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  • TNA Impact TV taping results: Kurt Angle’s farewell tour, Will Ospreay wrestles for 5 minutes

    Submitted by Stephen Lyon from Manchester, England, UK

    – TNA returned to Manchester, England, for night one of their three night annual U.K. tour. Two episodes of IMPACT WRESTLING were taped this evening, said to air on February 2nd and 9th. 

    – The 20,000 capacity Manchester Arena appeared to be greatly cut down and curtained off for a 5000 capacity (only a small part of the lower tier only open), and I’d estimate a crowd of 3000 (possibly less). It wasn’t full for what they set up and there were lots of empty seats. The crowd were very hot at key points in the show, but it was a long show (a 4 hour taping) and a lot of people left during the 4th hour, presumably to catch the last bus or train home. I think there was only 1500 fans left for the main event of the taping, and the show started at 7pm and finished at 10:50pm.

    TNA XPlosion:

    Mark Andrews beat Will Ospreay

    Match went 5 minutes. After they made such a big deal about featuring British wrestlers on the taping, not only did Big Damo & Jimmy Havoc not appear tonight (despite tweeting earlier that they were both in Manchester), Will Ospreay was only featured in a five minute opening match spotfest that’s not even going to air on IMPACT. Match was okay but not a patch on their PWG stuff. This was a huge disappointment in many respects, and a waste of Ospreay’s talents.

    February 2nd (February 7th in the UK) IMPACT:

    – They aired an Ethan Carter 3 pretaped promo in his mansion, taped ‘earlier in the week’, where Carter cut a terrific babyface promo, acknowledging he’s been an jerk in the past, but saying the defeat to Hardy had been a wake up call, and that he was flying to England to get his revenge. I’m guessing they aired this to condition the live crowd as to him being a babyface during the show, to ensure the ‘right reactions’ occurred. This was really well done.   

    – IMPACT opened with a Matt Hardy interview. The TNA Champion was accompanied by Reby Sky, and Tyrus was carrying little Maxel. Hardy was heavily booed and cut a great heel promo, demanding that Dixie Carter fire EC3 later in the show.

    Bobby Lashley beat Bram

    Eric Young accompanied Bram to the ring, and his interference backfired when he tried to hit Lashley with a chair and hit Bram instead. Lashley speared both and pinned Bram.

    – Kurt Angle came out to a huge pop for a farewell interview. Mike Bennett & Maria interrupted and insulted him. Bennett challenged Angle, but Angle decked him, saying he’d only wrestle people he respected, and said his opponent tonight was Drew Galloway. Galloway then appeared on the entrance ramp before returning to the back.

    X Division Champion Trevor Lee beat Tigre Uno to retain

    Lee was accompanied by Shane Helms.

    Beer Money beat Decay by D.Q.

    Beer Money came out for an interview to a big pop. James Storm rode a scooter-like vehicle called a ‘Bruiser Cruiser’ to the ring. They mentioned their Feast or Fired Tag Title shot briefcase and challenged the Wolves to a title match tonight. Decay came out instead and challenged Beer Money to a fight. To the match, Storm had Crazzy Stevie pinned, only for Abyss to pull the ref out for the D.Q. Decay put the boots to both Roode & Storm afterwards, with the Wolves running in for the save. Wolves cut a promo on Decay, demanding their belts back, which Decay had stolen. Wolves offered Decay a tag title match. Abyss agreed, as long as it was a Monsters Ball match ‘next week’ (taped later).

    – Grado came out of the crowd in his wrestling gear, acknowledging he’d been fired and was disappointed he couldn’t wrestle tonight. He then claimed that he’d been screwed, and had proof, pulling out an envelope. Eli Drake interrupted him and both Drake and two security guys chased Grado out of the ring and to the back, Benny Hill-style. It was fairly amusing and the crowd ate it up. Grado got a good reaction.

    Jade beat Madison Rayne

    Rebel & Marti attacked Rayne afterwards, and Gail Kim ran out for the save.

    Drew Galloway beat Kurt Angle

    This turned into a pretty good 15 minute match. Finish saw Galloway escape from the ankle lock and apply his own submission move for the win. Afterwards, the pair embraced. Angle looked choked up afterwards, looking at the crowd.

    Finish of the first show saw Hardy, Reby and Tyrus in the ring (no Maxel this time), confronting Dixie Carter who came out. Hardy pleaded with Dixie to fire EC3, bringing up all the terrible things EC3 had done in the past. Rockstar Spud came out to a big pop. Spud was wearing a bright red suit with the POP TV logo on the back. Spud told Hardy that EC3 had done most of the terrible things to him, Spud, but that EC3 shouldn’t be fired because he can back it up in the ring, and claimed EC3 was still undefeated, unpinned and unsubmitted. Tyrus decked Spud. As the heels were about to attack Dixie, EC3 came out to the biggest reaction of the night. He stood at the top of the ramp, ripped off his suit then ran down the aisle. He nailed 2 security guards, then Tyrus, but once he made it to the ring, Hardy ran away. Crowd loved EC3, singing along to his music and waving their arms in the air.

