They showed clips of Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels at WM25 before the show started. No dark matches. As for the house, it was pretty good. Just the top tier of the Boardwalk Hall and a bit near the Titantron was unoccupied.
– Dolph Ziggler and The Usos vs Miz and the Dudley Boys
The faces win via pin with a triple superkick on the miz. 15 mins, fun spirited little opener.
– Kevin Owens promo to remind the fans about the 30 min Ironman match for the title. He calls AJ a rookie, and vows to make AJ disappear without him ever getting to pin KO.
– Sin Cara vs Rusev w/ Lana
Lana cuts a pre-match promo on AC, calling it a knockoff of Vegas. USA chants for Bulgarian Rusev and Mexican Sin Cara. Rusev dominates most of the match and wins with the Accolade in 7 mins.
– Social Outcasts (Slate & Axel) vs Damien Sandow and Neville
Social Outcasts cut a promo before match. Bo is ringside but there’s no Adam Rose tonight. Comedy match for the most part. Neville pins Axel with Red Arrow in about 10 mins.
– Tyler Breeze vs Ryback
Ryback was a babyface in this match, which solidifies Breeze as an unloved jobber. Ryback pins Breeze with a Shellshock in a 7 minute squash match.
– Alberto Del Rio vs. U.S. Champion Kalisto
Kalisto retains with a Salida Del Sol after rana’ing ADR into an exposed turnbuckle that ADR undid himself in 10 mins.
– A short video package for WM 32 aired featuring the Rock. Chimel announced an intermission.
– Naomi and Tamina Snuka vs Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks
Paige was special guest referee. Tamina tapped to the Banks Statement in 9 mins.
– Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan vs. Big Show and Kane
No pyro. Big Show with probably the biggest face reactions of the night up to this point when he tagged in 2 mins into the march. House shows are weird. Slow big man match. Big Show was so seriously over that it weirded me out. Hot tag to Big Show and Show runs wild. Double chokeslam to Rowan by Kane and Show for the pin in 10 minutes.
– Short video thanking the fans before the final match of the evening.
– AJ Styles vs WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens in a 30 minute Ironman match
Nearly three minutes were spent on Owens stalling outside until AJ plancha’d KO. The next five or so minutes were spent on chinlocks and chinlock-counters. Lots of these throughout the match.
First fall: KO via countout when AJ got superkicked ringside with 13:20 left.
Second fall: KO via pinfall with the Pop-up Powerbomb with 12:50 left.
Third fall: AJ applies an Oklahoma roll pin with 11:20 left.
Fourth fall: KO counters the rolling pin attempt by AJ with a straddling pin of his own (like Bulldog over Bret at Summerslam 92) but while grabbing the ropes for another pinfall with 9:24 left.
Fifth fall: AJ counters pop-up Powerbomb with a rana pin with 7:30 left.
AJ applies the calf crusher with a minute left but KO does not tap. KO wins 3-2.
Overall, a good house show, but it was a house show so although there was a lot of good action, there also was a lot of stalling and showboating in every match. After the show ended, KO puts over AJ on the mic post-match and then put himself over as the greatest IC champ of all time until AJ returns and hits the springboard forearm on KO to close the show and send the people home happy. I did not consider the B-show to be that much inferior to Roadblock, and the talent that appeared and the matches themselves were quite good.
Live from Ft. Pierce tonight in front of a sold out house.
– Rich Swann and Tucker Knight beat Dhinsa and Selmani
The big men put a beating on Swann early to build up the Knight hot tag. Knight ran wild with shoulderblocks and big clotheslines and then tagged in Swann for a 450 splash and the win.
– Steve Cutler beat Alex Riley
Heavy hitting match up with Riley laying Cutler down using a big spinebuster and even hit a top rope flying elbow. Cutler took control, used a side Russian leg sweep then applied a submission hold for the upset win.
– Patrick Clark and Kenneth Crawford beat Sawyer Fulton and Alexander Wolfe
The larger heels worked over the more athletic faces yet they were able to get some hope spots and showcase their abilities. Crawford stole the pin with a roll up to a good reaction.
– Manny Andrade beat Angelo Dawkins
Another very good match from Manny. He hit all his flashy spots and won over the crowd before the running knees for the win.
– NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Asuka vs. Billie Kay vs. Peyton Royce went to a no-contest
The heels worked separation on the faces early, keeping it two on one and keeping Bayley away from Asuka. Once Bayley scored a flash pin on Billie, Asuka snatched Peyton up in her Asuka Lock submission leaving us with the 1 on 1 we all want to see. Asuka and Bayley went a good five minutes of great action. Asuka was laying in kicks to Bayley who fired up, hit her flying uppercut, and was trying to set up the Belly To Bayley yet the heels ran back in to cause the no contest. Asuka and Bayley fought them off and had a staredown, handshake, embrace moment.
– Mojo Rawley beat Josh Woods
Woods used his MMA style to work Mojo’s arm in this one, yet before the match could get going, the lights in the venue went off and stayed off for over a minute. Woods just held an armbar taunting Mojo during this time until they got back on. Once they came back on, Mojo ran wild and hit the big punch for the win.
– In ring interview with Chris Atkins from Australia.
– Nia Jax beat Liv Morgan
Liv had some good hope spots to show her athletic ability, an amazing handspring rotation rana, some dropkicks and good fire. Nia hit the Samoan drop and a leg drop for the win.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor and Apollo Crews beat Tye Dillinger and Baron Corbin
Very good action as expected. Dillinger worked over both faces and Baron seemed disgusted waiting for tags. Fun stuff. The big hot tag to Balor and him running wild with slingblades and dropkicks. Balor laid out Dillinger and hit the coup de grace for the win.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back today to talk all the news in wrestling and MMA including tons of thoughts on WWE Roadblock, WrestleMania, HHH vs. Dean Ambrose, Great Sasuke and Dave, New Japan Cup, UFC buyrate for 196, Kimbo and Ken fail drug tests, questions and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show: Mailbag question and answer part two. Second show of the week. On this show, host wrestling historian Karl Stern, answers more questions and addresses topics on old school classic pro wrestling history and more including:
WWF WrestleMania 8 and the two botched finishes on the show and the return of the Ultimate Warrior and fate of Sid Justice and Hulk Hogan.
We talk more about the hypocrisy of strong style wrestling and ECW.
Jimmy Valiant and Boogie Woogie Man’s place on the card and his crazy opponents.
What were The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) doing at WrestleMania 8?
The Massive difference between WWF and NWA (WCW) during that era and the Dangerous Alliance.
Plus a follow up on the topic of strong style wrestling and much more!
Yes, you read that correctly. Breeze’s descent into jobber hell continues; boy, does that season finale of Breaking Ground look ill-judged now.
Rich Brennan proclaims that his opponent, Zack Ryder, has been “on a roll” lately. Sure he is! If you call pinning Stardust on Superstars over a month ago a “roll” – Ryder’s only televised singles victory of the year. He truly is on a tear and no mistake.
These two got a lot of time here and they used it well, turning in a very good match (of which roughly ten minutes aired). The announcers gabbed about Shane McMahon throughout however, including Jerry Lawler pointing out that Vince’s baby boy has been a mere waiter for the last seven years – “Yeah, waiting for his old man to die!”.
Line of the night goes to Brennan though, who produced a piece of philosophical bullshit in reference to Breeze’s appearance that demanded transcription: “The art of combat requires artful deception to create a misleading perception of what’s to come”. He went full Striker, folks. Never go full Striker.
Back to the actual match (oh, the irony!) and both men deserve credit for some innovative spots, particularly in the near-falls section of the match. Highlights included Breeze using the ring apron to crotch Ryder off a plancha attempt and a package rib-breaker from Breeze. Ryder also busted out Big Show’s old short-lived Final Cut finisher for a two count.
The finish saw Zack bust out a new one, which he has dubbed the Elbro Drop; a close-range diving elbow drop from the top rope, would you believe. It looked pretty cool; well-executed and a big step up on the Rough Ryder.
– Renee Young was slumming it on Main Event this week. She was backstage with Paige and Natalya who assured her that their historically “rocky relationship” was behind them. Keen viewers of the product will remember that Paige once beat the tar out of Nattie backstage only for the latter to completely forget about that upon her return to TV.
Poor “Nah-eeee”, as Paige would call her, was given the task of plugging Total Divas, pointing out that her partner’s “Miley Cyrus” style antics could be perused on that show. Does Miley like to move in with bearded emos after five minutes, before freaking out and claiming that she doesn’t “do relationships” too? Naomina interrupt to tell their opponents for tonight that they’re going to step on them on the road to Wrestlemania. Best of luck with that. Oh, and they did another awkward pause at the end too, where the heels had to try not to look uncomfortable as the camera lingered on their faces.
