This season, both the women’s strawweight division and the men’s light heavyweight division will be competing. At the end of the season Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha fight on the TUF 23 Finale with Joanna Champion defending her strawweight title. Last week Claudia Gadelha’s team won again and took a 4-0 lead. She picked Eric Spicely vs. Elias Urbina IV for this week’s fight. Here we go!
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We open with Dana White talking about Gadelha’s lead and Abdel Medjedoub’s personal problem. On last week’s show, his wife threatened to divorce him if he didn’t quit UFC. After talking to Medjedoub, he agrees to allow another phone call. He tries to explain to her that if he leaves the show, he’ll never do anything in MMA again, but she’s not having it. She basically gives him an ultimatum – come home or we’re done.
White makes Medjedoub a very unique offer – leave the show for a few days but if he comes back before the next fight, Sunday he can stay on the show. White’s position is he doesn’t want Medjedoub to have to choose between his career and marriage. Medjedoub takes him up on the offer and backs his bag to fly to Montreal and try to straighten things out.
Finally we get to see some actual training with Elias Urbina IV. He admits he’s the baby of the show and talks about how growing up his family was intent on keeping him and his siblings in the sport of wrestling. If they had one dollar left that dollar went to wrestling shoes. Urbina says he doesn’t fear anything and that he feels relaxed in the cage whether it’s on the feet or on the ground.
Meanwhile, Team Jedrzejczyk is game-planning for what they’ll do if Medjedoub can’t return. While they believe Khalil Rountree would get a second shot, he’s having so much pain in his knees training Jedrzejczyk advises him to take time off and heal up.
Eric Spicely talks about his girlfriend dying in a camping accident when her canoe flipped under a bridge and she smashed her head into a pillar – she drowned while she was unconscious. He talks about how she never had any vices or issues – all she cared about was family, sports and school. He vows to continue to win in her memory.
Pranking has infected the house. The guys put baby powder in the blow dryers. The girls respond by pouring baby powder on them while they’re in the hot tub. Khalil pranks Myron by jumping out of the shower when he goes to use the bathroom. Etc.
Weigh-in. Urbina is 203.5 and Spicely is 205.5.
Medjedoub flies back and is welcomed by Team Gadelha with hugs and smiles all around. Whatever he did it has been resolved. He refuses to talk about it on the camera, only saying he admits 1000% all the fault was his, and it will remain between him and her.
* Eric Spicely (Team Gadelha) vs. Elias Urbina IV (Team Jedrzejczyk)
Spicely nearly catches Urbina in an armbar, and Urbina does something I’ve never seen before – he picks up his opponent and SWINGS HIM into the fence trying to shake him off. Spicely rolls for a leg and Urbina ends up dropping hard elbows on his ribs, but Spicely just won’t let go. He makes a transition to the back and get one hook in at the point Urbina nearly had top mount. Urbina keeps his chin tucked and concentrates on controlling Spicely’s arms. Spicely tries to soften Urbina up with rights to the head. The rest of R1 is Urbina defending.
Whatever happens now, this fight’s not going three rounds given the TV time left.
Urbina is attacking with kicks. Spicely shoots in for a single and misses. He shoots for the double and Urbina keeps his footing until 56 seconds. He nearly gets to his knees and pops up but Spicely drags him down to the ground and gets both hooks in. Chris Tognoni warns Spicely about shots to the back of the head. Urbina keeps defending and blocking as best he can but that’s all he can do. Dana is pissed off.
Spicely 20-18 X3. Team Gadelha is 5-0. Gadelha predicts a clean sweep and picks Amanda Cooper to fight Jamie Moyle next week. See you then!
The Big News: Austin Aries will face Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT TakeOver: The End
The Medium News: Nia Jax won a Triple Threat match and will now face Asuka for the Women’s Championship, also at Takeover.
The Little Beaver Sized News: TMDK debuted, changed their name to TM61 and, shockingly, lost their debut.
Welcome to the only article you’ll read today that has absolutely nothing to do with the Brand Extension! However if you read this, you will probably become familiar with some of the future guys and girls of Raw and Smackdown.
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The show kicks off with NXT General Manager announcing that Bayley is not cleared to compete, so she will not be facing Asuka at NXT TakeOver: The End. Tonight, there will be a triple threat match with Carmella, Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax and the winner will get the title shot at TakeOver.
There is a new intro video, which culminates in showing all three champions, as opposed to just the NXT Champion.
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Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa defeated TM61
Gargano and Ciampa are announced as two of the competitors in the Cruiserweight Classic, and are facing the debuting TM61: Shane Thorne and Nick Miller tonight. They are the former TMDK, so are they now The Mighty 61? Despite their new name, they cut an inset promo saying The Mighty Don’t Kneel.
This was a really good debut match. Honestly, this is probably the best debut match for someone since Sami Zayn debuted three years ago against Cesaro. Ciampa got the hot tag and he didn’t fare very well either at first. The new duo hit a really nice combination where one used a moonsault and the other used a fist drop on Ciampa.
This match went through a commercial break and Gargano & Ciampa got a good amount of offense on Thorne after the break. Thorne hit a beautiful dropkick before tagging out to Miller. Ciampa went for a slingshot sunset flip, but Miller caught him and TM61 hit a double team neck breaker, but only got a 2 count. Ciampa and Gargano got a surprising win over the debuting duo with their combo superkick/knee strike.
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We got a video package building to the Samoa Joe-Finn Balor cage match at NXT Takeover: The End, which concentrated more on Samoa Joe.
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Bayley cut a promo and flat out said it sucks that she can’t compete at NXT TakeOver: The End against Asuka. Before she could continue, Nia Jax walked up and mocked her for losing, adding she should give Nia credit for putting her out. Nia shoved Bayley away, so Carmella and Alexa both walked up, causing Nia to walk off. Carmella and Alexa exchanged words and then Bayley wished Carmella luck.
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A video aired for the impending debut of Andrade “Cien” Almas, the former Manny Andrede. He was shown taking off his mask, but had his back to the camera.
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Austin Aries came out to the arena for a promo. He said the phrase “The Best” is the most overused term in sports. Everyone is the best…until the next person comes along, which is why Austin always called himself The Greatest. Austin says that timing is everything and when he walked into NXT there were other people grabbing attention, so the fans picked up on it and began chanting for Nakamura. He announced that after Joe and Balor finish their business, he is challenging the winner for the title.
This brought out Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura did his full entrance while Aries stood there bemused. Nakamura spoke Japanese, stopped and asked Austin if he understood Japanese and Aries said he didn’t understand Nakamura in a funny line. Nakamura then said the NXT Championship wasn’t coming to greatness, it was coming to the King of Strong Style.
Out comes Mr. William Regal who made Aries vs Nakamura at Takeover in 2 weeks. They shook hands afterwards and the match is on!
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American Alpha cut a promo on The Revival, who they will face at NXT Takeover: The End, but they know what to expect. Dash & Dawson will go out and punch them in the face, but this is not a boxing match, it’s a wrestling match and they are the best tag team around.