    Taped for the February 9th (February 14th in the UK) IMPACT:

    Mike Bennett beat Mark Andrews

    Good match. Bennett was beating on Andrews after the match and Galloway ran out for the save.

    Eric Young went to double countout with James Storm

    Nothing match. Afterwards, Young & Bram brawled with Roode & Storm into the crowd and into the concourses.

    Mahabili Shera & ‘ODARG The Great’ beat Eli Drake & Jesse Godderz

    ‘ODARG The Great’ was the ‘fired’ Grado under a mask, ‘Odarg’ obviously being ‘Grado’ spelt backwards. Odarg came out to the same Madonna ‘Like A Prayer’ theme song, with ‘ODARG’ written across his singlet like Grado’s regular singlet. Everyone in the crowd knew it was Grado, not that it wasn’t obvious anyway. On the surface this seems dumb, but it was played for comedy and the crowd ate it up. Odarg pinned Drake, but his mask came off at one point during the match.

    – EC3 came out for an interview, and ended up brawling with both Matt Hardy and Tyrus. Hardy & Tyrus challenged EC3 to a tag match later.

    TNA Tag Champions The Wolves beat Decay in a Monsters Ball match to retain (and regain physical possession of the belts).

    This was a wild hardcore match, with chairs, tables, ladders, thumb tacks, a barbed wire bat and barbed wire board used. A key spot was the Wolves caught Rosemary trying to interfere, and with Edwards holding her, Richards at first teased using a cheesegrater on her (seriously), then even better, forced a big kiss on her (similar to the Ric Flair/Becky Lynch spot at the Rumble that people raised their eyebrows over, given it’s now 2016). Finish saw Richards give Crazzy Stevie a brainbuster on a chair covered in tacks for the win.

    – Jeremy Borash brought out Josh Matthews to wave to the crowd, and also later, Billy Corgan. Corgan did some brief mic work, thanking the crowd.

    Gail Kim & Madison Rayne beat Jade & Marti

    Afterwards, Rebel beat down the faces, with Velvet Sky making the save. Sky then cut a promo, challenging the Dollhouse to a 3 on 3 ‘Lethal Lockdown’ match, to be taped in London tomorrow.   

    Ethan Carter 3 & Rockstar Spud beat TNA World Champion Matt Hardy & Tyrus

    Spud came out mid-way through the match as Carter’s partner. Afterwards, Spud simply glared at EC3 then left. The storyline is that although both are now babyfaces, Spud hasn’t forgiven EC3 for the way he mistreated him in the past.

    Then in a dark segment to close the show, EC3 brought Spud out again, and told the crowd it was Spud’s birthday tomorrow, leading the crowd in singing Happy Birthday to him. Spud seemed happy, then said, “By the way, I still hate you’” and left.

    Notes:

    Overall an entertaining show. It did drag a lot towards the end of the third hour and into the fourth hour. The crowd were enthusiastic at the key moments. It was just sad to see the crowd smaller than it was last year (and the crowd size has decreased every year for the past 2-3 years), with plenty of empty seats visible on all 3 sides of the arena. The main event angle is strong, and they did a terrific job getting EC3 over as the top babyface to the point he was the most over babyface on the show by the end (with the possible exception of Kurt Angle).

  • WWE injury woes continue with Sheamus arm tendonitis

    Photo: @WWESheamus

    On Twitter Thursday, former WWE Champion Sheamus released a photo of himself with a cast on his left arm.

    We’ve confirmed that the injury is legitimate, but we don’t have much in the way of details other than he has tendonitis in the arm. He isn’t expected to be out of the ring for too long, but the timing of when he’ll be able to wrestle again has not been determined. 

    As of today, the feeling is that he will likely remain on television in storylines but won’t be working matches, similar to the role Wade Barrett has been doing in the League of Nations in recent weeks. Sheamus last worked on Raw Monday night in a tag team match with Rusev as his partner against Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose. He missed considerable time in late-2014/early 2015 due to injuries, returning on the March 30th, 2015, edition of RAW.

    We are also awaiting confirmation on another upper level WWE wrestler that might be hurt.

  • ROH re-signs Jay Lethal, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly

    Ring of Honor announced today that three of its top stars — ROH champion Jay Lethal, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly — have signed new contracts with the organization and there are major booking plans in place for all three men in the year ahead.

    Lethal signed several weeks ago, while Fish and O’Reilly inked deals about a week ago.