Ryback def. Bo Dallas via pinfall
Ryback completes a full house of victories over the Social Geeks. I audibly groan when I see the latter emerge on the ramp with microphones again.
All four sit on the apron and flap their gums before Ryback’s arrival. Axel and Rose both claim that they would have beaten Ryback if they had more help. Bo tells Rose that he loves his nicknames and tells Axel that he loves his stupid chop/scream gimmick to defuse the tension.
Ryback saves the day by interrupting and finishing Bo in under three minutes with the Shellshock. My only gripe is that he did the ground-and-pound spot again, where the referee doesn’t act despite the fact that his opponent is not defending himself. If they’re going to borrow from MMA, do it properly. Ref stoppage isn’t unprecedented in wrestling and there’s nothing wrong with it. Plus, the Shellshock is a sucky finisher anyway.
Naomina def. Paige and Natalya by pinfall
I’m guessing this was booked before Nattie’s title match with Charlotte was added to Roadblock. The faces try to top “Unity!” In the dreadful stakes by nose kissing each other before the bell. Lawler, disgusted, says you should never trust anyone with cats, conveniently forgetting that he revealed he owned three earlier in the show. Rich, to his credit, reminds him of this.
Not a bad 10+ minute match here, but it was pretty boring when the heels were getting the heat on Paige. There was a very strangely executed spot to set up the heat portion of the match, when Paige chased a cowering Naomi outside, only to turn away for no reason and get nailed with a superkick from Tamina.
Naomi’s showboating eventually allows Paige to hot tag Nattie and set up the finish. Nattie runs through her usual spots, before Tamina breaks up a Sharpshooter attempt on Naomi. Nattie discus clotheslines Tamina out of the equation, only to fall victim to the Naomi Calls That The Rear View for the pinfall victory. Charlotte better watch her back! Natalya is “on a roll”!
Final Thoughts
Breeze vs. Ryder is worth a watch, for sure. Great to see Zack looking so motivated and the new finish is a good fit too. Perhaps it’s the experience of interacting with human puppy Mojo Rawley that has made him realise the grass isn’t always greener. The rest is very skippable, with the featured contest only notable for the fact that Natalya, your challenger for the Divas title at Roadblock, takes the fall. Hopefully she and Charlotte can rekindle some of the magic of their May 2014 classic regardless.
Kansas City, Kansas: – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Pat O’Connor beat Lee Henning in 2 out of 3 falls – Dino Bravo and Bob Ellis beat Dick the Bruiser and The Mighty Atlas – Rip Hawk beat Lou Spindola
1980
Miami, Florida: – Bugsy McGraw defeated Nikolai Volkoff by dq – Texas Death Match: Dusty Rhodes defeated Leroy Brown – Florida Tag Titles: Jack Brisco & Jim Garvin defeated Bryan St. John & Stan Lane to win the titles – Florida TV Title: Steve Keirn defeated Don Muraco – Super Destroyer & Mr. Saito & Dick Slater defeated Manny Fernandez & Mr. Florida & Hector Guerrero – Gordon Nelson beat Butcher Brannigan – Geoff Portz defeated Barry Windham
1983
JCP Final Conflict: Greensboro, North Carolina: – Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood defeated Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle in a steel cage for the NWA World Tag Team Championship – NWA World Champion Ric Flair fought NWA US Champion Greg Valentine to a 60-minute time-limit draw
Landover, Maryland: – Andre the Giant won a 20 man battle royal – WWF World Champion Bob Backlund pinned WWF IC Champion Don Muraco in a Texas Death Match
Baltimore, Maryland: – Rocky Johnson defeated Superstar Billy Graham by countout – Big John Studd defeated WWF World Champion Bob Backlund by dq
1984
New Orleans, Louisiana – Mr. Wrestling II defeated The Junkyard Dog in to win the Mid South North American Heavyweight Title
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: – Rick Martel no contest Dino Bravo – Nick Bockwinkel beat Billy Robinson – AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Leo Burke & The Destroyer – Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Mulligan – Greg Gagne beat Bob Boucher – Richard Charland beat Baron Von Raschke – Gino Brito Jr beat Tito Senza
1987
Tokyo, Japan: – NWA World Champion Ric Flair defeated the Great Wajima
