Cassandra Leppan, the wife of the indefinitely suspended Ray “Adam Rose” Leppan, was in Florida court Thursday morning asking a judge for leniency regarding her husband after his post-midnight arrest on Wednesday morning.
He faces battery and tampering with a witness charges.
The judge talked about invoking a restraining order against Ray, barring him from any contact with her. She begged the judge not to do so because she wants him back home, noting that they have a special needs child who needs both parents.
According to TMZ.com, Ray’s lawyer argued that his physical actions were more passionate than violent. However, the judge noted a previous domestic violence incident that didn’t get any media play in March, noting a pattern. In the end, the judge allowed Ray to return home. Bond was set for $1000, virtually ensuring Rose will be out by day’s end.
Ray was ordered to get counseling from his pastor once a week until the next court date.
The Big News: Samoa Joe and Finn Balor will square off one more time, on June 8 at NXT Takeover.
The Medium News: Balor returned to the NXT rings and put away The Drifter
The Little Beaver Sized News: Rachel Ellering debuted and Alex Riley did one last job.
The show kicks off this week with the longest reigning NXT Champion in history! The now former champion, Finn Balor, returns to Full Sail University for the first time since losing his championship.
The fans chanted “Thank you Finn”, which made him thank the fans. Finn moved on to address the new champion, Samoa Joe. He brought up that both Takeover matches could have gone either way, but Balor won, however in Lowell, Massachusetts that match could also go either way.
This was the cue, not for Samoa Joe, but for Elias Sampson. Sampson played a song dedicated to Balor losing the belt. Sampson told Balor that he is nothing without the title, so Balor gave him a Pele Kick, which sent The Drifter drifting away.
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They replayed Eric Young’s backstage interview from last week, saying the cream always rises to the top and he is now where he belongs.
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Finn Balor said that he will finish saying what he needs to say to Samoa Joe when he gets done kicking Elias Sampson’s ass.
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NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha defeated Corey Hollis & John Skylar
Hollis and Skylar now have matching gear, so they are an official team. The crowd exploded for Gable and Jordan, chanting that they deserve it. This match was your normal American Alpha match. Gable ran wild with chain wrestling, Jordan got in a little before Gable tagged in and got cut off for the heat.
Hollis and Skylar got more in this match than you would probably expect considering their respective pushes, but Jordan got the hot tag and it was Full Suplex University on their foes. The Revival came out to watch the finish of the match, which distracted the champs momentarily, but they picked up the win with Grand Amplitude.
After the match the champs laid down the gauntlet for The Revival, but Dash & Dawson backed away saying it would be done on their time.
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Shinsuke Nakamura did a brief promo mocking the idea of Alex Riley’s rage.
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In a Loser Retroactively Gets Fired Match, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Alex Riley
When they called him to wish him well in his future endeavors, do you think Riley screamed “SAYITTOMYFACE”?
Riley used his size to mock Nakamura at first, but that didn’t last long since Nakamura then mocked him back. Riley took over by rolling out of the way of a knee drop and spent most of his time on offense making fun of the idea of Strong Style, which was the cue for Nakamura to make his comeback. Honestly this was more of a squash than the opener, as Nakamura won quickly with the Kinshasa.
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Austin Aries was in William Regal’s office and wanted proof to show how great he is. Blake & Murphy barged in and demanded a tag team title match. Aries brought up how disrespectful this was and we got an argument. Mr. Regal said next week will be Blake & Murphy vs Austin Aries and a partner of Aries choosing.
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Alexa Bliss pinned Rachael Ellering
Women’s Division time. The former pixie going one on one with the daughter of Paul Ellering, Rachael. A few weeks ago, Alexa defeated Tessa Blanchard, so now Corey Graves joked that she’s going to beat everyone’s daughter.
This match was just fine except for a spot where it looked like Ellering missed a dropkick by several feet, but they changed camera angles so you didn’t see it. Anyway Alexa won with the Sparkle Splash.
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Bayley was backstage and said Asuka gave her the fight of a lifetime in Dallas and now she is training and will win again. Up walked Nia Jax who said Bayley was weaker. This led to a challenge for a future match.
They then announced the math for next week.
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Finn Balor defeated Elias Sampson
Main event time, Balor’s first match since going down in defeat to Samoa Joe 3 weeks ago. Sampson worked on Finn’s injured shoulder that he has taped up following the beating Joe gave him. Balor made his comeback with some hard chops and kicks to The Drifter. Balor used the corner dropkick and finished Sampson off with 1916, which is the new name for the Bloody Sunday DDT. 1916 is the year of the Irish uprising.
After the match Balor said he is not taking anything away from Samoa Joe…yet, but he wants his rematch. Balor is obsessed with NXT and obsessed with being NXT Champion, but now he is possessed like a demon stalking his prey. He is possessed with going after what belongs to him.
This brought out Samoa Joe. Joe shouted at him from the ramp, saying he deserves nothing and does not deserve a title shot. William Regal ran out and shouted that we will not break down into chaos before announcing Joe vs Balor for Takeover on June 8. while Joe continued to rant rom the ramp, Balor did a running dive over the top, taking out the champion.