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No Way Jose defeated Jonathan Oregon
No Way Jose is back. Apparently on May 14, he did a No Way Jose Day on Twitter and posted pictures of himself all day, which people apparently loved. Go figure. Byron Saxton reported on WWE.com that No Way Jose is his nickname and Corey Graves pointed out exactly what everyone is thinking regarding that stellar reporting.
Jose is nonstop movement, so it makes sense that he uses an Airplane Spin. Oregon, who had Vandal written on his butt, got 3 seconds of offense. Jose did his windup into a punch to the face before winning with the Cobra Clutch Slam.
After the match, Jose went over and danced with Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. Phillips made an ass out of himself and Graves refused to, however he was drawn into dancing. Remember when Mahabali Sheera did his dance at Bound for Glory and it somehow made like 6 guys to do it with him? This was similar, but not nearly as asinine.
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To combat the Samoa Joe video earlier, we got a NXT Takeover: The End main event video that focused more on Finn Balor.
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Asuka said it doesn’t matter who wins in the main event because she will defeat them at NXT Takeover: The End.
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In a #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match, Nia Jax defeated Carmella and Alexa Bliss
Carmella was trying to give a cue to Alexa that they should take Jax out at the bell, but Bliss decided to roll outside instead and watch the other two ladies compete. Nia slammed Carmella down, so Alexa tried to sneak up with some sort of top rope move. However, Nia turned around and stared Alexa down before she tried anything.
Jax got posted and fell outside, so the two perky blondes squared off momentarily while the monster recovered. Alexa grabbed Carmella by the throat and did a leg trip, followed by a moonsault for a 2 count when Nia came in to drop an elbow, however Alexa moved and Nia landed on Carmella. Something funny to note is Nia was on her knees and was almost taller than Alexa, who was standing up. Alexa actually got a near fall with a Sparkle Splash on Nia at one point.
Nia got sent outside again. Carmella tried a suicide dive, but got caught. Alexa, the annoying little pixie she is, stopped Carmella from being killed. Carmella slapped her Triangle Choke on Alexa, but Nia broke it up. Carmella got a rear choke on Nia, but Nia got out of it and eventually hit the legdrop on Carmella, picking up the win.
Nia Jax will now go to NXT Takeover: The End and challenge Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship! Before that, Asuka came out to stare down her future challenger as the show went off the air.
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Next week is already the go home show for Takeover, what will happen then? Until then, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
Two titles are on the line tonight as Cage battles Chavo for the Gift of the Gods Title, and Rey Mysterio Jr, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr. defend against the team of Fenix, PJ Black, and Jack Evans. It’s an unlikely team of opponents though, as Fenix is a babyface and thus an odd man out. Joey Ryan also faces Mascarita Sagrada, who is looking for his first win with Famous B by his side.
The show begins with a recap of the cop drama and the Trios Titles being won by Rey, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr. Chavo stealing Cage’s medallion is shown, and we see him letting Chavo win so he can get a shot tonight. In Vampiro’s lair, he tells Pentagon Jr. that he’s not ready to face Matanza – while Pentagon says he has zero fear. Vamp welcomes the Voodoo Greyskulls to the show, and he runs down tonight’s card as Cage battles Chavo for the Gift of the Gods Title.
Striker talks about the main event which will see PJ Black, Jack Evans, and Fenix facing Rey, Azteca, and Puma. Joey Ryan is mid-ring while Striker calls him a hit and quit it kinda guy. Famous B comes out and gets a nice Famous B chant. He transitions it into a Mascarita chant and introduces him wonderfully, outside of getting jumped and calling him ‘MASCARITA GODDAMN!”
Joey Ryan vs. Mascarita Sagrada
Joey jumps him, but Sagrada recovers, sends him to the floor and dives onto him. Sagrada gets crotched, and then Joey offers up his lollipop to Brenda. Joey can’t lift him over his head, but is overjoyed when he lands a basic slam. Wasteland by Sagrada and a diving headbutt gets 2. Joey gets kicked low, which hurts Sagrada. A small package gets 2 for Sagrada and then Joey gets a very awkward tornado DDT for the win. B and Brenda console Sagrada while the commentators talk about how Sagrada has yet to win with Famous B by his side.
We get a Taya personality profile about how she sees confidence when she looks in the mirror. She also kicks the asses of a bunch of wacky suited ninjas, as you do. Taya says she sees the perfect woman in the mirror, and Mundo agrees. Her red dress and ass-kicking made it seem like they were going for a Ronda Rousey in Expendables 3 vibe – only with more lucha ninjas. King Cuerno talks to Mil Muertes’s body in a coffin in his office. Mil acted like he was king – but he was still in Cuerno’s jungle. Well, that was different and great. Chavo comes down and then Striker adds a billion nicknames for Cage, including the Sentinel.
Chavo Guerrero vs. Cage – Gift of the Gods Title
Chavo gets a “Cage is gonna kill you” chant right away. Cage’s new black and gold singlet looks fantastic. He starts with tons of lariats in the corners while Vamp buries Striker for saying Chavo was once one of the best in the world. Chavo tries to gain an edge with sneaky tactics, but gets caught in an apron tree slam. He rakes the eyes and gets Cage to the floor – but a dive is caught and he eats several slams against the railing. Chavo sends him to the floor with a tilt a whirl headscissors and a dive.
Chavo lands a draping DDT and gets 2. Chavo goes for the legs, but Cage tosses him into the buckle and monkey flips him. Cage catches a dive and lands a Finlay roll before a moonsault misses. Chavo gets 2, and works on the knee. Cage hits an apron kick and lands his power superplex into the ring. European uppercut sends Chavo into the corner, where Chavo tries to kick him – but eats a sitout Alabama slam that gets 2. Cage’s F5 is countered and Chavo hits a running tornado DDT for 2.
Rolling kick hits for Chavo, but a discus lariat only gets 2 for Cage thanks to Chavo getting his feet on the rope. Chavo avoids a superplex and gets a sunset bomb and a frog splash for 2.5! Chavo doe the Eddie shuffle and lands Three Amigos – but only gets two of them and Cage turns into a suplex, then a powerbomb, and then Weapon X for the win and the Gift of the Gods Title. Cage trades in his title for a shot at Matanza next week – where it will be Monster vs. Machine.
Taya takes Jack and PJ to the locker room where Fenix is laid out. Mundo replaces him and then punts Fenix for good measure. Officers Neehan and Reyes search Dario’s office since Dario and “his hot ninja” are gone. They find tons of money before Castro busts them for trying to rob Dario without him – so Reyes arrests Cisco while Neehan points a gun at him. Well, this was different and furthers the cop drama while also ending The Crew. Taya comes out and tells everyone that Fenix won’t be here, but PJ and Jack have a better partner – Mundo!
Johnny Mundo, PJ Black, and Jack Evans vs. Trios Champions Rey Mysterio, Prince Puma, and Dragon Azteca Jr.
Jack starts with Azteca and lets everyone know he still hates dragons. Jack flips around a bit, but eats a dropkick and some nasty chops in the corner. Azteca hits a double-jump armdrag sending Jack to the corner. A triangle dropkick sends Jack to the floor. PJ comes in to face Puma, and Puma gets tied to a tree of woe before Jack attacks in the corner. Mundo lands a tornado kick while Puma tries to rise up. PJ comes in and gets 2 off of that match. Mundo and PJ land a double backbody drop for 2.
