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  • Daily Pro Wrestling History (05/06): Stanisluas Zbyzsko Strangler Lewis for World Title

    1921 

    New York City, New York:
    – Stanislaus Zbyszko defeated Ed “Strangler” Lewis to win the World Heavyweight Title

    1938 

    Buffalo, New York:
    – Don McIntyre defeated Vic Christy for the Montreal World Heavyweight Title 

    1946 

    Portland, Oregon:
    – Al Szasz defeated Paavo Ketonnen to win the Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Title 

    1953 

    Montreal, Quebec, Canada:
    – Killer Kowalski defeated Verne Gagne to win the Montreal World Heavyweight Title 

    San Francisco, California:
    – Leo Nomellini and Enrique Torres defeated Ben and Mike Sharpe for the San Francisco NWA World Tag Team Titles

    1958 

    – Black Hawk and Nelson Royal defeated Doug Donovan and Bill Savage for the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title

    1960 

    – Ed Francis and Bill Savage defeated Tony Borne and Shag Thomas to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title

    1965 

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – Dick the Bruiser beat Pat O’Connor 2 falls to 1
    – Johnny Valentine beat Mike York 
    – Steve Bolus drew Doug Gilbert 
    – Bob Brown and Missouri Mauler beat Ron Reed and Claude Patterson 

    1966 

    Atlanta, Georgia:
    – Alberto and Enrique Torres defeated The Mysterious Medics to win the vacant Georgia NWA Southern Tag Team Title in a one night tournament final 

    1967 

    St. Paul, Minnesota:
    – AWA Champion Verne Gagne wrestled to a no contest with Danny Hodge 
    – The Crusher & Lou Thesz wrestled to a no contest with AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race 
    – Johnny Powers beat Ernie Ladd
    – Johnny Valentine beat The Alaskan
    – Rene Goulet beat Blackjack Daniels

    1969 

    Little Rock, Arkansas:
    – Alberto and Ramon Torres defeated Treach Phillips and Karl Von Stroheim for the Tri-State NWA United States Tag Team Titles

    1971 

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – The Viking defeated Harley Race via DQ 
    – The Stomper defeated Baron Von Raschke
    – Bob Orton defeated Ben Justice
    –  Steve Bolus fought Buddy Austin to a draw 
    – Rufus R. Jones defeated Baron Von Heisinger 

    1974 

    Shreveport, Louisiana:
    – Rip Tyler defeated Bob Sweetan to win the NWA Tri-State Brass Knuckles Title

    1976 

    Hattiesburg, Mississippi:
    – Bob Kelly defeated Duke Miller for the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Title 

    1977

    St. Louis, Missouri:
    – Missouri State Champion Jack Brisco beat Ivan Koloff
    – Dick the Bruiser went to a no contest with WWWF Champion Superstar Billy Graham
    – AWA Tag Team Champions Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum beat Pat O’Connor & Rocky Johnson
    – Billy Robinson beat Bulldog Bob Brown via dq
    – Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Lord Alfred Hayes & Bull Bullinski 
    – Bulldog Bob Brown beat Jerry Kozak

    1978 

    Bayamon, Puerto Rico:
    – Carlos Colón defeated Ox Baker to win the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title
    – The Hollywood Blondes (Jack Evans and Larry Sharpe) defeated Victor Jovica and Chief Thundercloud for the WWC North American Tag Team Titles
    – Hurácan Castillo and Pierre Martel win the WWC World Tag Team Title from Invader I and José Rivera

    1979

    Minneapolis, Minnesota:
    – Non Title Cage match: Verne Gagne & Mad Dog Vachon beat AWA Tag Team Champions Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens
    – Super Destroyer Mark II beat Billy Robinson dq
    – Greg Gagne beat Cecil Dubois
    – Bobby Duncum beat Steve Olsonoski
    – Jesse Ventura no contest Paul Ellering
    – Doug Gilbert drew Buddy Wolff

    1980 

    Tampa, Florida:
    – Masa Saito defeated Steve Keirn for the NWA Florida Television Title 

    1982 

    Fukuoka, Japan:
    – Black Tiger (Marc Rocco) defeated Gran Hamada for the WWF Junior Heavyweight Title 