Sunrise, Florida: – Barry Windham fought Lex Luger to a 20-minute time-limit draw – NWA Tag Team Champions Rick Rude & Manny Fernandez defeated Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson – NWA US Champion Nikita Koloff pinned Arn Anderson – NWA TV Champion Tully Blanchard defeated Dusty Rhodes via disqualification
1988
Chicago, Illinois: – Randy Savage, WWF Tag Team Champions Rick Martel & Tito Santana defeated WWF IC Champion the Honkytonk Man, Bret Hart, & Jim Neidhart in a steel cage match
1989
– Jeff Jarrett & Kerry Von Erich defeated The Stud Stable, Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden, to win the World Class Tag Team Titles
1990
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jerry “The King” Lawler defeated Jimmy Valiant in for the USWA Unified Heavyweight Title
1992
Camp LeJune, North Carolina: – Sting and Ron Simmons defeated WCW US Champion Rick Rude and Larry Zbyszko – Rick and Scott Steiner defeated Steve Austin and Bobby Eaton
1993
Radnor, Pennsylvania: – Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka defeated Glenn Osbourne in a tournament final to become the ECW Television Champion
Erie, Pennsylvania: – Rick & Scott Steiner defeated the Beverly Brothers – WWF World Champion Bret Hart defeated Bam Bam Bigelow
1994
Dresden, Germany: – 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell defeated Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma – Vader pinned Cactus Jack (match where Cactus Jack lost his ear) – Sting & Ricky Steamboat defeated WCW US Champion Steve Austin & Ron Simmons
1995
Denver, Colorado: – WCW Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell & the Patriot – Randy Savage & Sting defeated Avalanche & Big Bubba – WCW US Champion Vader defeated Jim Duggan
1999
Trenton, New Jersey: – ECW Tag Team Champions Rob Van Dam & Sabu defeated Buh Buh Ray & D-Von Dudley – Jerry Lynn defeated Lance Storm
Anaheim, California: – WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett defeated Triple H & X-Pac – Steve Austin & Mankind defeated WWF World Champion the Rock & Kane in a Texas Tornado match
2000
Albany, New York: – WWF Tag Team Champions the Dudley Boyz defeated Matt & Jeff Hardy and Edge & Christian in an elimination match – The Rock & Kane defeated WWF World Champion Triple H & X-Pac
ECW Living Dangerously: Danbury, Connecticut: – Lance Storm & Justin Credible defeated ECW Tag Team Champions Mike Awesome & Raven and Tommy Dreamer & Masato Tanaka in a Three-Way Dance to win the titles – In the finals of the ECW World TV Title Tournament, Super Crazy pinned Rhino to win the title
2004
Tokyo, Japan: – American Dragon Bryan Danielson & Curry Man defeated Gedo & Jado to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
2005
Tokyo, Japan: – Kensuke Sasaki defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title
2006
TNA Destination X: Orlando, Florida: – Christopher Daniels defeated Samoa Joe & AJ Styles in an Ultimate X Match to win the TNA X Division Title – NWA champion Christian Cage defeated Monty Brown – The Diamonds in the Rough (David Young and Elix Skipper) (with Simon Diamond) defeated Shark Boy and Norman Smiley – Alex Shelley defeated Jay Lethal – Lance Hoyt defeated Matt Bentley – Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young) defeated The Naturals – The James Gang (BG & Kip James) & Bob Armstrong defeated LAX – Chris Sabin defeats Petey Williams, Sonjay Dutt & Puma – Jeff Jarrett, Abyss & America’s Most Wanted defeated Rhino, Ron Killings & Team 3D
Gary Fulton, one of the best known of the prelim pro wrestlers in the 70s and early 80s as Charlie Fulton from Marion, OH, passed away last night at the age of 67.
During his career, Fulton wrestled everyone from Bruno Sammartino to Antonio Inoki, and in most of the major territories and was known as something of an Iron Man performer for never missing matches due to injuries.
He also worked under a mask as part of the Mighty Yankees in Tennessee with partner Frank Morrell, as The Black Demon in WWF in the early 80s and as Mr. USSR in Japan as the tag team partner of Alexis Smirnoff.
Fulton had suffered from heart issues for years, and worked as a prison guard after retiring from wrestling in 1985.
Major implications for Wrestlemania 32 are in play Saturday night as the latest WWE special, Roadblock, takes place in Toronto, Canada.