So that does it for this week! Thank you for reading and until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
The UFC announced on Wednesday’s UFC Tonight that the format for the 24th season of The Ultimate Fighter will still be a televised tournament for a shot at the flyweight title currently held by Demetrious Johnson.
An interesting twist is that the coaches were announced as Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo, two of the top contenders for the championship that Johnson has already dispatched. In Benavidez’s case, Johnson has beaten him twice.
The fighters brought in will be 16 talents from outside the UFC with the idea of them being pushed as flyweight champions from smaller promotions. Benavidez and Cejudo will each have an eight-man team. Another interesting note is that if by some chance, the tournament winner can take the title from Johnson, there is a good chance they would have to face Benavidez or Cejudo.
Johnson will defend his title against the tournament winner on Saturday, December 3rd in Las Vegas, flanked by Benavidez and Cejudo battling in what is essentially a No. 1 contenders fight. This will be an intriguing test promotionally as the public won’t know who Johnson is facing until days or a week before the fight. It wasn’t noted on the show when Johnson will learn who his opponent is.
The season will start airing on August 31st on Fox Sports One.
A recap video recaps the trios tournament, and the title win by Prince Puma, Rey Mysterio, and El Dragon Azteca Jr. We see a bit of the cop drama, and the announcement of Graver Consequences with Mil Muertes and Matanza – a casket match with four coffins in use. Dario meets with the mayor’s goon in a club and gives him his payment — thus explaining why he’s allowed to run an “underground” fight club. The goon tells him that he’s being watched by the police and he probably has at least one person on the inside. Dario is told that the Temple is very important, and that “his employer” will be visiting the Temple. Melissa Santos introduces our first match, for an Aztec medallion – a battle of former partners.
Mr. Cisco vs. Castro Castro vs. Joey Ryan – Aztec Medallion Match
Cisco gets a rollup on Castro for 2. Suplex by Castro to Cisco gets 2, while Joey is happy to just hang around on the outside of the ring. Joey Ryan goes for a schoolboy on Castro and beats him. Striker compares this to a flash knockout. Sure thing there, bucko.
Catrina talks to Mil about waiting 197 years for tonight. She says Mil spent only a few days in stone before she guided him to safety, and saved him from death in Grave Consequences. Tonight, she will lick Matanza’s face and make them immortal. King Cuerno rises from below in their sacred candle room area. Well, that should be a fun match down the line. Mundo is added to the former Trios Championship holders team tonight for a rematch.
Ivelisse, Son of Havoc, and Johnny Mundo vs. Trios Champions Rey Mysterio, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr
Mundo’s new pink and white gear is something else. Ivie starts out with Azteca, and outwrestles him for a bit. Leg kick to Ivie leads to him leaving and we we get Rey-Havoc. Havoc gets 2 off a standing SSP, while Rey gets 2 off a sunset flip. Rey and Havoc grab one another’s legs to avoid a kick – and agree to break on 3 and actually do. Puma tags in and then Mundo comes in for a slugfest.
Mundo sends him over the rope to the apron and lands a high kick. Puma blocks a lariat with a high kick. Azteca and Havoc are now in and Havoc sends him up top. Azteca flips down and cradles him for 2. Superman Forearm by Azteca hits, but Havoc recovers and gets 2 off a handspring cutter. Rey and Havoc come in and a victory roll gets 2 for Rey. An argument breaks out and Mundo “accidentally” flying Chuck kicks Ivie.
Havoc high kicks Rey and gets 2. 619 hits and a tag to Puma leads to the 630 while Striker talks about the torch being passed and a new star being created…off a tag and one move. Taya jumps Ivie after the match. The large funeral march begins to set up Graver Consequences. When combined with the tragic Western music, it’s beautiful and a great way to add a sense of artistic beauty on a wrestling show in a new way. Mil Muertes comes out with Catrina, while Dario leads Matanza down.
Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes vs. Matanza Cueto – Graver Consequences Match
Mil jumps him and hits a chain of lariats in the corner. Matanza responds with a clothesline from Hell. Mil is tossed over the top onto a casked back-first like he’s HBK – only he’s 300 pounds. Matanza puts a casket next to the other, but Catrina hits him with a chair. It does nothing – but when he goes for Catrina, Mil spears him through chairs. Matanza powerbombs Mil onto the top of one of the three side-by-side caskets.
Mil smashes Matanza’s head into the posts, resulting in a wacky “bonk” sound effect. Matanza teases a chokeslam off the apron, but instead eats a Flatliner off of the apron onto the caskets. Matanza drags a casket into the ring, and then Dario gets pulled in – but Matanza saves him. Matanza hits the multiple gutwrench suplex, but Mil recovers, punches him and hits a spear without landing on his stomach.
Mil grabs the turnbuckle connector hook, but Matanza prevents its use and headbutts him. Matanza goes for the mask with his hands instead and tears it up. Matanza attacks the head with the hook and Striker says it’s to draw blood, and he’s sliced open. Matanza gets chokeslammed onto the casket! Mil grabs a toolbox and gets a lead glove, which Striker says you wouldn’t find that in a regular toolbox. Mil punches away on the mask with that glove. Matanza hits a low blow and a rabbit lariat. Matanza rips the lid off the coffin, and can’t win by tossing him in the mid-ring casket now.
