Monday night was bad news ratings-wise for WWE as not only did RAW decline six percent from last week’s seasonal modern record low, but the 3.12 million viewers the company garnered for the 4/25 edition of the show were marginally better overall than two fall episodes that suffered due to NFL programming.
The drop showed that it was the pattern that is the key issue and not because last week’s show was taped. Daylight Savings Time also isn’t an excuse as it was the first hour that was the most viewed with a decline throughout the show’s final two hours. (The really bad number, based on patterns, was hour two.)
Even so, it was a bad night for cable as Raw was the only show to top 3 million viewers (that includes two NBA playoff games on TNT). The game going against RAW did 2.54 million viewers and the late game that started at 10:46 p.m. did 2.97 million viewers.
ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, featuring UFC’s Paige VanZant, did 11.75 million viewers — the most watched show on television.
Here’s the results and notes from Sunday night’s TNA Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, FL. This was for the show that look to be airing on 5/31 and 6/7 — the latter as the go-home show for the 6/12 Slammiversary PPV:
– Matt Hardy came out with a contract for a Full Metal Mayhem (essentially a TLC match) match against Jeff Hardy. Tyrus and Rockstar Spud tried to talk Matt out of signing the contract. Somehow, this led to a ladder match where Jeff wrestled Spud & Tyrus and if they won, Jeff wouldn’t get his match with Matt.
– Jeff Hardy beat Tyrus & Spud in the handicap ladder match so Jeff vs. Matt is on for the PPV.
– Trevor Lee won an Ultimate X match over DJ Zema Ion, Eddie Edwards and Andrew Everett
– Sienna beat Madison Rayne. The winner was to get a shot at the Knockouts title held by Jade on the PPV.
– Ethan Carter III beat Matt Hardy via DQ when Mike Bennett attacked Carter.
– Basile Baracca & Baron Dax (Sylvester Lefort & Marcus Louis in NXT) & Abyss & Crazzy Steve beat Grado & Mahabali Shera & Robbie E & Jessie Godderz
– Trevor Lee beat Eddie Edwards to retain the X title.
– Ethan Carter III & Gail Kim beat Mike Bennett & Allie. Allie is Laura Dennis, the former Cherry Bomb. It was advertised as Bennett & Maria but the gimmick is that Maria always gets out of it when it’s her time to wrestle.
– There was an angle where Matt Hardy claimed Jeff was injured and their match at the PPV was off.
– TNA Champion Drew Galloway beat Matt Hardy via DQ when Bobby Lashley attacked Galloway. A ton of Willows showed up, one of which was Jeff, so the idea is that it was poetic justice as Matt had pretended to be injured weeks back and showed up as a Willow to attack Jeff.
Submitted by Kyle Litke from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center
Building was full. It wasn’t exactly Madison Square Garden, but the intimacy of the venue was great. Tom Phillips noted WWE’s history in that building in the mid 80s during the show.
– Chris Girard beat Mojo Rawley
Mojo came out acting like a face, but jumped Girard while he was interacting with the fans and got booed. Short, perfectly fine match to get the crowd going. Girard won with a Blockbuster.
– Carmella & Bayley beat Dana Brooke & Peyton Royce
Big pop for Carmella and an even bigger pop for Bayley. Brooke was great here on the outside during the entrances, shouting at the fans and really playing it up. Standard, solid tag match with Bayley getting the win with a Bayley to Belly.
– Manny Andrade beat Tomasso Ciampa
Manny got zero reaction coming out as no one knew him. This was a really good match with some great near falls. The crowd got way into it and was chanting for Manny by the end. Manny got the pin with double knees to the corner.
– Nakamura beat “The Drifter” Elias Samson
Samson came out first and tried to sing a song but it was impossible to hear over the booing from the crowd. Nakamura’s music hit to an enormous pop. Samson kept bailing to the corner to kiss his guitar, which drew an exasperated reaction from Nakamura. Nakamura followed it up by playing air guitar, then tossing the air guitar to the ref. The ref tossed it back to him and he broke it over his knee, which angered Samson. A great example of Nakamura doing things to connect with the crowd regardless of what his first language is. Nakamura got the win with the Kinshasa.
