This past Sunday was a huge night in the world of professional wrestling. All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling combined forces to bring one of the most fun and exciting pay-per-views we have seen in a while: Forbidden Door. Of course, WCW and NJPW had some partnership shows in the 1990s, but it has been a while since we had a good cross-promotional show or since NJPW was truly showcased in America. One of the highlights of the event was the surprise replacement for Bryan Danielson for his match against Zach Sabre Jr. This name was revealed to be the newest Blackpool Combat Club member: Claudio Castagnoli.
Claudio Castagnoli and Blackpool Combat Club
What’s Next for These Entities?
While there were many names thrown around the internet, it seemed like most were leaning towards Claudio Castagnoli making his return to the ring after his departure from WWE. As it turns out, the people who guessed it would be him were correct and the crowd was extremely excited to see him walk out of the tunnel. As anyone who knows these two performers would have guessed, the match was a back-and-forth masterpiece that kept the fans on their feet from start to finish. In the end, Castagnoli pulled off a tough win for his AEW debut. One match in and it looks like Blackpool Combat Club found one of the best in the business to join their ranks and the faction is downright scary at this point.
Wednesday night was the special Blood and Guts edition of Dynamite and the Jericho Appreciation Society was finally going to get locked inside the cage with Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz, and the Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Claudio included). It should be noted that, at the end of Forbidden Door, there seemed to be some tension between Castagnoli and Kingston which stems from their time together on the independent scene. While being locked in a cage with a hated individual sounds like a recipe for disaster, they did manage to work well together during the match.
The match ended on top of the cage with Castagnoli putting Matt Menard in a submission at the same time Kingston had one on Chris Jericho. Menard tapped out before Jericho did which obviously stole a bit of thunder from Kingston who desperately wanted to embarrass Jericho in this match. One could tell by the look on Kingston’s face that he was not happy about the way the match ended and it seemed like the animosity might show its face again. Instead, he kept his composure and the two embraced and celebrated the win with the rest of their team (minus Santana, who was injured earlier in the match).
Things may have ended on a high note for Castagnoli and Kingston, but don’t be surprised if this heated rivalry returns now that the two men have no reason to team up. They played nice when they needed to, but Kingston seemed none too happy about it, and the fact that he didn’t get to make Jericho tap most likely didn’t help anything. So, what’s next for Castagnoli and Blackpool Combat Club? It seems that a clash between Castagnoli and Kingston is on the horizon, and based on what they have done together in the past, this is something we should all be looking forward to. It is hard to say how BCC will be involved, but surely Jon Moxley doesn’t want his stablemate and his best friend to fight, so things could get very interesting as this plays out.
Of course, we will have to wait a bit longer to see what ends up happening between Kingston and Castagnoli, but it would be great to see this rivalry renewed and shown to a national TV audience. Do you think this is the next step for Claudio Castagnoli and Blackpool Combat Club, or that matters will go in a completely different direction?
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on AEW Rampage spoilers and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS and AEW Dark: Elevation (Monday nights) and AEW: Dark (Tuesday nights) at 7 PM ET on YouTube. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night.