Matanza realizes this and tosses it outside before taking an even bigger casket off its base and placing it on the floor. Matanza shoves him in the casket, but Mil’s hand raises up through the coffin and slams Matanza’s head onto the casket! Mil smacks him with the ring bell. Dario and Catrina brawl! Matanza has the stone and throws it in a casket. Matanza grabs Catrina and puts her in the casket with the stone. Mil hits a suicide dive to the floor!
They come back in and Mil lands a sloppy powerslam to Matanza. Mil opens the lid of a casket and puts Matanza in it, but Matanza survives – only to eat a slew of punches. One big hook allows him to recover. POWERBOMB ON THE CASKET. Matanza hits the Wrath of the Gods rewind powerslam and wins it! They open the casket with Catrina, but she has vanished. Mil Muertes is carried away in the casket by the pall bearers. King Cuerno takes off a hood to reveal himself as one of them.
More drama as the councilman’s goon brings the money Dario gave them to a limo. He tells “his lord” that Dario thinks his brother is the most powerful being on Earth – but told him that his lord was, and we see a lighter spark and what looks like a cigar being lit up to introduce a new unseen character to the mix. This wasn’t the best episode of the season, but a solid one that built to the future nicely.
To see all of the screenshots for the show, just click here.
Last week on Impact, Bobby Lashley defeated Jeff Hardy and Mike Bennett in a triple threat match to become the number one contender for the TNA World title. Lashley and World Champion Drew Galloway had two pull apart brawls including one that took place at a gym.
Tonight on Impact:
On tonight’s Impact, the feud between Lashley and Galloway kicks into high gear as we enter Slammiversary season. Also, Jeff Hardy has some questions for Tag Champs Decay, whose interference last week cost Hardy the triple threat match. Last but certainly not least, The Miracle has something nefarious planned for Ethan Carter III. Muah ha ha ha!
Show Recap:
–Josh Matthews and The Pope stand ringside and welcome us to tonight’s Impact.
-Jeff Hardy makes his way down to the ring to a roaring reaction from the crowd. He says he does everything for his fans, also known as The Creatures. He brings up Decay and their interference in last week’s main event. Jeff mentions that he had no problem with Decay and even thought they were cool. Jeff is cut off by Decay’s music and the TNA tag champs make their way to the ring.
Abyss tells Jeff that it was just business and they actually like him. Rosemary lets Jeff know that they were paid to attack him. Abyss mentions that the individual who paid them off will make himself known when the time is right. A brawl breaks out with Decay getting the better of Jeff until James Storm hits the ring for the save. Storm and Hardy challenge Decay to a title match and Josh tells us that we’ll find out if they accept after the break.
TNA Tag Team Champions Decay (Crazy Steve & Abyss) w/Rosemary vs. Jeff Hardy and James Storm
Back from commercial and the match is underway. Decay briefly isolate Storm with double team moves including Abyss chokeslamming Steve onto a prone Storm. Storm made the hot tag to Jeff who ran wild on the champs. Jeff laid out Abyss with the Twist of Fate and then went to the top for the Swanton when the lights suddenly went out. When the lights came back on, Willow, Jeff’s alter ego, appeared on the stage and distracted Jeff. Decay spit mist in Jeff eyes and pinned him to retain the tag belts. Willow disappeared and Josh pointed out the obvious: that it wasn’t Jeff dressed up as Willow.
– Back from commercial, Jeff is in the back and screaming in pain. Jeff wonders who that was dressed up as Willow. Jeff says that he’s Willow but that wasn’t him out there. Jeff promises to reveal who is behind the Willow mask tonight.
– Next, we get a great video of Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis attending a Smashing Pumpkins concert. They went backstage to visit lead singer and TNA management Billy Corgan. They pitch some ideas to Billy.
– TNA World Champion Drew Galloway comes out to the ring. Drew cuts a passionate promo about defending the TNA title and making TNA great again. Drew calls out Lashley to the ring and the number one contender joins him in the ring. They argue back and forth until Drew finally challenges Lashley to fight right now. Instead, Lashley is going to take his title shot next week. Lashley walks away leaving Galloway in the ring.
– Eli Drake comes out with his Feast or Fired briefcase. He challenges Drew to a title match and luckily for Eli, Drew is looking for a fight tonight. They end up brawling and Josh informs us that the title match is official.
TNA World Champion Drew Galloway vs. Eli Drake
Drew doesn’t have his ribs taped up this week, but Josh points out that his ribs aren’t fully healed. Eli got in a good majority of offense and was in control for a good portion of the match. Eli tried to use the world title and Feast or Fired briefcase, but got caught by referee Brian Hebner. Drew caught Eli with the Claymore and Future Shock DDT for the win.
Post match, Lashley snuck up on Drew and caught him with a spear. Lashley posed with the belt.
– In the back, EC3 is on his way to the ring and is going to call out Mike Bennett. EC3 has been on fire lately with his promos.
– Backstage, Maria informs Knockouts Champion Jade and Gail Kim that they’ll have a match later with Sienna at ringside.
