Results and notes from the ICW Fear And Loathing VIII show.
Results:
— ICW Zero G Championship Davey Boy (w/ The Wee Man) defeated Stevie Boy (c)
— 6 man Tag Joe Hendry, Noam Dar & Kenny Williams defeated Liam Thomson, Lionheart & Doug Williams (Jimmy Havoc run in attack on the Thomson, Lionheart & Doug Williams team; after the match Carmel challenged Liam Thomson to a match at the next show, Square Go)
— Tournament final for the new ICW Women’s Championship Mick Foley banned any ringside interference and added Viper to the match, making it a Three Way Dance Viper defeated Nikki Storm and Kay Lee Ray to become the first ICW Women’s Champion
— Joe Coffey defeated Rhyno
— ICW Tag Team Championship Polo Promotions (c) – Jackie Polo & Mark Coffey (w. Coach Trip & DCT) defeated The 55 – Kid Fite and Sha Samuels (w/ James R Kennedy and Timm Wylie to retan their titles
— 6 Man Steel Cage Tag Teams win by all three members escaping. The New Age Kliq – Chris Renfrew, Wolfgang & BT Gunn eventually defeated The Legion – Tommy End, Dante & Mikey Whiplash. Order of Elimination: Wolfgang, Dante & Tommy End, Chris Renfrew and then Gunn & Whiplash crashed through tables at ringside at the same to make it a draw; Whiplash demanded that Gunn face him one on one and the match restarted as sudden death, with a pinfall to finish – Gunn pinned Whiplash for the victory.
— Big Damo defeated Jack Jester
— ICW World Heavyweight Championship Grado defeated Drew Galloway (c) Suspended GM Red Lightning tried to get involved, but was stopped by Mick Foley; ICW owner Mark Dallas counted the pinfall after a ref bump.
Notes:
— Legitimate sold out and packed 4000 crowd in Hall 3 of the SECC (Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre) the second biggest venue in Scotland. — Mick Foley as guest GM for the night, the only other import was Rhyno, who has a history of working ICW shows – no one shot big names to help pad the card. — Owner Mark Dallas announced next year’s Fear And Loathing would be in the larger SSE Hydro – on paper, the second busiest venue in the world after the O2 Arena in London. This is absolutely HUGE for ICW, the same arena that TNA ran their televised shows from and that the WWE run on their tours now. — Show started on time at 7pm, no mean feat with the size of the queues outside when the doors opened at 6.30pm — Stars of Scottish TV police sitcom “Scot Squad” appeared after the first 6 man tag match and “arrested” Lionheart to a big reaction. — The Grado vs. Galloway match had a legitimate “big match feel” to it – there was an atmosphere like nothing else I’ve ever experienced at any wresting show I’ve been too. — Mick Foley’s involvement was minimal, but he was well used. — Excellent show, well worth checking out on the ICW On Demand service.
Myzteziz began the show coming out to a mixed reaction. He cut a sort of rudo promo on Rey Misterio Jr. & also La Sociedad. He specifically said he doesn’t want to join them and doesn’t need help winning his matches unlike wrestlers such as Fantasma & Pentagon. He left to more boo’s than cheers.
AAA Reina De Reinas Champion Taya Valkyrie vs. Goya Kong vs La Hiedra vs Lady Shani vs Lady Maravilla
This was Taya’s first title defense since winning the title 18 months ago at Triplemania. Both Lady Shani & Lady Maravilla were listed as surprises although Shani debuted 2 weeks ago in Monterrey so it was presumed she’d be one of the mystery women. Lady Maravilla is relatively unknown but has been working the Mexico City area & training under Gran Apache (who is the head AAA trainer). This was one fall instead of elimination and no tags needed so it was all action. Maravilla looked good in her debut & Goya Kong seemed extra motivated – both doing and taking lots of moves you wouldn’t expect someone her size to do.
They did a dive train ending with Goya doing a somersault off the apron onto everyone. At one point Lady Maravilla did a great combo submission/German Suplex spot. Finish saw Taya use her Northern Lights Suplex/Double Stomp combo on Hiedra to keep her title. Match exceeded all expectations and was actually quite good.
AAA Tag Team Champions Joe Lider/Pentagon Jr. (champs) vs Jack Evans/Angelico vs Steve Pain/Daga
Even though they’ve been portrayed as not being on the same page on TV, Lider/Pentagon/Daga all came out wearing Perros Del Mal shirts which was confusing. Steve Pain must have not got the memo. This was the usual AAA multi-team match with everyone taking turns doing their big moves while other guys just watched from the outside. Angelico hit a big running somersault dive onto a pile at one point. Later Angelico picked up Daga in a fireman’s carry and Jack moonsaulted off Daga’s chest to the floor on Pentagon. The match was going well until Joe Lider brought out thumbtacks for no reason at all and took forever setting up a suplex off the top rope onto them.
Daga hit a gorgeous somersault dive onto a pile and then brawled up onto the stage with Angelico where they were met by Myzteziz who superkicked Angelico. Myzteziz then hit the ringside area seemingly to help one of the rudo teams but instead dragged Pentagon outside the ring to break up a pin after a Package Piledriver and then crotched him on the ringpost as Joe Lider stood by watching and being confused. Steve Pain got a great nearfall on Jack Evans but then Jack pinned him with the bridging backslide to get the win. Very good match with some great moves & hopefully the end of Pentagon Jr. being wasted in the tag division.
Drago/Fenix vs Brian Cage/Mesias
The rudos took the advantage early on with Cage doing lots of his usual power moves on the tecnicos. They built up to the tecnico comeback which included a slingshot rana to the floor by Drago & a double stomp on the apron from Fenix to Mesias which looked absolutely brutal. Really good back and forth from that point on with the tecnicos doing all their great flying spots & the rudos throwing them around when they could catch them. Fenix assisted Drago into a huge corkscrew dive and then hit a Brillo Cometa (2nd rope step-up double corkscrew) which looked spectacular! They did lots of nearfalls which got great reactions.
They teased problems with Cage/Mesias at one point but it went nowhere. At the end Fenix went for a springboard frankensteiner off the top rope but Mesias caught him and power bombed him at the same time as Cage hit his finisher on Drago for the win. After the match Mesias stole Fenix’s mask and a little child in a Fenix mask at ringside was shown looking very sad. This was another very good match that really was the perfect type of match that should have been on Triplemania two months ago when more eyes were on the product.
The entire roster came out to honor Antonio Pena. Crowd was respectful & started a ‘Tono’ chant as Marisela Pena looked to be on the verge of tears.
Copa Antonio Pena
This was the yearly 10 man Royal Rumble style elimination match where participants entered every 30 seconds. The entrances are generally a formality which is why they breeze through them. Aero Star started with Hijo De Pirata Morgan. Aero took him out with a bullet tope suicida immediatly. Averno was next and brought a chair to attack Aero Star. Nino Hamburguesa followed and hit everyone with a somersault dive through the ropes. Electro Shock was next followed by La Parka. The buzzer then hit and the surprise luchador came out… TAURUS! A new charachter who appears to resemble a bull or if you’re a longtime AAA fan – surprise 2007 Triplemania wrestler The Animal. He was immediatly put over as a huge threat by eliminating Aero Star, Pirata & Nino Hamburguesa as Cibernetico, Blue Demon Jr. & Chessman hit the ring to round out the participants. Electro Shock was dumped by Averno & Chessman.
In a complete stunner as Cibernetico & Demon were brawling near the ropes, Taurus walked over and ELIMINATED THEM BOTH AT THE SAME TIME! La Parka eliminated Chessman and then Averno soon afterwards setting the stage for him to win this match for a 4th time for no reason at all… except no! Parka got cocky and as his back was turned Taurus snuck up behind him and threw him over the top rope for the shocking win in his debut! Crowd was stunned. Taurus got his trophy and left as the announcers speculated who he was and what an impressive debut it was. Not much of a match in terms of quality but a great way to introduce a new charachter in a strong way & a memorable moment for sure.
