New Japan’s top star Hiroshi Tanahashi has joined The Young Bucks on the injury list for the current Best of the Super Juniors tour due to a broken left shoulder.
As noted in the current issue of the Observer, Tanahashi was hurting badly during the ROH tour last week. At yesterday’s tour opening show at Korakuen Hall, Tanahashi was destroyed by the Bullet Club in an angle, most notably by Kenny Omega. The angle was a storyline to explain his absence.
New Japan announced the injury and said he will be out the rest of the tour. They want him to heal up for one of the company’s signature events of the year like the June 19th Dominion show at Osaka Jo Hall where he is set to face Omega in a ladder match.
All of Tanahashi’s bookings for the rest of the tour will be filled by Satoshi Kojima, who will begin a new program against The Bullet Club.
WWE female wrestling star Sasha Banks missed house shows this past week in Utica, NY, and Reading, PA due to an undisclosed head injury which happened on the 5/15 show in Charlottesville, VA.
Banks, who hasn’t been used in a few weeks on television due to creative reasons of wanting to keep her off TV when they didn’t have a program at today’s PPV, was still working a full house show schedule up until this past week.
The injury was described as a fluke in a match where referee Darrick Moore accidentally caught her with a solid knee to the head. It was not a spot where Moore and she were supposed to have serious contact.
WWE hasn’t confirmed the injury, nor whether a concussion was sufferened. Reports within the industry were that Banks suffered a concussion, which would mean an undetermined length of time before she could return — any day or a few weeks.
Los Angeles, California: – Lou Thesz defeated Baron Michele Leone to merge the California-version of the World Title with the National Wrestling Alliance and National Wrestling Association World Titles
1966
Chicago, Illinois: – In a non title match, Dick the Bruiser beat AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon – Chris Tolos beat the Crusher dq – The Assassins beat Moose Cholak & Wilbur Snyder – The Destroyer drew Pat O’Connor
1970
Kansas City, Kansas: – Roger Kirby and Pat O’Conner wrestled to a draw and in a Fence Match – Danny Little Bear defeated Harley Race via DQ
1974
Tampa, Florida: – Bill Watts beat Buddy Colt – Pak Song beat Dusty Rhodes by countout – Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown beat Danny Hodge & Don Muraco – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Red Beard – Ron Fuller beat Johnny Valentine dq – Les Thornton beat Kevin Sullivan
1982
Richmond, Virginia: – Wahoo McDaniel defeated Sgt. Slaughter for the United States Heavyweight Title
Chicago, Illinois: – AWA Tag Team Champions Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Jerry Blackwell & Sheik Adnan – Bobby Duncum beat Tito Santana
1983
Chicago, Illinois: – AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel no contest with Jerry Lawler – Jesse Ventura beat Rick Martel – Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Mad Dog Vachon & Baron Von Raschke – Jim Brunzell beat Blackjack Lanza – Mike Graham beat Spike Huber – Wilbur Snyder beat Rene Goulet – Buck Zumhofe beat Steve Regal
1985
Don Owens 60th Anniversary show: Portland, Oregon: – NWA Champion Ric Flair went to a draw with Billy Jack Haynes – AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Mike Miller – Curt Hennig & Larry Hennig beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors via dq – Roddy Piper beat Buddy Rose – Sgt. Slaughter beat Kendo Nagasaki – Bobby Jaggers & Ricky Vaughn beat Tim Flowers & Chris Colt – Karl Steiner beat Steve Simpson – Jerry Grey drew Rocky Ventura – Ed Wiskowski beat Billy Two Eagles
1986
Tampa, Florida: – The White Ninja (Keiji Mutoh) defeated Kendall Windham for the Florida Heavyweight Title
1988
Memphis, Tennessee: – AWA Champion Jerry Lawler beat Bill Dundee – Robert Fuller beat Jeff Jarrett – Bruise Brothers beat Cuban Choir Boys – Max Pain beat Brickhouse Brown dq – Gary Young drew Scott Steiner – Billy Travis beat Doug Gilbert dq – Tommy Gilbert beat Tom Brandi
1995
WCW Slamboree: St. Petersburg, Florida: – The Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal and Earl Robert Eaton) defeated Los Especialistas (Especialista I and Especialista II) – Steve Austin defeated Eddie Jackie – Sgt. Craig Pittman defeated Mark Starr – Meng defeated Brian Pillman in a WCW United States Championship tournament quarterfinal match – The Nasty Boys defeated Harlem Heat to win the WCW World Tag Team Title – Kevin Sullivan defeated The Man With No Name – Wahoo McDaniel defeated Dick Murdoch – The Great Muta defeated Paul Orndorff to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Arn Anderson defeated Alex Wright to retain the WCW World Television Championship – Meng fought Road Warrior Hawk to a double countout – Sting defeated Big Bubba Rogers in a “Lights Out” match – Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage (with Jimmy Hart and The Renegade) defeated Ric Flair and Vader (with Arn Anderson)