– The catchiest music in wrestling hits and EC3 makes his way to the ring. EC3 comes across like a really big star. The crowd loves him and chants his name. He promises to not talk over the chant. EC3 is a man with a vendetta and calls out The Miracle telling him to bring his wife. The Miracle and Maria make their way to the ring and look stunning.
EC3 said he’s glad that Bennett wore his sunglasses because it’s always sunny in “doucheville.” This was a funny line and gets a “doucheville” chant from the crowd. EC3 challenges Bennett to another match but Bennett refuses him. Bennett will give EC3 a match if he can beat the “demons” from EC3’s past. He accepts and The Miracle informs him that later tonight EC3 will compete in a cage match, but won’t tell him who his opponent is yet.
TNA Knockouts Champion Jade vs. Gail Kim
Sienna is ringside for this match. They have a really good back and forth match. Jade scored a close near fall with a German suplex. Gail took over on Jade and they brawled on the outside. Sienna distracted Gail and Jade hits a suicide dive on Gail. Jade sends Gail back in the ring at which point Sienna jumped Jade and knocked her out. Gail and Sienna brawled with Sienna getting the better of Gail.
– Next, we get a video of Al Snow at the Al Snow Wrestling Academy. Two of his students were competing while Snow cut a passionate promo. Al said that this is how wrestling use to be. He adds that he’s like Donald Trump: he’s not allowing anybody into the wrestling business. He’s going to eliminate Grado and Mahabali Shera.
Al Snow vs. Mahabali Shera
Al takes the mic and basically repeats the previous promo from the academy. He tells everyone that he is the Donald Trump of wrestling. Al is going to build a wall around wrestling and will decide who gets in. Al rips the fans as they chant “boring”. There has been a lot of talking on this episode of Impact. Shera comes out and Al quickly gets the advantage. Al uses an illegal object on Shera, but is able to hide it from the referee. Snow went into his tights and pulled out another illegal object, but Grado showed up and distracted Al, giving Shera the chance to pull out the surprise victory.
– In the back, Jeff is searching for Willow and finally finds him. They brawl around the backstage area as we cut to commercial.
– Back from commercial, Jeff is beating the life out of Willow when suddenly a second Willow attacks Jeff from behind. The strange new Willow takes out Jeff with the chair. The camera pulls back and it’s revealed that it was three Willows that attacked Jeff.
– Backstage, Snow cut an insane promo about his loss to Shera. Al points out that it took two guys to beat him. Al calls himself a real athlete and charges off.
– EC3 comes out for the cage match. Josh reminds us that this is the first match in EC3’s road to redemption. He must win this match to eventually get another match with Mike Bennett. Bennett introduces the first “demon” EC3 must over come is Rockstar Spud.
Steel Cage Match: Ethan Carter III vs. Rockstar Spud
Spud charges into the cage full of passion and fire. This is short lived as EC3 quickly takes over. EC3 bounces Spud all over the ring. Spud gets the advantage with a low blow. Spud uses his belt and viciously whips EC3 on the back. Spud kept trying to escape the cage, but EC3 prevented him each time. EC3 bounced Spud off the cage. Spud climbed to the top of the cage but EC3 caught him and gave him a press slam from the top. EC3 hit the One Percenter for the pin and the win.
Post match, Mike Bennett walked out onto the stage and applauded EC3’s victory to end the show.
Next Time on Impact:
TNA World Champion Drew Galloway will defend against “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley.
– The show opened with a Dean Ambrose promo. He said they were now even as Jericho took out his plant, and Ambrose took out the jacket; “an eye for an eye”. He said he would take away everything from Jericho like his ego. Jericho’s pyro goes off and arena lights go out. Lights come back on and Jericho is in the middle of the ring standing over a fallen Ambrose. Jericho then puts Ambrose in a straight jacket.
As Ambrose fights to get out and to his feet, Jericho pummels Ambrose with kicks and punches. Dean manages to get a few kicks in before taking a Codebreaker. Refs out to separate them. Jericho gets in the last shot before leaving the ring. He jumps on the announce table, grabs the mic, and says his gift to all of us is “The Gift of Jericho”. He continues to stand atop the table soaking up the boos.
– Rusev is shown backstage slamming the lids shut on several rolling cases screaming as Lana follows behind.
Rusev w/ Lana submitted Sin Cara w/ Kalisto with the Accolade
– Renee interview with Emma. She asked Emma who Dana Brooke is. Dana cut her off and said she’s a fitness champion. She then ran down Becky Lynch.
Dana Brooke w/ Emma b Becky Lynch
– Backstage promo with The Club. AJ tells Anderson and Gallows to take out The Usos tonight.
– New Day in ring promo. They recapped The Vaudevillains interfering on Raw, and said they put their noses in their BootyOOOOOOOOs, that the Vaudevillains “Kanye West’d” them, and interfered when the situation had nothing to do with them. It’s a dated reference but it’s ok because The Vaudevillains are from the 1830s. Out come Vaudevillains who said they are real men from a bygone era. English begins singing Xavier’s WWE Tag Team Champions line. Gotch states the sun will set on The New Day at Extreme Rules and the night belongs to The Vaudevillains.
– Aiden English b Kofi Kingston
– Backstage promo with The Family. Roman Reigns told The Usos that if AJ shows his face, he will be out there ASAP.