(Should note big Lucha Underground fan Casey who is @luchagringo on twitter noted there may be a Lucha Underground tie in to all this as there’s a scene in season 1 where Dario is in his office writing names down & one name happens to be TAURUS. Also, this Taurus charachter resembles a bull… the same type of bull Dario had on his desk throughout season 1 that was focused upon many times before scene cutaways.)
Rey Misterio Jr./Psycho Clown/Garza Jr. vs Texano Jr./Hijo Del Fantasma/Myzteziz
Garza Jr. was the surprise wrestler. He’s the ex-Hijo de Ninja from Monterrey and is part of the Garza extended family which is why he used this name. He is not Hector Gara’s son. Crowd didn’t really know him but they got into him because of his looks and he was doing a Hector Garza tribute act right down to tearing off the pants & doing his same style clothesline. Match started with Rey being presented flowers only for Myzteziz to destroy them. He ran from Rey early on but was dropkicked to the floor by Psycho Clown. The tecnicos hit a triple tope but soon afterwards the rudos took over. The storyline was Myzteziz was all over Rey but didn’t want to take part in any triple teaming by his teammates. Rey led the comeback with a rana off the apron to the floor.
Garza Jr. did a moonsault dive to the floor. Psycho Clown went crazy with his belt and smacked everyone including Tirantes Jr. in the face. At one point Rey Jr. got assisted into a silla on the floor on Myzteziz which was a neat spot. Finish saw Psycho take out Texano with a somersault dive, Rey Jr. hit Fantasma with an asai moonsault dive & then Myzteziz caught Garza Jr. coming off the ropes with a backcracker and put him away with a Swanton Bomb. Crowd was 100% boo’ing Myzteziz by the end of the match. Rey Jr. cut a promo with the announcers afterwards saying you can’t win all the time but Myzteziz should realize he didn’t pin him and they’ll meet again soon.
AAA Mega Heavyweight Champion Alberto El Patron vs Johnny Mundo
Heavy on the Mexico vs USA theme. Mundo had Brian Cage with him, Alberto had Psycho Clown. Alberto hit a wild tope suicida early on. They set up a table on the floor. Mundo started running from Alberto including hurdling into the crowd and stealing chips from a vendor to throw at Alberto who was chasing him. Alberto eventually caught Johnny trying to sneak under the ring but Johnny found water and blinded Alberto to take the advantage. He put Alberto through one of the tables at ringside. Slowest paced match of the night so far. Alberto hit his tree-of-woe double stomp for a nearfall and the Guerrero Especial for another nearfall. Mundo hit his running knee for a nearfall. Mundo escaped the armbar at one point by grabbing the ropes. Mundo went for his kick off the ropes but both Alberto & referee Maya ducked to tease a ref bump… except one second later Maya did get taken out by Alberto by accident.
Alberto had the match won but no referee so he signalled to send someone else out. Who else would come but Hijo De Tirantes! Everyone knew the usual AAA bullshit was coming. It looked like Mundo was gonna try to suplex Alberto over the top to the floor through another table but Alberto countered into the armbar. Mundo refused to give up and held on long enough for Cage to slid in a guitar (???) and Mundo smashed Alberto over the head with it. The crowd hated this because Tirantes didn’t call the DQ and they throught Alberto was about to get screwed for the 3rd straight time in his hometown. But as Mundo covered, Tirantes counted 1… paused… and then raised Alberto’s hand for the DQ win as confetti was shot all over. Kind of a flat finish but protects Mundo for the rematch & there was no time to be angry because Cage hit the ring and both Alberto/Psycho Clown were beat down.
Rey Jr. ran out for save and hit a double 619 only for Myzteziz to hit the ring and take out Rey including stealing his mask. La Sociedad then hit the ring in a very eerie Triplemania-esque moment but there was no confusion here this time… they went right after Myzteziz and beat him down. Fantasma cut a promo on Myzteziz saying he should have listened to La Sociedad instead of opposing them. Cibernetico then broke a guitar over Myzteziz’s head. Alberto/Rey regrouped on the floor and never helped Myzteziz. Mundo cut a promo in half English/half Spanish on Alberto. Eventually Alberto/Rey hit the ring to chase off La Sociedad and stand tall. Alberto closed the show cutting a heavy pro-Mexico promo.
Unlike Triplemania this show at least ended with the lines firmly drawn. Myzteziz is a loner with no friends or any loyalty to either tecnicos or rudos. He wants Rey and only Rey. La Soceidad are done trying to recruit Myzteziz & Fantasma is in place as the new leader. Alberto/Rey Jr./Psycho Clown are the top tecnicos opposing them.
Notes/Opinion:
AAA needed to deliver and certainly did. The feed was perfect the entire night with only a minor glitch or two reported from many folks watching on twitter. The show had two memorable debuts to freshen things up & the wrestling was top notch with all 6 matches ranging from good to great. The live crowd was into everything & it felt like a major show even with little build on TV.
The most impressive part of the show was for the first time in MANY YEARS AAA managed to avoid the things they’ve been addicted to for the longest time. There was no stupid rudo referee nonsense & aside from Joe Lider pulling out thumbtacks for no reason there was not a single moment a match turned into amateur hour. Some could argue the main event finish was weak but it appears this is heading somewhere instead of just being a fuck finish for the sake of doing one.
Pretty much this show was the anti-Triplemania. Unfortunately there were likely way more eyes on Triplemania but if AAA keeps doing shows like this hopefully they can win those fans back. First thing’s first though – hopefully the people running AAA read why people enjoyed this show & keep to this format rather than reverting back to the things that keep turning so many new fans off (read: Hijo de Tirantes).
Last week, we got a darned fine edition of Impact. EC3 bullied Jeff Hardy around a bit and beat Spud to defend his title in another great match, Gail Kim beat Jade in a good match to retain her title, and Chris Melendez won his leg back from Eric Young in a lumberjack match. That was about the worst part of the show, with the main event five-man elimination match not only making Drew the number one contender for Bound For Glory, but also delivering a far better match than this year’s King of the Mountain match. This week, Matt Hardy and Drew team up to face EC3 and Tyrus, and Dixie’s going to name a special referee for Drew vs. EC3.
The show opens with a recap of Lashley suplexing guys in the main event, en route to Drew Sick Kicking him for the win. EC3 and Tyrus come out while Josh hypes up EC3 vs. Drew as the BFG main event. He calls it a “can’t miss” main event, but doesn’t cite why. EC3 says he isn’t in a good mood, but he is happy that he kicked Jeff Hardy out the door. He also isn’t happy that their biggest show is in four days and no one is talking about its main event. EC3 is insulted by Dixie cheering Drew on, and he calls her out.
Dixie comes out in a multi-colored blouse while Josh ends his cheerleading streak for EC3. Dixie says he’s been in a great champion in the ring, but outside of it, he’s an embarrassment to the company. She praises Drew for saving the company, which EC3 wasn’t interested in doing. EC3 says he was disowned by her, but he wasn’t given the chance to lead Team TNA. He calls Drew the chosen one, but he can’t beat him at BFG – or ever.
Drew comes down to his kick-ass Rising theme looking fairly pissed. He goes nose to nose with EC3 and has an aura about him just doing that. He tells EC3 to shut up and the reason no one likes him is that he’s a little bitch who thinks he’s the best in the world – he turned his back on TNA. EC3 slaps the belt to prove that he’s the best and Drew says that the second-best thing he does is talking. The best is in the ring because he’s an animal and he’ll tear EC3 apart. Well, at least they’ve established some kind of rivalry between them – even if it is right before the PPV.