    All had been expected to re-sign since Lethal had not lost the championship in any of his recent title defenses. Additionally, Fish & O’Reilly staying on also included the provision they’ll continue to keep their jobs with New Japan Pro Wrestling, something the Young Bucks got in their deal when they re-signed in October 2015.

    The new deals were similar to the old deals in that ROH will have exclusivity on the wrestlers in North America, but they are free to take overseas bookings.  The lone exception to the stateside exclusivity are PWG shows.

    Lethal vs. O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole for the ROH title will headline the 2/26 ROH PPV show from Las Vegas, Nevada.

  • NXT TV taping spoilers: a killer TakeOver Dallas card is finalized

    The big news from tonight’s NXT tapings at Full Sail University in Orlando, FL, is that Nakamura is going to debut at NXT TakeOver in Dallas, TX, as part of Wrestlemania weekend.

    The following are the tapings for March’s NXT shows with initial reports that they weren’t very good. 

    *****

    Your NXT TakeOver Dallas lineup for 4/1 based on what happened Wednesday:

    • NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe
    • Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn
    • Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin
    • Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Asuka
    • NXT Tag Champions Dash & Dawson vs. Jason Jordan & Chad Gable
    • Apollo Crews vs. Elias Samson

    Results from J.J. Williams:

    Dark match saw Adrien Reese beat Billie Kay w/ Sylvester LeFort via top rope stunner. Good showing by both women, Adrien will do well on tv, personality shines through. Billie Kay and LeFort are an interesting pairing as we rarely see male managers for female competitors. 

    3/9/16 –

    Samoa Joe won 2/3 falls to become #1 Contender to the NXT Championship against Sami Zayn. I have this match going 40 minutes, the first fall didn’t occur until 20 minutes in as Joe hit the muscle buster. Crowd was super in to Sami Zayn tonight, singing his theme song, then the ole’ chants. It quieted down for those first 20 because Joe was putting a beating on Sami. Early in the second fall, Joe got busted open by a headbut, ref asked the trainer to wipe Joe’s head real quick before we got going again. During fall two, Sami took a huge dive to the outside to take Joe out, then was able to lock in the Koji Clutch for his fall victory. Fall three was of course the best and most heated action, Sami hit a sunset flip powerbomb off the top for a nearfall, Joe was then able to hit a huge powerbomb, then in to a Boston Crab, transitioned in to a Crossface for a near submission, Sami was able to lock Joe in the Clutch for a near submission. The finish saw Sami Zayn submit to the Clutch. 

    3/16/16 –

    The Hype Bros beat Angelo Dawkins and Kenneth Crawford via Hype Ryder. Crawford was making his tv debut here. 

    Emma w/ Dana Brooke beat Deonna Purrazzo via submission with the Emma Lock. Another good showing by Emma here in NXT, she just carries herself like a star. Deonna held her own yet again with a much more experienced wrestler.

    Tommaso Ciampa beat Jesse Sorensen via submission using a bridging arm bar. Quick yet physical match, Ciampa has been impressive. 

    NXT Women’s Champion Bayley & Asuka beat Eva Marie & Nia Jax when Bayley hit the Belly To Bayley on Eva Marie. As usual, huge heat on Eva, “You Can’t Wrestle” chants. After Bayley got the win, Nia carried Eva away on her shoulders. After the referee raised the winners’ hands, Mr. Regal made his way on to the stage to announce that Asuka is the new #1 Contender to the NXT Women’s Championship and would face Bayley at Takeover Dallas. The two were standing side by side during this announcement, then Asuka stepped around so she could look directly at Bayley. 

    3/23/16 –

    Chad Gable & Jason Jordan beat The Vaudevillains to become #1 Contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championships. Great action as per usual with these two teams, Jordan is the best hot tag in wrestling. Finish saw American Alpha put Aiden English up for the assisted german suplex and the win. They will face Dash & Dawson at Takeover Dallas.

    Sami Zayn is out for a promo, talked about how even though he doesn’t have a title match at Takeover Dallas he still wants to wrestle on the show, that NXT is like his baby. Mr. Regal again makes his way on the stage and says Sami Zayn will have a match at Takeover Dallas and it will be against NXT’s newest signings, one of the best competitors in the world, the tron goes to static, then Shinsuke Nakamura’s hair from behind, he turns around and the place is going wild. Loudest reaction I’ve heard in Full Sail. He said something yet the cheer was still going so nobody I know was able to catch what he said. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura at Takeover Dallas.

    Johnny Gargano beat Elias Samson, post match Samson attacked Johnny from behind and tried to rough him up before Apollo Crews ran towards the ring to stare down Elias. 

    NXT Champion Finn Balor beat Rich Swann with the Bloody Sunday DDT in a non title match. Swann was out first to a great reaction, one of the most charismatic wrestlers to show up in quite a while. Once the people realized he was facing Finn, we had some back and forth chants but majority still for the champ. Great athletic action, Swann is the type of wrestler Finn can do amazing work with. Coup de Grace followed by the BloodySunday for the win. 