– The Usos b Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows via DQ when Gallows hit an Uso with a chair on the outside. Roman Reigns has managed to turn 50% of the audience against The Usos as there were dueling chants of “Let’s Go Usos/Usos Suck”.
– We got a “Life Lessons with Coach Backlund” segment based on managing time. Bob wants Darren Young to use his watch, calendar, mail, and desktop. Young said he had all that on his phone which upset Bob.
– The Gorgeous Truth b GoldDango. After the match, Tyler Breeze and Fandango turned on their partners and put the boots to Truth and Goldust.
– We got a Shining Stars vignette. They arrive next Monday on Raw.
– We got a Renee interview with Charlotte and Ric Flair. Charlotte said what happened on Monday was a travesty, and how dare the McMahons treat him that way. Ric said he’s the dirtiest player in the game & taught Charlotte everything she knew.
– Kevin Owens & The Miz w/ Maryse b Cesaro & Sami Zayn when Owens pinned Cesaro after a frog splash.
The continuation of the “New Era” of Raw didn’t ended up being a positive factor in the ratings as the Monday, May 9th edition of the show did 3.23 million viewers, down six percent from last week. It was the second lowest rating for a show outside of football season since 1997.
A week ago, the combination of a post-PPV show and the first Stephanie & Shane McMahon show did 3.43 million viewers. The modern era low for a show outside of football season or a major holiday was 3.12 million viewers which was set two weeks ago.
Dancing With the Stars, featuring UFC’s Paige VanZant, remained the most-watched show on television with 11.33 million viewers.
Raw was third on cable for the night, trailing two NBA playoff games on TNT. The first, which went head-to-head with Raw, did 4.01 milliion viewers while the late night game, which started just before Raw ended, did 6.16 million viewers.
In this week’s case, the culprit was that the audience at the start was lower than usual. The second hour was the high point, although the first two hours were virtually identical. There was a third hour drop, but it wasn’t as bad as some have been. The real story of the low number wasn’t people tuning out, but that they didn’t tune in at their usual levels to begin with.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 3.35 million viewers
9 p.m. 3.36 million viewers
10 p.m. 3.01 million viewers
Subscribers can access Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez’s Wrestling Observer Radio Raw report here.
On Tuesday, WWE announced a profit increase but a revenue decrease from the first quarter of this year as compared to last year.
Profits are up $13.9 million for Q1 2016 as compared to $9.8 million for Q1 2015 while revenue finished at $171 million for Q1 2016, down from the $176.2 million they did in Q1 2015.
The decrease in revenue year to year can be completely attributed to WrestleMania being in the first quarter last year and second quarter this year. That significantly decreased live event revenue in taking out the WrestleMania gate, as well as merchandise revenue.
Given that, actual 2016 Q2 revenue should be up probably $40 million or more as compared to last year, but WWE indicated that second quarter profits would actually be lower than last year. However, they have projected an increase for 2016 as a whole.
While not factoring in the WWE Network, the first quarter was a break-even proposition based on Wrestlemania. Mania had no impact on the profitability year-to-year, but the event and week itself generated a total of $24.9 million. If you factor that out, the first quarter revenue would have been $151.3 million if you’re doing a fair comparision.
Other Notes
There were not a lot of notes coming from the call, since the key figure, network subscribers, was covered in the call after WrestleMania.
The WWE has greatly changed the way it is reporting data, no longer featuring PPV, home video and web merchandise sales in the key performance indicators, and focusing on social media and global video views, as well as the Network and live attendance.
When asked how WrestleMania did on PPV this year, either George Barrios didn’t understand the question or didn’t answer it because he gave numbers of what the show used to do. The person asking ended up moving to the next question instead of following up.
Questions about tiered network subscriptions or whether Raw or Smackdown would be put on the Network during the same week of airing were vaguely answered, with Barrios and company saying they won’t discuss the nature of TV contracts.
PPV and home video have been greatly declining categories while merchandise has been greatly increasing.
Injuries, Shane & New Stars
Vince McMahon noted that due to injuries, they made chicken salad out of the show, and said that within the next 30 days, many stars will be returning, noting in particular Seth Rollins, John Cena, Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. They talked about adding 13 new stars to the main roster and credited NXT, although the new stars are a mix of outside wrestlers like A.J. Styles, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows with people like Baron Corbin, Enzo, Cass, and The Vaudevillains who did come via the NXT pipeline.
McMahon said that the injury rate isn’t any higher than before, and just said that the news gets out more, and most injuries are three to four month injuries. He said that the game isn’t any more risky and talked about being “well ahead of everyone else” when it comes to concussion treatment.
Shane McMahon’s name came up and Vince talked of the great job he’s done as talent, but it was made clear he was working only in a talent capacity.
Barrios talked about long-term strategy such as heavy investments in China that they hope pay off in the long run. He said that while profits were up over last year in the current quarter, a key point was the nature of the video game contract and that more royalties were paid this quarter than at the same time last year. He noted that would even out, and that the second quarter profit margin would be down from last year. He expects after six months, things would be even. He said they expect growth in profits in quarters three and four.
The company talked OIBDA expectations of $70-$85 million, and indicated more at the high end of that level. Last year’s total was $69 million.