Trois Riveres, Quebec, Canada: – Jeff Jarrett defeated WWF Intercontinental champion Razor Ramon to win the title
2000
WWF Judgement Day: Louisville, Kentucky: – The British Bulldog defeated Joey Abs – Essa Rios and Lita defeated Kaientai (Taka Michinoku and Funaki) – The Godfather defeated D’Lo Brown Singles match – Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty, Grand Master Sexay, and Rikishi) defeated Team ECK (Kurt Angle, Edge, and Christian) – Eddie Guerrero (with Chyna) defeated Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko in a triple threat match to retain the WWF European Championship – Shane McMahon defeated Big Show in a Falls Count Anywhere match – Chris Benoit defeated Chris Jericho in a submission match to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship – D-Generation X (Road Dogg and X-Pac) (with Tori) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)in a tag team tables match – Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) defeated The Rock 6 falls to 5 in an Iron Man match to win the WWF Championship
2001
San Jose, California: – Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit defeated Steve Austin and Triple H for the WWF World Tag Team Titles – The Big Show defeated WWF Hardcore Champion Rhyno to win the title
2006
WWF Judgement Day: Phoenix, Arizona: – Matt Hardy defeated Simon Dean – Brian Kendrick and Paul London defeated Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro to win the WWE Tag Team Championship – Chris Benoit defeated Finlay – Jillian Hall defeated Melina – Gregory Helms defeated Super Crazy to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship – Mark Henry defeated Kurt Angle – Booker T won the 2006 King of the Ring tournament by defeating Bobby Lashley in the finals – The Great Khali (with Daivari) defeated The Undertaker – Rey Mysterio defeated John “Bradshaw” Layfield to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament kicked off in style with Kushida vs. Kyle O’Reilly in the main event. We’ll have coverage of every show of the tournament, and our Zach Dominello did a big preview piece for the entire tournament that’s a must-read. There’s also a preview in audio form on the latest DKP show featuring Alan and guest Mark Robinson.
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS ON SUNDAY FROM SHIZUOKA (this won’t air live but should be up some time during Sunday on New Japan World)
Jay White & David Finlay vs. Yoshi-Hashi & Rocky Romero
Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima & Kyle O’Reilly & Matt Sydal vs. Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi & Kushida & Katsuyori Shibata
Tiger Mask vs. Ricochet
Jushin Liger vs. Bobby Fish
Volador Jr. vs. Trent Baretta
Will Ospreay vs. Chase Owens
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bushi
WWE EXTREME RULES ON SUNDAY AT 7:30 P.M. EASTERN FROM THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER IN NEWARK, NJ ON THE WWE NETWORK AND PPV
Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin preshow match
Kalisto vs. Rusev for U.S. title
Usos vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson tornado match
Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho asylum cage match
Charlotte vs. Natalya submissions match for women’s title
New Day vs Vaudevillains for tag team title
The Miz vs. Cesaro vs Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens for IC title
Roman Reigns vs. A.J. Styles in an extreme rules match for the WWE title
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS ON MONDAY FROM NIIGATA (this won’t air live but should be up sometimeMonday on New Japan World)
Satoshi Kojima & Jay White & Ricochet vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi & Will Ospreay
Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson & Volador Jr.
Matt Sydal vs. Bushi
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gedo
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay
Kushida vs. Rocky Romero
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan & Bobby Fish vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Trent Baretta vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil
Raw will be Monday night in Baltimore at the Royal Farms Arena.
NEW JAPAN BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS ON TUESDAY FROM YAMAGATA (this won’t air live but should be up sometimeTuesday on New Japan World)
David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Gedo & Yoshi-Hashi
Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima & Kyle O’Reilly & Matt Sydal vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Kushida & Juice Robinson & Jay White
Tiger Mask vs. Volador jr.
Jushin Liger vs. Chase Owens
Bobby Fish vs. Ricochet
Will Ospreay vs. Trent Baretta
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Rocky Romero vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil & Bush
Smackdown and Main Event will be taped on Tuesday in Norfolk.