    Kansas City, Kansas:
    – Joyce Grable and Wendi Richter defeated Princess Victoria and Sabrina to win the NWA Women’s World Tag Team Titles

    Auckland, New Zealand:
    – King Kamaka and Baron Von Krupp defeated Mark Lewin and Steve Rickard for the NWA Australian Tag Team Titles

    1984 

    WCCW Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions: Dallas, Texas:
    – Rock ‘n’ Soul (King Parsons and Buck Zumhofe) defeated WCCW American Tag Team Champions The Super Destoyers I and II, (Bill and Scott Irwin) 
    – Fritz, Kevin and Mike Von Erich defeated WCCW Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts), to win the titles
    – Kerry Von Erich defeated NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair to win the title

    Atlanta, Georgia:
    – King Kong Bundy and The Masked Superstar defeated The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) to win the NWA National Tag Team Titles

    1984 

    Green Bay, Wisconsin:
    – Crusher and Baron Von Raschke defeated The Sheiks (Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera) to win the AWA World Tag Team Titles
    – Nick Bockwinkel beat AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta dq in 15:12
    – Princess Victoria & Velvet McIntyre (sub Despina Montagus) beat Wendi Richter & Donna Christentello 
    – Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal 
    – Billy Robinson beat Larry Zbyszko
    – Curt Hennig beat Jake Milliman (sub Tom Stone) 

    1988 

    Calgary, Alberta, Canada:
    – Makhan Singh defeated Owen Hart to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title 

    1990 

    Barron, Wisconsin:
    – Matt Derringer defeated The Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman) for the Pro Wrestling America Light Heavyweight Title 

    1994 

    North Bay, Ontario:
    – Jack Steel defeated Scott D’Amore to win the Border City Wrestling Can-Am Heavyweight Title 

    Fall Branch, Tennessee:
    – The Mongolian Stomper defeated Mike Samson for the Southern States Wrestling Heavyweight Title 

    2002 

    Hartford, Connecticut:
    – William Regal defeated Spike Dudley to capture the European Title

  • Bobby Roode and Eric Young updates

    Bobby Roode was briefly advertised for the NXT UK tour by the WWE’s Twitter this morning, but the tweet was later pulled.

    While not official, the belief is that both Roode and Eric Young will be signed and officially part of the NXT roster soon.

    Roode and Young were TNA stars from the very beginning as part of Team Canada.  Both left the company earlier this year.  Roode appeared in the crowd and was shown on-screen at the NXT Takeover Dallas event.  Young wrestled Samoa Joe on this week’s NXT TV show, losing clean in the middle to Joe’s choke sleeper.  He hadn’t signed a deal but the feeling was it was a tryout of sorts, and he did well enough in the match and on the microphone that it was expected he’d end up with a deal.

    Young had done an interview with Niagara This Week claiming that he was working on a deal, but that it wasn’t signed and sealed yet.

  • More WWE departures; Wade Barrett, Torito, Damien Sandow, Santino and Cameron

    In a day of housecleaning not seen in years, there are a few more WWE departures to report after the three that were made public earlier this morning. The most notable would be Stu Bennett (Wade Barrett), who posted this on Twitter at 12:40 pm eastern:

    After almost 9 years, today was my final day with WWE. I made a decision back in August last year not to re-sign once my current contract expired in June 2016, and I’ve now reached an agreement with management to dissolve the contract a few weeks early. Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years, especially the guys I’ve shared a ring & locker room with. I will miss them tremendously.

    As planned, I am now taking a well-earned break from the wrestling industry in order to expand my horizons, but I’ll be back in the ring when the time is right.

    Thanks for the support everyone, I’l see you all down the road.

    Barrett was the first-ever winner of the NXT reality to earn a main roster spot. He and the other cast members of that show debuted in a memorable angle in a 2010 edition of Monday Night RAW where they laid out John Cena and destroyed the ring. Barrett had several stop and start pushes over the year and injuries derailed him on several occasions when it appeared he was ready to break through. He had expressed interest in the past in an acting career and had a role in the 2013 film “Dead Man Down”

    El Torito (aka Mascarita Dorada) has been with WWE since 2013, debuting as the costumed bull mascot of Los Matadores, after a long career in Mexico with CMLL and AAA. After feuding with Hornswoggle (who was also released today) for a couple of years, he broke off with Los Matadores in September of last year after being put through a table by the Dudleyz. Aside from a few comedy backstage segments he had not been seen on TV since then.

