KING SWITCH CRASHES AEW/ IMPACT SLAMMIVERSARY/ GLORY PRO STL VICE

Welcome to an all new edition of Blogs Count Anywhere, the complementary pro wrestling blog to the ODPH Podcast and 607TWS on Twitch (also in Podcast form). All eyeshave been focus on the drama involving the WWE and bet that the 607 podcast family will be tackling that on next week’s shows. Even with those stories going on, there’s a lot more happening in the land of pro wrestling that you need to know about. Let’s not waste any more time and jump in, shall we?

“Forbidden Door”, the joint show between All Elite wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling has finally started to take shape. With under 2 weeks remaining, fans have a clearer picture of how the card is going to shape up….and in one case, they don’t. After defeating Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Dominion, Jay White has been a person of interest as far as the pay per view event is concerned. Prior to Dominion, Former AEW Champ “Hangman” Adam Page challenged Okada for the IWGP championship, figuring Okada winning was a foregone conclusion. How wrong was this idea…..

White defeated Okada in a MOTY candidate and immediately post match said Page wasn’t getting the shot (to paraphrase). Page came out this past Wednesday to address those comments on AEW Dynamite but was interrupted by Adam Cole (Bay Bay). Cole proclaimed that if anyone was going to get the shot, it would be him, keeping things “Undisputed Elite” vs. Bullet Club. During this time, White emerged and attacked Page from behind, reiterating the same message from Dominion. During his speech, White also said Cole would NOT be getting the shot at the championship either. A bit of an odd stance with only under 2 weeks left to make a match, but there’s a few ways to look at it:

One option which makes some sense would be to do a triple threat for the belt between Cole, Page ad White. The story-line is set for the most part and could fit in the co-main event slot. It’s a situation where you have 3 main event wrestlers and could just plug and play into a classic match. It’s one of the benefits of having 2 promotions work together. The only X factor here is if Okada would be added somewhere in this mix. It was hinted during this promo that he might not be on the card. Imo, I can’t see him sitting this one out unless there was a very good reason, so maybe they split the difference with Okada/Cole and Page/White. Both those matches would be huge matches in their own rights.

The only other reason I see White holding off would be Kenny Omega. Now, let’s remind everyone: Omega has been out of action healing up from grueling injuries he was working thru prior to losing the belt to Page. IF, and I stress IF he’s ready to go, the only match you can make there is White/Omega. There is history and that would generate the type of buzz needed for a co-main this late in the game. Omega’s status is still uncertain so all eyes will shift to Wednesday to see if “The Best Bout Machine” returns to accept the challenge of facing the Switchblade Era on June 26th.

Also on Wednesday, Hiroshi Tanahashi had a face-to-face confrontation with Jon Moxley before their main event at “Forbidden Door.” The stand-off did what it needed to do, but was interrupted by Chris Jericho and his JAS. Once they arrived, things went downhill has it turned into a messy brawl to set up a six-man tag for June 26th between Shota Umino, Eddie Kingston, and Wheeler Yuta vs. Minoru Suzuki, Sammy Guevara and Jericho. The only benefits from this was the card had a new match added but still took a bit away from really selling the main event. There’s one more week for them to sell the show. Hopefully Mox and Tanahashi get that chance.

In arguably the most random match added to the “Forbidden Door” card, it was announced that Will Ospreay, fresh off finally winning the IWGP United States Championship at NJPW Dominion, will be facing Orange Cassidy. This is a clash of styles to say the least. This is a huge profile match for Cassidy and one that will entertain. Personally, I was hoping he got the ZSJ match he was lobbying for at NYCC 2021, but that won’t be the case as ZSJ is scheduled to face Bryan Danielson (if he’s healthy). That’s not the only big news happening for the “Billy G.O.A.T.”

Ospreay will be headlining the Game Changer Wrestling card in Providence, Rhode Island on Sunday, June 19th. At GCW “I Never Liked You”, his opponent will be the young superstar and AEW signee Nick Wayn. This event caps off a strong weekend of GCW matches with the NYC card “You Wouldn’t Understand” going down on Saturday night (with 607 podcast in attendance). You want to make sure you order on Fite TV and don’t miss this cards!

Impact Wrestling Slammiversary is scheduled for Sunday, June 19th. The card is absolutely loaded! If you heard 607TWS this week, you know there is much to be excited about for this show. The Ultimate X match is worth the card alone! The main event will be a solid one between Eric Young and Josh Alexander for the Impact World title. Don’t miss this event on Fite TV

Major League Wrestling keeps adding great match after great match for Battle Riot 4 happening at The Melrose Ballroom in NYC on June 23rd. Just added to the card is a Women’s Featherweight title match between Brittany Blake and Taya Valkyrie! If you haven’t been following MLW lately, you wanna catch up quick! Battle Riot 4 is shaping up into something very special.

Last but not least, Coming off a showcase of sorts on AEW Dynamite, Glory Pro is making some moves for the summer! Matches have been announced for the next Glory Pro Wrestling card! “STL Vice” will be happening on July 24th at the South Broadway Athletic Club (SBAC). One of the big marquee matches is WARHORSE taking on “All Ego” Ethan Page. GP Wrestling is also hinting at a return to the Pageant so you want to be following them on social media and don’t miss any of the action when it goes down.

That’s all the pro wrestling talk for this week. For more coverage, make sure you’re following and subbed to all of the 607 podcasts family where they’ll be breaking down the latest from the weekend and more!

Hit me up on Twitter and let me know what companies you have been checking out. Thanks for reading.

Ken M