EC3 says he beat every TNA Hall of Famer, and he’ll beat Drew too. At BFG, Drew won’t stand up – he’ll stay down. Drew says he isn’t a savior, but he will be the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Josh says this is one of the most-anticipated matches in quite some time. How? In what way? Why would this statement be true? Pope and Josh talk about how important a win here is tonight in the main event to gain the momentum for the title match. Josh says the BPs face the Dollhouse, and tonight, they’re down a member. Shera also faces Storm in a No DQ match to blow their rivalry off tonight. Storm tells Shera that he is the reason the other Revolution members are doubting him, but he’s a TNA legend and he’ll cut down Shera for the buzzards.
After a break, Dixie is talking to someone backstage before EC3 interrupts her about Drew being the chosen one now and not him. Recap of the Revolution splitup over the past month and Shera breaking away from Storm. Christy Hemme appears after being largely off-screen for a while and announces Storm as he comes down the aisle. Shera comes down and brawls with Storm.
Mahabali Shera vs. James Storm – No DQ
After the mid-aisle brawl, they go in the ring where Storm low blows him. Josh points out that there isn’t much of a Revolution left – as both Manik and Abyss have left. So then that would seemingly make this a one-man faction. Shera grabs him for a fallaway slam and we see a graphic for Earl Hebner’s hall of fame induction at BFG. Storm gets a back cracker. Storm grabs a pack of chairs and brings them in and sets them up like a bridge. Shera goes up top awkwardly, but gets slammed off the top and he goes through the chair bridge for 2.
Storm brings a table in and the crowd chants “one more table”. Storm goes for the whirly bird through the table, but Shera powers out and they bonk heads. Storm gets the bottle, drinks from it, and spews the beer onto Early accidentally. This forces him to rest against the table lightly before a spear hits and Earl can’t count it. Shera is hit with a cowbell and eats a whirly bird through the table for a 2 count. Storm breaks the bottle over the ringpost to use it as a stabbing device here in a mid-card match that is opening the show.
As Storm goes to bludgeon him with the bottle, a maskless Manik and Abyss make the save by doing the finger point and then pointing at Storm. Abyss chokeslams him while Manik hits the frog splash and Sheera gets the Sky High for the win. Josh calls this an upset while Pope points out that everything was legal. A backstage guy talks about how important the KOTM Title is, and asks Roode why – Roode says he’ll explain in a minute. After a break, someone asks Dixie about EC3 and she says that EC3 has been questioning her about everything for weeks. She wants to reward someone with a a special treat – if EC3’s team loses, Matt Hardy is added to the BFG main event.
Bobby Roode Explains the Importance of the TNA Legends/Global/World TV/King of the Mountain Championship
Roode says he’s proudly the KOTM Champion, but he’s been asked just what this title means. It means pro wrestling, it represents the love of the sport. If that’s the case, why hasn’t it been defended recently? He swears to defend it with honor and respect soon, and he’ll kick this off at BFG. He’ll defend it in an open challenge to anyone in TNA and he will prove why he is the It Factory of pro wrestling. Lashley comes down while Josh wonders how he can see these two face off. Well, he can either watch BFG where these two will apparently have a match – or you can watch the first World Title reign of Lashley where they had some fantastic matches.
In an amusing bit, the fans chant “let’s go Bobby” which flusters Lashley. Lashley says he came to TNA to compete against the best in the world and that in wrestling, Roode is at the top of the food chain. He also wanted to collect as many titles as possible. Now, he wants one more match – he wants Bobby vs. Bobby in a fight to the finish for the KOTM Title. Lashley wants a handshake, as does Roode. Well great – maybe they can go have some milk and cookies later too. Taryn says that they’ve taken out Angelina and it’s time for the Dolls to take over and allow Taryn to stand over the BPs.
DJZ is out, and then he comes Tomasso Ciampa! So he gets to be on both Impact and NXT – wow. Trevor Lee is out for this as well. Josh is mystified by this, but says that as a former TNA Tag Team Champion, Lee and Myers have a match at BFG against the Wolves for the titles.
DJZ vs. Trevor Lee vs. Tomasso Ciampa – X Division Match
DJZ gets a rana, and Lee hits a slick flip dive to the floor against Ciampa. For the first time in a long time, it really feels like there’s some new blood in this division. Shame that doesn’t seem like it will last with Ciampa on WWE’s radar and Lee only being here due to the GFW deal. Ciampa gets a suplex/brainbuster hybrid onto Lee. DJZ gets a pop-up dropkick and a double tornado DDT onto both guys! Z hits corner forearms and then Lee gets a deadlift German onto Ciampa for a 2. DJZ’s tornado DDT is tossed off, so Z hits a kneeling superkick onto Ciampa. Powerbomb>lungblower hits for Ciampa, but it only gets 2. Lee gets a corkscrew crossbody powerslam for the win. This was short, but exciting – and that’s more than can be said about the X division for quite a while.
Madison buries the Dollhouse for having a stupid name and a tiny dollhouse. Angelina says that their name at least fits, and she’s got her arm in a sling – so they’re going with the arm injury instead of her pregnancy. Velvet takes great pride in destroying Taryn’s hand, and they’ll tear off the doll parts one by one. The revamped look for the BPs all basing their attire on Velvet isn’t flattering for any of them.
Brooke chats about being proud to be a knockout and beating Gail to win her first KOs title. We see her working out and she talks about how we haven’t seen the last of her. Josh hypes up Kong vs. Gail. EC3 says that the main event stipulation is a steaming pile of BS. EC3 tells Matt that he won’t make it to the BFG main event and Drew will lose tonight and at BFG. The Dollhouse comes down to face the BPs. BPs attack them in the aisle.
The Dollhouse vs. The Beautiful People
Velvet gets into a catfight with Marti. Velvet gets a jumping forearm in the corner and clotheslines her down for 2. Madison gets a yakuza kick for 2. Marti forearms her down to tag Jade in. Jade chops away, so Madison responds with chops and forearms. Madison hits something on the apron that is blocked by the referee and gets 2. Velvet gets a three kick combo and a neckbreaker for 2. Dolls hold Velvet and Jade dropkicks her down.
Rebel kicks Velvet in the corner and they chat about her wearing gloves because she doesn’t want to sully her hands on the BPs. Jade gets a necksnap for 2. Double-down off a double lariat. They tag out and Madison runs down Marti a few times. Enzuiguri gets 2 for Madison. Josh hypes up Lashley vs. Roode in another TNA Greatest Hits match at BFG. Madison gets a powerbomb for 2. Velvet gets thrown into the steps, but she avoids an arm-smashing chairshot. Rebel throws powder in the eyes of Madison and the heels get a schoolgirl win. Pope is just fine with this cheating. So who is the babyface announcer here? EY rants about wanting a man, woman, or child to face him – he isn’t afraid of anyone. We’ll hear from him next.
Josh hypes up a big announcement from Dixie on Monday at Noon ET before hyping up the #SheraShake takeover on social media. You have until noon tomorrow to enter to win, and you could get a free viewing of BFG via Flipps. Gail hypes up her matches with Kong as being their best. At BFG, they’ll determine who the best Knockouts champion in history is, and it will establish their legacy and go down in history. Gail says she’ll win, and well, she should – but a Kong win would be nice too even though she really can’t do much at this point.
Eric Young, who of course lost a war hero’s leg last week, is out to rant. He’s pissed about losing the leg and no one is good enough to beat him and he’s God. Robbie E is out and begs EY to shut up. So now we’ve got EY vs. Robbie E, or maybe just a brawl. EY low blows him and he declares himself to be God after beating up Robbie E. Sarge comes down and eats a back suplex. EY goes for a chair, but Chris gets it and threatens to use it – so EY bails.
