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  • UFC Fight Night 75 live results: Josh Barnett vs. Roy Nelson

    Welcome to WrestlingObserver.com’s live coverage of UFC Fight Night 75: Barnett vs. Nelson from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event is headlined by former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett returning from a long layoff to take on Roy Nelson. In the co-main event slot, it will be Gegard Mousasi taking on Uriah Hall in middleweight action. The action kicks off with preliminary card fights at 8 PM eastern time on FOX Sports 2. The action moves over to FOX Sports 1 at 10 PM eastern time for the main card. Enjoy the fights all.

    Coverage provided by Dave Meltzer

    PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX SPORTS 2- 8 PM ET/5 PM PT)

    WELTERWEIGHTS- SHINSHO ANZAI VS. ROGER ZAPATA

    First round:  Zapata tried a kick to the head.  Anzai working for a takedown.  Now throwing punches as he borke.  He went for another takedown.  Anzai again working for a takedown.  Anzai got him down.  Anzai keeping him down but doing no damage.  Anzai tried a takedown, Zapata held the cage to block but the ref missed it.  Anzai again working for a takedown.  Anzai 10-9.

    Second round:  Zapata kicked the body.  Zapata with punches but Anzai  again working for a takedown.  Anzai landed a punch,  Zapata landed several back and Anzai took him down but  Zapata right back up.  Anzai took him down again even with Zapata grabbing the cage.  Anzai got his back now.  Zapata got back up and trying for a takedown himself.  Anzai 20-18.

    Third round:  Anzai with a nice right.  They called a time out.  Zapata hurt his finger.  He didn’t want the doctor to look at it.  You’re not supposed to stop the fight due to an injury for a time out.  The ref realized it and he had to stop the fight since he can’t call a time out.

    LIGHTWEIGHTS- NAOYUKI KOTANI VS. KAJAN JOHNSON

    First round:   Johnson landed a right.  Johnson landed a left.  High kick by Johnson.  Johnson hurt him with a right and a high kick.  Kotani went for a takedown  but couldn’t get it.  Spin kick by Johnson.  Johnson 10-9.

    Second round:   Kotani with a body kick.  Body kick by Johnson.  Johnson dropped him with a right.  Johnson landing punches from the top.  He’s landing several good shots from the top.  Kotani got back to his feet.  Crowd popped for that.  Knee by Johnson dropped Kotani.  Johnson on top landing punches and elbows.  Kotani in real trouble.  Kotani back up.  Johnson staggered him again.  Johnson,  I’d go 10-8, because he had him in trouble twice, so 20-17.

    Third round:  Left by Johnson.   Kotani took him down.  Johnson went for the leg from the bottom.   Kotani on top but doing no damage.  Kotani  with punches and working  for a leglock but Johnson out of it.  Kotani shooting for  a takedown but didn’t get it.  Hard right by Johnson at the horn.  Kotani’s round, but Johnson should win 29-27.

    Scores:  Johnson 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.  No  10-8s in round two.

    Johnson said that he wanted to fight later this year on the South Korea debut.

    LIGHTWEIGHTS- NICK HEIN VS. YUSUKE KASUYA

    First round:  Kasuya threw him down and landed a high kick when Hein got up.  Hein kneed him hard in the groin.  Kasuya is hurt.  Kazuya is laying on his back while it was stopped.  He looks really hurt.  Kasuya finally got up after three plus minutes.  Hein only got a warning.  Left by Hein.  High kick by Kasuya.  Hein landing punches.  Hard left by Kasuya.  Kasuya shot for a takedown but didn’t get it.  Close round, Hein 10-9.

    Second round:  Both throwing punches.  Left by Hein.  Hein landed another left.  Kasuya with a left and a high kick.  Left by Hein.  Right by Hein.  Kasuya is the one moving forward by Hein is landing more.  Hein 20-18.

    Third round:  Left by Hein.  Right by Kasuya.  Left and right by Hein.  Hein with a low kick.  Takedown by Kasuya and Hein reversed and got back up.  Hein got his eye poked.  Rigth by Hein but a body kick by Kasuya.  Hein 30-27 but I actually could see a home town decision with a close first and third round.

    Scores:  30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Hein

    WELTERWEIGHTS- KEITA NAKAMURA VS. LI JINGLIANG

    First round:  Both throwing punches.  Nakamura dropped him with a left.  Jingliang working for a triangle from the bottom.   Nakamura landing hammer fists on the ground.  Totally boring round.  If we weren’t in Japan people would be booing like crazy.  A stand-up was ordered.  Nakamura landed a right and a knee.  Jingliang  back with punches.  Nakamura 10-9.

    Second round:   Both throwing.  Left by Jingliang.  Hard right by Jingliang.  Jingliang landing more.  Jingliang landing a lot more.   Nakamura just standing there.  Right by Jingliang.  Nakamura with a bloody nose.  Jingliang hurting himn with punches and dropped him.  Jigliant working to finish him.  Jingliang with punches on the ground.  Trading punches.  Jingliang’s round so 19-19 going into the third.

    Third round:  Jingliang still landing.  Nakamura went for a takedown and not even close.  Left by Nakamura.  Jingliang took him down.  Nakamura working for a takedown and didn’t get it.  Nakamura got his back.  Crowd going nuts and finished him with a choke.  Great come from behind win for Nakamura.    

    MAIN CARD (FOX SPORTS 1- 10 PM ET/7 PM PT):

    UFC: ROAD TO JAPAN FEATHERWEIGHT FINALS- MIZUTO HIROTA VS. TERUTO ISHIHARA

    First round:  This is the final of the Road to UFC Japan tournament on Japanese television.  Winner gets  a six figure contract, which doesn’t really mean that much these days.  Hard body kick by Ishihara which was a cheap shot since he went to shake hands it seemed.  Left by Ishihara.  Ishihara landed low kicks.  Good left by Ishihara.  Left by Ishihara.  High kick by Hirota.  Right by Hirota.  Hirota has him pinned against the fence.  Good left by Ishihara.  Left by Hirota.  Nice right by Hirota.  Hard left by Ishihara.  Ishihara dropped him at the end of the round.  10-9 Ishihara.

    Second round:  Ishihara with a left.  Now low kicks by Ishihara.  Ishihara dropped him with a left.  Good left by Ishihara.  Hirota landing.  Hirota connected with a right.  Left by Ishihara.  Hirota took him down.  Ishihara back up with no damage.  Spinning punch to the stomach by Ishihara.    Left by Ishihara.  Hirota landed several punches.  This is the best fight so far tonight.  Both landing punches now.  Ishihara 20-18.

    Third round:  Ishihara dropped him again with a left.   Knee by Hirota.  Hirota landing punches now.  Hirota hurt him with a right.  Knee by Hirota.  Punches by Hirota and took him down.  Hirota has his back.  Ishihara back up.  Hirota took him down but Ishihara back up.  Knee by Hirota.  Both throwing and Hirota landed a solid punch.  Hirota is working for a takedown.  He gave it up.  Crowd really hot right now as both are swinging.  Hirota’s round, 29-28 for Ishihara.

    Scores:   29-28 Ishihara, 29-28 Hirota, 29-29 draw.  Fans booing the decision.

    FEATHERWEIGHTS- KATSUNORI KIKUNO VS. DIEGO BRANDAO

    First round:  Brandao dropped him with a right and pounding on him.  He threw him down and a few more punches and it was over.  :28

    BANTAMWEIGHTS- TAKEYA MIZUGAKI VS. GEORGE ROOP

    First round:  Both trading punches.  Mizugaki with a knee from close range.   Body shot and right cross.  Roop back with punches.  Both trading punches.  Mizugaki with a right.  Mizugaki starting to land.  Good round.  10-9 Mizugaki.

    Second round:  Mizugaki landing two solid punches.  Roop pressing him against the fence.    Roop with knees.  Mizugaki with punches and a knee and Roop pushed him against the fence.   Roop bleeding from the nose.  20-18 Mizugaki.

    Third round:  Roop landed a right.  Roop took him down but Mizugaki immediately back to his feet.  Mizugaki landed a left.  Knee by Mizugaki.  Close round.  Mizugaki 29-28.

    Scores:  All three have it 29-28 for Mizugaki.

    They have just announced that both Hirota and Ishihara have gotten six figure contracts so they are co-winners of the Road to Japan.

    FLYWEIGHTS- KYOJI HORIGUCHI VS. CHICO CAMUS

    First round:  Body kick by Horiguchi.  Punches and a kick by Horiguchi.  Camus got behind him on a missed spin kick.  Body kick by Horiguchi.  Horiguchi with a body kick.  Horiguchi 10-9.

