in her hometown of El Paso, Texas. She’s powerful and charismatic, and just a few years into her career, she was picked up by CMLL where she garnered international attention. So much so that at Forbidden Door 2025, she was invited to compete in a four-way match for the TBS Championship. In the match, she came close on multiple occasions to winning the title off then champion Mercedes Moné, and AEW took notice.

Over the next year, she worked primarily in CMLL while making sporadic appearances in AEW until she officially signed with the latter in January 2026. Now, she reigns as not only the TBS Champion, but also as the CMLL Women’s World Champion (who she fittingly took off of Mercedes Moné). Perse Dos Straps has already retained her championship against Vertvixen and Hyan, now she’s going to Chicago to take on anyone else that dares to step in the ring with her.

Cage and Cope vs. FTR vs. The Young Bucks— Ladder Match for Men’s Tag Team Championship

At All In, Christian Cage used a screwdriver to help his team retain their championships against the Young Bucks. This complicated the tag team contender scene. After the match, FTR made their return to stare down Cage and Cope, the men who beat them for the titles. This complicated the scene even more. In order to un-complicate things, Adam Copeland laid down a monumental challenge for All Out: a three-way ladder match involving all three of these teams. For copyright reasons, AEW can’t call this a TLC match, but we all know in our hearts that this is what it’s going to be. 

There’s a lot of history between these six men going into the match. Cage and Cope, respected symbols of a bygone era, have to prove that they can hang with two of the best tag teams today in a match they made famous. They’ve made FTR say “I Quit” and they survived against the Young Bucks, but can they outlast both teams at the same time? FTR are 3-2 against the Young Bucks two-on-two, but they’re 1-2 against Cage and Cope. However, they’re the freshest out of all three teams, which could give them the edge in this ladder match. The Young Bucks also excel in ladder matches and can be just as opportunistic as FTR and the Attitude Era legends. 

There’s not much else to say about this match. TLC matches are car crashes in the best kind of way, and the six men involved are all prolific in their own rights. Expect a symphony of con-chair-tos, lots of broken wood, and high-dives that’ll make your palms sweat like crazy.

The Brawling Birds (Jamie Hayter/Alex Windsor) vs. Divine Dominion (Lena Kross/Megan Bayne)— Chicago Street Fight for Women’s Tag Team Championship

My goodness, do these ladies despise each other. At All In, these two undefeated tag teams went head-to-head for the very first time. All four women had something to prove and they couldn’t stand how much the other team was bragging about their successes. After weeks of blindsided attacks and brutal exchanges of words, things finally came to a head in London, and the Brawling Birds came out on top. No one expected Divine Dominion to take this defeat lying down, much less the new women’s tag champs. So, the rematch was set for All Out. 

This will not be just any match, though, this is going to be a Chicago Street Fight. These four women are no strangers to weaponized brawls. Last year, Megan Bayne won a hard-hitting, No DQ match with Penelope Ford against Anna Jay and Harley Cameron, and she was also in the first women’s Blood and Guts match opposite Jamie Hayter. Lena Kross helped defend the tag team championships in a bloody No DQ match against the Sisters of Sin (Julia Hart/Skye Blue). And speaking of No DQ, Alex Windsor made a name for herself with some excellent no disqualification matches in RevPro and Pro Wrestling Eve. In an already violent-looking card, this match had the chance to fly under the radar, but I believe these two teams will bring the violence too. 

Willow Nightingale vs. Thekla— #1 Contenders Match for Women’s World Championship

On the same night that Mercedes Moné defeated Willow Nightingale for the Women’s World Championship, Thekla stood on top of the Buy-In panel’s table and declared her intentions to get back said championship. In one night, we had two strong contenders for Moné’s championship, and all three women were on a collision course for All Out. Would Willow attempt to play spoiler on yet another Moné reign? Would Thekla’s massive ego attempt to eclipse Mercedes’s? Or would we get a styles-clashing three-way dance in Chicago? The possibilities— all three of them— were endless!

And then Mercedes was diagnosed with a broken nose and wasn’t cleared for this month’s PPV. 

In the business, we call this scenario a “real bummer”. However, the back-up plan is anything but. In a rematch from Redemption, the former champion, Willow, will face off against the woman she beat to become the champion, Thekla. The winner goes on to Wrestledream in October to face Mercedes Moné for the women’s championship. 

Willow is nursing a legitimate broken left hand going into the match, but she’s not counting herself out and neither should you. The Babe With The Power(bomb) knows what it’s like to get sidelined and relinquish a championship due to injury, she is refusing to let that happen again. On the other hand (no pun intended), The Toxic Spider is looking to rewrite history, avenge her loss from Redemption, and reclaim her place at the top of the women’s division. She has no love for Willow— and vice versa— and will look to exploit every weakness she can in order to get her title back. 

This is not a detour, this is a delight. Willow and Thekla had a great match at Redemption, and their contrasting personalities have made for great television over the past month. The winner, no matter who it is, will be a more than worthy contender for Mercedes’s championship. And no doubt the champ herself will be on hand to watch this match closely. 

Darby Allin/Steven Borden vs. Don Callis Family (Kevin Knight/Kyle Fletcher)— #1 Contender’s Match for Men’s Tag Team Championship

On March 3rd, 2024— two years ago— Sting wrestled his final match, defending his and Darby Allin’s tag team championships against The Young Bucks. During that match, we saw Darby fall twenty feet onto a sheet of glass, The Young Bucks superkick Ric Flair out of AEW, and Sting call on two special guests: his sons. Steven and Garrett Borden accompanied their father to the ring, decked out in his Wolfpac and Surfer costumes respectively. They also got physical during the match, taking bumps and breaking out Stinger Splashes that turned some heads. Could Garrett and Steven carry on their father’s legacy? Or, better yet, could they carve their own legacies in the wrestling ring? Well, at All Out, Steven gets his first shot.

Steven’s career trajectory has been fittingly catalytic as well. Not to brag, but I was able to see Steven wrestle in a dark match before Collision. During the match, my friends and I joked that this was akin to seeing pre-jorts John Cena answering Kurt Angle’s open challenge. Fast forward to six weeks later, and Steven has made his official AEW debut, allied with his father’s protégé, Darby Allin, and dived feet first into a feud with the Don Callis Family. Sheesh, I wish my first two months at any job were this eventful. 

Don Callis has major beef with Steven after the potential prodigy rebuffed an invitation to join the family. Steven also aided Darby in taking the TNT Championship off of Kevin Knight, which made him even less popular with the family. Don has now sicced Knight onto Steven and Darby, and has Kyle Fletcher aiding and tagging with Knight. Though, that might also be to distract The Protostar from dwelling too much on being defeated by Okada and losing his International Championship. Begrudgingly, Knight and Fletcher make a decent enough team, and they hold a tag team victory over the Young Bucks. They’re carrying that momentum into All Out to take down Darby and Steven, and get another chance at championship gold in the process. 

Darby’s involvement in this feud is a no-brainer. Sting penned him as his mentee on the icon’s very first night in AEW, and their careers are forever intertwined. Taking the Borden legacy under his wing is more than just a favor for Darby, it’s a duty. He wants Steven to succeed just as much as Sting helped him succeed. If his second reign as a tag team champion can be with the scorpion’s son, then that’ll make this match Saturday that much sweeter. Plus, it means he gets to beat Kevin Knight again. 

Steven said he hesitated joining the wrestling business because he didn’t want to live in his dad’s shadow. At All Out, he takes a definitive step out of it, but will it end with defeat at the hands of the Don Callis Family? Or will it catalyze into championship gold? 

Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley— Men’s World Championship Match

At All In, Will Ospreay had a simple yet poetic walk-out for the main event. Accompanied by his United Empire stablemates and Baba O’Riley by The Who, Ospreay walked through the backstage area and encountered figures in his career that have defined his journey. People like Michael Oku, Swerve Strickland, Mark Davis, Kyle Fletcher, and his wife, Alex Windsor. Right as he got to the apron, he was stopped by Jon Moxley, the final craftsman that molded Ospreay into the man he was today. Moxley handed him the Union Jack, and nodded with begrudging acceptance before walking away. As Ospreay looked back at Mox, you could tell things weren’t over between them. 

Three days later, after the main event of Dynamite, Gabe Kidd sought to take revenge on Ospreay and company for beating him and his team. But Moxley and the Death Riders showed up, and Mox got in the way of Kidd before could lay Ospreay out with a steel chair. Then, as Moxley handed Ospreay his title back, and the two had an intense stare down, a graphic appeared on the big screen: Moxley vs. Ospreay for the Men’s World Championship at All Out. 

If you’ve been following AEW for the past few months, you know of the history between these two men. Ospreay sought the guidance of Mox and the Death Riders to gain a killer edge, the ability to “pull the trigger”. Ospreay proved himself to the Death Riders and they aided him in winning the Men’s Owen Hart Tournament. However, when Mox tried to suffocate Omega with a plastic bag at Redemption, Ospreay intervened and ended his partnership with the Death Riders. No one expected to see the two side-by-side again, though we expected them to inevitably come face-to-face. 

Ospreay revealed that he was the one that asked for this match, he wanted his first championship defense to be against the man that helped him win it. The Ace of AEW, the man who has won every singles championship a man can hold in the company— including the world championship four times. Moxley has made it clear that he never expected to be given this match, but he knew it was an inevitability. He wanted Ospreay to be a leader but he can sense the doubts, and he wonders if Ospreay even feels like a champion. Mox may not be his teacher anymore, but he’s still giving Ospreay his first test. 

If you can’t tell by now, this is my pick for match of the night. Save for Darby tagging with Sting’s son, this match has the strongest story threads, and I’m a sucker for a good story in my wrestling. It’s one thing to win the championship, it’s another thing to hold it. I can’t wait to see how Ospreay responds to the pressure, and how Moxley responds to Ospreay.

Other Things To Look Out For

- Ilja Dragunov is reportedly heading to AEW after dealing with visa issues. Could All Out be the introduction to Unbesiegbar? And if so, where do you see him fit best in the current roster? Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing him confront the National or International champion at the end of their respective matches. 

- Andrade won the Casino Battle Royale at All In and has also allied himself with the world champion (possibly in a bid to be part of Ospreay’s United Empire?). He still holds his guaranteed title shot and has yet to make it known when he’ll cash it in. Regardless, he’ll likely be watching the main event closely.

- I just…really think Steven’s gonna turn on Darby. I have no basis for this other than a gut feeling. If it happens, it’s definitely a big departure out of the shadow of his dad (infamously the target of heel turns from many trusted partners), but it also feels too easy. And if it means he joins the overbloated Don Callis Family, then I want this even less. But that’s just the mark in me talking.

- Jack Perry recently called out Samoa Joe, daring him to come back to AEW and fight him. It's a bold move— kind of a stupid move, but bold nonetheless. He will be wrestling Katsuyori Shibata— a member of Samoa Joe’s group, The Opps— on the pre-show. This should be a good match in its own right, but maybe we also see an appearance from the former AEW World champion to answer Perry’s challenge.

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Jhuvin P. is a writer for CBC/DSR. He has previous experience as a ghostwriter, has published several short stories, and is perpetually working on a novel. In addition to writing, he is also a comedian based out of Colorado Springs. He posts clips of his stand-up along with his other goofy antics on TikTok and Instagram. 

VALUABLE With Rami Afif #1: Andrew Cass

In the first official written interview of Valuable with Rami Afif, my guest was independent talent Andrew Cass, who has wrestled for West Coast Pro, New Texas Pro, PrideStyle Pro, and many other promotions throughout his young career, now, he prepares for another important match to add to his collection, but before that, we spoke about his upbringing, his training to become a professional wrestler, valuable advice and goals, plus dream matches. You can read the full interview below.

Rami Afif: Before you laced up the boots and stepped out into the squared circle, you were a kid that was just growing up in Greenfield, Indiana trying to find who you are. What was it like for you growing up and what kind of mayhem or discoveries were you up to as a young Andrew Cass?

Andrew Cass: I only actually lived in Greenfield for the first two years of my life, but as a kid I just kept to myself and played video games for the most part. I found wrestling when I was ten, so that’s pretty much when everything changed so to say.

Rami Afif: Once you decided on making your way into pro wrestling, you attended, learned and trained at West Coast Pro. What has that experience been like for you and was there anything that you caught your eye on in your first couple of classes that made you feel that you chose the right school to go to for your pro wrestling career?

Andrew Cass: My first day at West Coast Pro was pretty much everything I hoped it could be. We started with a lot of cardio and calisthenics, which as a lifelong martial artist was very reassuring to see and be a part of. I also definitely got the vibe that everyone there is trying to not only get better, but to help each other improve as well.

Rami Afif: Every day, you learn something new and you take it with you on the journey that you’re on. Growing up, what was some of the best piece of advice that you received throughout your childhood? Who made the biggest impact on you whether it was family, a friend or a role model that you looked up to?

Andrew Cass: I would say the best advice I got as a kid was from my track coach, he told me “The work only gets done if you do it.” That mantra helps to motivate me.

Rami Afif: Last October was a very special month for you. From defeating the likes of Atticus Cogar, Manny Lo and Danny Orion in singles competition to win the West Coast Cup, what were the nerves like for you that day to compete in three big tournament matches and how did it feel to then step inside of the ring with the current ROH Pure Champion, Lee Moriarty for the first time ever?

Andrew Cass: The end of last year still feels a little crazy to me. With the West Coast Cup, I felt honored to be given the chance to compete in the tournament. It felt a lot like regionals in track. I’d spent the entirety of my career to that point forging myself to be able to do this type of night. And I guess all that work paid off. Wrestling Manny, Atticus, and Danny is I’d say the single most formative day of my career to that point. I was on empty essentially heading into the finals, i had holes in my knee from skewers, I’d been body slammed out of the ring, my back was killing me, and I still did it. Danny Orion is one of the best wrestlers I’ve ever had the opportunity to fight. And then nine days later I wrestled the Ring of Honor Pure Champion Lee Moriarty. To be able to hold my own and give it my all against a wrestler of that caliber and skill level was just incredible. Those couple weeks really changed who I am as a wrestler.

Rami Afif: Last month, you were part of Pandemonium Pro’s JoJo event, a tribute show to Jordan Saint. I know you spoke about how much he lifted the energy in the room with how kind and friendly he was to everyone he was around. What was it like for you to step in that ring as part of that six-man alongside JT Thorne & Vishnu Akali against a trio of Cosmo Orion, Jey Sharpe & Pac Ortega and did you feel the energy of Jordan throughout that night?

Andrew Cass: Jordan Saint was someone I wish I got the chance to talk more with. He was taken from us all far too soon, and I felt privileged to be a part of Pandemonium Pro’s tribute show for him, and also that I got to represent West Coast Pro alongside JT Thorne and Vishnu Akali.

Rami Afif: On September 25th, you have a huge opportunity on the line when you compete against Adam Priest for his West Coast Pro Championship at BodySlams on Broadway. How do you feel heading into this big time matchup, how much tape have you been studying of Priest and do you have a message for the champion before you challenge for the gold?

Andrew Cass: This week’s match with Adam Priest is the most important match of my career thus far. To be able to fight for one of the top prizes in american independent wrestling means a lot to me. I’ve seen that title be held by some of the best wrestlers I’ve ever seen in person, and the fact that I have the chance to win that very title is something I take very seriously. Adam is an incredible champion and an incredible wrestler. His mind for the sport is something I take every chance to study, so naturally I’ve been doubling down on that in the weeks leading up to this match.

Rami Afif: If you could step into the ring with one pro wrestler out of the entire history of the sport, who would it be, plus why would you choose them and would you want a specific venue and/or stipulation added to the bout?

Andrew Cass: Bryan Danielson. Easy. He’s the man that made me want to wrestle. As far as the venue goes, I’d have to say either Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen or the United Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco.

Rami Afif: As always, thank you so much for the opportunity to chat. Before I let you go, my last questions of the day. What are the three things you are grateful for, what are the three things you are looking forward to and what valuable advice would you have for someone who wants to step into the world of professional wrestling just like you?

Andrew Cass: I’m grateful every day for my family, the fact that I get to both live and fight for my dreams every single day, and that I get to wake up every morning. I’m looking forward to going up to Oregon for POW Wrestling on 9/26 to team with my good friend Bryce Kouza, taking my dogs to the park this weekend, and to Bodyslams on Broadway. And finally, my last advice to anyone reading this is that the work only gets done if you do it.

You can follow Andrew Cass’s journey in professional wrestling through his social media pages: AndrewCassPW on X/Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

Rami J. Hanna has written about combat and motor sports, as well as sports such as baseball and basketball for a number of publications over the last ten years. In addition to his role at CBC/DSR, Rami also writes for WrestlePurists and False Finish, and launched his own YouTube channel, VALUABLE with Rami Afif.

Photo credit: Paul Ponte.

The Extraordinary Life of Andy Williams: The Very Best of an Rock Star and Wrestlerwo

Writer’s Note: I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to write this article, as life moves fast and I didn't know if it was ever coming together or if I was too late to do so. But after finally catching up on Collision, the tribute show for Andy, I had to write this to help myself mourn such an important person and chapter of my life. So this is better late than never.