If you’ve ever wanted to WATCH our radio shows here on the site, check out our new Youtube page! No full video shows, but lots of video clips, full free audio shows that you can tell your friends about, and much more to come! Make sure you subscribe today!
A look at what’s next for WWE after Extreme Rules, the UFC sale with lots of exclusive info, Vince & Linda McMahon selling their stock, Chris Weidman’s injury and how that changes plans, the staggering drop in kids viewing for WWE and exactly who watches the TV today, plus UFC 198 coverage and Best of The Super Juniors tournament news are among the stories covered in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
More on the injury returns and summer ideas and why WWE could have its deepest talent roster in a long time in very short order. Plus, talk about the NXT/WWE balance and why talent is actually more important for arena business if in NXT.
There is also an extenisve look at the Extreme Rules show.
In addition, updates on the UFC sale, including news about who is in, who is not in, what it all means, what is being sold, where Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta fit in and UFC fixture who indicates he’s likely gone if the sale goes through, all in covered in this issue.
A glimpse into Vince McMahon’s stock sale, what it means, how much money did he get, and how his stock sale only increased the difference in the value of UFC vs. WWE, and for how much Vince McMahon bought the company.
More on the injury to Chris Weidman, how it happened, his future, Michael Bisping’s title shot and more on UFC 1999.
Also in this issue, find out who watches WWE on television and how many in each different age group.
Find out how WWE has changed the schedule of the Cruiserweight tournament and why, more on the arrest of Adam Rose, more on Stephanie McMahon’s book, how Stephanie will be pushed on television going forward, how Stephanie will be marketed as the face of the company, and another WWE firing.
Finally, there’s full coverage of UFC 198, including business notes including early estimates on success, ramifications of the show, match-by-match coverage, looking at the judging of close fights and poll results.
You can also order the print Observer right now and get it delivered to your door via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer.
For the United States, it is $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to moonsault@mediaplusint.com For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a 40-issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues.
Friday night’s Bellator 155 show on Spike wasn’t great and got even worse with the main event. The middleweight title fight between champ Rafael Carvalho and Melvin Manhoef was five rounds of a whole lot of nothing other than a lot of boos from the Boise, ID, faithful. Despite the lackluster fight, Carvalho did so little that it was assumed Manhoef would take the title. But that’s why judges exist and the champ retained via split decision. Ugh.
Tickets for the final day of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, the live finals, are already sold out.
The Shane McMahon “tell-all” podcast with Mick Foley as host airs this Monday after Raw on the WWE Network.
WWE & PRO WRESTLING
As yesterday was the 5th anniversary of Randy Savage’s death, SI’s Extra Mustard section devoted some space and several articles about him. Here’s where you find ‘em.
In case you missed it, our Gary Mehaffy talked with Hornswoggle about his WWE release and what’s next. An interview with the recently released Rich Brennan is also coming to the site this weekend.
Smackdown was up this week to 2.295 million viewers, up from last week’s 2.62 million. Will be interesting to see how the two-hour Raw replay that aired on Syfy in the old Smackdown time slot last night does.
CHIKARA’s ANIVERSARIO tour with Fight Club: Pro is running all over the United Kingdom, kicking off last night in Wales.More details and tickets is available here.
Big Japan announced a big tag title match to headline their next Korakuen Hall show on May 30th. It will be Ryota Hama & the returning Hideyoshi Kamitani defending their titles against “The Twin Towers” Kohei Sato & Shuji Ishikawa. Last year on the same date, in the same building, Sato & Ishikawa were a part of an incredible MOTY level tag against Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi.
Joey Ryan won DDT’s Iron Man Heavymetalweight championship today. He is the 1,073rd champion in the illustrious history of the hottest potato championship in wrestling. Former champs include a ladder, a curry, a camerman, a Yoshiaki Fujiwara and the belt itself.
The Stardom girls are touring Europe at the moment. Today in France, Io Shirai defended her World Of Stardom title and Mayu Iwatani defended her Wonder Of Stardom belt in France today.