Puma uses Jack and PJ against each other and forces PJ to DDT Jack with a flying lariat. Rey comes in to face Mundo and sends him down with a deja vu headscissors. Puma and Azteca kick away at Mundo. They get 2 off a legdrop while Jack jumps in for a save. Johnny turns Puma and Azteca’s bodies against each other by catching Azteca and sending Azteca into Puma in the corner. PJ gets 2 off a pop-up cutter. Evans comes in and lands a tornado kick before Rey sends Mundo to the floor. Azteca lands a springboard rana to the floor and sends Mundo into the apron.
Evans goes up, but gets crotched. Puma sends him down and that results in Evans hitting a wacky kick before hitting a pop-up rana that sends Puma into PJ where PJ eats a rana. Rey kicks PJ into the ropes for a 619, which hits. Puma’s 630 hits and only gets 2 because Mundo pulls the ref out. Mundo kicks Rey low before Mundo and Taya land a double superkick. PJ kicks Puma in the crotch and Evans kicks Puma low too! PJ goes for a brainbuster, but Jack kicks him low first and then the Wellness Policy hits. Johnny goes for the End of the World, but it only gets 2! Mundo goes for a German superplex, but Puma flips back and tags Azteca. Azteca gets a code red, but Jack chairshots him and Mundo cradles him for the win! PJ Black, Jack Evans, and Johnny Mundo win it – giving us two new champions tonight.
To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
Last week on Impact, Matt Hardy was revealed as the one behind the Willow mask, making him the master mind behind the attacks on his brother, Jeff Hardy. Meanwhile, Ethan Carter III defeated Tyrus in a Last Man Standing match and brings him one-step closer to getting his rematch with Mike Bennett. Last but not least, TNA World Champ, Drew Galloway and Bobby Lashley wrestled to a no contest in a Lumberjack match, which resulted in the entire roster brawling to end the show.
Tonight on Impact:
On tonight’s show, EC3 continues on his Road to Redemption as he goes one-on-one with the twisted and disturbed, Matt Hardy. Also, Trevor Lee will defend the X Division title in an Ultimate X Match. Furthermore, Grado returns and seeks revenge against Al Snow.
Show Recap:
–The night kicks off with Matt Hardy making his way to the ring as Josh Matthews and The Pope tells us that tonight’s show is “May Mayhem”.
-Matt addresses the Impact Zone. He is a changed man and speaks in a strange way. It’s a weird tone and he’s using very proper grammar. Matt has a mad scientist kind of vibe to him that matches his “Einstein” hairstyle. Matt calls his match with EC3 a warm up match. He promises to destroy Jeff at Slammiversary, whom he keeps calling “Brother Nero”. Rockstar Spud and Tyrus hit the ring. Spud seems rather bothered by the changed Matt Hardy. He implores Matt not to face Jeff. Matt challenges Spud and Tyrus to take on Jeff in a ladder match for the Slammiversary contract. If Spud and Tyrus wins he won’t face Jeff, but if they lose he will. However, if Spud and Tyrus are not successful they can no longer associate with Matt. The match is official.
Suddenly, we cut to the catchiest music in wrestling and EC3 makes his way to the ring for his match. Josh reminds us that if EC3 wins he gets his rematch with The Miracle at Slammiversary.
Ethan Carter III vs. Matt Hardy
Back from commercial, EC3 doesn’t know what to make of the changed Matt Hardy. Josh and The Pope talk about the transformation that Matt has gone through and is now a “Psychotic Lunatic”. Matt said the same earlier about himself so they’re pushing this as his new character.
They have a really good back and forth match. These two usually have good matches together. Josh reminds us that EC3 is on his Road to Redemption and he must win by pin fall or submission to get his rematch. EC3 gets the advantage and The Miracle comes down to ringside to get a better look. EC3 locks on the Cobra Clutch but The Miracle jumps EC3 for the disqualification, which means EC3 doesn’t get his rematch.
Post match, The Miracle beat down EC3 and laid him out with the Miracle in Progress. Miracle tells EC3 he failed on his Road To Redemption and that he won’t be getting his rematch. Pope and Josh speculate that The Miracle had no intention to face EC3 ever.
-A whole lot of hot is headed to the ring, as Maria Kanellis is on her way into the arena with her assistant Allie following behind like a little puppy.
-Back from commercial, the interviewer guy asks The Miracle about his actions. The Miracle says he created art but putting together the EC3 Road to Redemption. He compared himself to Prince and mentioned “Purple Rain”.
-In the ring, Allie demands the audience quiet down and listen to her. She introduces Maria. Allie looks at Maria in awe and agree with everything Maria says. The crowd started chanting for Velvet Sky who made her last appearance with TNA last week. Gail Kim interrupts and takes the mic. Gail is very upset about Maria forcing Velvet out of TNA last week. Maria lets us know that because she is the leader of the Knockouts, Maria and Gail can’t touch each other unless it’s in a match. Maria announces that Gail will face Sienna and if Gail loses she has to leave TNA. Sienna jumps Gail from behind and beats her down.
-Backstage, Grado and Mahabali Shera talk about Al Snow. Grado is going to bring weapons and pulls out a chicken leg from his tights. Shera eats the chicken and Grado pulls out a chain from his tights. #notweirdatall
-Backstage, Robbie E. calls Jesse Godderz on his cell phone. Robbie doesn’t realize that Jesse is standing on the other side of the fake wall. Robbie E. wants them to meet a “Guru” at the gym who will help them get the tag titles back. Jesse is ignoring Robbie E. and giving out high fives to random people walking by. This is an interesting way to build up a tag team.
-Still in the back, Gail is very upset about what happen just now. She is determined to defeat Sienna. She has no plans to leave TNA.
-We get a recap video of Al Snow and Grado’s lasting feud. Al asks if the fans want tables and chairs. They cheer, but he says his fists are the only weapons he needs. Al hides on the stage and attacks Grado as he comes out.
Street Fight: Al Snow vs. Grado
Al dominates Grado and beats him around the ringside before sending him in the ring. Al went into his tights and pulled out a white powder (insert dirty joke here.) Grado managed to blind Al with his own white powder. Shera ran out with a trashcan enabling Grado to use the lid on him. Shera brought out the chicken leg from earlier and Grado used it. Grado used the chain and had the match won when two “gentlemen” in “France” shirts run down and attacked Shera. They distracted Grado, which gave Al the chance to beat him. After the match Josh and The Pope wondered who these two gentlemen are. It was the debut of recently released NXT stars formally known as Marcus Louis and Sylvester Lefort, but the announcers did not name them on air.
-Backstage, TNA Champ Drew Galloway and Bobby Lashley have been ordered to the ring and both are on their way.
-Back from commercial, Reby tries to convince Matt to not face Jeff, even trying to use Maxell to get Matt to change his mind. Not surprisingly, not even the kinship between father and son stop Matt from destroying his own brother.