    Second round:  Horiguchi came out fast landing a lot of punches and tried to get his back but Camus out of trouble.  Camus cut under the right eye.  Horiguchi continues to land.  Another flurry by Horiguchi.  Both landing and a body kick by Horiguchi.  Camus landed and Horiguchi bleeding from the nose.  Right by Horiguchi.  Horiguchi 20-18.

    Third round:  Body kick by Horiguchi.  Horiguchi landed a series of punches.  Horiguchi got his back standing for a second.  Body kick by Horiguchi.  Knee by Horiguchi.  Body kick by Horiguchi.  Head kick by Horiguchi  Horiguchi trying to finish but Camus back with several punches that landed.  30-27 Horiguchi

    Scores:  All three have it 30-27 for Horiguchi.  

    MIDDLEWEIGHTS- GEGARD MOUSASI VS. URIAH HALL

    First round:  Takedown by Mousasi.  Crowd is into Mousasi.  Mousasi working from the top.  He’s working for an arm triangle.  He’s got full mount.  Hall trying or a leglock but has nothing.  Mousasi moved to side control.  Hall has a Kimura.  Mousasi pulled out of it.  Mousasi has his back and throwing punches.  Mousasi working for a choke but doesn’t have it.  Crowd liked this round.  10-9 Mousasi.  

    Second round:  Great spin kick landed right to the face on Mousasi and a hard knee.  He’s landing punches and Mousasi  is  in a lot of trouble.  Hall landing punches and Mousasi  is in a lot of trouble.  Hall with a ton of punches and it was stopped.  Big upset.  Crowd going nuts.  

    HEAVYWEIGHTS- JOSH BARNETT VS. ROY NELSON

    First round:  Barnett got a big pop.  Barnett landed  a kick.  Nelson took Barnett down.  Ref Steve Perceval ordered a standup.  Barnett with a knee.  Barnett with more knees.  Nelson landed to the body.  Anohter knee by Barnett.  Nelson didn’t get a takedown.  Barnett landing to the body.  Barnet landing from the clinch.  Nelson got a second takedown.  Nelson landed a few punches from the top.  10-9 Nelson.

    Second round:   Nelson landed the right.  Nelson started  to land.  Low kick by Barnett but two uppercuts by Nelson.  Barnett landed a right and an uppercut.  Both traded punches.  Knee by Barnett.  Barnett  landing big punches and a knee.  Barnett landed several punches and a knee.  Elbows by Barnett.  Barnett with several knees.  Hard knee by  Barnett.   Uppercut and knees by Barnett.  Elbow and knee by Barnett.  Great head kick by Nelson.  Barnett back with punches.  More punches by Barnett.  Knees and uppercuts by Barnett.  Barnett stomping on his foot.  Barnett’s round 19-19.

    Round three:   Uppercut by Barnett.  Nelson trying for a bodylock takedown.  Nelson throwing knees to the thigh.  Ref ordered a break.  Barnett moved in and landed  but both ended up by the fence.  Barnett with uppercuts,.  Barnett with knees.  Barnett landing.  Nelson landed and trying for a takedown and Barnett defending it.  Nelson tried for a takedown but Barnett blocked it.  The ref broke them up again.  Body kick and knee by Barnett, Nelson with a body shot.  Very close round.  Barnett 29-28.

    Round four:   Elbow by Barnett.  Knees by Barnett and a punch.  Nelson got him down but Barnett right up.   Elbow by Barnett.  Knee and punches by Barnett.  Barnett with a lot of punches, knees and elbows.   Nelson seems in trouble. Nelson is taking them.  Hard elbow by Barnett.  Knee by Barnett.  Hard elbow by Barnett.  Elbow and backfist by Nelson with a takedown and Nelson has his back.  Barnett back up.  Another break called.  Barnett landing punches and knees.  These two aer exhausted.  Knee to the body by Barnett.  Barnett 39-37.

    Fifth round:   Barnett with spinning back kick.  Body kick by Nelson.  Barnett moved and landed more punches.  Knee by Barnett.  Barnett landing all kinds of punches.  Elbow by Barnett.  Knee by Barnett.  Elbow by Barnett.  Elbow by Nelson.  Knee by Barnett.  Taekdown by Nelson.  Nelson punching the body.  Barnett back up.  Uppercut by Barnett.  The ref ordered a break.  Nelson with a body shot and punch. Barnett kicked the body.   Nelson landed punches.  Barnett with a body kick.  Very close round.  Nelson’s round so I’ve got 48-47 Barnett.  Could go the other way easily.

    Scores:   48-47, 48-47 and 50-45 Barnett.

    Barnett said it proves pro wrestling is strong.  He said his clinch work wasn’t good enough, nothing he did was good enough but it was a good staring point.  Barnett did his interview in Japanese.  He said he loves this country.  He called Nelson over.  He put over Roy Nelson.  He said Roy fights like a warrior and he gave Roy everything he had and Roy took it. 

  • WWE 9-25 House Show Results Toronto: John Cena vs Seth Rollins

    Xavier Woods and Big E def. PTP when Kofi interfered and hit trouble in Paradise on Titus.

    Braun Strowman def Damien Sandow in a squash. Sandow has new music

    Curtis Axel and El Torito def. Los Matadores. It started as a handicap match as Axel Vs Matadores but then El Torito came out to “Bad To The Bone” and became Axel’s partner.

    Chris Jericho def Luke Harper with the codebreaker.

    Ryback def. Kevin Owens by dq when Owens raked the eyes. Ryback hit shell shock after the match

    Ambrose def. Bray Wyatt. No holds barred match, Harper came out and attacked Ambrose and set up a table, then the Dudley’s put Harper through the table. Strowman came and beat up the Dudley’s and then ryback came out and beat up Strowman with Ambrose. Ambrose hit dirty deeds for the win. Wyatt tripped taking the move so it looked soft

    Charlotte and Becky def. The Bella’s with Alicia fox at ringside.

    Big Show def. Cesaro with a chokeslam. Crowd was chanting for Show to retire, so he took the mic and said “no”.

    Cena def. Rollins to retain US title with an AA off the top. Pretty much the same match as their NOC match except the finish. 

  • NJPW Road to Destruction results 9-22-15: Six man tag action

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Here are quick results for the last of the Road to Destruction shows, taking place this morning in Uwajima.

    Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Yohei Komatsu. He was defeated after Taguchi pinned him following a dodon. Good opener with lots of hot near falls towards the end.

    Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Jay White and Satoshi Kojima. Nagata pinned White with the backdrop suplex hold. Solid match, but nothing beyond that.

    Mascara Dorada, Tiger Mask and Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Roppongi Vice and Gedo. Tiger Mask submitted Gedo with what looked like a modified seated chickenwing. Another solid tag match with both Tiger Mask and Dorada doing cool dives here and there. Crowd was really into it. Tiger Mask cut a promo, probably talking about the NWA Jr. title match coming up.

    Tomoaki Honma and Katsuyori Shibata defeated Tetsuya Naito and Juice Robinson. Honma pinned Robinson with the top rope kokeshi headbutt while Shibata choked Naito using the ropes on the apron. Sibata threw him into the barricade after the match. They had the same finish from the last show where Naito acted like he was going to hit Shibata with a chair, but sat on it instead. This time Shibata used Honma to give Naito another kokeshi, then Shibata beat him up some more to send him packing. Solid match that the crowd was really into.

    The mayor of Uwajima came to the ring with the town mascot, which looked like a sun in a bonnet wearing a superhero outfit. Don’t ask me! Sho Tanaka, who is the hometown favorite, came to the ring to a nice pop as he posed with them.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kushida and Sho Tanaka defeated Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega, Cody Hall and Doc Gallows. Tanahashi pinned Hall following the high fly flow. People were very into the match, especially when Tanaka was on offense. Very good match helped by the crowd reacting big to everything. Tanaka had his music played after the match and posed with his team mates.

    Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga. Just a standard match, not very much to it. Okada pinned Tama Tonga with the rainmaker.

    Shinsuke Nakamura, Yoshi Hashi and Toru Yano defeated Togi Makabe, Hirooki Goto and Captain New Japan. Nakamura won after pinning CNJ with a boma ye. Nothing that exciting but not bad by any means. There was a period where CNJ was scoring a number of near falls on Nakamura but very few people in the crowd bought it, which is weird because they even get into the young lion pin falls. But I guess that result is why no one buys him as anything more than a job guy.

  • WWE Raw 9/21 Results: Kane returns….again in the fallout from Night of Champions

    courtesy of wwe.com

    by Jeff Hamlin, WrestlingObserver.com  

    The Big Takeaway: Kane made his return. Well, there are now two Kanes. There’s the Corporate Kane, who acts like Joseph Park. And then there’s the Demon Kane, who showed up at the end of the show. Add in the fact that the Big Show went over on this program, it seemed tonight was a salute to 1997. Which is fiiting, because this show could have the lowest ratings of any Raw show since that year. It was a boring show. 