The new issue of the Tabloid The Globe has a full page feature on Dwayne Johnson. Nice facts as the feature is called “10 things you don’t know about Dwayne Johnson”. (Thanks to Paul Kacprzak)
Here’s the tour:
Saturday 21st May at FIXXION WAREHOUSE, WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND
Sunday 22nd May at BUSH HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND
Friday 27th May at ASTON UNI STUDENT UNION, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND
Saturday 28th May at THE UNION, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
Sunday 29th May at LINSKILL CENTRE, NORTH SHIELDS, ENGLAND
ECWA returns to action tonight in New Castle, DE, at the United Methodist Church.
Here’s a story about Bill DeMott, after his daughter’s death, teaming up with the police department at her alma mater to fight drunk driving. (Thanks to Jay Reddick)
Our Kyle Johnson wrote a column wondering what happened to the WWE U.S. title in such a short amount of time.
Quebec indie NSPW has their Golden Opportunity VIII show tonight at Quebec’s Horizon Center where an old school hair vs. hair match will be on the show.
Victory FC 50 runs tonight on UFC Fight Pass at 9 pm eastern with a headliner of heavyweights Abe Wagner and Daniel Gallemore. Former UFC fighters Yuri Villefort and Jake Lindsey are in separate fights on the undercard
UFC Fight Pass has another show Sunday afternoon with Shooto Brasil 63. Main Event is for the featherweight title with Champion Felipe Froes defending against Marcos Vinicius. The rest of the card is all Brazilian fighters with no name value in North America
Ian McCall will return to a UFC ring for the first time since January 2015 as he faces Justin Scoggins at UFC 201 in a fight just announced today.
The cast of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia hung with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Here’s the video.
Miscellaneous
This week on 6:05 Superpodcast with Brian Last and David Bixenspan, Jim Cornette returns to the show to talk about riots, watch notable squash matches, and much more. Plus Kenny Bolin joins the show for the Dennis Of the Week to discuss his friendship with the late, great, Dennis Coralluzzo.
5/26 – IWA Mid South presents RETRIBUTION, Jammerz Rollerdome, 1515 Lynch Ln, Clarksville, IN
EVENTS
We want to wish a happy birthday to friend of the site Leva Bates who turns 33 today.
June 4 – UFC 199 from the Forum in Los Angeles with Michael Bisping getting his first title opportunity of his career battling Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt
June 5 – AAA’s Victoria World Cup men and women’s trio tournament finals at Los Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City which will be a live iPPV show
June 7 – New Japan Best of the Super Juniors finals from Sendai live on New Japan World
June 8 – NXT Takeover from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL featuring Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a cage match plus a loaded lineup that includes American Alpha vs. The Revival and probably Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries, which could be WWE’s match of the month.
June 12 – TNA Slammiversary headlined by Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley for the TNA title from Orlando
June 12 – Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England headlined by Kurt Angle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
June 18 – UFC in Ottawa: Rory McDonald vs. Stephen Thompson
June 19 – New Japan Dominion, one of the company’s biggest events of the year, featuring Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP title match and Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi in a ladder match for the IC title
June 19 – WWE Money in the Bank from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
June 24 – ROH Best in the World from Concord, NC with Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe for the ROH title
June 25 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
June 26 – Ultima Lucha tapings in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles at The Temple
Hulk Hogan. Ultimate Warrior. Ric Flair. Sting. Bret Hart. Shawn MIchaels. Steve Austin. The Rock. John Cena.
For many people, these are the names that drew them into professional wrestling and made them fans of this crazy industry.
But it took announcers to help us to make sense of what was happening in the ring. Whether that was Gordon Solie, Gorilla Monsoon, Tony Schiavone, JIm Ross or today’s Michael Cole and Mauro Ranallo, fans relied upon them to put the words to what we were seeing in the ring.
Over the last few weeks, WWE released several wrestlers, but it also released some announcers and interviewers. One of them was RIch Brennan, best known for his time commentating on NXT and SmackDown.
But there is more to him than that. He has commentated on other sports and has been a professional wrestling referee. He worked for Booker T and set up countless rings and technical equipment while on the road with NXT. And he has been produced by the aforementioned Cole. Yes, you read that correctly.
I recently talked with Brennen and we discussed all of the above, plus how he got into WWE, whether he has any bitterness towards them, calling matches without knowing what is happening versus being aware of key points beforehand, whether he had to ‘unlearn’ his commentary style when he joined WWE, his deep appreciation for MIchael Cole, calling big matches in NXT, what the future holds for him in and out of wrestling and much, much more.
Cody Runnels on Twitter today said that he requested his release from WWE earlier today.