Social Media
What ended up as a key talking point is that when it comes to social media and videos viewed, 70 to 80 percent comes from overseas, while when it comes to revenues, that number is reversed. They were asked if so much social media and video viewing, metrics they are pushing as the most important, would indicate why overseas isn’t generating revenue like stateside. Laura Martin, who has been a strong company backer, even said she wondered if those statistics are meaningless if they aren’t driving revenue.
Barrios, in short form, talked about it as a long term strategy, noting in particular huge consumption in India but that the network, for example, hasn’t done big numbers there.
They indicated, without actually saying it, that 70 to 75 percent of the free subscribers during the WrestleMania ramp up period have been converted to paid subscribers and that they should average 1.5 million paid during the quarter.
– Kamaitachi and Will Ferrara started the night with a web exclusive match
Crowd didn’t seem to care for Ferrara all that much, but Kamanitachi got a nice reception. Fun opener. Both guys worked quick. Kamaitachi won with a modified Air Raid Crash. Great finisher.
– They announced that the show was being taped for VOD and DVD, so apparently these matches won’t be featured on ROH TV. Bobby Cruise got the crowd pumped up for the opener.
– Bullet Club came out, with their newest member Adam Cole, who may have been the most popular American wrestler on the show tonight.
Standard BC promo work. Called out the Briscoes, MCMG, Cabana, and Lethal. Briscoes and MCMG come out, call off their tag match and challenge Bullet Club. Cole reminds them they need a 5th man. Cue Adam Page who comes out and offers to be the 5th to the ROH team and demands the match start immediately. BC retreats, Nick Jackson says they didn’t come here to curtain jerk, and they’d see each other in the main event. Solid opening segment, crowd seemed to eat it up.
– Matt Sydal and ACH beat Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser
Sydal and ACH worked as underdogs while Silas and Bruiser played bullies. Okay stuff overall, but ACH is a much better act in person than he is on TV in my opinion. His dive to the outside using the second rope as a spring is very impressive. ACH gets the pin with a 450, and in the post match announces that he’s learned a lot from Sydal, but has to find his own path now. Sydal and ACH split amicably to a lukewarm reaction.
– Roddy Strong vs. Lio Rush
Rush came out, followed by Strong, who got a good pop. Roderick announced that Lio was replacing the injured Jushin Liger, to the displeasure of much of the crowd. Roderick worked as a full blown heel, bullying the smaller Rush. Rush did get some sneaky offense in, and looked impressive throughout. A fun spot had Lio catching Roddy in a rear naked choke, only for Roddy to run back first into the turnbuckle.
Lio climbed back on and they repeated the spot twice more. Ultimately, Roderick won by turning a guillotine into the End of Heartache, and getting the pin. Roddy added a post match beatdown for good measure, only for Liger to make the save, forcing Roddy to retreat. Liger took a position at the commentary desk for the next couple matches.
– ROH Champions War Machine beat Kazuchika Okada and Gedo
Okada with the biggest pop of the night thus far. Seemed like a significant portion of the crowd was there just to see him. War Machine, on the other hand, people seemed indifferent on. Rowe and Hanson got on the mic, and announced they were putting the belts on the line against Okada and Gedo. War Machine worked as heels (kinda), beating down the smaller Gedo before Okada could get a hot tag. In the end, Okada hit the Rainmaker on Rowe but was not the legal man. Hanson cleared Okada out of the ring and hit Gedo with a leg lariat for the win.
Post match, The Addiction, who were not announced, hit the ring, and challenged War Machine to a title match in NYC Saturday night. War Machine declined, and offered instead to put the belts on the line tonight. Crowd was excited for another title match.
– Kushida defeated Dalton Castle
People are really into Castle, and his entrance got big cheers. Kushida was also extremely over with the crowd. Funny spot early had Dalton retreating to the corner and being fanned by the Boys, only for Kushida to do the same moments later. They briefly fought over the Boys’ services before getting serious once again. Good chemistry between these two.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin beat the All Night Express
Good match, Elgin seems much less stale with Tanahashi by his side. Tanahashi was by far the most over man in the match. Better than the War Machine/Okada & Gedo match, but not by much. A few miscues by Kenny King that the crowd really got on him for. Finish was dual High Fly Flows by Tanahashi and Elgin, with Elgin getting the pin. Tanahashi was truly the star here. Everything he did looked effortless.
– Tomohiro Ishii pinned Moose
Moose was very over, but did attract some rather vocal detractors. Ishii was well liked, and got a decent reaction. The story of this one was Ishii finding ways to chop down Moose. Moose is much larger in person, and towered over Ishii. I’m not the biggest Ishii fan, but this match was very good. Trading chops, standard headbutts from Ishii (much of the crowd was encouraging Moose to engage Ishii in a battle of headbutts). Moose got the crowd going by swinging Ishii back and forth while standing in the corner of the ring barricades. Huge reaction for Ishii nailing Moose with a superplex. Ishii finally got the win with a brainbuster. After the match, Todd Sinclair ran down and grabbed Nigel McGuiness, who had been on commentary, and brought him to the back. No announcement to the crowd as to what was going on.