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I wake up and take on water, sink to the peak of despair. What I need is a cigarette, no more prayers - Map Change

The news of Andy Williams’ passing sent shockwaves through the wrestling world and the metal and hardcore (metalcore, for those in the know) world. Andy Williams has been a huge part of my life since the late 2000s, when I graduated high school and started college. I was lucky enough to see Williams play live with his band Every Time I Die a handful of times at Warped Tour, where they were a staple, and a couple of times at the Granada Theater in Lawrence, Kansas. I had an out-of-body experience.

If you aren't familiar with Every Time I Die, they were an essential band for any kid in the scene in the late 2000s and early 2010s. They were a powerful combination of groovy guitar riffs, witty, message-driven lyrics, and songs that could make you want to mosh and chug a beer with your bros at the same time. That's exactly who I was in college, so it was easy to see why ETID was such a big part of my life. Their sound was unlike any other band of the era, and even a decade later, no one has replicated it.

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When Worlds Collide

I was a lapsed wrestling fan for a good decade, and like so many, I came back when AEW was formed. So you can gauge how excited I was when my jaw dropped at the news that Andy was a pro wrestler. The Butcher felt like a throwback to the menacing wrestlers of the 1980s and 90s, and everyone knew the babyface would struggle to defeat such a mountain. You can't tell AEW's story without mentioning The Butcher. His work with his tag partner, The Blade, and their valet, The Bunny, was essential during the pandemic era at Daily’s Place.

That's why I will miss Andy. I did not realize until I heard the news of his passing how much his work was woven into my personal life. My experience with Andy was always in concert. Whether it was an ETID headlining tour, like the one in Lawrence or at Warped Tour, he always stood out. He looked terrifying. But every time he spoke to us or in any interview, he sounded so gentle, and that is exactly what he was: a gentle giant. Not a single bad word has been said about him over these past couple of weeks of mourning, and that is something I strive to be. When it's my time, I want to be remembered like Andy. Everyone should.

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My Favorite From Andy Williams

​I keep watching that Excalibur video and can't stop crying. I watch that Eddie Kingston tribute and I can't stop sobbing. To mourn Andy Williams with them, I want to remember some of my favorite things he ever did. So this list is my tribute to Andy, highlighting my favorite things he did in wrestling and in the recording booth.

Every Time I Die- Ex Lives (2012)

Although the first album I ever heard from ETID was 2006’s The Big Dirty, Ex Lives (2012) was when I truly fell in love with this band. While the previous two albums (Gutter Phenomenon and Hot damn!) had a much looser, party vibe, I think Ex Lives was the first time the band really expanded their sound into something heavier and more “serious.” Andy’s guitar playing really took another level on this album, and his sound and ability to play different genres of music really were exemplified here. This is the album that had the entire metal/hardcore community in love with this band, and where their status as the best band in the scene finally became consensus.

Some standout guitar playing from Andy on this album: Typical Miracle, Underwater Bimbos from Outerspace, Indian Giver.

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Bunkhouse Match: The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall) VS The Butcher and The Blade (2020)

A pandemic-era banger match for The Butcher and The Blade, cementing their legacy as the era's heel tag team. First it was the Young Bucks, then Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall, who took on the era's heel tag team. Not everyone gets these sorts of plunder matches, and not everything gets to face the son who made the match famous. Tony Khan trusted The Butcher and the Blade to put on a good match and put over Rhodes in a match that mattered to him and his family. Even though they lost, The Butcher was incredibly happy with the match. Here is a tweet from Dustin Rhodes remembering his experience after the match:

​In hindsight, we should have known how important The Butcher and The Blade were. They never fully got their flowers during their time in AEW, and certainly not after their contracts were not renewed. It's unfortunate it took Williams' death for us to acknowledge that, but there was no doubt — they were incredibly important. After hearing that Andy had been unresponsive, this was the first match that came to mind, and it will always hold a close place in my heart because it shows why they mattered.

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Every Time I Die- Gutter Phenomenon (2005)

This album is the peak of ETID's party side for me. Listen to the opening song and tell me you don't want to chug a beer and start headbanging. It mentally puts me back in a place where life was a little simpler. It was also the first album of theirs I couldn't stop listening to from front to back. I knew every word and air-guittared every lick; I knew. Even though they are from Buffalo, New York, the Southern Rock twang they mix with the heavy Metalcore tempo and lyrics makes this an all-time album—one of my personal favorite albums and one of the best in ETID’s Discography. This really made ETID a staple in many people's listening rotation and separated Every Time I Die from every other Metalcore act.

Some Songs to listen to: Apocalypse Now and Then, Bored Stiff, Tusk and Temper

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AEW World Title: Jon Moxley VS The Butcher (2020)

The match took place during the height of the pandemic, as AEW shot for a year straight from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. When the match was announced at the start of the show, I was so excited. I knew the Butcher wasn't going to win the title, but I still thought, wide-eyed, “What if he does?!” One of my favorite musicians climbed to the top of the mountain and earned a world title shot during one of the most important title reigns in the company’s history. I felt like a little kid at Christmas, so I couldn't imagine how Andy felt.

That is why I love professional wrestling, and I thank Andy Williams for giving me that moment. This match exemplifies Andy Williams's importance in AEW, especially during the pandemic. He was the big bad during that era. Sure, this match highlighted some of the Butcher’s limitations, as it looked like he got gassed. However, look at his body and work rate after the match. Look at his match versus Danny Garcia, his next big solo match in AEW; tell me he didnt improve. You knew he loved this and wanted to be the best he could be, and that growth is part of why this match matters here.

Thank you, Andy, for one of my favorite moments in this company.

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Every Time I Die- From Parts Unknown (2014)

Replicating Ex Lives' musical and commercial success was always going to be hard. Still, From Parts Unknown is a great follow-up, largely because it showcases William's versatility as a guitarist. Its real strength is the dichotomy of songs: Decaying with the Boys returns to party anthems with a southern rock influence and tangy, juicy rhythm playing. At the same time, Moor is a piano-led somber song about revenge with a more straightforward guitar sound that is just as powerful. Even in the more straightforward songs, Williams' hooky riffs stand out, and regardless of the album's tone, Andy always made sure we remembered he is one of the best guitarists—just an absolutely fantastic album.  

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Falls Count Anywhere: The Young Bucks defeat The Butcher And The Blade (2020)

This is another example of how important The Blade and The Butcher were during the Daily’s Place days of AEW. This match was plastered all over social media as people remembered The Butcher’s time in AEW, and it might ultimately be the most memorable match he had in All Elite Wrestling. This match was such a fun way to give the Butcher and the Blade a different angle. As terrifying as it was to see both of them butchering meats before the match, it was also extremely funny. I loved seeing that side of the Butcher and the Blade. The Blade being super-kicked onto the escalator, then slowly, unconsciously taken up to the next floor, is a moment that will always stick with me.

This is another example of how valuable both the Butcher and the Blade were during this era. They had some of the most important moments of the period, and this match is one of the clearest examples.

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Every Time I Die- Map Changes (Low Teens, 2016)

“What I need is a cigarette, no more prayers”

Hearing this song in Andy/The Butcher’s video tribute on Collision hit me deeply and personally. I think this was the most appropriate song they could have used from Every Time I Die’s discography. This is the most somber, melancholy ETID has ever sounded, and Keith Buckley’s vocals and lyrics make you reflect on past or current difficult times — in this case, grieving and mourning. The hook between the chorus and verses is so catchy, and it proved ETID's versatility as a ballad band. The guitar playing between Andy and guitar mate Jordan Buckley was immaculate. Haunting yet catchy.

The song, as well as the music video, is also a critical yet honest love letter to their blue-collar, hard-working hometown of Buffalo, New York, which has become a very important city in AEW history.

“Hell is not a myth; we spend each winter there no one can prepare.”

This is ETID’s most popular song on Spotify, and I think it's for a reason; Map Change will be tied to a certain time and place with ETID and AEW for the rest of eternity. This was also, ominously, the last song they ever played live together as a band in 2021.

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Daniel Garcia vs The Butcher, The Battle of Buffalo (2024)

Even though Andy had a few matches after this one, this would go down as his AEW curtain call. Butcher served as the big-bad hurdle during Garcia’s massive push in 2024, and this match came before Garcia’s International Title shot and, at the time, a potential AEW World Championship shot. I’m sure Garcia would have loved to face no one else in this Homecoming match but the man he has called his “older brother.” It was a quick match, but one that will live in AEW fans' memories as they remember The Butcher's time in AEW.

The Butcher doing Garcia’s dance in the middle of the match was so out of character, but it fit the match and the environment perfectly. As fun as that moment was, the lasting image was the two hometown wrestlers embracing in the middle of the ring, celebrating that they had made it. I loved rewatching this match, and that first show in Buffalo, New York, after Williams's passing will be unforgettable. That city loves Andy, and this match is a prime example.

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Thank you for everything, Andy.

“Though it may haunt us and break our hearts. Death cannot tear us apart”- Fear and Trembling, Every Time I Die

The Pros and Cons of Bayley Possibly Staying With WWE

As a decorated performer in WWE's women's division, Bayley is admired and respected by plenty of her peers and fans in the pro wrestling industry for over a decade. However many fans do want her to have an on going push on WWE TV like her female counterparts such as Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley. Recently it was reported that her deal with WWE is expiring and there is back and forth speculation that she'll leave the promotion for an opportunity with AEW. There are plenty of pros and cons for Bayley's future.

Locker Room Leadership & Off-Screen Impact: Bayley is universally regarded as the foundational heart of the WWE women's locker room. Staying allows her to continue mentoring younger talent, with reports suggesting that a new contract could include an expanded off-screen role as a producer, trainer, or coach.

Legacy Security and Hall of Fame Status: As the first-ever Women’s Grand Slam Champion, staying with the global juggernaut ensures her status as a first-ballot WWE Hall of Famer. WWE provides the largest global platform to cement her legacy.Under the TKO Group Holdings era, WWE has significant capital to offer top-tier, lucrative main-roster contracts. Her leverage during negotiations likely guarantees a substantial pay bump. Having recently returned to target her former partner Lyra Valkyria, staying allows her to complete high-profile storylines and potentially chase the one accolade she has yet to achieve: main-eventing WrestleMania. 

Creative Ceiling: Bayley has accomplished practically everything possible in WWE. Some fans and analysts argue that WWE’s booking can occasionally plateau for veteran talent, meaning she risks being rotated out of primary title pictures to make room for newer faces. 

Missed Fresh Matchups: Re-signing means missing out on highly anticipated, fresh matchups in promotions like AEW against talent like Kris Statlander, Toni Storm, or Hikaru Shida. It also limits her ability to work the stiffer, acclaimed wrestling style found in promotions like Stardom in Japan. 

Intellectual Property Constraints: Remaining in the WWE system means she must continue performing under the "Bayley" brand. She wouldn't have the freedom to fully reinvent herself or own her likeness under her independent identity the way peers who left the company have done. 

Whatever Bayley does, we the fans have to trust her to make the best decision for her career wherever that is. Who knows, she could probably end up running NXT down the road as an executive like Shawn Michaels or even a head trainer grooming the next generation of WWE Superstars..

Do NOT Bask In His Glory: The Keith Lee Situation

When one of your favorite wrestlers retires, you hope they stay happy and live a long, fulfilled life. You hope they get their bag at conventions, maybe have a couple of songs named after them, and/or help pass the torch to the next generation. You certainly hope they don’t take a hard-right turn and get involved with a cult that deals with extrasensory drivel and pseudo-metaphysical propaganda. 

Apparently, Keith Lee didn’t get that memo. 

Seven years ago, Keith Lee was putting on a star-making performance at Survivor Series, taking a pre-OTC Roman Reigns to the limit, and nearly securing the win for NXT. He was an established main eventer in NXT during a time when they still had Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Finn Balor, and Adam Cole. He provided the Full Sail crowd with highlight reel moments (see: Keith Lee pouncing Adam Cole into the audience) and went nearly undefeated during his time there. 

He was the first and, so far, only man to ever hold the NXT and North American championships at the same time. 

When he debuted on the main roster, he was supposed to become WWE’s next big star, presented with the same gravitas that Bron Breakker and Oba Femi have now. Unfortunately, Vince McMahon was still in charge, and he repackaged the Limitless One with the vague outline of a “Bearcat” gimmick, cursed him with stop-and-start pushes, and ensured his rookie year was also his last one with the company. 

Fast forward to February 2022, when Keith Lee made his AEW debut by making quick work of Isiah Kassidy and securing his spot in the “Face of the Revolution” ladder match at that month’s Revolution PPV. We all thought Lee would finally get the recognition he deserves and show a mainstream audience what being limitless was all about. It started off well enough. He formed an exciting tag team with Swerve Strickland dubbed Swerve in Our Glory, and they won the tag team championships at Fyter Fest 2022. Five months later, they dropped the championships in a great match to The Acclaimed at Revolution 2022, and he and Swerve went through a rough breakup. All they needed to do was have their blow-off match, and the two could go their separate ways and become big singles stars. But lingering health issues, injuries, and feuds with other competitors got in the way of their big singles match. 

Finally, in December 2023, Swerve and Lee were set to face off at Worlds End. 

A week before the event, Lee would face off against Brian Cage on Collision and, though we didn’t know it at the time, this would be Lee’s final televised match. For undisclosed reasons, he was not medically cleared for the PPV and wouldn’t appear on AEW ever again. 

It was reported back in July that Keith Lee is, for all intents and purposes, retired from pro wrestling. It’s a tragic end for a wrestler with so much promise and I truly wish he can stay happy, healthy, and fulfilled. Now, I guess my fourth wish is that he stays away from cults! 

After almost a year of radio silence, Keith Lee returned to Instagram with a very puzzling post. He is smiling and seated next to a man named Darius Wright, and in the caption, he links to Darius Wright’s website. 

But who, exactly, is Darius Wright? 

According to his website, Wright is a “consciousness explorer”, specializing in out of body experiences and “awakening” the human body. He travels the world, teaching people how to awaken their “dormant abilities” such as sensing past lives and telepathy. On his website (which, in hindsight, I should have accessed in Incognito Mode), he invites people to follow him in his “Great Work” of bringing other suckers— I mean people— to the “other side” for a modest contribution of $300-$500. I refuse to link his website and give this grifter any more publicity. 

I hope it goes without saying, but cults are bad. Especially cults that ask for your hard-earned money in exchange for platitudes from a spiritual hack, and results better achieved through meditation and therapy. Their existence is inexcusable and dangerous, and they take advantage of the most susceptible members of our society. Members who are grieving, who have lost something important to them like a job, a partner (we heard about Michin), or a sense of purpose.

Mr. Lee, I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. As someone with their fair share of religious trauma, it’s possible that I’m just projecting, but that also means I can empathize with someone who feels like this is the only path forward. If you’re truly all in on Darius Wright’s teachings, it is going to lead you down a path that is neither happy nor healthy, and it won’t be fulfilling for long.

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Jhuvin P. is a writer for CBC/DSR. He has previous experience as a ghostwriter, has published several short stories, and is perpetually working on a novel. In addition to writing, he is also a comedian based out of Colorado Springs. He posts clips of his stand-up along with his other goofy antics on TikTok and Instagram.

Indie Darling Issue #1: Commander Nova

Commander Nova unmasks in front of the IPW New Zealand crowd (photo courtesy of @dfuphotos)

The independents are the backbone of professional wrestling. Many wrestlers across the world cut their teeth in front of small crowds before finding stardom, cultivating relationships with audiences and chemistry with different stylistic wrestlers alike. DSR/CBC’s latest series, Indie Darling, aims to highlight the talents of different talents across the globe to show that pro-wrestling transcends physical borders. 

Our first featured wrestler, Commander Nova is a professional wrestler hailing from Auckland, New Zealand. In early July, Nova made the decision to turn on his Nu Blood brethren and former best friend Zac Kelly before unmasking in front of the live Impact Pro Wrestling (IPW) New Zealand crowd. 

I had the pleasure of watching both Nova and Kelly tag across three different shows during my semester abroad in Auckland last year. Going to my first IPW New Zealand show, IPW Reckoning, I didn’t know what to expect. One of the matches that had piqued my interest in the show was the 2-out-of-3 falls match scheduled between SAS and Nu Blood. I love tag wrestling, I love the stipulation, what could go wrong? Man, little did I know I was about to discover one of my favorite tag teams. From their first entrance together, I was Team Nu Blood. The chemistry these two men had together could only be crafted by years of friendship. Mix that with their fast-paced offensive style and natural fire, I could tell why the crowd loved this team. Hands down that match became my match of the night, a tough feat considering the main event of that show was a beautifully violent dog collar match. Still, a year and a half later, probably one of my favorite matches I’ve seen live.

Needless to say, I was shocked to see Nova’s decision to separate from Kelly, in a quite violent manner too. However, I knew that the two talented wrestlers were only going to be able to co-exist for so long before the inevitable split happened. Now you may be thinking, especially any readers back in Aotearoa New Zealand, “Why interview not interview Zac Kelly? His friend just turned on him!” Trust me, I am a Zac Kelly fan too (sorry Nova), but it has truly yet to be seen how these actions will change Kelly, for better or for worse. Instead, Nova has taken his actions, no matter how cruel, in stride to define a new era of his career. One where it is truly him vs the rest of the Aotearoa New Zealand wrestling scene. As Nova starts to venture down this path alone, only one thing is on his mind: to make Aotearoa New Zealand wrestling more serious as he sets out for championship gold alone.