    Arianne Andrew (Cameron) was a cast member in the 2011 version of Tough Enough, hosted by Steve Austin. She was the first elimination on the show but was the only cast member to make it to the main roster. She started as a “Funkadactyl” with partner Naomi as they accomponied Brodus Clay and later Tensai (Matt Bloom) to the ring. She was also an original cast member of E’s “Total Divas“. She and Naomi competed as a tag team off and on after Clay was released and Tensai transitioned into a commentary roll on NXT. She did a mini-feud with then champion Paige, losing three consecutive title matches in early 2015. Later that year she surfaced on NXT, facing Asuka in one of the current NXT women’s champion’s first bouts with the company. She has made a couple of appearances since then but was not featured prominently and her release was announced today.  It was figured she was on the chopping block after Ryback posted a message on Tumblr essentially demanding equal pay for everyone on the roster and Cameron tweeted out that she was in support of Ryback before quickly pulling it.  She later posted a long tirade about cyberbullying.

    UPDATES:

    Also just announced was the release of Aaron Haddad (Damien Sandow). Sandow was a popular undercard wrestler who always got bigger crowd reactions than his push. He competed on RAW just this past Monday and his elimination was one of the louder reactions in the match. He is a former Money in the Bank winner with the distinction of being one of only two wrestlers to not cash in his briefcace successfully (the other being, of all people, John Cena). He’d started with the company in 2002, starting as Aaron “The Idol” Stevens in OVW and was later called up to Smackdown as Idol Stevens, teaming with KC James as Michelle McCool’s “Teacher’s Pets”. That run was short-lived and he was released in 2007 after a return to OVW. He was re-signed in 2010 and assigned to FCW, the WWE’s developmental territory at the time, and made his return to the main roster in 2012 as Sandow. He teamed with Cody Rhodes as the “Rhodes Scholars” as they feuded with Team Hell No over the WWE Tag Team titles. He later did a gimmick where he impersonated characters from both inside and outside wrestling, such as Bruce Springsteen, Abraham Lincoln, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon. That morphed into a memorable sting where he played Macho Sandow, along with Curtis Axel’s character of “Axel Mania”, a Hulk Hogan parody. The two feuded and then teams for several months before Hulk Hogan’s falling out with the company led to the dissolution of the team. Sandow had been used sparingly since then, usually in an enhancement role or in battle royals.

    WWE just announced the release of Santino.  He had underwent neck surgery and the belief was he probably wasn’t ever wrestling again.  He had made occasional appearances here and there on WWE TV.  Of late, he has been running his own mixed martial arts school, the BattleArts Academy, in Ontario.  He started out in Ohio Valley Wrestling in the mid-2000s as Johnny Geo Basco and Boris Alexiev, basically your standard Rusev foreign heel character.  An incident occured at a TV taping where the Boogeyman came down to the ring and the idea what that he was supposed to be a terrifying character, but Santino (real name Anthony Carelli) was sitting in the crowd and started laughing.  Jim Cornette was furious and slapped him around, which snowballed into the deparature of Cornette from WWE developmental.  He debuted on the main roster in April of 2007 on a show in Milan, Italy.  His new gimmick was that he was an Italian babyface, so he was signed to face Umaga for the Intercontinental Title and he won it his first night in.  He lost the belt back to Umaga a few months later and soon began to morph into a full-fledged comedy figure.  The irony is that he was so great at the character that they ran with it full-bore, probably to the detriment of his career since they never really pushed him as a serious character afterwards.  

  • WWE releases Alex Riley, Hornswoggle and Zeb Colter

    WWE today confirmed the releases of Kevin Kiley Jr (Alex Riley), Dylan Postl (Hornswoggle) and Wayne Keown (Zeb Colter).