    Alexa Bliss w/ Blake & Murphy beat Sarah Dobson ( SHINE’s Crazy Mary ) with the Sparkle Splash. Short yet good match to showcase Alexa. 

    Bull Dempsey vs. Danny Burch never happened as Samoa Joe attacked Bull before he made his way to the ring, then went in the ring to attack Burch as well. Refs can’t stop Joe.

    3/30/16 –

    Asuka beat Emma w/ Dana Brooke via submission with the Asuka Lock. This match went over ten minutes, crowd wasn’t as in to it as their previous matches, of course. Emma had control most of the match before Asuka fired up and applied her chicken wing crossface.

    Austin Aries beat Riddick Moss via submission with the Last Chancery. Good reaction for Aries making his Full Sail debut, basic match to showcase Aries before getting his hold on Moss.

    Chad Gable & Jason Jordan beat John Skyler & Corey Hollis with the assisted german suplex. Showcase for American Alpha before their title match. 

    Baron Corbin beat QT Marshall with a side slam. Then post match he hit the End Of Days which lead to a “One More Time” chant, he teased it, then waved the crowd off before leaving to even more boooes. They’ve had him win a few matches with the side slam to build it up as a secondary finish. Still a lot of heat on Baron after all this time.

    NXT Tag Team Champions Dash & Dawson beat Tucker Knight & Steve Cutler and in a non title match with the shatter machine on Tucker Knight. Most of the match saw Dash & Dawson making quick tags to keep the punishment on Steve Cutler. Tucker was able to take a hot tag and run wild for a moment before the champs were able to give him the run around and a quick tag to catch the big man off guard before hitting their finish. 

    Apollo Crews beat Alex Riley with his big slam. After the match, Elias Samson made his way on the stage to sing Crews a song. They’ll face each other at Takeover Dallas. 

    Samoa Joe beats Bull Dempsey with the Clutch rather quickly and doesn’t let go of the hold, referees keep trying to get him to break the hold, Mr. Regal tries to send men out to handle Joe yet he destroys them as well, Finn Balor runs down and we have ourselves a brawl. They make their way to the commentary area, Finn even dove off the desk on to Joe, the brawl started and stopped a few times with Finn ending with the upper hand. That’s our final build up for Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor II at Takeover Dallas.

    William Regal announced that Nakamura was coming to TakeOver.

  • Lucha Underground results: Season 2 kicks off with intergender World title match

    After a tremendous first season, Lucha Underground returns with some new cards in the deck as well as a bit of reshuffling for the existing ones. Catrina runs the show, while Mil Muertes oversees the action from his throne high atop the Temple. King Cuerno vies for the Gift of the Gods Title against Fenix, while the former trios tag champions do battle to determine a number one contender for the Lucha Underground Championship. 

    Season two has been set up perfectly all week on El Rey, with a constant marathon concluding right before the season two premiere. The final few minutes of the season one finale remain incredible – and even if you saw it without context, you would get that something big was going down for season two.

    Show Recap:

    We begin with Vampiro in a psychiatric ward being called Ian. His psychiatrist asks if he has had any nightmares or hallucinations, leading to season one flashbacks. When asked about violent thoughts, we see flashbacks to light tubes being used on Pentagon Jr, but he says they’re all gone. He is given a powerful anti-psychotic medication – but to be released, he must never go see the people that cause his violent impulses. Vamp isn’t down with that and beats up the doctor and his staff – but we see it’s in his head. Striker picks him up and says the Temple isn’t like it was before. It’s a much darker place.

    Vamp looks at his medication and gets a sick smile on his face. Either that, or he was amused that his doctor’s name is Dr. Dick Johnson.

    Catrina is in Cueto’s office, when Fenix comes in and wants a match with Mil Muertes. Catrina says that he has the Gift of the Gods and can get his shot – but she runs this place, and will hold that match next week if he still holds the title. King Cuerno was shown hunting him in the S1 finale, and wants his title tonight. Mil watches the show from a gigantic throne. Striker and Vampiro are in the booth and Striker says that the fans are why they’re back. Striker gives Vampiro about half a dozen nicknames that would make Joey Styles’ nicknames for Sabu seem modest.

    King Cuerno vs. Fenix – Gift of the Gods Championship Match

    Cuerno comes down while Striker talks about his character for first-time viewers. Vamp says the drinking game has begun, so he says brother a lot. They go back and forth on takedowns before Fenix gets a standing moonsault. Cuerno goes to the floor to break the momentum. Cuerno catches his legs on a baseball slide and hits a draping DDT from the apron to the floor. Cuerno lands the Arrow of Death dive and gets 2. Fenix goes for a handspring elbow, but gets caught – he escapes and lands a dropkick to the stomach. Fenix does a rope walk armdrag before landing a handspring cutter.