    Show Recap: 

    The Wyatt Family started the show. Bray Wyatt said he tried to warn Roman Reigns, but he wouldn’t listen. Wyatt said he reached up to Mt. Olympus and grabbed the Golden Idol and brought him to his knees.

    Reigns interrupted him and said he wanted to finish things one-on-one with Wyatt tonight. Wyatt declined. Regins accused him of being scared and said he wanted to fight Wyatt. It led to Wyatt whipsering something to Luke Harper and Braun Strowman, they left the ring and Wyatt agreed to fight.  

    Regins and Wyatt fought for a bit before Harper and Strowman ran in. Strowman gave Regins soemthing resembling a chokeslam, except Regins landed face first. Dean Ambrose ran out and hit Strowman with a tope. Eventually, the heels overpowered Ambrose. Crowd chanted for Chris Jericho. Instead, Randy Orton came out and cleaned house, including dropping Harper with a back suplex on the announcer’s table. It ended with Orton and Ambrose hitting dropkicks on Strowman, who budged but didn’t go down. Finally Regins knocked Strowman out of the ring with a Superman’s Punch. 

    Seth Rollins walked into HHH and Stephanie McMahon’s office and found Director of Operations Kane waiting for him. Rollins didn’t know how to react and asked him why Kane tombstoned him last night. Kane acted like he had no idea what he was talking about.So Kane was doing the Joseph Park/Abyss gimmick from TNA in 2013, where Director of Operations Kane was a separate person from his wrestling alter ego. In fact, DIO Kane was downright chipper, saying he had healed from the broken angle that Rollins had laid onto him. Kane said he arranged for Rollins to face John Cena tonight in a rematch for the U.S. Championship. Rollins had no idea how to react and left quickly. 

    The announcers have already assigned different names to Kane’s various personas: Corporate Kane and Demonic Kane. I thought Alvarez’s Libertarian Kane was pretty good, myself. 

    Lucha Dragons and Neville defeated The Ascension and Stardust (10:31)

    Clumsy match in spots as Konnor and Kalisto has problems working together. Kalisto pinned Viktor with Salida del Sol. Sin Cara slipped attempting a springboard dropkick on Konnor.  Later, Cara did a top on Viktor and appeared to hit his head across the announcer’s table. 

    Rollins found the Authority backstage and couldn’t believe that HHH and Stephanie would reinstate Kane as Director of Operations. He said he was in no shape to wrestle Cena tonight after wrestling twice last night. HHH and Stephanie told him not to worry about Kane and just focus on Cena.  

    Ryback defeated Bo Dallas (3:36) 

    Ryback won with the Shellshock. Kevin Owens was on commentary and ran in after the match. Ryback gave him a Meat Hook clothesline and tried to give him the Shellshock, but Owens got away. Ryback was more aggressive in the match after losing the Intercontiental Championship last night. 

    Ric Flair came out to introduce Charlotte as the new Divas Champion. Fans started chanting “Thank you, Ric.” He said the proudest moment of his entire life wasn’t his first world championship or his retirement match with Shawn Michaels, it was watching his little girl win the Divas Championship. Charlotte, Paige and Becky Lynch came out. 

    Charlotte got emotional talking to her father saying she was as proud of him as he was of her. Charlotte thanked Lynch for always reminding her to never take life too seriously. Charlotte turned to Paige and said she followed in Paige’s footsteps and they started in NXT together. 

    Paige took the microphone away and turned heel. She said Charlotte was just a placeholder for the championship and nothing about the Divas division has changed. She said the whole celebration was patronizing and reminded Charlotte that she won the championship on her first day. Paige said Lynch was the least relevant of all of them. She said Lana and Summer Rae were too busy trying to climb over top of each other instead of wrestling. Paige said she didn’t even know where Nattie was because she was too busy taking care of her husband. Paige also said we all knew the real reason why the Bella Twins got to where they are, and said Charlotte wouldn’t be where she is without her old man. Paige said “Whooo” and walked off. This was supposed to be a heel turn for Paige, but she got mostly cheers. 

    Nikki Bella, Brie Bela and Alicia Fox followed that up by coming out. Nikki mainly no sold losing the title and said Brie was going to take the title from Charlotte tonight.  

    Charlotte (C) defeated Brie Bella via submission to retain the Divas Championship (6:22) 

    Charlotte won with the Figure Eight. Brie spent most of the match on offense, which led to a sloppy match. Brie mainly worked on Charlotte’s left leg, continuing the storyline from last night where Nikki did the same thing. 

    Sheamus defeated Mark Henry (2:23)

    Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick that missed so badly, even the announcers admitted it. So they redid the spot for the finish. It was Henry’s turn to job in his home state. Sheamus did a promo saying it was only a matter of time before he become world champion. 

    Stephanie and HHH met with Kane, who just took a sip out of his “World’s Greatest Director of Operations” mug. HHH was curious about Kane showing up last night. Kane again acted like he was oblivious to giving Rollins a tombstone. Stephanie spoke up and said there was no need for Kane to insult out intelligence and play mind games with them. Kane said he would never do that and he wanted to do what’s best for business. Stephanie asked for Kane to give it back and extended her hand. Kane gave her five. Stephanie said she wanted his mask back. Kane noticed that the mask was gone from its case, and said if Stephanie had stolen it, they would have a very big problem. Kane turned deadly serious for a minute, but then got his smiley face back and said he would make sure he would do his job for what’s best for business. 

    Paige found Nattie backstage. Nattie said what Paige said earlier to Charlotte was unprofessional. Nattie said there have been times where she has felt left behind in the Divas division, but she did something about it.  She told Paige that the only person who was standing in Paige’s way was Paige. Nattie said she was wrestling Naomi later.  

    The New Day came out. The crowd really didn’t respond to them and gave them more of a heel reaction. Xavier Woods sold being put through a table last night by the Dudley Boyz, held up a piece of table and claimed it had to be removed from his buttocks last night. Big E. did a promo saying they had to build a wall around Dudleyville to protect their citizens, their families and their furniture. It was an attempt to get Donald Trump heat, but it didn’t work.

    The New Day and Rusev defeated The Dudley Boyz and Dolph Ziggler (14:10)

    Rusev pinned Dolph Ziggler after a Thurst Kick after Ziggler gave Woods a Superkick once he got on the apron with the trombone. Pretty good match. Ziggler gave Rusev Wazzup with the Dudleys holding each of Rusev’s legs. Midway through the match, Woods began playing Rusev’s theme song on his trombone as Dolph Ziggler got the heat. When Kofi Kingston hit a dropkick, Woods started screaming about how Kingston had an 8-foot vertical leap. Crowd didn’t react to very much.

    Naomi defeated Natalya (3:45) 

    Naomi won with the Rear End after Tamina and Sasha Banks jumped up on the apron. Not much of a match and the crowd has been dead for the past hour. 

    Rollins walked into the Authority’s office wanting to know what the plan is tonight. Stephanie said Kane everything out of his system that he needed to last night. Rollins couldn’t believe it and said HHH knew what Kane was capable of. HHH lashed out and Rollins and told him to focus on Cena. Rollins reluctatnly agreed, again teasing the inevitable HHH-Rollins match somewhere down the line. 

    The Big Show defeate Cesaro (6:16)  

    After Cesaro hit a vertical suplex on The Big Show into the ring, Show got up first and hit the knockout punch for the clean pin. Great booking for the long-term future there.

    Postmatch, Show cut a promo on Brock Lesnar. They’ll be wrestling on a Network Special at Madison Square Garden on October 2nd. He reminded Lesnar that he pinned him at the 2002 Royal Rumble. It was a good promo.  

    The Wyatt Family did a promo running down Orton. Wyatt told Orton they all fall down, and Orton would, as well. Strowman said he once captured a snake with his bare hands and drank its blood, and claimed the snake is in a better place now. 

    John Cena (C) defeated Seth Rollins to retain the U.S. Championship (15:34)

    Not only the best match on the show, but the only match tonight that would exceed 3 stars. Rollins hit a Frog Splash, but Cena powered out of the cover attempt and hit an AA for the pin. Spots included Rollins using Cena’s STF, and Cena also grabbing the STF but Rollins got the ropes. Rollins didn’t do any knees to the face, to no surprise. 

    Postmatch, Corporate Kane appeared on the big screen and told Rollins part of his job was to make sure Rollins could be the best champion he could be. He said many people were coming after Rollins’ championship. Then the background turned fiery red, and Kane said in a deep, brooding voice “including some he could never imagine.” 

    Kane’s fire pyro went off. Then the demonic Kane burst through the mat and dragged Rollins under the ring. Rollins disappeared through the hole, and steam shot out from the bottom. 