    Riley has had the most prominent role of the three recently, as he had an interview on NXT TV this week to promote an upcoming (already taped) match with Nakamura. He had recently returned from a long-term injury layoff and had been doing a bitter veteran gimmick where he would lash out against recent NXT signings that he didn’t feel were the calibre of athlete he is. He had gained a lot of muscle mass in his time off. He had been with the company since 2007 and was most prominently the sidekick of The Miz when he had his World title run and headlined WrestleMania 27 against John Cena. He won season 2 of the NXT reality show after being mentored by Miz on that show. After floundering on the main roster following his breakup with Miz, he resurfaced as a color commentator on NXT in 2013 before leaving the booth for a short-term feud with Kevin Owens in early 2015. He was injured shortly after and just recently returned to NXT TV.

    Hornswoggle has been virtually non-existent on TV since a 30 day wellness violation on September 28th of last year. He’s been with the company almost exactly 10 years, having debuted in May of 2006. After starting out as Fit Finley’s sidekick (later revealed to be his “son”), he had featured roles as Mr McMahon’s illegitimate son and later as a sidekick to the DX team of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. He was also revealed to be the person behind the “anonymous GM” when WWE wanted a quick way out of that storyline. His last featured role was a feud with Torito, the costumed bull mascot of The Matadores (Primo and Epico Colon) tag team. The two had a WeeLC match at Payback in 2014 that was an entertaining spectacle but after that feud fizzled out, it was clear there were no plans for him.

    Colter, also known for many years as Dutch Mantel, had been with WWE since 2013, which was second stint with the company. In the mid-90’s he managed the Blu Brothers (Ron and Don Harris) and Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw (JBL) as Uncle Zedekiah. He returned in 2013 to manage Jack Swagger. He received a lot of press as an outspoken pro-American xenophobic mouthpiece, even getting mentions from mainstream sources such as Glenn Beck and FOX News. WWE toned down the character after a couple of months while of course led to the Swagger character cooling off as well. He later added Cesaro to his stable as “The Ream Americans”. That pairing was short-lived as Cesaro broke off from the team to align with Paul Heyman. Shortly after that, Colter and Swagger turned face to feud with Rusev and Lana in Rusev’s first main roster feud. Colter was written out of WWE storylines after Rusev broke his leg in a backstage segment. He resurfaced last year in a short-lived run as Alberto Del Rio’s manager and feuding with his former protégé Swagger. After just a few weeks, Del Rio “fired” Colter on RAW and he had not been seen since.

  • Wrestling Weekly: A Casual Fan’s Thoughts on Payback, Ryback, Roman/AJ

    A fun mix of classic and current talk on the show this week!  Les gives us the latest on his friend and great wrestler back in the day Billy Wicks to start us off.  From there, we’ll tackle a question sent to us regarding a match from the Memphis territory (9:31) featuring two very inexperienced guys and the way it was laid out.  We’ll segue into a little talk about WWE Payback (16:05) with some thoughts Vic shares that come from a very new, pretty casual wrestling fan who has the kind of background that gives her views a unique perspective.  Of course, the missive that Ryback fired off this week (33:12) gets a going over, as does the comments Yoshi Tatsu recently made (55:48) about WWE in a Japanese magazine.  We’ll close the show looking at the powerbomb AJ Styles took to end Raw and whether or not AJ should have a gripe with Roman Reigns (72:10) for the way he was tossed onto the announcer’s table on Monday night.  Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!


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  • UFC Fight Night 87 DFS Playbook: value picks, who to avoid

    The Octagon makes a stop for the first time in The Netherlands for a fight card on Mothers’ Day as UFC Fight Night 87 rolls into Rotterdam, airing on FOX Sports 1 as an afternoon event in the United States. Headlining the event is a heavyweight bout as Alistair Overeem puts his three-fight win streak on the line against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski. Below are our studs, value plays and fighters to avoid when setting your line-ups for Sunday’s event.

    STUDS

    Magnus Cedenblad ($10,600)

    Magnus Cedenblad hasn’t fought since October 2014 yet he remains one of our top plays on this slate of fighters for UFC Fight Night 87 on Sunday. He has won three straight fights, and eleven of his thirteen professional wins have come by stoppage. He is a huge middleweight and has some real good talent. He is a solid grappler, and that is the area his opponent, Garreth McLellan, has some trouble. McLellan has a tendency of getting taken down, and with a bigger opponent in Cedenblad who has excellent grappling, it is going to be hard for McLellan to avoid getting taken down. Cedenblad should be looking to utilize his size and grappling advantages, and a finish early should be in line. He has good hands, but a submission early seems more likely. Cedenblad is an excellent pick to start your roster off with.