Now Mr. Anderson is out because he’s Sarge’s friend and he says he’s been looking for God his whole life, so he’s glad to finally meet him. That’s the best thing Anderson’s done in eons. Anderson beats him up on the apron, while Robbie hits the Boom Drop, Sarge gets a stunner, and Anderson gets the Mic Drop. Recap of last week’s main event leads to Matt greeting Drew and saying that tonight, they’ll win and turn the main event into a three way match. Drew loves Matt’s plan and he wants Matt to get a chance and he enjoys wrestling throwing them curveballs. Drew says that it doesn’t matter if there are 50 or 100 people out there (in the ring, I presume), he will emerge victorious and win the title.
Recap of everyone hitting their finishers on EY because he turned on TNA. So that’s why they did that? Not because he stole a man’s leg? EY yells to Dixie about it not being fair and Dixie agrees – because at BFG, he’ll only have to worry about Kurt Angle. So to recap, the buildup to Kurt Angle’s big return match on PPV is his opponent being beaten up by a parade of mid-carders. I would call that a wee bit questionable. They could’ve at least shown a recap of EY taking Kurt out to make this seem like a slump for EY. EC3 and Tyrus come out for the main event. Matt comes out after a break, followed by Drew to really stretch this match out as much as humanly possible.
EC3 and Tyrus vs. Matt Hardy and Drew Galloway
Josh asks why Drew wouldn’t just throw this match to get the one he wants. Pope says that isn’t in Drew’s character – finally, a character on Impact makes a good point. Josh uses WWE math for a possible three way at BFG. Drew and EC3 have another staredown, so EC3 tags Tyrus in. Matt tags in after a brief brawl and they stomp away on Tyrus. Tyrus gets an advantage with some fish-hooking and then EC3 tags in for a 2. He brings Tyrus in for some corner double-teams. Tyrus spits at Drew on the apron and gets a nerve hold on Matt, which leads to some hilarious facial expressions from Matt.
Josh announces Bound For Gold with a ton of mid-carders, including Aiden ‘O Shea, who has never once been a character on Impact. He also offered up no further details – so I guess the winner gets a shot at the KOTM Title. Tyrus gets a chinlock and Josh mocks Pope for being against rope usage when it’s done to Matt, but it was okay with the Dolls. Josh is not the character to point this out given his wishy-washy nature.
Tyrus gets a Tenta-style rotating powerslam for 2. EC3 gets a neck wringer and knees him in the gut. Side Effect hits and Drew comes in. Now Josh is a big fan of Drew wanting to earn the win tonight and completely sees Pope’s point form before. Drew hits EC3 with a belly to belly, but Tyrus is legal and jumps him. Matt gets a flying clothesline off the top on Tyrus, who then eats a Twist of Fate. Drew gets the Sick Kick for the win – so Bound For Glory is now Matt Hardy vs. Drew Galloway vs. EC3. Why Matt couldn’t win this I have no idea, as it makes Matt look really weak.
EC3 is shocked, and then Dixie comes down and announces the BFG main event officially. She says it will be fair and there is someone who is now available to be a guest referee – Jeff Hardy. In an amusing bit, he fist bumps Dixie. So now EC3 has basically a one-on-three handicap match and the idea of making it fair is to have one of the participant’s brother as the referee. Well, this was easily the worst-built BFG ever – and that’s saying something with last year’s show really setting the bar low.
To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
The Big Takeaway – Great television show continuing with the ROH vs New Japan matches taped in Philadelphia last month. PPV quality matches bookend this show with former ROH and IWGP champions headlining it.
“Reborn” Matt Sydal vs IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kushida (non-title)
These guys are both phenomenal wresters but I could honestly just listen to both of their entrance themes on a loop for the next 15 minutes and I’m be happy. Kushida was greeted with a loud KUSHIDA chant from the crowd during his entrance. They were chanting THIS IS AWESOME 5 seconds after the opening bell, before they’d even locked up.
Some great chain wrestling early, which Kushida got the better of. THIS IS WRESTLING chant. This crowd is really hot for this match. Kushida did the John Cena “You Can’t See Me” gesture a couple of times after doing a cartwheel out of an armdrag. Fans did not like that at all.
Sydal slowed him down by knocking him to the canvas with an Enziguri as we went to break. Back from break and Sydal still in control. Announcers are putting over how he’s wrestling differently by focusing on specific body parts. Kushida gets the advantage briefly and goes to the top but gets hit by a thrust kick from Sydal. Shortly after, Kushida hit a top rope moonsault to the outside on Sydal. Sydal took almost the full 20 count to get back in after that.
Kushida hit another moonsault, this time in the ring, for a near three-count. Sydal sweeped the leg and then hit a standing shooting star press but Kushida got his knees up to block it. Kushida then locked on the Hoverboard lock but Sydal made the ropes to break it up.
They did the YAY/BOO spot in the centre, with the fans firmly behind Kushida. Sydal got the better of it, and then hit a standing Rana for a two. Sydal went for a shooting star press from the top rope but Kushida rolled out of the way and then locked on the Hoverboard lock again. Sydal fought it off and they had a standing striking battle in the centre of the ring which ended with Kushida flat on the canvas.
Sydal to the top and this time he hit the Shooting Star press for the win.
WINNER – MATT SYDAL by pinfall
After a break, BJ Whitmer is in the ring with Adam Page and he’s got a mic. He wants to know where Adam Page’s match is. A WWE cameraman answered the call.
4 Corners Survival Match – Adam Page (w/BJ Whitmer and Colby Corino) vs Will Ferrara vs Takaaki Watanabe vs Moose w/Stokely Hathaway
Page starts out with Watanabe. Ferrara makes a blind tag after Watanabe gets the early advantage. Ferrara all over him so Page tags in Moose. Moose quickly takes Ferrara down with a clothesline and then Page tags himself in but not before verbally berating Moose, which was a funny visual.
Ferrara gets beat on for a bit and then tags in Watanabe, who’s house of fire on Page. Watanabe hits a Fisherman’s Buster on Page for a near fall but Moose breaks it up. Ferrara then comes and somehow Moose and Ferrara are both legal. Moose tosses him out onto Page and Watanabe and is in the ring by himself. At this point, Colby Corino gets on the apron and it verbally berating Moose.
Moose knocks him to the floor with a big boot and Adam Page tries to take advantage of the distraction but Moose floors him with a spear. Ferrara in to challenge and he actually takes Moose down with a Tornado DDT. Watanabe in and takes out Ferrara with a German Suplex. He tries the same on Moose but the big man blocks it on the first attempt but Watanabe gets it on try #2. While he’s celebrating, Ferrara rolls him up for a 2. Watanabe comes back and hits the STO for the pin.
WINNER – TATAAKI WATANABE by pinfall
After a break, Kelly and Corino are talking about the last match and a bit about Adam Cole when randomly Bushwhacker Luke is behind them, doing his Bushwhacker walk and licking fans. They showed highlights from “earlier tonight” when Brutal Bob and “his son” attacked Cheeseburger and Bushwhacker Luke made the save, ending with a stunner on the “son”, which the crowd loved.
Luke then grabbed Cheeseburger in a headlock and nailed the guy, who they then called “Hughes the Stooge”, to knock him out of the ring. Luke and Burger then celebrated by doing the Bushwhacker walk around the ring.
Luke then was interviewed by Kelly and Corino at ringside. He looked great. He said Corino looked like a bag of salad and wanted to taste him and then of course licked his head. A promo piece for next week, with action from Field of Honor appeared next. Looked great.