    SUMMARY: So in an effort to make Kane interesting for the next PPV cycle, they ripoff a TNA storyline. That says it all. 

  • ROH TV tapings report 9-19 San Antonio Next month of TV (updated)

    ROH TV taping spoilers from San Antonio (taped 9-19)

    By Chris Aiken

    There was a dark match beforehand with two local indie teams.

    Show #1

    Matt Sydal beat ACH. This was good of course. It took a little time to warm the crowd but once they did the crowd was popping for the highspots, and there were a lot of them. This was a great way to kick off the tapings.

    The Addiction (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) came out to cut a promo about being upset they were “robbed” of the tag team titles the previous night. As they ranted and raved, All Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King) came out to a great reaction to confront Addiction. This set up a match for later on in the show, which will be framed as “next week” when it airs.

    Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser beat The Boys. Silas got on the mic beforehand and insulted The Boys manner of dress before saying one of their first lessons would be to get beaten up by real men. Silas and the Bruiser then squashed The Boys. Bruiser may have a regular role in ROH as he appeared on two different episodes teaming with Silas.

    Jay Lethal (with Truth Martini) beat Takaaki Watanabe to retain the TV title. The crowd knew Lethal was the heel as they chanted his name during his entrance but still treated him like the heel in the match. Watanabe was more over than one would think, but judging by all the New Japan shirts in the crowd and the big pop when the lion mark logo popped up on the video screen, they really wanted to see someone from New Japan that wasn’t American.

    Show #2

    All Night Express beat The Addiction. Daniels & Kazarian were the most jeered act of the night as the crowd really took to booing and taunting them. Early on in the match, Chris Sabin was at ringside and caught Kazarian when he was thrown over the top rope to the floor. The referee ejected Sabin. For the finish, someone in a red mask ran in and caused a distraction that allowed the Addiction to lose. Was it Sabin or someone else? Time will tell.

    The Kingdom (Adam Cole, Matt Taven, Michael Bennett & Maria Kanellis) came out to the ring all dressed up. The men wore suits while Maria wore a dress and heels. They all cut a promo bragging about their recent accomplishments like winning the tag team titles and Cole playing a role in the finish of the ROH title match the night before on the PPV. Out comes reDragon to confront them as security holds them back from entering the ring. Michael Elgin also enters the scene to even the odds. A six-man tag match is made for later on in the show.

    Jay Briscoe beat Adam Page (with BJ Whitmer) in a no holds barred match. With his shoulder in a sling the night before on the PPV, Page had his shoulder taped up here. The match was a wild brawl with chair shots and a table was broken amongst all kinds of other crazy spots. BJ Whitmer provided guest commentary and he gave Page his crutch at one point to use on Jay. Mark Briscoe ran in to grab the crutch and take it to the back. Whitmer began arguing with Steve Corino as Page tried to get his attention. Distracted by trying to yell at Whitmer, Page fell prey to a Jay and was pinned.

    Following the match was arguably the best and most notable angle on the show. Whitmer got in the ring afterwards and he started beating Briscoe with his other crutch. Corino jumped in the ring to make the save. He took off his sport jacket and began a staredown with Whitmer. Then, Corino clocked Whitmer with a roll of quarters in his hand. Down goes Whitmer. Coins went flying everywhere and the crowd popped big. Corino got out of the ring and hugged Kevin Kelly. Corino left the scene with the story likely  being he can no longer be an announcer due to becoming physically involved in an angle after knocking out Whitmer. He would not be seen again in front of the live crowd as Nigel McGuinness replaced him on commentary for the rest of the night.

    Show #3

    Moose (with Stokely Hathaway) beat Donovan Dijack (with Truth Martini). Moose looked almost even better in the ring than he did the previous night and this was a straight match without all of the gimmicks used in his PPV match.

    Dalton Castle beat Cedric Alexander (with Veda Scott). Castle was without The Boys of course and he was also without his jumpsuit or winged cape. He loses a lot of his aura without the full gimmick but they may be trying to distance him from the comedy aspect of it in favor of a more serious tone. He strolled to the ring in a t-shirt and showed more fire and aggression than usual playing off the story of being upset about losing The Boys. Alexander had various parts of his body taped up selling the brutality of his PPV match with Moose. After the match, Veda Scott cut a promo threatening ROH with a lawsuit over being subjected to an unsafe work environment. That’ll show ‘em, Veda.

    Jay Lethal and Truth Martini cut a promo in the ring. They were bragging when Roderick Strong interrupts them. He wanted another title shot. Lethal said he already beat him in ROH title matches. Lethal tells Nigel to tell Strong the same thing. Nigel says it’s true. However, instead of a ROH title match, Nigel gives Roderick a match for Lethal’s TV title. No announcement was made as to when or where the match takes place.

    reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) & Michael Elgin beat The Kingdom (Cole & Taven & Bennett with Maria). The match was good and it culminated in an angle where an angry O’Reilly demanded a match with Cole on this very night in San Antonio. Nigel said Cole already had a match booked for later on (“next week”) with AJ Styles and, while he couldn’t cancel that match in favor of another, he could add O’Reilly to it making it a three-way match. Admittedly, I was barely paying attention to the angle itself as I was transfixed on Maria’s assets like I was a New Japan cameraman.

    In a match taped after intermission but before the open of the fourth episode, Chesseburger teamed with a masked man in patriotic red, white and blue gear (which was likely indie wrestler Andrew Lockhart who also worked as a ring attendant at the PPV the night before) calling themselves American Fighters as they beat a local team called The Dirty Outlaws. Mark Briscoe provided guest commentary on this match and the next episode being taped as well.

    Show #4

    The Young Bucks vs. Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser (with The Boys) ended in a no contest. The Bucks were super over. They were probably more over with the crowd than anyone else. After admonishing The Boys earlier in the night about their choice of gear, The Boys came out wearing blue jeans and wifebeaters. The Boys would cower down from Silas and the Bruiser. When Bruiser and Silas weren’t looking they would fan The Bucks. After the Bucks began to run wild, Silas grabbed the house mic and said the match was originally scheduled as The Boys vs. The Bucks so he ordered The Boys to finish the match in the place of himself and the Bruiser.

    The Young Bucks beat The Boys. The crowd as still super hot for this like they were for the previous match. Lots of superkicks as it was a superkick party after all. After The Boys were beaten, Silas and Bruiser went to beat them up some more. The Bucks made the save then helped The Boys to their feet and raised their hands. Despite the show of sportsmanship, the crowd wanted more superkicks and The Bucks obliged by giving The Boys a dual superkicks to leave them laying.

    Roderick Strong beat Will Ferrara. While the crowd was into Strong during his angle with Lethal earlier on, they were mixed on Strong during this match (at least that’s the perspective from my section). He got cheered some, but not as much as in other markets. Nevertheless, it was a strong (pun intended) performance as Roddy showcased his great in-ring skills before making Ferrara tap out to the Stronghold.

    Adam Cole beat Kyle O’Reilly & AJ Styles in a three-way match when Cole pinned O’Reilly. They had a barnburner of a match. Beforehand, Nigel ejected everybody that was in the three corners, which was the other Kingdom members, the Young Bucks, Bobby Fish and Michael Elgin. After the match, they all ran back in for a big brawl that saw the Bullet Club members dispatch the Kingdom. Styles and Lethal had a staredown building to their future title match.

    It should be noted that besides the Young Bucks, the person most over with the crowd at times seemed to be referee Todd Sinclair. Yep, you read that right. On both nights in San Antonio, some fans passed out “Sinclair Section” signs and many people chanted for Sinclair throughout the night. It sounds odd but Todd Sinclair is hugely popular in the market for some reason. It’s like an inside joke though some people seem rather genuinely passionate about their support of ROH’s senior referee.