    Alistair Overeem ($10,300)

    I am honestly surprised that Alistair Overeem is coming as cheap as he is for his main event bout against Andrei Arlovski. Overeem has won three straight and has looked excellent in doing so, and his last win over Junior Dos Santos was arguably his most impressive inside the Octagon, making Dos Santos look like a finished fighter, which is amazing considering how impressive Dos Santos looked in his last fight a month ago. He also faces an opponent known for a glass jaw in Arlovski, who is coming off being knocked out in 54 seconds in his last fight against Stipe Miocic. Yes, Overeem has suffered nine knockout losses of his own, but his style should be able to keep Arlovski from getting on the inside. Arlovski did look like a rejuvenated fighter up until his smashing at the hands of Miocic, and I expect to see more of that Arlovski than the one who had an impressive win streak leading into the Miocic bout. Overeem’s salary makes him an easy play for your roster, and I expect him to be widely owned.

    VALUE PLAYS

    Chris Wade ($9,000)

    Chris Wade is an interesting play for a $9,000 salary. He is undefeated inside the Octagon, but he takes on his stiffest test to date when he meets Rustam Khabliov on Saturday night. Khabilov is an injury replacement, but he had a good amount of notice for the bout and likely got as close to a full training camp as you can get. Khabilov hasn’t looked the same in his most recent fights, and while he got the win over Norman Parke in his last fight, he didn’t look overly impressive, and Wade is a sneaky rising prospect. Wade has good wrestling and some solid submissions, and he may overpower Khabilov to the mat. Khabliov had shown some great throws and takedowns, but that has seemingly gone out the window lately. I’m not sure if he regressed or if the having to stay overseas to train due to visa issues have hurt him, but he just hasn’t looked the same. Wade is a sneaky play to score a lot of takedowns and grind out a decision win.

    Gunnar Nelson ($8,900)

    Gunnar Nelson is going to be the most debated fighter on the card at his $8,900 salary. It’s hard to predict what is going to happen when he takes on Albert Tumenov on Sunday. Tumenov has shown to be an explosive striker so Nelson will be looking to take it to the mat. If Nelson can get the fight down, Tumenov is going to be in a lot of trouble on the ground. Nelson is still world class on the mat, but he did get embarassed by Demian Maia in his last fight. He needs a big rebound if he is ever going to be in the title picture at 170 pounds, and Tumenov is a beast with a five-fight win streak and has explosive finishes. Nelson has yet to be finished, and he could grind the fight out for three rounds and find a submission on the mat. He has good value if he can turn the fight with Tumenov into his kind of fight. It may be a challenge, but I see Nelson having some very good value.

    FIGHTERS TO AVOID

    Yan Cabral ($10,200)

    Yan Cabral has a decently high salary on Sunday’s event, but he is an easy pass for me. He is just 2-2 in his UFC career and hasn’t been overly impressive in his bouts. He has one finish in the two wins, but that was over Naoyuki Kotani, who was 0-5 inside the Octagon. He has a tough match-up against Reza Madadi, a fighter who is very tough to finish, and one that has a good shot at scoring an upset win. Madadi lost his last bout to Norman Parke, but it was his first fight in two-and-a-half years, and the ring rust was certainly evident. Madadi has a very good chance in finishing Cabral, but this looks to be a fight that will go the distance. I don’t expect much from either man, and I actually think Madadi picks up the victory. It makes Cabral an easy fighter for me to avoid.

    Ulka Sasaki ($9,100)

    Ulka Sasaki is the other fighter on my avoid list. He is coming into his bout against Willie Gates as a late replacement for the now-retired Paddy Holohan and enters the fight on a two-fight losing skid. He is in a must-win situation if he intends on having a UFC future, but Gates is a tough foe to go against, especially when he has a full camp. Gates is just 1-2 in his UFC tenure, like Sasaki, but both of his losses came in short-notice situations. When he had a full camp, he won in 96 seconds. Sasaki’s last two losses have come by finish, and Gates is a finisher himself. Sasaki is an easy fighter to avoid, even though his low salary is tempting if you are looking for cheap options.