“The past ten years have been quite the trek, but as of earlier today, I have asked for my release from WWE. I’ll speak further on the matter shortly. Thank you to all the pro wrestling/sports entertainment fans worldwide. Thank you.”
Runnels, 30, the son of Dusty Rhodes, was a two-time state champion high school wrestler in Georgia and at first studied to be an actor before going into pro wrestling.
He started with the company in 2006 and was on the main roster in 2007 with a push. His biggest run was early on as part of The Legacy with Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase Jr. Once the group broke up, Runnels was used as more of a lower and mid-card wrestler in a number of changing roles. He was Dashing Cody Rhodes talking about grooming, Team Rhodes Scholars and he and his brother Goldust formed a strong babyface tag team.
Ever since the team split up and he became Stardust, a parody of his brother, his career had gone nowhere and he hadn’t been used well. For whatever reason, the company decided against changing him after the death of his father, or since even though he constantly would tease going back to Cody Rhodes.
A.J. Styles did work the WWE house show last night in Utica so the original reports he was going to rest up until the PPV ended up being inaccurate.
He worked against Roman Reigns in a preview for Sunday’s show. The house show match ended with Reigns winning via DQ due to outside interference of The Club, leading to the Usos making the save.
Styles is advertised for Reading, PA tonight before the PPV in Newark, NJ on Sunday.
Reigns is advertised to headline in Albany tonight so they’ll be facing different opponents.
Styles hadn’t done a match since injuring his ankle on May 9 but he was physically active on Raw and Smackdown, in shooting angles for tomorrow Extreme rules PPV main event.
Results:
Dolph Ziggler beat Bo Dallas with a super kick, Dallas was with Heath Slater and got the crowd heated early cause he kept rolling out of the ring and running around with Slater.
The Shining Stars came out and cut a promo on Utica, they beat the bizarre pairing of Titus O’Neil and Sin Cara. Titus took the pin. Shining stars used Kronus and Ssaturn’s total elimination as the finisher.
Big Cass beat Devon with Bubba Ray ringside. Bubba tried to get involved but Cass got the clean pin
Usos beat Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a snoozer.
Charlotte over Becky Lynch in a women’s title match. Charlotte won with feet on the ropes. Match of the night.
Sami Zayn beat Kevin Owens. Owens worked the crowd to perfection. Even getting out of the ring and cutting a promo mid match and then starting down a guy in the front row for the entire match, yelling at him.
Roman Reigns and A.J. styles ended in a DQ when The Club interfered. The Usos out for the save. Again. Making the club look week but whatever.
Overall good show, Shining Stars match was the worst. They did not get over and the team of Titus and Sin Cara made no sense. The match was sloppy too
Cass is a budding star. Crowd loves him. He has the look and size
Reigns was booed massively.
Owens was the star, the women stole the show. Sounds like a routine house show cause it was.
Usual very good show. Every match was good in its own way. Easy show to watch. A lot of long matches and for the first time for me at PWG, the crowd did get tired and while there were big pops, you could see the difference once it past 11 p.m. So many of the regulars were in Japan for the Super Juniors or, in the case of the Young Bucks, were supposed to be there but were injured.
Adam Cole beat Dalton Castle. Different “Boys” than in ROH.
Michael Elgin beat Kamaitachi when Kamaitachi came off the top rope and Elgin caught him in mid air and gave him a brainbuster. Kamaitachi takes flat back bumps off the concrete too often. Because of no ramp and seats so close to the ring Kamaitachi didn’t do the stuff he does at Arena Mexico, but his fundamentals are great and he’s going to be one of the big stars on the U.S. indie scene this year.
Marty Scrull beat Mark Andrews. Long match. Scurll is a master performer live, a complete package and one of the most underrated workers in the business. These two worked together great. Andrews mostly sold. He’s so much better here than in TNA because he works longer matches and everyone that works here the fans see as stars because the idea is this is an exclusive members only club, both fans and wrestlers (Drew Galloway actually said that later in the show) so everyone is treated as a star.
Trevor Lee beat Andrew Everett. Fans got on both for being from TNA and they acted like they were making big money there which led to more catcalls about late pay. Real good, but it was two guys where it came off like they were friends putting on a great match. I don’t know if they could change that dynamic with this crowd.
Chris Hero beat Jeff Cobb with all the hard elbows. Everyone knows Cobb is Matanza. Because of the role, he’s a lot heavier than in the past, which he has to be since it’s in season but for this style he’d be better a little lighter. Still, he did the missed moonsaults, all the deadlift German and gut wrenches and other suplex series. Hero mostly used the hard strikes. Even though Hero win, the match was to get Cobb over and he won the people over big about three minutes in with an awesome dropkick and the gut wrenches. There was the loud “Please come back” chants when it was over.
