AEW Battle of the Belts VIII live results: Three title matches

Three titles will be on the line at Saturday’s Battle of the Belts.

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy will defend the title against John Silver of the Dark Order. Silver won a three-way match at AEW Rampage on Friday, defeating Brother Zay and Kip Sabian in a three-way match.

Kris Statlander will defend the TBS Championship against Willow Nightingale. Statlander recently successfully defended the title against Skye Blue. After the match, Stalander extended her hand to Skye to help her up, but Nightingale came out and stopped her. Both Nightingale and Statlander have recently been misted in the eyes by Julia Hart.

The AEW Trios titles will also be on the line, with The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn defending against Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Daniel Garcia. The remnants of the Jericho Appreciation Society have been seen arguing in recent weeks, with Matt Menard having problems with Garcia.

Battle of the Belts VIII will begin immediately after Saturday’s Collision at 10 pm ET.

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AEW International Title Match – Orange Cassidy defeated John Silver (w/ Alex Reynolds) to retain

The crowd didn’t buy Silver as a challenger, but they still had a fine match here to open up Battle of the Belts.

The Blackpool Combat Club was leaving the ring after the events of Collision as Cassidy made his entrance. Cassidy made sure to shoulder-check Moxley as he made his entrance, with Moxley having to be held back from retaliating. We got a look back at Cassidy beating Silver in a singles match all the way back at Full Gear 2020.

Cassidy headbutted Silver after Silver put his hands in Cassidy’s pockets. Cassidy hit a dive onto Reynolds, which allowed Silver to take control with a big kick and a pair of beels across the ring. Cassidy avoided a corner charge and threw Silver into the turnbuckles. Silver came back, eventually hitting Cassidy with a delayed superplex for a nearfall. Cassidy and Silver fought on the apron, where Silver hit Cassidy with a one-handed Gorilla Press Slam on the apron. Silver flung Cassidy with another beel on the floor as we went to the commercial.

Silver clubbed Cassidy with kicks as we came back from the commercial, but Cassidy responded by putting his hands in his pockets. Silver cut him off with a bicycle kick, but Silver hit a Michinoku Driver for a nearfall. Cassidy went for his soft kicks, but quickly cut the act and kicked Silver hard. Silver countered a tornado DDT with a small package, then drilled Cassidy with kicks. Cassidy reversed a suplex with the Stundog Millionaire before hitting the Beach Break for a nearfall.

Reynolds got on the apron with the title belt, distracting Cassidy. Silver knocked Cassidy into the ropes, where Reynolds drilled Cassidy with the belt for a nearfall. Silver hit a lariat, then followed it with the Spin Doctor for a nearfall. Silver went for a punt kick, but Cassidy tripped him into the corner. Cassidy hit the Orange Punch to score the win.

Lexy Nair was backstage with Andrade El Idolo. She asked him a question about his match with Bryan Danielson on Collision when they were interrupted by CJ Perry. She said that Andrade could become the biggest star in wrestling with a little guidance. Andrade gave it a bit of thought.

ROH World TV Title Match – Samoa Joe defeated Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling) to retain

A lot of people have their eyes on the AEW World Title and MJF. It’s about this time of year when we get a #1 contender tournament that ends at Full Gear, so I would keep an eye out for that.

If you read my ROH television reviews, you’ll know what Nese said here. If you don’t, shame on you for not reading those. Nese offered Memphis some group training before he was interrupted by Joe’s entrance. The announcers noted that Joe was 12 days away from breaking Jay Lethal’s record for longest reign as ROH TV Champion.

Joe quickly took care of Nese, moving out of the way of a Nese moonsault and hitting a lariat. The Muscle Buster followed to score Joe the win. After the match, Joe spoke to MJF. He offered MJF the gift of foresight. Joe is coming for the AEW World Title, and MJF can do what he wants with that information. MJF can give him what he wants, or he can make Joe take it from him.

AEW TBS Title Match – Kris Statlander defeated Willow Nightingale to retain

I was worried we might see a Nightingale heel turn with both her and Skye Blue getting misted, but Nightingale seems to be staying on the straight and narrow path for now. Another solid match, but the crowd was either tired or they’re just not interested in these matches.

The two traded shoulder blocks until Nightingale knocked down Statlander. Statlander came back with a shoulder block of her own. Statlander dropped Nightingale on the ropes before hitting a pendulum elbow for a nearfall. Statlander sent Nightingale to the floor before hitting a moonsault off of the apron. Nightingale sent Statlander into the steps before hitting a cannonball into the steps.

The two traded forearms as we came back from commercial. Nightingale clubbered on Statlander in the corner before Statlander swept her feet out from under her. Statlander hit strikes in the corner before hitting a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Nightingale caught Statlander with the Pounce, but Statlander reversed a move into a DDT for a nearfall.

Statlander went to the top rope, but Nightingale cut her off. Nightingale hit an avalanche Death Valley Driver for a nearfall. Nightingale hit a Tree Slam into the corner before hitting a cannonball into the corner. Nightingale went to the middle rope, but Statlander caught her with a powerbomb. Statlander hit the 450 Splash to score the win.

Statlander offered Nightingale a handshake post-match, but Skye Blue entered the ring and stopped it. After a pause, Nightingale accepted the handshake. Blue looked annoyed and left as Statlander stood tall.

Lexy Nair was backstage with Orange Cassidy. Cassidy mentioned that John Silver kicks very hard. He talked about the incident before the match with Jon Moxley, noting that Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli got in his face too. Cassidy challenged Danielson and Castagnoli to fight him on Dynamite. Cassidy’s partner would be…Kazuchika Okada? What the hell? The match was made official for Dynamite this Wednesday.

AEW World Trios Title Match – The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens, Max Caster, Billy Gunn) (w/ Grizz The Grizzly) (c) defeated Daniel Garcia, Angelo Parker, & Matt Menard (w/ Anna Jay) to retain

Garcia has gotten the dance over, and the people want to see it. The split with the JAS remnants is coming, so we’ll see how everything shakes out for him after that.

The Acclaimed came out with Grizz the Grizzly Bear, the mascot of the Memphis Grizzlies. Garcia kept trying to dance, but his partners kept stopping him. Anna Jay got into the ring to stop him, leading the referee to eject her from ringside. Bowens went on the offensive, taking out Menard and Parker with strike flurries. The Acclaimed worked on Menard until Menard got Caster into their corner. The challengers beat on Caster as we went to a commercial.

The challenger team beat down Bowens as we came back from the break. Bowens fought his way to the corner, sending Garcia into Menard, before tagging Gunn. Gunn ran wild, setting up Menard for Scissor Me Timbers. The Acclaimed scissored, allowing the challengers to triple-team them. Garcia got Caster isolated but went to do his dance, allowing Caster to roll him up for a nearfall.

Garcia focused and fired up on Caster, laying him out with a lariat. Garcia did the dance before going for a piledriver, but Gunn came in and hit him with a Fameasser. Bowens and Caster hit the KRS-One on Garcia to win and retain the titles.