    OUR LINE-UPS

    RYAN FREDERICK- Magnus Cedenblad ($10,600), Alistair Overeem ($10,300), Nikita Krylov ($10,100), Willie Gates ($9,600), Chris Wade ($9,000)

    I have Magnus Cedenblad and Alistair Overeem as my top plays for this week, and thus they will be on my roster this week. I love Cedenblad’s chances against an overmatched Garreth McLellan and Cedenblad’s grappling will be the big difference. Overeem is on a roll and has looked good-to-great in his three-fight win streak. Andrei Arlovski has a real suspect chin, and against a heavy kickboxer like Overeem, it is looking good for Overeem to get an early win. I like Nikita Krylov against Francimar Barroso. Barroso does just enough to win fights by decision, but he hasn’t been overly impressive, and Krylov has against lesser competition. I like Krylov to win by submission. Willie Gates gets a short-notice opponent who has been finished in his last two, and Gates is impressive with a full camp. I’m taking a chance on him. I’m also taking a chance on Chris Wade. I think he wins and he is cheap and of great value. Takedowns and significant strikes will lead him to the win.

    PAUL FONTAINE- Karolina Kowalkiewicz ($11,200), Alistair Overeem ($10,300), Nikita Krylov ($10,100), Willie Gates ($9,600), Garreth McLellan ($8,800)

    “Reem” is fighting in his home country and is on the verge of a title shot. He’s my lock of the week. A must for any DK team and at a reasonable salary. Nikita Krylov has the best nickname in MMA, “Al Capone” and his last 5 wins have been first round finishes. KK is unbeaten and that shouldn’t change against TUF 20 alumnus Heather Clark. The women on that show have not faired well in UFC competition for the most part against fighters that weren’t on the show. I expect KK to get her UFC finish here as the biggest favorite on the card. Garreth McLellan is a darkhorse for sure but when he wins, he finishes. Magnus Cedenblad was finished by Francis Carmont. ’nuff said. I’m going with Willie Gates for my last pick. KO power in the flyweight division is rare but Gates has it. Yuta Sasaki has been finished in two straight fights and Willie is going to make it three on Sunday morning.

    PEACH MACHINE- Kyoji Horiguchi ($10,700), Albert Tumenov ($10,500), Yan Cabral ($10,200), Anna Elmose ($9,400), Chris Wade ($9,000)

    I will always take Kyoji. He will be a champion someday and I’ll always put him on my team. He’ll get the finish, or a ton of points. Tumenov has a really tough opponent across the cage but he’s game as hell and maybe he saw the blueprint for beating Nelson. Wade is as tough as Khabilov. I’m sure Wade is there to lose, but I don’t think he cares what UFC has planned. Nor should he. Yan Cabral is going against Madadi who I’ve never liked. Elmose is a newcomer but looks tough and de Randamie has been out of action for a while. I like the upset here. I’m not as confident in these picks as I’ve been in the last couple but as usual, my advice is to never play it safe.

  • NXT Salina, KS, live results: Tyler Breeze vs. Nakamura; Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor

    Submitted by August Baker

    – No Way Jose vs Murphy

    Crowd loved chanting with Jose and popped for his antics. Match itself was tame, with lots of stalling and wristlocks. Jose won with a half nelson slam.

    – Chris Girard vs Manny Andrade

    Crowd didn’t react at all to their entrances, but got into it as it went along. Manny faked a moonsault from the top, then immediately hit a standing moonsault as Girard tried to roll out of the way for a huge reaction. Manny won with a running double knees to a sitting Girard in the corner.

    – Tye Dillinger vs Austin Aries

    Crowd was hot for both guys, with lots of dueling “Austin Aries/Perfect 10!” chants. They did a lot of mat wrestling, with a bunch of counters. The match was really good, and Austin eventually won with a roaring elbow.

    – Triple Threat NXT Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss vs Bayley vs Asuka (c)

    This was a change from the online card, as it was supposed to be Bliss vs Asuka and Bayley vs Eva Marie. Pretty standard triple threat match, with one girl out of the ring most the time. Bayley hit Asuka with the Bayley to Belly, but Bliss threw her out, and got caught by the Asuka Lock for the finish.