    Cuerno leaves immediately before eating a crazy Kalisto corkscrew dive from the top to the floor. Fenix tosses him into the corner before landing a VIVA MEXICO Yakuza kick in the corner. They exchange stiff shots and Cuerno wins that war with a calf kick to the chest. Fenix lands a second handspring cutter and turns it into a dragon sleeper – I love it!

    Cuerno recovers and gets a Romero special and turning it into a catapult that sends Fenix into the buckle. Fenix responds with a stiff shot to the face and climbs up top to hit a big double stomp to the head of Cuerno while Cuerno was up top. That was nuts, and gets 2. Fenix flips around a bit and hops right into a Thrill of the Hunt for 2.5! Cuerno runs into a big boot that rocks him. Cuerno avoids a headscissor and locks on a package tombstone piledriver for the win! Mil stares at Cuerno and doesn’t look amused.  Angelico, Son of Havoc, and Ivelisse arrive on their bikes and we go to a break. Johnny Mundo does a workout ad and it appears LU has gotten Auto Zone as a sponsor.

    Back in the Temple, the former trios champs tell Catrina they want their titles back. Catrina says Mil has ordered them to fight each other tonight, while Havoc says they won’t be torn apart. Catrina says that whoever wins faces him for the title tonight. Ivie says she’ll win it and then come after Catrina. It’s astonishing to see just how much this company has gotten out of Catrina when she was just a random person in NXT. Catrina whispers something to Melissa Santos, who resumes introductions.

    #1 Contender’s Match: Son of Havoc vs. Ivelisse vs. Angelico

    In a very weird bit, both announcers act completely shocked at this match having the former trios champions against each other and being for a title shot. It’s time for an ad break, but first, King Cuerno grabs his title from the locker. Catrina tells him to remember their deal and he tells her that she has nothing to worry about – and neither does Mil before giving her a smirk behind her back. Angelico is working in a full motocross outfit, which is a good look for him. Double O’Connor roll gets 2 for Angelico, before Ivie gets 1 off a crucifix to Havoc.

    They go for a three-way test of strength before Ivie gets tired of this and just beats them both up. Ivie lands a flying rana off the second rope to Angelico. Giant flying knee in the corner to Ivie! Handspring elbow from Havoc to Angelico in the corner and a flying crossbody gets 2. Angelico knees Havoc and we get a wacky flip and jump exchange for 2. 

    Ivie gets a crossbody off the top to Angelico for 2. Havoc picks her up and Ivie doesn’t appreciate the grabbing and chops the daylights out of him. Ivie gets ten kicks to the gut in the corner and takes Angelico down for 2. Havoc gets a back suplex into a backbreaker to wear her down. Striker is amazed that a fight broke out here in a wrestling match. Havoc dives to the floor onto Angelico! Havoc gets a super mushroom stomp to the back of Angelico for 2. Havoc gets pulled down by Ivie, and Havoc and Angelico fight over a superplex. Ivie crotches Havoc up top and hits a la magistrol cradle on Angelico to win!

    375 miles from Boyle Heights, a trio of guys ask about an underground fight club called the temple. Angela Fong tells them to come with her. Oh I wouldn’t do that guys, you’re doomed! Melissa Santos introduces the title match. Ivie is already in the ring, while Mil descends from his throne. Havoc and Angelico cheer her on. Vamp says she has no chance while Striker says even broken crayons still color. The Disciples of Death come down and beat everyone else up. Mil holds her hostage while her friends are carried away. Mil throws her down and we go to one more ad break.

    Catrina is the only logical heel owner in wrestling – her charge has about a 0% chance of losing, but she goes the extra mile to make sure it’s absolutely 0%.

    Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes vs. Ivelisse

    Marty Elias holds the gold high and the match begins. He shoves her down while Striker asks Vamp what her strategy should be. Mil just picks her up with ease off the ground and lands a backbreaker. Striker says the back was hurt before in the three-way, so Mil saw that from the throne and is going to focus on it. Giant Biel throw by Mil – Ivie is bumping like a champ here. He picks her up with one hand and just kicks her down Ivie gets a gulliotine choke, but Mil bearhugs out of it and tosses her down. 

    Ivie goes for a triangle, but Mil tries to powerbomb her – so she turns it into an armbar over the rope before he drops her on the floor. Ivie fights off the top and gets a double-twist tornado DDT for 2! Catrina comes in and holds the stone high to distract her, but she moves and Mil spears her! Ivie gets a schoolboy cradle for 2.5 and a huge Ivelisse chant. Ivie eats a powerslam and a flatliner to finish. This was the best intergender match LU has done yet.