The main event of the show will have Triple H making his first defense of the WWE World Heavyweight championship he won at the Royal Rumble against Dean Ambrose. The challenger has gone on to say that he plans on completely messing up plans for Wrestlemania by winning. Considering most Wrestlemania plans still aren’t completely concrete, it’s entirely plausible the original main event of Reigns/HHH might be changed due to recent crowd reactions. It’s a longshot, but we’ll see.
Other big matches include Bray Wyatt facing off against the former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a match many expected to see at Wrestlemania, as well as NXT champions The Revival (Dash & Dawson) competing against perennial challengers Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady in both teams’ WWE TV debut. The outcome could also have implications on the NXT tag team title match at Takeover: Dallas during Wrestlemania weekend if the challengers were to win.
Also announced for the show: The New Day will defend their WWE tag team titles against Sheamus & King Barrett of the League of Nations.
The New Day started the show by coming out and doing a promo. They revealed that Booty-O’s are in fact real (well, there’s a box now at least) and revealed the box that said Booty-O’s on it. Big E pretended to be a child and ran down the Leauge of Nations while saying he’s going to beat Booty-O cereal so he doesn’t wind up like them. They were big time over as babyfaces.
WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. The Leauge of Nations (Wade Barrett and Sheamus)
Solid match. It was a by the numbers, but everyone worked well for the most part. The New Day worked as the faces here as they started off hot, but Kofi ended up getting worked on by both Sheamus and Barrett. Sheamus had Kofi in a Cloverleaf but somehow was able to counter that into a pin for a nearfall. Big E made the hot tag. Kofi tried to jump over Barrett but there was some miscommunication or Kofi landed badly as something seemed off here. Barrett had the pin on Big E but Xavier distracted the ref. Barrett was distraced, leading to Big E hitting the Big Ending to retain the titles.
Greg Hamilton interviewed Paul Heyman. He says that Brock chose to take revenge on Wyatt tonight. After getting a pop for mentioning the Toronto Raptors, Heyman pretty much says Wyatt will be counqered by the Beast.
They recapped the Styles/Jericho angles from Raw and Smackdown.
Jericho came out for a promo, telling Toronto to shut their filthy mouths right now. They had their chance to chant for him but instead they chanted for AJ. He ran down Canadians. He’s the greatest icon in the history of this country, he says, which spurs “We Want Bret” chants. He shuts them down immediately and says he’s ashamed to be Canadian. He moved from Canada because Canada literally stinks and Toronto is the anus. He mentions how Jack Swagger beat him for the World championship, something I don’t think one person on Earth remotely remembers. He’s not the flavor of the month, or the next big thing, he’s the only thing. Jericho’s much better off in a heel role at this point as his promos have been pretty solid since turning.
Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger
This is a weird match to do in Canada as Swagger’s gimmick is that he’s an American patriot, and Jericho just cut a promo heeling on Canada. Work was solid, but the heat was off since they did not get into Swagger at all for obvious reasons. They chanted for AJ Styles and CM Punk. Jericho controlled a lot of the match, and the crowd booed for Swagger’s brief comeback. Swagger reversed a Wall of Jericho attempt and hit the anke lock but Jericho escaped, hit an enziguiri and went for a codebreaker but Swagger countered and took him down. Swagger got the ankle lock again, but Jericho made it to the ropes. He shoved Swagger into the turnbuckle then submitted him with the Walls of Jericho.
NXT Tag Team Championship: Dash and Dawson (c) vs. Colin Cassady and Enzo Amore
Good match with lots of cool creative spots. Both Cassady and Enzo have improved as a team and Dash and Dawson are really good in their own right. Enzo and Cass dominated early, but eventually the heels isolated Enzo. He broke free at one point and dashed toward Cassady but was shoulder tackled right out of the ring in a cool spot. Cassady got the tag as they almost got the win with the rocket launcher but Dawson cut Enzo (who got the tag) off on the top rope. Enzo hit a cool looking DDT from the top rope to ward off the heels for a bit, but the numbers were too much for him as they finished him off with the Shatter Machine for a surprisingly clean win.
Natalya deadicated her match tonight to her Uncle Bret. You know what that means. Charlotte came in, amused. You’re merely a warm up and not even on my level. Natalya said well if I’m not a threat, then put the title on the line. Charlotte said no, Wrestlemania’s only a few weeks away. Nattie said well I guess Bret was right, all Flairs are cowards. Charlotte fell for that and agreed to put the title on the line.