    By Travis Banks

     Local indie wrestlers working as ROH staff included Thomas Munoz, VG Allin, Bolt Brady, Barrett Brown, and Gregory James. – Dark Match: Keith Lee and Shane Taylor def. The Washington Bullets. Finish was botched as Lee tried to throw one of the bullets up for a powerbomb but couldn’t catch him. Taylor got the pin with a splash. Bobby Cruise comes out with a hot girl, followed by Kevin Kelly, then Steve Corino. Cruise goes through the usual opening spiel and introduces Nigel McGuinness, who recaps All Star Extravaganza and announces the main event of the evening: AJ Styles vs. Adam Cole. Taping 1:- Matt Sydal def. ACH in a Best of 5 Series match to tie the series at 2-2. Sydal won with the Shooting Star Press.- After the match, the KRD attacked both men and complained about being screwed out of the tag titles by some guy stealing their red mask shtick. The All Night Express comes out and says they never lost the tag titles, and declare their intention to get the titles back.- Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser def. The Boys. Before the match, Silas yells at The Boys for still wearing their usual outfits, and has Bruiser squash the two. The Boys actually hold their own until Silas puts them away. A sad Dalton Castle watches from a balcony.- ROH TV Title: Jay Lethal (w/ Truth Martini) def. Watanabe with a low blow and Lethal Injection. Taping 2:- All Night Express def. The Addiction after a distraction from the Mystery Man.- The Kingdom cuts a promo about how they fooled us. reDRagon comes out and wants a 3 on 2 match but Michael Elgin comes out to back them up. A brawl occurs with reDRagon and Elgin getting the upper hand.- No Holds Barred: Jay Briscoe def. Adam Page with a Jay Driller through a table. BJ Whitmer does commentary at ringside. After the match starts, Mark Briscoe comes out and steals one of BJ’s crutches. After the match, BJ beats Jay down with another crutch, but Steve Corino comes in for the save. BJ demands Corino hit him, so Corino knocks BJ out with a roll of quarters. Corino hugs Kevin Kelly and leaves up the ramp. Taping 3:- Nigel McGuinness has replaced Steve Corino on commentary.- Moose (w/ Stokely Hathaway) def. Donovan Dijak (w/ Truth Martini)- Dalton Castle def. Cedric Alexander (w/ Veda Scott). Castle came out in just his gear and a t-shirt. After the match, Veda complains about ROH’s lack of care for their employees, and says she and Cedric are filing a lawsuit.- Jay Lethal and Truth Martini are out for a promo but are interrupted by Roderick Strong, who wants a title shot. Nigel says AJ is the #1 contender for the World title, but there is no #1 contender for the TV title since Lethal beat Watanabe. No date is given for this match.- reDRagon and Michael Elgin def. The Kingdom (w/ Maria) when O’Reily pinned Bennett following Chasing the Dragon. A brawl erupts after the match, and O’Reily demands a match against Cole. Nigel says he has AJ Styles vs. Adam Cole booked for “next week” but adds Kyle, making the main event a triple threat. Intermission – Dark Match: Cheeseburger and Americos def. Andy Dalton and ??? Taping 4:- Mark Briscoe is on commentary.- The Young Bucks def. The Boys. The Boys are now dressed in wifebeater tank tops and baggy jeans. Originally supposed to be the Bucks vs. Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser, but after a few minutes of getting their butts kicked, Silas announces that The Boys will take their place. Chants of “Fan Up” and “Boys to Men” for The Boys, who hold their own against the Bucks in a fine comedy match.-  BJ Whitmer comes out and gets into an argument with Mark Briscoe- Roderick Strong def. Will Ferrara- Adam Cole def. Kyle O’Reily and AJ Styles. Jay Lethal is on commentary. Before the match, Nigel bans The Kingdom, Bobby Fish, Michael Elgin, and The Young Bucks from ringside. After the match, all three stables get into a brawl with The Kingdom being beat down. It eventually leads to Bullet Club hosting a Superkick Party on The Kingdom. As Bullet Club poses, Jay Lethal comes up behind Styles and taunts him with the World title. AJ grabs the mic and thanks San Antonio, and has two words for us if we aren’t down with Bullet Club. Overall a long but fun show. Only negative part was a small group of fans acting like jerks and trying to bring attention to themselves with stupid chants. 

  • Ring of Honor TV 9/19 results and recap: Briscoes/Goto vs CHAOS (Roppongi Vice/Okada)

    The Big Takeaway – Nothing spectacular but an entertaining hour of canned matches that mean next to nothing in the overall direction for ROH. The US debut of IWGP IC Champion Hirooki Goto was probably the most notable thing on the show.

    It’s New Japan vs ROH tonight with a show taped from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia just after the G1 tournament ended but obviously before the All-Star Extravaganza PPV.

    “The Last Real Man” Silas Young vs “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin

    Kevin Kelly claims that Elgin may have been the MVP of the G1 tournament. That’s a big of a stretch but he did very well and really turned a corner with me. Kelly now calling Elgin “Big Mike” as well.

    They do adhere to the Code of Honor before the match. Elgin did the stalling vertical suplex that the fans counted along with. They got to 30 and Elgin was motioning to continue. Fans chanting BIG MIKE as well so I guess that’s a thing. I can’t help but think of Big Johnny when I hear that but I guess he was big in Japan as well.

    Young hit the headstand moonsault but only got a 2. Elgin hit a couple Enziguris and then a lariat clothesline that he’d been teasing the whole match. He then did the dealift vertical suplex from the top turnbuckle into a Falcon Arrow that he did on the PPV but only got a two. Kelly called it a Super Falcon Arrow,so that’s what I’ll go with.

    Young connected with his Misery finisher but Elgin rolled out of the ring. Young followed him out and pulled back the mats but Elgin powerbombed him into a barricade. Back in the ring and Elgin hit an Elgin bomb for the win

    WINNER – MICHAEL ELGIN by pinfall

    Young refused Elgin’s offer of a handshake after the match. Cole did a backstage taped promo hyping up his main event next week with Nakamura. In nice continuity, he was wearing a Kingdom shirt, given the events at the PPV.

    Caprice Coleman vs ACH

    They replayed the angle from a couple of weeks ago where Prince Nana handed Coleman an envelope during a match. That never went anywhere and wasn’t elaborated on here. Crowd was really behind ACH during the intros but died right out once the match started.

    Lots of flips and jumps and dives but neither guy having any kind of sustained advantage. Coleman hit the Trinity to no reaction but ACH kicked out of the pin attempt. Coleman hit the one inch punch, which of course ACH waited about 30 second to sell, when he was about to hit a dive. Coleman hit the Sky Splitter but only got two.

    Coleman nailed a top rope Rana but ACH rolled through the pin attempt. He then hit a brainbuster followed by the Midnight Star for the pin.

    WINNER – ACH by pinfall

    ACH was still selling the punch after the match and Corino called him his third favorite Hardy brother. They shook hands after the match and Corino interviewed Coleman about the note he got from Nana. Coleman said there was money and a letter in the envelope. He took the money and then read the letter several times. He says he gets it now and that Nana is right and then walked away.

    “The Exotic Goddess” Mandy Leon was next with Inside ROH. She talked about the new working relationship with ROH and New Japan, showing clips of ROH and New Japan officials announcing the show in Japan in February. A 2 day show in Japan and then New Japan stars coming back stateside for the Anniversary show in Vegas and more shows for the New Japan tour in May. Leon was wearing a New Japan shirt and wearing it very well. Delirious interrupted her at the end and said a bunch of stuff that only he could understand and then hid in a locker behind her.

    Roppongi Vice (Barretta/Romero) and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada vs The Briscoes (Mark and Jay Briscoe) and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hirooki Goto

    Crowd reacted the second Okada’s much started, chanting OKADA and he got the mega-streamer treatment. Goto got a nice reaction as well for his first US appearance. Goto refused to adhere to the code of Honor.

    Somewhat of a dream matchup to start as long-time ROH World champion Jay Briscoe opened against multi-time and current IWGP champ Okada. Fans firmly behind Okada when they squared off. Goto was tagged in quickly and held his own against both members of the Roppongi Vice. Corino talked about how Goto wants to unify the World and IC belts in Japan.

    Mark did some comedy involving Baretta’s headband. Eventually that led to some double and triple teaming from the Chaos members and Mark was trapped in their corner for several minutes. Corino also mentioned the Okada/Tenryu New Japan match coming in November.

    All three Chaos members did the Rainmaker pose, after Okada did the fake dive and then facewash spot with the foot, looking to the Vice for approval. Goto eventually got the hot tag and cleaned house, eventually ending up against Okada, getting a nearfall off a Saito suplex.

    Okada recovered and got a two count off a running uppercut  and then hit a flying elbow and did the Rainmaker pose. Goto blocked the Rainmaker and hit a backbreaker as we went to a break.

    Some stuff was cut out as Jay Briscoe is getting double-teamed by the Vice when we come back. He gets the hot tag to Mark. Romero goes for his three running clotheslines but Mark ducks out and hits some redneck kung fu. Jay and Goto are in and they took turns taking runs at Romero. Mark got a nearfall off an assisted backbreaker but Baretta broke it up.

    Eventually all six guys were in and took turns hitting moves on each other. Mark Briscoe blocked a rainmaker attempt but got hit from behind by Barretta. All six guys down in the ring and the fans chanting THIS IS AWESOME.

    The Briscoes nailed Baretta with a Doomsday outside the ring and then Mark hit the Froggie-Bo inside the ring on Barretta but he kicked out at two. Mark hit a Fisherman’s buster on Romero but Okada grabbed him and hit a Tombstone. Goto in to help  but Okada hit a perfect dropkick and then had a rainmaker blocked by a headbutt from Goto. Jay and Barretta ended up in the ring isolated and Jay hit the Jay Driller for the pin.