> Intermission
– NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha beat the Revival in a 2/3 falls match
Another really good match. American Alpha took the first fall with Grand Amplitude. The Revival managed to take the second fall by hitting a Shatter Machine while the ref was distracted keeping Jordan out of the ring. The third fall started with Dash and Dawson destroying Gable for an extended period of time, including a great spot with the ref distracted and not seeing Gable tagging in Jordan. Huge heat for that. Jordan finally got the hot tag. Jordan and Gable ended up winning with dual ankle locks, with both Dash and Dawson tapping.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka beat Alexa Bliss by submission
Asuka got a big pop. Alexa got a surprising amount of offense on Asuka. Strange crowd reactions as a big “Let’s Go Asuka, Let’s go Bliss” chant started, with a lot of people chanting for Bliss. Asuka won with the Asuka Lock.
– NXT Champion Samoa Joe beat Finn Balor and Austin Aries in a triple threat
Joe bailed to the outside immediately and spent a few minutes tripping Balor every time he came near the ropes. Really good ending with Balor going up top for the Coup de Grace on Joe. Aries intercepted him, then hit a 450 splash on Joe. He went for the pin, but Joe turned it into a Coquina Clutch. Balor then came off the top with the Coup de Grace on both guys. He hit 1916 on Aries, but Joe threw Balor out of the ring and stole the pin.
Post match, Balor teased coming to Raw (the crowd chanted “See you Monday” and he held up a finger to shush them while winking). He then said he had bad news for Joe, he wasn’t going anywhere and was staying in NXT. He then ended the show with finger guns and “Too Sweet” hand gestures, so take that for what it’s worth.
Jay White submitted David Finlay with a Boston Crab
They traded some cool spots and boston crab submissions. Standard, solid fare from these two.
Yoshi-Hashi, Rocky Romero and Trent Baretta defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask and Captain New Japan
Good action, especially when RPG Vice were in the ring. Romero’s totally underrated in terms of knowing what to do in order to get a match over. Yoshi-Hashi got the win for his team with a submission over, why yes, Captian New Japan. How did you know?
Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson and Kushida defeated Jushin Liger, Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi
Much like how Shibata’s been kicking Nagata in the face all these weeks leading to their big match, Nagata returned the favor during this bout. Shibata responded by laying in some ugly sounding kicks. Pretty good match. Shibata scored the win for his team, pinning Nakanishi with the penalty kick.
Shibata kicked Nagata in the face again after the match and put him to sleep. Interestingly, Liger and Kushida brawled into the stands. I thought they were friends? I guess they aren’t anymore.
Sanada and Bushi defeated Kazuchika Okada and Gedo
Fun match that the crowd was hyped for. Sanada looked great in his offense as he was the main focus here, working over Okada. He and Gedo went at it for a bit, but eventually Gedo fell to Sanada’s new waistlock dragon sleeper.
Today, Okada got the red mist instead of the usual green after the match for his troubles.
Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto defeated Tetsuya Naito and Evil
Crowd was really hot for this match and were all over it. Some high profile moves from Ishii, including a big time superplex to the floor. Crowd ate up the last few minutes. Goto hit the neckbreaker on the knee and Ishii hit the sliding D for a nearfall. Ishii then blasted Evil with a lariat for another nearfall, then got the win after a brainbuster. This was one of the better matches of the weekend, mostly thanks to the awesome crowd though the work was great here as well.
Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Guerillas of Destiny defeated Great Bash Heel, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Yoshitatsu and Michael Elgin in an elimination match
Another good match to cap off the show, about the same par as last nights show. They worked the first ten minutes with no eliminations, then went full force with them. Tanga Roa is the first one eliminated when Makabe punches him as he was jumping off the apron. Makabe gets dumped not too long after that. Honma and Tonga end up on the apron. Fale went for a lariat but hit Tonga, eliminating him. Honma tried to fight back, but was taken out with a grenade by Fale. Tanahashi battled him next and did the skin the cat spot. He went for it a second time but Omega distracted him, allowing Fale to dump him. Elgin immediately eliminated Fale.
The four remaining guys battle it out until Yujiro’s eliminated by a Elgin bomb. Elgin has the upper hand on Omega, but the rest of Bullet Club freely interfere and he’s eliminated after Omega uses his hair spray on Elgin, dumping him to the floor. Last two guys are Yoshitatsu and Omega. They have great chemistry with one another. Yoshitatsu manages to use the hairspray to his advantage, but Omega takes him out with a knee strike and pins him with the One Winged Angel.