WWE Divas Championship: Charlotte (c) vs. Natalya
Really good match. They were given time and did some great work throughout. Nattie’s really underrated in this divison, not that it’s a secret or anything but matches like this make it even more obvious. Charlotte worked on Nattie’s leg and posted it. After a chop battle Nattie made her comeback and went for the sharpshooter but Charlotte escaped and laid Nattie out with a big boot. Charlotte applied the figure eight but Nattie fought it and reversed. They rolled over several times until making it to the outside. Charlotte escaped out of the ring but as Nattie recovered Charlotte came back in and hit Natural Selection for a nearfall. Lots of great nearfalls. Charlotte went for the figure eight again but Natalya came back with the sharpshooter. Flair helped distract Nattie while in the sharpshooter which allowed Charlotte to get a roll up win with her feet on the ropes.
Wyatt comes out for his match. He mentions how he’s counqered the Rock, John Cena and the Undertaker, but he’s never conquered me. He said he made a deal with the devil (The Authority? Vince?) and Luke Harper will now be with him for this match.
Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper
Fun match while it lasted. Wyatt never tagged into the match, leaving Harper to work the match on his own. I guess he’s injured, or they didn’t want him to do yet another job. For being the new spookytime threat he hasn’t won a ton of big matches. Lesnar flung Harper around like a rag doll early, which is amazing given Harper’s size. Brock ate a big boot and Harper hit his discus clothesline for a nearfall. Brock fired back with suplexes and pinned him with the F5, clean as a sheet.
Sami Zayn vs. Stardust
An okay match overall, but it lacked heat as it went a bit too long and early parts of the match were pretty dull. Stardust dominated the early portions of the match and his offense wasn’t anything to write home about. A lot of stomps, a lot of rest holds. Sami fought back against a superplex spot but Stardust landed it and got a nearfall. Stardust ate a clothesline, which is where Sami made his comeback and eventually got the win with the helluva kick.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
Really great world title match. Hunter looked way better than he did at the Royal Rumble and Ambrose is an excellent main event level match kind of guy. They did everything to make you believe that Ambrose was going to pull it off, including doing a dusty finish spot, until Ambrose made one mistake and lost because of it. Ambrose was in control of the match early, working on the nose in a cute spot, fighting Hunter on the outside and eventually started to work on the leg. Hunter came back and threw him on the barricade. Hunter worked on him back in the ring, actually applying a Nagata Lock at one point. Ambrose came back and they had a pretty good back and forth match. Hunter went for the pedigree but Ambrose back body dropped him. He went for the dirty deeds, Hunter pushed him away, but Ambrose came back with the rabbit lariat. Ambrose went for a suicide dive but Triple H blasted him with a right had as he started to prepare the announce table. Ambrose made a comeback in the ring and hit a figure four, which is a good callback spot from earlier. Triple H escaped, but Ambrose came back with a sharpshooter, which was pretty funny. Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds and pinned Hunter, but the refree waived it off, saying Ambrose’s feet were under the ropes. Ambrose threw Hunter on the outside and hit a big elbow, sending them both to the floor, then mocked Hunter with the DX crotch chop. Ambrose put Hunter on the exposed table, hopped on the barricade and went for another elbow but Triple H rolled out of the way and Ambrose crashed into the table. Triple H followed with the pedigree in the ring and pinned him to retain the title.
I’m wondering why we haven’t seen the newer young lions on these tours. I guess they’re holding them off for future Lion’s Gate shows or something. There is something of a feud here between these two as David beat Jay in their first outing, but hasn’t beaten him since. Your usual good match between these two. Jay comes off as clearly better than Finlay technically but David’s a bit more charismatic. David had Jay in the Boston Crab, tried to escape several times until getting the ropes. White rolled through a pin attempt and went for the Boston Crab and submitted Finlay. They were given a bit more time than they normally get on this tour and worked a really solid match.
Tiger Mask & Captain New Japan vs. Jushin Thunder Liger and Juice Robinson
Tiger Mask is still recognized as the NWA Jr. champion even though they really haven’t done anything with the title in months. Tiger Mask did a big suicide dive onto Liger on the outside. They worked the match together on occasion while most of it was Robinson and CNJ. Robinson got the submission win over Captain New Japan with what looked like a choke sleeper.