-Jeremy Borash was in the ring recapping last week when Lashley interrupted him. He intimidated J.B. to leave the ring. Lashley wants the TNA titled handed to him because he was screwed out of the title last week. Galloway comes out and wants to fight right now. Before they can fight, TNA President Dixie Carter comes out and announces that they will face in the main event at Slammiversary. Dixie wants a clear winner so the match can only end by knockout or tap out. Drew and Lashley end up brawling. Drew has the advantage until security comes out. Lashley gives the spear to both Drew and the referee. Lashley uses his headband to choke out Drew, and then poses to end the segment with a lot of carnage left in the ring.
Ultimate X Match: X Division Champion Trevor Lee vs. Andrew Everett vs. Eddie Edwards vs. DJ Z
Shane Helms is in both Lee and Everett’s corner. Josh wonders if Everett will help Lee or try to take the title for himself. Eddie hits a dive right off the bat to start the match. This was a really good match and each guy got the chance to shine. There was lots of climbing up the structure and across the cable before being cut off.
DJ Z climbed up and across the cable, but Lee pulled him down into a German suplex in a cool spot. Everett went up to get the belt, but Lee stopped him and freaked out that he was going for the belt. They teased fighting but Shane convinced them to work together. DJ Z prevented Lee from winning and took on both guys. Eddie pulled down the belt, but Lee stole the belt out of Eddie’s hand who was still hanging from the cables. Shane had the referee distracted at ringside so he didn’t see Eddie pull the belt down.
-In the back, Maria pumps Sienna up for her match with Gail. Sienna promises to eliminate Gail from TNA. Allie was repeating Maria, which clearly annoyed her.
-Backstage, it’s time for EC3 to cut his weekly awesome promo. He talked about how The Miracle rigged the game. EC3 compared himself to Bobby Fisher and said he won’t lose this game. He going to make a phone call he doesn’t want to make but he’s going to make it because he wants to face The Miracle.
-Next we get a recap of Sienna ending Velvet’s TNA career. We also get her emotional goodbye.
Sienna w/ “The First Lady of Professional Wrestling” and Allie vs. Gail Kim w/ Gail’s Job on the Line
Josh calls Sienna Maria’s enforcer. Josh wonders if Sienna will end Gail’s career like she ended Velvet’s last week.
Gail runs wild on Sienna right from the start. She goes for several near falls and tries to put Sienna away early. She’s in control until Maria distracts her. Sienna takes over on Gail and dominates her. Gail climbs to the top, but Maria pulls her down and Gail takes a nasty fall to the outside. Sienna goes to put Gail away but then Gail rolled up Sienna for the win.
Post match, Maria beats down Gail with the help of Sienna. Maria went absolutely crazy on Gail and kept slapping her over and over.
-Backstage, Spud is worried about their upcoming match. Tyrus tells Spud not to worry about it. Reby shows up and tells them they need to fix this. She tells them they need to end Jeff Hardy. She tells them that Matt won’t even hold Maxell. They promise to handle it.
-Robbie E. and Jesse Godderz are at the gym looking for the “Guru” who will help them win the tag titles. For some reason, they both take their shirts off. The “Guru” ends up being a woman with purple hair called Raquel. The BroMans think it’s weird to be trained by a girl. Robbie couldn’t even look at her. To make a long story short, she’s a tough trainer and they had a good workout. This is the same Raquel that was appearing in segments with Lashley a few months back, but the angle was dropped without explanation. It appears she will now be the valet for the BroMans.
Ladder Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Tyrus & Rockstar Spud
Spud jumps Jeff on the outside to start the match. The heels double-team Jeff, but he makes his own comeback. Jeff slides a ladder in the ring and works over Spud. Tyrus pulled the ladder out of the ring. The heels regain control of the match. Tyrus lays out Jeff and attempts to climb the ladder but the second rung breaks under his weight. Apparently, Tyrus can’t climb the ladder because of his size.
Jeff takes out Tyrus with the Twist of Fate. Spud sneaks up the ladder. Jeff and Spud exchange shots at the top of the ladder until Jeff hits the Twist of Fate sending Spud face first into the ladder. They both fall off the ladder, but Jeff quickly climbs back up and pulls the contract down. That means Jeff vs. Matt is official for Slammiversary and Spud & Tyrus can’t associate with Matt anymore.
Post match, Matt and Jeff have a stare down to end the show.
Next Time on Impact:
Next week, Drew Galloway and Lashley will compete in “Pick Your Poison”, where they will each get to pick the others opponent for the night.
The Big Takeaway: It was a night of Money in the Bank qualfiers, returns and breakups. Of course, the big news was the return of Seth Rollins. Despite the wishes of the fans, he’s going to be a heel in his program with Roman Reigns. Those two will be facing each other in the main event of the Money in the Bank PPV for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Enzo Amore also returned. Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, and Sami Zayn all qualified for the Money in the Bank match at MITB. Charlotte broke up with Ric Flair, saying that he had been living in her spotlight for months. It was an angle that hit on various points very close to home, but Flair’s performance was fantastic. A.J. Styles also split up with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Shane and Stephanie McMahon were limited to cameos, which was a welcome change.
Show Recap:
Seth Rollins started the show getting a huge ovation, though there were some scattered boos. He was playing up to the crowd as a babyface and got “Welcome back” chants. Rollins said he’s waited 200 days to step inside his ring once again and he’s back. He’s waited for seven months to take back the title he never lost and he fired the first shot last night when he gave Roman Reigns the Pedigree. Crowd chanted “Thank you, Rollins.” Rollins asked if the fans missed him? That got “Yes” chants. Rollins said that was interesting because when he put a chair against Reigns’ back, the fans booed him. Then when he captured the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, fans said he was the weakest champion in history.
Then something profound happened: his knee buckled from carrying the company for so long. That was supposed to get boos. It got cheers instead. Rollins said he got so much fan mail he didn’t know what to do with it, so he put it all in the garbage can and lit it on fire. So Rollins went heel in the interview, saying he never needed the fans when he was going after the World Championship, and he doesn’t need them now. He said there was only room on the Seth Rollins bandwagon for one dude, and it was him. Rollins claimed the fans were never with him during the process to rehab his knee for seven months, which was harder work than the fans have ever put in in their entire lives.
Rollins said he, and he alone, would take back the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. That got a mixed response. Reigns’ music hit. Suddenly Rollins’ response seemed like Ric Flair in Charlotte by comparison. Booed beyond belief.
Rollins acted like he wanted to fight, but when Reigns got in the ring, Rollins left, saying he was going to fight on his time. Shane McMahon showed up. Rollins reluctantly got back in the ring and Shane’s request so they could have a conversation. Shane brought up Rollins has had several defining moments, including breaking up the Shield and winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 32. Shane said Reigns would defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Rollins at Money in the Bank. Both men were content with that announcement. Reigns held up his title to get booed some more.
Later tonight, a series of Money in the Bank qualifying matches: The Miz vs. Cesaro; Chris Jericho vs. Apollo Crews; A.J. Styles vs. Kevin Owens along with Sheamus vs. Sami Zayn.