    WINNERS – THE BRISCOES AND HIROOKI GOTO by pinfall

  • NJPW on AXS report 9-18-15: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Chase Owens for the NWA Jr. title

    by Bryan Rose, WrestlingObserver.com

    Tonight’s show took place on October 13, 2014 at Sumo Hall. It’s a look at New Japan’s annual November PPV,  King of Pro Wrestling, which is one of the bigger events on the New Japan calendar. Tonight’s show is our first look at the card, as this episode highlights the big junior heavyweight matches on the card.

    First up is reDragon vs Timesplitters for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag titles. reDragon, as far as in ring work goes, are one of the best tag teams on the planet right now and Timesplitters aren’t too far behind. They’ve faced off countless times in the last year, and I think they’ve have had better matches on other shows than this one right here. Not that it’s bad, it was actually a pretty good bout, but it just feels like I’ve seen better from the four. reDragon have totally proved that they belong in New Japan, as we’ll see in future episodes, and when they won the titles I wasn’t too surprised, so good on them. Good, solid work from everyone involved overall.

    After the match, reDragon and Timesplitters are confronted by two other teams- The Young Bucks and Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero/Alex Koslov). All four teams argue with another as reDragon leave with the titles, holding them up. This sets up a four way at the WrestleKingdom show, but it doesn’t make much sense, especially since the Timesplitters just lost clean in the middle of the ring. But hey, the match on paper sounds pretty good either way.

    Next is Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Taichi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship. This is the follow up to the previous episode where the Suzuki-gun junior heavyweights attacked Taguchi, and sure enough Taichi’s two cohorts Desperado & Taka Michinoku are at ringside for this match. Taguchi is the kind of guy who can have great matches with great workers, and Taichi isn’t considered a great worker in the least bit. Looking at the highlights here, they did end up having a pretty good match. The editing was kind of poor as they aired a big spot where Taichi gave Taguchi a Gotch piledriver through a table, then immediately fast forwarded to Taguchi making a comeback, eventually winning with the dodon. That wasn’t the best edit I’ve seen. Regardless, the highlights were good and overall probably a better match than people would expect.

    After the match, Bullet Club members enter ringside. Karl Anderson enters the ring and introduces the newest member of the Bullet Club, “The Cleaner” Kenny Omega. He comes in and cuts a promo on Taguchi, saying that he didn’t want the lion mark prestige, all he really wants is the money. He also said that he wanted the IWGP junior title, and that he’s here to clean up NJPW. They have a staredown before exiting the ring, but not before Taguchi takes the mic and says he doesn’t understand English, then says to answer his question, oh my and garfunkel (his catchphrase). It doesn’t sound like it on paper, but after the long promo Omega cut it was pretty funny for Taguchi to give such a succinct answer. This also leads to a title match at WrestleKingdom.

    Jushin Thunder Liger is interviewed next, as he takes on Chase Owens for the NWA Junior Heavyweight championship. He says when he thinks of the NWA, he remembers legends such as Ric Flair, the Funks, and Harley Race. They were truly the king of kings as they wrestle all throughout the word. In regards to Owens, he says his moves are simple but he knows to make them devastating. Says it’s hard to wrestle at this age in a New Japan ring but he still has the biggest heart of any wrestler.

    The main event aired. This was a solid match as well. Not great, but pretty good. Bruce Tharpe as the NWA manager is so great, his mannerisms are top notch and he’s effective as the wacky heel manager. Owens looked good throughout the match. Like Liger mentioned, he doesn’t do anything fancy, but does enough to have a good match and it works for him well. Always good to see a different style in New Japan, and Owens brings that to the table here. They kept it safe and didn’t do anything crazy. Liger went for a splash at one point but Liger made it to the ropes. Mostly just a good back and forth match until Liger laid out Owens with a brainbuster, then followed with another one and pinned Owens to win the belt. Commentary here did a great job as well with putting the NWA Junior Heavyweight title over as they made it sound like a really big deal when Liger won it.

    Liger in a post match interview says that he wants to defend the title in NOAH and other places now that he’s a NWA champion. Tenryu told him to say to keep wrestling until you’re satisfied. Making a comeback is embarrassing, as he will never forget those words. He says that while this is the final chapter for Liger, he will keep going forward. In his reflective interview, he talks about winning the belt in Osaka. In regards to how he envisions the future, he says the future is amazing, and lists people like Kushida, Alex Shelley and Kenny Omega and also mentions that he wants to wrestle Tiger Mask IV one more time, which is something we’ll see down the road.

    Very cool episode this week. It didn’t have any blow away matches, but it did show the healthy relationships with Ring of Honor and NWA and how they’ll continue to thrive into 2015, with both reDragon winning the IWGP tag titles and Liger winning the NWA Jr. title. Also very interesting to hear Liger’s words about this being his final chapter. I wonder if he still feels that he’s on the final chapter of his career as we now enter 2016.

  • CMLL 82nd anniversary show live report from Arena Mexico 9-18 Atlantis vs. La Sombra

    Welcome to our live coverage of the CMLL 82nd anniversary show from Arena Mexico.

    We’re looking for your thoughts on this show, tonight’s ROH show, as well as Bellator and WWE Night of Champions this weekend, so you can leave a thumbs up thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

    ESFINGE & FUEGO & THE PANTHER VS. DISTURBIO & PUMA KING & VIRUS

    Good match, not too crazy or anything. Fuego pinned Disturbio in the first fall.  Disturbio made Esfinge submit to a cruceta in the second fall.  Virus pinned Fuego in a battle of captains after a Gori especal bomb.  Basic solidly worked match, two dives, maybe one bad looking spot.  They teased as face win when Esfinge used the Fuller leglock into a cradle on Disturbio in the third fall.

    Late arriving crowd as there were a ton of empty seats at 8:30 local time when the show sarted.  It’s a log more full at this point. 

    GUERRERO MAYA JR. & MAXIMO & STUKA JR. VS. DRAGON ROJO & POLVORA & REY ESCORPION

    Maximo, the world heavyweight champion is in the second match here.  Good action here.  Third fall ended with Escorpion pinning Maximo clean with a package piledriver which may set him up for a title shot.  Stuka did this cool backwards twisting head-butt off the top rope to the floor on Rojo.  Polvora pinned Maya in the first fall with a dominator off the top rope.  Maximo pinned Escorpion in the second fall with a kiss and a cradle.

    The building still isn’t totally full but it is a big crowd.  Crowd was really into Maximo in the last match.  It has the feel of a big show at this point.

    DARK ANGEL VS. PRINCESA SUGEI

    Even though this was Dark Angel’s farewell match as she’s headed to WWE as a trainer, the crowd was a lot less into this than the first two matches.  There was some good wrestling but it went too long and they went past their peak.  Panico gave her flowers and a plaque after the match.  She did a long interview about spending ten years, thanked Paco Alonso.  They played sone sad usc  The two women hugged after.  Ther crowd was respectful but it didn’t feel like it was that big of a deal to the crowd.  They were wanting to work the classic big singles match and did the style but they never really got near that level.

    DRAGON LEE & MISTICO & VALIENTE VS. NEGRO CASAS & FELINO & MR. NIEBLA

    Easilly the best match so far, and also the shortest.  Third fall saw Mistico use La Mistica on Nielbla to win after Lee used a double foot stomp while Casas was in the tree of woe to elminate him.  Lee, Mistico and Valiente did a lot of good dives here and the crowd was more into the guys.  They hated Mistico, total Cena PPV reaction but didn’t boo Lee and Valiente.  Niebla made Mistico submit to the nudo in the first fall.  Second fall saw Valiente have Felino in a tombstone and dropped him into a codebreaker.

    SHOCKER & VOLADOR JR. & ULTIMO GUERRERO VS. MARCO CORLEONE & RUSH & THUNDER

    The match had a lot of heat and it ranged from pretty fun to pretty bad depending on who was in.  Finish was crap, though.  Rush just threw down ref Tirantes in the third fall for the DQ.  Rush has total superstar presence and working ability.  Volador is really good. Guerrero can go.  Shocker is old and slow but tries.  Thunder is just awful.  First fall was a double pin as Thunder pinned Guerrero with a splash off the top and Corleone pinned Shocker with Air Italia.  Second fall saw Guerrero pin Thunder after a delayed vertical suplex while Shocker did an elbow drop off the middle rope on Corleone.

    Volador and Rush went back and forth with challenges for a hair match.  Tons of heat for that.

    Aside from the dancing girls and big crowd, this doesn’t feel much different than a usual Friday as far as match quality goes.  It really is a one match show.