Adding “Nu” Blood to the Aotearoa New Zealand Tag Scene

Zac Kelly (left) and Commander Nova (right) pose for the IPW New Zealand crowd (photo courtesy of @dfuphotos)

In order to properly understand this mission, I think some context in regard to the Aotearoa New Zealand wrestling climate is needed. As explained to me by Nova, the country originally was home to an NWA territory. Stars like Rick Flair and Dusty Rhodes frequently traveled to the country prior to the territory's collapse. By the 2000s, pro-wrestling began to reemerge as a handful of people taught themselves how to wrestle, passing it down from wrestler to wrestler. Today, new stars like New Japan’s HENARE and British standout Ringo Ryan bring experience to a burgeoning scene ready to raise the standard. This a scene ready to be taken seriously with talent capable of wrestling outside of the island country. 

No one wrestler, in my opinion, matches these sentiments more than Commander Nova — formerly known as Kid Nova. Together with Zac Kelly, the former friends came together to form Nu Blood with a mission to make tag wrestling feel important again. “We set out to make tag team wrestling not just a sideshow act but show everyone that it deserved to be at the top of the card…” recounted Nova as the two young men set out to make tag history.

As a duo, Nova and Kelly became one of the longest running and one of the most successful tag teams in Aotearoa New Zealand. During their over half decade as Nu Blood, the team’s 406-day long IPW Aotearoa New Zealand Tag Team Championship reign became the longest in the promotion’s history. Beloved by the Kiwi crowd, Nu Blood also claimed the title of “Best Tag Team or Faction” in the yearly NZPWI People’s Choice Awards from 2022-2024. Together, they proved that tag wrestling wasn’t only for “wrestlers who aren't good enough to be singles guys”, becoming trend-setters in the growing Aotearoa tag scene.

While finding success together as a tag team, both men would occasionally venture off into singles competition. In 2024, Nova would claim the One Above All Championship in Heathen Combat. During his almost year-long reign as the promotion’s top champion, he fielded challenges from some of the country’s top stars like former champions Vic Craig and Horus. Quickly, Nova’s reign as One Above All champion became a pivotal point in his career. “Having the confidence to know I was able to succeed at the top of the card in a highly competitive company like Heathen Combat was a huge boost in my confidence in singles competition,” expressed Nova.

His first challenger of his 357-day reign? None other than his best friend Zac Kelly. However, Kelly would ultimately get the upper hand in September of 2025 in a sold-out rematch against his Nu Blood stablemate, crowning him as the new and current One Above All Champion. This would mark the beginning of the end of their time together as a tag team and ultimately, their friendship.

Despite both men proclaiming for months that “Nu Blood is fine”, Nova would make the death of Nu Blood known at IPW’s yearly Fans Bring the Weapons event on July 11th – an event the two had main evented and sold out together less than a year prior. After their loss, Nova maimed Kelly in the center of the ring in front of a stunned Kiwi crowd. After being separated, Nova made the shocking decision to remove the mask he had worn for his entire career. The official start of a new era.

The New Nova

Nova attacks Kelly after their loss at IPW New Zealand’s Fans Bring the Weapons (photo courtesy of @dfuphotos)

Anger towards Zac Kelly and IPW management as a whole fueled Nova’s actions that night. Knowing that all tag team partnerships often turn sour, he made the decision to “trim the fat” and cut himself off from Kelly before it was too late. “What people don't realize are the small things behind the scenes, the arguments, the side glances, and the difference of opinion,” Nova explained. In his eyes, Nova only turned on Kelly to prevent Kelly from doing the same to him.

The decision to unmask, however, was much tougher. Prior to July 11th, Nova had only wrestled without his mask once during his career. Despite going back and forth on the decision, he ultimately decided that it was officially time for a change. “People had to know that this wasn't just a small lapse in judgment… [it] put a hard full stop on the chapter of Nu Blood,” described Nova. “I wasn't going to leave any doubt that I am a new me.”

Similar to when he and Kelly set out to form Nu Blood, Nova has one goal in mind for this new era: to restore real wrestling to Aotearoa New Zealand. The type of wrestling similar to the likes of greats like Bryan Danielson, Zack Sabre Jr, and William Regal – all of whom have influenced Nova’s style over the years. Making short work of this mission, Nova specifically called out Pariah and former IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Champion Jayrilla. Both men, from Nova’s perspective, embody the type of wrestling he wants to eradicate from the country due to both men’s outlandish, but entertaining, characters. 

When looking to the future, Nova knows that his former friend likely isn’t finished with him, despite his belief that he is done with his former tag partner. However, if Kelly does decide to “cling” to Nova, he stated he will “happily dislocate his other shoulder.” Beyond that, Nova has some other ambitions in mind like wrestling internationally, establishing himself as a singles competitor, reclaiming his One Above All Championship, and, most importantly, winning the IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship. 

Hearing this, I leapt at the opportunity to ask him about another friend of his, the three-time and current IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Champion, Horus. Another personal standout from my time abroad, the “Duke of Death” has solidified himself as one of the top singles talents in the country, a path he paved with the blood of his opponents. Before the Nu Blood split, both Horus and Nova have found themselves as teammates or opponents on many occasions. I wondered how the two stood now that Nova and Kelly had gone their separate ways.

Turns out their relationship had been on the rocks prior to Nova’s actions on July 11th, their desire to both climb to the top clearly taking a toll on their friendship. “[Horus] is a jealous, bitter man who can't handle the fact I'm pushing him out of the spotlight he's held for so long,” remarked Nova, believing that these feelings stem from their competition for the coveted spot of ‘Ace’ in Heathen Combat.

Moving forward into this next phase of his career, Nova has tough shoes to fill given the legacy Nu Blood as left in the Aotearoa New Zealand wrestling history books. As he ventures down this path alone, I believe he has the passion and ambition to succeed in the competitive environment the country has created.  However, I do wonder if in an effort to move towards his own endeavors, he has turned strong friendships into powerful enemies. With former and current champions in the mix across multiple promotions, the Aotearoa New Zealand wrestling scene is set for an explosive, and probably bloody, future. At its forefront, two former friends that redefined an entire tag division and, despite Nova’s wishes, are destined to meet across the ring from each other for years to come. 

To fans new to Commander Nova’s work, he recommends Nu Blood vs SAS at IPW Fans Bring the Weapons and himself vs Zac Kelly at Heathen Combat's heavydirtysouls as must-watch matches from his career. To stay up to date with Commander Nova’s work, you can find him on Instagram or follow IPW and Heathen Combat. He also wanted to highlight his partner’s podcast, Skull and Microphones, which can be found on Spotify. 

Feature images courtesy of @dfuphotos on Instagram

Amanda Woods is an independent filmmaker and writer residing in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. She loves any medium that is able to tell a good story. Recently, she’s fallen in love with international pro wrestling, having watched matches in three different countries and hopes to travel for more shows soon! Amanda really should have a website to view all of her work, but for now, her Instagram page will do.

Andy "the Butcher" Williams Dies At Age 48

Andy Williams, widely known to professional wrestling fans as "The Butcher" and to the heavy music world as the punishing rhythm guitarist for the metalcore band Every Time I Die, passed away this weekend at the age of 48. Williams suffered a fatal medical emergency and collapsed in the ring following a tag-team match alongside his longtime partner, The Blade, at an Enjoy Wrestling event at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale, Pennsylvania. Despite immediate CPR from on-site medical staff and subsequent transport to a local hospital, Williams was pronounced dead, leaving both the wrestling and music communities in a state of profound shock and mourning.

Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Williams first carved out a formidable legacy in the hardcore punk and metalcore scenes. As a founding member of Every Time I Die in 1998, his towering physical presence and crushing guitar riffs became the backbone of the band's chaotic, intensely energetic sound, helping to inspire a generation of musicians over a music career that spanned more than two decades and nine studio albums.

Yet, Williams harbored a lifelong passion for professional wrestling, a dream he fully realized when he transitioned to the squared circle in his late thirties. Making his national television debut in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2019, he quickly established himself as an imposing enforcer. Alongside The Blade, The Butcher became a fixture of AEW's tag team division, renowned for his intense, bruising in-ring style, unmistakable monocle, and intimidating Victorian strongman aesthetic.

All Elite Wrestling released a statement honoring him as a "trailblazing musician" who made a "successful transition into the world of professional wrestling and was incredibly respected by his peers both in and out of the ring."

Williams leaves behind a legacy defined by his immense talent, his imposing yet beloved persona, and the undeniable impact he made on millions of fans worldwide who watched him shred on stage and dominate in the ring. He will be remembered not just as a titan of heavy metal or a dominant professional wrestler, but as a deeply respected artist, beloved hometown hero, and a passionate performer whose dedication resonated across multiple vibrant subcultures.

Next, It’s Your Turn: T4T Wrestling Restores the Fighting Spirit for LGBTQ+ Wrestlers

Photo by Esther Lin (@allelbows) on Instagram

On November 7, 2025, the co-creator of T Boy Wrestling, Adam Bandrowski, announced that the company was closing its doors. In a now deleted Instagram post, Adam alleged that his co-creator Mich Miller had “mismanaged organizational funds”, plunging them into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Youtuber bittnia goes into much greater detail on the greater controversies surrounding T Boy Wrestling, and the consequences regarding its closure. Long story short, the allegations are horrific and all affected parties deserve justice. Unfortunately, the dissolution of a wrestling company due to carnie behavior is neither new nor rare, but T Boy Wrestling’s fate is especially consequential. 

Wrestling has a very dark past in regards to homophobia, transphobia, and the like. The early iteration of Goldust was flamboyant and erotic, and constantly hit on his male opponents to get a rise out of the audience. A 2002 episode of Monday Night Raw centered around the risque promise of ‘Hot Lesbian Action’, or HLA, by then general manager, Eric Bischoff. Sixteen years later, Sami Zayn interviewed his rival Bobby Lashley’s “sisters” on RAW, and they were clearly male wrestlers dressed in drag.

Bad drag, mind you. 

You can say wrestling is a product of its time, you can say these bits were pushed on the writing teams by senile old men and sex pests, and you can say it’s not that deep (it is that deep, but that’s a conversation for another time). The undeniable truth is that queer people— and the mere implication of queerness— have been the butt of jokes in wrestling for decades. Gay people were comedy acts and lesser than their hetero counterparts, trans people were only good for shock jock slop. It’s a miracle wrestling still has a queer fanbase today.  

Giving credit where it’s due, pro wrestling has taken greater strides for the LGBTQ+ community than most major sports leagues. Openly queer wrestlers like Anthony Bowens, Toni Storm, Mike Bailey, and Giselle Shaw, are proudly presented on screen and have won major championships in AEW and NWA. Iconically, Finn Balor utilized his Wrestlemania 34 entrance to make a “message of inclusion” and show off his support for the LGBTQ+ community. This year, there were over 50 wrestling events in the U.S. to commemorate Pride Month. But pro wrestling can always do more; provide more opportunities, have more conversations, create more spaces. 

Despite its many, many flaws, T Boy Wrestling was a prominent space for LGBTQ+ wrestlers to take center stage on the squared circle. The spirit of it is worth fighting for, and Kidd Bandit has the fighting spirit to do just that. 

Kidd Bandit is a trans wrestler and the self-proclaimed Protagonist of Pro Wrestling.

Photo by Esther Lin (@allelbows) on Instagram

She blended her love of martial arts, anime, and video games to curate a fighting style that entertained audiences and gave her opponents headaches. She wrestled against men like Zack Sabre Jr., Jay Malachi (Je’Von Evans), and Malakai Black, and against women like Miyu Yamashita, Allie Katch, and former TBS Champion, Maya World. If she continued to evolve and grow, I have no doubt we would have seen her kicking heads and taking names in AEW. However, back in April, Kidd Bandit wrestled her final match, and left her kickpads in the GCW ring. 

This was neither ‘goodbye’ nor ‘see you later’, instead it was more of a ‘stay tuned’. Kidd Bandit retired from in-ring competition to focus on a different facet of pro wrestling: promotion. A month before her in-ring finale, Kidd announced on X that she would be re-launching T-Boy Wrestling, cleaning up all the carny grime, and calling it T4T Wrestling. She wanted to create a space that would empower trans and nonbinary wrestlers, boldly declaring “if places ain’t platforming us, then we’ll make our own way”. Shortly after, she announced dates for tryouts and the first show. Over the next few weeks, prolific trans and nonbinary talent gravitated around this new promotion, and wrestling hopefuls put in the work in T4T’s training camp.

The stage was set for July 3rd, when T4T Wrestling would put on its first wrestling show— no, not just a show, but a showcase.

A recital. 

From the beginning, T4T Wrestling has separated itself from the mold. It marketed their debut as performance wrestling, a hybrid of wrestling, drag, dance, and theater. Some matches would be more about telling a story while others would be more about good graps and dope dives. At its core, though, T4T Wrestling stays true to its initials: it’s a show by trans people for trans people. 

Photo by Esther Lin (@allelbows) on Instagram

Their debut recital sold out fast, and it was a wild, unapologetic celebration of queer identity and pro wrestling— everything Kidd Bandit promised. Abigail Thorn, who plays Admiral Lohar in House of the Dragon, acted as a guest hostess for the event and got involved by hitting a competitor with a steel chair. There was a three-way match for the NWA Women’s Television Championship featuring three of the most prominent trans wrestlers on the scene today: Dark Sheik, Nyla Rose, and the defending champion, Gisele Shaw. And headlining the show was a FQ Princex Of Pride Title Match between trans wrestler Sonny Kiss and nonbinary wrestler Richie Coy.

The spirit of T4T Wrestling is worth fighting for.

It’s diverse, inclusive, and expressive, everything the LGBTQ+ community embodies. Kidd is doing everything that T Boy Wrestling failed to do. She wants T4T Wrestling to be a space where queer people can be their most authentic selves (and get paid for it!), and her pride for this company is well-placed. 

I haven’t gone out of my way to read any of the negativity and bigotry surrounding T4T Wrestling— I value my sanity too much to do that— but I can tell what the haters will say. They’ll say it’s doing too much, it’s too goofy, it’s excluding non-queer wrestlers. And if this is you, then I pity the misery you wallow in just for someone to remember you exist. Also, take a shower.

As a cishet man, I will never experience the level of plight and persecution that trans and nonbinary people do. I have never been shamed for being alive, the Supreme Court isn’t barring my entry into certain sports teams, the medication I need to stay alive isn’t being demonized and restricted (yet). In the grand scheme of things, my life is a luxury, one that queer people don’t have access to (yet). 

Photo by Esther Lin (@allelbows) on Instagram

Kidd Bandit is giving the LGBTQ+ community a taste of that luxury: a space just for them. It’s beautiful and badass. As a wrestling fan and ally, I hope that T4T Wrestling has a long and fruitful existence. At the time of writing, they are still expanding and improving. In August, they announced a collaboration with Swordplay LA to provide weekly wrestling classes for those in the Los Angeles area, and appointed Emmy-nominated filmmaker Vera Drew as their general manager. 

To keep up with news, follow T4T Wrestling on their official Instagram account, and also follow Esther Lin (@allelbows), who took many of the pics you see in this article. Follow me here on Dirt Sheet Radio as well. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time I write about T4T Wrestling, and I’m excited to see what the future has in store for Kidd and her vision. 

---

Jhuvin P. is a writer for CBC/DSR. He has previous experience as a ghostwriter, has published several short stories, and is perpetually working on a novel. In addition to writing, he is also a comedian based out of Colorado Springs. He posts clips of his stand-up along with his other goofy antics on TikTok and Instagram.

Andy "Butcher" Williams Suffers Medical Event During Match at Enjoy Wrestling Event

Former All Elite Wrestling star and independent competitor Andy "The Butcher" Williams suffered a terrifying medical emergency on Saturday night that resulted in him being rushed to a local hospital.

The incident occurred during Enjoy Wrestling's "Five Years" anniversary event at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale, Pennsylvania. Williams, who is also widely known as the former rhythm guitarist for the metalcore band Every Time I Die, was competing alongside his longtime tag team partner, The Blade, when the frightening situation unfolded.

According to accounts from those in attendance, the tag team match was proceeding normally when Williams' legs suddenly buckled and he collapsed to the mat. The Blade quickly signaled for assistance and attempted to help him back to his feet, but Williams reportedly passed out again shortly after.

The situation immediately escalated as medical personnel rushed to the ringside area to provide emergency treatment. Paramedics administered chest compressions and utilized a defibrillator to stabilize him. Following the intense on-site emergency procedures, Williams was transported away from the venue in an ambulance for urgent medical care.

The obvious severity of the incident prompted Enjoy Wrestling officials to make the immediate decision to cancel the remainder of the anniversary show.

The promotion issued a statement on social media:

"Andy collapsed at the end of his match this evening," the promotion said in a statement on Twitter. "Our doctors on staff tended to him immediately, administering CPR until the ambulance arrived. We sent everyone home and are at the hospital now waiting for more information."