Drew Galloway beat Michael Elgin with the Future shock DDT. Galloway was to work with Brian Cage, but Cage canceled to an emergency related to his son. Galloway challenged anyone to do double duty. It was late, although not late by PWG standards, but I think since people had seen Elgin, it was tough. The match was very good. Galloway has just about everything. So weird that he’s TNA champion, didn’t have the belt and this is the second time I’ve seen him live in the last two months and nobody in the crowd talks about him as champion or anything, and he’s doing a good job in that role. Also he’s a heel here or worked that way while a major face on TV.
Roderick Strong beat Sami Callihan with one of his unique backbreakers. Long match. Lots of stuff outside the ring. Callihan is really intense, shoving fans around (people he knows) and Strong is one of the best in the business. They were going along at a decent pace and then Roderick just exploded into fourth gear and turned the match around in the last several minutes.
Alberto De Rio and Paige were at the show. Del Rio and Galloway are tight. A lot of women MMA fighters were there including Shayna Baszler, Colleen Schneider, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir and there were a couple of others who came with them.
Bobby Fish & Volador Jr. & Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Trent Baretta & Will Ospreay
Pretty solid opener. Volador and Ospreay showed fantastic chemistry for about a minute before tagging out – that should be one hell of a match when the time comes. As for this match, it was your usual six man tag. Kojima and Ishii battled for a while. Fish did too, as he beat Ishii for the ROH TV title a few weeks ago on the ROH PPV. Volador and Baretta battled for a bit before Volador got the win with a standing hurricanrana off the top rope.
Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson & Jay White
Solid match. Pretty much your atypical New Japan six man. Shibata and Nagata were the focus since there’s a title rematch at Dominion. White came in, got in a crossface, then was pinned pretty quickly with the back drop suplex hold.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan & Ricochet vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Again, your typical multi man New Japan match. Omega and Tanahashi were the focus and worked well. Since Captain New Japan was here, you should know by now he was the one pinned, this time after a lariat and a grenade by Bad Luck Fale.
Bullet Club laid out everyone after the match. Omega brought in a ladder and with assistance, smashed Tanahashi’s arm several times through the ladder with a chair before finally leaving, but not before threatening to rip off a fan’s Tanahashi bear’s arm. Tanahashi had to be stretchered out once Bullet Club left.
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil
Good match. Naito took his sweet time getting to the ring, and eventually had Milano Collection AT open the ring ropes for him, then spent even more time stalling before finally getting in. Focus, of course, was him and Okada. The real highlight was the ending stretch between Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada. Yoshi-Hashi is super underrated; here’s hoping he gets a G1 spot this year and not Yujiro. After a bunch of near falls, he fell to the Skull End submission.
David Finlay vs. Rocky Romero
Finlay ran roughshod the minute he was introduced in the ring, tearing apart Romero. He looked fantastic here, the best he’s probably ever been in New Japan. Romero gained control and turned into a really good back and forth match. Finlay showed a lot here, and Romero is always consistently great. Romero won the first match of the tournament with a running knee strike.
Gedo vs. Bushi
Solid match. Gedo was over early, even though a lot of people in the crowd were wearing Bushi masks. As far as an all around performer goes, Bushi is improving big time. He’s probably one of the favorites to win the whole thing early. They had some great near falls that people bought as they really wanted Gedo to win. There was a ref bump toward the end but he recovered just in time for Gedo to lock in the Gedo clutch and secured the win.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Matt Sydal
Taguchi came out wearing a Big Bird balloon for a hat while playing a kazoo. No, I don’t have the faintest idea why. Really good match. Taguchi didn’t do his comedy match routine and Sydal was on point. One crazy spot was Taguchi kneeling on the apron, and Sydal on the floor leaped and hurricanrana’d him off the apron to the floor. Taguchi blocked a shooting star press with his knees and hit two dodons for the win.
Kushida vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Kushida spent the early part of the match working on O’Reilly’s arm. O’Reilly returned the favor, taking Kushida’s knee by smashing it on a chair. O’Reilly ran off the apron and went to attack Kushida but in midair Kushida turned it into an armbar. That was amazing! This was easily the best match of the night, not to the level of their match last year but it was in the ballpark. Excellent body part work by both as they kept going for submissions. O’Reilly finally caught Kushida in a standing armbar. Kushida tried to escape, but O’Reilly got to the ground and Kushida had to tap. O’Reilly gained a measure of revenge by picking up a win over the guy that beat him in the finals of last year’s tournament.