– The Addiction defeated War Machine to win the ROH tag titles
Crowd seemed to be 60/40 for The Addiction from the get go. All out brawl to start. First several minutes were spent on the floor, with the ref unable to gain control. War Machine remained dominant for much of the match, until Kaz was able to slip a title belt in the ring and distract the ref, allowing Daniels to hit Rowe with the belt. Ref was distracted for too long and Rowe kicked out at 2. Kaz tried the same routine, but Daniels got caught. While the ref returned the belt to ringside, Kaz hit Rowe with a chain made of bullets (bandoleer?), allowing Daniels to get the pin. New champs. Crowd was hot for the finish. Nobody in the room seemed to expect it.
– Nigel returned to commentary after the Tag Title Match
– ReDragon beat IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito and ROH World Champion Jay Lethal
All 4 men were great, but Naito in particular stood out from the beginning, starting with a great entrance (including a belt toss). Comedy spot early had O’Reilly stomping Lethal’s fingers repeatedly, prompting Taeler Hendrix to kiss Lethal’s hand to alleviate the pain. O’Reilly gave Naito the same treatment, but when Naito asked Hendrix for the same treatment she gave Lethal, Lethal intervened. Naito eventually had a fan in the front row kiss his hand, to quite the reaction. Naito teased a dive to the outside, only to roll into his signature “I don’t give a sh*t” pose. Both teams went back and forth, lots of great action all around, too much to recount.
Finish had Lethal and Naito intercommunicating in the ring, allowing O’Reilly to take advantage and make a hot comeback. Bobby Fish took out Naito by running him into the barricade, before hitting Chasing the Dragon with O’Reilly to get the pin on Lethal. Seemed to be setting up a O’Reilly/Lethal title match. After the pin, Naito entered the ring with a chair, only to sit down in it rather than take out ReDragon. Naito treated us to a second belt toss, and seemed very displeased with Lethal. Seeds planted for a match between these too at some point as well. Strongly recommend seeing this match when it becomes available.
– Bullet Club vs. MCMG/Briscoes/Colt Cabana
Finally, Bullet Club came out for the main event. Noticeable change in the audio at this point in the night, so this match may have been shot for TV. Bucks and Cole were more over than Guerrillas of Destiny, but the latter seemed to win the crowd over by the end. Briscoes and MCMG out, only for Adam Cole to tell them that the Superkick Party started early in the back, and Adam Page can’t make it to the ring anymore. Cue Bullet Club beat down. The Bucks and Guerrillas divide and conquer, each taking a man to a corner on the outside barricades.
Adam Cole begins “Story Time with Adam Cole” only to be interrupted by Colt Cabana, who got arguably the biggest pop of the night. 10 man tag was complete chaos, but a lot of fun. Guerrillas and Briscoes seem to click with one another. Bucks taunted MCMG about TNA. Everyone got their signature spots in, except for the Guerrillas who don’t seem to have any yet.
Ref got taken out by an errant superkick from one of the Bucks. This allowed Adam Page to hit the ring, who immediatly turned on the faces and joined Bullet Club. Page put Jay Bricscoe through the ringside table with a keeling reverse belly to back piledriver. Superkicks for everyone. IndyTaker from the inside to the outside on one of the Machine Guns. Triple Superkick from Cole and the Bucks to Mark Briscoe for the finish. Post match, Page and Bullet Club hung Chris Sabin from the ring with a noose. Got decent heat.
BC left through the crowd and stood on the bar to celebrate. Cabana cut a defiant promo on the Bullet Club to end the show.
On Sunday night in Chicago Ridge, IL, the stars of Ring of Honor will battle the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling at Global Wars, part of a unique series of early-spring events between the promotions that have been running for the past few years here in the U.S. and Canada.
Tonight’s PPV lineup is a strong one, headlined by a title match with the longtime champion Jay Lethal defending against a returning and popular challenger in Colt Cabana. You can email feedback to the show (positive/negative/neutral) to dave@wrestlingobserver.com
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RODERICK STRONG VS. ADAM PAGE VS. ACH VS. DALTON CASTLE – WINNER GETS A TV TITLE SHOT
Crowd was weak early, but picked up when ACH did a flip dive. The match kept moving with a lot of good moves. The finish saw Strong use a superplex, gutbuster and sick kick on Page, but then Castle used the bang a rang, dropping Strong onto Page and Castle pinned Page.
After the match, Strong got mad saying that he’s the best wrestler in the company and had the TV title shot.
JUSHIN LIGER & CHEESEBURGER VS. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN
They did the big upset finish as Daniels was being cocky and doing finishers on Cheeseburger when Cheeseburger pinned Daniels with a front rolling cradle. Right before the finish, Daniel & Kazairan laid out Liger with Celebrity Rehab and Liger landed on his head. He was selling the neck but it was clearly a sell spot but he was out for the rest of the match.
Daniels and Kazarian laid out Cheesebuger as Daniels gave him a low blow. They used the Best Meltzer Ever after the match, which is a combination tombstone piledriver and Daniels coming off the top rope onto him.