    Catrina leans down for the lick of death, but refuses and sics Mil on her. He sets up a second flatliner, but Puma makes the save! Pentagon Jr. runs in to a huge ovation, hits a back stabber on Muertes and snaps his arm. After the credits roll, Black Lotus takes the guys to Dario Cueto. One of the guys insults her, and she kicks his ass. Dario gets them to pay him $20 each for the chance to enter the Temple. He “gives them the key” to Matanza’s cage and Matanza gets three new victims. 

    Final Thoughts:

    Well, this was a fantastic show overall. It would have been nice to see more with Vampiro and Pentagon Jr. since that was built up all last season, but they did enough with it here to give me faith that thread will continue to unravel as time wears on. Pentagon Jr. is now seemingly being set up the Stone Cold of the promotion – he’s certainly not a traditional babyface, but he’s over like the top babyface while Puma holds the Sting role of being the most honorable babyface in the company. They further built up Matanza as a killer, and took Mil out with the armbreaker – setting up a few different possibilities for the title.

    King Cuerno has a logical claim to it if it’s vacated since he has the other singles title, while Pentagon could stake a claim since he took the champion out. Either way, a lot was set up for the future and hopefully this company has a bright one because it has changed how wrestling promotions are presented on TV and delivers the most episodic television since the territory days.

  • WWE NXT results: Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin, Alex Riley returns!

    • The Big News: Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe both won the #1 Contender’s triple threat match over Baron Corbin
    • The Medium News: Jason Jordan and Chad Gable are now AMERICAN ALPHA!
    • The Little Beaver-sized News: Alex Riley is back. No really.

    I am not spoiling anything, but I cannot wait to go to NXT Takeover: Dallas.

    American Alpha defeated Blake & Murphy (w/Alexa Bliss)

    American Alpha is the new name for Jason Jordan & Chad Gable. Tonight they are here to do battle with yet another former set of Tag Team Champions. They have beaten The Vaudevillians and The Ascension and are now here to do battle with Blake & Murphy. They still have the Lucha Dragons and the Wyatt Family to go. Blake and Murphy were outclassed by Gable at one point. Murphy was trying to get the heat, but Gable took out both men by himself like it was nothing. The fans chanted that Blake’s top know looked stupid. Gable used a hip toss on Murphy that looked more like a power slam.

    After being whooped by Gable, Murphy injured his knee coming down from a leapfrog. Blake tried attacking Gable from behind and IT’S A MIRACLE! MURPHY IS HEALTHY AGAIN! The heels took over briefly until Gable back dropped Blake out of the ring. Jordan got the hot tag and it was Full Suplex University! Jordan suplexed both men time and again before winning with their double team move.

    – Alex interviewed Emma and Dana Brooke. Next week, Emma will face Carmella. Dana pointed out that the tag match last week was all about Bayley and had nothing to do with Carmella. They mocked Carmella for losing to Blue Pants and said Emma will have no problem with her next week.

    – We got an Asuka video package.

    Nia Jax (w/Eva Marie) pinned Liv Morgan

    Brian Witner’s favorite wrestler is in the corner of Nia Jax. Yeah, he’s the only one. Anyway Liv Morgan looks like a low rent Kaitlyn and Nia destroyed her. Something tells me this match was total crap live as we got more than one obvious edit. Nia won with a legdrop.

    – Carmella cut a promo saying she would beat Emma all by herself, calling the Emmalution a freaking joke. Enzo and Cass took over and called Dash & Dawson fat. Enzo said he almost beat up the guy pumping his gas because he thought it was Dash and Dawson.

    – A Baron Corbin video aired.

    – Another heel Vaudevillians video aired. THEY ARE NO LONGER SMILING!

    Alex Riley pinned Bull Dempsey

    Bull has yet another new theme. No seriously. Alex Riley is back. Remember when he quit his NXT announcing job to go after Kevin Owens? How many people does Owens have unfinished storylines with at this point? The announcers talked about how they didn’t even know Riley was here. Well the announcer and the guy who cues the music certainly knew. Riley almost won with a neck breaker and did win with a knee to the face. No one cared. Remember when Riley when randomly get good reactions? Well this was not one of those nights.

    Riley was in a dark corner drinking water. He said the last 4 months he has sent texts and emails to Stamford, Connecticut and got 0 replies. I think Vince was like “Who?” Anyway, Riley was upset because NXT had video packages for Sami Zayn’s return and in depth profiles on Apollo Crews and nothing about Riley.

    Elias Sampson pinned John Skylar

    John Skylar has HHH’s logo on the ass of his trunks. Or at least a logo that looks a lot like it. This match was fine. It was better than Sampson’s other squash matches, but that’s like saying being shot in the foot is better than being shot in the head. Elias won with a spinning neck breaker.

    – The Hype Bros were randomly talking about The Vaudevillians’ promo packages, bro. They became really annoying, bro, when talking about going clubbing, bro. Bro, then they talked about Zubaz, bro and Mojo watching Ryder sleep, bro. They said bro in 30 seconds more than Vince Russo could ever dream of, bro.