At the latest set of tapings for Lucha Underground Saturday, a main event deathmatch between Matanza and Dragon Azteca ended abruptly after Matanza legit sliced open his arm after doing a spot where he put his fist through a window.
After a long delay, the match couldn’t go on, and officials sent Johnny Mundo (John Morrison) and PJ Black out to work the crowd.
One of the guys said, “Good news and bad news. The bad news is Matanza’s arm is f*cked! The good news? It’s a full Mundo!” They two then mooned the crowd. That brought out Rey Mysterio Jr. and Dragon Azteca from the back who hit both guys with the 619, and then gave a babyface promo for the crowd.
The crowd was held inside while medical officials on site took care of things.
Jeff Cobb, who plays the Matanza character, is currently in the hospital waiting for an update from the doctor.
If we get futher updates on Matanza’s condition, this story will be updated and will be discussed on tonight’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Roppongi Vice and Gedo
One dude doesn’t fit here. Not only is Nakanishi immobile but he’s a bit heavier than his opponents, I gotta say. Everyone took a bump for him as he threw the trio around. Standard match. There was a funny spot near the end where Taguchi and Tiger Mask did stereo hit attacks, then wanted Nakanishi to do one. He obliged, but his feet barely left the ground in doing so. He submitted Gedo with the torture rack.
Jay White and David Finlay vs. Great Bash Heel
The young lions showed great fire with their back and forth against the champions. Finlay actually took a spike piledriver to the floor. Kinda sad that it used to be one of those moves that used to put you out for months, and now it’s just a spot in a match. Solid work all around regardless. Honma got the win for his team by pinning Finlay with the sitout piledriver, which I think is the first time in forever he’s pinned someone with that.
Juice Robinson and Captain New Japan vs. Guerrillas of Destiny
Captain New Japan has aligned himself with Yoshitatsu as they have formed a “Bullet Club Hunters” faction. Too bad one half of this team is a guy who never wins a match. Mostly a match designed for GoD to look strong, which they did. I think Robinson continues to improve in every match he’s in, though, he looked good here. CNJ was pinned after a elevated DDT finish by GoD.
Katsuyori Shibata and Kushida vs. Yuji Nagata and Jushin Thunder Liger
These guys had a long match, pretty good in a lot of places. Liger and Kushida worked together and were pretty good. Shibata and Nagata were great as they not only did some grappling but also made sure to strike one another pretty fiercely. At one point Liger/Shibata and Nagata/Kushida worked another, which was pretty cool because you don’t see that happen too often, though it’s been popping up a bit more recently. Liger got a flash pin over Kushida with a bridge pin.
Nagata tore into Shibata after the match, pummeling him with kicks and of course had to be pulled apart. Ended up being another staredown between the two teams.
NEVER Six Man Titles: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and Yoshitatsu vs. Kenny Omega, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi
Yoshitatsu’s new gimmick is that he mimics Triple H by doing his water spot on the apron when making his entrance and now wears the same kind of tights. That’s just as lame as Taguchi doing the Nakamura spots, but at least he’s doing it for comedy. Pretty good match. Elgin and Omega worked together for a bit and worked really well in their preview for next week. Yoshitatsu and Tanahashi did topes to the outside, leaving Elgin and Takahashi. The latter tried to get a sneaky win with a low blow and roll up, but Elgin kicked out and after some back and forth, pinned Yujiro after a buckle bomb and a power bomb.
Elimination match: Yoshi-Hashi, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Bushi, and Sanada
It was your typical eight man for a lot of the match in that everyone got to work with one another- Goto/Evil, Ishii/Naito, etc. Sanada worked a lot of the match and looked right at home. He’s had potential ever since he was a rookie in All Japan. Naito was the first one eliminated, deciding to eliminate himself. Ishii soon followed after a distraction by Naito sent him to the floor. Goto beat up Evil some more and tossed him to the floor to eliminate him. Bushi came in and briefly got his butt kicked, but managed to get Goto to the apron then sprayed him with the mist to eliminate him.
