The scheduled lightweight main event from last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event in Dublin, Ireland — Dustin Poirier vs. Joe Duffy — has been rescheduled for the 1/2 UFC 195 PPV show in Las Vegas, NV, announced on UFC Tonight Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Duffy (14-1) was pulled out of the fight three days prior by UFC due to his suffering a concussion in training on 10/17. Poirier was asked to face Norman Parke as a replacement, but turned the fight down, feeling it would do nothing to help his career. He was hoping the Duffy fight would be rescheduled, and got his wish.
Duffy is looking to extend a four fight win streak (2-0 UFC), while Poirier (18-4) has won both of his fights since returning to lightweight.
That fight joins a lineup headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit for the welterweight title, Stipe Miocic vs. Andrei Arlovski in a top heavyweight contender fight, Albert Tumenov vs. Lorenz Larkin, Neil Magny vs. Stephen Thompson, and more.
Des Moines, Iowa: – World Light Heavyweight Champion Ken Fenelon beat Gene Bowman to capture the Iowa State Heavyweight Title in 2 straight falls – Orville Brown and Emil Dusek wrestled to a 60 minute draw
1960
St. Joseph, Missouri: – Stan Stasiak beat Central States Heavyweight Champion Mike Paidousis in 2 out of 3 falls (third fall by reverse decision, title could not change hands on a reverse decision) – John Paul Henning and Frank Townsend beat Rocky Lee and Bob Orton 2 out of 3 falls
1965
Kansas City, Kansas: – Bobo Brazil beat Bob Geigel 2 falls to 1 – Pat O’Connor beat Mongolian Stomper by dq – Jerry Miller beat The Viking by dq – Sonny Myers drew Bob Brown – The Ox (Ox Baker) beat Corsica Joe
1967
St. Paul, Minnesota: – Harley Race beat AWA Champion Verne Gagne by dq – Dr. X ddq Crusher – Ramon Torres beat Chris Markoff
1969
Omaha, Nebraska: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Mad Dog Vachon in 2 out of 3 falls – Bill Watts beat Midwest Champion Tarzan Tyler on a 2nd fall dq – Wilbur Snyder beat Bob Geigel
1972
Honolulu, Hawaii: – Billy Robinson beat Ivan Koloff in 2 out of 3 falls – The Sheik beat Fred Curry in 2 out of 3 falls to win the Ring Magazine belt
1975
– Karl Kox defeated Dick Murdoch to win the Tri-State Wrestling North American Title
1976
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Verne Gagne & the Crusher beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens – AWA Tag Team Champions Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell – Peter Maivia beat Mad Dog Vachon – Billy Francis beat Moose Morowski
1989
Rochester, Minnesota: – AWA Tag Team Champions Destruction Crew (Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom) beat Scott Norton & Tommy Jammer – Colonel Debeers & Pat Tanaka beat Paul Diamond & Jake Milliman – Candi Devine drew Magnificent Mimi – Wayne Bloom beat Unknown Soldier
1995
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jesse James Armstrong & Tracey Smothers defeated PG-13 for the USWA Tag Team Title
2000
– Genichiro Tenryu defeated Toshiaki Kawada in the finals of a tournament to win the vacant All Japan Pro Wrestling Triple Crown championship
2005
– Takeshi Morishima & Mohammed Yone defeated Naomichi Marufuji & Minoru Suzuki to win the Pro Wrestling NOAH Global Honored Crown Tag Team Titles
2006
Chicago Ridge, Illinois: – Christopher Daniels defeated Austin Aries – Matt Sydal defeated Jay Briscoe – Davey Richards defeated Mark Briscoe – Samoa Joe defeated ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson (the current Daniel Bryan) in a Non-Title, No DQ Match
If you heard Sunday’s post-WWE Hell In A Cell edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, you understand the machinations that brought former WWE World Champion Alberto Del Rio back to WWE Sunday night.
Here’s some additional notes and thoughts on Del Rio’s relationship with AAA where he’s currently thee Mega World Champion:
The new U.S. Champion is expected on tonight’s Monday Night RAW.
Both sides are on good terms, but losing both ADR and Myzteziz is a huge blow to AAA.
The right thing to do would be for ADR to come back to, at least, drop the AAA world title.
They really should have brought back Ricardo Rodriguez with him.
We learned that a superstar can say things negative about the company and come back with a great financial deal, while a lower level guy will have a harder time coming back when they say negative things about the boss.