The DSR Indie Wrestling Watch Guide: September 2026

Why watch independent wrestling? TrillerTV won’t pixelate the blood, for one thing. That’s a joke, but only kind of. Indie promotions can take risks that larger televised companies can’t. They’re the closest thing wrestling still has to the territory days. Regional scenes develop their own ecosystems with unique crowds, personalities, and ways of doing wrestling.  Indie promotions have more freedom to take risks and fewer people telling them no.

That might mean building an entire promotion around unusual characters like JCW’s cocaine-addicted zombies, a niche style like Horror Slam’s collision of horror and deathmatch wrestling, a specific audience like Hoodslam’s fiercely loyal Oakland crowd, or an alternate universe where the local government is actually a wrestling faction and bureaucratic disputes can sometimes be solved with a moonsault.

Indie wrestling can collapse the distance between fame and fan. Danhausen is known to work national television one month and a no-ring show in a glorified backyard the next. The joy isn’t only finding tomorrow’s stars, though that's where they come from. It’s also seeing what wrestling looks like before anyone has standardized it.

I love the indies. If you don’t already, I think you will. Streaming options make it easier than ever to catch wild shows from all over the world. Plus, supporting independent artists is cool. Everyone’s doing it.

Favorites and B-Sides

Many watch guides eventually settle into a comfort zone, featuring a dozen or so of the easiest promotions to stream, find, and recommend. I love the kind of serialized storylines that require cult-like devotion, but I also love new gems, and you should too. September is a good time to break out of your comfort zone and check out a company you’ve maybe never even heard of.

Dirt Sheet Radio’s monthly how-to-watch can never cover everything happening in independent wrestling around the world. Instead, this month's guide focuses on promotions we haven't spent much time with before, from a three-night trios tournament in Philadelphia and a Toronto lucha program to a Newcastle company wrestling inside a brewery and one of Pittsburgh's best indies preparing to close for good.

And then there's our featured promotion, Hoodslam. The Oakland promotion gets this month's featured spot with a deeper look at the strange world the Dark Sheik has built around wrestling, performance art, nightlife, and Northern California counterculture in general.

Best Bets

Featured promotion:

Best wrestling weekend: Power Pro Lucha’s Attack on Trios, Sept. 4-6

Show with the most emotional stakes: Enjoy Wrestling’s Five Years, Sept. 5

Best deathmatch event: CZW Tournament of Death XXIII, Sept. 5-6

Best look at the next wave of indie talent: ETU Wrestling’s All I Want 4, Sept. 19

Best Canadian discovery: Demand Lucha’s Masked by Midnight, Sept. 17

Best international discovery: NORTH Wrestling’s Thunder Road, Sept. 19

Deep cut: Horror Slam’s Masters of HorrorCore, Sept. 4

Power Pro Lucha

Attack on Trios

When: Friday through Sunday, Sept. 4-6

Night One: Friday at 8 p.m. ET
Night Two: Saturday at 6 p.m. ET
Night Three: Sunday at 6 p.m. ET

Where: Arlen Specter US Squash Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Where to Watch: Live on IWTV

Cost: IWTV lists each night as a PPV available through a subscription or 1,000 tokens

Why Watch

Power Pro Lucha’s three-day event is an easy recommendation. This is a great promotion for anyone who misses wrestling with elaborate teams, masks, over-the-top characters, and complete earnestness. Over three nights, Attack on Trios, Triple Tech Tournament brings together 16 wildly diverse teams for a battle of “titanic proportions.” The enormous bracket pulls from lucha libre, joshi, and several generations and styles of American independent wrestling.

The structure is cool and fairly unique. Instead of assembling a card around a few big names and recognizable singles matches, Power Pro Lucha invites fans to follow teams across the entire weekend. This is a good pick for fans who like wrestling to feel like opening a comic book halfway through and making up the rest of the mythology as you go.

Can’t commit to the whole weekend? No problem. Each card has enough happening that viewers can drop in for one night and still get a full show. For example, Night 2 includes the six-person Ace of the Skies ladder match, which gives the tournament a break without abandoning the promotion's maximalist instincts.

Matches and Teams to Watch

The field includes Modern Age Violence (Jonathan Gresham, Dominic Garrini and Kevin Ku); Team Lodestone (Janai Kai, Amira and Gabby Forza); Spectral Envoy (UltraMantis Black, Hallowicked and Frightmare); GummiBurger (Cheeseburger, Boar and Erica Leigh); Team ChocoPro (Emi Sakura, Baliyan Akki and Mei Suruga); Mala Fama (Skayde, Toxin and Látigo); The Colony (Ultimo Ant, Electro Ant and Thief Ant); F.I.S.T. (Travis Huckabee, Ryan Mooney and Myung-Jae Lee); High-Flying Star Machines (Bojack, Diego Hill and BK Westbrook); The Delinquents (Josh Fuller, Saul Esparza and Mikey Banker); Wilde LLC (Dr. Ethan Wilde, Dylan Mesh and Journey Burke, Esq.); The Very Good State Champs (Avery Good Professional Wrestler, David Moses and Sal Mistretta); BIG League Chew (BIG CALLUX, Shea McCoy and Weber Hatfield); Thicc & Thin Party (Andy Brown, Billy Avery and Unicorn Party); The Tetrominoes (Z Block, T Block and O Block); and Hands of Fate (Nemesis, Moros and Eris).

Enjoy Wrestling

Five Years

When: Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Mr. Smalls Theatre, Millvale, Pennsylvania

Where to watch: No live stream has been announced. Enjoy has made most of its previous events available for free on YouTube, so watch the promotion’s official channels for an eventual release.

Why Watch

Enjoy Wrestling announced on August 26th that it will close after three final events. Five Years is the second of those events and the promotion's final show at Mr. Smalls Theatre, its long-term home base. The final farewell follows on October 4th at Tacomania.

Enjoy began during the pandemic, initially filming on a closed set. It grew into one of Pittsburgh's most distinctive independent promotions. By the time Enjoy closes its doors for good, it will have hosted 36 events, most of them available for free on YouTube. The company became particularly notable for consistently booking LGBTQ wrestlers and cultivating an explicitly welcoming audience. At Enjoy, inclusion never felt like a promotional gimmick. Five Years is weightier than a traditional anniversary card since Enjoy has already announced there will not be a Sixth.

Independent wrestling companies disappear all the time, sometimes without even getting the chance to say goodbye, and Enjoy is getting one last night in the building most closely associated with it. That alone makes it worth finding when the video becomes available.

Scheduled to Appear

Lee Moriarty, the Amazing Red, The Butcher and The Blade, and Dark Sheik are among the wrestlers scheduled to appear, but expect additional Enjoy Wrestling regulars and guests to be added to the card.

COMBAT ZONE WRESTLING

Tournament of Death XXIII

When: Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 5-6

·       Event begins: 2 p.m. ET

·       IWTV stream: Currently listed for 4 p.m. ET

Where: Townsend, Delaware

Where to watch: Live on IWTV

Cost: IWTV lists each night as a PPV available through subscription access or 1,000 tokens

Why Watch

Combat Zone Wrestling has been associated with ultraviolent wrestling for over a quarter century, and Tournament of Death, now in its 23rd “installment,” is the most distilled version of that. There’s no point pretending this is a recommendation for everyone. Tournament of Death centers on death matches: weapons, blood, and escalating violence. But in wrestling, as in all things, not for everyone doesn’t mean not for anyone. This is a great promotion with a pretty stacked card. The draw is getting to see some of the best deathmatch wrestlers pushed through multiple rounds over a weekend, rather than watching one hardcore match dropped into an otherwise conventional card.

IWTV has both nights listed live, with Night 2 carrying the survivors through the rest of the tournament. CZW has always been more varied than its deathmatch reputation suggests, but the balance has shifted considerably over 27 years. The promotion that once became synonymous with ultraviolence now runs a broader mix of conventional indie wrestling, younger talent, and occasional showcases of the extreme style that made its name.

Tournament of Death is a direct line back to the brutal identity that made the promotion internationally recognizable. For deathmatch-curious viewers or those looking for the style beyond GCW and the handful of names that dominate social media clips, this is a must-have historical rabbit hole.

First-Round Matches

Bear Bronson vs. Alex Colon
Nathan Mowery vs. SLADE
Nino Extremo vs. Joe Dred
Dimitri Alexandrov vs. Tim Strange
Jamesen Shook vs. Eric Dillinger
Eric Ryan vs. Toby Kline
SHLAK vs. Aeroboy for the CZW Ultraviolent Championship

CZW World Championship: Eran Ashe (c) vs. AKIRA, Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch

Horror Slam Pro Wrestling

Masters of HorrorCore

When: Friday, Sept. 4, at 7:30 p.m. ET

Where: Special Taste Hall, Livonia, Michigan

Where to watch: No live stream is advertised. Jobber Radio reports that matches are scheduled to appear later through Hardcam Frio’s channel.

Why Watch

Horror Slam is what happens when a Michigan regional wrestling promotion decides Halloween and underground horror shouldn't be confined to October. And I happen to agree.

The company has a devoted Livonia audience and shows built around cards that shift between conventional wrestling, hardcore matches, and genuinely gory deathmatches. Earlier shows have included everything from conventional title bouts to light tubes and weapons, as well as its annual Murder City Deathmatch Cup, which attracts wrestlers on the national deathmatch circuit.

Masters of HorrorCore is very accessible by Horror Slam standards. It’s also exactly the kind of promotion this guide is useful for. Horror Slam is not difficult to understand, but it is difficult to stumble across until somebody tells you about it.

Matches

Dean Hendrix vs. Matt Cross for the Horror Slam Heavyweight Championship
Terminate on Sight vs. Triple Platinum for the Horror Slam Tag Team Championship
The Pillars vs. Mickie Knuckles & Tara Zep
Dr. Redacted vs. Robert Katchem
Mad Man Pondo vs. Anakin Murphy
Breyer Wellington vs. TJK

DEMAND LUCHA

Masked by Midnight

When: Thursday, Sept. 17; hype-up party at 7 p.m. ET, wrestling at 8 p.m. ET

Where: Parkdale Hall, Toronto, Ontario

Where to watch: Demand Lucha has an extensive archive on IWTV, but a live IWTV listing for the Sept. 17 event has not been confirmed as of Aug. 28.

Why Watch

Toronto has its own increasingly crowded indie ecosystem. Demand Lucha is a user-friendly entry point to the parts of that ecosystem shaped by lucha. The promotion runs regularly from Parkdale Hall and has built its cards around masked wrestlers, Canadian indie talent and visiting luchadores rather than simply trying to reproduce an American televised product.

The main attraction announced for Masked by Midnight is Gringo Loco against Shotzi Blackheart for the Lucha Premier Championship. Both were advertised as featured guests before Demand Lucha confirmed the title match. Demand also has a sizable backlog on IWTV, including the 2025 edition of Masked by Midnight, which makes this a particularly easy promotion to sample while waiting for the September show release.

ETU WRESTLING

Marcus Mathers Presents All I Want 4

When: Saturday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. ET

Where: The Mecca, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey

Where to watch: Live on IWTV

Why Watch

ETU stands for Expect The Unexpected, but the promotion says it wants to build its own version of traditional Tri-State professional wrestling. All I Want 4 is presented with Marcus Mathers, and the card is essentially a snapshot of wrestlers moving between the regional independents, GCW, AEW, ROH, WWE’s ID system, and other larger platforms.

The appeal here is timing. Indie wrestling is full of periods when several wrestlers seem to be moving upward simultaneously, and ETU has assembled a card featuring a lot of people currently living in that space.

If the goal of an indie watch guide is partly to introduce wrestlers before everybody already knows who they are, this is exactly the kind of show it should include. I may talk ad nauseam about storylines, but every wrestling fan should appreciate a great match between up-and-comers.

Matches and Scheduled Appearances

Marcus Mathers vs. Tyler Breeze
Aaron Rourke vs. Billie Starkz
Dustin Waller vs. Gravity
Joey Janela vs. Avery Styles
Janai Kai
Cappuccino Jones
Additional matches to be announced.

NORTH WRESTLING

NCL.71: Thunder Road

When: Saturday, Sept. 19; doors at noon ET, first bell approximately 1:30 p.m. ET

Where: Anarchy Brew Co, Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Where to watch: NORTH releases complete events after they happen through Patreon, TrillerTV+ and YouTube. No live broadcast has been announced for Thunder Road.

Why Watch

British wrestling doesn’t begin and end with the promotions that regularly appear on American streaming schedules.

NORTH Wrestling has operated out of Newcastle for a decade. Its DIY identity centers on small-room crowds, a punk-rock atmosphere, and a willingness to put wildly different kinds of wrestling on the same card. Past NORTH events have mixed British technical wrestling, comedy, lucha libre, character-heavy storytelling and harder-edged matches, including an Ultraviolent Championship.

Its commentary team includes Veda Scott and Cultaholic’s Tom Campbell. A documentary about the promotion, Watch the Lights, won a Royal Television Society North East & Borders award in 2025.

Thunder Road returns NORTH to Anarchy Brew Co, a working brewery that regularly hosts the promotion’s rowdier Newcastle events. The full September card is still being assembled, but NORTH makes most of its shows available after the fact through multiple platforms.

If EVE, RevPro and PROGRESS are already familiar, NORTH is a good next stop for exploring the current British independent scene.

ALSO WORTH CHECKING

880 Wrestling’s Thursday Night Fights streams free every Thursday at 8 p.m. ET through IndyWrestling.US. The Pittsburgh promotion is especially easy to sample because it requires no subscription or PPV decision.

Returning Favorites in September

• Juggalo Championship Wrestling: JCW Lunacy continues free throughout September on the Psychopathic Records YouTube channel. Catch up on anything you missed at BloodyMania 19.

• Game Changer Wrestling: GCW has three September shows currently scheduled for TrillerTV+: Mind Your Business on Sept. 11, No Signal in the Hills 5 on Sept. 12 and Rock Bottom on Sept. 25.

• TNA Wrestling: Thursday Night iMPACT! continues on AMC and AMC+ in the U.S. and TNA+ internationally, including a live Sept. 24 episode from San Antonio.

• Primos Premier Pro Wrestling: Denver’s Primos returns to the Roxy Theatre Sept. 26-27 for Slave to the Deathmatch XVII; the promotion has streamed previous events through TrillerTV+, although a stream for this year’s tournament has not yet been announced. Read more about Primos Premier Pro Wrestling.

• Lucha Libre AAA: AAA continues its September programming, including TripleManía 34 events Sept. 11 and 13; check the promotion and WWE closer to bell time for final U.S. streaming information.

• CMLL: CMLL continues its regular Arena México schedule in September, highlighted by the 93rd Anniversary Show on Sept. 18, with programming available through its official YouTube channel.

• Major League Wrestling: MLW returns Sept. 12 with Fightland, while Fusion continues streaming free through YouTube and VEEPS.

Have a show you think should be listed?

Send SHOW NAME, HQ POSTER, FULL CARD, LINK TO EVENT to DSRHowToWatch@gmail.com

#Indys4life

For more promotions and ways to stream local, regional, and international independent wrestling, check out the August Guide.

Jenny Catlin is a writer from the Square States, covering racing, pop culture, professional wrestling, country and western, and glam metal music, obsession, sex, pornography, the real working class, indie press, and other obsessions. An award-winning essayist, she is a contributing writer at The Athletic and Denver-based Denverse Magazine. Find her on Substack and Instagram.

Hoodslam: Like a Comic Book Variety Show Where Wrestling Matters

Daniel Torch, “Champion of the entire Central Valley”

I like a great story as much as a great match, and Hoodslam is another promotion putting narrative in the center of the ring. For 16 years, the Oakland company has defied the notion that indie wrestling should look and feel like a small-scale version of the major televised productions. Daniel Torch, who currently wrestles there as Daniel T, knows that better than most. I got a chance to talk with him about his work with the bombastic Bay Area promotion, how it has changed over the years, and why some of its most devoted fans aren't really wrestling fans anywhere else.

DARK Sheik, Hoodslam’s founder, sets up an opponent for a piledriver during a Hoodslam show

Dark Sheik founded Hoodslam in 2010, initially gathering wrestlers at Victory Warehouse for shows built around creative freedom and adult content.  She was interested in ideas that didn't fit in with other promotions. Hoodslam quickly outgrew the Victory Warehouse and moved into the Oakland Metro Opera House, becoming part of the city's vibrant First Friday night life. Wrestling shared space with drinking, smoking, burlesque, and sideshow performances, plenty of profanity, and lots of oddball characters.

That reputation still follows Hoodslam, but veteran wrestler Daniel Torch says thinking of it only that way misses what the promotion has become. Torch has been wrestling around Northern California for more than fifteen years, and he’s followed Hoodslam from pretty much the start. Initially, he stayed on the outskirts. Straight edge and quiet, he was uninterested in smoky rooms packed with drunk folks. That version of Hoodslam didn't feel like his natural habitat. However, a venue change, which brought with it a no-smoking-inside policy, convinced him to take a closer look.