Kushida didn’t shake hands with O’Reilly and went to the floor. O’Reilly said he’d win Best of the Super Juniors and bowed to everyone as his music played to close out the show.
Really fun opening day. Totally check out the main event, though all of this morning’s card was fun to watch.
Let’s go back roughly one year ago where in the seventh week of John Cena’s U.S. Open Challenge, the United States champion threw down the gauntlet and received a response from Neville, who had by that point been up from NXT for as many weeks as Cena’s reign.
Still early in his run on the main roster, Neville had been given decent opportunities to showcase some of the in-ring abilities that had made him an attraction during his run in NXT, even earning a visual pin on then-WWE Champion Seth Rollins in a losing effort the week after his debut. But the fact that he had worked the vast majority of his television matches to that point with names like Curtis Axel, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, and Wade Barrett had already solidified him as a guy firmly in the middle of the go-nowhere midcard mix.
On this particular night, in just under 15 minutes, Cena did more to elevate Neville’s stock than the previous six weeks of television combined. The former Pac kicked out of the Attitude Adjustment — though this was far from uncommon for Cena’s opponents during this period — and was given a significant amount of time to shine on offense. He took full advantage with an incredible twisting Asai moonsault to the floor, a Phoenix Splash from the second rope for a near fall, and a perfectly-executed Red Arrow that left the audience with the distinct impression that Neville had the champion cold just before the match was thrown out due to Rusev’s interference. If WWE had any interest in making Neville a top star, this moment would have been the ideal foundation for that project.
Moreover, Cena’s gimmick of issuing an open challenge that would then be accepted by a wrestler who may not have otherwise been given a platform on Monday nights once again resulted in an exciting television match that put the United States title a level above where it had been for most of its post-WCW existence. While previous champion Rusev had done a surprisingly capable job of keeping the belt relevant with an undefeated streak and a back-to-basics foreign heel shtick, he never felt like much more than a midcard act, working with and bowling over guys like Jack Swagger and Mark Henry.
When it became evident that he was being put up against Cena at Wrestlemania, it also became evident that Rusev’s lot was being built up to be toppled by the company’s resident uber-patriot. The clear line of logic behind putting a mid-card belt on Cena, who had spent nearly the entirety of the prior decade as the company’s singular top draw, was to use his star to help elevate a championship once held in high regard back to its former glory.
And at this point, it was working exceedingly well, particularly when comparing the U.S. title’s standing at the time to that of WWE’s other singles titles. On the same show as Neville vs. Cena, Daniel Bryan — who, like Cena with the U.S. Title, had been chosen to reinvigorate the Intercontinental Championship after winning it in a ladder match at Wrestlemania –surrendered the gold as a result of what was ultimately a career-ending injury, sadly having never gotten the chance to do what he had intended with the title.
The main event on this night saw Rollins defend his championship against Randy Orton in a match that also went about 15 minutes and ended unceremoniously in a disqualification. Between Cena’s and Rollins’ matches, however, only one of the two felt like it mattered for something both in context and in a vacuum.
The seeming end-goal for Cena’s run with the U.S. Championship would be something perhaps comparable to having Brock Lesnar end Undertaker’s streak, only on a significantly smaller scale. Like how being the one to beat Lesnar carries a weight that could potentially launch a wrestler to the moon, Cena’s prestige would make the championship a valuable asset that could greatly benefit whoever ultimately won it from him. Defeating Cena and winning the United States Championship would ideally help create a new top star who could maintain the integrity of the title with similarly exciting matches before passing it on to the next burgeoning star and stepping up into the main event scene.
Or, at least, that may have been the concept.
Now consider the United States title in its current state.
Kalisto is entering the fifth month of his reign as U.S. Champion, a fact that is surprising enough in and of itself. More astounding is the fact that heading into Extreme Rules, he is riding a three-show streak of not being featured on the main card of pay-per-views. The sum total of the work put into making the title an important piece of the larger picture appears to have been all for naught.
Since winning the title back from Alberto Del Rio at Royal Rumble, Kalisto has defended against Del Rio in a pretty great 2/3 falls match at Fastlane, against Ryback at Wrestlemania in front of a mostly empty stadium, and once more against Ryback at Payback in a match that was probably most notable for his opponent’s weightlifting belt bearing the words “The Pre-Show Stopper.”