    ATLANTIS VS. LA SOMBRA MASK VS. MASK

    Atlantis won with the torture rack in the third fall in a match that was exactly what it should have been.  Super heat.  They are sowing Sombra’s mother crying in he front row.  Now thehy are showing his father, his brother was crying.  It had that big match feel at a level of something in the 70s, even more than the G-1 mathes.  The match was great due to Sombra but Atlantis did a great job considering his age with multiple dives. 

    Manuel Alfonso Andrade Oropeza, 25 years old, from Gomez Palacio, Durango.

    Dad is stoic, mom still crying.  Sombra now giving a speech.  Mom now hysterically crying.  Little brother crying.  Sombra put over Atlantis at the end.  He called his family to the ring.  His mom didn’t come to the ring.  He asked his father to take his mask off.  Rush hugged him before taking it off.  He hugged his dad before taking it off.  He unmaksed.  Confetti is flying and Sombra’s family put Atlantis on their shoulders.  Rush now wants a match with Atlantis.  They shook hands as Atlantis posed with Sombra’s mask.  Now Sombra’s family has him on his shoulders.  Lots of women crying now. 

    Atlantis won the first fall via DQ for Rush’s interference.  Somba won the second with a one arm back suplex.  Thrid fall was a million near falls and submissions. 

    Excellent last match overall, but overall atmosphere was not at the level of last year’s anniversary main event, but that’s a once in a decade like feel with the end of a decade plus story, where as this was less than two months.  

  • Ring of Honor 9/18 All-Star Extravaganza 7 PPV Live results and coverage – Lethal vs O’Reilly

    by Paul Fontaine, for WrestlingObserver.com

    Welcome to our live coverage of Ring of Honor All-Star Extravaganza 7 from San Antonio, TX and live on PPV. Jay Lethal defends both his World and TV title against both members of ReDRagon in the feature matches. The Addiction defends their tag titles in a 3 way against the Kingdom and The Young Bucks. A 4 way number one contender’s match between Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Michael Elgin and AJ Styles will determine the next World title challenger.
    Also:
    Matt Sydal vs ACH in the third match of their best of 5 series
    Moose vs Cedric Alexander in a no-DQ match
    The Briscoes face a mystery tag team
    And in the real main event of the evening, the greatest stipulation match ever as Dalton Castle puts up his boys in a match against Silas Young. If Castle happens to win, Silas becomes a “Young boy” and if Young wins, he’s promised to turn Castle’s boys into men.

    The action gets underway at 9 pm central/6 pacific so check back here for ongoing coverage.

    TV Title Match:
    Jay Lethal (champion) w/Truth Martini vs Bobby Fish  

    Kevin Kelly gets a shot in at WWE’s booking of Seth Rollins during the intros, saying that no pro wrestling champion has been more dominant than Jay Lethal, going over all the people he’s beat recently.

    Lethal retained the title in a 14 minute match, pulling the tights on a rollup off of a kneebar attempt by Bobby Fish. Fish was going for kneebars and leglocks the whole match. Lethal hit a Lethal Combination early and Fish teased not making it in for the 20 count. Kelly noted that Horsewomen Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler were in attendance but they weren’t shown on camera. He also noted 25 title defence in over a year for Lethal as TV champion. Good opener.

    Boys on the line vs Silas becoming one of the boys:
    Silas Young vs Dalton Castle w/his boys

    Young won possession of the boys in 13 minutes. Young hit a lowblow while the ref was distracted  by the boys and then hit the Misery for the win. Mostly comedy early. The Boys fanned Young and the distraction led to a roll-up by Castle for a nearfall. Match was back and forth with both guys getting long 2 counts. 

    Briscoes vs Mystery Team up next. Briscoes  in the pre-match promo say it’s been a long time since they held the tag belts and this is step 1 to getting them back. 

    The Decade are out. BJ Whitmer on crutches and Adam Page with his arm in a sling. Whitmer says he’s doing commentary and asks Corino to leave but King doesn’t oblige. Fans chanting PLEASE RETIRE at Whitmer. The Romantic Touch out next. Kelly says he’s been stalking the Briscoes for awhile. I must have missed that. Briscoes attack Touch and I guess he’s not the partner.

    The All Night Express are back and they’re the challengers. Rhett Titus had been been playing the Romantic Touch up till now and Kenny King has been in TNA so this is his return to ROH.

    Briscoes (Mark and Jay Briscoe) vs All Night Express (Rhett Titus and Kenny King)

    ANX won when Titus pinned Mark after a double-team. Titus had Mark up for a powerbomb and King came off the top rope after Jay had been knocked outside the ring. Match was competitive with neither team having an advantage.

    Adam Page attacked Jay Briscoe after the match but ANX made the save.

    No DQ Match:
    Moose w/Stokeley Hathaway vs Cedric Alexander w/Veda Scott

    Moose won in 13 minutes. Crazy brawl with Moose taking a ton of punishment. Tables, ladders, chairs and a wrench involved. Finish was Alexander and Hathaway fighting for control of the wrench and Hathaway nailing Alexander with it and then Moose spearing him through a table that had been set up in the corner. 

    Moose took at least three chairshots to the head at various points. He did a summersault dive to the outside, landing flat backed on a ladder that was draped over the ring barrier. Alexander hit a Van Terminator on Moose at one point. Scott and Hathaway both got involved several times and Scott ended up taking a running dropkick in the turnbuckle from Alexander when Moose moved out of the way. Crowd loved this, chanting THIS IS AWESOME several times.

    Match 3 – Best of Five Series tied 1-1
    ACH vs Matt Sydal

    ACH won to go up 2-1 in an excellent match. They went 16 minutes and it was not exactly what you’d expect from these two. For the majority of the match, Sydal worked over ACH’s leg and while it didn’t play into the finish, you get the impression that it could end up affecting ACH in the final two matches. Finish came when ACH hit a brainbuster and then followed up with the Midnight Star for the pin. Just prior, he’d hit a Shooting Star Press from the second rope  that Sydal barely kicked out of. Crowd was way into ACH in his hometown. Sydal played subtle heel for most of the match.

    Tag Title Match:
    Champions The Addiction (Christopher Daniels/Frankie Kazarian) vs The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs The Kingdom (Matt Taven/Michael Bennett) w/Maria Kanellis

    Kingdom won the belts in 16 minutes. This was what you’d expect. I counted 16 superkicks. Finish was Matt Taven making a blind tag and the Bucks hitting a Meltzer driver on Frankie Kazarian and Taven rolling up Matt Jackson, for the win. Big story in this match was someone in a KRD mask coming out and taking out both members of the Addiction, using Chris Sabin’s moves. He never unmasked, but it probably wasn’t Sabin. Could be Adam Cole or a new member of the Kingdom. In one spot, Bucks were about to do a superkick on Maria but Daniels made the save. He then punched Maria right in the face. Bennett went crazy on him and that led to the finishing sequence. 

    #1 Contender’s Match – AJ Styles vs Michael Elgin vs Adam Cole vs Roderick Strong

    Nigel McGuiness joined the commentary team here. Cole was announced as representing the Kingdom but got a huge face reaction from the crowd. 

    AJ won in 15 minutes, pinning Adam Cole after a Bloddy Sunday DDT followed by a Styles Clash clean in the middle. All four guys got chances to shine. Elgin hit a dead-lift vertical suplex from the top rope into a Falcon Arrow and the pin was broken up by Cole. Strong hit a backbreaker after a sick kick on Cole but Elgin broke that pinfall up and Cole hit a Destroyer on Elgin, which was broken up by AJ. Non-stop action the whole time and crowd was into everything. Elgin in particular probably improved his stock the most and the announcers put over his performance in the G1. 

    Main Event 
    ROH World Title Match – Champion Jay Lethal w/Truth Martini vs Kyle O’Reilly

    Nigel remains at commentary and explains that he banned Donovan Dijak and J Diesel from ringside but Truth is allowed out there because he has a manager’s license. 

    Lethal retained in a TNA-style finish. O’Reilly had Lethal about to tap when Truth Martini pulled the ref from the ring. Nigel got  up and hauled Martini to the back. O’Reilly went for a flying knee in the corner on Lethal but Lethal pulled the ref into the path and he was down. Lethal grabbed the title belt but this brought out Bobby Fish. Donovan Dijak followed and got his hands on the belt and laid out Fish. This brought out Adam Cole, who took out Donovan Dijak and then, in a swerve, hit Kyle O’Reilly with a superkick. Lethal hit the Lethal Injection for the win. The Kingdom came out and all four of them posed over O’Reilly, so it was a setup all along. Kingdom should now have title programs with ReDRagon and War Machine. 

    Match was okay up to that point but no better than the fourth best match on the show. Lethal kept missing the Lethal Injection and O’Reilly would go for the arm. Lethal was vulnerable the whole match and really sold the effects of wrestling his second match in a night.