Del Rio was gone from WWE for 14 months, fired due to an altercation with a then-WWE social media employee about a racist joke. We’ll have more on any Del Rio news on tonight’s post-RAW Wrestling Observer Radio.
Brock Lesnar needed nine staples to close the forehead cut suffered when he went headfirst into the ring post during his match with Undertaker at Sunday’s Hell in a Cell show, a match Lesnar won.
Blood, which is frowned upon by WWE, was a huge part of the match with both Lesnar and Undertaker clearly wanting to bleed, as opposed to it being an accident.
While Vince McMahon was upset at the gorilla position and ordered the doctor to the ring to have the blood wiped off, nothing was said to the talents after the match regarding the subject.
Blading is strictly forbidden in WWE. The last guy who did it and was caught trying to hide it was Dave Bautista several years ago, fined $100,000 for doing so in a match with Chris Jericho. He was caught by one of the cameras and everyone involved in the match was called into McMahon’s office, heavily reprimanded and fined.
Neither Lesnar nor Undertaker suffered any significant injuries during the match itself.
Chicago, Illinois: – Dan McLeod defeated Martin (Farmer) Burns to win the American Heavyweight Title
1942
Wichita, Kansas: – Ed Virag defeated John Grandovich to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title
1946
Wichita, Kansas: – World Heavyweight Champion Orville Brown beat Vincent Lopez in 2 out of 3 falls – Roy Graham beat Walter Sirois – Wally Dusek beat Joe Kojut
1959
Birmingham, Alabama: – Don and Luke Fields defeated Don and Al Greene for the Mid-America version of the NWA World Tag Title
1960
Wellington, New Zealand: – Al Hobman defeated John DaSilva for the vacant New Zealand Heavyweight Title
1962
Houston, Texas: – El Medico II defeated Art Thomas to win the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title
1964
– Pepper Martin and Luther Lindsay won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Title by defeating Pat Patterson and The Hangman
Fort Worth, Texas: – Tony Borne defeated Killer Karl Kox for the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title
1965
Moline, Illinois: – AWA Tag Team Champions Larry Hennig & Harley Race beat The Crusher & Danny Hodge – Mighty Igor Vodik beat Bob Rader – Chris Markoff beat Tim Woods – Bob Ellis beat Gene Anderson
1968
Elkhart, Indiana: – Mitsu Arakawa and Dr. Moto (Tor Kamata) defeated Wilbur Snyder and Pat O’Connor to win the WWA Tag Team Title
1971
Mobile, Alabama: – The Wrestling Pro defeated Ken Lucas for the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1973
Mexico City, Mexico: – Enrique Vera defeated Angel Blanco to win the Mexican National Heavyweight Title
1976
Columbus, Georgia: – Mr. Wrestling II defeated Dick Slater to win the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title
Hamburg, Pennsylvania: – The Executioners (Killer Kowalski & John Studd) were stripped of the WWWF World Tag Team title
1979
– Chavo Guerrero, Sr. and Al Madril defeated Allen Coage and Victor Rivera for the NWA Americas Tag Team Title
Lafayette, Louisiana: – Sweet Brown Sugar defeated Ernie Ladd to win the Florida version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
Atlanta, Georgia: – Tommy Rich defeated Killer Karl Kox for the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title
1980
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: – Dusty Rhodes defeated Bobby Jaggers for the Florida State Heavyweight Title
1981
Memphis, Tennessee: – Dutch Mantel defeated Dream Machine for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title
1982
Hamburg, Pennsylvania: – Chief Jay & Jules Strongbow defeated Mr. Fuji & Mr. Saito for the WWF World Tag Team Title
Obihiro, Japan: – Harley Race defeated Giant Baba to win the PWF Heavyweight Title
1983
Shreveport, Louisian: – The Junkyard Dog defeated Butch Reed for the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Title
1984
St. Louis, Missouri: – AWA Champion Rick Martel and Harley Race went to a 60 minute draw – AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors no contest Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr – Ted DiBiase beat Missing Link – Ronnie Garvin beat Hacksaw Higgins dq – Mike Von Erich & Bulldog Bob Brown beat Sheik Abdullah & the Animal – Iceman Parsons beat TG Stone – Marty Jannetty & Steve Olsonoski (sub Brad Rheingans) beat Mr Pogo & Gypsy Joe
1985
Rockford, Illinois: – AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Stan Hansen dq – Lumberjack Match: Michael Hayes beat Jerry Blackwell – Jim Garvin beat Baron Von Raschke – Scott Hall & Curt Hennig & Greg Gagne beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens & Larry Zbyszko – Sgt Slaughter beat Boris Zhukov
1986
Tulsa, Oklahoma: – John Tatum and Jack Victory defeated The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) to win the UWF Tag Team Title
1987