Main Event – Adam Cole vs Shinsuke Nakamura
Nigel joins Kelly and Corino at commentary. This was taped before the PPV but the commentators were talking about his actions there, so they either did post-production or knew it was coming. He was announced as representing The Kingdom so the turn on Kyle O’Reilly was set up well.
Nakamura gets an amazing reaction with one of the biggest streamer showers I’ve ever seen. Nakamura/Adam Cole duelling chants but the “Adam Cole” responses are very faint. They do adhere to the Code of Honor at the start.
Cole does the “Adam Cole Baby” pose, which the crowd chants loudly for and Nakamura feigns reaction that he’s impressed. Just before the first break, Nakamura gets knocked out of the ring and Cole mocks him by doing some of his mannerisms, teasing that he’s going to dive to the outside but then doesn’t do it and does the “stick it” mannerism to the fans.
After the break, they’re both on the outside and Nakamura charges Cole, who’s draped against the barricade but Cole hits a Superkick to stop his momentum. Cole rolls him into the ring and takes over for the next few minutes. Cole runs the ropes, teasing a kick to the head but instead locks on a headlock, which draws heavy boos from the crowd.
Cole whips Nakamura into the ropes and then stops to do a strongman pose. Cole acting very cocky and then starts clapping and mocking the fans when they chant along. Nakamura finally stops the momentum with a series of kicks and they’re both down and the duelling chants start up again.
Nakamura with a series of knees to the head of Cole and then hits a gourdbuster for 2. Nakamura sets up a suplex but Cole blocks it with elbows and then does a series of kicks, ending with a Shining Wizard but only gets a two. Somewhere in here, a light USA chant started up but was quickly drowned out by boos.
As the crowd is booing Cole with the advantage, he smiles and eggs them on to boo louder. Cole sets up a figure four but Nakamura makes the ropes to break it up as we go to another break.
Back from break and Cole gets the Figure Four in the centre of the ring. Nakamura actually tries to break it by pulling the legs of Cole, which I don’t recall ever seeing before. More duelling chants and Nakamura manages to get to the ropes after about a minute in the hold. Nakamura heavily selling his knee and Cole takes him down with a couple dragon screw legwhips.
Cole “taking his sweet time” as Nigel put it. He went to apply the Figure Four again but Nakamura grabbed his head and went for a triangle/arm bar submission combination. Cole rolls it into a pinfall attempt and Nakamura has to break the hold in order to escape the pinfall.
YAY/BOO spot in the centre and I will say that the boos are much quieter for Cole here than they were for Sydal in the opener. Despite Cole’s best efforts, these fans do not want to hate him. Both guys ends up down after a running knee from Cole.
Cole hits another Shining Wizard but only gets a two. Cole hits the Florida Key but only gets two and then starts arguing with the ref about a slow count. Cole then does the throat slit gesture and sets up for a brainbuster suplex. Nakamura blocks it but Cole hits a thrust kick to back him into the ropes. Cole charges but Nakamura gets a knee up to block it and then hops up to the second rope and hits a flying knee to knock Cole down. Nakamura still selling the damage to the knee from earlier though and writhes on the math, clutching his knee.
Nigel is doing a great job on commentary selling the damage to Nakamura’s knee and wondering why Cole isn’t focusing on it. Cole finally hits a kick to the knee and follows up with a kick to the head to stagger Nakamura. Nakamura then hits an axe kick and a running knee to the head but Cole kicks out right before the three. Nakamura riles up the crowd and then goes for another running knee but Cole blocks it. Cole then spit in his face and nailed a shoulderbreaker. Crowd going nuts and Cole marching around the ring to rile them up even more.
Cole setting up for a brainbuster but Nakamura blocks it twice and then hits his Landslide. He follows up with another running knee to the head to get the pin. Great match.
The show opened with Kyle Edwards in the WWE Studios to update us on the Dusty Rhodes Classic. This past weekend, Chad Gable & Jason Jordan defeated the Hype Bros to advance to Takeover, where they will face Baron Corbin & Rhyno in the semi-finals. Plus the winners of tonight’s match will face Dash & Dawson at Takeover, with the winners facing off in the championship round.
Dusty Rhodes Classic Quarterfinal: Samoa Joe & Finn Balor defeated Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady
The show starts with the last quarterfinal Match in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic! Finn Balor has a new remixed theme and they also have put “Balor Club” front and center on his Titantron video.
This is such an odd match-up of 4 people you never expected to ever wrestle each other. Colin and Joe brawled outside the ring, so Enzo did a Suicide Dive to Joe and Finn did a plancha over the top on Colin, before facing off with each other. Finn Irish Whipped Enzo into the corner, but ate a boot from Enzo and then a beautiful jumping DDT from the middle rope. That used to be the finisher of The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Iaukea and never looked nearly as good.
Colin gave Joe a Black Hole Slam and had a look on his face like “I can’t believe I did that either.” They did the Rocket Launcher on Joe, but Joe powered out of it and they hit a double team move where Joe used a Muscle Buster on Enzo and Finn came off with a Coup De Grace for the win!
– Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano cut a promo backstage saying they were very disappointed in only getting to the 2nd round of the Classic. They didn’t reach their own expectations, even though they surpassed others expectations. They did promise this was only the beginning. Up walked Tyler Breeze who said any friend of Apollo Crews was an enemy of his and challenged Ciampa to a match tonight, since Crews is facing Gargano.
– An Asuka promo aired. They had footage of her in Japan, which was neat.
Apollo Crews defeated Johnny Gargano
This is the singles match debut for Johnny Gargano and he does so against the former Uhaa Nation. Next week, live on the WWE Network, at NXT Takeover, Crews will go one on one with Prince Pretty, Tyler Breeze.
These two men worked wonderfully together like two people who have wrestled each other before…which they have. It looked rehearsed at times, but it was still a fun little match. Gargano was on the ring apron when Crews went for a running Something Or Other, but Gargano dove through the middle ropes, like a suicide dive into the ring, onto his foe. Gargano followed that up with an Abdominal Stretch where he pulled Crews’ free arm. Crews did his comeback and finished things off with the Gorilla Press Slam and Standing Moonsault.
– William Regal was backstage with Dana Brooke & Emma and he announced Dana will be wrestling Asuka next Wednesdaynight at Takeover.
Dana and Emma laughed, saying Asuka looked like a hyena walking away smiling last week. Mr. Regal showed them a video of Asuka doing something. We didn’t see the video, but we did see Dana and Emma getting wide eyed and quite worried. Before leaving, Emma told Dana good luck.
– Another Nia Jax video aired. 7 weeks running and she is still coming soon. Maybe she went to that Florida promotion that made noise a few years ago and then never ran a show.
– We then saw the video Mr. Regal showed Dana Brooke: Asuka pounding a heavy bag.
Emma and Dana Brooke defeated Billie Kay and Peyton Royce
Kay and Royce were wearing matching gear, so it looks like they will be a new team. Kay and Royce looked good, but this was purely a showcase for Emma and Dana. They did that annoying thing Ascension used to do where they would frantically tag in and out, stomping their opponent in the corner.
Peyton got the hot tag and went wild. She went for a middle rope something, slipped and fell flat on her face. They tried to cover it up by shooting it at a wacky angle, but it was impossible not to notice. They seemed to have no idea what to do for about 30 seconds, but the match finally continued, but ended soon after with a sit out DVD.
– Jason Jordan now wanted to be called JJ and him and Chad Gable were backstage to plug their match next week vs Rhyno & Baron Corbin. Chad and JJ said they are not overcoming the odds, Baron & Rhyno are. Chad said they have won a lot of tournament finals and will be Ready, Willing & Gable.