Renee Young did an interview with Sheamus, who denounced the “new era” in the WWE. He made fun of Zayn’s name and the fact he was form Canada. That was a weird thing to say since Canadians have been carrying a good portion of the company’s workrate lately. Young started to mention she was from Canada before Sheamus interupted her and instructed parents to get their children out of the room because what he would do to Zayne wouldn’t be suitable for all ages. They brought up Sheamus winning Money in the Bank last year, then cashed it in at the Survivor Series and defeated Reigns for the title after Reigns had just defeated Dean Ambrose in a tournament final.
Sami Zayn defeated Sheamus in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match (10:02)
Zayn won with the Helluva Kick, moments after attempting a tope which Sheamus blocked with a right hand. Lots of selling by Zayn, but the two didn’t click as well as you would think. The announcers played the result up like an upset, explaining Sheamus didn’t even qualify for Money in the Bank one year after winning it. I credit it to lousy booking last June. Sheamus was furious after the match. At one point, Zayn did satellite head scissors, which Michael Cole called a huracanrana.
Crews did an interview with Young. She asked him if he felt like he had an advantage after the damage Jericho suffered against Ambrose last night. For some reason, Sheamus jumped Crews from behind. Sheamus screamed about the new era as he rammed Crews’ head into a truck case.
The New Day came out. They’re up to 274 days as tag team champions. There was a Happy Birthday cake in the ring. Kofi Kingston said the cake was there to celebrate Raw’s 1,200th episode. Xavier Woods said Raw is over 23 years old. Big E. said a WWE ring is never safe from a cake, so they decided to take the cake out of the ring. Woods said they would never want the cake to wind up in anyone’s face. Big E. teased throwing it in someone’s face at ringside, then JBL, then Byron Saxton. Then Social Outcasts (sans Adam Rose, of course) jumped Woods and Kingston. The Vaudevillains are out of a tag team title program after one PPV.
The New Day defeated Social Outcasts (1:50)
Kingston pinned Heath Slater after the Midnight Hour. Highlight was Slater taking the Unicorn Stampede. He rolled out of the ring barely able to stand, so Bo Dallas called for a Bo Train. Slater made it about three steps before collapsing. Of course, the cake had to end up in somebody’s face before the segment could end. So Kingston and Woods threw Slater into the cake, which splattered everywhere. They showed three highlights of the cake spot.
Miz and Maryse came out. Miz said he was still the Intercontinential Champion and a future Money in the Bank winner. He compared himself to the movie “Rudy” by overcoming overwhelming odds to retain the championship at Extreme Rules against Zayne, Owens and Cesaro. He wondered who could play him in an underdog movie, and brought up Brad Pitt and Dwayne Johnson. Maryse pulled in for a kiss, but Cesaro came out before they could get it on. Saxton said Cesaro looked like someone from “The Professional,” a weird reference to a 1994 film featuring a 12-year-old Natalie Portman. JBL then compared Cesaro to Roger Federer because they both have genetic superiority. Roger Federer pulled out of the French Open last week because of injuries.
Cesaro defeated the Miz (C) in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match, as well as a nontitle match (11:16)
Another solid match with these two, ending when Miz jumped off the top rope into a Cesaro uppercut, leading to the Gotch Neutralizer. Miz did the usual spots working over Cesaro’s injured left shoulder. Cesaro tried the Giant Swing, but couldn’t complete it because of the shoulder. Maryse has totally revitalized Miz’s career. He’s working better than he has in years, his promos are entertaining, and it has even helped the Intercontinental Championship, which really seemed on the backburner again after WrestleMania.
Rollins did an interview with Young. He said it would be fitting if he defeated Reigns for the Money in the Bank championship since he won it 2 years ago, leading to him cashing it in. Rollins walked up to Stephanie McMahon. Rollins wanted to hug her, but she said things have changed around here. She just wanted a handshake, and a confused Rollins complied.
Chris Jericho defeated Apollo Crews in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match (7:37)
There was a mixup near the finish. Jericho went for the Lionsault. Crews did a nip-up while Jericho was in midair, but didn’t get out of the way. Jericho’s knees hit Crews on the head and they both fell to the mat. Looked like the rest of the match had to be ad-libbed from that point. Jericho won with a codebreaker. Finish kind of buried Crews since Jericho was supposed to be less than 100% after the Ambrose match last night. Jericho was all taped up from last night’s thumbtacks bump. Crews came out without selling anything from the Sheamus beating. Crews didn’t get much of a reaction and looked disappointed.
The latest from Darren Young and Bob Backlund, who chastized Young for taking notes. Then Backlund ordered him to recite all the presidents in honor. Young said he couldn’t do that. Backlund started to do it, and Young said “Damn, coach!” in a way to put Backlund over. Backlund got mad at him for swearing and ordered him to do 100 jumping jacks.
Baron Corbin did an interview with JoJo. They showed Corbin delivering a Draymond Green-caliber low blow to beat Dolph Ziggler last night. Ziggler walked in and said Corbin couldn’t beat him in a technical wrestling match. Corbin said he wasn’t worried about technical wrestling, he was worried about handing out beatings. You haven’t heard mechanical delivery of promos until you’ve heard Corbin. Ziggler said he was going to face Ambrose tonight and do something Corbin could never do: steal the show.
Big Cass came out. Then he waved toward the entrance and Enzo Amore made his return to a huge pop. They did the usual routine with the fans singing along. Amore had Michael Jackson’s jacket from the Thriller video on. Amore claimed he forgot to pay his electric bill and they cut his lights out. The doctors diagnosed him with a concussion, which he calls a hard sneeze. Amore said if he had a dime for every time he got knocked down and didn’t get back up, he would have ZERO DIMES! Amore said as for Bubba Ray and Devon Dudley, “do us a favor and don’t do us no favors.” Cass said throwing his size-17 boot was going to be like throwing a basketball into a swimming pool, because he wasn’t going to miss. If 10% of Amore’s interview ability could somehow transform over to Crews, he’d headline WrestleMania before 2020.
Big Cass defeated Bubba Ray Dudley (2:46)
Devon hit Amore from behind at ringside. This led to Cass’ comeback, which spilled out on the floor. Cass threw Amore into Devon. In the ring, Bubba Ray took the Ric Flair slam off the top rope, and Cass pinned him after the Empire Elbow.
Charlotte, Dana Brooke and Ric Flair came out for a “State of the WWE Women’s Championship Address.” JBL talked about how the Fabulous Moolah started her championship reign in 1956 in Baltimore. Flair took the mic and how proud he was of her. Flair looked emotional, which signaled something was up since this was suppsed to be a heel promo. Some fans started to chant boring. Flair compared Brooke to “Charlotte’s Uncle Arn.” Charlotte said she wanted to thank one person, “and it was obviously me.” She also thanked Brooke, who thanked Charlotte and put over Flair as the “dirtiest player in the game.” Charlotte brought up what she remembered growing up. She remembered various holidays and birthdays where her father wasn’t around for her. She had to watch him on television. Fans chanted “What” at Charlotte and she was getting really mad and appeared to lose her train of thought. Charlotte said she understood why her father missed those holidays because she was the champion. She then turned to her father and ordered him to get out of her ring. Flair didn’t understand what she was talking about. Charlotte said everyone from Flair’s generation was the same because they never wanted to leave the spotlight. Charlotte said Flair never understood how it felt to walk into a room and hear people say “There’s Ric Flair’s daughter.” She said now Flair was Charlotte’s father. Flair started to cry. Charlotte said Flair was “the 2nd dirtiest player in the game” and she doesn’t have time for people who come in 2nd place. She said she doesn’t need him anymore.