His first real foothold as a character came when Hoodslam needed somebody for a funeral. Torch remembers being told, “You're an emo kid; you love the dark. So he showed up, did the segment, and got invited back for three more dates. Soon he found himself alongside Rob Hands and Brooke Havoc during one of Hoodslam's periodic storyline resets. Dark Sheik's creative direction for him was less about inventing a wrestling gimmick than stripping one away. Stop asking how Torch the Wrestler would behave, essentially, and react more like Daniel actually would.

Promotional flyer for a 2025 event featuring Mayor Von Eerie and Brooke Havok.

That took some adjustment. Torch was accustomed to independent wrestling shows where the assignment was largely to go out and have a great match. He told me the match still matters, but Hoodslam might instead give him several story points that needed to land on a particular night because they mattered next month. Sometimes the wrestling is the center of the segment. Sometimes it's the mechanism that propels the storyline. More often than not, it’s both.

“Hoodslam has a Hoodslam crowd,” Torch said. Its fans will follow the story wherever it goes because they’re already invested in the characters and the world around them. Torch describes Hoodslam as “very comic book,” and that world has only become more elaborate over time.

Hoodslam's current mythology centers on Slamtown, an alternate reality populated by distorted versions of existing Hoodslam characters. Anton Voorhees claims to remember another world, and Brooke Havoc becomes a graffiti-tagging hoodlum. Dave Reckoning runs a dungeon that’s also a bar. Richard Shhhnary tended the library. Dr. Mehl and Prisoner 420 eventually recovered memories, which allowed the pair to re-identify themselves as the Stoner Brothers. Other characters have slowly begun to realize something about their reality is distorted, with some catching glimpses of their past lives.

The current municipal government is one of SlamTown's major factions: Mayor Von Eerie, her SlamTown Justice Security Force, and Daniel T (Torch’s SlamTown identity), a perpetually overworked assistant to the mayor. Hoodslam’s site describes  Daniel T as overworked and asks that you please be nice to him.

In that same comic-book style, people die, return, change identities and slip into alternate timelines. They also wrestle, occasionally because a supernatural or bureaucratic problem requires the kind of solution that can only be delivered with a powerbomb. The absurdity works because Hoodslam hasn't abandoned the wrestling underneath it.

Torch has watched the promotion move through several phases. The earliest warehouse shows were essentially wrestlers experimenting and entertaining themselves. Burlesque and sideshow acts later became part of the attraction. Torch says those elements helped bring people through the door, but the wrestling is what kept them around. Over time, Hoodslam itself became the draw: “The wrestling and the Hoodslam is why people are coming back,” Torch said.

The promotion has built enough loyalty around its characters and stories that the old party atmosphere no longer has to carry the show. In fact, some of Hoodslam’s regulars barely seem to belong to the larger wrestling ecosystem at all.

Fans crowding the ring during a live show in Oakland

Torch says he routinely meets people who don’t follow wrestling but know Hoodslam, and he sees fans at Hoodslam shows who never turn up anywhere else. Some are wrestling fans who happen to love Hoodslam. Others are simply Hoodslam fans. For them, Hoodslam isn’t a gateway to wrestling. It’s the destination.  Torch describes that last group as “I just go to Hoodslam” fans.

For a promotion whose long-term slogan is “Fuck the Fans,” it has built an unusually committed collection of them, making it a particularly good recommendation for people who like the idea of wrestling more than they like conventional wrestling television. The obvious audience includes fans of comics, anime, horror, queer performance, punk, and DIY art. It's for people who like elaborate characters and stories and are willing and eager to set realism aside. The promotion has always made space for queer and trans performers, intergender wrestling, and characters who would have been flattened into stereotypes or simply excluded in more traditional environments.

The overworked assistant to the mayor of SlamTown, Daniel T

This is a good promotion for that one friend who’s decided wrestling isn't for them. Torch says Hoodslam sometimes has to approach its audience differently because not everybody in the room is a wrestling fan. A spectacular sequence of moves means less if the viewer has no reason to care who's doing them. That's true throughout wrestling, but especially at Hoodslam.

“If they can identify with the character,” Torch said, “they're gonna attach to that faster than the wrestling.”

Fans who want their indie wrestling built primarily around great matches, recognizable feuds, and familiar wrestling logic may find Hoodslam a little hard to settle into. Hoodslam can deliver excellent wrestling, and often does, but it doesn't pretend that every match exists primarily to produce the best possible star rating. Sure, sometimes the point is the physical fight. Other times, though, the point is a man dressed as Sherlock Holmes needs to beat somebody into a position where he can interrogate him with a magnifying glass. Torch has done that too. Plenty of wrestling companies would consider that a problem, but at Hoodslam it's the show.

A map of Hoodslam’s fictional SlamTown universe.

Hoodslam: How to Watch

Hoodslam/SlamTown: Revelations 8:28

When: Sept. 1, 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT

Where: Continental Club, Oakland, California

Where to watch: TrillerTV+

Revelations 8:28 was held Aug. 28 at the Continental Club before its Sept. 1 streaming premiere. TrillerTV lists Anton Voorhees, Lara Frazier, Ricky and Scotty Stoner, KEiTA, Dave Reckoning, Cooper Contra Costa, Sheikah, Daniel T, Sheriff Boone, Deputy Regular Rob and SlamTown Justice among the featured performers.

Revelations 8:28 is a good entry point for newcomers because a lot of the story revolves around characters trying to understand SlamTown itself.

Revelations 8:26 goes live on ThrillerTV September 1st, 2026

Wrestle Detective Cooper Contra Costa has been following a progression of increasingly strange leads. First, Anton Voorhees showed up claiming to come from another world. The Stoner Brothers recovered memories of previous identities. Sheikah wrote a banned book whose readers supposedly went mad after finishing it and were committed to the Asylum. In typical politician style, former Mayor Mike Rayne seems to know more than he’s letting on.  

All those clues point to the same mystery. Residents remember another reality, and one word keeps surfacing from the alternate plane: Hoodslam.

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Jenny Catlin is a writer from the Square States, covering racing, pop culture, professional wrestling, country and western, and glam metal music, obsession, sex, pornography, the real working class, indie press, and other obsessions. An award-winning essayist, she is a contributing writer at The Athletic and Denver-based Denverse Magazine. Find her on Substack and Instagram.

Kofi and Austin Debut | Will Ospreay Wins the AEW World Championship| AEW All In: London Results August 30th, 2026

AEW All In: Buy In begins with Lio Rush and the Rascalz defeating the Opps as the clouds just open and it begins to rain at Wembley Stadium

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Kris Statlander helps Harley Cameron gain some revenge on the Sisters of Sin with a win in Wembley Stadium at AEW All In: Buy In

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If the Rizzler wants something done, it gets done. Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin are presented with a $50k check by Big Justice on behalf of the Rizzler for getting the victory over Shane Taylor Promotions with Boom and Doom

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Bryan Danielson has returned to the commentary booth!!

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A masked woman shoves Maya World off the top rope, allowing Persephone to steal the win!! She takes off her mask to reveal herself as Britt Baker!!! Britt baker screwed Maya World out of the TBS Championship!!!!!

Britt Baker has returned to AEW after multi Years Long Absence!!!! Persephone is the new TBS Champion!!!!

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Thekla has returned for the first time since dropping the AEW Women's Championship. She says she will never forget what Willow Nightingale did to her. Thekla will be watching the show closely and shit will get Toxic

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Persephone has officially aligned herself with Britt Baker!!!! Persephone says since Thunder Rosa wanted to get involved in her business recently, Perse went an found an old friend of Rosa's

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The Unstoppable Force(Wife) meets the Immovable Object(husband) as Roddy and Marina Shafir come face to face!!!

Roderick Strong hits Marina Shafir with a backbreaker during the Trios Championship Roulette Royale

The former New Day, Austin Creed and Kofi have arrived in AEW!!!!! They are now in a faction with Swerve Strickland!!! The New Level!!!

The heels in the match had been overpowering the final remaining members of each Babyface trios, Hangman, Jay White and Orange Cassidy, when it's time for Swerve Strickland and the Wild Card team to arrive.

Swerve is out first with Nana. Who are his partners? Who? Who? Who?

THE NEW LEVEL!!! The New Level has arrived with A$ap Ferg's New Level as a theme song!!!

Kofi, the legendary king of the Battle Royale

Swerve Strickland and the New Level win the AEW World Trios Championships!!!

The first ever to win AEW Championships in their debut appearance!!!

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The Hometown girls get the win!!!!

Brawling Birds Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor have taken down the undefeated Divine Dominion to become the new AEW Women's World Tag Team Champions!!!!

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On the 8th day, God created Jon Moxley!!!!! Nigel McGuinness is THIS CLOSE to the ropes to escape an ankle lock on his injured ankle but Jon Moxley never lets go and Nigel has to submit.

Excellent match!!

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"I do not forgive those who laugh at my family" Kyle Fletcher rocks some sick One Piece Donquixote Doflamingo gear complete with special entrance

Kazuchika Okada has recaptured his AEW International Championship!!!!!

An excellent Triple Threat match ends when Kyle Fletcher hits the turnbuckle Brainbuster on Takeshita and Okada hits the Rainmaker on Fletcher

Okada could have pinned Takeshita but he pins Fletcher instead. Post match, Fletcher doesn't want to give up his title but he does reluctantly.

Okada screams at Fletcher to raise his hand and Fletcher doesn't want to but Callis convinced him

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Komander makes his way out at number 7 for the Casino Gauntlet match but Justin Roberts announced him as MISTICO

Which the crowd absolutely would not let go off for a few minutes. You fkd up and Mistico chants went until Komander hit his signature Rope Walk

Andrade has earned a shot at the AEW World Championship!!!!! Andrade pins Nick Wayne after MJF low blowed Wayne and hit the heatseeker piledriver.

Andrade tossed MJF out of the ring and pinned Wayne for the win

Order of entry:

MJF

Andrade

Nick Wayne

Mike Bailey

Ciampa

Jericho

Mark Davis

Komander

Mistico

Daniel Garcia

Jungle Jack Perry

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Cross one more off the bucket list.

Edge makes his Wembley Stadium debut as the crowd serenades him with his theme music, Metallingus by Alter Bridge

Hes clearly emotional as AEW dumps the pyro budget on him and fireworks go off outside of the Stadium

What a freaking match!!!!! Edge and Christian retain the AEW World Tag Team Championships with a hidden wrench shot

Tag Team Wrestling LIVES IN AEW!!!!!

After retaining their Tag Team Championships, Edge and Christian are confronted by Motor City Machine Guns.

Then FTR returns to AEW TV. Then the Young Bucks get back to their feet. Finally the New Level comes back out and we are shown the STRENGTH of AEW's Tag Team Division!!!!

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ITS STIIIIIIING!!!! Metallica's Seek and Destroy blares over the loudspeakers as Sting returns to save Darby Allin and his son Steven Borden

Sting climbs a ladder to splash the Don Callis Family but his son Steve climbs up and begs him not to. Steven makes the splash off the ladder in the ring to the outside instead!!!

Darby Allin leaped off of the stage lighting rig at least twenty feet in the air THROUGH Kevin Knight and the stage!!!!! NO TABLE!! NO NOTHING!!

Paramedics are trying to save Kevin Knight when Darby leaps off the stage again onto Kevin Knight on a stretcher!!!!!

Darby Allin becomes TNT Champion for the third time!!!

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AEW Women's World Champion Willow Nightingale makes her entrance dressed as a knight with gigantic confett-titty cannons!!!!

Mercedes Moné has finally captured the big one in AEW at the biggest wrestling show of the year!!!!

Mercedes Moné is the new AEW Women's World Champion after a fantastic match against Willow Nightingale. Willow fought as hard as she could, even pulling out a Spanish fly at one point.

Willow hits a Moonsault (which she almost loses but Mercedes kind of saved it) Mercedes hits Willow's head into an exposed turnbuckle for the closest 2.9999 of the night.

Willow pounced Mercedes into Aubrey at one point and it looked bad but Aubrey seems to be ok.

Excellent back and forth between Willow and Mercedes that ends with Willow passing to an arm wrapped bank statement that Aubrey calls for the bell too early on

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One of the best entrances in AEW history did not involve special pyro or dancing. It was a retrospective video and tunnel entrance about Will Ospreay set to Baba O'Riley by the Who

As he walked to the entrance with the United Empire behind him, he passes Zack Sabre Jr, Michael Oku, Ricochet, Swerve Strickland, Mark Davis, Kyle Fletcher, his wife Alex Windsor and finally Jon Moxley waits for him at the front, with the Union Jack.

Moxley hands Ospreay the flag to carry his country on his back. Ospreay's time is now.

"The Flames of your Battle Cry haven't burned out yet. Young man you too, can be a hero. Kenny Omega, it's time to go Plus Ultra!!!!!!!!"

My Hero Academia fans stand tf up!!!! Kenny Omega just made his entrance to YOU SAY RUN with All Might himself, Kenta Miyake, narrating the video in Japanese

UNBELIEVABLE entrance from Kenny Omega.

Will Ospreay just became the first man to kick out of the One Winged Angel in over a decade!!!!

Absolutely incredible. Will Ospreay has done it.

Will Ospreay hits a DISGUSTING Tiger Driver 91. Followed by a One Winged Angel which Kenny Omega kicks out of at one.

Ospreay hits the Hidden Blade, Omega kicks out at one again!!! Ospreay hits the Stormbreaker and one final Hidden Blade to become the AEW World Champion.

Ospreay is in tears. The crowd is in tears. In front of his friends, family and countrymen

Will Ospreay is the first European to win a World Championship in England

Ranking the Top Ten All In Matches So Far

It is All In week, and I decided to go down memory lane and compile what I think are the ten best matches in the history of the pay-per-view. There have been enough editions of All In , and enough matches to sift through, to pick the ten best. Obviously ‘best’ is subjective. My definition is in-ring quality, importance, and legacy: matches that help tell AEW’s story, matches that rank among the best wrestling we have ever seen, and matches I’m especially partial to. All of these matches have carved their own little corner in AEW lore and have been immortalized.

Since the revival of the monumental PPV was announced in 2020 and it became part of the AEW PPV family, Tony Khan set out to make this event his own version of “WrestleMania.” A place where stars are born, moments are made, and AEW continues to grow. This list also gives me a chance to reminisce and see how far this company has come. While only four years old and with five different iterations of the event, All In has become the tentpole for the alternative company.

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Photo credit: ROH.

10. Kenny Omega vs Penta El 0 (All In 2018)

This match was a clear precursor to what AEW was all about in its early years. Everything that everyone loves about All Elite Wrestling was front and center in this match. Kenny Omega came into the match as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, but did not defend it. Pentagon, Penta El Zero, or whatever name you want to call him, came to play and, in one of his first big spotlights, performed as one of the best wrestlers in the world. This was the first singles match between two of the most important wrestlers in AEW history, and it became one of the best and most important matches of AEW's early years.

The crowd was so hot for this match, and they were loving every minute. Both Penta and Omega were fighting for the love of the game, and it showed. The entire event was the seed for what would later grow into something. The wrestling style, in-ring storytelling, and all of it was pure AEW. The match doesn't get talked about as much as other pre-AEW matches are, given its importance to the promotion's creation.

Just as important were the post-match developments, as Chris Jericho, dressed as Penta, attacked Omega, starting their path toward a historic rivalry that carried the baton between All In and Double or Nothing.

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Photo credit: AEW.

9. AEW World Championship: MJF def. Adam Cole (All In 2024)

100 years from now, when you're telling the story of All Elite Wrestling, you won't be able to tell the rise of AEW without talking about the main event between Adam Cole and MJF. Cole vs. MJF for the AEW Men’s World Championship is still one of the biggest main events in AEW history, and it looked massive. If you rewatch it, both entrances looked like the biggest deal in the world, and that crowd looked like an endless sea of people.

In retrospect, having Adam Cole main event this match was a bittersweet moment for a wrestler who might never get in the ring again, and he was able to share the spotlight with his '“best friend.” This is the original mega-match in AEW. While other matches have had better drama or better in-ring wrestling, this was the first one in AEW that felt like the biggest thing in the world. The presentation set the standard, and it also gave wrestlers a different path to their “WrestleMania” moment.

So while the match was fun, melodramatic, and goofy at times, the real success of this match, at least for me, was its presentation and the standard it set for the rest of All In.

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Photo credit: AEW.

8. Casino Gauntlet (All In 2024)

While AEW had had Casino Gauntlets before All In 2024, this was easily the biggest and most well-received of them all. There was so much going on in this Gauntlet that, on rewatch, you can see why so many people fell in love with this gimmick match that night. Nigel McGuinness made his return to the wrestling ring, Ricochet made his official debut in AEW, and Zack Sabre Jr. was able to wrestle in front of his fellow countrymen and women. By the way, before we move on, a small piece of me likes to think the Casino Gauntlet was brought to London just for McGuinness.

Christian Cage ended up winning the contract for the No. 1 Contendorship, and while Cage cashing it in was a big wet fart, it did set the tone for the rest of the Casino Gauntlet winners moving forward. All In 2024 was the one that shined the brightest and set the standard for the rest of them in the future. This Casino Gauntlet was so well received at All In 2024 that it has now become a staple at the biggest show of the year, and this year’s version might be able to top it.

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Photo credit: AEW.

7. AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm def. Mercedes Mone (All In 2025)

Mercedes Mone vs Toni Storm at All In 2025 felt special. On a night full of megastars, it was mentioned as a co-main event alongside Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega and Adam Page vs Jon Moxley. That shows how well these competitors were regarded and how important this match was for the women’s division. I think I like this match so much because we all thought we were going to witness Mercedes’ crowning moment, finally becoming AEW Women’s World Champion and adding to her 15 titles. Instead, it became a Toni Storm moment, as she was recognized as the cornerstone of the women’s division. Storm didnt beat Mone in a fluke way either; it was a deceptive pin to leave no doubt.

This loss started Mercedes's downfall; she went on to lose every single belt after this, then started the rise again after winning the Owen Hart Cup for the second consecutive year. This match not only cemented Storm as the best-ever AEW Women’s World Champion, but it smashed any notion that Mercedes was “Hulking” and politicking her way in the locker room. Most importantly, it was the ultimate showcase for two women who bet on themselves and went against the grain on AEW’s biggest stage.

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Photo credit: AEW.

6. AEW Unified Championship: Kazuchika Okada def. Kenny Omega (All In 2025)

When Tony Khan announced he had purchased the rights to Ring of Honor in 2022, and by default the rights back to the original All In, Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada was likely the match he had in mind. This was the biggest match, as far as lore goes, that All In has ever hosted, and AEW did a fantastic job recapping Okada and Omega’s past feud for an audience that perhaps wasn't fully dialed in. This is where AEW turned the corner in recapping feuds and storylines.

This was billed as the co-main event for the night, and with good reason. Both Okada and Omega received superstar entrances, and this was the biggest version of this rivalry to date. Was this match as athletic or physically impressive as their first four match-ups? No. That said, this was the most methodical, calculated, and thought-out match of the five fights. It was structured as though both men knew every move, with neither wanting to make a mistake. This was built up as the biggest match ever, as the winner would take home the International and Continental Championships as the Unified Champion.

Okada is now up 3-2 in the series. Still, this won't be the last match we see between these two bitter, lifelong rivals.

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Photo credit: AEW.

5. International Championship: Will Ospreay def. MJF (All In 2024)

In what might preview what happens this weekend, Will Ospreay vs. MJF was the original homecoming moment for the British wrestler. MJF had beaten Ospreay for the International Championship and renamed it the American Championship because, of course, he did. While it wasn't the main event of All In that year, it was treated like a co-main event, with fireworks and an over-the-top presentation for Ospreay. Ospreay still wasn't officially signed to AEW yet, as that announcement came four months later, in November 2024. Tony Khan pulled out all of the stops for Ospreay to make him feel at home in AEW.

This was one of many fantastic wrestling matches these two men have had against each other. MJF and Ospreay seem to bring out the best in each other, and this match, in the brightest of spotlights, proved that they need to keep this rivalry alive.

The Tiger Driver ‘91 was a big point of the storyline, and when Ospreay hit it on MJF, after some assistance from a returning Daniel Garcia, Ospreay got his International Title once again, and the hometown boy got his major moment.

Could this be how All In 2026 ends, with Ospreay standing over the ring with new gold above his head?

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Photo credit: AEW.

4. CM Punk vs Samoa Joe (All In 2023)

The opening match of the first reincarnation of All In was a great match between two old rivals set to kick off the biggest show in the young company's history. The pressure was on them, and because of their professionalism, they knocked it out of the park. Add in that CM Punk had just gotten into a ‘fight’ with Jack Perry in Gorilla, and Punk knew this was likely his last match for AEW and probably wasn't in the right mindset; still, with Samoa Joe, he had one of the more memorable in-ring matches in All In history. I couldn't even imagine what was going through Joe’s mind.

These two opponents were a great choice to reintroduce what All In meant. Both competitors had deep roots with Ring of Honor, had a deep-seated rivalry, and knew how to work a great match for the fans. The win for Punk was supposed to kick off his “Real World Champion” storyline, which was going to be a good one. Instead, with his left fist raised to the air, the last we ever saw of CM Punk in AEW was him leaving through the tunnel, back to the fans, with the “real” championship over his right shoulder—an iconic picture for an iconic match.

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Photo credit: AEW.

3. Young Bucks vs Swerve Strickland/Will Ospreay

Picture it: Arlington, June 2025, at Globe Life Field. I brought my AEW-agnostic brother for two reasons: he's my brother, and I wanted to show him what AEW was all about. He wasn't the biggest wrestling fan, but he was invested in WWE at the time, around Rock v. Cody Rhodes, so he tuned in. He also likes to troll me and rib me for liking AEW. That changed when Swerve/Ospreay vs. The Young Bucks started. He was already having a good time, but this tag match changed his view of the promotion. It is the perfect encapsulation of what AEW is all about in the ring.

There was so much to fight for, so I don't think many people believed Ospreay/Swerve were going to win, but they pulled it out, and this was the climax of the founding fathers gimmick, going out with a bang. In-ring, this is some of the best wrestling in an AEW ring. The jaw-dropping moves, acrobatics, and near falls are what make AEW so great, and in this match they were dialed up and baselined right into our veins. If it made a believer out of my brother, it still has a chance to convert hardened AEW skeptics.

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Photo credit: AEW.

2. AEW World Championship: Bryan Danielson def. (C) Swerve Strickland (All In 2024)

No wrestling promotion in the world tells a fairytale ending better. From Sting to Bryan Danielson, All Elite Wrestling knows how to care for its wrestling legends, letting them go out on top while they hold up wrestling gold and are carried off into the sunset by the fans and the locker room. Though not his official last match, this match will be remembered as his swan song, where, even if he didn't want them, he was given flowers as one of the best wrestlers of this generation and of all time.

From the get-go, the entire city of London could be heard singing The Final Countdown all the way to Neptune. What a feeling that must have been for Danielson. They were hot and stayed with the sentimental favorite for 30 minutes. The match highlighted what made Danielson one of the best of all time, as he took it to the ground and put on a masterclass in technical wrestling. Begrudgingly, Danielson won the title in front of his family and cemented his legacy as one of the best wrestlers of this, or any, generation. While he might make sporadic appearances here and there, this was the perfect send-off to the only best.

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Photo credit: AEW.

1. AEW World Championship: “Hangman” Adam Page def. Jon Moxley (All In 2025)

There might be some pushback to this, but I don't think AEW has ever done a better main event than this Texas Death Match. I know the double debut of Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson has been cemented in many people's minds as the best ending to an AEW show, but for my money (which is not a lot), it's when Hangman did his job and hung Moxley over the top rope. What a visual. Those moments are exactly why Tony Khan brought back All In and made it AEW's “WrestleMania.” If there were any questions about which PPV was the crown jewel, All In 2025 erased any doubt.

The match itself was historic, of course, and that is part of why it stands above the rest. Having a Death Match as your main event at your biggest show of the year was a risk, given how the Exploding Barbed Wire had gone, but it went off without a hitch.

Perhaps my opinion is colored, as I was there live in Arlington, but seeing the Cowboy lift the belt after his climb to the top and the belt being held captive in a suitcase for the better part of a year was deeply satisfying. Not only that, but seeing the return of both Darby Allin and Bryan Danielson, exacting their revenge on the same Death Riders that took them out, was cathartic.

This match will live in the annals of AEW lore, as there was only one result that mattered, and it is exactly what we got. All across the country, people could be heard cheering for the Cowboy finally freeing us from our Death Rider purgatory.

A Handy Guide To: AEW All In 2026

Need to know when and where to watch an upcoming pay-per-view? Need to know who’s fighting who? Need to know why you should care? Then, you’ve come to the right place!

“A Handy Guide” is a new series here on Dirt Sheet Radio where we run down an upcoming pay-per-view’s match card, and discuss the competitors and stories coming into each match. For now, our focus is going to be on WWE and AEW, but if there’s interest, we may expand to companies like TNA, NJPW, and more.

Today’s edition is all about AEW All In 2026, taking place on Sunday, August 30th, at Wembley Stadium in London, England. This is the third time All In has taken place at Wembley and the fourth iteration of this event (fifth, if you count the inaugural pre-AEW event held in 2018). It is AEW’s biggest yearly pay-per-view, their own Wrestlemania, Wrestle Kingdom, Starrcade, Bound For Glory, or Ultima Lucha (shout-out to Lucha Underground). 

Because this PPV takes place in the UK, it will be an early start time for US viewers. 
These are the start times for the following time zones. 

United Kingdom (BST): 4:30 PM
Eastern Time (ET): 11:30 AM (Pre-show) / 1:00 PM (Main card)
Pacific Time (PT): 8:30 AM (Pre-show) / 10:00 AM (Main card)

The PPV will air on major cable and satellite providers in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. and Canadian viewers can stream the event on YouTube, Prime Video, and DAZN. Additionally, U.S. fans can also stream it on HBO Max or catch it at select Dave & Buster locations nationwide. International viewers can view the event on PPV.com or MyAEW.com. 

This article does not cover any of the Buy-In (pre-show) matches, and as always the card is subject to change. But for now, these are the matches, and these are the stories:

Trios Roulette Royale (Buy-In Match)

Okay, so normally, I don’t cover preshow matches in my guide, but I’m going to make an exception due to who’s involved in this. When Hangman Page lost his World Championship rematch against MJF, it meant he could never challenge for that title ever again. When he returned a few months later, he vowed to be a man of his word, but that left him directionless. A ship without a harbor, a horse without a rider, a hangman with nothing to hang. Alright, the metaphor needs work, but you get what I mean. He offered his assistance to guys like Will Ospreay against the Death Riders, and Brodido against the Don Callis Family. The latter of which trusted him enough to join forces and go after the Trios Championships. The former World Champion and the former Tag Team Champions beat The Demand (Ricochet and GOA) for the titles in their first match as a team. 

No offense to the Trios Division, but it really seems like these three men are in kind of a holding pattern. In a promo on Dynamite, Swerve Strickland spoke the quiet part out loud, wondering if the end to Hangman’s story is really to “ride off in the sunset” with Brodido. Meanwhile, it’s been almost an entire year, and Brody and Bandido have yet to even challenge for the tag team championships they lost at Full Gear 2025. Regardless of their present or future circumstances, these three men will never back down from a challenge, and this time they’re throwing the challenge out themselves. Any trio that wants a shot at the gold can get it at All In. 

Who’s it going to be? The Bang Bang Gang is fully complete for the first time since their inception, and also one of the best Trios champions of all time (totally not biased). Gabe Kidd made a surprise return to Dynamite this month after rehabbing a shoulder injury, so The Dogs are also complete and could go after the Trios titles. Ricochet and GOA could look for their rematch at All In. Or maybe it could be Swerve Strickland who calls his shot. He’s got a vendetta against every one of the Trios champions, and it’s been far too long since Swerve’s House has put gold on display. Problem is, though, that Swerve is just one man. Who could he possibly find to be his partners? Who? Who? Who? 

Turns out it’s all of them and more! Tony Khan announced that the Trios Champions would be defending their championships in a Trios Roulette Royale. Seven trios will compete in a gauntlet until one trio, or members of that trio, are remaining. The confirmed challengers are The Demand, The Bang Bang Gang, The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong), Death Riders, The Dogs, and a Wild Card Trio. Tune in early to catch this chaotic yet highly entertaining match. 

Kyle Fletcher vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada— AEW International Championship Match

The turmoil in the Don Callis Family continues! The past, present, and future of Don’s endless stable will be at odds this Sunday in a guaranteed banger of a match. The intrigue and drama surrounding these three men is the closest thing AEW has to a Real Housewives series. Back in the far-away times of 2023, Konosuke Takeshita became the definitive head of Don Callis’s growing family. He achieved immediate success for Don by beating Kenny Omega twice in one week, and then used that success to become one of the most prolific International Champions of all time. Kyle Fletcher was the next to join and Don took no time at all to pair his two proteges together, dubbing their partnership as ProtoShita. Despite this, the two did become good friends and there was never any visible tension between them. The same cannot be said for Kazuchika Okada. 

One of the brightest stars in New Japan quickly became the Family’s new golden boy, and it created a volatile situation between him and Takeshita. Don tried pairing them up the same way he had with ProtoShita, but they barely communicated and constantly got in each other’s way. Things came to a head at Double or Nothing, when the two faced off for the International Championship. Takeshita exorcised his demons and defeated Okada, and Fletcher came out to celebrate with his friend…or so we thought. Fletcher turned on Takeshita, unceremoniously kicked him out of the DCF, and then defeated him for the International Championship a few short weeks later. In order to “stack the odds” against Takeshita, Don inserted Okada into his championship rematch, much to the dismay of Fletcher. Don wants to ensure the gold stays in the family, but Fletcher is more concerned that the gold stays with him. Okada is being— to borrow a phrase from the Brits— a cheeky bugger and is going along with this, surely in the hopes that the gold comes back to him. Takeshita wants to knee them all in the head.

Herein lies a wonderful conundrum. Takeshita has beaten Okada one-on-one, Fletcher has beaten Takeshita, and Okada beat Fletcher once upon a time (Continental Championship match in 2024). All three men have solid claims for the title, but only one can come out on top. It’s strong style graps with reality TV drama, what a delight. 

Cage and Cope vs. The Young Bucks

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AEW World Tag Team Championship Match

When you think of the Mount Rushmore of Tag Teams, you probably think of too many faces to carve into a mountain side. On that crowded mountain, though, there’s bound to be two of the most charismatic, synergistic, influential…istic duos of all time: The Young Bucks, and Edge and Christian. The Young Bucks defined the indie-rific style that you see shades of in WWE and buckets of in AEW. They flipped, superkicked, and piledrived their way into the hearts of every die-hard wrestling fan that was sick of how homogenized and “left behind” tag team wrestling was in the mainstream. They have won the tag team titles in pretty much every promotion not named WWE (or TNA, surprisingly), and catapulted that success into co-founding the second biggest wrestling company in the world today. 

The Young Bucks let their egos get the better of them, and they abused their status as Executive Vice Presidents of AEW to get title matches, top billings, and lots and lots of money. Then, at All In 2024, they lost their EVP titles in a genuine banger of a match against Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland. They were swiftly and thoroughly humbled, first by losing their pyro and theme music, and then losing matches and money. At Full Gear 2025, they sunk to a new low by tagging with the Don Callis Family to take on their old friends: Jurassic Express and Kenny Omega. When they lost, they were paid to turn their backs on their friends as the DCF beat them down. It was here that Nick and Matt finally remembered who they were, and they dropped the money in order to save their friends. Since then, they have been on a path to redemption— a path to become elite again. The final step on this path is to regain the AEW Tag Team Championships, but another elite tag team stands in their way. 

Before they were Cage and Cope, they were Edge and Christian. And before they were hardened, crafty renegades with a penchant for swinging spiky bats and sleeping with the mothers of their enemies, they were radical ex-vampire thralls who did five-second poses and reeked of awesomeness. I wrote about Cage and Cope’s long-awaited reunion in my guide to Redemption, and at that pay-per-view, the Young Bucks stared down the retaining champions to plant the seeds for this match. The Young Bucks have been vocal about how much of an inspiration Adam Copeland and Christian Cage have been to them, and now these two revolutionary tag teams will go head-to-head in a match that used to only be capable with CAWs in a WWE 2K game. 

Casino Gauntlet Match

If you love chaotic spot-fests filled with exciting returns and tense previews of potential feuds, then this is the match for you. The Casino Gauntlet Battle Royale is AEW’s equivalent to the Royal Rumble, or Battle Riot, or Aztec Warfare (again, shoutout to Lucha Underground). It evolved from AEW’s Casino Battle Royale, a unique battle royale with 21 competitors that came out in groups of five every three minutes, with a final mystery entrant known as The Joker. In this modified version, the number of competitors is a mystery; the only people you know for certain that are in the match are the first two entrants. Each competitor enters the ring at random intervals, and instead of over-the-top-rope eliminations, the match goes until the first pinfall or submission. The winner of the gauntlet receives a World Championship Match at the time and place of their choosing.

Over the years, the Casino Gauntlet has been the stage for some of AEW’s wildest moments. In 2024, Nigel McGuinness made an emotional return to in-ring competition in the gauntlet after retiring 13 years earlier. In 2025, Toni Storm “reverted” back to her rookie year gimmick to catch everyone in the match off guard, including the current women’s champion, her former protege/traitor, Mariah May. Also in 2025, MJF won the gauntlet at All In and connived his way into winning the AEW World Championship a few months later. Speaking of championships, Ricochet became the inaugural National Champion by winning the casino gauntlet at Full Gear. At Dynasty, Kevin Knight ran the gauntlet to win the vacated TNT Championship. 

The casino gauntlet at All In is full of entrants that are sure to make this another must-see spectacle. MJF and the National Champion Andrade el Idolo are the first two entrants, and they have hated each other since Andrade returned to AEW. Tomasso Ciampa confirmed his entry into the gauntlet and vowed to go through anyone and everyone to win the whole thing. Speaking of which, his former rival Chris Jericho has also confirmed his entry, looking to ride the momentum of his No Holds Barred win against Ciampa into another shot at his long-lost AEW World Championship. Other confirmed entrants include young and hungry competitors like Speedball Mike Bailey and “The Prodigy” Nick Wayne. This will be an entertaining multi-man match, certainly, but be on the lookout for the winner. You might just be looking at the next world champion, after all. 