Dash & Dawson walked up and were offended that Chad & JJ did not think they had a chance against Enzo & Cass. They argued about who lost the 8-man tag a few weeks ago and broke down into them just talking all over each other and Devin leaving.
Tyler Breeze pinned Tommaso Ciampa
This match was wacky. We had some fine chain wrestling which culminated in Breeze mounting Ciampa, so Ciampa crawled around on his hands and knees like a horsey. Ciampa did a face wash, but with his knee, which was different, but cool.
Ciampa hit several running kicks to the mouth and a face buster where Breeze was hanging off the top rope. Ciampa went for a power bomb, but Breeze slipped out and hit a kick to the gut, but Ciampa cut him off and hit several more moves. Preparing for an upset Ciampa climbed the ropes, but got dropkicked when he dove off the top.
Breeze actually won with the Unprettier, which one person in the crowd yelled. I always like the Beauty Shot, but if anyone is going to use a move called the Unprettier, it’s Tyler.
– Rhyno and Baron Corbin laughed at the idea of anyone beating them. The only way I see them win is if they then run an angle with them against Cody and Dustin Rhodes afterwards.
– Next week at WWE TakeOver: Respect
Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs Dash & Dawson in a Dusty Rhodes Classic semi-final match
Jason Jordan & Chad Gable vs Baron Corbin & Rhyno in the other Dusty Rhodes Classic semi-final match
The finals of the Dusty Rhodes Classic tag tournament
Dana Brooke vs Asuka
Apollo Crews vs Tyler Breeze
Sasha Banks vs Bayley in a 30-Minute Iron Woman Match for the Women’s Championship
-The show ended with a wonderfully done video package for the main event. It showed some never before seen backstage footage before the match at TakeOver Brooklyn. They showed 2 full minutes of highlights, which I don’t think they missed a single great moment. We saw backstage where everyone was watching and applauding them. That took us to Bayley returning to Full Sail as champion and the challenge for the Iron Man Match. The video feature ended with both girls training. Bayley heaved a medicine ball up over her head, which looked so impressive. That video package would have sold pay per view buys if this show was on ppv. That’s how good it was.
That’s it from Full Sail. Dave Meltzer will take care of live PBP duty of TakeOver: Respect, so until then, make sure to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
The main focus of the show was to build up the Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar match at Madison Square Garden this Saturday. The main event was built up to be the final battle between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt, but instead it ended with a couple of big spots that will carry the program over to Hell in a Cell. The biggest was Reigns spearing Wyatt through the announcer’s table, moments after Wyatt had speared Reigns through a barricade.
Show Recap:
John Cena started the show with the return of the open challenge for the U.S. Championship. When Cena asked for the challenger, Xavier Woods could be heard playing Cena’s theme song on his trombone as the New Day came out. Big E. mentioned the New Day’s tag team title defense against the Dudley Boyz at Madison Square Garden this Saturday on the Network. New Day had an idea for a new Cena slogan “Hustle, Loyalty, Bootee” and attempted to get over the catchphrase “at the same damn time.” A stoic Cena cut them off and said there was a time to be entertaining and a time to be funny. That’s coming from John “titles come and go” Cena. Woods stepped up to be the challenger.
John Cena (C) defeated Xavier Woods by DQ, so Cena retained the U.S. Championship (9:22)
Cena had Woods in the STF when Big E. and Kofi ran in for the DQ. The Dudleys ran down for the save. Woods used the Gail Kim Eat Defeat for a near fall. There appeared to be a botched spot where Woods was supposed to be caught on Cena’s shoulders, possibly for the AA, but it got twisted up. Cena was visibly upset about it. Big E. and Kofi Kingston threatened to interfere, so the referee sent them to the back in the opening two minutes.
This set up a six-man with the Dudleys and Cena against the New Day. Michael Cole claimed the match was set up by Corporate Kane, though we never saw that because they were in a commercial. So Kane’s dual personas will continue.
The New Day defeated The Dudley Boyz and John Cena (6:38)
The Dudleys gave Kofi Wazzup and tried to set up the 3-D, but Woods tripped Bubba Ray. As Devon was distracted, Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise for the pin. Cena was taken out of the picture moments beforehand when Big E. gave him a shoulder block and they crashed to the floor.
HHH and Stephanie talked with a woman named Ashley from Human Resources. Corporate Kane walked in. Stephanie said an anonymous complaint had been lobbied against Kane so Ashley would observe Kane tonight. Seth Rollins walked in and said he couldn’t believe someone would send an anonymous complaint about Kane. Rollins sold nothing from being dragged under the ring by Demonic Kane last week.
Dean Ambrose was backstage with Roman Reigns and told him that he didn’t think facing Bray Wyatt tonight one-on-one was the best idea. Ambrose said he would have Reigns’ back tonight. Reigns said Randy Orton could help Ambrose, who didn’t sound too happy about that idea. Orton walked in. Ambrose said after what happened with Chris Jericho at Night of Champions, he wasn’t too keen on outsiders trying to help them. Orton wondered if Reigns and Ambrose could handle their business against the Wyatt family alone.
The Big Show defeated Mark Henry (2:38)
Simple booking as the Big Show won quickly look make him a formable challenger for Brock Lesnar on Saturday night. Show slammed Henry repeatedly and pinned him with the knockout punch.
MizTV with Becky Lynch and Charlotte. The Miz asked them about the drama regarding Paige. Charlotte wanted Paige to come down. Lynch threw the Miz’s microphone on the ramp. Team Bella came out. Nikki Bella said Charlotte was going to be a hot mess by the time they wrestled again. Isn’t that the other company’s champion? Charlotte challenged her to come in the ring. Nikki said Paige didn’t start the Divas Revolution, it was her. Somehow, Charlotte said the fans were responsible for the Revolution. They started to square off when Paige came out to a noticeable pop. Paige took credit for putting NXT on the map for being the first NXT Women’s Champion. Nikki said with friends like Paige, who needs enemies? Paige shot back with if you have two boyfriends like yours, who needs ambition? In a segment that was overly scripted, that was a good line. That started a massive brawl with Team PCB fighting together again clearing the ring of the Bellas. This set up our second impromptu trios match in less than an hour.
Nikki Bella, Brie Bella and Alicia Fox defeated Charlotte, Paige and Becky Lynch (7:43)
Charlotte attempted the Figure 8 on Nikki, who kicked Charlotte into Paige. That led to Paige walking out. Natalya confronted Paige and they argued. Natalya acted like she was going to replace Paige, but Paige came back down and tripped Natalya onto the apron. Charlotte was distracted and it led to Nikki pinning Charlotte with the Rack Attack.
Very good video piece regarding the Lesnar-Show match. It contained footage of Show’s victory over Lesnar from Survivor Series 2002.
Rollins talked with Human Resources Ashley when Corporate Kane showed up carrying a big gift package. Rollins looked scared to open it, but it turned out to be the severed head of Rollins’ statue. Kane explained that he went to a Baltimore landfill to dig it up. Ashley found that charming, but Rollins didn’t want any piece of it. While this may be a ripoff of a TNA idea, Corporate Kane is entertaining in his role.
Braun Strowman and Luke Harper defeated the Prime Time Players via submission (4:17)
Braun Strowman made Titus O’Neal pass out with the head and arm choke. It’s clear how limited Strowman is because he didn’t set foot in the ring until the finish. Still, he was the focal point of the match as Darren Young and O’Neal bounced off of him while he was on the apron.
Neville defeated Stardust by DQ (2:32)
King Barrett, looking like he’s lost about 10 pounds of muscle, walked in for the DQ and gave Neville a Bullhammer Elbow. Then he gave Stardust a Bullhammer Elbow, as well. Barrett said “All hail the return of the King.”