Charlotte accused Flair of neglecting her. Flair was in tears. Charlotte said Flair was an immortal to everyone in Baltimore, but to her he was dead. Now, Flair can watch Charlotte on TV just like she watched him through her childhood. She ordered him to leave the ring, which Flair did with remorse. Flair walked to the back and Charlotte crowed about how she was the champ. Flair’s facials were excellent. Charlotte had to work hard to get through this despite al the hecklers, but she’s very skilled on the microphone and did a good job getting this breakup over. JBL, Cole and Saxton sold this heavy, speaking in hushed tones wearing long faces like they had just seen a career-threatening injury angle.
For those who complain that this angle hit too close to home and was uncomfortable to watch, this isn’t the first time Flair’s parenting skills have been used in an angle. One of the few good segments of WCW Thunder in 2000 featured Flair and Arn Anderson in a microphone dual that centered around their personal lives and children. Not to mention Flair wrestling his son David in 1999 & 2000. Granted, that was among the worst booked programs in history, but it was still a subject. Flair himself, as a shoot, called that program “a nightmare.”
Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match (12:10)
Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds after blocking the Zig Zag. It was a scientific match to get over Ziggler facing Corbin in a “scientific match” next week. During an Ambrose comeback, JBL said “Can you imagine what it would be like to have two former members of the Shield fight for the championship?” How many times did we see that last year? Then Ambrose did his ricochet off the ropes into the clothesline spot and Cole belted out “How in the world did he do that?” We see that spot every week.
A distraught Flair walked back stage where he came across Arn Anderson, who consoled him and said he was sorry. Young walked up and asked if he had anything he wanted to say. Flair, who tried to smile, declined and left the building.
The Shining Stars put over their debut last week and invited everyone to Puerto Rico, “The Shining Star of the Carribbean.”
Styles came out and said you never know how good someone is until you get in the ring with them. Styles said Reigns is every bit the man he says he is, which got him roundly booed. Styles said Reigns was one of the best he ever got in the ring with, but he still wasn’t phenomenal. Then Styles did another subtle heel dig, saying if it wasn’t for the Usos, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, you would be looking at the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This brought out Anderson and Gallows. Anderson was upset that Styles would say they cost him a chance to beat Reigns. Anderson accused Styles of changing since their days in Japan. Gallows said if he and Anderson hadn’t dropped every person that wanted to fight Styles, there would be a lot of bars that Styles would have never made it out of. Styles tried to be amicable and said they needed to seperate. Styles said, for now, they were done as a team. But nothing can seperate them from being brothers. Gallows wasn’t going for it, saying they weren’t brothers anymore. Anderson said they weren’t friends anymore. Styles said if that’s the case, they don’t need to be in the ring together anymore. He said, as of right now, this was his ring. Anderson and Gallows took the cue to leave and did without shaking hands. Another breakup angle.
Kevin Owens defeated A.J. Styles in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match (16:30)
Owens won with the Pop-Up Power Bomb after Styles attempted a springboard move, but Owens kicked Styles’ legs out from under him. Styles hit the Pele Kick after escaping an attempt at the Pop-Up Power Bomb. Earlier, Owens missed a moonsault and Styles nailed a springboard 450 splash for a near fall. One night after bumping all over the place for Reigns, Styles wasn’t having an off night. Biggest spot came outside the ring when Styles ran up the steps, but Owens caught him over his shoulders and slammed him across the top of the steps. Later, Styles ran towards Owens, who power bombed Styles on the steps, leading to a countout tease. It was like Styles was 30 again and was in TNA putting over Kevin Nash. And yes, that really happened. Clean. Crowd seemed to be waiting for the near falls, but got more involved towards the end. Finish seemed to catch them by surprise.
SUMMARY: Very solid wrestling show. Frankly, this should be a pattern for the summer because the roster is going to be as deep as ever once John Cena, Randy Orton and Neville return. It’s just a question of which programs are made and how to gain the most from them. The Reigns-Rollins program isn’t really unique. Fans have booed Cena for years and cheered various heels against him. Rather than make a new superstar out of Reigns, the WWE has just made him a Cena clone. And the fans will treat him as such, as well as whoever is in a program with him. the good news is there’s plenty of guys he can have quality matches with that won’t expose him.
Here’s a recap of the four Best of the Super Juniors B block matches that took place this morning in Shizuoka. Thankfully, New Japan World cut the tag team matches that fill these shows. Not that they’re bad, but they’re super formulaic. Some people get into them, and for the very good ones I can get into them too. Most of the time, I just can’t.
Chase Owens vs. Will Ospreay
This was pretty good. Owens is solid. Not flashy like some guys in this tournament, but works really well with a lot of people. Ospreay’s offense was tremendous here, doing everything including the Sasuke special to Owens on the outside. Owens cut him off and pinned him with the package piledriver in a surprise (at least, for me).
There will probably be many examples like this during the tournament, not just because they want to add an air of unpredictability in the tournament but also because they probably had to change a lot of results due to the Young Bucks being pulled from the tournament.
Trent Baretta vs. Volador Jr.
I guess the rule in Japan if you’re a luchador that’s lost his mask is you can wear it for as long as you want, but you have to take it off sometime during the match. The first half of this was okay, nothing special. Volador did a cool dive to the floor. Seems like every time there was a big spot, things would slow down for a while. Things picked up after a while, but the match as a whole was just kind of there save for a few cool spots by Volador. He hit the top rope hurricanrana that won his match on the opening day, but Baretta kicked out. Volador went to charge in the corner, but Baretta lifted up up into the Dudebuster and nailed it for the win.
Bobby Fish vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Both Fish’s theme and Liger’s theme are no longer dubbed over. For some reason, though, Owens’ theme was. Fish smacked Liger’s leg with some kicks early and focused on throse throughout the match. Liger made a comeback and hit the liger bomb for a nearfall. Liger went for a hurricanrana off the top rope but Fish grabbed the ropes, causing Liger to land on his bad leg. Fish kept working on Liger’s leg in a long ankle lock submission. Liger escaped, then managed to hold Fish down long enough by grabbing the ropes t o pick up the sneaky win. Do what you gotta do, I guess.
Tiger Mask vs. Ricochet
This was okay for most of it. Nothing bad, but Tiger Mask’s work is always just there, just good enough not to be bad. Ricochet didn’t do anything flashy for this match either and as a result the match in general was just kinda there. Ricochet picked up the submission win with a modified armbar.
Usual very good show. Every match was good in its own way. Easy show to watch. A lot of long matches and for the first time for me at PWG, the crowd did get tired and while there were big pops, you could see the difference once it past 11 p.m. So many of the regulars were in Japan for the Super Juniors or, in the case of the Young Bucks, were supposed to be there but were injured.
Adam Cole beat Dalton Castle. Different “Boys” than in ROH.