Brawling Birds (Jamie Hayter/Alex Windsor) vs. Divine Dominion (Lena Kross/Megan Bayne)— AEW Women’s Tag Team Championship Match

Is there a more feminine, respectful way to say “big meaty men slapping meat”? Because if there is, that is the best description for what to expect in this match. Lena Kross is a bruiser from Australia who got on AEW’s radar after taking the fight to then-women’s champion Kris Statlander earlier this year. She can knock you out just as well as she can throw you around, and at six feet tall, she towers over most of the female competition. The only exception might be her tag team partner: The Megasus, Megan Bayne. She made her AEW debut back in 2021, though her appearances were primarily on the minor shows Dark and Elevation. It wasn’t until her excursion to STARDOM in 2023 that she came into her own as a competitor, becoming the Greek Goddess that we know today. She re-debuted in AEW in January 2025 by dominating in the women’s casino gauntlet, and three months later, she was already challenging for the women’s championship. In March 2026 at Revolution, these two powerhouses formally joined forces and pried the women’s tag team championships from the hands of the Babes of Wrath (Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale). 

Much like Divine Dominion, the Brawling Birds formed out of necessity and opportunity. They wanted gold, and the women’s tag team championships were right there. Jamie Hayter is a former AEW Women’s Champion who probably would have bulldozed through every contender forever had she not gotten injured. She’s strong, agile, and has a propensity for violence but in a cheeky, British kind of way. Alex Windsor (WINDSAAAH!) is the current NJPW Strong Women’s Champion who hits harder than the hangover after Newcastle loses the Premier League. The newly-crowned Mrs. Ospreay cut her teeth in Pro Wrestling: EVE for fifteen years before making her AEW debut in 2025, and she has been a strong presence in their women’s division ever since. 

These teams have been on parallel trajectories of dominance, and they are set to collide in London.

Jon Moxley vs. Nigel McGuinness — Continental Cup Finals

Full disclosure: I wrote half of this match’s description the moment this Cup was announced. Jon Moxley won the Continental Classic at World’s End, and he has held on to the Continental Championship ever since. Last year, he was in the main event of All In, defending the world championship in arguably the most emotional Texas Deathmatch of all time. There is no fathomable universe where he is not playing a prominent role in AEW’s biggest PPV of the year. And it does not make sense for him to drop his championship in a blind-draw tournament on a random Dynamite right before AEW’s biggest PPV of the year. The only thing in doubt was who would be his opponent. 

In the end, only one man could overcome their bracket and punch their ticket to Wembley, and that is Nigel McGuinness. Since returning to in-ring competition, many have wondered where Nigel would take his second run. Would he have a steady retirement tour like Sting (crazy dives and table spots included)? Or would he go all out and wrestle like his life depended on it like his perennial rival Bryan Danielson? Turns out, it’s been more of the latter. Nigel has shown he hasn’t lost a step and consistently wrestles circles around his competition. He took Danielson to the limit for the AEW World Championship, tested the mettle of ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty in an Iron Match, and battled Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in a technical masterpiece. Though none of these bouts resulted in championship victories, Nigel remained determined and ready for more opportunities. 

The Continental Cup is Nigel’s best championship opportunity to date, but it comes with a major asterisk. In his first round match against Katsuyori Shibata, Nigel apparently injured his ankle. Despite this, he refused to pull out of the tournament and managed to power through his next two tournament matches against Hechicero and Kyle O’Reilly— two men known for their submission prowess. Meanwhile, Jon Moxley has defeated Jungle Jack Perry, Jay White, and his own stablemate, Claudio Castagnoli to get to the Finals, and he will have no qualms about exploiting Nigel’s weakness to retain his championship. The valiant yet injured underdog versus the sadistic champion is a textbook wrestling storyline, but it’s fine art when crafted by the right hands. Moxley and McGuinness, at Wembley, are the best hands you can ask for. 

Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight (Falls Count Anywhere)

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TNT Championship Match

Last April at Dynasty, Kevin Knight took to the sky during the Casino Gauntlet Match (more on that later) and became the 20th man to hold the TNT Championship. This was a welcome surprise. Kevin Knight had a stellar rookie year in AEW, wowing crowds with his aerial prowess and undeniable charisma. He springboarded himself to an Owen Hart Cup berth, two Trios Championship reigns, and an impressive showing in the Continental Classic. So, when he won the TNT Championship, the crowd cheered— they were on his side and he had their goodwill and support. 

He lost all of that after turning on Darby Allin. 

The Jet’s heel turn was unfortunate yet inevitable. For the past few months, he fended off challengers such as Claudio Castagnoli, Brian Cage, Hook, and then-World Champion MJF, and his confidence was devolving into arrogance. Going into Double or Nothing, he told Darby Allin he believed he could beat MJF and retain the World Championship. After all, Kevin Knight did just that to retain the TNT Championship. At Double or Nothing, MJF beat Darby Allin for the world title and left him on a stretcher, and Kevin Knight came to his aid. But knowing that he could do what the former world champion couldn’t, Kevin realized he was— in many ways— above Darby Allin and above everyone else. He took to the skies once more to hit Darby with The UFO (a spinning frog splash) and then tipped the stretcher over with Darby still on it. 

Darby Allin, being the protege of Sting, knows how important it is to choose your allies wisely. The vindictive daredevil has not taken Knight’s betrayal lightly, and over the past few months, he has tried to get his hands on the TNT Champion through any means necessary. Like an explosive backpack, for instance (classic Darby). Darby has beaten Knight for the World Championship, Knight has beaten Darby for the TNT Championship. This will be the rubber match (if you don’t count their Thanksgiving Eve match in 2025), and it will be Falls Count Anywhere. They’ve already taken the fight to each other all around the arena, so might as well make it a sanctioned affair. Expect this match to be cringe-inducing in the best way, and wildly unpredictable. Kevin Knight could continue his record-setting reign and cement himself as a main-event star, or Darby Allin could become the winningest TNT Champion in history and find himself back on top again. Either way, this blood rivalry comes to an end on Sunday. 

Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Moné— AEW Women’s World Championship Match

Oh, what a difference a year makes. 

One year ago, the Owen Hart Tournament winner Mercedes Moné walked down the entrance ramp of All In Texas with every women’s championship under the sun, ready to add the AEW Women’s Championship to her collection. This year, she will walk into Wembley with only her Owen belt in tow, still looking to win the one championship that has eluded her. One year ago, Willow Nightingale was coming up short in the first-ever Women’s Casino Gauntlet match. This year, she is going into All In as the reigning Women’s Champion and with a renewed confidence in herself. 

The rivalry between Mercedes and Willow is a years-long story told with gold and grandeur. Their first battle was at the NJPW Strong Resurgence PPV in 2023, where Mercedes’s unfortunate injury kept her from becoming the inaugural NJPW Strong Women’s Champion. Their second battle was at Double Or Nothing 2024— two months after Mercedes made her official AEW debut— and Mercedes took her revenge on Willow by beating her for the TBS Championship. A year and a half later, they would fight for the third time at AEW’s TV special New Year’s Smash 2025, and Willow would defeat Mercedes again to end her record-breaking TBS Championship reign. 

Each time they have faced each other, they have been on vastly different sides of the proverbial mountain, and yet they still find a way to knock the other one down. Mercedes will never admit she’s jealous that Willow returned from her injury better than ever and won the only championship she hasn’t. She has blindsided, beaten down, and berated Willow every chance she gets, but Willow won’t stay down. In fact, two weeks ago, she recovered from a beatdown by Mercedes, drove her out of the ring, and proudly declared, “I’m still smiling, bitch!” 

This will be Willow’s first major test as the top woman in AEW. She is a proven champion, but Mercedes is her proven spoiler. With the history and talent on hand in this match, I expect nothing less than a Match of the Year candidate from these two.

Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay

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AEW Men’s World Championship Match

Wrestling is an anime. An endless shonen anime with big personalities, dynamic finishers, and long filler arcs so the manga can catch up. With that being the case, Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay are Goku and Naruto, respectively. 

Kenny possesses a Saiyan-like stamina and moveset that has propelled him to the top of NJPW and AEW, but that power came at a great cost to his health. Since his return from fighting life-threatening diverticulitis, he has vowed to recuperate and ascend to the “best version” of himself. His current run as AEW World Championship is a chance for us to see that. Will Ospreay burst into AEW with a dream to become the undeniable best wrestler in the company. Sure, he can take one too many risks, and maybe he’s a little too trusting, but he believes in himself, and he believes in his dream. Plus, he dresses up like a ninja sometimes. 

This will only be the fourth time these titans go one-on-one, but they have a decade of history together. Their factions went to war with each other in New Japan, Ospreay with CHAOS and Omega as the leader of Bullet Club. When Kenny left New Japan to help form AEW, Ospreay was one of the men he penned to become Japan’s next top gaijin, and he famously criticized Ospreay for not being able to “fill his shoes”. That sowed a seed of disdain in Ospreay that he carried into their epic duology for the NJPW United States Championship, first at Wrestle Kingdom 17 and then at Forbidden Door 2023. In AEW, Ospreay and Omega have been bitter rivals pitted against each other by Don Callis, shaky allies against the Don Callis Family and Death Riders, and now fierce opponents heading into the main event of All In: London. 

Despite Ospreay breaking ties with the Death Riders and coming to Omega’s aid at the end of Redemption last month, Omega still hit Ospreay with the One Winged Angel. He reasoned that the rescue was just a ruse, and the friend he knew— one who wasn’t so gun shy without help— was long gone. Ospreay says he can still pull the trigger, but he’s going to do it his way, and he’s going to do it when Kenny can see it. Well, Kenny will see pretty clearly under the bright lights of Wembley Stadium. And we will all see who is standing tall when these two goats lock horns. 

Other Things To Look Out For

• Last year at All In, Adam Cole had to tragically relinquish his TNT Championship due to injury, and he openly contemplated retirement. We have not seen him on AEW television since. Could he make an appearance on Sunday? If only to give us an update on his condition? Either way, we at DSR continue to wish him the best in his recovery.

• Where. Is. Toni. Storm. The timeless one has not been seen since being written off in March after a backstage attack. She is reportedly taking time off for a non-injury reason, so we do wish her the best. At the same time, though, if I see the screen go black-and-white on Sunday, or I see a foreboding stiletto come into view, I will lose my mind. 

• We’re plunging deep into rumor territory here, but Bayley has yet to renew her contract with the WWE. She hasn’t been seen on television since losing to Lyra Valkyria on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Could we see a reunion of the Boss and Hug Connection in AEW? 

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Jhuvin P. is a writer for CBC/DSR. He has previous experience as a ghostwriter, has published several short stories, and is perpetually working on a novel. In addition to writing, he is also a comedian based in Colorado Springs. He posts clips of his stand-up comedy along with his other goofy antics on TikTok and Instagram.

AEW All In 2026 Preview | AAA/NXT Counterprogram | Lil Yachty vs Baron Corbin | Bakusai is Born | Dirt Sheet Radio Ep 243

Welcome to a brand new episode of Dirt Sheet Radio! Jon and Greg are diving into another massive week in professional wrestling, previewing one of the biggest weekends of the year and breaking down shocking debuts, major television deals, and high-stakes sibling rivalries.

Here is everything on the card for today's show:

• WWE Leaves ABEMA: ABEMA has officially announced it will stop broadcasting WWE content in Japan on September 30, opening the door for the highly anticipated shift to Netflix later this year.

• BAKUSAI is Born: Former NJPW standout Hiromu Takahashi makes his WWE debut under the name Kyoki. We discuss his new alliance with Shinsuke Nakamura to form the tag team BAKUSAI, and their immediate sights on the WWE Tag Team Championship.

• AEW All In Preview: The ultimate Wembley Stadium breakdown! With over 43,000 tickets currently distributed, we dive into the storylines leading in, notable missing wrestlers, potential surprises, and our official match predictions.

• The Counter-Programming War: Analyzing how AAA and WWE NXT are strategically counter-programming against AEW's massive London weekend.

• TNA Lockdown Overdelivers: Reacting to TNA's return to the all-cage Lockdown format in Chicago. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad! We highlight the biggest moments from the event, including the Nemeth brothers winning tag team gold and Leon Slater capturing the X Division title.

• Lil Yachty at SNME: Lil Yachty is officially stepping into a WWE ring! We break down his upcoming five-minute survival challenge against Baron Corbin at Sunday Night's Main Event to earn Trick Williams a US Title shot.

• CM Punk vs Kevin Owens: Breaking down the escalating tension between Kevin Owens and CM Punk, and what Sami Zayn's sudden involvement means for the heated feud.

BloodyMania 19 and the End of JCW’s First Russo Season

In November 2025, JCW revealed Vince Russo as the company’s new mystery investor on Episode 59 after weeks of buildup. Since then, Russo has worked on-screen and on the creative team. His arrival signaled a push toward consistent serialized television, complete with cliffhangers, recurring segments, and stories that regularly spanned episodes and promos. This was Russo’s first BloodyMania.

True, JCW doesn't officially divide its weekly show, Lunacy, into seasons, but this year’s BloodyMania sure felt like a season finale. The annual event, held during the Gathering of the Juggalos, brought months of stories to a payoff.

JCW leaves BloodyMania with more weekly viewers, recognizable characters, and growing attention from beyond the Juggalo universe. The roster is more defined than it was a year ago, and wrestling media is increasingly treating Lunacy like a show to follow rather than an ICP adjacent curiosity.

It’s not perfect. Obviously. Some elements remained uneven, with too many interference finishes, referee bumps, and stipulations that unnecessarily complicated matches-matches that still sometimes unfold as if they don’t have the physical talent they now do. Still, overall, the company should be counting this year as a win.

JCW and the Gathering

JCW and Insane Clown Posse are inexorably bound, but they’re becoming increasingly less interchangeable. For those who are totally uninitiated into the glorious, odd, and sometimes disgusting world of Juggalo culture, The Gathering is Juggalo Mecca. This year’s 26th Gathering ran Aug. 19-22 in Macks Creek, Missouri. Wrestling, specifically JCW, is part of a much larger four-day reverie that includes musical guests, sideshows, contests, pageants, seminars, camping, and, no doubt, lots of not-so-wholesome activities not fit to print.

BloodyMania has been JCW’s flagship Gathering show since 2007. JCW is, first and foremost, a Juggalo wrestling promotion. Its owners are ICP. Its identity, humor, references, and audience are closely connected to Juggalo culture. As such, BloodyMania and the Gathering remain cornerstones. But Violent J has spent the last two years making JCW into something wrestling fans, in general, love, even if they have no connection to ICP. Before this year’s BloodyMania, he described the goal to PWTorch: “Our goal is to be a respected independent.”

More people are watching.

Vince Russo’s arrival signaled a change in identity, but he didn’t single-handedly propel JCW’s growth. Lunacy began its current weekly run before he joined the company. Violent J says its live YouTube audience has increased from roughly 100 viewers when the project began to around 3,000 now. Viewership may have increased fairly steadily since Lunacy launched, but there was a sizable spike around Russo’s arrival. Episode 54, released in October before Russo’s reveal, sits at about 20,000 YouTube views. Episode 60, the first full post-Russo-as-investor episode, has more than 55,000.

In December of 25, Sports Illustrated reported that Russo’s arrival coincided with Lunacy’s highest week-to-week YouTube viewership to that point. Violent J told SI that the promotion had become “very heavily involved in storytelling,” pointing to long-form stories, reveals, and cliffhangers.

Beyond advancement in episodic storytelling, driven by both Russo and Violent J, production value for the weekly has become more polished and more TV-like overall. That polish shows in weekly recap packages, edited backstage segments, and character vignettes, along with a more established broadcast team led by Joe Dombrowski and a rotating group of commentators. Technical execution is leaps and bounds more refined today than in episode one, though it still has occasional missed camera shots and low-quality backstage audio; the show consistently looks intentionally produced as weekly wrestling television.

Caleb Konley, Russo-era character

Konley has been a Lunacy staple since the beginning. He’s an industry veteran and came to JCW as a talented technical wrestler. His skill level didn’t necessarily change with JCW’s Russo-era storylines. What changed was how the company used him and how much airtime he got.

Over the last year, he's fully transformed into ‘The Chosen One,’ a Russo darling increasingly protected and clearly favored by the person with power over the show. Lunacy put an exclamation point on that in February on Episode 69 when Konley betrayed man-servant Jeeves and backhanded the Ring Rat to a hail of jeers from the audience, only for Russo to appear and applaud him.

Konley’s bro-mantic allegiance to Russo became a weekly staple; he eventually took the Lunacy World Championship, and with it a Russo-ordered custom belt engraved with his own face, which he seems to love gazing longingly into. From there, Russo’s favoritism became part of Konley’s title run, with protection, interference, and rule-bending repeatedly helping keep the championship on him, earning both men considerable heat.

Enter Kerry Morton

A second-generation wrestler and established NWA talent who continually earns his spot, Kerry Morton invested months developing and complicating his own identity on Lunacy. Morton called himself “Mr. JCW” on Episode 62 and kept using the moniker, with commentators and announcers following suit, spotlighting his growing role in the production. Still, JCW gave him space to become more confrontational and increasingly fixated on those he believed were working against him. In an SI interview this spring, Morton said JCW allows him to be “loud and creative and be my own self.”