Memphis, Tennessee: – Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee won the AWA World Tag Team Title by defeating Hector Guerrero and “Dr. D” David Schultz. – The Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) defeated The RPM’s (Mike Davis and Tommy Lane) to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Title – Southern Champion Bobby Jaggers beat Billy Travis – Mid American Champion Jeff Jarrett beat Carl Fergie – Steve Keirn beat John Paul – Rocky Johnson beat Big Bubba
Birmingham, Alabama: – Tom Prichard defeated Tony Anthony to win the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title
1995
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – Robby Royce defeated Vance Nevada for the Canadian Junior Heavyweight Title
1997
Las Vegas, Nevada: – Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Eddie Guerrero to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title in a Mask vs. Title match – Rowdy Roddy Piper defeated WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan in a non-title steel cage – Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Death match
1998
Phoenix, Arizona: – Diamond Dallas Page defeated Bret Hart to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Title
1999
Springfield, Massachusetts: – Davey Boy Smith defeated D’Lo Brown to win the WWF European Heavyweight Title
2001
Sydney, Australia: – In the WWA Title Tournament Final, Jeff Jarrett defeated Road Dogg in a steel cage to become the first World Wrestling All- Stars Heavyweight Champion – Juventud Guerrera defeated Psicosis in a Ladder match to win the WWA Cruiserweight Title
2002
Corpus Christi, Texas: – Konnan defeated NWA Midwest Champion Danny Dominion in a non-title match – NWA World Tag Team Champions Chris Harris & James Storm defeated AJ Styles & Rocky Reynolds – NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ron Killings defeated NWA National Champion Hotstuff Hernandez
2013
Chicago Ridge, Illinois: – Michael Bennett defeated Kevin Steen – Paul London defeated Roderick Strong – In an elimination match, Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, and C & C Wrestle Factory (Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander) defeated Adam Cole, reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly and Matt Taven
The journey of WWE hopefuls through NXT is profiled in this new WWE Network program. The first episode, while a bit unfocused and sanitized, is a pretty strong debut, showcasing several new faces with dreams of WWE stardom.
Show Recap —
We open with a monologue from Triple H, who lists off the attributes that are necessary to be a WWE superstar. But he notes that without an “it factor,” even the best might not make it. He welcomes viewers to their glimpse inside NXT and the journey of their aspiring superstars. “They’re all just one step away from realizing their dreams. But for some, that one step might as well be a mountain. Some will make it. Some don’t. This is WWE Breaking Ground.” (A tad hokey, but for what they’re going for, this was the perfect opening to frame the series.)
The first NXT superstar we meet is Bayley, as she drives to work. She muses on her journey from being a dreamy 10-year-old wanting to wrestle to being the NXT Women’s Champion. “Sometimes if I’m driving, I’ll look at the person next to me in their car and just wonder, I wonder what they’re doing with their life, if they’re living their dreams?” She arrives at the Performance Center at the same time as Tough Enough winner Josh Bredl, who’s there for his first day and signs his contract. We then transition to a training montage and some WrestleMania clips, and get a glimpse of Adam Pearce shouting encouragement to WWE hopefuls.
From this point, Breaking Ground focuses on five individuals: former NFLer Tino “Sabby” Sabbatelli, former NFLer Baron Corbin, 19-year-old female wrestler Nhooph, NXT interviewer Devin Taylor and former independent star Apollo Crews. It doesn’t spent a ton of time on any one of them, particularly given that it’s a 30-minute show, but they do their best to paint a picture of each.
Sabbatelli, real name Sabatino Piscitelli, played college football at Oregon State and spent time with Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Kansas City before turning to pro wrestling following the end of his football career. He signed with NXT in 2014, and is adjusting to being a rookie and having to prove himself after being an established NFLer. He opens the show sidelined after a concussion in his second NXT match.
Corbin, like Sabbatelli, is a former NFLer who spent time with Indianapolis and Arizona. He’s been in NXT for three years and based on his experience and his resume, he thinks he should be on the main roster already. Jason Albert, interviewed extensively about Corbin, notes the challenge is keeping Corbin focused and motivated.
Nhooph began training for wrestling at 16 years of age, and recalls having to lie to her parents about going to her job when heading to her first training sessions. We’re told she’s not improving, and get a wonderful montage of her taking awful-looking hip-tosses. She’s been in NXT for awhile, but the coaches don’t think she’s good enough yet to get a match on a live event yet. Finally, she takes a hip-toss properly and the coaches praise her.