Okada tried to give Bushi the rainmaker but Sanada blocked him. Bushi and Okada made it to the apron as Okada tried to eliminate Bushi but Sanada dropkicked Okada, sending him to the floor and leaving just Yoshi-Hashi to fend for himself. He managed to eliminate Bushi as he and Sanada went at it. They had some pretty good back and forth between one another. Yoshi-Hashi had the better of it as he went to the top rope but Evil held on to him as Sanada recovered and gave him a superplex, then eventually submitted him with a dragon sleeper into a waistlock.
Everyone from Chaos was laid out after the match. Evil gave Goto the STO, Sanada laid out Okada, Bushi gave Ishii the mist as Naito cut a promo. Ishii tried to attack him again but he was laid out once more as Los Ingobernables made their exit.
– Chris Girard pinned Mojo Rawley with a running blockbuster out of the corner
This was perfectly fine. Rawley played heel in this match since everybody loved Girard. He was a goofy, annoying heel and everyone was into his spots. He dominated most of the match until the comeback. New England Patriots’ star Rob Gronkowski was in the building wearing a Get Hyped t-shirt, since he goes way back with Rawley. As you might imagine, he’s a god in these parts.
– Bayley and Carmella defeated Dana Brooke and Alexa Bliss
End came when Bayley pinned Dana with the Bayley to Belly. Carmella went to school here (University of Rhode Island) so, naturally, she was beloved. Standard women’s tag match.
– Manny Andrade pinned Riddick Moss with the double knees in the corner
Andrade is ridiculously athletic and ridiculously good. This match was real good. Best spot was probably when Andrade did a moonsault, but Moss moved. Andrade landed on his feet and immediately hit a standing moonsault.
– NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) def. The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) to retain
End came when Gable pinned Dawson with Grand Amplitude. This was my favorite match on the show. They did a false title change near the end. Dawson was the legal man and was getting pounded on by Jordan. Wilder switched places with Dawson behind the referee’s back and pinned Jordan with a small package. The referee noticed his mistake, however, and Gable eventually pinned Dawson.
> Intermission
– Austin Aries pinned Tomasso Ciampa with the rolling elbow and the 450 splash
I was expecting this to be the best match, but I felt like there was something missing. Still real good though. Aries played subtle heel (very subtle really, as it was essentially a babyface match). The finish was botched when Aries missed his elbow, so they immediately did a quick spot and went back to the finish.
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka submitted Peyton Royce with the Asuka Lock
Asuka’s incredible. She comes out looking like an absolute killer with the crowd telling Peyton that she’s about to be killed, yet she has an incredible rapport with the fans and all the kids seem to love her. There’s something she has that I don’t think any other woman has ever had in this company. Good match.
– Finn Bálor and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated NXT Champion Samoa Joe and Elias Samson when Bálor pinned Samson with the 1916 (Bloody Sunday)
Samson came out first and the place just hated everything he tried to do or say. “Drift Away” chants. “Nobody Likes You” chants. He tried to sing his song but Nakamura’s music hit and the place came absolutely unglued. There was a great spot early where Nakamura was in the ring and Joe tagged in. Joe circled around, teasing an encounter, but then immediately tagged out for massive heat. Nakamura mocked Samson throughout the match, pretending to play guitar and throwing the imaginary guitar to the crowd. Joe and Nakamura finally went at it and it was outstanding. They have to do a feud for the championship. This was either the best or second best match on the show.
After the match, Bálor took the mic and talked about how bad he felt after losing the championship. The crowd chanted “See You Monday” and he smirked. He wasn’t sure if he’d be himself anymore after losing the championship. He said that the Kingston, RI crowd made it clear that he was still Finn Bálor. He handed the mic to Nakamaura who said: “This Is NXT!” After a long pause, they too-sweeted each other and did a simultaneously Nakamura back-bend pose. Then Finn slapped hands with everyone at ringside.
Some notes from the April 22nd TNA Impact TV tapings:
Jeff Hardy was out performing his entrance music song when Decay came out. They laid out Jeff and were told they were paid to attack him but didn’t say who paid them. James Storm made the save, and said he wanted his tag title rematch with Jeff as his partner. TNA Tag Champions Abyss & Crazzy Steve then beat Hardy & Storm in a tag title match when a fake Willow distracted Jeff.
Jade went to a no-contest with Gail Kim when Sienna laid out both of them.