The growing allegiance between “The Chosen One” and Russo left plenty of room for Morton to shake off the spoiled nepo-baby energy he initially brought to JCW and become a surprise favorite that fans can align with against the Konley/Russo dominion.

Their match on the Gathering edition of Lunacy brought that to a point.

Konley attacked Morton before he could enter the battle royal, leaving him unable to beat the referee’s 10-count and costing him the match. Morton later confronted Konley and got an immediate title defense. He hit a superplex, survived a belt shot and, with the referee down, got hold of the championship himself—but chose not to use it. Konley eventually used the referee as a shield, landed a low blow, and finished Morton with the Burning Hammer to retain. The Chairshot gave it the highest match rating of the Gathering episode and called Morton “a star.”

Morton lost, but the match made him look like an obvious future challenger.

The Supporting Roster

JCW now also has a recognizable group of recurring characters who don't depend on being in the main event.

Paige Collett’s Ring Rat is, perhaps, my favorite, and she’s become one of the most immediately recognizable recurring roles on Lunacy. The name comes from a historically derogatory slice of wrestling slang, but Collett has leaned into the stereotype, creating a deliberately exaggerated groupie-type character. According to Collett, another wrestler turned the role down (thankfully) before it was offered to Collett, who told WrestleZone, “There’s no small role, only small performers.”

“The Boss & the Ring Rat”

posted and captioned by Collett Feb 202g

Lunacy has let her prove that. She’s been tied to stories with Jeeves, Konley, Disco Ray and Steven Flowe, appeared in numerous backstage segments, and eventually moved from ringside character to in-ring participant. By the Gathering, her return in the battle royal got an immediate reaction.

CoKane has a similarly precise relationship with audiences. When he entered the same battle royal, fans threw drinking straws into the ring as part of his cocaine-dealer gimmick. Ring Rat and CoKane are good examples of JCW getting supporting characters over on their own terms. Neither needs to be in the main event to get an immediate reaction.

That depth extends well beyond Ring Rat and CoKane. The Outbreak, Barnabas, Steven Flowe, Brothers of Funstruction, and 2 Tuff Tony have all become familiar parts of the weekly show, while JCW has rotated in higher-profile guests including James Storm, Matt Cardona, Nic Nemeth, RVD, KENTA, and Matt Riddle.

Those big, outside names may bring people to the show, but the regular roster has to give them a reason to come back.

The Gathering Lunacy Episode and BloodyMania.

The final Lunacy before BloodyMania did a lot more than fill out the card.

GCW’s promoter, Brett Lauderdale, was seated in the crowd along with Nick Gage, Vipress, and Parrow. The camera panned to the group repeatedly throughout the show, rousing plenty of fan speculation.

Their presence wasn’t entirely new. JCW and GCW have worked together before, including at last year's Gathering and during The Collective over WrestleMania weekend in Vegas. What changed was the focus on GCW and how they were presented; by the end of the episode, it was clear GCW was no longer purely another independent promotion working with JCW. Lauderdale and his wrestlers had entered the Lunacy universe and storyline, a development that would be made explicit during BloodyMania.

BloodyMania wasn’t the strongest wrestling card JCW has produced this year. And that’s ok. It functioned as the payoff to stories the promotion had invested months developing.

Twisted Snow vs. Steven Flowe and Shane Mercer

James Storm and CoKane, paired as Twisted Snow, opened against Steven Flowe and Shane Mercer. Flowe was originally scheduled to team with Mr. Anderson, but JCW announced on the previous night’s Lunacy that Anderson couldn’t make the show. Flowe recruited Mercer by offering him the Golden Guitar. The match gave the crowd a mix of Storm's veteran offense and the more physical exchanges between CoKane and Mercer. One of the bigger moments came when CoKane launched himself over the barricade with a tope con hilo, carrying him into the second row.

The finish saw the Ring Rat come out to distract Storm, giving Flowe a chance to swing his guitar. Storm moved, and Flowe accidentally hit Ring Rat instead. Storm followed with the Last Call superkick, and CoKane hit the Tombstone to give Twisted Snow the win.

A straightforward opener, but the finish served the larger storyline, with Flowe and Ring Rat’s history on Lunacy giving the interference weight.

Alice Crowley Gets the Next Shot

Alice Crowley defeated J-Rod and Hollyhood Haley J to become No. 1 contender for the JCW Women’s Championship. AEW veteran Nyla Rose served as special enforcer. When J-Rod charged Haley J and Haley moved, J-Rod collided with the referee. Rose then revealed referee stripes under her gear and took over the match. J-Rod later swung at Rose, who answered with a neckbreaker. Crowley followed with a lariat for the pin.

The win establishes a clear path for Crowley as Dani Mo’s next challenger and gives JCW an immediate direction for the women’s championship after the Gathering.

Josh Bishop Remains Champion

Josh Bishop’s three-way title defense against Façade and Father Bronson gave BloodyMania some of its most ambitious in-ring action, with high-flyer Façade absorbing most of the risk. Façade used Bronson as a platform to attack Bishop, then climbed part of the lighting structure before diving onto both men.

Bishop retained with Exit 187, continuing a run that has established him as one of JCW’s more credible champions.

Dani Mo

It’s been a rough year for Dani Mo, who has been embroiled in multiple tense storylines. Earlier in the show, HoKane’s interference helped cost The Outbreak their tag-title match against Choppa City, and by the time HoKane faced off against Dani, the women’s championship was not the only issue between them. Control of Jacksyn and Abel was also on the line.

HoKane controlled much of the match with heavier offense, including a second-rope senton, while Dani answered with a Code Red and worked toward the Moonmist Twist. Barnabas’ interference backfired when special referee Gail Kim hit him with Eat Defeat, allowing Dani Mo to recover and finish HoKane with the Moonmist Twist. The win kept the title on Dani and, more importantly, gave her control of The Outbreak. HoKane then turned on Barnabas, closing one of Lunacy’s longer-running stories while immediately giving Dani a new direction with Jacksyn and Abel—and Alice Crowley waiting as her next challenger.

Konley Retains the Lunacy Championship

Violent J forced Konley into another title defense at BloodyMania, yet again overriding Russo’s “Jack Tunney Rule,” which is meant to limit his “Chosen One” to one defense per month. Mr. Happy emerged as the surprise challenger with unfinished business against Konley. Unlike Konley’s earlier demolition of Jeeves, Mr. Happy was presented as a legitimate threat. But outside interference in the form of Jasmin St. Claire once again handed the champion another escape. St. Claire appeared with fake labor contractions, distracting Happy long enough for Konley to evade with a roll-up, allowing Konley to leave the Gathering with the championship intact after surviving both Morton on Lunacy and Mr. Happy at BloodyMania.

GCW Gets Physical in GoreGames

BloodyMania closed with GoreGames, the five-on-five elimination match billed as the payoff to the months-long JWO-Luciano Family feud, with Mad Man Pondo serving as special ref. After plenty of fan speculation, GCW’s presence turned physical during GoreGames between the JWO and the Luciano Family. Nick Gage brawled with 2 Tuff Tony. Vipress tangled with Willie Mack. Painful Paul delivered the event's biggest turn after looking ready to help finish EC3; Paul turned on his own teammate, hitting Dijak with multiple chokeslams. Afterward, he stripped off his Luciano Family gear to reveal a JWO shirt underneath.

Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope abandoned the commentary desk to join the brawl before the JWO closed the show, standing tall.

GoreGames was a little crowded and difficult to follow as a match, but it worked as a storyline payoff. The JWO–Luciano Family feud concluded, Painful Paul switched sides, and GCW went from a presence in the crowd to an active part of the conflict. What JCW does with that GCW involvement now is a giant question mark coming out of BloodyMania.

What BloodyMania Showed About the Russo Run (so far)

Russo deserves a lot of credit for JCW’s increased emphasis on character development and continuity. Konley has become a reviled, television-worthy heel, Morton has shifted to become one of Lunacy’s principal characters, and Ring Rat is a recognizable, and more importantly, useful part of the show. Dani Mo, HoKane, Barnabas and The Outbreak carried one of Lunacy’s longer-running stories into a BloodyMania payoff that actually felt earned.

That isn’t Russo’s achievement alone. Violent J still sets JCW’s broader direction, and the wrestlers have had to make some pretty absurd material work. By and large, they have done just that.

Yes, there's still plenty of unnecessary padding around some pretty great wrestling. JCW continues to lean a little too heavily on interference, outside interruptions, and ref bumps. Sure, those devices can support a story, but when the wrestlers are already carrying the match, they’re filler at best and a distraction at worst. Morton and Konley showed us what a better balance can look like at JCW. The match still had a ref bump and cheating, but those elements served the characters instead of replacing the actual wrestling. The characters set the stakes, the wrestling carried the match, and the finish followed naturally: Morton refused to cheat; Konley used every shortcut available. The story and the match were pulling in the same direction.

What Comes Next — and Why It Matters

BloodyMania closed several stories. Now the question is whether JCW’s momentum can carry beyond Lunacy.

So far, it looks like it. The harder question may be whether the outside interest pays off. Case in point: On Sept. 6, Caleb Konley is scheduled to defend the Lunacy Championship against Avery Styles at Next Generation Wrestling’s Reckoning in Knoxville. Styles, the 19-year-old son of AJ Styles, announced at TNA Lockdown the day after BloodyMania that he’d signed with the company.

That puts a JCW championship on another promotion’s card against a wrestler who just signed with TNA, exposing both Konley and the title to fans that may not follow Lunacy. For a promotion looking to establish itself beyond the Juggalo world, cross-promotional visibility matters—especially with a veteran champion facing a heavily scrutinized second-generation prospect.

And, of course, Konley still has unfinished business at home. Morton’s loss at the Gathering didn’t close their story. Far from it. JCW has an established feud to return to while Konley takes the title elsewhere.  

Dani Mo is another example of JCW talent gaining traction beyond Lunacy. Crowley is next in line for her title at home, while the win over HoKane gave Dani control of The Outbreak, so there’s plenty left to build on leaving the Gathering. But outside JCW, she holds the IWC Women’s Championship, challenged STARDOM’s Hazuki for the SPARK Joshi World Championship, and appeared on Busted Open in August. JCW is developing her as a weekly television character while her profile grows elsewhere. If that continues, it’s evidence that Lunacy can help raise the value of the wrestlers it features—not just its own viewership.

That pattern continues down the roster. Bishop and J-Rod have both drawn outside interest, including WWE tryouts and reported TNA attention. That visibility matters for a promotion still trying to prove it belongs in the broader wrestling conversation. Konley, Morton, Dani Mo, Bishop, J-Rod, etc.: These folks can wrestle.

GCW is another part of that broader reach. Brett Lauderdale, Nick Gage, Vipress, and Parrow moved from lurking around Lunacy to being part of the story at BloodyMania, building on an existing working relationship between the two promotions. Whether that turns into another interpromotional feud, more crossover appearances, or something involving Russo and Lauderdale is still unresolved, but what matters is that there is room to develop it.

These developments may be a better measure of JCW’s progress than any single BloodyMania result. The promotion is getting more wrestling-media coverage, its talent is drawing interest from larger companies, and one of its championships is about to be defended outside JCW. That doesn’t make JCW a major promotion, but it does show the company becoming more connected to the broader independent wrestling business. The next test is whether that attention can translate into sustained growth beyond Lunacy.

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Jenny Catlin is a writer and pop culture enthusiast based in the square states. She’s a contributing writer to The Athletic, a Lighthouse Writers Book Project Fellow, and an award-winning essayist obsessed with obsession. You can find her on Instagram or Substack.

Pros and Cons if WWE Expands The Royal Rumble to Two Nights

Royal Rumble 2024. Photo credit: WWE.

It was reportedly recently by WrestleVotes that the 2027 Royal Rumble could be the last, at least for now, in the one night format. The Premium Live Event staple may be expanding to two nights in 2028, joining WrestleMania and Summerslam on the full-weekend slate as WWE internally ‘seriously considers’ the idea. While WrestleMania and Summerslam were successful in transitioning into the multi-night format, fan debate and behind the scene discussions have shown that opinions are generally more divisive. However, there are fascinating pros and cons to the expansion of the first PLE of WrestleMania season.

Pros

Spotlight for the Mens and Womens Rumble Matches:

Asuka winning the first women’s Royal Rumble. Photo credit: WWE.

Each night can feature one Royal Rumble match, giving the women equal closing billing rather than opening the show. The women have not closed the show since Asuka won the inaugural match in 2018.. It would be heavily debated if the women close the weekend, but at minimum they’d have the opportunity to close their respective event.

In a world where WWE continues to promote gender equality, gender equity hasn’t exactly been found amongst their PLE priorities, particularly elevated the women into the main event slots beyond particuar ‘first time’ headlines, though the two-night WrestleMania’s have offered the opportunity for the women to close the show when booked well enough to do so, most notably when Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair made history on Night One of WrestleMania 37 in Tampa. The Rumble being two nights would give the women the same opportunity that WrestleMania moving to two nights has given them.

The Rock defeated Mankid at Royal Rumble 1999 in a brutal I Quit match. Photo credit: WWE.

Relief from Fan Fatigue: The traditional one night Rumble card plus two hour-long over-the-top-rope matches usually leads to at least a four-hour runtime. At times, especially with two matches that are designed to be filled with surprises, crowds can get very exhausting, hindering the flow of the show. With two shorter cards audience burnout may be able to be prevented.

Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan had an excellent undercard match at Royal Rumble 2014. Photo Credit: WWE.

More Undercard Breathing Room: The title defenses in the midcard and the hot non-Rumble storyline feuds have an opportunity to shine instead of being rushed for an absurd amount of time. In recent years, WWE has been putting marquee matches on the go-home show instead of the event card to expand the amount of time they have for the events with matches that are longer. This would give more wrestlers chances on the major shows.

The Million Dollar Man at the ‘90 Royal Rumble Photo credit: WWE.

Increased Revenue: Recent WrestleMania events have given the blueprint to a revenue increase under Endeavor. The TKO Group has used this as an opportunity to bring in people on two tickets instead of one, and have also used the opportunity to bring more individual people into the venue at some point of the weekend. That increases the demand which theoretically should correlate to how much a city bids for the event, but it also gives more opportunities for merchandise sales, and guarantees a significant increase in concessions. This also fosters an environment where they are giving two separate events to their streaming partners, ESPN+ in the United States and Netflix in other territories. The more events they fill, the more ad-space they can run on these events, and potentially could put them in a better situation, should the events perform well enough to justify it, to re-negotiate when the deals are up for renewal.

Cons

Royal Rumble 1989. Photo credit: WWE.

Loss of Traditional Identity: The Royal Rumble always had an unusual aura that stands out from all the PLE’s from WWE, including WrestleMania. The chaos of the men’s and women’s fields unfold back-to-back, setting the immediate tone for WrestleMania season. With that identity being stripped because WrestleMania season no longer has a singular night that immediately sets a tone for the next few months of television being as unpredictable as can be. If the Royal Rumble gmimick is done on multiple nights, it creates an environment that may potentially normalize the event through the lalck of exclusivity, ultimately hurting one of the greatest WrestleMania traditions in the process.

An example of match dilution would be X-Pac defending the European Championship against Gangrel at the 1999 event. Photo credit: WWE.

Card and Match Dilution: Extending the event can force WWE to unfortunately book matches that would be considered filler or elevate feuds designed for weekly television onto a major PLE stage just to pad out the runtime for a second night. 

Weakened Appeal for Night Two: Since the Men’s and Women’s Rumbles will probably be split across different nights, there is a possibility that the remainder of the night featuring the women's match might struggle relative to the men's ticket demand or drawing power as the women still clamor for equity amongst the booking, which could hurt the appeal in the eyes of the audience who aren’t as invested in their storylines.

With WrestleMania and SummerSlam already occupying multiple nights, expanding the remaining ‘Big Four’ events risks overexposure while potentially diminishing the special feel of two-night cards. It’s up to WWE and TKO to execute the plan successfully for the Rumble. If the plan backfires due to negative feedback from the fans, expansion of the two night PLE’s could be in trouble outside of WrestleMania.

Regardless, WWE is eyeing an expansion of the Royal Rumble according to early reports regarding the 2028 event. It is not confirmed, but does fall in line with some of their more recent decisions. DSR and CBC will keep you updated on if the event expands, but for now, those are the positives and negatives of a potential expansion of the Rumble.

Avery Styles, son of AJ Styles, signs with TNA Wrestling

The legacy of AJ Styles continues in the squared circle, as on tonight’s TNA Lockdown, his “Phenomenal Son” Avery Styles announced that he has offically signed with the promotion.

The 19-year-old second-generation wrestler has made big waves in the independent scene, and now, he is moving up to the big leagues in Total Nonstop Action, the house that his father built.

After announcing his signing, Frankie Kazarian came out to congratulate the young up-and-comer, while also warning him that many wrestlers will come after him for a variety of reasons. Kazarian said that Avery can’t trust these wrestlers, but he can trust him.

It appears Avery Styles’ first feud on pro wrestling TV will be against a man that is likely an uncle to him.