Director of Operations Kane, coming out to Demonic Kane’s music, was in the ring with HR Ashley. As she was about to present her report, Rollins came out and said Kane wasn’t the man he pretends to be. Rollins showed a video of Demonic Kane choke slamming person after person over the past 18 years, including Rollins, who implored Ashley not to keep Kane around as Director of Operations. Otherwise, the carnage that Kane will inflict will be on her head. Rollins said Kane tried to drag him to hell last week. But Rollins said people like him don’t go to hell, he’s going to heaven. Rollins claimed to have a private session with Pope Francis last week, and the Pope informed him he was going to heaven.
Then Kane showed Ashley yet another video of Rollins mistreating various people who worked with him this year. Finally, Ashley read her report and said Kane was sound of mind and capable of fulfilling his duties as Director of Operations. She said Kane was the perfect WWE employee. She said if anyone needed to be evaluated, it was Rollins, because he was crude, paranoid and the most unprofessional person she’s ever met in the WWE.
Rollins went into the ring and came unglued, shoving Kane and screaming he was out of his ind. In the midst of his tantrum, Rollins dropped his belt. Kane started to pick it up, but Rollins gave him a pedigree. Then Rollins picked up a chair and hit Kane on his injured ankle, and threw several more shots across Kane’s back to leave him laying. Rollins put the chair around Kane’s bad ankle and stomped on it, though the announcers never called it the Curb Stomp. That was what we thought it was supposed to be. A doctor came into the ring and called for a stretcher. Rollins ran down Kane as he did a stretcher job and said he would never get close to him again.
Kane was loaded into an ambulance and it drove off. Rollins talked some more, but then the ambulance reappeared on the TitonTron filled with smoke. Demon Kane emerged limping heavily towards the ramp, then he planted his bad leg and walked normally to the ring.
Rollins met Demonic Kane with a chair shot to the leg again, something that Demonic Kane no sold. Demonic Kane let loose with punches, which was meant to be a babyface spot. Crowd had a mild reaction. Kane choke slammed Rollins. Some fans could be heard chanting “Russo.” Kane teased a tombstone, but Rollins escaped. Kane looked at the WWE World Championship belt.
Wyatt did a promo talking about Harper and Strowman victory earlier. However, Wyatt told Reigns he would face him one-on-one. Wyatt said he and Reigns were the Alpha and Omega and only a fool would believe he could look into the dragon’s eyes and not be burned.
Bo Dallas came out and mentioned that members of the Buffalo Bills were at ringside. They were almost an inspiration, except they didn’t have a Super Bowl. All they had to do to win one is Bo-Lieve.
Randy Orton defeated Bo Dallas (1:56)
Orton with the draping DDT and RKO in a squash.
Kevin Owens and Rusev went to a no contest (:45)
Kevin Owens threw Rusev into Ryback, who was at ringside doing commentary. This led to Ryback and Rusev brawling. Owens and Rusev joined forces to toss Ryback into the ring steps. Dolph Ziggler ran down for the save.
In the WWE’s Campaign Against Pediatric Cancer, Ellen Degeneres was shown asking people to videotape themselves dancing. This led to Daniel Bryan challenging Brie Bella. It led to Paige, Becky Lynch, The New Day, Jon Stewart (who was sucker punched with a chair shot by his son) Naturally, Stewart challenged Stephanie McMahon, who challenged the WWE Universe.
They aired a promo of Total Divas where Ziggler teased he had feelings for Nikki Bella. Like he
Paul Heyman came out for a promo regarding Lesnar’s Road to Hell Tour. He said this Saturday night, hell would descend on Madison Square Garden when Lesnar fights the Big Show. He said he knows Show better than anybody else. He said Show has grown complacent because no one except Lesnar can push the Big Show to his limits. He said Lesnar would take Show to Suplex City.
Show came out and took issue with being called complacent. Show did a Heyman impression talking about beating Lesnar. Heyman walked out. Show stopped him and said he wanted Heyman to think about a future without Lesnar. Heyman looked concerned. I can’t imagine they would turn Heyman against Lesnar to help Show because they made that same mistake a decade ago.
Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt went to a double countout (12:59)
Another match where Reigns didn’t get the heat of a future main eventer. Crowd was mainly dead as it feels like this program is long in the tooth. It turned into a brawl into the crowd where Wyatt threw a planted stage hand onto Reigns. Then Wyatt charged at Reigns and they charged through a barricade. After selling it for a minute, Wyatt stood on top of the announcer’s table. Then Reigns got up and did a spear on Wyatt through the table. Crowd did pop big for that as both men were laid out, side-by-side as the show ended.
SUMMARY: Not much of a show. Nothing great in terms of matches. The show closing angle may help light a spark to the Reigns-Wyatt program.
– John Cena came across tonight as a star above the level of everyone else. I was very impressed by Cena during this weekend/Monday. Most others got good reactions too. The crowd was pretty hot through most of the show, even popping for Kane.
– It was remarkable that Rollins and Ambrose got good pops when they appeared on the screen for the first time for their skits. Then Reigns was panned to after Ambrose and the reaction for Reigns was the strongest of the three.
– Crowd died for the middle of Reigns vs Wyatt but liked the plunder after the count out a lot.
Here are this morning’s results of the second Destruction show, which took place at Kobe World Hall.
Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka vs. Jay White and David Finlay
This was a pretty short match, but was good while it lasted with some good back and forth offense. Komatsu and Tanaka had both of their opponents in the Boston crab. Finlay made it to the ropes, but White was the legal man and submitted, with Tanaka getting the win for his team.
Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask and Yuji Nagata vs. Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi and Juice Robinson
Nagata worked a lot of this match, first against Nakanishi then against Robinson. He and Nakanishi were fine, though I thought Nagata selling for Nakanishi’s weak offense was kind of jarring. Robinson came in and got the heat for a bit but Nagata cut him off with the white eyes armbar then pinned him with the backdrop hold. Typical New Japan multi man tag you’d see on any show.
Roppongi Vice, Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Mascara Dorada, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe and Ryusuke Taguchi
Good six man action. It had the usual NJPW multi man tag tropes but everyone worked hard. Focus was on IShii and Makabe which seems like the next NEVER title program. Mascara Dorada did a great tornillo dive on the outside, wiping out his opponents, but he’s the one pinned as Beretta cuts him off and RPG Vice do their Omori Driver/dropkick finish for the win. They focused on Makabe and Ishii again after the match. Not that they’ll have a bad match, but they started this program a year ago and it feels like they’re going nowhere by doing the same match repeatedly.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Matt Sydal vs. Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows and Kenny Omega
Another good tag team match. Tenkoji and Anderson/Gallows mostly worked with one another and Sydal and Omega did as well. Sydal looked good and the crowd were into him. Sydal gave Omega a great looking reverse rana then pinned him with a shooting star press. So it’s clear this is leading to their title match, probably at King of Pro Wrestling.
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito
Naito took his sweet time getting to the ring, complete with a new mask. When Shibata came down, he quickly kicked him in his face and started work on him. Naito cut him off and threw him into the barricades, taking his suit off. He had the offense for a while, but Shibata came back and beat him up unmercifully, making everything look as unpleasant as possible He repeatedly threw him in the barricades on all sides of the area, eventually laying him out with a boot that sent him into the crowd. Shibata took a lot of the match.
He had Naito in the sleeper, but Naito grabbed the ref and gave Shibata two low blows, then pinned him with the Destino for the win. Makes sense given his new character. I wouldn’t say this was a blow away match, but it was a pretty good match. Naito destroyed Jay White after the match, then a cameraman as he was walking to the back. He was about to beat up the cameraman some more when Shibata came flying out of nowhere and jumped him, sending them both brawling to the back. Seems like that feud isn’t over.