ROH TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS WAR MACHINE VS. MARK & JAY BRISCOE
War Machine retained when Hanson gave Jay a spin kick and then they used the Fallout on Mark — a move where Hanson came off the top rope while Rowe held Mark up. Hanson pinned Mark. This was a wild match. The crowd miking on this show is weak or the crowd is real quiet. The match wasn’t smooth at all, but there were a lot of big moves and the crowd did give them a “This is awesome” chant. Jay put Hanson through a table with a double foot stomp. There were several dives and they did a lot of big stuff. Hanson also kicked out of both Froggy Bow (elbow off the top) by Mark and the Jay driller by Jay. Fans chanted “Thank you” when it was over.
IWGP CHAMPION TETSUYA NAITO VS. KYLE O’REILLY (NON-TITLE)
This was the best actual wrestling so far on the show, very good and Naito came across like a superstar but the crowd miking issue took this match down. O’Reilly did all of his stuff with the various submissions and Naito did his usual spots and mannerisms. The crowd at points lightly booed O’Reilly, but mostly were into the match. O’Reilly got a near fall with a bridging back suplex but Naito used a spinebuster and Destino for the pin. After the match, Naito used a low blow on O’Reilly and then threw the belt in the air. Before the match, Naito also dropped the belt down and showed no respect for it.
HIROSHI TANAHASHI & MICHAEL ELGIN VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA & MOOSE
This was a significant result because Tanahashi & Elgin are a regualr New Japan tag team and they lost this match. Moose speared Elgin and Okada then hit Elgin with the Rainmaker to win. The fans were really into Tanahashi vs. Okada when they were in together. A lot of good stuff here including Okada and Moose both doing the dropkick with Tanahashi and Elgin sitting on the middle rope. Moose did a dive off the top rope to the floor on both Tanahashi and Elgin. Elgin did a delayed vertical suplex on Moose. The crowd knew most of the spots, even chanting “Ace” when Tanahashi did the Moose arm deal. People were on their feet a lot and did another “This is awesome” chant but it still felt quiet a lot. Good match.
TV CHAMPION TOMOHIRO ISHII VS. BOBBY FISH
They put over that Fish is 39 years old and this may be his last big chance. This was weird because Ishii worked the same kind of match he’d work if it was a Japanese big show and Fish was right with him but the crowd was so quiet. Fish won the title clean in the middle by choking Ishii all the way out. Ishii never tapped but went out. The crowd was shocked tHat was the ending. You can tell the place is porly miked beause everyone is standing, you can see people chanting but can barely hear it. This was the best match so far. Really hard hitting from start to finish, hard chops & hard kicks by Fish, Ishii did his headbutt spots and a delayed superplex spot.
YOUNG BUCKS & TAMA TONGA & TANGA LOA VS. KUSHIDA & MATT SYDAL & CHRIS SABIN & ALEX SHELLEY
This was a fast paced match with all kinds of big moves. The match was built around the Bucks setting a record for the world’s largest superkick party for a superkick record. Mr. Wrestling III had a superkick counter, but it totaled zero superkicks. This had the most reaction of anything on the show. Kushida and Sydal are two of the best wrestlers in the world, and Shelley did a lot of unique moves. The Bucks mostly were selling stuff while Tonga & Loa played monsters no selling stuff. After Kushida did a flip dive over the post onto Tonga & Loa, the Bucks used the Meltzer Driver on Shelley for the pin.
They had a confrontation at the desk with Mr. Wrestling III and B.J. Whitmer, who came out wearing a Masked Superstar mask since Superstar was a big rival of Wrestling II. Whitmer handed him a flash drive and told him to go to his hotel room and watch what’s on it after the show — clearly the next stage in the Corino vs. Whitmer feud.
They noted that they didn’t introduce the new Bullet Club member. That is still to come.
ROH CHAMPION JAY LETHAL VS. COLT CABANA
They were out there having a good match. Cabana was really over with the crowd, being it was in Chicago. Taeler Hendrix interfered and Nigel McGuinness and ref Todd Sinclair ejected her, McGuiness dragging her to the back. Cabana had Lethal in the Billy Goat’s Curse when Hendrix came back out and dragged Sinclair out of the ring. The Bucks came out, seemingly to superkick Hendrix for interfering, but she moved and they nailed Sinclair. But then they nailed Hendrix anyway.
The Bucks had two Bullet Club shirts and gave them to Lethal and Cabana. Then the lights went out. Adam Cole was in the ring with a Bullet Club shirt when they came on and they all superkicked Lethal and Cabana and a million security guards. Everyone was superkicking everyone, including Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling III, a camera man and even Mr. Massie (the Bucks’ father). He jumped in the ring and they stopped Cole from superkicking him, but then they superkicked him.
Tonga & Loa spray painted BC on a table and Loa powerbombed a security guard through the table. This was all very reminiscent of an NWO-era Nitro show. The crowd kind of booed them as it was designed as a heel turn. They put zip ties on Lethal, and Cole kept superkicking him. Cole grabbed the belt, clearly teasing the idea that Cole was going after the title next.
At another point, after they took out the announcers, Matt got on the headset and pretended to be Jim Ross doing “This man has a family” and “stomping a mudhole” and called Nick “King.” So, the show ended with a ring and floor with more than a dozen people laid out and the Bucks, Cole, Tonga, and Loa left standing.