Devin Taylor is NXT’s ring announcer, who is trying to transition from holding a microphone to actually wrestling. However, we’re told she’s had a few injuries that have slowed down her progress, and she’s been leap-frogged by several other females in the mean-time. We get another hiptoss montage as she trains with Nia Jax. (And they’re awful.)
Apollo Crews is the former Uhaa Nation, though that name isn’t mentioned on this show. He tells a story about his father, who grew up poor in Nigeria and emphasized the importance of needing an education to be successful – the story’s interspersed with clips of Crews on the indies. He shares a story about his dad saying the only way to be successful was by getting an education, and then getting a nice message from his dad after his NXT debut saying how proud he was.
William Regal leads promo class at the Performance Center, emphasizing the importance of connecting with the camera. We get a montage of NXT kids doing quick promos, and Mojo Rawley does a strong promo and is praised by Regal. The majority of the promos we’re shown aren’t very good.
Sabbatelli goes through the WWE’s concussion protocol this episode, which we’re given quite a bit of detail about – basically it’s three weeks of no work, followed by them being eased back into ring-work and getting repeatedly monitored for recurring symptoms. He does a mock match at the end of the episode as part of the evaluation.
Norman Smiley rides with Corbin and his girlfriend to the Gainsville, FL show and we get this exchange: “We do you think you’ll be out of here, NXT?” “The reality is, I don’t know. You’re the coach, you tell me.” Then it’s quiet in the car. Corbin discusses how he’s not well-liked. Mojo jokingly praises Corbin as he eats food. He replies: “Go do some more workouts while I enjoy this. It sure as hell isn’t his wrestling that’s getting him over.”
We see some clips from the Gainsville show. Nhooph doesn’t get a match and is bummed out. Bayley has a tag match and is praised by Shatner’s voice-over for her efforts regardless of the size of the crowd – and how that’s a good example for the rest of the performers on each show. Corbin is in the main event, teaming with Tyler Breeze in a losing effort against Finn Balor and Samoa Joe.
The nextday, Nhooph arrives at the Performance Center. Sara Amato chats with her about card adjustments and apologizes for her match getting bumped from a prior show. Amato and Albert chat about Devin, and about whether she has a future after two major injuries in less than a year. Sabbatelli goes through the concussion protocol in the ring. If he fails it, he could be done. Canyon Ceman appears. He’s the recruiter, and notes that the hardest part of the job is when they have to let talent go, leading into a meeting with a talent in which somebody will probably get cut. The cliffhanger is which NXT talent gets the axe: Devin? Nhooph? Sabbatelli? (I believe Devin got released recently in real-life, but I suppose that all three performers could be released next episode.)
Final Thoughts
This was a really strong premiere episode. It provides a really fascinating glimpse into the backstage goings-on and challenges facing aspiring WWE performers. That said, it could’ve been stronger had it spend more time with fewer performers. They never really follow up with Apollo Crews or Bayley, and spending that time with the lesser-known performers might’ve established better connections given how the episode ended.
Show started with a promo with Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett and Chael Sonnen where Sonnen made fun of Karen leaving Kurt Angle for Jeff. She slapped him and screamed he wouldn’t be in GFW if not for her husband. This promo went absolutely nowhere and no one believed for a minute that Chael Sonnen couldn’t wipe the ring up with both Jarretts in seconds.
NEX*GEN Championship Finals PJ Black vs. Virgil Flynn vs. Jigsaw vs. TJP. PJ Black wins the Title in the Main Event of the show. It was good for the spotfest it was.
NEX*GEN Contenders match Sonjay Dutt vs. Seiya Sanada. Dutt won, but they stole the show. Best match by far.
Women’s Championship Final Christina Von Eerie vs. Amber Gallows. Von Eerie wins the title cleanly.
Tag Team Championship semifinal Reno Scum vs. Teaze N Sleaze. Jacob Austin Young substituted for Kenny King. Reno Scum still won.
Tag Team Championship semifinal Bollywood Boyz vs. Whirlwind Gentlemen. Bollywood Boyz won, and the audience didn’t care much.
Global Championship contenders match Brian Myers vs. Kongo Kong (w/Henry Maxwell) vs. Kevin Kross. Kongo Kong won with a Top Rope Splash. Myers and Kross worked their asses off to get Kong over.