Tama Tonga, Cody Hall and AJ Styles vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, Kazuchika Okada and Toru Yano
This was a good bout. It was clear this crowd were into Kazuchika Okada far more than anyone else on this show so far. At one point he dropkicked Styles and the place erupted. A lot of the match was Yano doing his antics with Tama Tonga, who he is afraid of. Tonga smacked Yano with the turnbuckle pad at one point to get the heat. Hall was working on Sakuraba when Yano low blowed him and Sakuraba put him in a sleeper. AJ broke it up but Okada dropkicked him to the floor and Sakuraba tapped out Hall with the kimura. Another decent tag team match.
IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship: reDragon vs. Time Splitters
This was a good match, but it just felt like something was missing. It was never bad and there was action throughout but the crowd was just kind of there, only reacting for big spots, and the action was just there, never bad, pretty good, but nothing that would blow people away. Both teams have had better matches on other shows. reDragon retained the titles with Fish pinning Shelley after hitting Chasing the Dragon.
reDragon extended their hands to Time Splitters after the match and they shook hands and put the titles on them in a sign of good sportsmanship. Roppongi Vice came out and acted like they were going to be all chummy with the two teams, then jumped them and left them all lying. Rocky Romero then grabbed the mic and said he and Beretta would be the next champions. This should be a good match, but the title situation in this division feels like a revolving door of challengers that doesn’t change all that much.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale for the IWGP title shot at WrestleKingdom
Tanahashi worked his butt off, including doing a high fly flow from the top rope to the floor. Fale at one point just sat on Hiroshi Tanahashi to a big pop for a nearfall. It looks like he uses his full weight on that move and it just seems so not fun to take. Crowd was into Tanahashi big time which helped this match. Tanahashi went for the high fly flow but Fale countered with a grenade. He went to the top rope, teasing the high fly flow that pinned Tanahashi a few months ago but Tanahashi countered with a superplex then pinned him with the high fly flow. Good finish to a match that was pretty solid overall thanks to Tanahashi.
After the match Tanahashi told Naito to come out as he wants to fight him. Naito comes out and sits on a chair, acting uninterested before eventually just leaving. This makes sense since Naito beat Tanahashi during the G1, and probably would be his last stop before facing whoever is champion at WrestleKingdom.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Hirooki Goto vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Turned out to be the best match of either show, a typically great New Japan main event. Most of it was just solid work for most of the match. Nothing out of this world, but good offense by both. Nakamura hit a sliding boma ye at one point and the people exploded. Goto hit the code red from the top rope but Nakamura came back. He was going for the boma ye from the middle rope but Goto came back and hit his knee neckbreaker, then another one from the top rope for a near fall. Nakamura did his jumping clothesline but Goto came back immediately and tried to do one of his own.
Finally Nakamura escaped and hit a boma ye, went for another but Goto blocked him, only for Nakamura to come back with another boma ye and pin him to win the title. Not really sure what Nakamura benefits from having another run with the title when Goto probably needed it more than him. Still, turned out to be a really great match. Not match of the year but a great New Japan main event.
Nakamura celebrates as Karl Anderson comes to the ring to challenge him for the title. He says that since he beat Nakamura and Goto in the G1, he deserves a shot and wants to be a double champion. Nakamura’s response to this is YEAOH, so looks like that’s the next title program.
Final Thoughts:
Overall I felt most of the show was just okay until the main event. NJPW’s booking right now feels stagnant with the same people in the same positions wrestling each other over and over. Not that it’s a bad thing, because most of the build towards King of Pro Wrestling appears to be pretty good (Styles/Okada, Anderson/Nakamura, Ishii/Makabe, Sydal/Omega, RPG Vice/reDragon, maybe Tanahashi/Naito). The repetitive nature of New Japan’s booking however is starting to become the white elephant in the room, and becoming more noticeable as the year draws to a close.
Tonight’s ROH show in Lockport,NY could have been a giant mess. The Briscoes pulled out due to a funeral they needed to attend, Nick Jackson cancelled his entire weekend of shows because his wife went into labor early. Unforeseen circumstances show how much character and heart a person OR a company has. Despite the losses of talent, ROH made it work, and delivered a pretty good show tonight.
Veda Scott vs. Sumie Sukai
This started off pretty slow and sloppy. It’s obvious that this roster needs more depth in the Women’s division. They picked it up at the end and made it somewhat entertaining.
ANX vs. House Of Truth
Decent match but nothing too special. Funny stuff from the crowd calling J Diesel Mini-Tista! ANX gets the win and continues up the tag ranks.
Caprice Coleman vs. Pepper Parks
Great promo by Coleman before this match started. He took the reins as the de facto heel here as Parks is from Buffalo. One of the best promos I’ve ever heard him cut actually. OK match. Coleman gets the win when Parks tries to use a chain to cheat, steals it, and uses it on him. Nice Let’s Go Buffalo chants in the match as well by the crowd.
Roderick Strong vs Watanabe
Great, hard-hitting match as you might suspect. They really beat each other up. Roddy gets the win with a Sic Kick. One of Watanabe’s better ROH outings.
Matt Jackson vs. Matt Taven
Adam Cole cuts promo saying he has some unfinished business after Matt Jackson interfered in his match the night before. He calls out Jackson, says he has a match later with Matt Taven, and refers to him as One Buck. Of course, the crowd latched onto this and we had the One Buck chant tonight! Matt Jackson came from in from behind and Super Kicked Cole. Taven then hit the ring and attacked Jackson, promptly starting their match. Even as a single, Matt was super over and had good, entertaining match with Taven. Matt had some hilarious spots using the crotch chop. Particularly when he did a crotch-chop and suck-it between a count to 10 in the corner with punches. 1… suck it! 2… suck it! 3… suck it! And so on. Cole being at ringside really added a good dimension to this match. Matt Jackson finally won with a superkick and had a good singles showing.
Cheeseburger & Will Ferrara vs Brutal Bob Evans & GN Hughes
This was good comedy match with Cheeseburger some over as a white-meat babyface in The Nickel City. Looks like Cheeseburger & Ferrara may be a regular team. Nice new double team finisher that won them the match.
Chris Daniels vs. Hanson
First off, I just love the evolution of The Addiction gimmick with Kaz becoming The Rock N Roll Rebel and Daniels becoming The Ring General. Great promo before this match with The Addiction saying they never got pinned for The World Tag Titles of The World. So as far as they are concerning they are still the champions. War Machine interrupts and wants a match. Daniels then says Kaz is hurt. Hanson then challenges The Fallen Angel to a singles match. OK match ends in a double DQ. A brawl ensues between the two teams which requires security to come out. Two good points follows with Hanson taking a dive to the outside onto the other three and a slew of security. Also a nasty bump by Daniels, taking a double chokeslam from War Machine through 4 chairs!
Proving Ground match: ROH World Champion/TV Champion Lethal vs. Stevie Richards
Stevie Richards is still in damn good shape and had a pretty good match with the Champ tonight. Lethal pretty over here in Buffalo as the crowd showed Lethal a lot of respect. It was well deserved, as he put in a good match giving as that classic Horsemen ring psychology. Which he does on most nights, which makes him one of the best in the business. Taeler Hendrix and Truth accompanied Lethal tonight and it added a new wrinkle to the House of Truth. After valiant effort, Lethal retains after Lethal Injection.
Michael Elgin vs. Adam Cole vs. ACH vs. Moose
Great main event! I like how they didn’t let anything outshine the main event and burn the crowd out beforehand. This was the wild, insane, fun match you come to expect from an ROH main event. Great work from all of them, particularly ACH. Maybe that’s why he went over. ACH with a pinfall win over Moose to win this match. ACH looks to be on the rise and getting in line for an epic program with Jay Lethal once again. ****