That each title match was relegated to the pre-show is all the more confounding when one considers that there was room made on Payback for a match between Curtis Axel and R-Truth that was barely Raw on Hulu worthy, the main card of Wrestlemania lasted nearly 5 hours, and the segment from Payback with Vince, Shane, and Stephanie was given 30 minutes to basically reach a non-conclusion.
Kalisto is by no means to blame for whatever luster the title has lost during his five months as champion.The impetus for his initial U.S. title win was doubtlessly the buzz generated by his spectacular Salida Del Sol from atop a ladder at last December’s TLC show, and it was buzzworthy enough to have catapulted Kalisto to the level of a Rey Mysterio in terms of popularity and merchandising. Putting the United States Championship on him, in most scenarios, would be an indication that he was destined for bigger things as a singles star, and that WWE had at last realized its dream of a merch-moving, bilingual, Hispanic superhero for whom children would clamor.
As with the payoff of Cena’s U.S. Open Challenge, however, there is a considerable gulf between what could have been and what is.
Del Rio, the man from whom Kalisto won the championship, cannot be blamed either. As the surprise choice to go over Cena in the Open Challenge, ADR returned from a year away from the company at October’s Hell in a Cell and won the title clean in a short, forgettable match. Despite having gotten himself over to an even greater degree in AAA and Lucha Underground as a babyface than he ever was during his run with WWE, and despite getting a strong babyface reaction from the crowd in Los Angeles upon his return, the call was made to pair Del Rio with a Rascal-bound Zeb Coulter and position him as a heel right out of the gate.
Within three weeks of the title change, both Del Rio’s self-made momentum (and, seemingly, his renewed passion) and the sense of importance that Cena had brought to the U.S. title were buried six feet below the surface of a field somewhere in Mex-America. By the time Del Rio lost the title to Kalisto on an episode of Raw in January, he was just another guy and the United States Championship was once again just a mid-card belt.
Given the presumed importance of both elevating the United States Championship andbuilding a top Hispanic superstar, the bungling of Del Rio and Kalisto as well as the championship they both have held in Cena’s stead, is staggering. Somehow, it is nonetheless unsurprising. It is a result indicative of a larger problem with WWE’s booking approach for the past several years: Cena was the lynchpin of the plan to elevate the United States Championship, and once he was pulled away, the interest in keeping the championship relevant went with him and the whole thing fell apart.
WWE had a real opportunity to keep the belt relevant post-Cena with a refreshed Del Rio, and it failed by completely ignoring what made him such a hot commodity on the independent circuit, sticking him with a dead-on-arrival gimmick, and then shoving him into the background as part of a stable. It then had the opportunity to make Kalisto into its next money-drawing luchador, and it instead killed his buzz by putting the belt on him, putting it back on Del Rio a day later, putting it back on Kalisto less than two weeks later, and then minimizing his role on TV with do-nothing feuds and a five-month absence from major shows.
With the way things are headed, Rusev may wind up reclaiming the United States title at Extreme Rules (at the very least, he has vowed to eat his opponent’s heart, which should make for a great show). Monday marked one year since Rusev last faced Cena for the same title, and in the 365 days since, he has not only proven his ability to survive through bad storylines, but his capability of thriving in them and remaining entertaining (see: throwing a fish at Lana, his all-too-short-lived gimmick of stealing television monitors). Having Rusev end Kalisto’s lame-duck championship run and go on a tear comparable to his undefeated streak could both allow him to cultivate his character and put him back on the map as a viable threat for the world title.
But there is also the specter of Cena looming large over the United States title chase scene. Having already announced his return for Memorial Day, it is not outside the realm of possibility that he will challenge Rusev for the belt, win it back, and resume the Open Challenge seven months after it ended as if the intervening months had never happened. That would likely be preferable for WWE’s purposes, allowing them to smokescreen their failures with Del Rio and Kalisto by closing the loop and trying it again.
Having Cena swoop back in and reclaim the title may not be the best approach for the championship or those orbiting it now, but it is easy to see from WWE’s perspective how John Cena would restore the belt’s tarnished credibility instantaneously. If they were able to comprehend why it lost so much of the credibility that Cena worked so hard to build in the first place, then perhaps putting so much effort into bolstering the importance of championship belts would not be necessary in the future.