    Show was decent overall. No blow-away matches though and certainly not a show of the year contender but it certainly wasn’t bad by any stretch.

  • WWE Smackdown 9/17 TV results & recap: Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins & Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens, Bellabration

    By Steve Khan, WrestlingObserver.com

    – Air Date: September 17, 2015 (Sept 16 in Canada)
    – Location: Verizon Arena in Little Rock, AR

    The Big News:

    Big Show beat Cesaro clean, and they teased big dissension between Seth Rollins and Sheamus.

    Show Recap:

    Smackdown started with a video package of Sting’s first Raw match(es). They also announced Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins & Sheamus for tonight.

    Seth Rollins came out and said he would make history at Night of Champions when he successfully defends both of his titles against two legends. Crowd chanted “We want Sting.” Rollins said he would crush John Cena’s spirit and show why Sting is the past.

    Rollins moved onto tonight’s tag match. He’s fine with teaming with Sheamus because he’s the man and isn’t that worried. Rollins said he keeps his friends close and his enemies closer (zzz), which brought out Sheamus. Sheamus said Rollins doesn’t want him as an enemy.

    Sheamus claimed Rollins won’t see it coming when he cashes in. Rollins laughed and said it would hard not to see him coming. The crowd chanted “You look stupid,” and Sheamus yelled “R.T.H.!” — Respect the Hawk.

    Sheamus said he just wants them to be friends and would love a fight with Reigns and Ambrose. Immediately after saying he wanted to be friends, Sheamus said he would be scouting Rollins and would be the next WWE Champion whether Seth sees it coming or not.

    If this sounded like every opening segment ever, that’s because it was.

    Naomi & Sasha Banks (w/Tamina) beat Paige & Becky Lynch (w/Charlotte) via pinfall

    Team BAD came out to Naomi’s music. Rich Brennan plugged the upcoming NXT Iron Man match with Banks and Bayley. After a break, Team BAD had the heat on Lynch. Naomi and Banks did the Benjamin and Haas leapfrog guillotine spot, except they used the bottom rope.

    Lynch kicked away both heels and made the hot tag to Paige. Paige used knees and a superkick but was momentarily distracted by Banks on the outside allowing Naomi to roll her up for the win. Paige was pissed and the commentators discussed how poorly things are going for Paige lately.

    Backstage, Stardust said he and The Ascension would defeat Neville and the Lucha Dragons. He didn’t quite phrase it that way.

    The New Day came out with their usual protest signs. Big E had a sign that said “Wait for it…” on one side and “Booty!” on the other. Jerry Lawler seemed concerned by the “Broken Wood is No Good” sign.

    Xavier Woods said a table is a terrible thing to waste. He emphasized that the Dudleys were “boys” and they were disrespecting every man and wo-man. Woods said they were disrespecting one wo-man in particular — Mother Nature.

    Big E wanted to help the Dudleys by having them sign a petition to save the tables. The petition was on a wooden clipboard, which Kingston said was like a mini table. They chanted “Save the tables” but the Dudleys interrupted.

    Kofi Kingston (w/New Day) beat D-Von Dudley (w/Bubba Ray Dudley) via pinfall

    D-Von broke the clipboard over his knee and hit a flapjack on Kingston. Big E pulled out a table but Bubba tossed him down. Woods distracted D-Von so D-Von went after him. Kingston used the distraction to apply a school boy for the win. (Yes, this was basically the finish of the previous match.) New Day ran off with a table. New Day were entertaining as usual but the match was just an angle and it didn’t really get over.

    Backstage, Alicia Fox, Brie and Nikki Bella prepared for their “Bellabration.” Brie went over the checklist and Alicia said they got 298 champagne bottles shipped from France. That’s a lot of bottles. Brie said they would end up in Brie Mode. Nikki exclaimed “I’m such a queen!”

    Nikki had a few crazy demands, including the attendance of “Kim and Kanye.” Brie tried to tell her they weren’t coming but Nikki wouldn’t hear it. Nikki said they should be able to handle any issues and left. Brie and Alicia looked on concerned. All three were good in their roles as vacuous ninnies that nobody could possibly like. So this was… good, I guess?

    As Big Show walked backstage, The Miz handed him a confidential document. Miz politely asked him to looked at it and walked away. Show looked at the document, rolled his eyes, groaned, and tossed it away. Show’s total disgust towards Miz was amusing.

    Big Show beat Cesaro via pinfall

    Cesaro immediately hit a dropkick and proceeded to work over the arm. Show was able to overpower Cesaro and tossed him aside. Booker called Show “a giant guy” and Lawler said Show used Google Earth to take a selfie. Booker added something a bit more insightful when he said he’s known Show since he started and hasn’t lost a beat.

    Cesaro came back with uppercuts, a running knee and flying crossbody for two. Show went for a chokeslam but Cesaro countered and tried a Neutralizer, but Show used a back body drop and a KO punch for the win.

    As painful as it sounds, I can see why they protect Big Show, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of Cesaro. We know this already, and they obviously don’t care.

    Reigns and Ambrose were backstage and were interrupted by Renee Young, which seemed to annoy Ambrose. Renee said she was just doing her job and asked who their partner would be. Reigns wasn’t going to tell her but did say it was Ambrose who made the call. Ambrose said she would find out when the Wyatts do and they won’t be outgunned anymore. Reigns said they would beat Rollins and Sheamus tonight to prepare for war on Sunday.

    Kevin Owens beat Dolph Ziggler via DQ

    Rusev did an inset promo, calling Ziggler a sissy. He said Summer wasn’t impressed by skinny abs or gift bags but she would be impressed when he crushes Ziggler in half. Speaking of getting crushed, Owens gained control after hitting a senton to Ziggler’s back. Owens taunted Ziggler who tried to make a comeback, but Owens cut him off with a DDT.

    After a break, Ziggler fought out of a headlock and used a backslide for two and a Fameasser for two. Ziggler blocked a superkick and hit a jumping DDT for a near fall. Outside the ring, Owens used a fallaway slam, sending Ziggler into the barricade. Ziggler beat the 10-count so Owens tossed him into the post and over the barricade into the timekeeper area. Ziggler again beat the 10-count.

    Owens followed with a superkick and went for a powerbomb on the apron but Ryback ran out for the save. Ryback tried to get him with shell shocked but Owens bailed. They announced Owens as the winner by DQ and he seemed content.

    Brie and Alicia went over the guestlist for the Bellabration but realized that nobody was showing up. They blamed it on traffic.

    They plugged Connor’s Cure and played a video package.

    Outside of an arena boardroom, Nikki showed up for her Bellabration. Brie and Alicia tried to stop Nikki from going in, but she went in the room, opened her champagne and realized nobody was there. She freaked out and Brie/Alicia said they tried to warn her. They said they would try to fix it and left.

    Charlotte, Paige and Becky showed up (the latter two in party hats). Charlotte said Nikki wouldn’t be able to pull any crap at NOC and Paige told her not to eat too much cake. Team PCB left and Adam Rose showed up to tell Nikki that her party sucked. He left and Nikki tossed away her cake, which landed on Brie and Alicia.

    Elsewhere, Summer Rae asked if Ziggler was okay and asked about the expensive earrings he got her. Ziggler said he was done with the drama and wanted to let bygones be bygones. He said sometimes a rose is just a rose, but added, “sometimes it’s more.” So he’s not done with the drama.

    Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose beat WWE & US Champion Seth Rollins & Sheamus via pinfall

    Rollins was sent to the outside and Ambrose was about to go for a drive, but Rollins comically ducked. Ambrose just stopped at the ropes and Reigns clotheslined Rollins instead. That was funny. Ambrose then hit a dive on Sheamus and they went to commercial.

    Sheamus and Rollins argued during the break but were able to gain control after each tossed Ambrose into the barricade. As they worked over Ambrose, Booker said he would not be their mystery partner at NOC and wouldn’t answer the phone if they called.

    Ambrose came back with a swinging neckbreaker and made the hot tag to Reigns, who hit Rollins with a clothesline, shoulder block, Samoan drop and ten clotheslines in the corner. Rollins tried a school boy but Reigns countered into a one-armed powerbomb.

    Rollins used a chop block and superkick and tried to tag out, but Sheamus jumped off the apron. Rollins grabbed his briefcase so Sheamus went after it, allowing Rollins to tag him. Sheamus stalked Rollins on the outside, so Ambrose hit a suicide dive. Reigns hit Sheamus with a superman punch and Ambrose followed with Dirty Deeds for the win.

    The lights went out and they showed a Wyatt video package that emphasized on Strowman. Bray said it doesn’t matter who was foolish enough to join Ambrose and Reigns because they all fall down. This bit was good.

    Final Thoughts:

    This show was perfectly fine even if nothing terribly newsworthy happened. Paige turning seems like a lock unless they decide to swerve us.