Nick Aldis beat Bobby Roode for the GFW Title, then got a beatdown from Chris Morteszky which he got hardway busted open bad from, so bad they stopped the show to replace the canvas bad. Aldis was a bloody mess and they rushed him to the back.
The Bollywood Boyz beat Reno Scum for the GFW Tag Team Belts which went over like a brick.
The Masked Saint beat Joey Ryan. The crowd did not care except for the plants. There was an angle where Jeff Jarrett announced the movie was released to rave reviews (it has not been) and brought Brett Grandstaff out who got a beat down from Young and Ryan that got no heat and he basically no sold seconds later. It was bad on many levels.
A group of very obvious plants were at ringside with posters for “The Masked Saint” and it was very obvious to the point of “Stunt Granny” bad.
This show had a few good moments, but really looked like any indy show and not a show trying to be the #2 company in America, and right now they’re not even remotely close.
St. Louis, Missouri: – Gus Sonnenberg beat Chief Little Wolf – Man Mountain Dean beat Orville Brown
1956
Tokyo, Japan: – Mitsuo Surugaumi defeated Michiaki Yoshimura in a tournament final to become the first Japanese Junior Heavyweight Champion
Kansas City, Kansas: – World Champion Whipper Billy Watson beat Bobby Bruns 2 falls to 1 to retain the title
1966
Lincoln, Nebraska: – AWA Champion Mad Dog Vachon drew Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods – The Kentuckians Luke Brown & Jake “Tiny” Smith (Grizzly Smith) beat Dale Lewis & Gus Kallas
1967
Tampa, Florida:
– Paul DeMarco and Lorenzo Parente defeated Kurt and Skull Von Stroheim to win the Florida version of the NWA World Tag Team Title
1970
– Moondog Mayne defeated Mr. Fuji to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
1972
Huron, South Dakota: – AWA Champion Verne Gagne beat Ray Stevens in 2 out of 3 falls – Wahoo McDaniel beat Larry Hennig – Superstar Billy Graham beat George Scott – Joe Scarpello (sub Billy Robinson) beat Rene Goulet
1974
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: – No DQ match: Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens defeated Crusher & Billy Robinson to win the AWA World Tag Team Title – Larry Hennig beat Larry Heiniemi – Ivan Putski beat Baron Von Raschke – Horst Hoffman beat Jim Brunzell – Buddy Wolff beat George Gadaski – Moose Morowski beat Roddy Piper
1975
Denver, Colorado: – AWA Tag Team Champions Dick the Bruiser & the Crusher beat Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens in 2 out of 3 falls – Baron Von Raschke beat Pampero Firpo – Jos Leduc beat Kim Duk – Jimmy Valiant & Johnny Valiant beat Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell
1976
Guadalajara, Mexico: – Alfonso Dantes won the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title by defeating Carlos Plata
1979
Raleigh, North Carolina: – Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood won the Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA World Tag Team Title by defeating Paul Jones and Baron Von Raschke
Nashville, Tennessee: – Bobby Eaton defeated Dutch Mantell to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title
1980
Okinawa, Japan: – Tiger Jeet Singh defeated Antonio Inoki to win the UWA World Heavyweight Title
Atlanta, Georgia: – Tony Atlas defeated Dennis Condrey to win the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Title
1981
– “Mr. Electricity” Steve Regal defeated “Playboy” Buddy Rose for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
1982
Kitami, Japan – Jumbo Tsuruta defeated Harley Race to win the NWA United National Heavyweight Title
1983
Fort Worth, Texas: – Jimmy Garvin defeated Chris Adams for the WCCW Television Title
1993
New Orleans, Louisiana: – The Nasty Boys defeated Marcus Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio to win the WCW World Tag Team Titles – Vader defeated Cactus Jack in a Texas Death Match
1994
Memphis, Tennessee: – The Moondogs (Spot & Rex) defeated the Phantoms to win the USWA Tag Team Title
1998
Cherry Hill, New Jersey: – Doug Gilbert won the NWA National Heavyweight Title from Stevie Richards – Christopher Daniels and Kevin Quinn defeated Danny Dominion and Ace Steel to win the NWA Midwest Tag Team Championship – E.Z. Ryder defeated Paul Atlas to win the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title
Cleveland, Ohio: – The Dudley Boys defeated Rob Van Dam & Sabu to win the ECW World Tag Team Title
1999
Las Vegas, Nevada: – Rick Steiner defeated Chris Benoit to win the WCW Television Title – Bill Goldberg defeated Sting to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title – Harlem Heat defeated Konnan & Billy Kidman (subbing for Rey Mysterio) and Brian Knobbs & Hugh Morrus in a Falls Count Anywhere Street fight triangle Match to win the WCW World Tag Team Titles
This morning’s New Japan show in Korakuen Hall is all about the Super Jr. Tag Tournament, the single elimination tournament held around this time each year. Well, that and of course the usual eight and six man tags, because we can never escape from that on any New Japan card anymore. Tonight we’ll see the opening round with eight teams vying for a spot in the semifinals. As for the show itself, it’s a multi camera show, but no commentary.