Al Snow did an interview heeling on the fans and said he was the Donald Trump of pro wrestling and would build a wall and decide who got in. Mahabali Shera then beat Snow when Grado interfered.
Mike Bennett said he wanted a match with Earl Hebner as a future Hall of Famer against a current one. Bennett then beat Earl Hebner, but EC 3 made the save so Bennett vs. EC 3 will continue.
Tyrus then attacked EC 3 which led to EC 3 beating Tyrus in a last man standing match.
DJ Zema Ion & Eddie Edwards beat Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett when Ion pinned Everett.
Fake Willow was out and Jeff Hardy attacked him. Hardy then beat Willow and went for the mask, but two more guys in Willow masks attacked Hardy. Of course, one of the Willows was Matt Hardy.
Sienna beat Velvet Sky in her final match with the company. They gave Sky a farewell live and posted on the website that she was leaving. It was described as a mutual departure.
Eli Drake interviewed Bram. He wanted Bram to just hand over the King of the Mountain title rather than even bother with a match. Bram refused, and Drake said he can cash in his briefcase and win it at any time. Bram attacked him and he ran away.
TNA World Champion Drew Galloway beat Bobby Lashley via DQ in a lumberjack match for the title due to outside interference.
It’s been that kind of week for the UFC, publicly dealing with one of their biggest stars retiring and then un-retiring, and announcing they were pulling him out of July’s UFC 200 event due to him not showing up for today’s press conference and other promotional events. (That’s Conor McGregor, by the way.)
Without a main event and with Nate Diaz floating in the wind without an opponent, who knows what will be said at Friday’s UFC 200 press conference? Well, you will know if you watch the stream below.
Emanating from Las Vegas, NV, you’ll see women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and challengers Amanda Nunes, strawweight champion Joanna Jedrezejczyk and challenger Claudia Gadelha, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and Eddie Alvarez, interim featherweight title contenders Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, and heavyweight opponents Cain Velasquez and Travis Browne.
Action kicks off at 5 PM EST/2 PM EST. You never know what surprises are in store, especially during this week.
Here’s some notes for those watching this late via Dave Meltzer:
– The first major news is that White announced that Nate Diaz will fight on UFC 200 and have a new opponent. White said you have to show up for the press conferences and shoot the commercials, and said everyone here has better things to do. He said they gave McGregor every opportunity to be here.
– White said they don’t have an opponent yet for Diaz.
– White brought up that Jose flew in the day his sister got married, stayed here, and fighters have done this, said appearing at the press conferences is part of the job.
– Diaz said he came to fight McGregor and isn’t interested in anyone else.
– White said the fight is three months away which is why they did this this early. He said he wants Conor to fight but you can’t not show up. White said he’s ruling out Conor at this point.
– When the rumor of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. GSP at UFC 200 was brought up, White said as far as he knows that’s completely inaccurate.
– Nate Diaz said that if he doesn’t get McGregor, he’s going on vacation.
– Dana White said they’re spending $10 million on promotion and shooting a commercial and said the production crew has been shooting the commercial the last few days and McGregor didn’t come.
– He said Aldo vs. Edgar will fight and the winner will fight Conor.
TNA Impact Wrestling ran a set of TV tapings Thursday Notes in Orlando, FL, for Pop TV that will begin airing on Tuesday, May 3rd:
Eddie Edwards beat Caleb Konley. This may have been a dark match.
James Storm cut a promo that he’s now a singles wrestler.
Jeff Hardy and Mike Bennett had a confrontation that led to a match that Hardy won by DQ when Bobby Lashley ran in and speared Hardy.
James Storm beat Abyss who was accompanied by the rest of Decay who had new looks. Abyss now has face paint.
Sienna (aka the debuting Allysin Kay, a 28-year-old vet of AIW, Shimmer, Shine, etc.) debuted and laid out Jade.
X-Division Champion Trevor Lee beat Mandrews
King of The Mountain Champion Bram retained the title in a match against Eli Drake, Jessie Godderz, Robbie E, and Andrew Everett. Drake attacked Bram post-match
Jeff Hardy wrestled Lashley. Drew Galloway was ref. Bennett interfered and they had a four-way brawl.
In a cage match, EC3 defeated Rockstar Spud. Bennett was out supporting Spud.
