AEW: Tag Team Title Tournament to Start at March 16th Collision Show, Battle of the Belts X Date Announced, Steven Borden Jr. on Original Sting Costume Plans

Mar 10, 2024

AEW Announces AEW Tag Team Title Tournament to Start at March 16th Collision Show

Saturday’s taped AEW Collision show featured the official announcement of AEW’s upcoming tag team tournament to crown new AEW World Tag Team Champions will officially start at next week’s Collision show on March 16th in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

It was also announced that the official list of teams and bracket will be revealed soon.

The teams who have officially declared for the tournament are:

The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson)
Best Friends (Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta)
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood)

AEW Battle of the Belts X Announced for This April

Saturday’s AEW Collision show in Duluth, Georgia also featured AEW officially announced that their next Battle of the Belts special will be taking place this April.

It was announced that this upcoming Battle of the Belts X special will be taking place on April 13th at the Truist Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky. It was also announced that tickets for this upcoming show will officially go on sale starting on Monday, March 11th.

This upcoming special will also be part of a set of double television tapings and will air following that night’s Collision show.

AEW Battle of the Belts X announced for Saturday, April 13th following #AEWCollision.

Another 3 hours of AEW TV next month. pic.twitter.com/2uYv5Q7Vyb
— 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐕𝐞𝐧 (@WrestlingCovers) March 10, 2024

Steven Borden Jr. Comments on Backstage Atmosphere at Sting’s Retirement Match & Original Plans for His Sting Character Costume

WrestlingNews.co held a recent interview with Sting’s son Steven Borden Jr. One of the topics discussed included Borden Jr.’s thoughts about the backstage atmosphere prior to his father’s retirement match at this past Sunday’s AEW Revolution 2024 event.

“I mean, it was a phenomenal atmosphere. I think there was one of those things where everybody’s very aware that this was the end. And so not just his final match. But you know, maybe his final time being back there in that capacity. Of course, he’s not just going to disappear and never sees AEW again, but you know, it’s the final time prepping and putting his gear on. And so there was a finality to it. And so I think, speaking for myself, and how it felt, at least it felt like, everybody just kind of wanted to hold on to every moment. Everything felt like the last lot. A lot of kind words were said to him, said to Garrett and I about him. It was an overwhelmingly good experience, top to bottom.”

Borden Jr. also gave his thoughts about feeling a sense of relief after his father’s match was over and everything that went down during it.

“Like, the second that Garrett and my small part came to a conclusion, we sprinted backstage to get to the TV because the sport, it’s obviously a very physical sport, anything can go wrong. And I think it’s easy to just think the match is gonna go the way it goes, and everything’s gonna be fine. But Darby was doing some wild stuff, my dad was doing some wild stuff that a 25 year old could get hurt doing. And he’s got a couple of decades on that. And so my biggest concern was, ‘Okay, as long as my dad stays healthy, and as long as Darby stays healthy, we’re good. They’re gonna get through it like they’re pros.’ I knew that some gnarly stuff was gonna happen. So the relief of standing there in the ring at the very end, knowing not only that nobody got hurt but that it went well and everything was executed properly. And my dad was happy. He’s such a critical person of himself. So to see him, you know, you were there at the press conference at the end, he had a really positive thing to say about the match. That was, for me, the biggest relief ever. My weight could have fallen off my head, and as long as he’s happy, I would have been, you know, fine with that.”

Borden Jr. also gave his thoughts about the Sting costumes he and his brother Garrett wore at the event and revealed that the original plan was for him to be dressed up as Crow Sting instead of Wolfpak Sting.

“Yeah, so the plan actually until the very end, close to the very end, was for me to just do Crow Sting. So Garrett was going to be Surfer, I was going to be Crow. That was always pretty clear. There was never contention over who was going to do what. It just, everybody kind of knew, ‘yeah, I think it makes most sense for Garrett to do Surfer.’ And that’s probably partially because I used to have long hair so we all got used to that. Then Darby actually made a point to my dad maybe a week or so before the match going, ‘well, you know, don’t you think if Garrett’s going to be Surfer, Steven’s going to be Crow, and then you’re also going to be Crow this is an opportunity to mix it up a little bit?’ And that was a good point, so that’s where we landed on, ‘let’s just try to deliver a few different eras in one.’ And obviously, as you said, we had some logistical constraints with the attire but we landed on the red too, just for the contrast. It made us two stand out from each other a little bit more.”