It was announced that David Finlay suffered a left ankle injury and would not be competing tonight. The eight man to kick off the show would be made into a six man, with Finlay and Captain New Japan removed.
Togi Makabe, Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata defeated Yohei Komatsu, Jay White and Sho Tanaka
Pretty good opener. White showed some great fire against Shibata, who destroyed the young lions for a good part of the match. Shibata won after White submitted to a Boston crab.
Shinsuke Nakamura, Tama Tonga, Toru Yano and Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Karl Anderson, Tama Tonga, Doc Gallows and Bad Luck Fale
Pretty good at times. Some brawling throughout, including Anderson and Nakamura going at it in the stands. Anderson also mocked Nakamura at one point by putting on his ring jacket and doing his pose on the ropes. Fale and Yano interacted a bit as well, seems like they’re teasing a feud between these two. Nakamura gets the win with the boma ye, pinning Tama Tonga.
Kazuchika Okada, Gedo and Tomohiro Ishii defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomoaki Honma and Juice Robinson
Good match, but felt pretty long. They went fifteen minutes, far more than other matches on the show so far and just about everyone got to work with one another. Robinson, who got a lot of time in the ring and looked good, was pinned after a Rainmaker by Okada.
They announced dates for the 2016 Fantasticamania tour with CMLL right before intermission. 1/17 in Kouchi, 1/19 in Kyoto, 1/20 in Osaka and 1/22, 1/23 and 1/24 in Tokyo.
reDragon defeated Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask
Fish pinned Tiger Mask with the Chasing the Dragon. Solid match, but not a lot to it.
Roppongi Vice defeated Chase Owens and Kenny Omega
Good match towards the end. Crowd didn’t seem all that into it for large parts of the match. The start was really goofy. Omega’s antics work in short doses but he was hamming it up big time at the start of this match. Beretta and Romero double teamed Owens and pinned him with their finish, the Omori Driver/dropkick combo. So RPG Vice will face reDragon in the semifinals.
The Young Bucks defeated Mascara Dorada and Ryusuke Taguchi
Another good match. Dorada did some crazy moves throughout the match, including a hurricanrana off the apron and to the floor. There was a spot where Nick jammed his thumb in Taguchi’s butt, I guess to thwart him, but Taguchi came back and made him stick it in his mouth. Ew. Matt pinned Dorada after the Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver.
Ricochet and Matt Sydal defeated The TimeSplitters
Very good match. It started off slow, but got pretty got towards the end. Kushida had Sydal’s arm in the kimura a couple of times throughout the match and was selling it by the end. The TimeSplitters hit every big time maneuver they could think of but could not pin Sydal as he either kicked out or Ricochet interfered on his behalf. It looked like Shelley was going to the top rope to do something when Ricochet cut him off and Sydal hit a reverse rana on Kushida. They then both hit a shooting star press from the top rope, Sydal pinning Shelley to win the match. So they will face the Young Bucks in the other semifinal.
Good show overall. Nothing completely outstanding, but the last two matches were pretty fun to watch.
Roderick Strong defeated Jay Lethal to win the ROH TV Title tonight at the TV tapings in Kalamazoo, MI.
Strong and Lethal had a series of ROH title matches the last few months with Lethal winning the series with a television match after a 60-minute match at the Death Before Dishonor iPPV in July. Lethal held both the World and TV Champions, a storyline that ROH had done prior to WWE doing the same storyline with Seth Rollins.
Lethal, who remains the current ROH World Champion having ended the year-plus win streak of Jay Briscoe, hadn’t lost a singles match in ROH in nearly one year.
Strong, considered by many to be one of the best wrestlers in the world, is now a two-time ROH TV Champion; a former ROH World Champion; a former ROH Tag Team Champion with Austin Aries; the 2005 Survival of the Fittest winner; the 2010 Honor Gauntlet winner; the 2010 Toronto Gauntlet winner; and the second Triple Crown Champion in company history.