Tiger Mask then motioned he wanted a title match with Liger. Liger seemed fine with this. It made no sense given Robinson got the win, not to mention this feud has been done to death over the last two years so why do it again? It seems like these two are just destined to feud over this title forever for no reason, which is the worst kind of feud you can do.
Evil and Bushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi
Evil’s regular move on the outside is to grab a chair, put it on his opponent’s throat, and shove him into a ringpost. Didn’t that use to put a guy out of action for months back in the day? Ishii and Evil squared off as that seems to be a future ROH TV title program. Ishii laid out Evil but Bushi came in and sprayed him. Evil came back and pinned Ishii clean to win the match. Good while it lasted, but it was clear the intention of the match was to put Evil over as a title contender.
Evil grabbed the title after the match and made the throat cutting gesture to Ishii, making his intentions clear.
New Japan Cup Semifinals: Tetsuya Naito vs. Toru Yano
Yano immediately ran to the ring the minute his music played and beat up Naito with a chair. He tried a flash pin but it didn’t work. They teased a lot of roll up finishes but on the last one Yano accidently bumped the referee. Naito low blowed him and rolled him up to advance to the finals. Really short, comedy style match.
New Japan Cup Semifinals: Hirooki Goto vs. Michael Elgin
There wasn’t much of a feeling out process as they immediately went for big moves. This turned out to be a really good match, nothing but action throughout. Elgin hit all of his trademark spots early was clearly the guy people liked in the match. Elgin drilled him with tons of high impact moves, suplexing him left and right, even dished out a tiger suplex, but Goto kicked out of everything. Goto came back with the neckbreaker. Elgin deadlifted Goto from the top rope to the floor with a falcon arrow and hit the buckle bomb, but Goto came back with a sleeper.Goto came back and surprised Elgin with a roll up to advance to the finals. Crowd didn’t like that one, but they protected Elgin as much as possible with the loss and made him look dominant.
Ryusuke Taguchi and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Fine match while it lasted. The focus here seemed to be on Shibata and Kojima. Taguchi was in for a time, doing his butt based offense on Tenzan. When their partners came in, Kojima immediately did his comeback, but Shibata came back and fired chops of his own in the corner. Taguchi came in for a hot tag and looked good for a bit but Kojima simply laid him out with one lariat for the win.
Kojima took the mic after the match, seemingly challenging for the NEVER title. Shibata responded by kicking him flush in the face. That’s one way of responding to a challenge. Kojima came back and laid him out with a lariat and laid the belt over him. It’s on.
Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Kazuchika Okada and Kazushi Sakuraba
It’s a weird situation here has Nagata and Shibata seemed to be programed for the NEVER title, or at least it was hinted at on the last show, but it didn’t come into fruition. Fine match, nothing special, just something for Okada to do on this show. Nakanishi and Sakuraba did some grappling, believe it or not. It didn’t look all that bad considering Nakanishi didn’t have to run around or anything. Nagata & Nakanishi hit double clotheslines and did their usual tease finish of the armbar/torture rack, but again it didn’t work. It’d have more credibility if someone actually lost in that manner. Nakanishi countered the rainmaker but Okada came back with a dropkick, hit the rainmaker and pinned him.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi
Good back and forth match. Not a whole ton to talk about, everyone just came in and did their thing. They made Fale look really strong here as they always protect him. Bullet Club used Fale as their heavy as he hit a whole bunch of high impact moves. Tanahashi wiped everyone on the outside out with a high fly flow. Honma hit his kokeshis and tried for the top rope finish but Tama Tonga came up and hit the gun stun off the top rope (that was really cool) then finished Honma with his waistlock DDT for the win.
Bullet Club laid everyone out after the match. Fale left Tanahashi lying with a grenade, so that’s probably another Invasion Attack match. Tonga took the mic and said he and his brother, the former Camacho under a new name (I believe it’s Tama Roa but could be wrong), would be the next champions.
New Japan Cup Finals: Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto
Really good match, but live the constant buffering live, especially towards the latter part of the match, hurt it. It’s an issue that’s been cropping up all year and was at its worst during the main event on this morning’s show. Crowd were hot for everything and was full of hot near falls. Of course, Bushi was on the outside and freely interfered the moment Goto was on the outside. The story here is that Goto had a long twelve minute match while Naito had a relatively easy match that ended in a few minutes. Goto hit a big superplex and followed with the knee neckbreaker.