Michael Elgin beat Kamaitachi when Kamaitachi came off the top rope and Elgin caught him in mid air and gave him a brainbuster. Kamaitachi takes flat back bumps off the concrete too often. Because of no ramp and seats so close to the ring Kamaitachi didn’t do the stuff he does at Arena Mexico, but his fundamentals are great and he’s going to be one of the big stars on the U.S. indie scene this year.
Marty Scrull beat Mark Andrews. Long match. Scurll is a master performer live, a complete package and one of the most underrated workers in the business. These two worked together great. Andrews mostly sold. He’s so much better here than in TNA because he works longer matches and everyone that works here the fans see as stars because the idea is this is an exclusive members only club, both fans and wrestlers (Drew Galloway actually said that later in the show) so everyone is treated as a star.
Trevor Lee beat Andrew Everett. Fans got on both for being from TNA and they acted like they were making big money there which led to more catcalls about late pay. Real good, but it was two guys where it came off like they were friends putting on a great match. I don’t know if they could change that dynamic with this crowd.
Chris Hero beat Jeff Cobb with all the hard elbows. Everyone knows Cobb is Matanza. Because of the role, he’s a lot heavier than in the past, which he has to be since it’s in season but for this style he’d be better a little lighter. Still, he did the missed moonsaults, all the deadlift German and gut wrenches and other suplex series. Hero mostly used the hard strikes. Even though Hero win, the match was to get Cobb over and he won the people over big about three minutes in with an awesome dropkick and the gut wrenches. There was the loud “Please come back” chants when it was over.
Drew Galloway beat Michael Elgin with the Future shock DDT. Galloway was to work with Brian Cage, but Cage canceled to an emergency related to his son. Galloway challenged anyone to do double duty. It was late, although not late by PWG standards, but I think since people had seen Elgin, it was tough. The match was very good. Galloway has just about everything. So weird that he’s TNA champion, didn’t have the belt and this is the second time I’ve seen him live in the last two months and nobody in the crowd talks about him as champion or anything, and he’s doing a good job in that role. Also he’s a heel here or worked that way while a major face on TV.
Roderick Strong beat Sami Callihan with one of his unique backbreakers. Long match. Lots of stuff outside the ring. Callihan is really intense, shoving fans around (people he knows) and Strong is one of the best in the business. They were going along at a decent pace and then Roderick just exploded into fourth gear and turned the match around in the last several minutes.
Alberto De Rio and Paige were at the show. Del Rio and Galloway are tight. A lot of women MMA fighters were there including Shayna Baszler, Colleen Schneider, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir and there were a couple of others who came with them.
Bobby Fish & Volador Jr. & Satoshi Kojima vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Trent Baretta & Will Ospreay
Pretty solid opener. Volador and Ospreay showed fantastic chemistry for about a minute before tagging out – that should be one hell of a match when the time comes. As for this match, it was your usual six man tag. Kojima and Ishii battled for a while. Fish did too, as he beat Ishii for the ROH TV title a few weeks ago on the ROH PPV. Volador and Baretta battled for a bit before Volador got the win with a standing hurricanrana off the top rope.
Yuji Nagata & Jushin Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson & Jay White
Solid match. Pretty much your atypical New Japan six man. Shibata and Nagata were the focus since there’s a title rematch at Dominion. White came in, got in a crossface, then was pinned pretty quickly with the back drop suplex hold.
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan & Ricochet vs. Kenny Omega & Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Again, your typical multi man New Japan match. Omega and Tanahashi were the focus and worked well. Since Captain New Japan was here, you should know by now he was the one pinned, this time after a lariat and a grenade by Bad Luck Fale.
Bullet Club laid out everyone after the match. Omega brought in a ladder and with assistance, smashed Tanahashi’s arm several times through the ladder with a chair before finally leaving, but not before threatening to rip off a fan’s Tanahashi bear’s arm. Tanahashi had to be stretchered out once Bullet Club left.
Kazuchika Okada & Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi vs. Tetsuya Naito & Seiya Sanada & Evil
Good match. Naito took his sweet time getting to the ring, and eventually had Milano Collection AT open the ring ropes for him, then spent even more time stalling before finally getting in. Focus, of course, was him and Okada. The real highlight was the ending stretch between Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada. Yoshi-Hashi is super underrated; here’s hoping he gets a G1 spot this year and not Yujiro. After a bunch of near falls, he fell to the Skull End submission.
David Finlay vs. Rocky Romero
Finlay ran roughshod the minute he was introduced in the ring, tearing apart Romero. He looked fantastic here, the best he’s probably ever been in New Japan. Romero gained control and turned into a really good back and forth match. Finlay showed a lot here, and Romero is always consistently great. Romero won the first match of the tournament with a running knee strike.
Gedo vs. Bushi
Solid match. Gedo was over early, even though a lot of people in the crowd were wearing Bushi masks. As far as an all around performer goes, Bushi is improving big time. He’s probably one of the favorites to win the whole thing early. They had some great near falls that people bought as they really wanted Gedo to win. There was a ref bump toward the end but he recovered just in time for Gedo to lock in the Gedo clutch and secured the win.
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Matt Sydal
Taguchi came out wearing a Big Bird balloon for a hat while playing a kazoo. No, I don’t have the faintest idea why. Really good match. Taguchi didn’t do his comedy match routine and Sydal was on point. One crazy spot was Taguchi kneeling on the apron, and Sydal on the floor leaped and hurricanrana’d him off the apron to the floor. Taguchi blocked a shooting star press with his knees and hit two dodons for the win.
Kushida vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Kushida spent the early part of the match working on O’Reilly’s arm. O’Reilly returned the favor, taking Kushida’s knee by smashing it on a chair. O’Reilly ran off the apron and went to attack Kushida but in midair Kushida turned it into an armbar. That was amazing! This was easily the best match of the night, not to the level of their match last year but it was in the ballpark. Excellent body part work by both as they kept going for submissions. O’Reilly finally caught Kushida in a standing armbar. Kushida tried to escape, but O’Reilly got to the ground and Kushida had to tap. O’Reilly gained a measure of revenge by picking up a win over the guy that beat him in the finals of last year’s tournament.
Kushida didn’t shake hands with O’Reilly and went to the floor. O’Reilly said he’d win Best of the Super Juniors and bowed to everyone as his music played to close out the show.
Really fun opening day. Totally check out the main event, though all of this morning’s card was fun to watch.
This season both the women’s strawweight division and the men’s light heavyweight division will be competing. At the end of the season Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha fight on the TUF 23 Finale with Joanna Champion defending her strawweight title. Last week, Gadelha’s team won again and took a 3-0 lead. She picked Lanchana Green (Gadelha) vs. Helen Harper (Jedrzejczyk) for this week’s bout.
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Green opens up the show talking about her roots in England, how getting beat up as a girl inspired her to be a fighter, and how nobody’s beaten her up ever since. “We’ve been working on takedown defense. I’m not giving Helen a chance to even get close to me.” Dana White says she’s the single best striker on Claudia’s team.
Jedrzejczyk brings in Carla Esparza to talk to her fighters and hopefully give the team some inspiration. She takes Helen Harper and the rest of the fighters through catching kicks and throwing opponents to the mat. Jedrzejczyk says Harper is a “little tornado” and will show everybody how tough she is. Harper: “I’m kind of a rhino. I have the refuse to lose attitude. I want it more.”