    – There was an intermission, where Tom Phillips came back out and pronounced the name of the town wrong. There was much booing.

    – Tyler Breeze vs Shinsuke Nakamura

    Before the match, Tyler cut a promo, essentially reminding us of his status as NXT gatekeeper. He’s fought everyone in NXT, and any new faces have to get through him. Cue the Nakamura chants. Nakamura got a huge reaction for everything he did, but the crowd loved both guys. They did pure comedy at first, with Nakamura trying to mock Breeze’s corner pose, and unable to get to the top rope, doing it on the bottom rope instead. Breeze tried to do Nakamura’s entrance pose on the rope, but couldn’t lean back far enough, so Nakamura gave him a hand. Later, Nakamura got a hold of Breeze’s camera and took a selfie. Nakamura kicked out of the Beauty Shot, and Tyler went for a chair. When the ref took it from him, Nakamura threw Breeze with the reverse powerslam and hit the Kinshasha for the win.

    – Alexander Wolfe & Sawyer Fulton vs. NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha (Chad Gable & Jason Jordan)

    Wolfe and Fulton look like Mad Max characters. They overpowered Gable until he finally got the hot tag to Jordan. Alphas are fun to watch, but the crowd was a bit out of it after the Nakamura match, and Wolfe/Fulton didn’t do much interesting to get us back. American Alpha won with their assisted suplex.

    – NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor 

    Another split crowd here. Finn got a huge “Bullet Club” chant before the match. The match itself was good, with a lot of their signature stuff being countered by each other. Joe won with the muscle buster.

    After he recovered from the match, Balor had Phillips come back out and apologize for pronouncing “Salina” wrong, doing his best Stone Cold and The Rock impersonations to send Phillips packing, then finished with the “We Are NXT” slogan.

  • DR. KEITH PRESENTS: HIS GRAND RETURN!!!!

    Dad’s home!!! Oh yes, it’s the return of Dr. Keith himself to his very own show that he founded ten years ago. On a special occasion like this, of course it needs to be a free show. The good Doctor joins Alan to talk AAW heading into their huge show this weekend with Fenix vs Pentagon Jr and Sami Callihan vs. Tomasso Ciampa, his father & son bonding at WWE’s Payback PPV in Chicago, the ROH Global Wars PPV that Keith will also be in attendance for this weekend and with the week that’s in it, they had to talk about the ALL TIME EPIC IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE CLASSIC between Tetsuya Naito and Tomohiro Ishii! Alan goes on an Ishii rant (a positive one) that is must listen if you’ve enjoyed past Alan Rants (TM) on Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jun Akiyama! A super awesome time, all for FREE.

    CHECK IT!!!

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  • B&V: NXT, Lucha Underground, Granny Wrestling Report, Raw and more!

    The Bryan & Vinny Show is back today with tons to talk about! We’ve got NXT from Full Sail, Lucha Underground with the NO MAS match main event, Granny’s weekly segment including her WRESTLING REPORT, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • NJPW announces top 3 matches for 6/19 PPV

    New Japan announced on Friday the top three matches for the next major PPV event, a 6/19 show at Osaka Jo Hall.  This is one of the company’s big three events of the year.

    The big matches are all as expected, with Kazuchika Okada as the challenger for IWGP champion Tetsuya Naito in a rematch from Invasion Attack where Naito won the title.  Hiroshi Tanahashi will challenge for the IC title in a ladder match against Kenny Omega.  The third main match has Katsuyori Shibata getting a rematch for the Never title against new champion Yuji Nagata.

    New Japan World will have a NOAH vs. New Japan themed show on 5/19. 

    The next Korakuen Hall show live on New Japan World will be 5/21 at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time, the first night of the 2016 Best of the Super Juniors tournament:

    Satoshi Kojima & Volador Jr. & Bobby Fish vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Will Ospreay & Trent Baretta

    Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson & Jay White & David Finlay

    Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan & Ricochet vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Nick Jackson

    Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sandra & Evil

    Bushi vs. Gedo in tournament

    Rocky Romero vs. Matt Jackson in tournament

    Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Matt Sydal in tournament

    Kushida vs. Kyle O’Reilly in tournament