Naito made a comeback and hit Gloria. Goto tried for the shouten kai but Naito countered. Goto headbutted him, hit a penalty kick then landed the shouten kai but Naito kicked out at two. Evil suddenly appeared as Bushi distracted the ref. Goto laid him out which allowed Naito to come back. They hit back and forth countered until Naito hit Destino and pinned him to win the New Japan Cup.
Naito made it clear after the match that he’s gunning for the IWGP title and Kazuchika Okada. Evil and Bushi brought back in Goto and they all put the boots to him until Okada made the save, clearing the ring. He extended his hand to Goto, but he got up on his own. Okada still wanted a handshake, and after teasing he wouldn’t, he finally did, so it seems Goto may have joined Chaos after teasing it for the last couple of months.
Goto left as Okada brought up how Naito has said he wouldn’t challenge at Invasion Attack, then requested he face him there. Naito entered the ring once Okada left and changed his mind, saying fine, since Okada wanted to face him so bad he’ll face him at Invasion Attack. He and the rest of Los Ingobernables de Japon posed as the streamers came down and the show finished.
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Overall, a very good show with some pretty great matches. Everything had a purpose and there’s some interesting directions towards Invasion Attack. Okada/Naito has some real juice as a headliner and with matches like Ospreay/Kushida, Shibata/Kojima and Evil/Ishii it’s probably going to be one of the better cards of April.
– Enzo Amore & Big Cass w/Carmella def. NXT Tag Champions The Revival Dawson & Wilder in a non-title match
Their act wasn’t as over as in some U.S cities, but the S-A-W-F-T had a decent reaction and they got a “How you doin?” chant at the beginning of the match. Good opener. Enzo and Big Cass won with the Rocket Launcher.
– Jack Swagger b Stardust
Dead spot, but it was what it was. Swagger won with the Patriot Lock.
– Goldust b Viktor
Okay match. Viktor rolled up Goldust while holding the ropes. The referee caught him, Goldust reversed him for the pin. After the match, Ascension beat up Goldust until R-Truth did the save.
– Brock Lesnar b Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper in a handicap match
Bray did a promo saying that Brock would have to face both Bray and Luke Harper. Heyman cut a short promo and announced Brock from Saskatchewan, Canada. He sure doesn’t know much about Canadian politics!
Brock beat Harper with the F-5 in a short match, something like five minutes. Brock got a great reaction from the crowd as did Heyman especially when he took the mic from Jojo, who’s the ring announcer tonight. Crowd chanted “na na na hey hey good bye” to Harper.
– Divas Champion Charlotte w/Ric Flair b Natalya
Charlotte won with her feet on the ropes. Good match. Flair got a good pop. Crowd was into it.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) w/Xavier Woods b League of Nations (Sheamus & Wade Barrett) by DQ
Good match. The finish saw Kofi pinning Sheamus, but Barrett broke the pin with the trombone. After the match, Xavier and Big E hit the Midnight Hour on Barrett.
– Pat Patterson came to the ring and thanked the crowd for the homage he got the last time. He said that Montreal was the best wrestling town. He thanked Jojo and said she was beautiful and good!!
– Sami Zayn vs. I-C Champion Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose
Zayn got a huge “ole ole” chant when he revealed his Montreal Canadiens jersey. He was at the hockey game last night, got a 30 seconds interview on the giant screen and got a jersey from the team with his name on the back. Kevin Owens got a bigger pop than Zayn which is normal since he’s been on Raw and SmackDown for a longer time. Owens refused to shake hands with Patterson.
Owens and Zayn got a lot of time only the two of them in the ring. This is awesome chants early in the match. Package piledriver into a side suplex. Blue Thunder Bomb by Zayn for a two count. Crowd was really into it. Owens super kicked both Zayn and Ambrose before Ambrose got Owens with the Lunatic Lariat. Another this is awesome chant. Zayn got a close pin too. Dirty Deeds on Zayn. Owens broke the pin with a Senton Bomb and pinned Zayn for the win. Very good match. Best match on the card. By far.
Ambrose and Zayn stayed in the ring after the show. He said that everyone should be inspired by Zayn. Zayn was a bigger local star by the end of the match. Sami chants. He said that him and Kevin started from the bottom here in Montreal and now they are main-eventing the Bell Centre and he thanked the fans. He said that sooner or later he would beat Owens for the IC title, maybe at WrestleMania. Good babyface promo. He was just missing some French to get the crowd even more behind him.