    – Next week is Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews in a non-title match.

    Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe both won the #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match when they made Baron Corbin tap out.

    I always love a good fight and that’s what this was. It was three guys who all had one goal and that was to win and become the #1 contender. Joe tore through both men for several minutes. He kept knocking Baron down and out, outside the ring, while beating on the smaller Zayn. Zayn was finally able to dispose of Joe, but as soon as he did that he ran right into Corbin. Poor guy could not catch a break.

    Sami finally caught a break thanks to the commercial break. Zayn fired up as we came back from commercial and hit an amazing dive over the top rope to both men outside. Corbin almost pinned Zayn with a Black Hole Slam. Joe at one point used a drop toe hold to Sami where Zayn landed in a pinfall on Corbin. The referee didn’t even attempt to count since Joe was doing his running back splash to both men.

    Zayn nearly got a win with a Blue Thunder Bomb on Corbin, but after Baron kicked out, Joe yanked Sami outside the ring and choked him out with the Coquina Clutch. Zayn had to wake up because Corbin had Joe pinned with End of Days and he had to break it up. Zayn had Corbin pinned again, this time with the Halluva Kick, but Joe broke it up. Zayn slapped the Sharpshooter on Corbin…and Joe ran in to put the Crossface on Baron and he had no choice but to tap out.

    Both Zayn and Joe argued that their submission was the one to cause Corbin to tap out. Mr. Regal walked out to talk to the referee. Mr. Regal said he had to go review the tape of the match. The fans had no idea what they were saying and everyone just walked off.

    *****

    That does it for the show. Until that point, thank you for reading and remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers! Be sure to check out WrestlingOutsiders.com for 100% free wrestling and MMA podcasts!

  • Nakamura to debut at NXT TakeOver: Dallas

    After news broke that AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson were on their way to WWE, the next obvious question was “When will we see them debut and where?” For Styles, that was answered this past Sunday at the Royal Rumble and with three matches so far this week, he’s officially in the WWE mix.

    Wednesday night, we got our answer as to when we’ll see first Nakamura under his new wrestling umbrella: NXT TakeOver in Dallas, TX, during Wrestlemania weekend.

    During the NXT tapings in Orlando, FL, general manager William Regal played a video for the crowd announcing that the former NJPW Champion’s first appearance will be at the sold-out TakeOver event on Friday, April 1st on WWE Network. Unfortunately, the video hasn’t been released as of this writing. However, at the same Wednesday tapings, fans learned of his opponent for that show. If you want to be spoiled, here you go.

    Dave Meltzer & Bryan Alvarez will discuss this and more on tonight’s Wrestling Observer Radio for subscribers.

  • WWE Smackdown spoilers: Chris Jericho/Dean Ambrose/Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt/Luke Harper/Erick Rowan

    – New Day opened the show. They ran down The Rock because he didn’t hold any championships. The Miz came out and agreed with them, and said Rock had disrespected him, and he’s a fellow movie star. The Usos came out and ran down Miz. The New Day said that the Usos were riding Cousin Dewey’s coattails. Then Titus O’Neil & Dolph Ziggler came out and we had a match.

    – Usos & Ziggler & O’Neil beat WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day & Miz. O’Neil pinned Miz with Clash of the Titus.

    – U.S. Champion Kalisto beat Neville to retain. Good match with a Salida del Sol finish.

    – Chris Jericho was out for the Highlight Reel.  He talked about his match with Styles on Raw and said had two of the Fast Lane main event participants on the show. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns came out. Ambrose was cheered and Reigns had a mixed reaction. Reigns said how he and Ambrose started their career in a warehouse in Tampa. (Didn’t Ambrose start in Cincinnati?) Jericho tried to stir things up. They both put over that Brock Lesnar was a monster. Reigns told Ambrose that he’s never been able to beat him before so good luck. The Wyatts then came out and talked about what they did to Lesnar in the Rumble. Wyatt challenged all three to a six-man tag for the main event.

    – A.J. Styles beat Curtis Axel with the Styles Clash in a short match even though the other Social Outcasts interfered.

    – Divas Champion Charlotte beat Natalya in a non-title match.  Quick match. Becky Lynch made the save when Charlotte attacked Natalya after the match.

    – Sasha Banks, Tamina and Naomi were backstage taking about Banks going after the title.  They teased the idea they may be splitting up down the line.

    – R-Truth and Goldust did a comedy segment

    – Chris Jericho & Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Erick Rowan via DQ.  Strowman interfered.  The Wyatts were beating up on the faces until Big Show came out.  They all beat down Show until Jericho & Ambrose & Reigns recovered and cleaned house.

  • WWE teases a “major” return to RAW tonight

    WWE has teased a major return to Raw tonight in Miami.