Harper talks about how being in an abusive relationship made her want to learn self-defense even though she was in denial and still tried to stay with her tormentor. “It was just a bully, a nasty person, trying to get into my life and ruin it day by day.”
Abdel Medjedoub called the house and even though fighters are supposed to be isolated and not take outside calls, she tells the producers it was an emergency and gets them to take it. They try to tell her if they take the call it’s being recorded and she starts cussing them out. Then she threatens to divorce Medjedoub if he doesn’t leave the show and come back to Montreal immediately. It sounds like he’s going to quit.
* Lanchana Green (Team Gadelha) vs. Helen Harper (Team Jedrzejczyk)
Green is in the black trunks, Harper is in the red. You can hear Jedrzejczyk barking out to Harper not to wait and to be aggressive. The ref warns them to watch their fingers. Harper closes the distance but eats some hooks and knees in the process. Harper nearly has a takedown at 1:30 but Green keeps her balance. They break at 1:59. Harper charges at her and gets her on the fence again at 2:15. Green’s height and strength are making the takedowns difficult and she’s punishing Harper with big knees to the body. Harper tries so hard to get a takedown she actually lets Green on top pounding her in the face. She’s only had one strategy all round and it doesn’t work.
Green is winning the striking war for the first minute of R2, but Harper gets her on the fence again and digs hard for a single leg. She can’t get it. Green is teeing off with the right hook repeatedly. Harper finally body locks Green and drags her to the ground at 2:01. She’s quickly warned to stay busy on top. She slowly inches her way to a full mount but gets another warning with 90 seconds left. Once she clears her foot from between Green’s hips she really starts to hammer on Green’s face, who tries and fails repeatedly to buck her off. This one’s going to a third round.
As you’d expect Harper is looking for a takedown in the opening minute of R3 but can’t get it. She closes the distance again at 1:30 and manages to get Green’s back and throw her to the ground at 2:05 but can’t keep her down. Green bloodies up her face once she gets loose. Harper finally drags her to the ground at3:53 but that may be too little too late – and Green gets back up at 4:08 anyway. Harper goes for one last leg trip late to no avail. I’ve got Green two rounds to one.
Green gets a unanimous decision and Team Gadelha goes up 4-0. Jedrzejczyk is insulted that Gadelha didn’t shake her hand after the fight. Harper is emotionally broken but she should be happy she had her team’s best fight this season.
Next week’s fight chosen by coach Claudia Gadelha is Eric Spicely (Team Gadelha) vs. Elias Urbina IV (Team Jedrzejczyk). We will see you then!
This is a battle between New Japan (Kuwato) and NOAH (Kiyomiya) rookies. NOAH young lions wear green instead of black like in New Japan, but both are required to have boston crab as finishers, as was the case here. A lot of the match was Kuwato being worked on. Kiyomiya got the win with a Boston Crab. Kuwato wasn’t pleased after the match and the two brawled for a bit, slapping and kicking each other.
Shiro Tomoyose vs. Teruaki Kanemitsu
Apparently my theory about all NOAH rookies wearing green was wrong. Tomoyose is a NOAH rookie as well, but is wearing black. Apparently all NOAH rookies choose a color to wear, and Tomoyose’s color is black. Kanemitsu is taller than Tomoyose, but Tomoyose is more stout and looks a bit more physically imposing. He controlled a lot of the match, but Kanemitsu made a comeback and had him in a Boston crab for a long time. He eventually escaped, but Kanemitsu had his arm and was going for a submission when the bell rang, a time limit draw. Good, basic match.
Kanemitsu went for a handshake after the match but Tomoyose would have none of it. Tomoyose eventually was convinced to shake hands, but then Kanemitsu tricked him by slapping the taste out of his mouth and bailing. These New Japan kids are pretty rude this morning.
Hitoshi Kumano vs. Ayato Yoshida
Kumano is another NOAH rookie; he wears red. Yoshida represents Michinoku Pro. The latter had a lot of good looking strikes. This was solid, if not unspectacular. Kuwano got the win with a chokeslam/spinebuster combination.
Yoshinari Ogawa vs. David Finlay
Finlay showed a lot of great fire early. In terms of presence and look he really outshines White, who is a bit better in the ring. Ogawa controlled a lot of the match and kept it on the ground, working on Finlay’s left arm. Finlay made a good comeback and kicked out of a back suplex. Finlay looked like he was going to capture Ogawa’s arm in an armbar, but in transition Ogawa held him down and pinned him. Cool finish to a pretty solid match.
Captain NOAH & Genba Hirayanagi vs. Muhammed Yone & Ryusuke Taguchi
This was a total comedy match, at least the first half of it. Genba’s gimmick apparently is that he likes to use the testicular claw on everyone, as he did during the early parts of the match. Taguchi wore an afro like Yone’s, I guess to match. NOAH and Taguchi had a chop battle and Taguchi teased doing the Flair flop, since that is Jado’s thing (he’s Captain NOAH, spoilers) but NOAH fell anyway. This was VERY LONG. Not terrible or anything but felt way longer than it needed to be. This was at least a twenty minute segment or longer when it needed to be half that.
Taguchi finally got the win for his team after two sliding hip attacks on Genba. Captain NOAH cut a promo after the match. No idea what he said.
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Jay White
This was pretty good. White does the little things Finlay doesn’t that really add to the match, though Finlay is a bit more dynamic in what he does. Marufuji gained control early but White made a comeback and hit some very nice spots. This was one of the first times where he did more than just the basic stuff he does in his prelim matches and didn’t look totally out of place, though there were a few moments that looked a bit off. Shiozaki eventually cut him off and won with the sliced bread. This was given some decent time and was a very good match while it lasted.
Go Shiozaki vs. Juice Robinson
Juice has definately improved since working regularly in Japan. I wouldn’t say he’s as good as Finlay or White, but he’s perfectly fine and doesn’t look lost out there – he gets it. Much like the story of other matches on this card, Shiozaki worked on Robinson after dodging some punches and was in control until Robinson made a comeback. He kept kicking out of nearfalls, but eventually he could not kick out of a sick lariat dished out by Shiozaki, and that was the end of Robinson. Pretty solid match.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Maybach Taniguchi, Masa Kitamiya & Quiet Storm
New Japan old guard were the faces here. Storm and Nakanishi traded big guy spots, which is funny since Storm is about a head shorter than Nakanishi. I’ve complained on here before that no one should buy Nakanishi and Nagata’s finish because they’ve never submitted anyone with the armbar/torture rack they do. Well this time, it actually did work. While Nagata didn’t have an armbar in, he did pin Quiet Storm with a backdrop suplex while Nakanishi had Taniguchi in the torture rack. Perfectly okay eight man tag, but nothing memorable.
Nagata got a mic and introduced his two guys that are training in the New Japan dojo. One is Ota, who is a high level wrestler, and Kitamura, who is also a wrestler and jacked to the gills. He teased they might wrestle on the next Lion’s Gate show.
For the most part, everything was good. Marufuji/White was probably the best match on the show.