    Given that the show is in Miami, Dwayne Johnson, whose roots are in the city, would be the obvious speculative choice to set up his role in the WrestleMania build.  Undertaker, who also needs to have a WrestleMania angle set up, would be another possibility as many expected him for last night’s show.

    The actual wording of the tweet sent by the company was “Breaking News: Rumors are running rampant that a major star returns to Raw tonight on the road to WrestleMania.”

    Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, who were never advertised for tonight’s show, are not expected at the show tonight.

    We’ll have full coverage of RAW later tonight both with Jeff Hamlin’s RAW Report and with myself and Bryan Alvarez later tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio. Listen to Bryan and I discuss the 2016 Royal Rumble on Wrestling Observer Radio here.

  • ROH Duluth, GA, results: AJ Styles & Bullet Club curtain call

    Submitted by Christian Norman from Duluth, GA:

    Fun show (better than last time they came through Atlanta). A.J. Styles popped up a few times throughout the night so I guess they’ll have to edit him out if they do a DVD like they usually do for Atlanta shows. They combined the three scheduled title defenses into an eight-man tag match with all the titles on the line: Lethal, Strong & War Machine vs. Anderson, Gallows and the Young Bucks. Admittedly, the crowd was dead following a surprisingly boring match between Adam Cole and Stevie Richards. They woke up when Matt Jackson superkicked Lethal’s female valet, which prompted Lethal to superkick Amber Gallows.

    *****

    Dalton Castle def. Corey Hollis

    Fun match that probably went too long. The crowd liked Castle a lot but he played up his antics for a long time. 

    Cedric Alexander def. Mark Briscoe

    Fine match that Mark had fun with. Alexander pinned him after a cool looking move kind of out of no where.

    – A.J. Styles started a promo saying since he’s home, he would give us answers, but then ROH Champion Jay Lethal interrupted him. Lethal pointed out that he beat Styles so it is his show. Lethal said Duluth, GA, didn’t deserve a wordl title match so he wasn’t going to defend tonight. Then Roderick Strong came out and claimed he was the greatest champion and that he also didn’t feel like defending tonight. The Bullet Club then joined in and the ring was getting really crowded. They basically called all the ROH champions pussies. War Machine came down the aisle but didn’t get in the ring. Everybody but A.J. (who kind of disappeared) brawled for a bit and left anticlimactically. Later, we got word that Nigel rearranged the card for the new main event.

    – Styles interrupted a local wrestler’s promo and hit him with a Styles Clash for a cheap pop.

    All Night Express def. MooseBurger

    Hometown crowd loved Moose and appreciated Cheeseburger. ANX got the pin on Cheeseburger in an okay match.

    Matt Sydal & Alex Shelley & ACH def. Michael Elgin & reDRagon

    Really good match that had the crowd into it. Elgin did some impressive strength spots. The best was a vertical suplex where ACH and Sydal kicked Elgin in the stomach at different times, and he almost put Sydal down but muscled him back up. Then reDRagon tried to get him to finish the move but he wouldn’t, so they eventually pushed him over themselves to end it. I was surprised that Elgin got pinned in this one but it came after all three of his opponents hit their finishers. Sydal hit the shooting star and pinned Elgin.

    Amber Gallows def. Veda Scott

    Crowd was still coming back from concession break so not a lot of heat. Scott was working as a babyface which didn’t make much sense either. Gallows won with her feet on the ropes. Not bad but the crowd wasn’t feeling it.

    Jay Briscoe won a six man scramble pinning Will Ferrara

    A lot of moves and chaos as expected, but the end was underwhelming. After the match, Briscoe tried to give Ferrara a compliment but BJ Whitmer interrupted. He tried to get the Briscoes to join him in teaching the young wrestlers their place. Jay flicked him off instead of shaking his hand and Adam Page attacked Whitmer. Steve Corino threw Whitmer back in when he tried to escape and he got beat up more. Jay shook Page’s hand. Then Jay took a fan’s sign that read “Someone Please Hit BJ with My Sign” and Page broke it over BJ’s head to a big pop.

    Adam Cole def, Stevie Richards

    Stevie looks to be in fantastic shape! However, both guys also looked nearly identical because they were wearing such similar gear. This match wasn’t bad, but the crowd really died during it. I can’t pinpoint why but the energy just fell during this one.

    ROH Champions (World Champion Jay Lethal, Tag Champions War Machine, TV Champion Roderick Strong def. Bullet Club (Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Young Bucks)

    Best match of the night with a lot of action. Not much in terms of ring psychology though. You knew the BC wasn’t walking out with the titles but they still shined here. War Machine took out Anderson for the win. After the match, A.J. rejoined them for a group hug “Curtain Call” style. The crowd chanted “Thank you AJ!” Then Doc took the mic and directed people to the merchandise stand and the show ended.